Bizarro World 🤮 🤡 😱 ✡️🌻😱 🤡 🤮

Epstein-gate:  Things have gotten so stupid on the Epstein front that Speaker Mike Johnson 🤡 is sending House members home early for their August break to avoid being forced into calling a vote on releasing the Epstein files because he knows that he’d lose that vote since a number of Republicans would join all the Democrats in voting for it.  He’s decided that avoiding the release of what must be Trump implicating files because why else would he and his dear leader fear their release is more important than critical budget negotiations, even more important than keeping the government open past September 30.  Unwilling to leave the Epstein battle solely in Johnson’s hands, 🍑 🤡 Trump has gone all-in on attacking President Obama, asserting on TV, in press conferences, and to visiting foreign leaders that DNI/accused Russian asset Tulsi Gabbard’s conspiracy ridden assessment that everyone in Obama’s orbit engaged in treasonous activities when they said that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election is actionable. That’s both stupid and scary because as nuts as its sounds, Trump is now talking about arresting and prosecuting Obama while also reopening the Hillary Clinton email investigation so that he can have her arrested too. Trump’s threats have reached such a fevered pitch that Obama, who usually ignores Trump’s daily utterances, because he hates “dignifying the disinformation flowing out of this White House” released a statement calling the claims “outrageous,” “bizarre,” “ridiculous” and a “weak attempt at distraction.” Obama’s right which is one of the reasons that Trump isn’t just attacking him; he’s got Attorney General Pam “Blondi” sending Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche who before joining the DOJ served as his personal lawyer in his New York criminal case meeting with Epstein’s imprisoned aide de camp/procurer Ghislaine Maxwell.  The stated purpose of that meeting is to get Maxwell, who maintains her innocence, despite her conviction and twenty-year sentence for sex trafficking and conspiracy, to spill the beans about all things Epstein and by spill the beans, think provide implicating dirt on a bunch of prominent Democrats while also saying that despite scads of pictures of the two partying together including some from as far back as 1993 and a few of Epstein at Trump’s wedding to wife two Marla Maples, Epstein hardly knew Trump and even if he did, Trump was and is pure as the driven snow. Maxwell’s lawyers say that she can’t wait to talk to Blanche, more than hinting that she expects a pardon or commutation in exchange, or at the very least a promise not to have her “suicided” in her cell ala Epstein. It’s hardly a coincidence that Maxwell’s lawyers stalled her appeal until after the 2024 election, preferring to engage in negotiations with Trump instead of Kamala Harris.  Trump, cankles and all, is off to visit his two Scotland golf courses this week but the WSJ, like the AP before it, has lost its coveted spot on his plane because their “birthday card,” the source of Trump’s amped up freak out, is still reverberating.

Habba Dabba Don’t:  In other legal beagle news, two of Trump’s interim US Attorneys are facing push back over their incompetence and extreme partisanship.  In theory interim US Attorneys can only serve for 120 days at which point they either have to go through a formal confirmation process, be extended by the federal judges in their district, or step down. After a panel of judges failed to extend John Sarcone 🤡, the interim US Attorney for the Northern District of New York, the DOJ took the unusual step of appointing him as a special attorney to the Attorney General, a role usually reserved for prosecutors assigned to special cases but not meant to be used to extend the tenure of an expired interim attorney. It’s not clear if the DOJ will use the same work around to extend New Jersey’s Alina Habba’s stint.  Habba 🤡, the parking lot lawyer who like Todd Blanche, was one of Trump’s defense lawyers has been serving as the interim US Attorney for New Jersey. Her on job performance has been both underwhelming and extremely partisan.  She’s being sued by Newark Mayor Baraka for false arrest, malicious prosecution, and defamation related to his legitimate protest at a NJ area INS detention center and she’s had NJ Congresswoman LaMonica McIver indicted for “pushing” an INS agent at the same INS detention center. Unwilling to extend her term, NJ’s district judges announced the appointment of Desiree Leigh Grace who had been serving as her first assistant as her replacement.  Late yesterday, Bondi’s DOJ responded by firing Grace.  Apparently politicizing at Justice is okay when it’s done by Trump and his henchmen, just not okay for Obama, Biden, or any other Democrat. Also, judging by Trump’s calls for Obama’s prosecution, that whole presidential immunity only applies to him.

Political Chicanery 🏠 🚗 🛻 :  Missouri Senator Josh Hawley 🤡 who voted for Trump’s Big Ugly Budget bill despite publicly slamming the $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts that serves as the lynchpin of the bill, is planning to introduce legislation to replace those cuts.  That’s nice but quite disingenuous, Hawley just won reelection, he could have stood up for his health care needy constituents while the bill was under discussion so it’s not a stretch to surmise that he’s probably just trying to build up some support in anticipation of a post Trump presidential run. It’s fair to assume that his Medicaid refunding bill won’t pass since he’d have to figure out a way to fund it without raising taxes, especially given this week’s CBO conclusion that the “BUB” will increase the deficit by $3.4 trillion, the result of a decrease in revenues of $4.5 trillion only partially offset by a decrease in direct spending of $1.1 trillion, an amount not so coincidentally more or less equal to the aforementioned Medicaid cut.  Keeping with the theme of hard to believe promises, yesterday Trump who keeps throwing out shiny objects of distraction, teased eliminating capital gains taxes on the sale of primary residences to goose the housing market. Currently, single people can shelter $250,000 in gains while couples can shelter $500,000.  Again, that would be a nice for those who have highly appreciated homes but don’t count on it.  Then there’s Utah Senator Mike Lee 🤡.  He demonstrated some more abject stupidity yesterday, reposting and celebrating an obviously AI generated Fed Chair Jerome Powell resignation letter.  No, Powell did not resign which explains why Lee quietly deleted his post later in the day.  Lastly on the Senate front,  Minnesota Senator Tina Smith missed a vote after she was hospitalized briefly due to chest pains.  The good news is that Smith who at 67 is young by Senate standards says that she’s fine.  She is back at work. Smith previously announced that she will not be running for reelection when her term is up in 2026.  Late yesterday, Trump announced that he’s reached a “massive” trade deal with Japan.  The agreement, assuming it’s for real, will result in 15% tariffs on Japanese goods.  That’s less than the 25% Trump set earlier this year, but huge in comparison to the 2% that were in place in 2024.  Just another reminder, tariffs are taxes on all of us, corporations included.  Yesterday, General Motors reported a 35 percent drop in second-quarter profits, including a $1.1 billion hit from United States-imposed tariffs.          

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