Tag: Congressional Hearings

Bi-Partisan Investigation

Just days ago there was another ‘attempt’ on poor Donny’s life and as usual he and his demented minions ran to the cameras to make some wild statement….playing Donny as a victim they have started blaming….

As if right on key….that blonde bimbo Leavitt did what they always do…..blame the Dems….

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt applauded President Donald Trump’s “calm in the face of chaos” after a suspected shooter attempted to take his life for the third time at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, using the moment not only to condemn political violence but also to press an urgent case for strengthening national security funding.

“President Trump is fearless because he loves this country, and he is willing to put his own life on the line to deliver on the promises that he made to the American public,” Leavitt told reporters, emphasizing that while political disagreements are inevitable, “those disagreements must remain peaceful.”

Her remarks came as she returned to the podium despite plans for maternity leave, saying the seriousness of the “attempted assassination” against the president and other administration officials required immediate public communication about the administration’s response.

Leavitt sharply criticized what she described as the long-running “demonization” of Trump by Democrats, media figures and what she called a “left-wing cult of hatred,” arguing that years of rhetoric labeling Trump a “fascist” or “threat to democracy” have contributed to a climate that enables violence. She claimed the suspected shooter’s manifesto was “indistinguishable” from language commonly seen on social media and in public discourse.

https://abc3340.com/news/nation-world/white-house-press-secretary-karoline-leavitt-blames-democrats-rhetoric-for-inciting-political-violence-after-president-donald-trump-assassination-attempt-correspondents-dinner-ballroom-shooting-suspect-cole-tomas-allen-manifesto-kimmel-first-lady-melania

Then there is the reaction from Congress after the growing incidents of political violence…..

“We need a bipartisan national commission for political violence in this country. I heard Sen. Tillis speak,” he added. “We should look at social media. We should look at mental health issues. We should look at language. But we need to do something to bring the temperature down.”

Moments before Khanna’s appearance, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) spoke to Welker about the need for an end to political violence, describing social media as an “amplifier” and “instigator” that targets “vulnerable people.”

“In many cases, we’re seeing people who are committing these horrible acts have behavioral health and other challenges, stability issues in their lives,” Tillis said, adding that what “American people need to do is take a breath, confirm their facts, talk to their elected officials, think a bit before they judge people.”

Tillis continued, “They all have a role to play. And we in elected office do as well. Our words matter. The weight of our words matter, and we need to be very measured in the way that we use them.”

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5850124-bipartisan-commission-political-violence-khanna/

Let me save them some time…..this is happening because of the spread of racism, loss of rights and the raping of this country by a megalomaniac and his buddies…..the people are tired of this assault on them and their country.

This is hilarious on the face of it…..this commission will be a toothless tiger it will ramble on with whitewashed bullshit and try to find a scapegoat.

They know what is happening and they are running scared…..as they should.

Bi-partisanship….the great lie of American politics.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Very Disturbing Testimony

First I would like to point out that interest in the war that is claiming American lives seems to be boring to some here on IST….that is disturbing since it is effecting everyone and few seem to have an opinion on why.

There have been many questions for Donny and his merry band of imbeciles about just why he started this war….The DNI just gave her testimony and it is still unclear.

Tulsi Gabbard told senators Wednesday that Iran’s rulers are battered but still standing, and her own words quickly put her in the crosshairs. The director of national intelligence testified to the Senate Intelligence Committee that Tehran’s regime “appears to be intact but largely degraded” after nearly three weeks of war, and said Iran is “trying to recover” from heavy US strikes on its nuclear facilities. That description clashed with her pre-released written remarks, which had asserted Iran made “no efforts” to rebuild its enrichment capacity—a point that would have undercut one of President Trump’s stated reasons for launching the conflict, the Washington Post reports.

