Steve Thomas

Douglas, Case 1:19-cv-08694-VM Document 63 Filed 08/03/20 Page 1 of 28 https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.523086/gov.uscourts.nysd.523086.63.0_1.pdf Plaintiff’s argument that the Mazars Subpoena is overbroad fails for the additional reason that it rests on the false premise that the grand jury’s investigation is limited to so-called “hush-money” payments made by Michael Cohen on behalf of Plaintiff in 2016. But this Court is already aware that this assertion is fatally undermined by undisputed information in the public record. See Vance, 395 F. Supp. 3d at 300 (the Office’s investigation may result in “a favorable outcome . . . substantially related to[,] ” among other things, “alleged insurance and bank fraud by the Trump Organization and its officers”). This possible criminal activity occurred within the applicable statutes of limitations, particularly if the transactions involved a continuing pattern of conduct. Steve Thomas

Doctors fear Trump will lie about a vaccine to win the election By Sarah K. Burris https://www.rawstory.com/2020/08/doctors-fear-trump-will-lie-about-a-vaccine-to-win-the-election/ “According to people familiar with the White House meetings on the coronavirus, Jared Kushner regularly asks about getting the vaccine by October, and behind the scenes, Trump’s campaign staff are calling it “the holy grail.” Steve Thomas

Daniel, That would be Andrew Armstrong. He was more or less in charge of the Carousel when Ruby was not around. You can read his WC testimony here: http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/armstro1.htm Mr. HUBERT. What was your job around there? Mr. ARMSTRONG. Well, at first it was just bartending and then it got to be--it was bartending, then it got to be straightening the place up a little bit because there was another man that came in, Howard Haynes. Mr. HUBERT. Howard Haynes? Mr. ARMSTRONG. Yes, but he always did sort of a half job, and so then it got to be where I spent most of the afternoon there just taking phone calls and reservations and things like that, and taking care of all of the buying and things like that. Steve Thomas

Ron, Absentee for sure. Steve Thomas

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/snapchat-ads-trump-supporters-scam_n_5f24628ac5b6a34284ba7781 Grifters Are Scamming Teenage Trump Supporters Through Targeted Snapchat Ads Ads peddling “free” MAGA merch could financially devastate young Snapchatters. By Jesselyn Cook “In an attention-grabbing Snapchat ad, a cartoon version of President Donald Trump dances through fireworks and a cascade of dollar bills to the tune of “Hail to the Chief.” Bold text against a flashing red, white and blue background promises viewers a “FREE Trump 2020 Bundle” of MAGA-themed merchandise and even $10 in hard cash — all for a fee of just 69 cents to cover shipping. The offer, which is targeted to males who live in red states, watch political news and enjoy online shopping, according to Snapchat data, could be hard to resist for many of the app’s overwhelmingly young users. “Please support President Trump & Traditional American values by claiming Your FREE Trump 2020 Bundle,” says the text on the ad’s landing page, above a checkout button labeled, “YES, I SUPPORT OUR PRESIDENT.” Buried in fine print at the bottom of the page, which displays a large countdown clock, is a disclaimer noting that the “free” deal is actually a “welcoming gift for joining the Trump4President2020 Club.” Members are automatically billed $142 every month, with no option for a refund. As the race for the White House rages on, Trump4President2020 and an array of other little-known advertisers are carefully targeting Snapchat users as young as 15 with a barrage of pro-Trump ads based on their age, gender, location, presumed interests, online activity and even their affinity for Fox News. The ads mimic Trump’s rhetoric and offer users “free” swag — flags, T-shirts, hats, custom coins, novelty bills, pool floats — often as tokens of gratitude for their “patriotism.” In reality, Snapchat is letting scammers zero in and prey on some of its youngest users by exploiting their naivety and ardor for the president.” Steve Thomas

- Donald Trump - "My visits last week to Texas and Frorida (sic) had massive numbers of cheering people gathered along the roads and highways, thousands and thousands, even bigger (by far) than the crowds of 2016,” the president wrote. “Saw no Biden supporters, and yet some in the Fake News said it was an equal number. Sad!" " Steve Thomas

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-new-adviser-steve-cortes-thinks-he-hasnt-been-fascist-enough?ref=home "But to hear his campaign’s newest senior adviser, Steve Cortes, tell it, Trump’s misstep was not the act of authorizing attacks on peaceful protesters—it was that the president wasn’t even “more of a fascist.” As the Trump campaign’s new senior adviser for strategy, Cortes has been tasked with helping right the ship of President Donald Trump’s re-election efforts after months of strategic and tactical blunders under newly demoted campaign manager Brad Parscale. Among Cortes’ most recent statements: declaring that billionaire philanthropist and conservative bête noire George Soros is manipulating the Black Lives Matter movement to achieve the “nullification of America;” saying that the “propensity of Black people in this country to commit violent crime” meant that white criminals are actually the victims of police violence; and dismissing concerns about schoolchildren spreading the novel coronavirus to elderly relatives by saying that “grandma can stay somewhere else.”" Steve Thomas

