A “source” says AG Bill Barr is considering quitting.

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-02-18/ap-source-barr-tells-people-he-might-quit-over-trump-tweets

Fake news or leaker trap.

What's a leaker trap?

Barr is doing everything he can to give the impression he's not a Trump stooge while Trump continues to make it obvious he is. He knows he has zero credibility and the only way to create any is to create the illusion of a rift between himself and Trump. I don't believe for a second he'll resign if he can succeed in getting the media to swallow the idea he and Trump are not joined at the hip.



Giving false information to a potential leaker, so if it gets out, you can confirm that person leaked it.

That's the canary trap.

So, Trump continues to dismantle American institutions, now the impartiality of the legal system.

I wonder if those moves increase or lessen his support on the part of the capitalist elite.

Same thing, no?

A DOJ spokeswoman denies the rumor.

Imagine an attorney general quitting over tweets? Honestly it sounds like projection from an anti-Trump journalist.

I never heard of a leaker trap but what you described is a canary trap. Either it's the same thing, or leaker trap isn't a thing.

Hey, blame the Russian dude, I'm just tryin' to help.

It looks like CNN is having another meltdown, this time over Trump’s pardoning spree.

Trump's pardon spree deepens crisis gripping American justice

It looks like CNN is having another meltdown, this time over Trump’s pardoning spree. — NOS4A2

How do you account for the fact that while there are thousands of people in prison as a result of Draconian mandatory sentencing for (relatively) minor drug offenses, most of them black women, Trump has overlooked them all to reward his rich friends. Do you see any problem with that?

There were a couple of drug-related clemencies.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/19/politics/trump-pardons-commutations/index.html

Tynice Nichole Hall
Trump commuted the sentence of Tynice Nichole Hall, after she served almost 14 years for drug-related charges. Hall was convicted on charges to distribute, possess, and manufacture crack cocaine, as well as possession of firearms, per the Justice Department.
Since she was incarcerated in 2006, Hall took numerous job training programs and has continued to work toward her college degree, the White House statement said.
Her clemency was supported by former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker and Alice Johnson, whose sentence Trump commuted in 2018 at the behest of Kim Kardashian West.

Crystal Munoz
Trump commuted the sentence of Crystal Munoz, who served 12 years in prison for marijuana-related charges.
In 2008, Munoz was found guilty and sentenced to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana, according to court records.
She has spent much of her time in prison committed to her rehabilitation. Munoz mentored others and volunteered to help with a hospice program, according to the White House statement.
Munoz previously applied for clemency during the Obama administration.

2 of the 11 were black women, Tim, one of whom was arrested for drug offences. Another person arrested for drugs was Crystal Munoz, a Latino. These are not his rich friends, but friends of Alice Johnson, a black drug offender. Trump commuted her life sentence back in 2018.

This is gold. Reminds me of Tim’s post above.

Identitarians are the worst and are deserving of ridicule.

While we're on the subject of blaming. I blame the Irish for making Brexit needlessly complicated. So there's that. :yum:

Possibly big news.

Read with caution (note the ellipses:

Fitzgerald said a statement produced by Assange’s personal lawyer, Jennifer Robinson, included a description of “Mr Rohrabacher going to see Mr Assange and saying, on instructions from the president, he was offering a pardon or some other way out, if Mr Assange... said Russia had nothing to do with the DNC leaks.”

Trump Offered Assange Pardon if He Covered Up Russian Hack, WikiLeaks Founder’s Lawyer Claims

2 of the 11 were black women, Tim, — NOS4A2

You're right, I was wrong. He has released now three - the only good things I know of that he has done. Indeed his predecessors should have done. So many more to do, yes?

You're right, I was wrong. He has released now three - the only good things I know of that he has done. Indeed his predecessors should have done. So many more to do, yes?

