W. Niederhut

I suppose we shouldn't be too surprised to see the Trump cult doubling down on the denial of Trump's crimes this weekend. That's what cults do. They don't tolerate any criticism of their Great Leader. Meanwhile, Cyrus Vance has gone public with the news that Bill Barr and the Trump DOJ had shut down the investigation and prosecution of Trump's illegal hush money payments to Stormy Daniels. Shocker. 🤥 Exchange of the Day April 2, 2023 at 10:29 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 135 Comments Former Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. was interviewed by Chuck Todd on Meet the Press: TODD: Why didn’t you charge the hush money case? Why didn’t you ever charge it in 2018, 2019, 2020? VANCE: Well Chuck, I don’t want to get into the deliberations that might be covered by grand jury material, but it’s, but as I believe you know, I was asked by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District to stand down on our investigation, which had commenced involving the Trump Organization. And as, you know, as someone who respects that office a great deal, and believing that they may have perhaps the best laws to investigate, I did so. And I was somewhat surprised after Mr. Cohen pleaded guilty that the federal government did not proceed on the areas in which it asked me to stand down.

George, I appreciate your comment, and, yes, I am trying to make sense of the recent, surprising Fox/GOP efforts to secure the release of the JFK Records in the context of what happened in October of 2017 and April of 2018, when Trump was POTUS and Fox News was serving as the de facto Ministry of Propaganda for the Trump administration. What has motivated Tucker Carlson and arch-conservative Republicans like David Schweikert to pursue the release of the records now-- as opposed to 2017, when Republicans controlled Congress and Fox was the mouthpiece/echo chamber of the Trump administration? And my question (above) was not rhetorical. Has there been any progress toward identifying Tucker Carlson's mysterious "source?" Some on the forum have wondered whether the "source" is Donald Trump, himself, or his 2017 CIA Director Mike Pompeo. For that matter, is Tucker Carlson still talking about the JFK Records on his show? (I don't watch television "news.")

Interesting old Education Forum thread about the antecedents of the current GOP efforts to secure the release of the suppressed JFK Records. From what I have read on the forum, it sounds like Tucker Carlson's recent, surprising calls for the release of the JFK records were largely a result of Larry Schnapf's outreach to Fox News producers. Was there any outreach to Fox in 2017, when Trump blocked the release of the JFK Records? Meanwhile, an arch-conservative Republican Congressman from Scottsdale, Arizona, David Schweikert, has, apparently, introduced a bill calling for the release the JFK Records. Schweikert is, reportedly, a close associate of such GOP Sedition Caucus luminaries as Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar. It's worth pointing out that David Schweikert was a member of Congress in 2017 and 2018, when the JFK Records were due to be released and Trump famously said, "No." Was Schweikert concerned at the time? Why is an arch-conservative GOP apparatchik like Schweikert calling for the release of the records only now-- at a time when Tucker Carlson is urging his "patriotic" fans to "hold on to (their) AR-15s?" This recent, surprising Fox/GOP interest in the JFK Records seems to be part of a more general right wing propaganda effort to undermine public confidence in government and the rule of law, by Trumpsters who have little in common with the progressive, liberal ideals of John F. Kennedy. Of course, we JFK fans shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, but I am skeptical of Republican motives. Meanwhile, is there any news about Tucker Carlson's alleged JFK Records source?

My question. Which Americans are Fox News fans supposed to murder? www.huffpost.com/entry/chris-hayes-tucker-carlson-trump-indictment_n_6427b3f7e4b0ba5d603a0ada

People at the Democratic Underground are asking, "Where were you when you first heard the historic news about Trump's indictment today?" I was right here at the EF water cooler, and I learned the news from Douglas Caddy and Matt Allison. I immediately hollered downstairs to my wife and she hollered back after a minute, "Are you sure? I don't see anything at the Washington Post." So I checked the NYT, and there was the glorious news in bold print--"TRUMP INDICTED."