David, I don't know about recent history, but in 1914 Woodrow Wilson ordered federal troops into Ludlow, Colorado to restore order following the Ludlow Massacre by the Colorado National Guard. In mid-1932, President Herbert Hoover then ordered the U.S. Army to clear the Bonus Army marchers' campsite. Army Chief of Staff General Douglas MacArthur commanded a contingent of infantry and cavalry, supported by six tanks. The Bonus Army marchers with their wives and children were driven out, and their shelters and belongings burned. Steve Thomas

David, That was my question too. In his article, Truscott wrote, Following Lafayette Park, “his real army has refused to take the battlefield.” “... Milley and other military commanders reacted forcefully and negatively to Trump's use of active-duty soldiers against peaceful protesters. By the end of the week, all regular Army soldiers had been sent home from their temporary assignments to Washington, and military leaders had drawn a line in the sand that they would not cross. Without threatening to disobey orders from the commander in chief, military leaders made it clear that they would not facilitate Trump's militarization of his response to protesters around the country.” God, I hope so. Steve Thomas

Lucian Truscott IV https://www.salon.com/2020/07/25/mail-order-macho-the-cheap-halloween-costuming-of-donald-trumps-toy-fascism/ Trump couldn't order in the 82nd Airborne Division. He tried that in Washington and failed. So he ordered William Barr, his attorney general, and Chad Wolf, the acting secretary of homeland security, to cobble together a homemade militia using officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Transportation Security Administration and Customs and Border Protection. These are civilian enforcement agents trained to patrol the borders with Mexico and Canada, check travelers at airports for contraband in their carry-ons, and inspect shipments of imported goods coming across our borders from foreign countries. How do you create an intimidating army out of a bunch of civil servants whose previous experience in law enforcement has been locking up little kids and their moms along the border and frisking traveling salespersons at airports for bottles containing more than three ounces of shampoo? The unmarked, unnamed Trumpian shock troops look like they've been assembled from an off-the-shelf parts bin. It's lame-o "law and order," done on the cheap. And that's the problem with insta-militias like the one deployed in Portland and those planned for deployment to Chicago, Albuquerque, and other metropolitan areas around the country with mayors who happen to be Democrats. How intimidating can a pretend army be if it's wearing patches that say, "Transportation Security Administration"? What are protesters going to do? Throw up their arms and cry out, "I give up! I forgot and packed my nail clippers!" Sometimes confronting force with humor is the best tactic. Moms in yellow T-shirts and dads with leaf-blowers are the perfect way to show up Trump as a pitiful helpless giant. His moves to bring fascism to the streets of America are working about as well as his attempts to wish away the virus that is ravaging the country in a silent riot of disease and death. -more- Steve Thomas

Have you wondered why Donald Trump has been dumping on Jim Clyburn lately? https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/07/31/897429054/covid-19-hospital-data-system-that-bypasses-cdc-plagued-by-delays-inaccuracies?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews “Earlier this month, when the Trump administration told hospitals to send crucial data about coronavirus cases and intensive care capacity to a new online system, it promised the change would be worth it. The data would be more complete, transparent, and an improvement over the old platform run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, administration officials said.” https://coronavirus.house.gov/news/press-releases/clyburn-maloney-krishnamoorthi-demand-information-decision-divert-coronavirus “Washington, D.C. (July 18, 2020) — Yesterday, Rep. James E. Clyburn, Chairman of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis; Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, Chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform; and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, sent a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert Redfield calling on the Trump Administration to reverse the decision to divert coronavirus data away from the CDC and instead report it to a private contractor. In the letter, Clyburn, Maloney and Krishnamoorthi also seek information on why TeleTracking was awarded a sole-source contract and how data reported through this new platform will differ from that previously reported through CDC.” “In the letter, Clyburn, Maloney and Krishnamoorthi also seek information on why TeleTracking was awarded a sole-source contract and how data reported through this new platform will differ from that previously reported through CDC.” https://www.rawstory.com/2020/08/most-of-trumps-authoritarianism-and-corruption-goes-unnoticed-by-the-public/ “TeleTracking CEO Michael Zamagias had links to NY real estate world—a firm that financed billions $ in projects with—Trump Organization. https://t.co/QW73OKuuTw “ Steve Thomas

