DL Open Thread Tuesday May 30 2023
Trump and Desantis both loudly in favor of US credit default which would destroy world financial markets, crash the dollar and put millions of people out of work. Biden gets to run against one of them.
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Rich White Women, Elizabeth Holmes, reports to actual prison today
The Theranos founder turned convicted fraudster Elizabeth Holmes is set to bid adieu to her freedom and her estate home costing $13,000 a month as she commences an 11-year prison sentence.
Holmes, now 39, was found guilty in January 2022 of four of 11 fraud and conspiracy charges relating to Theranos, her $9 billion healthtech startup that collapsed after the reporter John Carreyrou revealed its core blood-testing tech didn’t work. The revelations triggered regulatory investigations and a lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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Indictments After Memorial Day?
Another flurry of new reporting about the Mar-a-Lago documents investigation.
First, the timing of indictments:
- Bloomberg: “Special Counsel Jack Smith is wrapping up his investigation into former president Donald Trump’s refusal to return classified documents after his election defeat and is poised to announce possible criminal charges in the days or weeks after Memorial Day, according to people familiar with the matter.”
- WaPo: “The grand jury working on the investigation apparently has not met since May 5, after months of frenetic activity at the federal courthouse in Washington. That is the panel’s longest hiatus since December …”
Second, two substantial and mostly new stories on some of the evidence Special Counsel Jack Smith has (emphasis below is mine):
- WaPo: “Prosecutors in addition have gathered evidence indicating that Trump at times kept classified documents in his office in a place where they were visible and sometimes showed them to others, these people said.”
- The NYT had limited access to the sealed court order piercing attorney-client privilege between Trump and Evan Corcoran: “At another point, Judge Howell addressed Mr. Trump’s intent and state of mind, saying that the government had also provided sufficient evidence to meet its burden of showing that the former president had retained the classified documents willfully, the person said.”
Third, Espionage Act charges against former President Donald Trump remain firmly in play, as Ryan Goodman notes:
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Responding to the WaPo story:
It sucks to live and work in Red States. They look like they are hiring more, but when you dig into the numbers…
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-red-states-hiring-much-185822971.html
In a Politico article about the possibility of three Black women Senators next year, an interesting tidbit that continues to confirm LBR will have few if any challengers: https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/30/black-women-senate-00099099
“A Black progressive candidate, Kerri Evelyn Harris, who challenged Carper in 2018, told POLITICO she would not run if the congresswoman entered the race. Top left-leaning strategists seemed tepid on the idea of recruiting a candidate this cycle.”
“Top left-leaning strategists seemed tepid on the idea of recruiting a candidate this cycle.”
I wonder who they asked.
Let me check the IP log.
Dark Brandon didn’t tell you that student debt relief would be curtailed in the so-called debt ceiling compromise. But it would:
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/30/debt-ceiling-deal-biden-student-loans-interest-00099144
The pause was expected to end anyway with or without a debt deal, so no great loss there. The forgiveness program is a separate thing that is NOT part of the deal and is still in play pending a Supreme Court ruling.
The Court is guaranteed to strike it down. It’s a splendid compromise as the Republicans were too stupid to remember the case was being decided in literally weeks.
Biden had to also cut a bad deal w/Manchin to get the debt ceiling raised:
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/28/debt-ceiling-deal-mountain-valley-pipeline-00099135
Carbon reduction seems to be “one step forward, three steps back.”
Winning a Manchin-proof Senate majority is a priority second only to winning the White House.