  • When pressed by Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the committee, on the discrepancy, Gabbard said she skipped parts of the statement because “time was running long,” prompting Warner to accuse her of choosing to “omit the parts that contradict the president.”
  • In response to questions from Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, Gabbard acknowledged that “the assessment of the intelligence community is that Iran’s nuclear enrichment program was obliterated by last summer’s air strikes” and there had been “no effort since then to try to rebuild their enrichment capability,” CBS News reports. Asked whether the intelligence community thought Iran was an imminent nuclear threat, Gabbard said only the president “can determine what is and is not an imminent threat.
  • Gabbard sidestepped the question when Warner asked if she had advised Trump that Iran would strike Gulf nations and shut down the Strait of Hormuz if it was attacked, the AP reports. “I have not and won’t divulge internal conversations,” she said. “I will say that those of us within the intelligence community continue to provide the president with all of the best objective intelligence available to inform his decisions.
  • The high-profile hearing, which also featured CIA Director John Ratcliffe and FBI Director Kash Patel, came a day after National Counterterrorism Center chief Joe Kent, one of Gabbard’s top aides, resigned in protest, arguing Iran posed “no imminent threat” and that Israel pushed Trump toward war.
  • Republicans, including Intelligence Committee chair Sen. Tom Cotton, rejected Kent’s view as “misguided.”
  • Warner used the session to question Gabbard’s past role in election-related investigations and warn of an alleged effort to politicize national security powers at home.
  • Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly asked Gabbard and Ratcliffe about a fundraising email from a pro-Trump political action committee that promised “private national security briefings,” for donors, CBS reports. “I assume these are briefings, Director Ratcliffe, that you provide to the president that is now going to be provided to somebody who makes a donation?” Kelly asked. Ratcliffe said no such briefings had happened and they would not be allowed under the Hatch Act. Gabbard said she wasn’t familiar with the email.

And still the question remains.

This is a paper written that could offer some clarification….

The second US war on Iran in less than a year has raised a burning question in popular media: What is the rationale for the war and why is it changing? Is it because negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program were not progressing? Is it because Iran was close to developing nuclear weapons? Is it because Iranian ballistic missiles were going to reach the US soon? Is it because Israel was going to attack Iran and the US took pre-emptive measures to ensure the safety of Americans? Is it because the Iranian government was violating human rights? Or is it something else? The press in the US has not been able to make sense of this changing justification. But this is curious. Was the media asleep over the past few decades?

A quarter of a century ago, I delivered a presentation on US foreign policy towards Iran at an economics conference. My presentation concluded by stating that US policy in the Persian Gulf region had been a series of “regrettably shortsighted policies,” borrowing a phrase from former US Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright. I argued that these policies had served to prolong the life of the theocratic government in Iran. I believed that without the constant threat of foreign enemies, this government would have had no one to blame for its social and economic problems but itself.

In my paper, I outlined how Israel and its lobbying groups in the US were the primary architects of US policy. I explained how they had developed three justifications, or “sins” as I referred to them, to justify punishing Iran:

https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/03/13/its-israel-stupid/

There is the most logical reason to explain why Donny felt the need to attack Iran….It’s Israel, Stupid!

And the beat goes on where it stops no one knows.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

“… Not In My Lifetime”

I read about one of the statements that the nominee for HHS made during his hearing and it shows how clueless this toad is….

The Trump Administration’s pick to run America’s incredibly consequential Health and Human Services Department, Robert F. Jennedy Jr., declared during his contentious first confirmation hearing today that he was “raised at a time when there was no chronic disease epidemic.”

It’s a claim as sweeping as it is idiotic. Kennedy is 71 years old, born in the year 1954, when the world was awash — as it’s always been — in chronic diseases ranging from diabetes to arthritis to asthma, and far beyond (his uncle, former US president John F. Kennedy, suffered from a range of chronic conditions including Addison’s disease.)

https://futurism.com/neoscope/befuddled-rfk-jr-chronic-disease

What a delusional tool and it makes him perfect for a delusional twat in the White House.

This was not the only ‘confrontations’ during the hearing which is still in progress….

