DL Open Thread: Thursday, March 24, 2022

Looks Like The Manhattan DA Ran Interference For Trump: Trump ‘Guilty Of Multiple Felonies’:

The question, of course, is why did this Alvin Bragg pull the plug on the investigation?

One of the senior Manhattan prosecutors who investigated Donald J. Trump believed that the former president was “guilty of numerous felony violations” and that it was “a grave failure of justice” not to hold him accountable, according to a copy of his resignation letter.

The prosecutor, Mark F. Pomerantz, submitted his resignation last month after the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, abruptly stopped pursuing an indictment of Mr. Trump.

“The team that has been investigating Mr. Trump harbors no doubt about whether he committed crimes — he did,” Mr. Pomerantz wrote.

Mr. Pomerantz and Mr. Dunne planned to charge Mr. Trump with falsifying business records, specifically his annual financial statements — a felony in New York State.

Mr. Bragg’s decision not to pursue charges then — and the resignations that followed — threw the fate of the long-running investigation into serious doubt. If the prosecutors had secured an indictment of Mr. Trump, it would have been the highest-profile case ever brought by the Manhattan district attorney’s office and would have made Mr. Trump the first American president to face criminal charges.

MacKenzie Scott Spends Money For The Greater Good.  I really admire her:

MacKenzie Scott has donated $436 million to Habitat for Humanity International and 84 of its U.S. affiliates — the largest publicly disclosed donation from the billionaire philanthropist since she pledged in 2019 to give away the majority of her wealth.

Scott, who is worth about $48 billion according to Forbes, has signed the Giving Pledge, through which many billionaires have promised to donate more than half their wealth. Aside from an occasional blog post, Scott, an author and philanthropist, doesn’t discuss her donations, which exceeded $8 billion in the past two years after her divorce from Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder, who was then the richest person in the world. As part of the divorce settlement, Scott received 4% of Amazon’s shares.

In December, in hopes that she would reduce the attention she draws, Scott declined to announce how much or to whom she donated money. She said she would prefer to let the recipients announce her gifts, as Habitat for Humanity is expected to do on Tuesday. Last week, the Boys & Girls Clubs of America announced that they and 62 local Boys & Girls Clubs had received $281 million from Scott. On Monday, The Fortune Society, a New York-based group that helps the formerly incarcerated re-enter society, announced that Scott donated $10 million to them.

Hey, if I ever won the lottery, I’d do the exact same thing. Anyone want to help me rig it in my favor?

Doesn’t Look Like Manafort Will Reunite With His Oligarch Friends Any Time Soon.  Tried to board plane to UAE. Failed.

Uh-Oh. Clarence OK?  Cone Of Silence has descended over Thomas’ health situation.  I’m sure the Prayer Warriors will protect him:

The court said Sunday that the 73-year-old Thomas had been admitted to Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington on Friday after experiencing “flu-like symptoms,” and he was diagnosed with an infection. His “symptoms are abating,” and he was expected to be released Monday or Tuesday, the court said in a statement at the time. But on Wednesday morning, court spokeswoman Patricia McCabe said she had no update to provide.

Thomas, a conservative and appointee of former President George H.W. Bush, has been on the court since 1991.

BTW, haven’t watched a second of the Rethugs’ ‘high-tech lynching’ of Ketanji Brown Jackson. Hear it’s exactly what you’d expect, with a dash of QAnon tossed in for good measure.  These people are lunatics.

Supreme Court Backs Rethugs’ Gerrymandered Maps In Wisconsin. ‘Unprecedented.’  Not for long. Look for more of the same.

News-Journal Turns Into Delaware Today.  The series on Delaware’s Most Influential is downright embarrassing.  Dentist office fodder.  I’ll stick with what I know. Politics.  Two elected state legislators, one of whom is Tizzy Lockman (hey, the article was likely written awhile back. They couldn’t have known.) The other of whom heads the legislative Black Caucus, but is in no way one of the most influential legislators down there.  9, count ’em, 9 lobbyists.  All smiling brightly in their photos.  Like I said, dentist office fodder.  Full of self-promoters who know how to get their names in the press.

What do you want to talk about?