90 Miles From Tyranny

Wednesday, March 22, 2023

House Republicans Launch Probe Into Manhattan DA’s ‘Unprecedented Abuse’ Of Office To Target Trump

Top Republicans across three House committees are looking into Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s rumored coming indictment of former President Donald Trump.

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH), House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY), and House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil (R-WI) sent a letter to Bragg on Monday requesting an interview with the New York prosecutor as well as documents and communications related to the district attorney’s investigation into Trump.

“You are reportedly about to engage in an unprecedented abuse of prosecutorial authority: the indictment of a former President of the United States and current declared candidate for that office,” the letter says. “If these reports are accurate, your actions will erode confidence in the evenhanded application of justice and unalterably interfere in the course of the 2024 presidential election.”

“In light of the serious consequences of your actions, we expect that you will testify about what plainly appears to be a politically motivated prosecutorial decision,” it says.

It’s unclear if Republicans will move to subpoena Bragg to obtain the materials if the district attorney refuses their request. Any subpoena would have to be enforced by the Justice Department, which could refuse to take action against Bragg if the House did hold him in contempt.

Trump set off a firestorm over the weekend when he announced over his social media platform, Truth Social, that he expects to be arrested on Tuesday.

“THE FAR & AWAY LEADING REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE AND FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WILL BE ARRESTED ON TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK. PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!” he posted, calling for his supporters to protest.

The former president’s lead defense attorney, Susan Necheles, said the rumored Tuesday arrest date was based on press reports of Bragg’s investigation. She said Trump’s defense team had received no communications from Bragg’s office on any indictment.

“President Trump is basing this on press reports,” Necheles said. “This is a political prosecution and the DA leaks things to the press instead of communicating to the lawyers as they should.”

Bragg’s office is investigating Trump over an alleged hush money payment Trump made to the former porn star popularly known as Stormy Daniels prior to the 2016 election. The payment was allegedly to keep Daniels silent over an earlier affair she had with Trump.

If Bragg does indict Trump, it would be the first indictment of a former U.S. president. The basis for an indictment, especially considering the political ramifications, is dubious. Other prosecutors have looked at the facts of the case and declined to pursue legal action against Trump, according to The Washington Post.

Bragg has been looking at Trump since taking office in early 2022, continuing an investigation launched by his predecessor, former Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr., though Vance had reportedly tabled the case before...

Morning Mistress

The 90 Miles Mystery Video: Nyctophilia Edition #1333

Before You Click On The "Read More" Link,

Please Only Do So If You Are Over 21 Years Old.

If You are Easily Upset, Triggered Or Offended, This Is Not The Place For You.

Please Leave Silently Into The Night......

The 90 Miles Mystery Box: Episode #2028

You have come across a mystery box. But what is inside?

It could be literally anything from the serene to the horrific,

from the beautiful to the repugnant,

from the mysterious to the familiar.

If you decide to open it, you could be disappointed,

you could be inspired, you could be appalled.

This is not for the faint of heart or the easily offended.

You have been warned.

Girls With Guns

Quick Hits Of Wisdom, Knowledge And Snark #993

Time Is Running Out To Speak Freely About Free Speech In America

Americans need to have an important discussion about free speech now — before the Censorship Complex makes it impossible to do so.

The Censorship Complex — whereby Big Tech censorship is induced by the government, media, and media-rating businesses — threatens the future of free speech in this country. To understand how and why, Americans need to talk about speech — and the government’s motive to deceive the public.

To frame this discussion, consider these hypotheticals:

Two American soldiers training Ukraine soldiers in Poland cross into the war zone, ambushing and killing five Russian soldiers. Unbeknownst to the American soldiers, a Ukrainian soldier filmed the incident and provides the footage to an independent journalist who authors an article on Substack, providing a link to the video.
Russia uses its intelligence service and “bots” to flood social media with claims that the Ukrainians are misusing 90 percent of American tax dollars. In truth, “only” 40 percent of American tax dollars are being wasted or corruptly usurped — a fact that an independent journalist learns when a government source leaks a Department of Defense report detailing the misappropriation of the funds sent to Ukraine.

A third of Americans disagree with the continued funding of the war in Ukraine and organically prompt #NoMoreMoola to trend. After this organic hashtag trend begins, Russian operatives amplify the hashtag while the Russian-run state media outlet, Russia Today, reports on the hashtag trend.
Following the collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank, the communist Chinese government uses social media to create the false narrative that 10 specifically named financial institutions are bordering on collapsing. In reality, only Bank A1 is financially troubled, but a bank run on any of the 10 banks would cause those banks to collapse too.

In each of these scenarios — and countless others — the government has an incentive to deceive the country. Americans need to recognize this reality to understand the danger posed by the voluntary censorship of speech.

Our government will always seek to quash certain true stories and seed certain false stories: sometimes to protect human life, sometimes to protect our national defense or the economy or public health, sometimes to obtain the upper hand against a foreign adversary, and sometimes to protect the self-interests of its leaders, preferred policy perspectives, and political and personal friends.

Since the founding, America’s free press provided a check on a government seeking to bury the truth, peddle a lie, or promote its leaders’ self-interest. At times, the legacy press may have buried a story or delayed its reporting to protect national security interests, but historically those examples were few and far between.

Even after the left-leaning slant of legacy media outlets took hold and “journalists” became more open to burying (or spinning) stories to protect their favored politicians or policies, new media provided a stronger check and a way for Americans to learn the truth. The rise of social media, citizen journalists, Substack, and blogs added further roadblocks to both government abuse and biased and false reporting.

Donald Trump’s rise, his successful use of social media, and new media’s refusal to join the crusade against Trump caused a fatal case of Stockholm Syndrome, with Big Tech and legacy media outlets welcoming government requests for censorship. With support from both for-profit and nonprofit organizations and academic institutions, a Censorship Complex emerged, embracing the government’s definition of “truth” and seeking to silence any who challenged it, whether it be new media or individual Americans — even experts.

The search for truth suffered as a result, and Americans were deprived of valuable information necessary for self-governance.

We know this because notwithstanding the massive efforts to silence speech, a ragtag group of muckrakers persisted and exposed several official dictates as lies: The Hunter Biden laptop was not Russian disinformation, Covid very well may have escaped from a Wuhan lab, and Trump did not collude with Putin.

But if the Censorship Complex succeeds and silences the few journalists and outlets still willing to challenge the government, Americans will no longer have the means to...