Sic Semper Tyrannis

Cuomo should be recalled, and then prosecuted ...

"Unlike California, which is petitioning to recall Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom for his coronavirus lockdowns and mismanagement, New York does not have a recall procedure.

Pataki once sought a New York amendment for just that in 2002, but then Democrat Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver swatted it down.

Gov. Cuomo is facing fire after his aide Melissa DeRosa admitted to Democrats this week the administration withheld nursing home deaths data from media and lawmakers fearing a Trump administration Justice Department investigation. Cuomo is one of five Democrat governors who issued a mandate to nursing homes at the start of the coronavirus pandemic to take in COVID-19 positive patients.

About 40% of New Yorkers supported a recall of Gov. Cuomo even before the DeRosa admission, according to the Post.

"Crime is through the roof," Pataki told the Post, adding, "You have mentally ill people on the street harassing you and this is Sixth Avenue and midtown in the middle of the day. There is a tremendous concern that things are not as they should be and it's not because of COVID.""  Newsmax

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So change da law awready, Change da law!

Get this monster rotten with self-centered egotism out of Albany before he can steal, wreck or kill anything else.

This creep sat on his ass and performed for the camera everyday while old people were dying like flies in the death cells he had condemned them to even as he complained about the lack of support from Trump.

This is also the character who ignored and under used the Navy hospital ship ties up at the pier in New York and the large field hospital the Army Corps of engineers built for the people of New York City.

Women across the country thought him attractive?  Perhaps we should reconsider the 19th Amendment.  pl 

https://www.newsmax.com/politics/andrewcuomo-nursinghomes-deaths-georgepataki/2021/02/14/id/1009958/

Former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith gets probation after making a false statement in the FISA surveillance warrant process

By Robert Willmann

The pretense and bogus public face that an even-handed application of law exists in the federal legal system showed itself again today as former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith received 12 months probation and a $100 special assessment after pleading guilty to making a false statement during the process for the third renewal of a surveillance warrant on Carter Page, PhD.  The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) allows the most intrusive surveillance of a person and his or her communications, and can also include physical searches and the production of business records and other tangible things.  Clinesmith pleaded guilty on 19 August 2020, and court records and a transcript of the plea hearing were made available here on SST [1]. 

This is the only criminal case filed so far by Connecticut U.S. Attorney John Durham, who was directed by Attorney General William Barr on 18 May 2019 to conduct a preliminary review, which turned into a criminal investigation, about matters related to the 2016 presidential campaign and governmental conduct.   Part of what Durham is to look into is the FBI's "Crossfire Hurricane" investigation, which was officially opened in 2016 and which allegedly was about the Trump campaign and the Russian government.  Clinesmith's criminal conduct happened as part of that FBI activity.  Barr made Durham a "special counsel" under Justice Department procedures on 1 December 2020 that would give Durham some degree of independence as the Biden administration moved in.

The written order of conviction and sentencing is not yet in the court clerk's file, with the only notation being on the clerk's docket sheet about the sentencing on 29 January 2021.  One other bit of activity occurred in the case, when Carter Page filed a request under the Crime Victims' Rights Act to be acknowledged as a crime victim under that law, since he was subject to surveillance based on unlawful applications for orders from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) [2].  He also filed a supplement to that request saying that with the current posture of the case, it would not be workable to establish a dollar amount of restitution he should receive [3].  He was the target of four consecutive surveillance warrants, an original one which was then renewed three times.  Each one was for 90 days, which means the surveillance of him went on for an entire year.  

News Updates From Inside The Forbidden City

The heeling is heading our way. Over the last few days I took a little time off from the 'net. Caught a re-run of Rumpole of the Bailey. "The Golden Thread" that runs through English common law. Good stuff, not taught in school nowadays. Too bad, really. Then I tried to catch up on all the goings on, and boy did somebody kick over the chamber pot ant hill. I'm barely keeping up.

"Not since Abraham Lincoln was smuggled into Washington has anyone assumed the presidency of a more divided and angry nation than Joe Biden. He brings with him a satchel full of scandals and an agenda of mumbled promises. His pledge to be the great healer rings hollow. His recent dishonest comments concerning Trump’s advocacy of violence at the Capitol only proves the point." "The elites have no idea how angry millions of Americans are." Quotes from above article in "free Republic" (see the link). Boy, there are  some irritated people out there. 

"Dear idiots, you’re like the wife with her arm in a sling and both eyes blackened telling her husband “Please don’t say anything to Joe. He’ll be mad.” Says woman and immigrant to America, now a citizen.  "The 2020 election was a fraud — and Congress including the Republicans — are cool with that." To quote another blogger.

Meanwhile inside the Nation's Capital ..... it is, to quote Rumpole, a question of rloyalty. 

Mostly Peaceful Protests in D.C.

Commentary by Fred.

The nation's capital witnessed a massive and mostly peaceful protest today. During this mostly peaceful event tens of thousands of law abiding concerned citizens gathered to discuss their greviences, to air them before the press and government officials. The national leadership was all gathered in the city to attend to pressing matters of state. What better time for a rally and protest and a march for peace than when all our leaders are there to hear and see. 

Trump signs the pork-laden spending and covid-19 bill. Maybe a vote to come on more money and section 230.

By Robert Willmann

President Trump has signed the estimated $2.3 trillion Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021.  Its 5,593 double-spaced pages are stuffed with pork to grease domestic and foreign hands in order to get it passed for the piddling $600 for some people in the U.S., and possibly more for some illegal immigrants.  Referred to as House Resolution 133, the copy still sits at the House Committee on Rules.  Divided up into Divisions A-FF, it may be the longest law ever passed by Congress.  Divisions 'M' and 'N' are for "corona virus response and relief"--

https://rules.house.gov/sites/democrats.rules.house.gov/files/BILLS-116HR133SA-RCP-116-68.pdf

Trump is signing H.R. 133 in exchange for promises, instead of getting the promises passed by Congress first, and then signing all the bills at once.  But this was probably done because the government would run out of other people's money on Monday night, 28 December, and some sort of partial government shutdown would then happen [1]. 

When the Internet was getting underway for the general public with slow dialup connections over a telephone line using a modem, some computer technology companies planned for the future and got Congress -- under the name of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 -- to give them legal liability protection like a common carrier and almost as good as a telephone company.  If someone uses a telephone to slander and defame someone, or to plan or carry out crime, the telephone company cannot be sued in a civil lawsuit, nor can it be charged with a crime as a party or co-conspirator, including for such things as robbery and murder.  It is a "common carrier", and acts as a neutral carrier of communications between people, although a phone company does have to abide by laws concerning such things as wiretapping.  The phone companies used to keep your call records private (the "subscriber information"), unless a court order was obtained.  However, after the George W. Bush administration started the illegal domestic surveillance program, it also secretly got the phone companies (except for Qwest) to agree to hand over your calling information in clear violation of the law restricting disclosure without a court order.  Lawsuits were filed because a phone company was liable for $1,000 for each disclosure.  With millions of customers, that added up to billions of dollars, but Congress kneeled down and gave the phone companies retroactive immunity for their misconduct.  Then section 215 of the USA Patriot Act amended the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to allow easier collection of call-detail records, and the FISA court, operating in secret, was told by the government that everybody's phone metadata was "relevant", and the "judges" went along with it.  This misuse of the statute became well known to the public in 2013.  But the computer tech companies quietly got their own protection starting in 1996 [2].

The Bidonians at play.

"Another Biden walks free.

Joe Biden’s niece Caroline Biden pleaded guilty to DUI on Dec. 3 — and was sentenced to 20 days to six months of "confinement," Pennsylvania court records said.

But the small print shows Biden, 33, won’t see a day behind bars after she negotiated a plea deal with the Montgomery County district attorney.

Instead of jail, she got five-plus months of probation, with 20 days of rehab in January counted toward her sentence.

The walk-free plea continues a long Biden family tradition of avoiding jail time. A Post investigation in July found at least eight other busts of Bidens resulted in wrist slaps.

"She will be on probation … Should she then violate or break the law at any time, then she will be on the hook for the rest of the sentence," Kate Delano, a DA spokeswoman, told The Post."

"Biden, daughter of James Biden, was busted in Lower Merion Township, Pa., in August 2019 after slamming her car into a tree. Arresting officer Jeffrey Seamans noted Biden, who was driving without a license, "had difficulty focusing on the conversation" as he questioned her."

"As her Uncle Joe campaigned for president, the case took more than a year crawling through the Pennsylvania courts. Her arraignment was held on Nov. 4 — one day after the presidential election.

A court spokesperson insisted the date was auto-generated and its post-election timing was coincidental.

Mike Gottlieb, a Norristown, Pa., attorney with experience in DUI cases, said the ruling was fair for a first offense. "It is not an unusual sentence to get credit for the time in the rehab. So truthfully, I don’t think she was treated any differently than any of my clients would have been," he told The Post." foxnews

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So, this gal;

1. Borrowed a credit card from someone to pay a bill at Bigelow's Pharmacy (in New York City?).  She then used it to open a line of credit with BP and over a year charged $110,000 to the account, but - she says she was a naughty girl and is very sorry.
2. And then, there is this DUI with the tree ramming while whacked incident.
3. And before that there is a little matter of hitting a cop who displeased her.

