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In testimony related to a CT Supreme Court nomination, Nora Dannehy confirmed earlier NYT reporting that John Durham wrote a draft report making unsubstantiated allegations about Hillary Clinton that Barr threatened to release in time to influence the election.

What If Journalists Actually Read Gary Shapley Rather Than Parroting His Testimony?

53 Comments

September 21, 2023

If reporters who have championed Gary Shapley would simply report on the way his own notes answer the questions Republicans badgered Merrick Garland with yesterday, they might be forced to report on how cynical that stunt hearing was.

Special Counsel Weiss Demanding that Hunter Biden Show Up for Initial Appearance

65 Comments

September 19, 2023

In a fight over whether Hunter Biden will have to make his initial appearance in person, we'll get to see the degree to which David Weiss is overtly trying to make his prosecution of the President's son as a proxy fight with Trump's opponent.

"My life's on the line here:" Gary Shapley's Direct Supervisor Believed His Claims Were Unsubstantiated

56 Comments

September 19, 2023

During the period when Gary Shapley was writing documents misrepresenting David Weiss' words, his supervisor recommended he be removed from the Hunter Biden case.

Hunter Biden Sues the IRS

135 Comments

September 18, 2023

For five years, the government has (apparently) chosen to relentlessly pursue pickayune charges against Hunter Biden while ignoring the crimes committed to try to force the government to file those charges. And Abbe Lowell may be preparing to make that case in the case of any trial.

On Recusal, Give Trump the Evidentiary Hearing He Demands!

81 Comments

September 18, 2023

2024 Presidential Election, emptywheel, Hunter Biden, Leak Investigations

Trump claims that during the year and a half of January 6 cases she had presided over by October 28, 2022, Judge Tanya Chutkan had not seen any evidence from which she could form an opinion about Trump's role in the event. By all means, let's put the evidence she had seen in the record.

Culture, Football, Republicans, Trash Talk

Trash Talk: Won't Somebody Think of the Children Edition

114 Comments

September 16, 2023

Rayne

Disgusting: how unprepared MSU was to handle a high-profile sexual harassment complaint, and how the GOP blows off revolting behavior by its own. Won't somebody think of the children?

Culture, Football, Trash Talk

Sunset Musings III and Trash Talk

77 Comments

September 16, 2023

bmaz

A few of you may remember Sunset Musings II regarding the fall of Grandpa Pricky. Most were likely not here back then. So Casa de bmaz has today lost yet another noble centurion. Grandma Pricky.

After Threats Elicited by Gary Shapley's Misleading Testimony, Hunter Biden Prosecutors Reneged on the Plea Deal

109 Comments

September 15, 2023

In a package to Congress, Abbe Lowell laid out all the evidence that Gary Shapley's political pressure led directly to David Weiss' decision to ratchet up the charges against Hunter Biden. But the package left something out: Shapley's media tour has also led to credible threats of violence targeting the prosecutor who first crafted the plea deal.

By Asking for Tanya Chutkan's Recusal, Trump Invited a Lesson in His Centrality to January 6

105 Comments

September 15, 2023

Trump wants his January 6 trial to be messaging and fundraising vehicle. But by asking Tanya Chutkan to recuse, he invited DOJ to lay out just how deeply implicated he is in the entire assault on the Capitol.

Not Breaking News and Stop Lying to Your Followers It is: David Weiss Indicts Hunter Biden

75 Comments

September 14, 2023

2022 Mid-Term Election, 2024 Presidential Election, Leak Investigations

David Weiss indicted Hunter Biden on the weapons charge and a false statements charge.

Gary Shapley's Notes Show That Gary Shapley Misrepresented David Weiss

21 Comments

September 14, 2023

2022 Mid-Term Election, Hunter Biden

Gary Shapley rewrote his own notes about what David Weiss said at a contested October 7, 2022 meeting, changing a statement originally recorded saying that Weiss "will" bring charges in Los Angeles to one about what he would have to do to obtain authority to do so.

Gary Shapley's Notes Recorded Something He Claimed Not to Know before House Ways and Means

37 Comments

September 13, 2023

2020 Presidential Election, Hunter Biden

In his testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee, Gary Shapley claimed he didn't know what outlet had published a leak on October 6, 2022. It was a funny claim then. It's funnier still given that his handwritten notes recorded that the leak had been to the WaPo.

Hunter Biden Sues Garrett Ziegler for Hacking His iPhone

77 Comments

September 13, 2023

2024 Presidential Election, emptywheel, Impeachment

Hunter Biden just sued Garrett Ziegler for hacking the encrypted compartment on the "Hunter Biden" "laptop" that included his backed up phone.

By the Time Kevin McCarthy Rolled Out an Impeachment Inquiry, the FBI Had Already Debunked a Key Premise

57 Comments

September 13, 2023

2024 Presidential Election, Impeachment

By the time Kevin McCarthy empowered Jim Jordan and others to start an impeachment investigation yesterday, Jim Jordan knew one of the only claims pertaining to Joe BIden's Administration had been debunked.

As Kevin McCarthy Embraces James Comer's Wet Dreams of Dick Pics, George Santos Discusses "Paths Forward"

51 Comments

September 12, 2023

Prosecutors in EDNY are explicitly discussing a plea agreement with George Santos' former fundraiser and implicitly discussing "resolutions" with Santos as well.

Todd Blanche Confuses Aileen Cannon's Prior Trump Reversal with Tanya Chutkan's Individualized Guilt

63 Comments

September 12, 2023

To assess the seriousness of Trump's demand that Tanya Chutkan recuse herself because of bias, you need only know that Todd Blanche -- who has expressed no concern about Aileen Cannon's much more glaring biases -- signed onto the motion.

The Federalism that Mark Meadows Wants the 11th Circuit to Reverse

123 Comments

September 10, 2023

2024 Presidential Election, emptywheel, Hunter Biden

In refusing to remove Mark Meadows' prosecution from Georgia state courts, Judge Steve Jones ruled that most of the things of which Meadows is accused had no valid federal purpose.

David Weiss May Have More Bluster than Tactical Leverage

102 Comments

September 9, 2023