Donald Trump

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Now for the comment I wanted to say. It's all over the news that the Facebook Oversight Board will announce if Trump is allowed back on Facebook, as if that's a big deal.

It ain't. And to prove it ain't, Trump released his pronouncement that the 2020 election will by hereinafter called THE BIG LIE.

He was removed from Facebook for saying things like that and this is a manner for him to show he's not the one who will change. So it doesn't matter what the Facebook Oversight Board decides. Either way is fine. In both cases:

Fuck Facebook.

It's big right now, but it's not relevant to where Trump and the USA are going. In terms of that, it's nothing.

Michael

[Peter]

From The Washington Examiner: A simmering fight among House Republicans over former President Donald Trump’s role in the party's future will play out next week in a closed-door battle over who should lead the GOP conference. Rep. Liz Cheney, a Wyoming Republican and staunch foe of the former president, faces a challenge to her role as House Republican Conference chairwoman by lawmakers who say her anti-Trump tweets and comments are not helping the party regain the House majority in 2022. Cheney and those who support her say she’s saving the Republican Party and the country by steering the GOP away from Trump, who insists the 2020 election was stolen from him.

From solon: Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC, believes the modern-day GOP is the political party of Trump, and moving forward without the former president in a leadership role is impossible. During a Thursday night segment with Fox News host Sean Hannity, Graham ripped into fellow Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney — who currently faces a cacophony of calls to be tossed from her leadership position as House Republican Conference chair over her vocal criticism of Trump for pushing the so-called "Big Lie": demonstrably false statements that widespread voter fraud propelled President Joe Biden to office last November. "Can we move forward without President Trump? The answer is no," Graham told Hannity.

Congressman Andy Biggs (R- AZ) said on Fox News Wednesday that Republicans are planning to oust Congresswoman Liz Cheney (R- WY) from House leadership next week because her “tirade” against former President Donald Trump was an attack on “the base of the Republican party.”

[ThatGuy]

Man, GAB's Andrew Torba is really going for Trump's jugular, now, attacking both his status as a Christian AND his involvement with the vaccine AND his politics...


"Thousands dying from the jab, a generation of humanity pumped with an experimental gene editing vaccine with unknown longterm effects, women losing babies after getting the jab, those of us who will not take it ( YOUR BASE SUPPORTERS) are being demonized by governments and the media, and you’re biggest concern is that you aren’t getting attention you petty old man."

https://gab.com/a/posts/106233744187930918

and here...
https://gab.com/a/posts/106233874242358408

Then, this (from another person's post that Torba reposted):

"Another example of how Trump is just a bull-shitter who got lucky. He is opposing Chip Roy, a guy with a strong record on immigration and trade, in favor of a women who votes with the Left on most issues. Stefanik fanned his balls during impeachment, so he likes her. "

 

https://gab.com/TheZBlog/posts/106233673214098135

[william.scherk]

One of the Trump impulses that resonates with voters is bringing the troops home from unnecessary deployments. While Commander-in-Chief he began no military adventures. Although he disagreed with Obama's acts to bring US troops home from Iraq, this was I think because Obama didn' "keep the oil" ... 

The lapsed Republicans (and pseudo-Republicans/RINOs) at the Bulwark came out with some commentary on last week's Axios story on Trump's executive desire to bring even more troops home.

You can skip ahead in the podcast to around the 23 minute mark -- missing the predictable yammering about Maricopa County: David Priess on the Madness in Maricopa.

In essence they are just r/Republican enough to side with the executive direction of Trump, not impressed with how a clear policy was "slow-rolled" and otherwise thwarted.

***

Although the Axios piece is not brief, it gets right to the point. (This article is part of the series Off the Rails. The highlight of the series for me was the parallel tale to Patrick Byrne's tale -- the White House meetings attended by Byrne, Flynn and Powell).**

Quote

John McEntee, one of Donald Trump's most-favored aides, handed retired Army Col. Douglas Macgregor a piece of paper with a few notes scribbled on it. He explained: "This is what the president wants you to do."

1. Get us out of Afghanistan.

2. Get us out of Iraq and Syria.

3. Complete the withdrawal from Germany.

4. Get us out of Africa.

It was Nov. 9, 2020

 

 _______

** fun Byrne statement on Telegram today:

Quote

I do not know if this story is in the public domain yet or not, but it occurs to me that maybe it is not generally known.