So, she is James' little girl.  The Bidonians are not really very good at "this."  You know what "this" is.  Someone (I could name them now) will write to say that the Trumps are no better.  Really?  Tell us about it.  pl

https://www.foxnews.com/us/joe-bidens-niece-caroline-gets-no-jail-time-after-dui-guilty-plea

https://www.bigelowchemists.com/

Electoral College members meet in the states

By Robert Willmann

Congress set a date for presidential electors to meet as "the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December next following their appointment at such place in each State as the legislature of such State shall direct", which is today.  The Electors meet in their separate states and are to vote for president and vice president [1].  But that is not the end of it.  Parts of the U.S. Constitution apply to the Electoral College, and Congress has set out a procedure in Chapter 1 of Title 3 of the U.S. Code [2].  Ultimately, the U.S. Congress is to approve what the Electoral College does.  The photograph above is Congress counting electorial votes in 1917 [3].

Some states may have a live video of the meeting of the electors but might not keep it for later viewing.

Evidence of significant voting fraud exists, with the focus on Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, and Nevada, but courts have so far refused to allow the preservation and a forensic examination of electronic voting and counting machines in those states.

The Trump administration continues to challenge aspects of the election, as it is indeed not over at this point, even at the conclusion of the meetings of electors.  Today, White House advisor Stephen Miller appeared on the Fox and Friends television program to say that the problem of voting fraud will continue to be contested, and the interview starts at 23 minutes, 41 seconds into the video until 31 min., 20 sec.--

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSRa7ZpUHlM

A quest for the truth is not stopping.

[1]  https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2012/11/the-electoral-college-what-is-it-and-how-does-it-function/

[2] Title 3, U.S. Code, Chapter 1.  Presidential elections and vacancies.

https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title3/chapter1&edition=prelim

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/3/chapter-1

[3]  http://loc.gov/pictures/resource/npcc.27677/

 

"House Conservatives Urge President Trump To Name A Special Counsel To Investigate Election Fraud" OAN

"Rep. Lance Gooden (R-Texas) is leading an effort with nearly three dozen House GOP lawmakers, urging President Trump to name a special counsel to investigate election fraud. The lawmakers noted they believe the Justice Department isn’t taking the allegations seriously."  OAN

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IMO this should be done.  A Special Counsel should be named to make it as difficult as possible for the Harris/Biden Administration to cancel all investigation of the obvious fraud at both the wholesale and retail levels (Dershowitz reference).  If this is not done, consolidation of power on the Left will lead to a sham republic.  IMO this Special Counsel should be appointed from outside the government.  If Barr has to be fired to accomplish a direct appointment by the president, so be it.   pl 

https://www.oann.com/house-conservatives-urge-president-trump-to-name-a-special-counsel-to-investigate-election-fraud/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_prosecutor

The U.S. Supreme Court looks the other way, ignores illegality, and denies leave to file the Texas election lawsuit

By Robert Willmann

Kneeling down before documented voting fraud and conduct violating the U.S. Constitution's requirement that state legislatures alone create election laws and rules, the U.S. Supreme Court denied Texas "leave to file" its election lawsuit against electoral behavior in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, and Wisconsin.  In a pathetic excuse containing no factual or legal detail, the court said permission to file was:  "... denied for lack of standing under Article III of the Constitution. Texas has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another State conducts its elections"--

https://turcopolier.typepad.com/files/tex_electcase_order_denying_leave_to_file.pdf

A side issue that Congress can remedy is the Supreme Court's own unconstitutional rule that says you have to ask for leave to file a lawsuit in that court which has original, exclusive jurisdiction over cases between states in the U.S.  The courts exist to hear and decide disputes that start with the filing of a document describing the problem.  If you have a lawsuit about an automobile wreck, or breach of contract, or a divorce, or anything else, filing the case is a "ministerial act" by the court clerk.  The court then processes the case under the rules of procedure and evidence.  If a lawsuit presents no real dispute, there are procedures for a court to address that issue, and some cases are concluded fairly quickly without a trial.

In a brief statement by Judge Sam Alito in the order, joined by Judge Clarence Thomas, this issue is mentioned:  "In my view, we do not have discretion to deny the filing of a bill of complaint in a case that falls within our original jurisdiction. ...  I would therefore grant the motion to file the bill of complaint but would not grant other relief, and I express no view on any other issue".

Their statement is vague to the extent that it does not specify what other relief they would not grant, because if they would not grant any relief requested by Texas and the other states trying to join the case, then there is no reason for them to say that they "express no view on any other issue".  They might be referring to not granting a stay order or temporary injunction.  Or they might be talking about the issue of voting fraud.

As we would say in San Antonio, using a little Spanish, "There are two kinds of judges in this world.  Con huevos and sin huevos".  At this point, the only judge in this country who is (metaphorically) con huevos is Patricia McCullough of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania.

UPDATE, 12 December 2020:  I realized last night that I did not mention the local description of judges was partly in Spanish, and so I have clarified it.  San Antonio, Texas has a Spanish and Mexican heritage, and so all sorts of expressions are a mixture of English and Spanish. 

Also, the Supreme Court's own rule that they can deny a state "leave to file" a lawsuit there when they are the court with  jurisdiction is unconstitutional because it violates the guarantee of "due process of law" in the constitution.  The idea of due process includes at the very least a meaningful procedure consisting of various steps -- a process.  If the Supreme Court can close the door and refuse to take any action in a case, there is no process at all.

 

Texas sues 4 states in the U.S. Supreme Court for election law changes and voting misconduct

By Robert Willmann

After 25 years of not being itself (with a few exceptions), that began with George W. Bush as governor in 1995, Texas has gone back to its roots and is standing up independently by filing a lawsuit against Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, and Wisconsin over their unconstitutional election law changes and the voting misconduct those states allowed to happen.

This must have caught a lot of people by surprise, since legal actions rarely start in the U.S. Supreme Court.  But it answers the question:  when a state in the U.S. has a dispute with another state, where is the lawsuit filed?  Article 3, section 2 of the Constitution says, "The judicial Power shall extend ... to Controversies between two or more States ...."  And:  "In all cases affecting Ambassadors, other Public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction".  Congress made the authority to hear the cases (the "jurisdiction") exclusive to the Supreme Court, so that no other court would be involved [1].

Supreme Court Rule 17 describes the procedure to be used, which the court can tailor to each case and make it up as they go along:  "The form of pleadings and motions prescribed by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure is followed.  In other respects, those Rules and the Federal Rules of Evidence may be taken as guides" [2].

Update: Judge Alito orders a reply by December 8 on the Pennsylvania state court lawsuit and a stay order about certifying the election

By Robert Willmann

A request was made to the U.S. Supreme Court asking it to issue a stay order and to agree to hear the state court lawsuit from Pennsylvania about whether that state's 2019 mail-in voting law violates the Pennsylvania constitution, and therefore Article 1, section 4, and Article 2, section 1 of the U.S. Constitution on elections.  A docket sheet has been created in the Supreme Court Clerk's office, and an order appeared today by Judge Samuel Alito that the defendants are to file a response by 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, 8 December 2020.  The document making the request asked for a stay order and an injunction that the State of Pennsylvania, Governor Tom Wolf, and Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar be blocked from "taking any further action to perfect the certification of the results of the November 3, 2020, General Election (the 'Election') in Pennsylvania for the offices of President and Vice President of the United States of America or certifying the remaining results of the Election for U.S. Senators and Representatives".  And, if actions were taken to do a certification of the election, an order is sought "to restore the status quo ante, compelling Respondents to nullify any such actions already taken, until further order of this Court"--

https://turcopolier.typepad.com/files/penn_kellycase_supcourt_request_injunction_and_review.pdf

A 213-page appendix was filed with the request that contains papers from the Pennsylvania state court proceedings which were included in the article here from earlier today, plus sections of the U.S. and Pennsylvania constitutions.  Also included are the Pennsylvania voting law, Act 77, from 2019; a Pennsylvania law from 27 March 2020 that amended Act 77 and other election law; and sections from Title 3 of the U.S. Code--

https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/20/20A98/162573/20201203162757140_final%20appendix%20with%20TOC.pdf

The lawsuit as originally filed in the state court named the Pennsylvania General Assembly (the legislature) as a defendant, but the legislature did not join the appeal to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that resulted in the dismissal of the case.  It will be interesting to see what position the Pennsylvania legislature will take in the U.S. Supreme Court, if it still considers itself a party to the case.

The powerful lawsuit in state court on the Pennsylvania voting process

By Robert Willmann

As the Trump Campaign unsuccessfully appealed a lawsuit over election problems in Pennsylvania to the federal Third Circuit Court of Appeals, an intriguing case filed in Pennsylvania state court by eight individuals represented by a Pittsburgh lawyer, Greg Teufel, produced a preliminary (temporary) emergency order blocking any remaining action "to perfect the certification of the results of the 2020 General Election", for the offices of president and vice president, until the completion of an evidentiary hearing that was scheduled for 27 November 2020 [1].

