Thursday, April 4, 2019
Mueller's Chevauchée: Burn Everyone and Everything Trump Loves
Medieval English kings were not nice people. Edward III (1312–1377), in particular, used his son the Black Prince to wage a form of warfare called chevauchée, which consisted of killing and burning everyone and everything that could be reached by fast-moving raiders.
The object was twofold. One was to destroy an opponent's logistics base and discourage supporters. The other was to bait the opponent into leaving a good defensive position and coming out into the open, where he could be attacked; a noble needed strong nerves and a stony heart to stay behind walls while his subjects were slaughtered and his lands destroyed.
As many have noted during the past week, Robert Mueller and his legal sell-swords must have been aware for nigh onto two years, at least, that the accusation that Trump's campaign colluded with the Russians had no evidentiary support. Nonetheless, per the attorney general's summary letter to Congress, the investigation spent tens of millions of dollars, employed 19 lawyers and 40 other professional staff, issued 2,800 subpoenas, executed 500 search warrants, obtained more than 230 orders for communications records, authorized almost 50 pen registers, made 13 document requests to foreign governments, and interviewed 500 witnesses.
Barr and Mueller seem to regard this recounting as cause for satisfaction, as evidence of great diligence by the Department of Justice. But each of these actions inflicted substantial expense and career damage on those unlucky enough to be caught up in it. Every one of those witnesses should have lawyered up, knowing the ruthlessness of prosecutors on the scent of a big-time case. The game is to find something on a lower-level person and threaten him with heavy penalties unless he gives the prosecutor a more tempting target. If no extortionary material can be found, the witness can be accused of lying to the FBI, with the proof consisting of notes taken by the interviewing FBI agents themselves, since the agency refuses to make recordings. Family members can be threatened.
Most of these witnesses have kept quiet about the experience, content to have escaped. Some are speaking out, such as Michael Caputo, who has written eloquently and repeatedly about the costs imposed on him and others.
Sundance, at Conservative Treehouse, concludes that none of this investigating was really directed at the collusion charge. It was all an effort to entrap Trump himself or at least some of his supporters into actions that could be branded as "obstruction of justice," with that term broadly interpreted to encompass almost any action he took.
When Trump said Michael Flynn was a "good guy," this was spun as "obstruction." When he wanted to release FISA memos, he was warned that this would be "obstruction." Any reaching out to witnesses would have been branded "obstruction." Any statement of sympathy for Paul Manafort or Roger Stone would have been obstruction gold.
In this view, which is persuasive, the collateral damage inflicted on those on the fringes of the investigation was not...
Make America Loved Again...
Even if it makes her uncomfortable, violates her personal space or sexually harasses her....
Joe Biden ‘Steered $1.8 Billion’ to Ukraine While His Son Bagged ‘Sweetheart Deal’ from Their Government
Schweizer joined Tuesday’s edition of SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Tonight with hosts Rebecca Mansour and Joel Pollak.
Schweizer said, “I think a deeper problem that [Joe Biden] faces is — as has been reported on Breitbart and reported at the Hill, today — which I think is far deeper is the fact that his family, particularly his son, cashed in while he was vice president of the United States.”
John Solomon reported on Hunter Biden’s receiving millions of dollars from Burisma Holdings after being installed on the company’s board during his father’s vice presidential tenure:
U.S. banking records show Hunter Biden’s American-based firm, Rosemont Seneca Partners LLC, received regular transfers into one of its accounts – usually more than $166,000 a month – from Burisma from spring 2014 through fall 2015, during a period when Vice President Biden was the main U.S. official dealing with Ukraine and its tense relations with Russia.”
The general prosecutor’s official file for the Burisma probe – shared with me by senior Ukrainian officials – shows prosecutors identified Hunter Biden, business partner Devon Archer and their firm, Rosemont Seneca, as potential recipients of money.
Shokin told me in written answers to questions that, before he was fired as general prosecutor, he had made “specific plans” for the investigation that “included interrogations and other crime-investigation procedures into all members of the executive board, including Hunter Biden.”
Schweizer asked, “There’s all kinds of questions and implications. Is there a Russian component to this, because Burisma is such a corrupt...
Senate Republicans Trigger ‘Nuclear Option’ to Speed up Approval of Trump Nominees
The rules change limits debate on most nominees to two hours instead of 30. White House selections for the Cabinet, Supreme Court and appeals courts would be exempted from the new rules. Every Democrat opposed the move, joined by Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Mike Lee (R-UT).
The Senate changed the rules after a debate that featured personal finger-pointing between the chamber’s party leaders, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Minority leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). They have battled over judicial filibusters since the administration of President George W. Bush.
McConnell said the battles on presidential nominees date back to Schumer-led filibusters of Bush appeals court picks such as Miguel Estrada, whose nomination stalled after a lobbying campaign by liberal judicial activists.
“He started this whole thing that we’ve been wrestling with since 2003, cooked it up, convinced his colleagues to do it,” McConnell said.
“This systematic obstruction is unfair to our duly elected president and, more importantly, it is disrespectful to the American people who deserve the government they elected,” he added. “We cannot set this new precedent that the Senate minorities will systematically keep an administration understaffed down to the least controversial nominees anytime they wish somebody else had won the election.”
In response, Schumer contended McConnell was Machiavellian, cynical and hypocritical.
Schumer, however, supported this step in a 2013 vote orchestrated by then-Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), that eliminated the filibuster on Cabinet nominees and most judicial appointees. The maneuver allows the majority to change the rules on a...
The 90 Miles Mystery Box: Episode #581
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)