What was going to happen on January 6 was this: there were about a dozen senators briefed and prepared to challenge the electoral votes of a number of the states. That is how it was going to be addressed. But then the goons showed up (whether the goons were MAGA or Antifa doesn’t matter), they stormed The Capitol building, and the next morning no Senators had any stomach for challenging the states.

The storming of the capital could not have helped the bad guys more than if they had planned it themselves…

So let us learn from our mistakes. At any rallies (and yes there will soon be rallies), your job is to make sure no Goons get the crowd to do anything dumb like that again.

 

Edited May 20, 2021 by william.scherk
#spellingRammer

[william.scherk]

Trump on McConnell, Biden and Fauci, what he'd do in a possible 2nd term | Newsmax EXCLUSIVE - YouTube

 

[Peter]

Onward to the stars. Trump's back.

Here's what his re-entry means for 2024. Jonathan Allen Tue, June 1, 2021, 4:30 AM WASHINGTON — Defeated presidents usually go away — at least for a long while. Not Donald Trump. Trump returns to the electoral battlefield Saturday as the marquee speaker at the North Carolina Republican Party's state convention. He plans to follow up with several more rallies in June and July to keep his unique political base engaged in the 2022 midterms and give him the option of seeking the presidency again in 2024. "If the president feels like he's in a good position, I think there's a good chance that he does it," Trump adviser Jason Miller said in a telephone interview. "For the more immediate impact, there's the issue of turning out Trump voters for the midterm elections."

And, Miller added, "President Trump is the leader of the Republican Party."

[ThatGuy]

Interesting...I've heard talk of this from the Q continuum (meaning, I wasn't holding my breath), but now, reportedly, it's coming from 45 himself? I haven't seen a direct quote yet from him, and still not holding my breath, but still... interesting...

"Maggie Haberman: Trump Telling People He Expects To Be ‘Reinstated’ As President By August"

https://www.forbes.com/sites/markjoyella/2021/06/01/maggie-haberman-trump-telling-people-he-expects-to-be-reinstated-as-president-by-august/?sh=dbef3237a763

[Peter]

Unless President Trump writes or says something I can see or hear, I will not believe it. Not from Forbes, TV, or any online source.  

[Peter]

However, Flynn seems to be “walking / talking a dangerous line. RedState, had this: Former Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn was one of multiple speakers who made asinine comments while speaking at a conservative conference on Saturday. At the “For God & Country Patriot Roundup,” he suggested that a coup similar to what occurred in Myanmar should happen in the United States.

. . . . At the conference, a member of the audience who identified as a “simple Marine” asked why a coup like what occurred in Myanmar could not happen here. After the crowd stopped cheering this question, Flynn responded: No reason. I mean, it should happen here."

[ThatGuy]

16 minutes ago, Peter said:

Unless President Trump writes or says something I can see or hear, I will not believe it. Not from Forbes, TV, or any online source.  

That is more than fair enough. I've been trying to find a direct quote on that, and so far, nada.
The source is Maggie Haberman, on Twitter.

Who?
Yeah, I've never heard of her, either.

But then, I'm not all-knowing. So, who is Maggie Haberman?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maggie_Haberman

"Maggie Lindsy Haberman (born October 30, 1973) is an American journalist. She is a White House correspondent for The New York Times and a political analyst for CNN. She previously worked as a political reporter for The New York Post, the New York Daily News, and Politico. "

Well, then. Huh. I was expecting her to be Trump-sympathetic. But with credentials like those, it could very well be a made-up claim made to discredit him. (Also from her Wiki entry: "Trump himself has repeatedly responded to negative articles in the Times by calling her a "Hillary flunky" and a "third rate reporter".")

 

[ThatGuy]

Huh...I'm seeing #faucileaks and #fauciemails suddenly all over Twitter...not sure what's happening at the moment, but people are saying he's being thrown under the bus...but THIS stood out to me, in relation to my earlier post about the claim that Trump was saying he'd be back in August, and the skepticism around it:
 

Here's more info on the emails:
 

"More than 3,200 pages of emails obtained through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by BuzzFeed News — covering the period from January to June 2020 — provide a rare glimpse into how Fauci approached his job during the biggest health crisis of the last century, showing him dealing directly with the public, health officials, reporters, and even celebrities. (The Washington Post also received more than 800 pages of emails and published a story about them on Monday.)"
 