This state lawsuit presents a good, clean point that the 2019 law expanding absentee voting in Pennsylvania into mail-in voting for all voters violates the Pennsylvania constitution, which limits the scope of absentee voting in its Article 1, section 14.

The case is filed in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, which is a hybrid intermediate court of appeals that is "primarily responsible for matters involving state and local governments and regulatory agencies.  It also acts as a trial court when lawsuits are filed by or against the Commonwealth," the name for the state [2].

The eight people bringing the case as plaintiffs are:  a sitting Republican Congressman in the House of Representatives, Mike Kelly, who was re-elected; Sean Parnell, who ran for Congress in this election but has been behind in a close race against an incumbent; Wanda Logan, who ran for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives; and five others as private citizens.  The defendants are the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (the state), the General Assembly (the legislature), Governor Thomas Wolf, and Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar.

Mike Kelly was elected to the U.S. House in 2010 and started in January 2011.  Sean Parnell fought in Afghanistan for over a year as an Army Ranger in the 10th Mountain Division, was wounded in 2006, and after completing the deployment, was medically discharged with the rank of captain.

A judge reverses himself on a restraining order in the Sidney Powell case in Georgia

By Robert Willmann

Attorneys Sidney Powell and Lin Wood (pictured), and other attorneys, filed lawsuits in Georgia and Michigan about voting fraud.  The Georgia case was filed on Wednesday, 25 November 2020.  On Friday, the 27th, they filed a request for an emergency restraining order because, in part:  "On November 27, 2020, Union County officials advised that they are going to wipe the voting machines of all data and bring the count back to zero on Monday, November 30, 2020.  Resetting the machines would destroy relevant evidence now existing on each voting machine. This cannot be allowed."--

https://turcopolier.typepad.com/files/spowell_ga_motion_emergency_injunction.pdf

Today, 29 November, the federal district judge issued a temporary restraining order to prevent the wiping or resetting of any voting machines in the State of Georgia until further order of the court--

https://turcopolier.typepad.com/files/spowell_ga_restraining_ord_machines_20201129.pdf

But then later he reversed himself, and entered another order saying that because the machines were in the possession of county election officials and not the named defendants of the state, "to the extent Plaintiffs seek emergency relief to impound and preserve the voting machines, that request is denied"--

https://turcopolier.typepad.com/files/spowell_ga_restraining_ord_machines_diff_20201129.pdf

These orders are not yet in the court clerk's file, but they appear to come from Lin Wood today.  I have not yet gone through papers in Powell's cases in Georgia and Michigan, and have only skimmed the first document that started the lawsuit, and it is designed well.  However, this development today, in light of the possible destruction of evidence in electronic voting or counting machines, or both, is important to know.

Lin Wood is also the party in another case in Georgia attacking voting fraud, and he is represented by a law firm in Atlanta.  I have been reading papers filed in that case, which began on 13 November 2020.  The trial judge denied a temporary restraining order on 20 November, and Wood is appealing that decision to the federal Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

 

Trump recommendations re-dux

To repeat - 

 

He should not concede until, at the very earliest, ALL issues in re the election are legally resolved.  Biden's inauguration is not contingent on a concession.

 

Trump should pardon ALL his associates now imprisoned after political trials.

 

Trump should not attend Biden's inauguration.  To attend is to signal acceptance of the legitimacy of this electoral process.

 

He should move out of the WH and send his staff away before the inauguration.

 

Mar a Lago would be a good place to spend inauguration day.  pl 

Michael Flynn receives a presidential pardon

By Robert Willmann

According to the Twitter webpage of president Trump, he has issued a full pardon to Gen. Michael Flynn (ret.) today--

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1331706255212228608

Emmet Sullivan, the judge presiding over the case, continues to engage in disgraceful conduct unbecoming of any type of judge, including by intentionally delaying a decision on the motion of the Department of Justice to dismiss the prosecution with prejudice.  A dismissal with prejudice means the case cannot be re-filed.

Attorney Sidney Powell is working on the problem of voting fraud through electronic voting and counting machines, which is a very time-consuming and tedious task.  I have been thinking that Flynn would have to file two more original mandamus actions in the federal Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.  The first one would be for the court to force Sullivan to quickly issue a written decision on the motion to dismiss by a date and time certain.  Then, after Sullivan would almost certainly deny the motion to dismiss, even though current law requires it to be dismissed, Flynn would file an additional mandamus action for the court of appeals to order Sullivan to grant the motion and dismiss the case.

However, since Powell is preparing legal action about election fraud issues, and one of the other lawyers representing Flynn is working on election problems in Nevada, they would not have time to bring two mandamus actions in the D.C. Circuit before 20 January 2021.  The risk is too uncertain about the status of the Justice Department and what will happen in January when Congress meets regarding the election results from the Electoral College and an inauguration is to take place.  Although Flynn would ultimately succeed in getting his case dismissed -- if he was not facing a tight time frame -- the unpredictability of the situation makes a pardon a practical result.

 

"Mark Steyn Interviews Sidney Powell on Rush Limbaugh Show…" CTH

"Filling in for Rush Limbaugh, the brilliant Mark Steyn interviews the indefatigable Sidney Powell about currently known election fraud."

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2020/11/17/mark-steyn-interviews-sidney-powell-on-rush-limbaugh-show/

Election Analysis Using Biden's Law. By Fred

Fred here, reporting from the Office of the President Elect Fred.

Whoah! You say. President Elect Fred? Didn't you hear? It was reported by FOX - Fred's Original X-news. You might think I made that up, just like AP did with 'President Elect Biden' and you'ld be right. What authority did they have to declare who is president?

Well, check the original document. The Constitution. Here take a look:

"Classified US Embassy Cable Proves Smartmatic’s Connection to Venezuela" PCR

"I expressed doubts about the connection the team drew between Dominion voting machines, Smartmatic software and Venezuela where the technology is suspected of being used for electoral fraud.  

I withdraw that doubt. Among Wikileaks’ releases of US Government data there is a classified cable that establishes the essential truth of the legal team’s charges.

On July 10, 2006, the US Embassy’s political counselor in Caracas Venezuela , Robert Downes, sent a classified able to Washington.  You can read the entire cable here:  https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/06CARACAS2063_a.html 

The cable reports that “Smartmatic was founded by three Venezuelans, Antonio Mugica, Alberto Anzola, and Roger Pinate.”

The cable reads in part:

“The Venezuelan-owned Smartmatic Corporation is a riddle both in ownership and operation, complicated by the fact that its machines have overseen several landslide (and contested) victories by President Hugo Chavez and his supporters"  PCR

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The embassy cable tells an interesting story.  Read it pilgrims!  Read it!  pl

http://thealtworld.com/paul_craig_roberts/classified-us-embassy-cable-proves-smartmatics-connection-to-venezuela

A note to Scott Adams about Supreme Court judges assigned to federal circuits

By Robert Willmann

The creator and writer of the Dilbert comic strip, Scott Adams, has also studied about persuasion, and previously worked for a large company, Pacific Bell telephone.  He recognized the sales techniques that Donald Trump was using in the 2016 presidential election, and predicted that Trump would win.  Adams has also done writing and videos on his Internet website about current and political events. He saw or heard something about the new assignment of individual Supreme Court judges to the different federal appellate court circuits.  Yesterday (21 November), he said, at 12 minutes, 27 seconds into the audio [1]--

"The news is that the circuit courts have been reassigned.  Now, I don't know all the ends and outs of the court system, so I might not have a full understanding of this topic, but I'll try to bluff my way through it.  Uhm, and we're all learning a lot about our government in this process.   So effective immediately, there are four Supreme Court justices assigned to each of four states -- Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Georgia -- to be in charge of the election fraud claims for those states.  This is my understanding of what's happening.  Now, the four justices chosen is the story, right? So here are the Supreme Court justices who might be the deciding people, or at least, you know, the most influential people on whether these four states go to Trump or stay with Biden.  Are you ready?  Here are the names of the four justices:  Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas.  Do you notice anything that they have in common? ....

"[Starting at 17 min., 12 sec.] Now, if you were the Supreme Court, and that was your greatest interest, to keep the system intact, to keep the credibility of the system intact, and you're asked to judge something that, whichever way it goes, it's gonna be ugly, right?  What do you do?  Well, I'll tell you what I'd do.  I would assign the four most conservative justices, if -- and here's the big part -- if, I believed that Trump would ultimately lose.  That's why I would put four conservative judges on it.  To make sure that if Trump loses, the conservative part of the country says, 'F***, but I trust it'.  See where I'm going?  The Supreme Court needs the conservatives to back down.  The only way it is going to happen is if four super-conservative Supreme Court justices say, 'Look at this people. It's time. It's time.  It's time to to back down. It's time to put Biden in office and deal with it in 2024'.  I think the Supreme Court has just sent the country a big f***ing signal that Trump's not going to get a second term.  And it has nothing to do with the claims, has nothing to do with the lawsuits, has nothing to do with whether the election was or was not fraudulent.  It has everything to do with keeping the country together.  If they were thinking that way, and of course we have to speculate, right?  We can't read anybody's minds ...."