It will be interesting to track the coverage of Trump's indictment by Fox, Breitbart, and the right wing media. My hunch is that they will focus on attacking and denigrating DA Alvin Bragg, in addition to what-about-ism (re Hunter Biden, Bill Clinton, etc.)

Good news, indeed. Perhaps now Trump supporters will finally focus on the men who planned and incited the J6 mob attack on Congress. (And women, if we include Sidney Powell and Ginni Thomas.)

Matt, On the other hand, a woman with a knife-- a Trumpster-- was arrested outside of the NY court house yesterday after threatening people, and some yahoo recently mailed DA Alvin Bragg some white powder. Any thoughts or insights about the delays in indicting Trump, (including the Fulton County case?)

I wonder if these endless delays are related to concerns about attacks/riots by violent Trump supporters. Didn't the Fulton County grand jury wrap up their hearings a month ago?

Leslie, You probably know that the Soviets were sending a lot of sleepers into the U.S. through their Eastern European Soviet bloc nations-- including Czechoslovakia-- during the Cold War era. I'm guessing that's why the FBI opened a file on Ivana Winkelmayr in the 1970s. But recall that Slovenia (part of Yugoslavia until 1990) was never a Soviet bloc nation, after Tito broke off relations with Stalin and the Comintern. It is true that Melania Knaus's father was a Communist Party member in Slovenia, but not affiliated with the Kremlin or Soviet espionage. (Incidentally, my maternal grandparents emigrated to the U.S. from Slovenia in the early 20th century.)

Some jokes write themselves, Sandy. 🤥 I'm guessing that David Pecker experienced a lot of harassment in his youth. Perhaps it played a role in his later involvement with the scurrilous National Enquirer.

I read the initial reports about this Progzhin phone call with interest this week. Obviously, some very powerful people in Putin's FSB oligarchy are fed up with Mad Vlad. Will Putin dare to have even Prigozhin thrown out of a window? Incidentally, I read two other stories recently illustrating the similarities between Putin's FSB police state today and Stalin's NKVD police state during WWII. One was about a Russian who was sent to the Gulag for criticizing Putin in a private communique. (This is precisely what happened to artillery Captain Alexander Solzhenitsyn during WWII-- he was sentenced to 10 years in the Gulag for posting a joke about Stalin in a private letter from the Front.) The other story was about Putin's use of snipers who shoot Russian soldiers for retreating from the front lines in Ukraine-- an old tactic used by Stalin during WWII.

Jury Reviews Role of Pecker in Trump's Stormy Daniels Affair Former National Enquirer Publisher David Pecker Testifies Again in Trump Inquiry March 27, 2023 The grand jury investigating a hush-money case against the former president met again on Monday, but the timing of any potential indictment remained unclear. The former publisher of The National Enquirer, David Pecker, testified on Monday before the Manhattan grand jury hearing evidence about Donald J. Trump’s role in a hush-money payment to a porn star, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The publisher, David Pecker, also testified in January, soon after the grand jury was impaneled by the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg. The grand jury has heard from at least nine witnesses — including Mr. Pecker, who has gone in twice — and is expected to vote on an indictment soon. Mr. Pecker, who was seen leaving the building where the grand jury sits at about 3:30 Monday afternoon, was a key player in the hush-money episode. He and the tabloid’s top editor helped broker the deal between the porn star, Stormy Daniels, and Michael D. Cohen, Mr. Trump’s fixer at the time. www.nytimes.com/2023/03/27/nyregion/trump-grand-jury-witness-indictment.html?unlocked_article_code=3zyn5VN_i0LcNmvb0_tMh43ASxYalFwOZkvIqGJo8__6KWtIf7mpiOlglWF89sBaDlWANRjGUpH5fl4RLjUS2me-rrjObWfc5mvx7qIva3l_s-UNCXrBGNOGHiDqfmtkGMgqK2BB5ZkwKNgkaRCfXfUydrpBMDyu33OTAxMFguE5UzQIfDqdq1EU6ZqQoPWnpTD0xZUi5tc6So6IXimLbZP_p7cFhY2WP4AhBeCB4WPQwl3RgCTCqJXBp-me28peJT7pOKwF5azCS8Z3CLSOOfSdc7OSItW7qEB_wPmOdXzg-OxbvZkUZT251vp3j2STY7_9KQ3nc8GBgim4CLhTZfkTy4W2pfYiwC3C1sMb&smid=url-share