Robert F. Kennedy returned to the Capitol on Thursday for Round 2 of his confirmation hearings, and the hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee was as testy as Wednesday’s before the Senate Finance Committee. Some key moments from the hearing:

  • “What will you do with that trust?” The panel is chaired by Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, a doctor. He asked Kennedy if he would continue to make unfounded claims about vaccines if he was confirmed as America’s top health official. Cassidy recounted the “worst day” of his medical career when a young woman needed an emergency liver transplant that could have been prevented with “$50 of vaccines,” Politico reports. Cassidy said there are people who trust Kennedy more than their own doctors and asked, “What will you do with that trust?” At the end of the hearing, Cassidy told Kennedy he was “struggling” with his nomination.
  • Vaccines and autism. Cassidy, considered a key vote for confirmation, repeatedly asked Kennedy if he would accept data that shows no link between the measles vaccine and autism, ABC News reports. Kennedy said he would look at the studies. “That is a very troubling response, because the studies are there,” independent Sen. Bernie Sanders said. “Your job is to have looked at those studies as an applicant for this job.”
  • Two doctors clash. Republican Sens. Markwayne Mullin, Rand Paul, and Tommy Tuberville expressed skepticism about vaccines during the hearing, the New York Times reports. Mullin suggested that vaccines cause autism and said he doesn’t like how his kids “look like a freakin’ pin cushion” after being vaccinated. Cassidy fact-checked Paul, a fellow physician, after Paul questioned the need to give children hepatitis B vaccines.
  • An emotional moment from Hassan. The Times reports that Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan, whose 36-year-old son has cerebral palsy, broke down in tears as she recounted how she thinks every day about whether something she did during pregnancy caused his condition. “So please do not suggest that anybody in this body of either political party doesn’t want to know what the cause of autism is,” she said. Hassan also asked Kennedy about aspects of Medicare. “You don’t know the basics of the program,” she told him after he failed to identify parts of the program.
  • “Your views are dangerous.” Democratic Sen. Angela Alsobrooks pressed Kennedy on claims he has made that Black people should receive vaccines on a different schedule because they have better immune systems, the Times reports. Public health agencies haven’t recommended a different schedule. “What different vaccine schedule would you say I should have received?” Alsobrooks asked. She told Kennedy she will vote against his nomination because his views “are dangerous to our state and to our country.”
  • Another clash with Sanders. NBC News reports that there was a shouting match between Kennedy and Sanders after Kennedy alleged that “almost all” the committee members had received millions of dollars from the pharmaceutical industry and protected its interests. “I ran for president like you,” Sanders told Kennedy. “I got millions and millions of contributions, they did not come from the executives, not one nickel of PAC money from the pharmaceuticals, they came from workers.”

This stooge is making my case that this is a kakistocracy so far I have seen NOTHING that gives me confidence in this administration.

Is this what we voted for?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The “Elmer Fudd” Hearing

I am a staunch critic of the War Department and I think that the person who leads it should be overqualified because they must oversee the use of the military and deal with a budget that would choke a horse.

Trump’s choice is not qualified and I watched the hearing to see what, if anything, would be brought out…..and as I thought it was a nothing more than a sideshow….

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, was grilled by members of the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday about issues including his views on women in combat. Some takeaways from the often testy confirmation hearing:

  • He probably has enough votes. “None of his answers seemed to disturb the Republicans who control the committee,” meaning he will likely have enough votes to move on, the New York Times reports. GOP Sen. Joni Ernst, considered a key vote, had earlier expressed concerns about the former Fox host’s nomination but she went easy on Hegseth on Tuesday. She told an Iowa radio host Tuesday evening that she will be supporting Hegseth, CNN reports.
  • A memorable exchange. The “most memorable part of the hearing,” according to the Washington Post, was a long exchange between Hegseth and Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine over Hegseth’s past, including infidelity and sexual assault allegations. “You have admitted that you had sex while you were married to wife two, after you just had fathered a child by wife three,” Kaine said, per Politico, questioning Hegseth’s judgment. Hegseth dismissed the assault allegations as “anonymous smears.”
  • Republicans defended Hegseth on character issues. Republican senators praised Hegseth’s communication skills, dismissed concerns about his lack of experience, and fired back against Kaine and other critics. “How many senators have showed up drunk to vote at night? Have any of you guys asked them to step down and resign?” asked GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin, per NBC News. “How many senators do you know have got a divorce before cheating on their wives? Did you ask them to step down?”
  • Major issues were sidelined. Apart from brief mentions of China and the war in Ukraine, there was little mention of potential conflicts or other geopolitical issues. “What’s astonishing about the hearing is just how little focus there has been on the bread and butter of what the secretary of defence has to do, which is protect the nation, and ensure you have a military capable of winning conflicts,” Mara Karlin, former assistant secretary of defense, tells the BBC.

His qualifications are that he served in the military…..by that metric I should be considered as well.

This person will oversee the distribution of billions of dollars, actually real close to a trillion, and I do not think this guy is capable of thinking in those complex terms.

This is sad for the War Department but he has said that he will clean it up….but what does that actually mean?

When I think of this guy all I see is Elmer Fudd being bested by Bugs Bunny.

Any thoughts on this turkey?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

 

 

Playing To The Camera

I have often stated that I think cameras in Congressional hearings is a bad idea for all it is actors playing to the cameras for some sort of attention.

It seems that a Senate hearing turned into a infantile playground mash-up recently.

This incident occurred during a labor hearing in the Senate when a senator from Oklahoma showed his ass because he was all butt hurt over some Tweets a labor leader had made.

The calling out the leader to a fist fight….this dumbfuck thinks he is Andrew Jackson) and Bernie had to step in and calm things down.

“God knows the American people have enough contempt for Congress. Let’s not make it worse,” Sen. Bernie Sanders said as a Republican senator challenged the president of the Teamsters union to a fight during a hearing Tuesday. When it was his turn to ask questions during the hearing on labor unions, Sen. Markwayne Mullin read out Sean O’Brien’s posts on X calling him a “clown” and a “fraud” and telling him to “quit the tough guy act” after a previous clash in March, CBS News reports. “You want to run your mouth, we can be two consenting adults, we can finish it here,” Mullin said. O’Brien replied, “OK, that’s fine. Perfect.”

You want to do it now? Stand your butt up then,” Mullin said, per the Hill. “You stand your butt up,” O’Brien replied, prompting Mullin, a former mixed martial arts fighter, to rise from his chair in the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee room. Sanders, the committee’s chair, banged his gavel and said, “No, no, no, sit down. Sit down! You’re a United States senator, sit down.” When Mullin tried to suggest a cage fight to benefit a charity, Sanders attempted to get things back on track, telling the senator, “If you have questions on any economic issues, anything that was said, go for it.”

But if you prefer a visual then watch this….

Somebody needs to grow a pair and make these Congress people act like they are a ruling class.  This guy needs to be censured, then muzzled and then thrown off the committee and made to be a political spectator.  If he wears his anger on his sleeve maybe he should resign and work on anger management.

Now why the title?

This goofball ran to FOX News to get his time in the limelight.

After the verbal back-and-forth had ended, that GOP senator, Oklahoma’s Markwayne Mullin, decided he wasn’t done talking about the tussle, taking to Fox News to discuss it with Sean O’Brien. “In Oklahoma, you don’t do this,” Mullin told host Sean Hannity Tuesday evening. “Maybe you run your mouth in New Jersey, I don’t know, I’m not from New Jersey.” Mullin added that he refused to be intimidated by O’Brien, whom he referred to as a “mob boss” who wanted to “bring a mob mentality back to the Teamsters.”

When Hannity noted that he thought any other reaction from Mullin, who’d stood up from his seat as if ready to fight O’Brien, would’ve been “gutless,” Mullin concurred. “What did people want me to do?” Mullin asked, adding that he “used to get paid to fight professionally” (he’s a former MMA fighter). “If I didn’t do that, people in Oklahoma would be pretty upset at me. … I’m supposed to represent Oklahoma values.” Mullin concluded that “we need more of this, to be quite frank—I’m not saying more violence, but we need more people to be taught a lesson.”