The "Breathe Act"

Black Lives Matter activists are pressuring Democrats to embrace the BREATHE Act, which includes a section requiring a “roadmap for prison abolition.”

“The BREATHE Act is a legislative love letter to Black people,” BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors wrote in an op-ed for Teen Vogue on Thursday. 

Democratic Reps. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts announced the act in July, but it has not been brought before Congress. 

Cullors, who has written a letter to President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris requesting a meeting, told The Hollywood Reporter she is requesting that the new administration work to pass the BREATHE Act within the first 100 days. 

A summary of the act calls for the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services to create a plan that “provides for full decarceration of federal detention facilities within 10 years” and “enacts a moratorium on all new federal prison, jail, immigrant and youth detention construction.  foxnews

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"decarceration?"  Is that a word that any of you pilgrims are familiar with?  I just don't know what to say about this.  pl

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/blm-pressures-democrats-breathe-act-prison-abolition

The Cuomo crime familia, who is the biggest POS among them?

"New York has still not released data regarding the total number of people at nursing homes in the state who died from coronavirus, weeks after receiving a request for more information from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has faced criticism for a March order that required infected patients to return to their facilities after being treated at hospitals, has so far only released statistics of patients who died while still at the nursing homes."

"The governor's office has not responded to Fox News' latest request for the total number of deaths.

The DOJ sent a letter to Cuomo in August seeking data from publicly-run nursing homes in the state, and in October they made a similar request regarding privately-owned facilities. Both requests sought data, including the number of residents, employees and staff who died of COVID-19 at the nursing homes, hospitals or anywhere else.

"This is a necessary step ... for families to get a sense of closure from the traumatic experience that they had to go through," Democratic New York Assemblyman Ronald Kim said about the DOJ's October inquiry, according to the Associated Press."

"A copy of the DOJ's letter to the New York Department of Health reported by the New York Post requested that the state provide the requested data within 14 days. Thus far, the numbers remain hidden from the public. Fox News asked the DOJ if the state responded to their inquiry, but the department did not immediately respond.

The state has so far only accounted for approximately 6,500 COVID-19 deaths that occurred in nursing homes. New York has a total death count of more than 33,500 people, the most in the U.S. So far it remains unclear what percentage of those deaths were nursing home patients.

Cuomo has vehemently denied responsibility for nursing home deaths, and has cited other possible factors such as infected staff spreading the illness.

The governor has recently been sparring with President Trump over a possible COVID-19 vaccine, as companies, including Pfizer and Moderna, have made great strides in developing effective vaccine candidates. Cuomo has said that he would have state officials study any vaccine approved by the federal government before distributing it to residents, which prompted Trump to say he would not send it to New York at all unless the state gives the vaccine the green light."  foxnews

----------------

I remember papa Mario (the don) as being a pretty good man.  What went wrong that his children are such evil men?  Is it the terrible aura that surrounds growing up in New York City?  Perhaps.  pl

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/new-york-coronavirus-nursing-home-death-total-still-hidden-cuomo

Releasing the Kraken Part Deux

Sydney Powell appeared on Bartiromo's show "Sunday Morning Futures."   What is described by Powell and Giuliani before her on the show would amount to a giant conspiracy.  pl

https://video.foxnews.com/v/6209930642001#sp=show-clips

The U.S. Supreme Court has not yet agreed to accept the Pennsylvania voting case or to maintain Judge Alito's stay order

By Robert Willmann

A conference of the Supreme Court judges took place on Friday, 13 November, during which they discussed pending matters.  Possibly on the list was the request asking them to agree to hear the Pennsylvania voting case and to confirm Judge Samuel Alito's stay order directed at ballots received after election day in that state.  The court often issues orders on a Monday, and so the results of their discussion may be known soon.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro and Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar thought they would be cute and snooker the U.S. Supreme Court into not issuing an order to segregate and secure ballots that came in after the 8:00 p.m. deadline on election day, which had been (unconstitutionally) extended by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to Friday, 6 November, three days after the election.  Two applications were made to the U.S Supreme Court for a "stay order" on 28 September 2020 to block the extended deadline. The court denied them on 19 October, with the notation that Judges Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh would have granted the stay.  On 23 October, the Republican Party of Pennsylvania filed a request asking the court to agree to hear the case, plus a motion to speed up the usual time frame for that process.  The motion asking for a faster time period was denied on 28 October, and included a "statement" by Judges Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch which said, in part [1]--

"... we have been informed by the Pennsylvania Attorney General that the Secretary of the Commonwealth issued guidance today directing county boards of elections to segregate ballots received between 8:00 p.m. on November 3, 2020, and 5:00 p.m. on November 6, 2020.  Nothing in the Court’s order today precludes Petitioner from applying to this Court for relief if, for some reason, it is not satisfied with the Secretary’s guidance".

Four days later, Pennsylvania Secretary of State Boockvar put out a "guidance" about canvassing segregated mail-in and civilian absentee ballots received by mail after the deadline.  That document, and the inability to find out if all of Pennsylvania's election boards were following the earlier "guidance" of 28 October, caused the Pennsylvania Republican Party to file a request in the U.S. Supreme Court for an injunction order on 6 November.  Two days earlier, on 4 November, the Donald Trump campaign had filed a request to intervene in the pending matters [2]. 

No! No! Not yet! Keep wearing your masks! No vaccine! No vaccine! Not yet!

"New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that while it is "good news" that Pfizer has had a recent breakthrough in its coronavirus vaccine clinical trial, he believes it is "bad news" that the Trump administration will get to plan the distribution.

In an interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC's "Good Morning America" on Monday, Cuomo said he has spoken to other governors about how they can alter or even block Trump's plan so that President-elect Joe Biden could do it instead."

""Well, it's good news, bad news, George," Cuomo said. "The good news is the Pfizer tests look good and we'll have a vaccine shortly. The bad news is it's about two months before Joe Biden takes over, and that means this administration is going to be implementing a vaccine plan."

""And the Trump administration is rolling out the vaccination plan and I believe it's flawed," Cuomo continued. "I believe it learns nothing from the past. They're basically going to have the private providers do it, and that's going to leave out all sorts of communities that were left out the first time when COVID ravaged them."

Stephanopoulos then asked Cuomo what Biden could do that Trump will not do, and Cuomo immediately went back to discussing his problems with Trump."

--------------

Now, listen up pilgrim cowboys!  Orange man bad!  Did you hear me?  Repeat after me!  Orange man bad!

Now remember, pilgrim cowboys,  Orange man bad!  All you Deplorables!  Shut up and chant!  We are taking names!

Cuomo killed over 5,000 elderly people in nursing homes?  Shhh!  The FBI will be watching for people who say or write thing like that.

"Two legs bad!  Four legs good!"  That's it, keep up the chant.  pl 

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/cuomo-bad-news-pfizer-coronavirus-vaccine-trump-administration

Profiles in Cowardice ...... by Fred

In honor of Fake news pronouncing a Fake President I felt we should reflect upon those so under appreciated in the Republic. So, taking after the Kennedy's, just like Joe does, I offer this small offering for the public to peruse ....... America's Cowards. Because you, and they, deserve it. So without further fanfare:

The Fix

I received the following as a comment from "exiled off main street."  IMO it is worth posting as a front page post.  My apologies to him/her for its publication en bloc without the usual format.  pl

"They committed the perfect crime, knowing that proof would be nearly impossible to come by. When they stopped counting late Tuesday night, Trump knew the game was up.

They probably reacted quickly in reaction to his speech, so faits accomplis of fake votes were presented early Wednesday morning. Fake results were printed out with Stalinist unanimity, and even signatures can probably be forged since scrutiny will be difficult, and they may come up with a bogus standard argument such as "privacy concerns" or any number of other typical bullshit excuses, as a reason to destroy the ballots before any signatures can be checked.

I am sure that modern software reveals who didn't vote, so it was easy for them to come up with the necessary names. While limited proof of certain elements of the initiative may emerge, the propaganda press and the power structure, including the FBI et. al, will be able to cover it up. This is my best guess as to what has occurred, and I think this represents a sort of seizure of power under the circumstances which will have major permanent consequences. As a further indication of skulduggery, bear in mind that Trump will end up with 10% more votes than the harpy did winning the popular vote in 2016.

The fact the democrats ran no traditional ground game, using the virus as the excuse, is an indication that they had some "plan b" on the go. Biden, with his indications of incompetency and the family based corruption, was too weak a candidate to get 75,000,000 votes. The fact the media engaged in memory holing these facts was well-known, and any intelligent person had to swallow hard to vote for Biden, making it particularly highly suspicious that Biden trailed by 4% in Wisconsin, 7% in Michigan and 14% in Pennsylvania when counting unaccountably stopped. A plausible reason for the stoppage was that a target had been set for the degree of action necessary to get the desired result. This is the playbook in color revolutions where suddenly a "computer glitch" favors the yankee backed candidate in Latin American countries.

