DL Open Thread: Saturday, April 1, 2023

Just a question–does whatever he wears on his head qualify as contraband?

Delaware Judge Clears Way For Fox/Dominion Trial.  Dominion gets almost everything it wanted.  Oh, pleasepleaseplease…:

A Delaware Superior Court judge ruled on Friday afternoon that the $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit Dominion Voting Systems has waged against Fox News and Fox Corp. will go to trial in April.

Judge Eric Davis heard oral arguments for summary judgment in mid-March, unexpectedly extending into a nearly two-day hearing. Dominion and Fox each filed a motion for a summary judgment, asking the judge to make a decision on the case and avoid going to trial.

Davis, in his opinion, denied the summary judgment motions submitted by Fox News and Fox Corp. Dominion did have some minor wins, with the judge granting certain aspects of its motion and denying others.

“The evidence developed in this civil proceeding demonstrates that is CRYSTAL clear that none of the statements relating to Dominion about the 2020 election are true,” he wrote.

Police Union Exec Mastermind Behind Fentanyl Distribution Ring?  Gee, ya think that maybe cops are doing more than just ‘touching’ the stuff?:

SAN JOSE – The Office of the United States Attorney has filed a federal criminal complaint charging Joanne Marian Segovia with attempt to illegally import a controlled substance in connection with a scheme to bring synthetic opioids into the country and distribute them throughout the United States, announced United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey and Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Tatum King. The criminal complaint was filed on March 27, 2023, and unsealed the next day.

According to the complaint, Segovia, 64, of San Jose, is the Executive Director of the San Jose Police Officers’ Association (SJPOA). The complaint alleges that Segovia used her personal and office computers to order thousands of opioid and other pills to her home and agreed to distribute the drugs elsewhere in the United States.

The complaint alleges that between October 2015 and January 2023, Segovia had at least 61 shipments mailed to her home, originating from countries including Hong Kong, Hungary, India, and Singapore. The manifests for these shipments declared their contents with labels like “Wedding Party Favors,” “Gift Makeup,” or “Chocolate and Sweets.” But between July 2019 and January 2023, officials intercepted and opened five of these shipments and found that they contained thousands of pills of controlled substances, including the synthetic opioids Tramadol and Tapentadol. Certain parcels were valued at thousands of dollars’ worth of drugs.

Also alleged is that Segovia used encrypted WhatsApp communications to plan the logistics for receiving and sending pill shipments. For example, the complaint describes a three-year period between January 2020 and March 2023 during which Segovia is alleged to have exchanged hundreds of messages with someone using a phone with an India country code. The messages discussed details for shipping and payment of pills and contained hundreds of pictures of tablets, shipping labels, packaging, payment receipts, and payment confirmations.

The complaint alleges that Segovia used her office at the San Jose Police Officers’ Association to distribute controlled substances. For example, in spring 2021, Segovia was told by a supplier to send a package to a woman in North Carolina. Segovia then sent this supplier a photograph of a shipment made using the UPS account of San Jose Police Officers’ Association.

I, uh, think they’ve got her dead to rights.  Here’s a snarkier version of the same story.  At least twice, she temporarily delayed delivery of the drugs because–police business intervened:

• June 14, 2021: “Sorry, i had 50 new officers starting today so if I’ve been tied up all morning. I’ll be back on the office within an hour and I’ll take care of all of it! Any news on the soma??
• May 2, 2022: “Im so sorry, im on a business trip because we had 2 officers that got shot! I should be home tomorrow night so ill get them shipped as soon as i can.

Dog Bites Man: Prominent Rethug Donor Convicted Of Sex Trafficking.  B-b-b-but Teh Trans!

Guess The Only One With Their Eyes Open.  Christian Evangelicals have their eyes wide shut as they worship TFG.  Will they still love him on Tuesday?  Rhetorical question. Answer’s yes.

What do you want to talk about?