To be fair to you, Tim, I don’t think Trump is walking through prisons in search of injustices. As far as I can tell people petition for their loved one’s release. To get to Trump’s ear would be a difficult task for anyone without the voice and perhaps even the recognition to do so. So I fear you a right in a sense, though his First Step Act is a step in the right direction, much to the chagrin of many of his republican allies.

I had high hopes that Obama would assign someone to empty the prisons of (usually, almost always) black women sentenced to many years under mandatory sentencing for minor drug offences and that had by Obama's time already served long sentences. Alas, it wasn't to be (nor did he close Guantanamo),

Three things, then, I fault Obama for: 1) not freeing a lot of people who should not now be in prison (I'm assuming he could have - state law v. federal), 2) not closing Guantanamo, 3) not dealing with Mitch McConnell. Presidents Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, maybe even Clinton would have kept McConnell and Ryan and Lindsay Graham and Ted Cruz and the whole long list of disgraceful people that have surfaced under Trump as pets, or in a zoo.

Ah, if only we had a corrupt orange king to rule over us, we could be the greatest nation on earth. MIGA!

Piffle. If you ain't Dutch you ain't much. The Netherlands is already the greatest country in the world despite our politicians being corruptish.

Do you think I can get a Dutch passport. I need a way out of this sinking ship!

Definitely. Easiest if you'd qualify as a highly skilled migrant and get a job in the Netherlands. After five years you could apply for naturalisation. You're highly skilled if:

• you earn more than 29,149 EUR if you're 30 years or younger and have a masters degree or equivalent
• you earn more than EUR 38,347 if you're above 30 years (no degree required
• you do scientific research in the Netherlands

That also gives you a nice 30% reduction in taxes for five years.

Enjoy: naturalisation

@SittinWSocratesTiff that's also for you! :kiss:

EDIT: aren't you British Punshhh? I think you can still move here before the end of the year. If you're employed I doubt the Dutchies will kick you out on the 1st of January 2021.

The new prosecutors in the Stone case are asking the court to apply the enhancements that the original prosecutors asked for, contrary to what the revised recommendation said.

What's going on at the DOJ?

Rohrabacher confirms he offered Trump pardon to Assange for proof Russia didn't hack DNC email

Rohrabacher said that not only did talk of a Trump pardon take place during his meeting, but he also followed up by calling then White House chief of staff John Kelly to discuss the proposal. He did not, however, ever speak to Trump about it, he said.

“I spoke to Julian Assange and told him if he would provide evidence about who gave WikiLeaks the emails I would petition the president to give him a pardon,” Rohrabacher said. “He knew I could get to the president.”

When he spoke to Kelly, the then chief of staff was “courteous” but made no commitment that he would even raise the matter directly with the president. “He knew this had to be handled with care,” Rohrabacher said, and that it could be spun by the news media in ways that would be “harmful” to the president. In fact, Rohrabacher said he never heard anything further from Kelly about the matter, nor did he ever discuss the subject directly with Trump.

So is Rohrabacher lying now when he says that he didn't speak to Trump or was he lying to Assange when he said that he did?

I have no clue what’s going on with Rohrabacher. But it’s an interesting development. Assange has repeatedly said that the Russian government did not give him the emails, and then he was silenced and thrown into solitary. It’s a tragedy what has happened to him and we should all be ashamed.

The new prosecutors in the Stone case are asking the court to apply the enhancements that the original prosecutors asked for, contrary to what the revised recommendation said.

What's going on at the DOJ? — Michael

What's even more confusing is that the new prosecutor is the one who signed the revised recommendation, and when asked about this refused to answer:

ABJ: With respect to the second filing — you signed it. Did you write it?

Crabb: I’m not at liberty to discuss the internal deliberations in DOJ.

ABJ: Were you directed to write it by someone else?

Crabb: I can’t answer.

It’s a tragedy what has happened to him and we should all be ashamed. — NOS4A2

He chose to escape prosecution and hide out in an embassy for years.

3 years 4 months for Stone. What a travesty. Trump should pardon immediately.

Why? He’s guilty. And it’s less than the recommended sentence anyway.