The spy agency formula came home to roost, and this will set a precedent; a rubicon has been crossed and the legitimacy of the Republic is seriously impaired from then on. Since stability is based on consent, I foresee major difficulties as a result. How was this able to happen? The problem from the get-go was that Trump assumed that the traditions would continue, so he relied too much on the usual expertise at the beginning of his term. In my view, his major failure was at the beginning of his term when he failed to secure friendly leadership in the Justice Department. Another key turning point arising out of the same problem was when he let himself be convinced to get rid of General Flynn a month into his term."  exiled off main street.

The Trump Campaign files to intervene in the pending request to the Supreme Court about the Pennsylvania voting case

By Robert Willmann

Pending in the U.S. Supreme Court is a document asking the court to hear and decide whether the changes to voting procedures ordered by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court are legal and constitutional.  Yesterday, the Trump campaign organization filed a request for leave to intervene and become a party to the effort to get the Supreme Court to agree to hear the case. [1].  A response by the Pennsylvania Democratic Party and other opposing parties is due by 5:00 p.m. today, 5 November.

The day before the election, we discussed here on SST the activity that occurred in the Supreme Court last week about the presidential election, including what was directed at the situation in Pennsylvania [2].  The "statement" by Supreme Court Judges Alito, Thomas, and Gorsuch about possible review of the Pennsylvania case is available in that article in note 4.  The three judges made it very clear that:  "... the Court's denial of the motion to expedite is not a denial of a request for this Court to order that ballots received after election day be segregated so that if the State Supreme Court's decision is ultimately overturned, a targeted remedy will be available".  Realizing that the petitioner, the Republican Party of Pennsylvania, would ask for that relief, Pennsylvania hurriedly gave "guidance" to the county boards of election to segregate mail-in and civilian absentee ballots received after 8:00 p.m. on election day [3].  The Pennsylvania Supreme Court had rewritten the election law that was established by the legislature of that state, which had required the ballots to be received by 8:00 p.m.  But the court changed the law and the deadlines.

The U.S. Supreme Court is facing requests to stop lawsuit orders that change election deadlines

By Robert Willmann

Twenty years ago in the presidential election, a close vote in Florida caused a recount to happen, and led to lawsuits in state and federal courts about the recount. In the midst of the spectacle, actual legitimate discussion was heard on television and in the media about the process and the Electoral College. The Supreme Court eventually short-circuited the state proceedings and essentially made George W. Bush the winner, when Al Gore, the nominee of the Democratic Party, decided not to challenge the situation in the Electoral College and Congress [1]. But in today's propagandized and polarized election cycle, court action has already started. 

Three times in the last seven days, the Supreme Court has ruled on requests about lawsuits. The court did not agree to hear and decide the cases. Instead, it was ruling on two requests about whether a lower court order would remain in effect until an appeal was concluded, and whether to shorten its usual timetable for deciding if a case will be accepted to be heard. 

The cases come out of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina. They deal with who gets to decide what the election procedures will be, which is supposed to be the state legislatures, with a possible backup by Congress.  This general principle comes from Article 1, section 4, clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution--

"The Times, Places, and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators". 

The Wisconsin and North Carolina cases concern absentee ballots, and the Pennsylvania case is about all mail-in ballots, since in that state all registered voters can cast their ballots by mail. In 2019, the Pennsylvania legislature passed a law to allow voting by mail.  Voters can apply for absentee or mail-in ballots 50 days before the election. 

When the Supreme Court issues orders about requests that are not a final opinion and decision in a case they have agreed to hear, most of the time the order is just one sentence that the item has been granted or denied. Sometimes a judge will write his or her thoughts about the order when concurring or dissenting from the order, or issue a "statement" about the order. And one or more of the other judges may join in what was written about an order.  There is no listing of how each judge voted on each of these regular orders.

A transcript of the hearing on the request to dismiss the Michael Flynn case as a starting point

By Robert Willmann

To bring events up to date in the Michael Flynn criminal case, a starting point is the hearing of 29 September 2020 on the motion filed by the Department of Justice to dismiss the prosecution.  A transcript does not supply parts of a communication that also provide meaning, such as the tone, pitch, and loudness of speech, and the facial expressions and body language of participants.  Nor does it show the reactions of those listening.  But an accurate transcript is useful because it contains the unfiltered words that are said, and sometimes also a brief description of behavior that took place.  The first 164 pages are the hearing, and the remaining pages are a machine-generated index--

https://turcopolier.typepad.com/files/michaelflynn_transcript_hearing_on_dismissal.pdf

Today (Monday, 26 October), the Justice Department is to file documents after an unusual order by presiding Judge Emmet Sullivan last Friday, 23 October.  It says, in part--

"Accordingly, the government is HEREBY ORDERED to file, by no later than October 26, 2020, a declaration pursuant to penalty of perjury under 28 U.S.C. sec. 1746 in support of its motion to dismiss that the Exhibits attached to its motion and supplement are true and correct copies. It is FURTHER ORDERED that the government's declaration shall identify each exhibit by name, date, and author. It is FURTHER ORDERED that the government shall provide transcriptions of all handwritten notes contained in the Exhibits. The government has also filed on the record in this case numerous notices of filing discovery correspondence and Mr. Flynn has generally filed the discovery produced on the record in this case as Exhibits to his supplementary filings....  [T]he government is HEREBY ORDERED to file, by no later than October 26, 2020, a declaration pursuant to penalty of perjury under 28 U.S.C. sec. 1746 that the discovery documents provided to Mr. Flynn and filed on the record in this case are true and correct copies. It is FURTHER ORDERED that the government's declaration shall identify each discovery document by name, date, and author. It is FURTHER ORDERED that the government shall provide transcriptions of all handwritten notes contained in the Exhibits. Signed by Judge Emmet G. Sullivan on 10/23/2020. (lcegs3) (Entered: 10/23/2020)".

It has been obvious that Sullivan is not going to rule on the request to dismiss the case until after the presidential election. 

A few other things have taken place since the hearing of 29 September, and I hope to describe them in the not too distant future.

 

"... Even if Joe Biden wins, there's no way out now."

"Thanks to Hunter Biden, there's no way out for his father.

"Even if Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, is elected president, damning evidence will continue to emerge that his grifter-son fully embraced the Washington tradition of shameless influence-peddling.

If nothing else, Hunter is a monument to greed. An ellipse should be erected in his honor. 

But the unresolved and trenchant questions are: how much did Joe Biden know and to what extent was he involved in the illicit (if not illegal) schemes?"

Joe will never answer. You can take that to his bank. 

Biden, the elder, is hoping that he can limp across the electoral finish line by refusing to respond to those salient questions and by denouncing the incriminating evidence as "malarkey" and "a bunch of garbage." He scrupulously followed that script during Thursday night's presidential debate. He committed it to memory (such as it is). He deserves, I suppose, some credit for following directions. 

With a lead in the polls, Biden will now surely retreat to his basement bunker trying desperately to run out the clock until November 3rd. Does he intend to nap his way through the scandal? Why not?
 
Time is on Biden's side. The disturbing revelations of what can only be described as rank corruption have come too late in the game."

---------------

Teapot Dome, Grant's second term, the Corrupt Bargain, Harding's presidency, these were all disgraces, stains on the honor of the country.  Ah! Sorry!  I should not have used the outmoded and abandoned word, "honor."

"The Resistance" will now begin to have a different cast of characters if Biden wins.  Would Biden seek to use the coercive powers of the federal government and the states to destroy Resistance mounted against him?  In spite of the constant screams of "Dictator!" against him Trump never did.  pl

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/hunter-biden-joe-biden-gregg-jarrett

Tora Tora Tora! ...... by Fred

Not a peep out of the MSM. 

Not a mention on NPR.

Not a single tweet. 

Surprise!

"His sister in law ---"

"A senior federal law enforcement official told Just the News on Tuesday night that the FBI is in possession of the laptop and that the bureau concurs with Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe's assessment that the laptop is not part of Russian intelligence operation, as some Democrats have alleged. That official declined to discuss the contents of the laptop.

Hunter Biden's attorney George Mesires did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

The Biden presidential campaign's Communications Director Kate Bedingfield did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Giuliani said the materials he gleaned from the controversial laptop — which a Delaware computer shop owner alleges was left with him by Hunter Biden — gave him concern for the welfare of a minor girl. Giuliani declined to identify the alleged minor victim or who was in the photos.

"There are many texts which I gave to them that point out that family was concerned about the safety of the child," Giuliani said. "I will tell you the evidence I gave them states it was reported to Joe Biden. What did he do about it?”

Kerik confirmed Wednesday he joined Giuliani in reporting the materials to police, suggesting the laptop content “raises serious questions as to Joe Biden‘s national security vulnerability.”"  Justthenews

-------------

A mobbed up Irish crime family?  It surely sounds like that.  If you have never seen the great, great 1990 film "State of Grace," please do so.