#IStandWithRingo https://twitter.com/hashtag/IStandWithRingo?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Steve Thomas

Joe, The WC testimony of Bob Edwards, who was with Fischer: Mr. BELIN - If you said four, you mean the affidavit-maybe we'd better introduce it into the record as Edward's Deposition Exhibit A. Where do you think the shots came from? Mr. EDWARDS - I have no idea. Mr. BELIN - In the affidavit you stated that the shots seemed to come from the building there. Did you really say that or not? Mr. EDWARDS - No; I didn't say that. Mr. BELIN - All right, anything else you can think of? Mr. EDWARDS - No. Mr. BELIN - I want to thank you for coming down here. Steve Thomas

Trump’s vaccine chief picks his own former employer—where he still holds millions worth of stock—for $2.1 billion deal Published 29 mins ago on July 31, 2020 By Common Dreams “The White House on Friday awarded a record-breaking $2.1 billion contract for development of a Covid-19 vaccine, raising questions about a former pharmaceutical executive’s involvement in the administration’s decision. The deal is for 100 million doses of a vaccine manufactured by Sanofi, a French drug maker, and its British partner GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). Dr. Moncef Slaoui, a former GSK executive, is head of the White House’s Operation Warp Speed, the administration’s program to develop and disburse an effective coronavirus vaccine. Slaoui’s connection to his former company has been the focus of concern from advocacy groups and politicians skeptical of his claims of neutrality. “It is a huge conflict of interest for the White House’s new vaccine czar to own $10 million of stock in a company receiving government funding to develop a Covid-19 vaccine,” Warren tweeted. “Dr. Slaoui should divest immediately.” As Common Dreams reported, the former executive’s refusal to relinquish his shares in the company made the process of awarding a contract a “sham,” in the words of former Office of Government Ethics director Walter Shaub.” The corruption is just staggering. Steve Thomas

Richard, Quite possible. Steve Thomas

How Jared Kushner’s Secret Testing Plan “Went Poof Into Thin Air” By Katherine Eban July 30, 2020 https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/07/how-jared-kushners-secret-testing-plan-went-poof-into-thin-air#intcid=recommendations_vf-trending-legacy_0760f35a-1889-469b-9aed-f3eac48c0654_popular4-1 "Against that background, the prospect of launching a large-scale national plan was losing favor, said one public health expert in frequent contact with the White House’s official coronavirus task force. Most troubling of all, perhaps, was a sentiment the expert said a member of Kushner’s team expressed: that because the virus had hit blue states hardest, a national plan was unnecessary and would not make sense politically. “The political folks believed that because it was going to be relegated to Democratic states, that they could blame those governors, and that would be an effective political strategy,” said the expert. That logic may have swayed Kushner. “It was very clear that Jared was ultimately the decision maker as to what [plan] was going to come out,” the expert said. On April 27, Trump stepped to a podium in the Rose Garden, flanked by members of his coronavirus task force and leaders of America’s big commercial testing laboratories, Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp, and finally announced a testing plan: It bore almost no resemblance to the one that had been forged in late March, and shifted the problem of diagnostic testing almost entirely to individual states." Steve Thomas

Richard, If this is a picture taken in front of the TSBD; based on what Fischer told the WC he did after the shooting, I don't think it's Fischer. He and Bob Edwards were standing on Houston watching the parade. After the shooting, they ran up the grassy knoll and looked around the railroad yards. They then went back to the office. http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/fischer.htm “Mr. BELIN - All right. When you went back there, did you walk by the front of the Texas School Book Depository Building? Mr. FISCHER - No; when we went back, we came we went back the same way we came. We went straight across Elm and then up to Houston on the south side of Elm, and then crossed. Mr. FISCHER - Well, as I said, we went up to the fourth floor to our office. Uh---I stayed there for 5 or 10 minutes. Bob had left. And then I went next door in the purchasing department where they've got a radio. About that time a deputy from the sheriff's office came up and asked me if I was Ronald Fischer, and I said, "Yes ;" and he said that Sheriff Decker wanted to see me in his office right now. Mr. BELIN - About what time was this now? Mr. FISCHER - This was at--oh--1 o'clock on or about 1 o'clock. Mr. BELIN - You then went to Sheriff Decker's office? Mr. FISCHER - I went to Decker's office and--uh--Bob Edwards was in there. He looked up--and he had given them my name and told them--at least, this is what he told me that he told them that we had both been standing there together and had seen this man in the window...“ When he testified, Edwards never came to explain how he came to be in Decker's office when Fischer was brought in. I'd say if it was either of these two, the young man was was probably Bob Edwards. Steve Thomas