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/.../fauci-emails-covid-response

 

[Peter]

Hey Beevis didn’t Dion have some kind of rock group? Why didn’t they give him a gold star instead of a Bronze Star? And what’s it mean if you were a JAG in the Navy? Since President Trump mentioned him as a possible running mate in 2024, here is a cut and paste from Wikipedia about Florida Governor Ronald Dion DeSantis. Closed up for brevity.

 . . . . Early life and education. Ronald Dion DeSantis was born on September 14, 1978, in Jacksonville, Florida, the son of Karen (née Rogers) and Ronald DeSantis. He is of Italian descent. His family moved to Orlando, Florida, before relocating to Dunedin, Florida, when he was six years old. In 1991, he was a member of the Little League team from Dunedin National that made it to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. After graduating from Dunedin High School in 1997, DeSantis attended Yale University. He was captain of Yale's varsity baseball team and joined the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity. On the Yale baseball team, DeSantis was an outfielder; as a senior in 2001, he had the team's best batting average at .336. He graduated from Yale in 2001 with a B.A. magna cum laude in history. He then spent a year as a history teacher at the Darlington School. DeSantis then attended Harvard Law School, graduating in 2005 with a Juris Doctor cum laude.

Military service. DeSantis received his Reserve Naval officer's commission and assignment to the Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG) in 2004 at the U.S. Naval Reserve Center in Dallas, Texas, while still a student at Harvard Law School. He completed Naval Justice School in 2005. Later that year, he received orders to the JAG Trial Service Office Command South East at Naval Station Mayport, Florida, as a prosecutor. In 2006, he was promoted from lieutenant, junior grade to lieutenant. He worked for the commander of? Joint Task Force-Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO), working directly with detainees at the Guantanamo Bay Joint Detention Facility. In 2007, DeSantis reported to the Naval Special Warfare Command Group in Coronado, California, where he was assigned to SEAL Team One and deployed to Iraq with the troop surge as the Legal Advisor to the SEAL Commander, Special Operations Task Force-West in Fallujah. DeSantis returned to the U.S. in April 2008, at which time he was reassigned to the Naval Region Southeast Legal Service. The U.S. Department of Justice appointed him to serve as an Assistant U.S. Attorney^[ at the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Middle District of Florida. DeSantis was assigned as a trial defense counsel until his honorable discharge from active duty in February 2010. He concurrently accepted a reserve commission as a lieutenant in the Judge Advocate General's Corps of the US Navy Reserve. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the Iraq Campaign Medal.

[Peter]

Oh yeah. Bombshell documents. Are you ready for some football from the Far Left? Counter this brothers and sisters of reason.

Quote . . . . but his corrupting presence has contaminated not only the GOP but also the Department of Justice and law enforcement. We still don’t know the extent of how Trump and his allies pressured, corrupted and manipulated our democratic institutions from within to advance their perverse schemes for power and profit.

From The Daily Beast: The GOP Doesn’t Care That Trump Planned a Coup. Do Democrats? Wajahat Ali  2 hrs ago/ Thanks to the bombshell documents the House Oversight and Reform Committee released just ahead of Tuesday’s hearing on the Jan. 6 insurrection, Americans have a clear and unmistakable view of just how far former President Donald Trump went in trying to corrupt our democratic institutions, engage in a violent coup, and overturn our free and fair election.

“These documents show that President Trump tried to corrupt our nation’s chief law enforcement agency in a brazen attempt to overturn an election that he lost,” said Democratic committee chairwoman Carolyn Maloney. She’s absolutely correct. I would add one simple edit: It’s Trump and the GOP. He attempted a coup—and, yes, we should all use the word—and he’s still trying with ample help from Republicans.

If you consider that hyperbole, I direct you to those bombshell documents revealing how the Trump administration, including chief of staff Mark Meadows, attempted to pressure the Department of Justice to advance dangerous conspiracy theories of election fraud and influence courts to nullify the election results so Trump could stay in power.