I watched Giuliani's interview on Newsmax (link below).  In it Giuliani states baldly that Beau Biden's wife was Hunter's mistress for a number of years .  I am told that there is video proof of this on the hard drive. A trophy?  Sibling rivalry?  Who knows.  pl

https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/rudy-giuliani-reports-evidence-alleged-child-endangerment-delaware-police

https://youtu.be/coFx3ZDXWrg

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/10/20/exclusive-bevan-cooney-moved-from-prison-cell-after-providing-email-account-exposing-hunter-biden/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Grace_(1990_film)

A Bidengate summary from the Daily Mail

"Documents appear to show Hunter Biden's signature on $85 receipt for repair of laptops left at Delaware store at center of email scandal - while other paperwork reveals FBI's contact with owner

• A receipt from The Mac Shop in Wilmington, Delaware appears to show Hunter Biden's signature for work on three laptops for $85
• It has not been verified yet if that signature is actually Biden's 
• FBI paperwork also shows that shop owner John Paul Mac Isaac received a subpoena to testify before the US District Court in Delaware in December 2019
• Last week the New York Post published a report saying e-mails obtained from the laptop show Joe Biden allegedly was in on his son Hunter's business deals
• House Intel chair Adam Schiff said the 'smear' on Biden 'comes from the Kremlin' 
• DNI John Ratcliffe said the laptop is not a Russian disinformation campaign 
• Biden's campaign says the Democratic nominee engaged in no wrongdoing "

-------------

Well, pilgrims, he sure looks comfy in the tub.  I still wonder who took the pictures.  Was it the gal in California who later sued him over paternity of her child/fetus, whatever. 

Did he take the pictures himself?  Interestingly, the Bidens have not denied the implicit charge of corruption, bribery, etc., etc. that is the mass of incriminating e-mail traffic on the hard drive.  And then, there are the disgusting sex videos.  Does anyone think that these were faked?

SWMBO says that the Bidens have set a new standard for depraved and addled stupidity.  As usual, she is right.  pl

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8857893/Documents-Hunter-Bidens-signature-Delaware-computer-repair-shop-receipt.html

Does anyone care? I do.

"In this episode of Common Sense, Rudy Giuliani, who was the trailblazer for RICO prosecutions in the 1980s, demonstrates how the thirty years of the Biden Family selling public office, and many other crimes, makes a perfect RICO case."  RICO case

-------------

Rudy has a u-tube show.  pl

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LuSpHJNPe0&feature=youtu.be

"Hunter Biden Business Associate Flips From Prison, Releases Emails Detailing China Influence-Peddling Operation" Zerohedge

"Emails from a former business associate of Hunter Biden's inner-circle who's serving time in prison for a 2016 investment scheme reveal that Hunter and his colleagues used their access to the Obama administration to peddle influence to potential Chinese clients and investors - including securing a private, off-the-books meeting with the former Vice President."

"Cooney believes he was the "fall guy" for an investment scheme in which Hunter and business associate Devon Archer avoided responsibility. He reached out to Schweizer after the journalist published Secret Empires in 2018. Archer was initially spared jail and handed a second trial, however a federal appeals court reinstated Archer's fraud conviction in the case last week.

Cooney provided Schweizer with written authorization, his email account name, and password to his Gmail account to retrieve these emails. He authorized, in writing, the publication of these emails— notable because it is the first time a close associate has publicly confirmed Hunter’s trading on his father’s influence. -Breitbart

More revelations:

In a November 5, 2011 email, one of Archer's business contacts suggested helping to arrange White House meetings for a group of Chinese executives and government officials who would make "potentially outstanding new clients." The group, the China Entrepreneur Club (CEC) included CCP loyalists, Chinese billionaires and at least one "respected diplomat" from Beijing. According to the report, CEC - established in 2006, has been referred to as "a second foreign ministry" for China's communist regime. The gross income of CEC members is estimated to be equivalent to roughly 4% of China's GDP, according to the email.

"I know it is political season and people are hesitant but a group like this does not come along every day," said intermediary Mohamed A. Khashoggi on behalf of the CEC to a Biden / Archer associate. "A tour of the white house and a meeting with a member of the chief of staff’s office and John Kerry would be great," reads the email."  Zerohedge

-------------

These e-mails are separate from the cache of e-mails being published by the NY Post.  pl

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/hunter-biden-business-associate-flips-prison-releases-emails-detailing-china-influence

Banned by Biden! A Digital Iron Curtain Descends Upon America. By Fred

Just what has been banned? Masks? Oh no, he's gonna make them mandatory nationwide, like women wearing a burkha in Saudi Arabia. You have undoubtablely heard about the Weineresque hard drive discovery involving Hunter Biden and his emails. You probably didn't see it on Twitter or Facebook. 

In a quite open effort to suppress news, restrain the trade of news organizations in competition with them, these two firms have actively 'shadow banned' the story and locked out a number organizations and people from their accounts, starting with:
The NY Post, one of the largest news organizations in the US and publisher of the story.

Censor the press? Why yes, that's exactly what was done here. Questions from other competitors in the press? Well those aren't banned; however, it sure looks like the Biden campaign supplies those to the fake news reporters. Let me suggest one.

Today is the filing deadline for papers on the request to dismiss the Michael Flynn case

By Robert Willmann

After the court hearing last week Tuesday, 29 September 2020, on the request by the Department of Justice to dismiss the criminal case against Michael Flynn, Judge Emmet Sullivan issued an order--

"09/29/2020 Minute Order as to Michael T. Flynn. In view of the discussion at today's motion hearing, the government, Mr. Flynn, and the Court-appointed amicus curiae shall file any additional motions or supplemental materials regarding [docket number] 198 the government's motion to dismiss the criminal information against Mr. Flynn by no later than October 7, 2020. Signed by Judge Emmet G. Sullivan on 9/29/2020. (lcegs3) (Entered: 09/29/2020)".

What is interesting is that Sullivan has invited both "additional motions" and "supplemental materials" from Flynn, the Justice Department (DOJ), and the judge's "friend of the court", John Gleeson.  The term "supplemental materials" implies that more documentary evidence may be filed with the court clerk, and does not seem to be limited to written arguments.  However, Gleeson is not representing a party in the case, and is an "amicus curiae" for the limited purpose of arguing against the DOJ's motion to dismiss.  He is not authorized to introduce additional evidence into the proceeding about dismissal.

Flynn's lawyers might file a formal motion to recuse or disqualify Judge Sullivan from presiding over the case, which could be seen as an additional motion related to the request to dismiss the case.

Adding to the situation is a statement made by president Donald Trump yesterday evening on the Internet Twitter website [1]--

"I have fully authorized the total Declassification of any & all documents pertaining to the single greatest political CRIME in American History, the Russia Hoax. Likewise, the Hillary Clinton Email Scandal. No redactions!"

Whether Trump's tantalizingly broad "authorization" for declassification will result in anything being declassified as an initial matter, and then with no redactions, and then publicly released remains to be seen.  

The DOJ can do its own release of documents relevant to Flynn by filing them in his case, disclosing material to him, or both. 

[1]  https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1313640512025513984

 

Michael Flynn update with additional court documents

By Robert Willmann

The hearing in federal district court in Washington D.C. on the government's request to dismiss the criminal case against Michael Flynn is underway.  In a comment last night, Jim noted that more documents had been filed with the court clerk yesterday. 

Flynn filed a fourth supplement in support of agreed dismissal.  Attached were five pages of notes, heavily redacted.  The Department of Justice (DOJ) files copies of its cover letters for disclosures made to Flynn's attorneys.  The letter for these notes said they were of "three ODAG attorneys, numbered 23559-23562".  ODAG may mean the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, who is the number two person at the DOJ.  The numbers refer to those stamped at the bottom of each page which is done to keep track of documents that are provided to another party, often when disclosed during a lawsuit or other formal proceeding.  The number stamps on these notes include DOJSCO, which probably means the special counsel's office of the Robert Mueller group.  The pages of notes actually start with number 23558, and so the DOJ may have made an error about the number range in its cover letter.  Fred found a link to that filing--

https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.191592/gov.uscourts.dcd.191592.251.0_1.pdf

Another DOJ cover letter released two documents about national security letters (NSL).  One is an e-mail from Kevin Clinesmith, a former FBI attorney who pled guilty to altering a communication from the CIA in connection with an application to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for a surveillance warrant.  The warrant was said to be directed at Carter Page [1].  The e-mail is completely blacked out, except for his name, the date, "crossfire hurricane", "no further NSLs are authorized for Razor", and boilerplate at the bottom.  The second document is a summary of NSLs issued in the Crossfire Razor investigation, which targeted Gen. Michael Flynn.  These documents were filed by Flynn as a fifth supplement in support of agreed dismissal--

https://turcopolier.typepad.com/files/michaelflynn_clinesmith_nsl_email.pdf

https://turcopolier.typepad.com/files/michaelflynn_summary_nsl_razor.pdf

Now we come to the letter filed by the attorney for former FBI agent Peter Strzok, who, along with his paramour, former FBI attorney Lisa Page, were up to their eyeballs in this squalid manipulation.