The senator had a similar take when he spoke on Fox’s Bottom Line, whose hosts noted how “disrespectful” O’Brien had been with some of his online criticisms directed at Mullin. “I will tell you this for sure, that’s not how we behave in Oklahoma, and I’m an Oklahoman first,” Mullin said. “If you run your mouth, you will be called out on it.” When asked if there’d been anything that people at home couldn’t see during his run-in with O’Brien, Mullin answered, “The fear in his eyes when I stood up. He was scared out of his mind.” O’Brien didn’t directly address their bickering online, but he did like this tweet.

What a chest thumping primate?

If his hackles get up that easily then maybe he should stay off social media (if you knows what it is that is)

But hold on!  There’s more!

Representative Tim Burchett of Tennessee said Mr McCarthy “elbowed” him in the back while he was speaking with a reporter in Congress on Tuesday.

Long-term adversaries of Mr McCarthy’s, the pair led efforts to oust him from the Speaker’s office in October.

Mr McCarthy said the alleged altercation was accidental.

The incident, described by NPR journalist Claudia Grisales who witnessed the interaction, came just hours before Mr McCarthy’s replacement, new House Speaker Mike Johnson, passed his first major legislative test, a full House vote on his plan for avoiding a government shutdown.

“He’s a bully with $17m and a security detail,” Mr Burchett said of the former Republican leader. Mr McCarthy later told reporters the physical contact was accidental.

“If I would hit somebody, they would know I hit them,” the Californian congressman told reporters.

But in his ethics complaint, Mr Gaetz said Mr Burchett described the assault as a “sucker punch” and a “clean shot to the kidney”.

The ultra-conservative argued in a letter that the incident deserved “immediate and swift investigation by the Ethics Committee”.

“This Congress has seen a substantial increase in breaches of decorum unlike anything we have seen since the pre-Civil War era,” he wrote in the complaint.

This incident just fortifies my contempt for Congress and its theatrics….no matter what party stands in the light.

This is what we get when we allow mental midgets the reins of power….squabbling like demented 8 year olds.

Turn The Page!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Biden Impeachment thing

The big news is the the GOP is on a track for revenge with the whole hearing thing into the possible impeachment of Pres. Biden….

Since the ‘god of gods’ was impeached the GOP thinks it is time for a tit for tat….

Here we go with the round-up…..

The US faces a third possible impeachment of a president in less than four years. GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said the impeachment inquiry into President Biden, launched Tuesday, comes in response to “allegations of abuse of power, obstruction and corruption.” Some onlookers agree with the reasoning, claiming then-Vice President Biden’s role in his son Hunter’s business ventures was “clearly corrupt.” Others, however, say the inquiry is completely unjustified and another way in which McCarthy is catering to the far-right members of his party. More:

  • ‘No clue’: In what’s written as a mock voicemail message left by McCarthy, Rex Huppke at USA Today ridicules the “evidence-free impeachment inquiry” and directs those looking for “a list of the evidence we’ve found linking President Biden to his son Hunter Biden’s business dealings, or a list of any evidence that justifies our impeachment inquiry” to “please call back later, as that list does not currently exist outside the minds of our party’s far-right flank.” He adds “all help is welcome because, frankly, we have absolutely no clue what we’re doing.”
  • ‘Clearly corrupt’: There’s already enough evidence to justify Biden’s impeachment, writes Jonathan Tobin, editor in chief of the Jewish News Syndicate, via Newsweek, citing Biden’s threat to withhold aid from Ukraine’s government unless it fired a prosecutor investigating Burisma, the Ukrainian energy company that paid Hunter Biden to sit on its board. (US allies had made the same demand, alleging the prosecutor was corrupt.) “Biden knowingly took on responsibilities with respect to dealing with Ukraine as well as China that created a conflict of interest with his son’s grifting,” which is “clearly corrupt,” he adds.
  • No brainer’: The inquiry is justified as investigations by the House GOP have “proven” Biden “broke bread with Hunter’s clients, jumped on calls with them, even wrote at least one college recommendation,” according to the New York Post editorial board. It’s also clear that Biden “blackmailed” Ukraine’s government, the board claims. Of course, “details need to be pinned down in all that,” it adds, but it calls the impeachment inquiry “a no brainer” needed to establish “where all the millions funneled through Hunter’s dozens of shell companies came from and went to.”
  • ‘Evidence of influence-peddling’: It’s “worth investigating” $20 million in alleged payments to “Biden family members and associates via shell companies” following “evidence of influence-peddling,” writes the Wall Street Journal editorial board. But there is not yet “evidence of genuine corruption” by President Biden and “Congress is in danger of turning the serious sanction of impeachment into the new censure—a statement of rebuke rather than a threat of removal.”
  • The Bidens’ grift’: There are “reams of credible evidence” that Vice President Biden “participated in schemes that brought his family as much as $20 million,” writes New York Post columnist Michael Goodwin. But he claims the same Justice Department that was “caught covering up the crimes of Hunter Biden, with the prosecutor on the case prepared to let him walk without charges” is the same one that has ignored an informant’s claim that Joe and Hunter Biden each received a $5 million bribe from Burisma’s owner. While “the public is catching on to the Bidens’ grift,” an impeachment inquiry “is the only way the American public will ever get the full truth,” he writes.
  • ‘Unjustified’: The inquiry is yet another way in which McCarthy is showing himself to be “a stooge of the far right,” accommodating “the extremists in his conference who hold his speakership hostage,” according to the Los Angeles Times editorial board. It notes McCarthy launched the “unjustified” inquiry without securing a vote by the full House—something he criticized Nancy Pelosi for doing in 2019, though a floor vote was eventually held—because he might well have lost the vote. “It’s legitimate for Congress to ask whether Hunter Biden received unfair treatment, but nothing about the prosecution of Hunter Biden justifies the drastic step of an impeachment inquiry about his father,” the board adds.

There you go all you need to know about the waste of time, money and energy that the GOP is forcing onto the House.

This is going to be just another Benghazi thing….a total waste of time and useless posturing.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Christmas Eve–2022

First I am recovering from my massive head cold and since it is Christmas Eve I will post only one today so that I can catch up on my holiday prep….

The 06 January Committee has just finished their investigation and the findings are sent to the publishers (and I await the day)….but for those that actually care there are a few of the most glaring findings that can be shared before the publication…..

The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack released its final report Thursday, saying the main cause of the attack was “one man.” They wrote that former President Donald Trump “put the lives of American lawmakers at risk” and threatened American democracy by trying to overturn his 2020 election loss and encouraging his most extreme supporters to march on the Capitol. Some key takeaways:

  • Trump spread claims he had been told were untrue. The report found that Trump’s false declaration of victory on election night was “premeditated” and in the months afterward, he continued to spread fraud claims that his top advisers had told him were untrue, the BBC reports. Former aide Hope Hicks testified that Trump himself mocked some of the “crazy” claims made by lawyer Sidney Powell, reports the New York Times. The committee found that Trump’s claims and his Dec. 19 “Be there, will be wild” tweet brought extremists to Washington, DC, on Jan. 6.
  • Far-right groups led the attack. The report found that the first wave of rioters to enter the Capitol was “disproportionately comprised of members of the Proud Boys, Three Percenters, QAnon fanatics and so-called ‘Groypers’ loyal to Nick Fuentes” per Politico. The report said that calling the attack a riot was “partly true.” “Some of those who trespassed on the Capitol’s grounds or entered the building did not plan to do so beforehand” the report said. “But it is also true that extremists, conspiracy theorists and others were prepared to fight. That is an insurrection.”
  • Trump failed to act and seemed to approve of riot. The report documented how Trump watched the attack unfold on television, resisting calls to urge his supporters to stop the violence and failing to instruct federal law enforcement agencies to assist besieged officers from the Capitol Police and DC Metropolitan Police. “Potus im sure is loving this,” Trump aide Robert Gabriel said in a text message during the attack, per the Washington Post.
  • Trump corruptly sought to overturn election. The panel set out details of Trump’s plot to overturn the election results, including how he pressured then-Vice President Pence to refuse to count electoral results and sought to corrupt the Department of Justice by trying to goad DOJ officials into making false statements in support of his effort, the Guardian reports.
  • “Should we just deploy now and resign tomorrow?” The report details how law enforcement failed to share or act on warnings of potential violence ahead of the riot and describes the frustration of the DC National Guard as the riot unfolded and they were not called in. It said the guard’s commander, Maj. Gen. William J. Walker, said at one point, “Shall we just deploy now and resign tomorrow?” per the New York Times.
  • Key recommendations. Beyond criminal charges for Trump, the panel recommended banning the former president from holding public office in the future, the Hill reports. It also called for tougher oversight of the Capitol Police, greater subpoena powers for Congress, and for the joint session of Congress to count electoral votes to be declared a national security special event. The report said Congress should investigate the “policies of media companies that have had the effect of radicalizing their consumers, including by provoking people to attack their own country.”

Now you know…..

Watch this blog for more information.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Merry Christmas

The Last Public Hearing

The Congress is closing out its hearings on the 6 January insurrection…..

This is for all those that are truly interesting it what may come out of these hearings.

The ninth and probably last public hearing from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack ended Thursday with a vote to subpoena former President Trump. Earlier, the panel presented more evidence that advisers had urged Trump to declare victory on Election Day in 2020 whether he had won or not, and that Trump privately acknowledged he had lost, despite his public claims that the election had been “stolen.” Some takeaways:

  • “Powerful case” might not be enough. The committee presented a “powerful case full of damning testimony mainly from the defendant’s own advisers, allies, and even relatives,” Peter Baker writes at the New York Times. But it’s far from clear whether it will change the minds of many Trump supporters, he notes. The evidence may “have lit a fire at the Justice Department … as federal prosecutors appeared to ratchet up their own investigation in recent months,” Baker writes.
  • Subpoena was big step. The Hill calls the 9-0 vote in favor of the Trump subpoena a “remarkable step” after “months of wavering on whether to compel cooperation” from the former president. It “marks a major escalation” in the effort to hold Trump accountable for the Jan. 6 attack, though he is almost certain to challenge it in the courts, meaning the panel is unlikely to be able to obtain his testimony before its final report at the end of the year.
  • Footage showed leaders calling for help. In what the AP calls “one of its most riveting exhibits,” the panel showed previously unseen video of congressional leaders calling for help during the Capitol attack. “They’re breaking the law in many different ways,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says at one point. “And quite frankly, much of it at the instigation of the president of the United States.” (More on that here.)
  • New Secret Service evidence. Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff said newly obtained documents show that Secret Service members expressed concerns about armed rallygoers and possible violence more than a week before Trump’s Jan. 6 rally, the Washington Post reports. He said the evidence “strongly suggests” that previous testimony from Secret Service members and White House witnesses, who said they hadn’t received information that officials could be in danger, was “not credible.”
  • Criminal referral question is still up in the air. The New York Times notes that the question of whether the committee will recommend criminal charges against Trump or anybody else was left unresolved, though Republican Rep. Liz Cheney said near the end of Wednesday’s hearing that there was “sufficient information to consider criminal referrals for multiple individuals.” The committee is expected to produce its final report in December and it will be dissolved 30 days later, before the new Congress in January, the AP reports.

The Congress is closing out its investigation hearings just in time for them to go home for the mid-terms.

We can only guess what will be the outcome….after all a new House may well be sworn in and that could throw a monkey wrench into the deliberations.

Only time will tell if this investigation will come to anything other than fodder for nthe MSM.