An hour before announcing his Attorney General Bill Barr would be stepping down, no doubt because he refused to promote “the Big Lie,” Trump’s assistant sent an email to Jeffrey Rosen, his incoming attorney general, showing evidence of alleged “election fraud” in northern Michigan and “talking points” to advance the obvious lie. Two weeks later, Trump’s White House sent a draft brief to Rosen for the DOJ to submit to the Supreme Court intended to effectively nullify the 2020 election and help Trump usurp power. Transcribed interviews with former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows reveal he directly pressured DOJ officials at least five times to investigate batshit conspiracy theories, including one suggesting that satellite technology from Europe was used to tamper with US voting equipment.

It appears Rosen, and other senior members of the DOJ, were not willing to pledge allegiance to Trump over the United States. “Pure insanity” is how Rosen and Richard Donoghue, who was the acting deputy attorney general, described Meadows’ emails. Trump then considered replacing Rosen with a sympathetic sycophant, Jeffrey Clark, who was then acting head of the civil division, to continue influencing the DOJ to help him succeed in his criminal, authoritarian coup.

These revelations, which are shocking and should be thoroughly investigated, come on the heels of the equally jaw-dropping but totally unsurprising news that the Justice Department, acting as Trump’s Luca Brasi, decided to retaliate against Democrats and the media. Specifically, prosecutors subpoenaed Apple for phone records of Democratic Representatives Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell, their aides and family members, including a minor. The Justice Department also sought to retaliate against reporters and media outlets for “leaks” and attempted to seize thousands of emails and phone records of news outlets’ reporters.

If this sounds like the thuggish tactics used by strongmen and corrupt rulers in authoritarian regimes, well, it is. Let’s not forget Trump continues to praise Putin, and was friendly with Hungary’s Orban, who was “Trump before Trump,” Brazil’s Bolsonaro, Turkey’s Erdogan, Saudi Arabia’s Muhammad bin Salman, Israel’s Netanyahu, who is desperately copying Trump’s tactics to remain relevant, Egypt’s Sisi, and the Philippines’ Dutarte. None of them are particularly celebrated as champions of human rights, the free press, an independent judiciary or the small inconvenience known as a democracy by and for the people.

Thankfully, Trump lost and his efforts to erase his loss fell short, but his corrupting presence has contaminated not only the GOP but also the Department of Justice and law enforcement. We still don’t know the extent of how Trump and his allies pressured, corrupted and manipulated our democratic institutions from within to advance their perverse schemes for power and profit. What I do know after watching this hearing is that Jan. 6 was simply a sneak preview. The GOP and its right-wing allies in Congress, law enforcement, and conservative media are going to attempt another coup when they lose another election.

At Tuesday’s hearing, the committee wanted to investigate why it took the National Guard nearly four hours to respond to the U.S. Capitol breach even though top officials at the Defense Department received 12 urgent requests for help from the Capitol police chief and mayor. Meanwhile, Army leaders told the National Guard to “stand by” five times even as violence escalated, which eventually claimed five lives. Pipe bombs were also found near the U.S. Capitol and some of the protestors came with weapons intending to assassinate Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. We also know that officers are being investigated for their alleged role in the insurrection and that white supremacist groups, sympathetic to Trump and the GOP, have tried to infiltrate law enforcement agencies across the country.

The committee had the opportunity to question FBI director Christopher Wray, Gen. Charles Flynn—the brother of Michael Flynn, who was Trump’s disgraced national security adviser and is a prominent promoter of both the QAnon conspiracy and the “Big Lie”—and Lt. Gen. Walter Piatt, director of the Army Staff. It was revealed that Gen. Charles Flynn and Gen. Piatt were both involved in a phone call in which Army leaders were worried about the “optics” of sending in the National Guard. That’s the same National Guard that quickly responded with massive force to peaceful BLM protesters and cleared others out of Lafayette Square with tear gas and violence last summer. No such concerns of “optics” were present then.

One would assume Republicans, who are allegedly so committed to law and order and national security that they held hearings on Benghazi and Clinton’s emails for years and have focused on antifa as a fake terrorist threat, would take the opportunity to dig deep into this massive failure of intelligence and law enforcement that allowed hundreds of armed, violent insurrections to take over the U.S. Capitol for the first time in 200 years. Or, they could ask FBI director Wray to do more to investigate and prosecute members of armed militias and white supremacist groups, some of whom participated in the violent insurrection, and are also the number one domestic terror threat in America.

Nope.