Reading the appellate en banc opinion as Judge Sullivan readies a hearing in the Michael Flynn case

By Robert Willmann

The 10 judges on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals eligible to rehear a three-judge panel's decision in favor of Michael Flynn's petition for a writ of mandamus cancelled the panel's prior ruling with an 8-2 vote.   Flynn's attorneys have decided they will not ask the U.S. Supreme Court whether it will agree to hear that mandamus action.  In the trial court, Judge Emmet Sullivan has set a hearing for oral argument on the request by the Department of Justice to dismiss the criminal case against Flynn.  The hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, 29 September 2020, at 11:00 a.m. eastern time. 

All of the judges eligible on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to participate in a rehearing of the mandamus action did so as a group called "en banc".  Eight judges decided to deny all the relief requested by Flynn, with seven of them agreeing on a majority opinion, plus one who filed a concurring opinion.  Two judges wrote dissenting opinions.  The primary author of the majority opinion was not revealed, as the generic term "per curiam" was used.  The decision and opinions were handed down on 31 August 2020, and were made available here on SST that day [1].

Reading past the language on the surface of the en banc majority opinion makes it clear as to what was going on.  The opinion is carefully designed to minimize the chances that the supreme court would decide to hear the mandamus case at this stage of the proceedings.  Neither the law applicable to a federal government's motion to dismiss under Rule of Criminal Procedure 48(a), nor the facts of Flynn's case in the trial court, were discussed at all.  Not one time.  Nothing.  Only a passing reference was made to harms to Flynn and the Department of Justice (DOJ) if a mandamus order was not issued, but those harms were waved away as either being speculative or no big deal.  A real issue exists about whether Judge Sullivan was disqualified or should be recused from presiding over the case.  However, the supreme court would probably not think that the issue by itself would justify getting involved in the case.  The 8-judge majority smiled and said that the mandamus action was premature, since Sullivan had not yet ruled on the motion to dismiss.  That is a position that has a certain logic to it, if what has occurred in the trial court is ignored.  They also minimized and blew by the evidence of Sullivan's partiality and bias, and refused to remove him as the judge presiding.  And they allowed John Gleeson to continue as an outside lawyer and "friend of the court", to argue against dismissing the case.

You can now see why Sidney Powell, and the other two lawyers representing Flynn, decided not to approach the supreme court at this time. The en banc majority opinion was sanitized to the extent that an analysis of the government's motion to dismiss, and the circumstances in which a judge might grant or deny it, was nowhere to be found.

Picking a judge for the U.S. Supreme Court and elsewhere

By Robert Willmann

In the "old days", people appointed to be federal judges were usually practicing lawyers who had developed a positive reputation in the community.  This was especially the case when picking federal district court judges, the trial courts.  But   in the 1980's, the focus began to slant towards being agenda-oriented and result oriented, which would dovetail with particular political, social, and economic ideas.

The lawyers nominated since that time seem to not always have had a broad, practical experience.  Nor have they spent a lot of time scratching around in the courthouse.  The great Texas trial lawyer Warren Burnett was the finest extemporaneous speaker I have ever listened to [1].  One time, when complaining about how bureaucratic the practice of law had become, he said, "I remember falling out the back door, hunting for the client while the secretary was hunting for the file, and if we found either one, the trial was going to take place!"

All laws, including the awful thing called "administrative law", have an effect on real people in the real world. That is what matters, but attention to it has been drifting away.  Especially for federal courts of appeal and the supreme court, the pool of people from which nominations have been considered has become smaller, even though many others are well-qualified for the job.  This is producing the equivalent of what Army Col. David Hackworth called "Perfumed Princes".  A federal judiciary of perfumed princes and princesses.

The nomination of a judge to the U.S. Supreme Court for the vacancy after the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg will be announced this afternoon by president Donald Trump.  Leaks to the media yesterday said it will be Amy Coney Barrett.

It is a world of individuals.  A person without much experience, or mainly an academic, can also be fully capable of analyzing a legal doctrine, visualizing its application, and can have the guts to make a courageous ruling.

Exercising judicial authority -- or any authority, for that matter -- requires a sense of humility and humanity.  But seeing it happen is not as commonplace as one might think.  After four and a half months, 11 federal judges, and two different federal courts, a request by the Justice Department to dismiss the criminal case against Gen. Michael Flynn has still not been granted.

[1]  https://www.texasobserver.org/1132-a-creature-of-the-courts-warren-burnett/

The Democrats are now the Party of "Disintegration."

"Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro told "Life, Liberty & Levin" in an interview airing Sunday that the ongoing unrest in the United States resembles "the French Revolution in real time without the actual physical guillotines.""

"The fact is that what we have seen over the last several weeks is the full flowering of an ideology of disintegrationism that has been running roughshod over our universities, through our media, through our major cultural institutions for years," said Shapiro, editor emeritus of The Daily Wire and author of the forthcoming book "How to Destroy America in Three Easy Steps."

'"The idea [of disintegrationism is] that America has never had any ties that bind us and that American history is a story of one group clubbing another group over the head, [and that] America's philosophy is really just sort of a pasteboard mask ... covering up for hierarchies of brutal power dynamics, and that our culture of rights is really a lie," Shapiro told host Mark Levin."  FN

-----------

Shapiro and Levin are two of my favorite talking heads.  They both understand clearly that the Jacobin Marxist wing of the Democratic Party with its BLM and Antifa allies are intent on destroying and obliterating the United States of America.  They intend to replace the constitution with a different document, to replace the flag, the anthem and to erase our history in a replication of the Khmer-Rouge's murderous enactment of the philosophy of the "Year Zero."

The machine Democrats like Pelosi, Schumer,Warner, Kaine, Cuomo, etc., are rapidly losing control of their party just as the Girondists lost control of the National Assembly as history moved them along on the way to their ride in the tumbrils.  AOC says openly that her comrades should vote for Biden however ridiculous and ideologically inappropriate he is.  Joe should listen for the rumble of the wooden wheels.

But!  Do not despair!  I doubt that the Armed Forces and the Deplorables would accept the seizure of power by the Jacobin Marxists.  There may be generals and admirals who would be tempted to accept such a government but the troops ...  

pl

https://www.foxnews.com/media/ben-shapiro-us-protests-french-revolution-levin

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girondins

IMO Trump should nominate Barbara Lagoa

"Barbara Lagoa (born November 2, 1967)  is an American lawyer and a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Prior to becoming a federal judge, she was the first Hispanic woman to be appointed as a Justice on the Supreme Court of Florida."   wiki

^{---------------}

IMO Trump should nominate this highly qualified Latina jurist who happens to be a Floridian.  He should do it as soon as Justice Ginsburg's funeral is done and well before the election.  pl

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Lagoa

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Dies By Walrus.

As if there isn’t enough uncertainty in the forthcoming elections, Ruth Bader Ginsburg has died. May she rest in peace. There is talk of a recess appointment since there is no way Congress will facilitate a Presidential nomination through normal procedures.

Who will President Trump nominate and how can an appointment be made?

We live in interesting times..  Walrus

A transcript and court documents in the criminal case against former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith

By Robert Willmann

For your information, here are relevant court documents and a transcript of the plea hearing in the Kevin Clinesmith criminal case.  The former in-house lawyer at the FBI altered a communication from the CIA to make its meaning false, and it was then used for an application to get a surveillance warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC).  Surveillance under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act turns the target into what is essentially a "walking wiretap". 

This is the first criminal case brought publicly by John Durham, the U.S. Attorney for Connecticut and a Special Attorney to the Attorney General to investigate the issue of surveillance of the 2016 Trump presidential campaign and related matters. 

The agreed charging document against Clinesmith--

https://turcopolier.typepad.com/files/clinesmith_charging_doc.pdf

The plea agreement--

https://turcopolier.typepad.com/files/clinesmith_plea_agreement.pdf

The statement of the offense--

https://turcopolier.typepad.com/files/clinesmith_statement_offense.pdf

Transcript of the plea hearing on 19 August 2020--

https://turcopolier.typepad.com/files/clinesmith_transcript_8-19-2020.pdf

His sentencing hearing is set for 10 December 2020.  Sometimes when a defendant is going to testify at the trial of another person, the sentencing hearing will be postponed until after the defendant testifies.  There is not enough time between now and 10 December for Durham to charge another person with a crime and have a trial at which Clinesmith would testify.  Either Clinesmith is not going to testify against anyone, or they trust that he will do so truthfully and completely after he is sentenced.

The judge in Clinesmith's case is James Boasberg, who is also at this time the presiding judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.  He has been on the FISC since 19 May 2014 and was made the presiding judge on 1 January 2020, replacing Rosemary Collyer [1].  In the transcript on pages 4-5, Boasberg says he will recuse himself if either the government or Clinesmith want him to, but they both said they did not want him to.

