Populist, Authoritarian, Narcissist ✡️🌻✡️🌻✡️🌻

Trump Trials:  On Wednesday, former Speaker Paul Ryan who now serves on the Fox Corp board called Trump a populist authoritarian narcissist. Nice of Ryan to finally acknowledge publicly that the Orange One is deranged and dangerous, but where has he been? Too busy collecting the $334,975 annual compensation he receives for the Fox board gig he assumed after leaving Congress, perhaps?  As to the dangerous narcissist who despite his autocratic tendencies is not only leading in the polls but wielding unprecedented influence over what currently passes as the Republican party, it’s highly likely that his March insurrection trial will no longer take place in March because presiding Judge Chutkan has put the case, with the exception of the gag order,  on hold pending the outcome of decisions from the Appeals Court and/or the Supreme Court.  To backtrack a bit, Special Counsel Jack is following a dual track approach.  He’s asked the Supreme Court to rule on Trump’s immunity and double jeopardy “get out of jail free cards” on an expedited basis but is also pursuing the Appeals Court track in case the Supreme Court opts not to allow him to jump straight onto their docket.  While it appears that both the Appeals Court and SCOTUS get that with the 2024 election looming, Lady Justice is running out of time, their idea of fast tracking is more akin to my running speed (very slow) than Usain Bolt’s.  Trump who more than anyone knows the value of delaying court proceedings, is calling “deranged” Jack, a grinch for stealing Christmas from his legal team by making them write briefs over the holidays. The January 6^th insurrection case isn’t the only one hitting SCOTUS’s docket, the Justices have also agreed to take up a challenge to a law used to charge hundreds of those “nice tourists” who participated in the January 6 Capitol riot.  The question is whether or not the government can prosecute those “tourists” under a federal law that makes it a crime to obstruct or impede an official proceeding, here the disruption of Congress’ certification of the 2020 presidential election. Obstruction is one of the four charges that Special Jack has brought against Trump and though the “immunity and double jeopardy” appeals are on the fastish track, the obstruction appeal isn’t expected to be decided upon until June though a number of TV legal pundits say that if, as expected,  SCOTUS rules against Trump on immunity and double jeopardy, Chutkan could proceed with her case while the obstruction appeal is being heard.  In other legal news, Trump’s NY civil case, the one that could strip him of lots of his real estate assets, is over for the year. In January, both sides will present their ending oral arguments.  Judge Engoron, whose limited gag order was upheld by NY’s highest court this week, expects to render his final opinion by the end of January. 

 

More Legalities: Trump isn’t the only one on trial.  Rudy Giuliani’s Washington DC civil case, where the former mayor ultimately did not testify though he did continue to slander mother-daughter plaintiffs Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss repeatedly even while the trial was ongoing, is now in the hands of the jurors.  The jurors are deliberating over how much Rudy should be required to handover to Ruby and Shaye, not over whether or not he slandered them because that’s already been decided.  Though Rudy didn’t testify, Ruby Freeman did, and her testimony was heartbreaking.  She relayed that she was warned by the FBI not to go back to her home because the death threats against her inspired by Guiliani’s lies, lies that were repeated and amplified by Trump, were credible.  She then increased the security at her home so she could move back in but had to leave again for good after her address was made public. There’s little doubt that jurors will award Ruby and Shaye millions upon millions of dollars, but they’ll be lucky to collect even a small amount given Rudy’s current self-inflicted financial woes.  There’s also been some news on the fake elector plot where ten of Wisconsin’s have “disavowed” their attempt to overturn Trump’s 2020 defeat, recognized the legitimacy of Biden’s victory, and pledged not to serve as real electors in 2024 or any election when Trump is on the ballot, or to act as sham electors in any future election. They’ve also agreed to fully cooperate with any ongoing or future DOJ probes related to the 2020 election.

Impeachment Revenge:  Well, House Republicans have done it.  All of them, even those in “Biden districts” have voted to open an official impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden.  Depending on which one of them you ask the impeachment inquiry has been opened because of Biden’s complicity with his son Hunter’s business doings, even though after years of investigations there’s no credible evidence of Joe doing anything more than loving his troubled son, or it’s been opened because of Biden’s Afghan withdrawal, or his border policy and so on.  At least one Republican, Texas’s Troy Nehls said the silent part out loud, that it’s all about “Trump 2024 baby.” As to Hunter, he didn’t show up for closed door testimony in front of a House committee, instead he appeared outside of the Capitol and repeated that he’ll testify but only in a public hearing because he’s not going to allow Republican’s to selectively cherry pick, leak and weaponize anything he says to them in private.  For those of us still waiting for Gym Jordan to testify about January 6, that sounds fair.           

Gilead Update:  SCOTUS isn’t just dealing with Trump’s legal morass; they’ve also decided to take up the mifepristone case.  Mifepristone is part of the drug cocktail used for medication abortions.  While the legal dispute does not directly address the right to abortion, it is focused on legal issues about the FDA”s process for approving drugs and the decision to make mifepristone available by mail, it really is all about abortion availability because medicated abortions now account for more than half of all pregnancy terminations.  If the court puts any limitations on the mailing of mifepristone, they will further curtail abortions in states with strict abortion limitations.  If they rule that the more than twenty- year- old FDA approval of mifepristone and the subsequent modification of its dosage and when it can be used were inappropriate than they will also end medicated abortions for women in states where abortion is available.  The bottom line, any new limitations on mifepristone will further limit reproductive rights, for everyone. Period.  Oh, and Kellyanne Conway is back, well she never really went away.  She’s advising Republicans that they should shift their focus away from abortion to contraception, reassuring everyone that Republicans won’t take away their pills and devices.  Think about that, the fact that Kellyanne thinks that reassurance is needed, says a lot about what some of those Republicans legislators and judges, would like to do.     

And:  The Senate and House have passed a clean defense spending authorization but still no budgets or aid for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.  Senate Leader Schumer is delaying the Christmas exodus in the hopes of hammering out an agreement that includes border/immigration concessions, but Punchbowl News is skeptical that he’ll be able to pull that off.  Pressure is building for Israel to limit its Gaza war plan and/or agree to a ceasefire because Hamas always honors ceasefires?  One guy who seems to be really enjoying our Congressional mess, inability to function, and the mess in both Ukraine and Israel and Gaza is Trump BFF Vlad which tells you everything you need to know about both of them.  

#BringThemAllHomeNow

Evan Gershkovich too