Instead, they used their time to whine, deflect and obstruct. They performed for their base and said the House should be spending its time and powers to investigate Dr. Fauci’s emails, the Wuhan lab theory, the border crisis, the threat of inflation and Biden’s economic policies. They also found time to whine about masking policies at the U.S. Capitol and to urge Americans to move on from the insurrection that Republican Rep. Clyde recently referred to as a “normal tourist visit.”

If you were the party that was actively aiding and abetting a violent insurrection, you’d want to “move on” as well. It was a grotesque spectacle seeing Rep. Paul Gosar grill Wray on who “executed Ashli Babbitt,” and suggesting, without evidence, that the officer who shot her was hiding and waiting to kill her. Gosar didn’t spend time worrying about Officer Sicknick, who died trying to protect his colleagues from Babbitt and the violent mob. Neither did 21 Republicans in the House who just opposed a bill to award congressional gold medals for Capitol Police officers who defended them against a violent mob during the January 6 insurrection.

Like some other House Republicans, Gosar actively supports white supremacist conspiracy theories, has ties to armed militia movements, and cheered on many of the events of Jan. 6. Wray said the FBI has arrested 500 people so far and is currently overseeing hundreds of investigations. They could start by talking to some Republicans like Gosar as members of his party have blocked a bipartisan commission to investigate the insurrection and acquitted Trump twice, with a majority of them even voting to cancel the election. Their conservative media ecosystem is actively gaslighting America and their base with dangerous conspiracy theories, as a majority of Republicans believe the “Big Lie” that Biden lost the 2020 election.

Thankfully, Democrats are in power. However, they retain a slim majority before the 2022 midterms that are stacked against them due to GOP gerrymandering and voter suppression. The question is whether this latest revelation of Trump and the GOP’s attempt to subvert democracy will force enough Democrats to finally abandon the dangerous illusion of “bipartisanship” and flex their power to fight for accountability and justice. One piece of good news is that Pelosi said Tuesday that the House committees will continue their investigations after Republicans blocked the Senate commission. Also, the House Oversight Committee said it will request Rosen, Meadows, and top Trump officials to appear for interviews in light of the latest revelations. Judging from what we’ve seen, Republicans won’t be forthcoming.

If they don’t comply, will Democrats finally flex their subpoena power, do a media blitz, and unite on messaging that Republicans are actively aiding and abetting the destruction of our democracy? One can only hope. It’s time for Democrats to unleash hell, as I’ve discussed before both here and here.

Our democracy is worth it. It’s time for them to behave like Republicans and finally bring a bazooka to this knife fight. If they forfeit their power and principle for “bipartisanship” then they might as well acknowledge they are actively complicit with a counter-majoritarian, extremist GOP that is actively trying to subvert democracy in front of our eyes.

[Peter]

Trump Organization, CFO Expected to Be Charged Thursday Corinne Ramey 1 hr ago . . . . The Trump Organization and Mr. Weisselberg are expected to face charges related to allegedly evading taxes on fringe benefits, the people said . . . . New York state attorney general’s office have been investigating whether Mr. Weisselberg and other employees illegally avoided paying taxes on perks—such as cars, apartments and private-school tuition—that they received from the Trump Organization . . . .

[william.scherk]

Say it ain't so, Joe ... 

From Memeorandum's algorithmically aggregated breaking story of the moment:

Quote

New York Times: 12 minutes ago

Trump Organization and Top Executive Are Indicted in Tax Investigation  —  The former president's family business and its chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, are expected to appear in court on Thursday.  —  A grand jury in Manhattan has indicted Donald J. Trump's family business …

Discussion:

Michael Luciano / Mediaite:   BREAKING: Trump Organization, Top Exec Allen Weisselberg Reportedly Indicted by Grand Jury

Rebecca Downs / Townhall:   Grand Jury Indicts Trump Organization

NBC Bay Area:   Trump Organization Expects Manhattan DA to File Charges Against It Thursday: Sources

Insider:   Manhattan prosecutors charge the Trump Organization and its CFO with tax-related crimes on Thursday, according to NYT report

CNBC:
Trump Organization and its CFO indicted by Manhattan grand jury, report saysNEW!