After all the fraud on the FISC and false statements made to it, there is no indication that Judge Boasberg has tried to initiate a contempt of court proceeding against any person in the Department of Justice, the FBI, CIA, NSA, or anyone else for the misconduct done to the court going back several years.

 

[1]  https://www.fisc.uscourts.gov/current-membership

https://www.fisc.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/FISC%20FISCR%20Judges%20August%202020%20200824.docx.pdf

 

Nancy Blows It! The Unmasking ..... by Fred

Another day, another story, another reality revealed. 

If it is safe for an 80 yo member of congress to get a haircut, it is safe to vote in person. 

If it is safe for an 80 yo member of congress to get a haircut, it is safe for our children to got to school.

If it is safe for an 80 yo member of congress to get a haircut, it is safe for us to go to church. 

If it is safe for an 80 yo member of congress to get a haircut, it is safe to open small businesses. Just don't mention hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) + zinc + azithromycin, that gets you purged by Gulag.

In Dallas, opening a hair salon was a week in jail for the owner.

Bitch set me up, says speaker Marion Barry Pelosi.

The en banc court of appeals switches and denies a mandamus in the Michael Flynn case

By Robert Willmann

 Without saying which of the 10 judges doing the rehearing wrote the majority opinion, the federal Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit switched the earlier three-judge panel decision and denied the request of Michael Flynn for a mandamus order that would have directed the trial court judge Emmett Sullivan to grant the motion by the Department of Justice to dismiss the criminal prosecution of Flynn [1]. 

The 18-page majority opinion by seven judges said it was "per curium", which does not identify which judge was assigned and wrote the majority opinion.  Judge Thomas B. Griffith wrote a two-page concurring opinion.  Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson wrote a 10-page dissenting opinion, which was joined by Judge Neomi Rao.  Judge Rao wrote a 30-page dissenting opinion, which was joined by Judge Henderson.  Judge Rao had written the original decision, joined by Judge Henderson, which granted the mandamus and vacated the appointment of John Gleeson by Sullivan to oppose the granting of the motion to dismiss.  Judge Robert Wilkins wrote a dissenting opinion in that earlier panel decision.  Here is the en banc decision of today--

https://turcopolier.typepad.com/files/michaelflynn_opinions_en_banc_mandamus.pdf

There are colloquial expressions that precisely describe the majority's decision denying a mandamus, but it would not be proper for me to say them in the presence of ladies.

I have to get on the road now, but today's opinions and order are here for you to read and download as desired.  I anticipate that Flynn's lawyers will ask the U.S. Supreme Court if it will agree to hear the mandamus action.

 

[1]  Order by the en banc court denying a writ of mandamus. 

https://turcopolier.typepad.com/files/michaelflynn_order_denying_mandamus.pdf

 

Mischief in Portsmouth ...

" The enormous black Hummer with state Senate plates rolled right up front, telling all the world that state Sen. L. Louise Lucas had arrived.

But the most prominent African American woman in Virginia politics was actually miles from where the Senate was convening in Richmond on Tuesday — instead getting fingerprinted and booked on two felonies related to a toppled Confederate monument in Portsmouth.

The ruse with the Hummer, which shook the media off Lucas’s trail as the Democratic lawmaker surrendered to her hometown sheriff, added another twist to an episode that left outsiders lost in the muddy swirl of Portsmouth politics. Even ultimate insiders, like the vice mayor who happens to be Lucas’s daughter, professed utter bewilderment at the criminal charges.

“Who is running the . . . city?” Vice Mayor Lisa Lucas-Burke demanded at a news conference last week, noting that the local prosecutor, city manager and city attorney all said they were in the dark about the case.

Lucas charged with felonies over Portsmouth’s Confederate Monument protest

On Monday — two months after a night of protest and vandalism at the city’s Confederate monument, when a bronze soldier ripped off its base fell on a man, causing what Police Chief Angela Greene called “life-altering” injuries — Greene brought felony charges against Lucas and more than a dozen others, including officials with the NAACP, school board and the public defenders office."  Washpost

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A lot of this reads like something from Evelyn Waugh.  And while the prancing and backstabbing goes on,  the white ringmasters are having a good time leading these people into more turmoil to make them easier to manipulate.  Ridiculous.  pl 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/felony-charges-over-confederate-monument-feed-political-intrigue-in-portsmouth/2020/08/21/19265858-e2f0-11ea-8181-606e603bb1c4_story.html

Ghislaine Maxwell’s Ipse Dixit. by J

Ghislaine Maxwell is not a happy camper in lockup. She has been, and her lawyers have been complaining of how she's had to wear paper clothing, her cell searched several times a day, unannounced moves from location to location within lockup, body scans.  And according to Foxnews' Nancy Grace, Maxwell is having trouble cutting a deal.  And now she's been taken off suicide watch (on the surface).

August 12th, Federal Judge denied Maxwell and her lawyers request to delay the unsealing of potentially explosive additional court documents related to her dealings with Epstein.  Maxwell's attorneys yesterday requested a 3 week delay in the unsealing of the documents "over critical new information" that her lawyers are saying could seriously affect her ability to  obtain a fair trial.

The Federal Judge in a two page order denied Maxwell's request "knowing that her ipse dixit does not provide compelling grounds for relief".  The court saw no reasonable basis to impose a stay.

The documents in question come from a 2016 deposition by one of Epstein's victims, Virginia Giuffre who said that Epstein kept her as a "sex slave" with Maxwell's help.  J

The court will begin hearing oral arguments beginning September 22, with the criminal trial set for July of next year.

U.S. Prosecutors are expected to respond today to Maxwell's attorneys request to move Maxwell to the prison's general population.

J.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipse_dixit

If the Facts Matter, Andrew McCabe Will Be Indicted for Lying by Larry C Johnson

I will be very clear up front--I have no inside information about what John Durham is going to do. But if he is simply following the facts and the evidence, Andrew McCabe will be one of the first to fall in the probe into the failed coup to destroy the Presidency of Donald Trump. The record on this is indisputable. He lied in three separate instances--1) He lied to FBI investigators, according to Michael Horowitz, 2) He lied to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and 3) He lied to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

McCabe's record of lying starts with questions put to him by FBI investigators about leaks of sensitive FBI evidence to the media in the fall of 2016:

Former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe faced scorching criticism and potential criminal prosecution for changing his story about a conversation he had with a Wall Street Journal reporter. Now newly released interview transcripts show McCabe expressed remorse to internal FBI investigators when they pressed him on the about-face. 

In the final weeks of the 2016 presidential campaign, the Journal broke news about an FBI investigation involving then-candidate Hillary Clinton, describing internal discussions among senior FBI officials.

The apparent leak drew scrutiny from the bureau’s internal investigation team, which interviewed McCabe on May 9, 2017, the day President Donald Trump fired James Comey from his post as FBI director. The agents interviewed him as part of an investigation regarding a different media leak to the online publication Circa, and also asked him about the Journal story. 

In that interview, McCabe said he did not know how the Journal story came to be. But a few months later, his story changed after he reviewed his answer. 

McCabe's actions as an Artful Liar did not result in a prosecution. The Trump Justice Department reportedly decided to take a pass on that front, conceding that McCabe might prevail by insisting he just misremembered.

The court of appeals wants oral argument about disqualifying Judge Sullivan in the Flynn case

By Robert Willmann

In its first order allowing a rehearing en banc of the Michael Flynn mandamus action, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit specified an issue to be discussed at the oral argument, and added that a second order would follow with the amount of time each lawyer participating would have to argue.  The second order, filed on 5 August 2020, said that each lawyer can argue for 20 minutes in the rehearing en banc, which is a consideration of the mandamus by all of the active judges eligible to take part, and which starts it back at square one.  Granting the rehearing vacated the earlier decision by a three-judge panel in Flynn's favor.  However,  the second order contains a little surprise--

"Further ordered that, in addition to the issue set forth in the court's order filed July 30, 2020, the parties be prepared to address at oral argument the effect, if any, of 28 U.S.C. sections 455(a) and 455(b)(5)(i) on the District Court judge's Fed. R. App. P. 35(b) petition for en banc review".

https://turcopolier.typepad.com/files/michaelflynn_2nd_order_rehearing_en_banc.pdf

The court of appeals was being polite to trial court Judge Emmet Sullivan in its order because it left out the name of that particular section 455:  "Disqualification of justice, judge, or magistrate judge" [1].

The court of appeals worded the issue carefully by saying, "... the effect, if any, ... on the District Court judge's ... petition for en banc review".  It speaks to the effect of the disqualification statute on Sullivan's "petition for en banc review".  This raises the question:  Disqualified from doing what?  If Sullivan should be disqualified, would he be disqualified from asking for a rehearing en banc, which should restore the earlier decision in Flynn's favor?  Would he be disqualified from asking the U.S. Supreme Court if it will agree to hear the case if Flynn prevails in the court of appeals?  Would Sullivan be disqualified from continuing to preside over the Flynn criminal case in the trial court?  All or part of the above?