Interesting follow up on the recent NYT Ben Barnes "October Surprise" story by Russ Baker today. As always, the NYT glossed over the GHWB/CIA history. Iran Hostages, Carter, Reagan, and Bush: What the NY Times Missed - WhoWhatWhy March 27, 2023

Ben, Do you grasp the Trump/GOP hypocrisy in the Stormy Daniels case? Let's recall that the GOP spent five years and millions of taxpayer dollars "investigating" Bill Clinton, then smeared and impeached him for engaging in a private, consensual affair with an adult. Brett Kavanaugh leaked grand jury details about Clinton's private sex life to the media, before later ruling from the bench that grand jury details about Trump's Russiagate treason were confidential. Under the circumstances, I have no sympathy for Trump and his Fox/GOP enablers.

Ben, This MAGA pearl-clutching about Trump's Stormy Daniels hush money case is simply astonishing. Let's think for a moment about Donald Trump's brazen hypocrisy. Do you remember when Donald Trump brought some of Bill Clinton's former sex partners/accusers to one of his debates against Hillary Clinton in 2016? At the time, Trump was simultaneously paying off Stormy Daniels to remain quiet about their affair! And, at the time, Fox News-- Trump's Ministry of Propaganda-- buried the Stormy Daniels story.

Ron, I think I have discovered why Trump's Waco crowd was so subdued. 🤥

Belzer's source for the De Mohrenschild murder is Mark Lane. (op.cit.)

Jonathan, Mark Lane noted at the coroner's inquest that the audio tape indicated that an intruder had entered the house (triggering a security alarm) shortly before De Mohrenschildt was murdered. See Hit List. Sky Horse. (2013) Richard Belzer & David Wayne. pp. 236-37.

Chris, Stop hijacking our thread with your puerile, deflective ad hominem nonsense. Lisa Morgan was never the source of my psychiatric observations about Trump's use of stage hypnosis techniques-- something that I first mentioned long ago in the context of reviewing George Estabrooks 1943 Hypnosis textbook. I merely referenced Morgan as a person who has, apparently, written a book on the subject. If you want to read and review Morgan's book, by all means, get back to us with your findings. But don't spam this thread with Trumplicon YouTube videos and erroneous attacks on forum members. If you do, your posts should be removed to one of the designated MAGA threads.

No hijacking/MAGA spam allowed on this thread, Chris. Incidentally, if people study the history of the 56 Years thread, they will discover that you were the original MAGA spammer/highjacker on that thread. You started posting moronic, non sequitur right wing memes about Joe Biden on the 56 Years thread in 2020-- even before Ben Cole and Mathew Koch started swamping that thread with MAGA spam.

Yes, David, talk about your schadenfreude. It's a pleasure to watch Trump mock Rupert Murdoch's favorite 2024 GOP Presidential candidate. Murdoch and his Fox talking heads have been fluffing Anti-Woke Fox hero Ron DeSantis for the past three years. As for Steve's post today, I confess that I am one of those who has utterly failed to recognize Marjorie Taylor Greene's "brilliance." I'm picturing a 2025 Trump Cabinet with MTG as Secretary of State, Ted ("I Want My Money Back") Nugent at Defense, and Lauren Boebert as Secretary of Education... 😂

Pedophile pants-soiling draft-dodger Ted Nugent kicks off today's Trump rally in Waco by calling Ukrainian President Zelensky a "homosexual weirdo." He's an ideal spokesman for the Trump 2024 campaign. And notice that Nugent still hasn't figured out that Trump and Pompeo surrendered to the Taliban at Doha in 2020. He "wants his money back." 🙄