Discussion:

Andrea Bernstein / NPR:   Trump's Family Business, CFO Are Expected To Be Charged On Thursday In New York

Mayor / One America News Network:   Criminal charges expected Thursday against Trump's company, source says

 

So at least one person will be tied to the stake finally. What effect would a charge against the Trump organization have on its finances going forward, if any?

The org seems to be facing tax fraud (in the matter of real-estate valuations) and the inaugural committee seems to be facing corrupt self-dealing (in that they had inaugural events paid for by donation, but profits skimmed by the location hosts) ...

The only thing I heard that seems half as likely as not is that lenders may jettison contracts with a business under indictment. 

If the various banksters holding varied debts/mortgages/loans pull the plug on some Trump world contracts, what then?

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

1 hour ago, william.scherk said:

What effect would a charge against the Trump organization have on its finances going forward, if any?

William,

None.

Charged ain't convicted and even a conviction would have no effect. 

The real question is what effect will this have on the fake news media's coverage of the audits?

Misdirection is why it's happening...

Michael

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

As further comment on the indictment, here's a high-powered constitutional attorney who often disagrees with Trump (and often agrees).

 

 Michael

[william.scherk]

The Democratic Secretary of State in Arizona is not finished fucking around ...

Did Trump and his allies interfere with the Maricopa County election? Secretary of State Katie Hobbs wants an inquiry

Quote

[...] 

The Republic detailed two separate attempts by Trump to reach Republican Supervisor Clint Hickman in the weeks after the election as the president’s allies sought to alter the election results in a state he narrowly lost to Democrat Joe Biden. 

At the time, Hickman was chairman of the Board of Supervisors, the elected body that oversees elections in the state’s most populous county. 

Hickman received the first call from the White House switchboard on Dec. 31, while he was out celebrating the coming new year with his wife and friends. He let the call go to voicemail.

The second call came on the night of Jan. 3, after the Washington Post published a recording of Trump’s hourlong phone call with the Georgia secretary of state. Hickman sought to avoid talking to the president because of ongoing litigation and let the call go to voicemail.

Separately, Giuliani made calls to supervisors before and after his Nov. 30 meeting in Phoenix about the election outcome with a handful of GOP state lawmakers. The Republic obtained voicemails he left for the supervisors. 

“If you get a chance, would you please give me a call,” Giuliani said in one message. “I have a few things I'd like to talk over with you. Maybe we can get this thing fixed up. You know, I really think it's a shame that Republicans sort of are both in this kind of situation. And I think there may be a nice way to resolve this for everybody."

The Republic also revealed Ward’s attempts to pressure supervisors “to stop the counting,” to delay certifying the results and to look into whether voting software added votes for Democrats. Her efforts continued as Trump’s legal challenges fell short across the country. 

When those efforts did not succeed, through various texts, she said supervisors were “unAmerican” and were playing for the “WRONG team.” 

In one text to GOP Supervisor Jack Sellers, Ward wrote, “We have 4 years to support you guys politically and we will. You are what stands between integrity and theft.” 

Ward did not respond to The Republic’s efforts to reach her last week. On Twitter, she wrote “BS” in response to the article. 

Later, she wrote, “No one can ever say that I am not doing everything I can to assure #ElectionIntegrity. And I always will! #ProudAmerican.”

 

[william.scherk]

Mike Allen at Axios seems to think he has a scoop, writing "Former President Trump has given at least 22 interviews for 17 different books since leaving office, with authors lining up at Mar-a-Lago as he labors to shape a coming tsunami of Trump tomes, Axios has learned."

Scoop: Trump works refs ahead of book barrage

Quote

[...]

• Five authors have gotten two interviews: Michael Wolff ... Maggie Haberman ... former Trump counselor Kellyanne Conway ... Wall Street Journal's Michael Bender, whose book is scheduled for Aug. 10 ... and The Federalist's Mollie Hemingway, whose "Rigged" is due Sept. 21.
• Trump has given one interview each to about a dozen other book projects (several with joint authors): WashPost's Phil Rucker and Carol Leonnig ... Susan Glasser and Peter Baker ... Jon Karl ... Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns ... Ryan Lizza and Olivia Nuzzi ... Washington Examiner's David Drucker ... N.Y. Post's Miranda Devine — whose "Laptop from Hell," about Hunter Biden — is coming Sept. 7 ... N.Y. Times' Jeremy Peters ... Ari Fleischer — whose "Broken," about the press in the Trump era and beyond — will be out in 2022 ... Variety's Ramin Setoodeh, writing about "The Apprentice" ... and The Federalist's Ben Weingarten, writing on U.S.-China policy.