Joe, Based on the badge over his left shirt pocket, the shoulder patch on his left bicep, the non-blue color of his uniform, and the papers sticking out of right shirt pocket, I'm going to guess and say that he might be a Deputy Constable working for Robie Love. Constable Duties & Responsibilities https://www.co.walker.tx.us/egov/apps/document/center.egov?view=item;id=110 Although the constable is considered a local precinct officer, his territorial jurisdiction, like that of sheriff, extends to the entire county. He is entitled to serve civil process in those counties contiguous to his own, and with a warrant, to make arrests beyond the limit of his county. Civil court actions in the state of Texas begin with the service of different types of citations, writs, or subpoenas. The county or state charges various fees for such documents, and for legal service thereof to a defendant or witness in a civil suit. Deputy sheriffs, municipal police officers, constables, and private process servers are authorized to serve these civil papers. Steve Thomas

Joe, You know, that's something I've never understood. Everybody keeps talking about how we need an infrastructure plan. Our roads and bridges and airports and dykes need fixing. And here we have millions of people who need work and are just looking for something to do. Why not put the two together? It seems like it would be a win/win situation for everybody. I guess we need to build more aircraft carriers and D-35 fighter jets though. Steve Thomas

Sam Brodey Spencer Ackerman Asawin Suebsaeng Updated Jul. 30, 2020 11:04PM ET / Published Jul. 30, 2020 4:52PM ET https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-goes-into-hyperdrive-to-delegitimize-the-electionhes-terrified-of-losing?ref=home "...Harvard Law figure Alan Dershowitz, a member of the defense team during Trump’s impeachment trial, said, “The answer is clear: only Congress can change the date of the election. A president doesn't have the authority… Of course, any citizen has the right to ask Congress to make a change, but I can’t imagine that they would do that.” But others close to the president kept the door propped conspicuously open. Testifying on Thursday morning, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, an attorney, said about presidential authority to delay an election, “In the end, the Department of Justice, others will make that determination.” Ah yes. William Barr gets to decide. Others? What others? Steve Thomas

With his actions this morning, Donald Trump has announced to the world that he is going to lose this election. Winners don't seek to cancel, or delay an election. Only losers do. He has also announced to his acolytes that they are on their own. Who is going to hitch their star to someone who publicly announces he is is going to lose? What do you do when the ship deserts the sinking rats? Steve Thomas

Donald Trump’s Weak, Self-Defeating Call for Delaying the Election By Dan McLaughlin National Review July 30, 2020 10:31 AM https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/donald-trumps-weak-self-defeating-call-for-delaying-the-election/ “If I were, say, a Republican senator running for re-election right now, I’d be furious. One lesson of past campaigns is that the head of the ticket is supposed to play all the way to the whistle to keep the bottom from dropping out of down-ticket turnout. Bob Dole, for all his flaws as a national candidate, understood that and ran himself into the ground the closing weeks of 1996, doing nothing to save his own failing ticket but salvaging Republican control of Congress. If Trump is already focused in July on making excuses for losing, that is a very bad omen for Republicans in November.” Steve Thomas

Ron, In North Carolina, they opened up the process for people to request mail-in ballots. Requests from Republican voters rose by 20%. Requests from Democratic voters rose by 600%. Donald Trump is headed for the worst defeat in American history, and he knows it. He will do everything in his power to cancel the election, or somehow declare it invalid. Steve Thomas

Did you guys all set your watches yet? On Wednesday, at a speech in Midland, Texas, President Donald Trump railed against former Vice President Joe Biden for his “impossible” plan to neutralize carbon emissions by “2:30.” https://twitter.com/i/status/1288576935967121408 Steve Thomas

Gene, According to DeMohrenschildt, it was George Bouhe who was smitten with her. http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/demohr_g.htm Mr. De MOHRENSCHILDT. They already moved to Dallas. We already had moved them--had taken Marina away from her husband. And she already had returned back to her husband. Mr. JENNER. All right. Now, you say you had already taken Marina away from her husband. Tell us how that occurred. Mr. De MOHRENSCHILDT. In the meantime, George Bouhe became completely disgusted with Lee. Mr. JENNER. Why? Mr. De MOHRENSCHILDT. Because I don't know exactly why--because he liked Marina very much. Mr. JENNER. Bouhe? Mr. De MOHRENSCHILDT. Bouhe he is an elderly man. Mr. JENNER. Yes, I appreciate that. Mr. De MOHRENSCHILDT. He wanted--almost like a daughter, you see. To him she was a poor girl whose father was an ex-officer, and she needed help. And he really gave. her money. He would give her $30, $40, I think, all at once. Steve Thomas