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Financial Fraud, Impeachment

Judge Paul Oetken Eliminates Lev Parnas' Last Attempt to Weaponize the Former President's Former Lawyer in His Defense

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July 15, 2021

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Since the days before Lev Parnas was arrested he and those around him have been trying to hide their actions in an interlocking nest of attorney-client privilege claims. Yesterday, Judge Paul Oetken just denied Parnas' latest attempt to exploit that effort in his defense.

2016 Presidential Election, emptywheel, Mueller Probe

The Viral Twitter Thread in Which Darrell Cooper Confesses Republicans Were Pawns of Russian Disinformation

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July 13, 2021

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The Twitter rant that Trump supporters claim provides an excuse for the Trump attack on the Capitol ultimately amounts to a claim that likely 2016 Russian disinformation led a bunch of Trump supporters, inexorably, to attack the US Capitol.

2016 Presidential Election, Mueller Probe

The Odd Projection by the Steele Dossier's Claimed Alfa Bank Source

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July 11, 2021

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The claim a purported subsource for the Steele dossier makes about the purpose of the Alfa Bank report in the dossier matches the testimony one of the oligarch's behind the suit, Petr Aven, reportedly gave Mueller's investigators.

Introduction To New Series, Index And Bibliography

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July 9, 2021

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Here's my story about our current morass. I'm sticking with it until I figure out why it's wrong.

January 6 Insurrection

Meet Johnny Pollock: The Anti-Social [Media] Cell Leader of January 6 Lakeland Insurrectionists

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July 9, 2021

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In the days after January 6, there was a false conception that the insurrectionists might all be found via their social media use. Johnny Pollock, who appears to have been on the lam since at least March, shows that some of the more dangerous insurrectionists were smarter than that.

January 6 Insurrection

Blind Spots in the Ashli Babbitt Panopticon

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July 8, 2021

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Five key defendants who were at the Speaker's Lobby door when Ashli Babbitt was shot received a pack of discovery from other defendants in recent days.

Congress, Intelligence, Trump Alumni Crime

Carlson to McCarthy to Nunes: Obstruction or Worse?

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July 8, 2021

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Did Tucker Carlson provide cover for House minority leader Kevin McCarthy to give Rep. Devin Nunes access to U.S. intelligence? Did this happen on behalf of a foreign entity?

January 6 Insurrection

Proud Boy UCC-1's Work Ethic Saved Him from a Felony Charge

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July 8, 2021

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Among the details revealed in some Proud Boy texts released the other day is an explanation for why an unindicted co-conspirator was not present at the riot: He claimed at the time he was trying not to fuck up a new job he had just started.

emptywheel, EO 12333, FISA

Tucker Carlson Burns FBI or NSA Intercepts Regarding His 30-Month Pursuit of Face-Time with Vladimir Putin

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July 8, 2021

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Tucker Carlson's seeming explanation for the claim he had been surveilled by the NSA is that for the past thirty months he has had secret communications with Russian agents trying to set up a meeting with Vladimir Putin.

emptywheel, January 6 Insurrection

"Stand Back and Stand By:" John Pierce's Plan for a Public Authority or -- More Likely -- a MyPillow Defense

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July 7, 2021

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John Pierce, who was recently fired by Kyle Rittenhouse, has moved onto assembling a cast of January 6 defendants for whom, Pierce recently claimed, he'll mount a public authority defense.

emptywheel, January 6 Insurrection

"One if By Land, Two if By Sea:" What We Know of the Oath Keepers' January 6 Quick Reaction Force

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July 4, 2021

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Early in the Oath Keeper investigation, the claim to have an armed Quick Reaction Force to descend on DC if things went haywire seemed like the product of Thomas Caldwell's boasts. But since then, the government has provided evidence that at least six of the Oath Keepers charged with involvement on January 6 dropped off weapons at the Ballston Comfort Inn.

January 6 Insurrection

The Oath Keepers Dilemma: The Government Has Threatened Yet Another Indictment

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July 2, 2021

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All the Oath Keepers want more time to contemplate the evidence against them. One of them, Joshua James, even suggests that given the threat of another indictment, none of them may go to trial. With three public plea deals, the government has got the remaining 15 defendants playing an awful game of prisoner's dilemma, trying to calculate how to get out of this mess.

Financial Fraud

Why Would Allen Weisselberg Tolerate Having to Cheat on His Taxes Rather than Getting a Raise?

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July 2, 2021

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According to the indictment against Allen Weisselberg, he was willing to invent ever more tax dodges from 2011 to 2018 without demanding a raise for himself for his troubles.

Trump Alumni Crime

Drive for Show, Putt for Dough: Trump's Accountant's Putting Method Revealed [UPDATE-3]

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July 1, 2021

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NYS unsealed the indictment of Trump Org CFO Allen Weisselberg, pointing to the next hole(s) on this course to be played.

emptywheel, January 6 Insurrection

The Grand Jury Secrets Hiding the Proud Boys' East Door Activities

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July 1, 2021

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Rick Willden, a Proud Boy who was arrested yesterday for things he did at the East Door of the Capitol on January 6, is one of maybe six people arrested initially via indictment. That suggests the government has some secrets it wants to hide about how it showed probable cause to arrest him.

January 6 Insurrection

Darrell Youngers, Christopher Warnagiris, and Jason Dolan: Marines at the East Door

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July 1, 2021

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It seems that three different Marines or former Marines were involved with or knew the East Door of the Capitol would be opened: Darrell Youngers, Chris Warnargiris, and Oath Keeper Jason Dolan.

Bush Administration, Torture

An Unknown Unknown Made Known Known

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June 30, 2021

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Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld who authorized torture under the Bush administration, passed away today at age 88. *spit*

January 6 Insurrection

Person Fifteen (AKA Mark Grods), Another Roger Stone Security Staffer, Flips

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June 30, 2021

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One of the people that Tucker Carlson accused of being a paid FBI informant is pleading guilty today. Testimony he already provided to the grand jury implicates key Oath Keepers.

January 6 Insurrection

What Happens in DC Stays in Vegas

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June 30, 2021

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The FBI went to the Las Vegas airport to interview a guy they just arrested for misdemeanor trespassing and theft.

The Republican PCLOB Cover-Up of NSA's XKEYSCORE Use Is More Troubling than Tucker Carlson's Claims To Be Surveilled

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June 30, 2021

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There were two claims of improper surveillance by NSA in recent days. One, made by a serial fabulist. And another, made by someone with access to classified information, that may affect hundreds of Americans. The refusal of Republicans on PCLOB to examine the latter violations merits far more attention given the credibility of the reporting source than Tucker Carlson's claims.

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