Any thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Those J6 Hearings

After the assault on our democracy on 06 January I am all for prosecuting the offenders to the full extent of the law.

Now we have the J6 hearings that is attempting to find out who knew what and said what and did what…..if this was another time I would be in full agreement with the hearings….but as it is today they are nothing more than political theater for both parties.

Just watch part of a hearing and tell me it is not theater of the absurd.

I agree with former Senator Al Franken that these hearing will accomplish little…..

Monday’s edition of The Al Franken Podcast, the former senator praised the hearings, but ultimately believes they will make little to no difference.

“I have been watching the hearings and they have completely surpassed my expectations or at least surpassed what I had feared,” Franken said.

“I think that they have been devastating. Am I shocked by anything? No. No revelation has shocked me because this is (Donald) Trump. And how can you possibly be shocked by anything about Donald Trump? Nothing anyone could say at these hearings about Donald Trump could possibly shock me, you know, and there are at least four more hearings!”

The former senator went on to list examples of the kind of ridiculous information that could come out which would still fail to move the needle.

Franken imitated a committee member asking the question, “‘Just curiously during the three hours of the riot, did the president ever dance a jig? … Can you tell us about it?’”

“‘Yes,’” he continued impersonating a witness, “‘There was a misreport that the crowd had found the vice president and was tearing him to pieces and that’s when President Trump danced a jig. Well, I’m not exactly sure the legal definition of a jig, but it was clearly a celebratory dance of some sort.’ I mean, would you be shocked if we heard that in the next hearing and then commentators would be asking, ‘Do we really think it would be wise to indict a former president?’”

“Here’s my take, the only thing worse than prosecuting Donald Trump is not prosecuting Donald Trump,” he added. “Judge Luttig was right. Donald Trump and his allies continue to pose a clear and present danger to our democracy. And by the way, I was just on CNN, I said that all these Trump / (Mike) Pence people who testify are not heroes. If they had spoken out before January 6th, there would be a number of people alive who are now gone. But even if they hadn’t come out before January 6th, why didn’t they speak up during the impeachment?”

Al Franken Doesn’t Think Jan. 6 Hearings Will Make A Difference: ‘How Can You Possibly Be Shocked by Anything’ About Trump?’

These hearings will accomplish nothing….any ‘bad guys’ will have the pee-pee whacked and then go on to continue to spread crap and dissension.

Again they are little more than political theater that sole purpose is to generate 30 second news bytes….little will change.

If you have been watching this theatrical performance play out….what are your thoughts?

Watch This Blog!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Should We Or Should We Not?

That is the question the House of Reps is asking.

The question was part of a report I saw over the weekend….whether the Hose will consider legal action against those the defy a subpoena issued….considering?

The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot will “swiftly consider” holding one-time Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon, and potentially others, in contempt of Congress for ignoring committee subpoenas, committee chairman Bennie Thompson vice-chair Liz Cheney said Friday.

The move came after Bannon formally advised the committee that he would be unable to comply with their requests, citing former President Donald Trump’s intention to invoke executive privilege. In a letter obtained by ABC News, Bannon’s lawyers said that until the matter is settled in court, they will not comply with the committee’s subpoena.

The committee last month issued subpoenas to Bannon and other top Trump aides Mark Meadows, Kash Patel and Dan Scavino, as part of its probe into the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. An additional 11 subpoenas were issued last week to organizers of the pro-Trump rally that preceded the attack.

Meadows, a former White House chief of staff, and Patel, an ex-Pentagon official, are “engaging” with the committee, officials said. The committee had no update on the status of Scavino.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/jan-committee-swiftly-criminal-contempt-steve-bannon-ignore/story

This proves my point about just how feckless the Congress has become.

Marshals should have been on stand-by for there was a great possibility that their legal requests would have been ignored.

And yet they have to ‘consider’ whether to use legal force to compel those people to comply.

I standby my statement that these ‘elected’ officials are as worthless as tits on a flashlight.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”