 

[william.scherk]

On 7/9/2021 at 10:37 AM, william.scherk said:

Did Trump and his allies interfere with the Maricopa County election? Secretary of State Katie Hobbs wants an inquiry

Chance'd be a fine thing.

Here's something fresh from Maricopa County's ongoing drama ... 

Arizona GOP Audit Director Barred From Recount After Sharing Data Supporting Trump Loss

Quote

The Republican overseeing the controversial GOP-backed election audit in Arizona has reportedly been banned from entering the building where the recount process is ongoing, after he shared some data with experts that showed the results match the officially certified numbers in Maricopa County.

The Arizona Republic reported on Friday evening that Ken Bennett, Arizona's former Secretary of State who has been described as the audit's "director," was barred from entering the building on the state fairgrounds where the audit is moving forward. The newspaper reported that Bennett had shared some of the audit data with outside experts showing that the ballot recount was tracking "very closely" with Maricopa County's certified results.

Cyber Ninjas, the Florida-based company conducting the audit on behalf of the state's Senate Republicans, told the publication that state Senate President Karen Fann, a Republican, made the decision to block Bennett from the building. Newsweek reached out to Fann for further comment but did not immediately receive a response.

[...]

I've got a page up for following Arizona 'oddit wotchers': https://wsscherk.com/VIDEOCASTS/A59KF/AZ-watcherstimelines.php

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

William,

The people behind this audit are not playing around.

In the beginning, they made people working within and around the audit agree to not share data with anyone.

Anyone.

They meant it.

It's not a hard concept.

btw - Bennet was not a director even though the headline said he was a director. He was a liaison between the audit and the Arizona Senate. A messenger boy, so to speak.

Just as the Biden supporters want to spin that Bennet could not enter the building because he showed data that Biden won, I could also spin and say Bennet probably took a bribe or something to betray his oath. That's why he shared a small portion of the data in exchange for money (or to keep from being blackmailed by pedophilia or something). Of course, I wouldn't say that. I would insinuate it with weasel words.

Does that change anyone's life?

yawn...

Fake news is as fake news does...

Michael

[Peter]

Thanks William. I found this from yesterday on MSN. As reported by William Scherk . . . .. The Arizona Republic reported on Friday evening that Ken Bennett, Arizona's former Secretary of State who has been described as the audit's "director," was barred from entering the building on the state fairgrounds where the audit is moving forward. The newspaper reported that Bennett had shared some of the audit data with outside experts showing that the ballot recount was tracking "very closely" with Maricopa County's certified results. end quote

Newer news from a few hours ago. President Trump just held a rally in Arizona and here are some of his quotes from Politico: “I predict when the votes come in … I think they’re going to be so horrible. They will be, in my opinion, the results will be so outrageous,” he said, promising to continue the fight in further politically driven audits across the country . . . “This is only the beginning of the irregularities,” he insisted, reeling off a litany of polling grievances, none of which his team of lawyers were able to substantiate in court after the election. “We’re not talking about Arizona any more. We’re talking about the United States of America.”

The Republican-controlled Maricopa County government has strongly opposed the review conducted by a company called Cyber Ninjas, whose founder has backed Trump’s claims of a stolen election.

[Marc]

So you walk into my house and steal my TV set.

I go to the police station, video in hand , and say that you stole my tv set.

The thief says that I stole the tv set from them.

The police say that they refuse to look at my video and the courts say that I do not have evidence, nor standing.

Alice in Wonderland.

The Matrix

[william.scherk]

On 7/24/2021 at 5:02 PM, william.scherk said:

Here's something fresh from Maricopa County's ongoing drama ... 

Arizona GOP Audit Director Barred From Recount After Sharing Data Supporting Trump Loss

Ken Bennett may have turned into a "traitor" ... considering how opaque the latter parts of the Oddit are.

 

Edited July 26, 2021 by william.scherk
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[william.scherk]

22 hours ago, william.scherk said:

Ken Bennett may have turned into a "traitor" ...

Transcript via Descript: Ken Bennett audio transcript - Descript