90 Miles From Tyranny

Wednesday, April 5, 2023

Quick Hits Of Wisdom, Knowledge And Snark #1014

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Putin’s And Biden’s Chief Political Opponents Are Now Both Under Arrest

Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin both have something in common as authoritarian rulers: their chief political opponents are both under arrest.

Former President Donald Trump’s Thursday indictment inaugurated America’s stage as a banana republic. Now, Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin both have something in common as authoritarian rulers: their chief political opponents are both under arrest.

On Tuesday, Trump arrived at a New York City criminal court to face charges brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who campaigned for the office two years ago on a platform to investigate the former president. Bragg’s success in capturing an indictment marks the first time a former president has seen charges brought against them. The Manhattan charges stem from 2016 hush money payments in a case so weak prosecutors previously declined to pursue.

Trump is scheduled to make prime-time remarks from his Mar-a-Lago palace Tuesday night. The Florida residence was raided by FBI agents last August under a separate investigation at the personal direction of Biden Attorney General Merrick Garland. President Biden, meanwhile, has remained silent on the political prosecution of his chief antagonist and likely opponent in the upcoming election. Trump leads nearly every poll conducted for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination by double digits.

“Biden’s strategy on Trump’s indictment: No comment,” read a headline from the Associated Press.

The incumbent president’s silence speaks volumes while the administration continues to conduct prosecutorial investigations of the Democrat’s Republican White House predecessor. One investigation by the Department of Justice is probing whether to indict Trump on charges related to the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, and another is investigating possible violations of the Presidential Records Act. Both are being run by Special Counsel Jack Smith.

Last summer, the FBI confiscated 15 boxes from Trump’s possession at Mar-a-Lago, purportedly containing classified documents. In January, Americans learned federal authorities found four troves of classified records in Biden’s private possession from the commander-in-chief’s time as vice president.

Trump faces one more criminal probe by local prosecutors in Georgia determining whether to press charges over efforts to challenge the 2020 election.

This past July, a report in Axios infuriated Beltway elites by outlining Trump’s plans for a complete overhaul of the federal bureaucracy, starting with the Department of Justice, which has been weaponized to go after political minorities. Trump raised $5 million for his 2024 presidential campaign within the first 48 hours of his indictment.

The avalanche of investigations by proponents of the Washington regime place Trump in a similar position as Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, a political martyr who placed a target on his own back for...

Morning Mistress

The 90 Miles Mystery Video: Nyctophilia Edition #1347

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 #2042

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

Judge Aileen Cannon knew the Justice Department’s recent history of bad behavior related to all things Donald Trump would repeat itself. How right she was.

Judge Aileen Cannon was right.

In her controversial order authorizing the appointment of a neutral third-party to review the classification status of documents seized during the FBI’s pillage of Mar-A-Lago last summer, Cannon cited as a main concern the Justice Department’s chronic habit of leaking to the news media. Leaks hinting at what FBI investigators allegedly found, including perhaps nuclear secrets, were reported by reliable media apparatchiks just a few days after the FBI’s unprecedented raid of a former president’s home.

Clearly aware that federal prosecutors already were collaborating with the media to spin the raid as legitimate amid a public outcry, Cannon granted Trump’s request for a special master to “ensur[e] the integrity of an orderly process amidst swirling allegations of bias and media leaks,” she wrote in her September 5 ruling. A proper investigation, she continued, “does not demand unquestioning trust in the determinations of the Department of Justice.”

Cannon, a Trump-appointed district court judge in Florida, at one point confronted prosecutors about the illicit leaks. “Government’s counsel stated that he had no knowledge of any leaks stemming from his team but candidly acknowledged the unfortunate existence of leaks to the press.”

A pile-on ensued against Cannon; the Justice Department appealed her order and prevailed in the appellate court. But Cannon foresaw exactly what has unfolded in the press over the past seven months. And as Trump prepares to fight his very first indictment handed down by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, leaks are springing up all over the corporate media to bolster the appearance of Trump’s criminality.

A lengthy piece in the Washington Post over the weekend gave a detailed account of the obstruction side of the classified documents investigation now led by Jack Smith, the special prosecutor appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland last year to give the false impression of investigative impartiality. If the Post’s reporting is accurate, the obstruction inquiry seems as weak as the original case; recall of the 13,000 items of evidence stolen by FBI agents during the lengthy raid, the government later claimed only about 100 papers contained classified markings.

“The additional evidence comes as investigators have used emails and text messages from a former Trump aide to help understand key moments last year, said the people, who like others interviewed for this article spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing criminal investigation,” Post reporters Devlin Barrett, Josh Dawsey, and Perry Stein wrote.

The reporters specifically named Molly Michael, a former White House assistant who followed Trump to Florida after his term ended, as the aide whose communications are under scrutiny. Investigators also have “witness statements, security camera footage, and other documentary evidence” that purportedly proves Trump was involved in inspecting boxes of materials after receiving a subpoena last May to produce more classified records, the Post further disclosed.

It is highly unlikely those specifics were leaked to the Post by Team Trump—particularly since the carefully timed leak worked in the government’s favor.

The usual suspects quickly surmised that this really must be the end for Trump. Disgraced former FBI agent Peter Strzok concluded on Twitter that Trump’s actions based on the Post report “Feels obstruction-y.” Disgraced former Justice Department prosecutor Andrew Weissmann insisted the obstruction case “could be a rock crusher game over,” perhaps the thousandth time Weissmann made such an unrealized prediction. (Weissmann, by the way, was an outspoken critic of...