AZ may have to replace voting machines examined in windmill-tilting audit—on taxpayers' dime

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Thursday May 20, 2021 · 4:45 PM PDT

2021/05/20 · 16:45

Maricopa County ballots cast in the 2020 general election are examined and recounted by contractors working for Florida-based company, Cyber Ninjas, Thursday, May 6, 2021 at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix. The audit, ordered by the Arizona Senate, has the U.S. Department of Justice saying it is concerned about ballot security and potential voter intimidation arising from the unprecedented private recount of the 2020 presidential election results. (AP Photo/Matt York, Pool)

There were already a truckload of reasons why the Arizona GOP’s windmill-tilting audit of election results in Phoenix and the Valley of the Sun should outrage any fair-minded American. Well, add another to the list: It’s likely that none of the voting machines can ever be used again—and Arizona taxpayers could be on the hook for replacing them.

Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs—who currently has a round-the-clock security detail due to a raft of death threats—recently wrote the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to warn them that a number of issues may require every machine subpoenaed for the audit to be replaced.

Darrell Lucus

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Wednesday March 25, 2020 · 10:53 AM PDT

2020/03/25 · 10:53

It’s hard to believe that Richard Burr is still in Washington. In light of overwhelming evidence that he unloaded a tranche of hospitality stocks based on confidential briefings about the coronavirus outbreak he received as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, there’s virtually no defensible reason for him to be in office.

Well, things may be about to get even hotter. A shareholder in one of the companies whose stock Burr dumped is taking Burr to court.

Alan Jacobson, a shareholder in Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, sued Burr in federal court on Monday, alleging that the senator used private information to motivate a mass liquidation of his assets. It is illegal for senators to use nonpublic information in conducting securities exchanges.

Wyndham, whose labels include Super 8, Days Inn, Microtel, and Ramada, was one of many hotel stocks that have been absolutely pulverized since the market got spooked over the epidemic. Wyndham was trading at $59.25 a share at the time that Burr sold over $150,000 worth of its stock on February 13. It was down to $25.03 at the close on Monday—a loss of almost 60 percent of its value in the last month.

Jacobson minces no words—Burr used his position as a Senator to reap a very massive and very illegal windfall.

“Senator Burr owed a duty to Congress, the United States government, and citizens of the United States, including Plaintiff, not to use material nonpublic information that he learned by virtue of his duties as a United States Senator in connection with the sale or purchase of any security,” said Jacobson’s lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

“Had Plaintiff and the market known of the material nonpublic information in Senator Burr’s possession regarding COVID-19, and on which Senator Burr traded, Wyndham’s stock price on February 13, 2020 would have been substantially lower,” the suit continued. “Senator Burr and his wife sold up to $150,000 of Wyndham stock on that date, and therefore he and his wife pocketed up to $150,000 in illegal insider trading proceeds at Plaintiff’s expense.”

Oh, to be a fly on the wall during the discovery and deposition phases. It’s very likely that enough information will come out at that stage that will substantiate ProPublica’s bombshell investigation—and hence all but end Burr’s career. Plus, if Burr is foolish enough to let this go to trial, seeing him on the stand would be well worth the price of admission.

CNN: Navy secretary was pushed out for operating exactly how Trump wants to operate

Darrell Lucus

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Sunday November 24, 2019 · 4:16 PM PST

2019/11/24 · 16:16

The initial reaction to the firing/forced resignation of Navy Secretary Richard Spencer is that this was yet another manifestation of the Trump swamp. After all, Spencer suggested that the Navy, not Trump, ought to be in charge of the fate of disgraced SEAL Edward Gallagher. According to at least one rec-list diary, this is why Spencer was pushed out by Defense Secretary Mark Esper.

But according to CNN, it looks like this isn’t the case.

In an extraordinary move, the Pentagon chief "fired" the Navy secretary for going outside his chain of command by proposing a "secret agreement with the White House," according to a senior defense official.

The agreement that led to Navy Secretary Richard Spencer's forced resignation involved the case of Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher. The official said Spencer had proposed to the White House a review with a secret guarantee that Gallagher would be allowed to keep his status as a SEAL. That would go counter to the ongoing review underway by the Navy to take away Gallagher's status.

(snip)

Spencer, the official said, was not "fired" for failing to carry out Trump's wishes, because the President had not wanted a review at all.

Spencer went around his own chain of command -- namely Defense Secretary Mark Esper -- and straight to the White House, a violation of military policy, the official said. (emphasis mine)

The reading I’m getting is that Spencer’s attempt to broker a deal directly with Trump is exactly the way Trump believes things should be done in Washington. He expects matters like this to go straight to him—and such little things as pecking orders, protocol, and chains of command be hanged. Remember, Preet Bharara recalled that not long before he was dumped as U. S. Attorney for SDNY, Trump tried to contact him directly—a violation of long-standing Justice Department policy that the White House does not have direct contact with federal prosecutors.

Trump seems to think he can run the government like he ran his real estate empire. Remember, for his entire life, he has either been CEO of what became the Trump Organization or the heir apparent. He’s used to people jumping when he snaps—and either doesn’t know, doesn’t understand or refuses to understand that’s not the way things work in a functioning democracy.

From where I’m sitting, Esper didn’t cashier Spencer for refusing to go along with Trump’s wishes. He was fired for trying to conform to the way Trump wants government to operate. It’s yet another reminder that Trump does not have the skill set to be president.

Mueller reportedly about to leave DOJ in "coming days"--and derail efforts to derail his testimony

Darrell Lucus

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Tuesday May 07, 2019 · 3:10 PM PDT

2019/05/07 · 15:10

Earlier today, White House Press Secretary/Information Minister/Princess of Lies Sarah Huckabee Sanders hinted loudly that her boss could potentially block Robert Mueller from testifying before the House Judiciary Committee. Under this scenario, Trump could tell Attorney General William Barr to order Mueller not to testify. Since Mueller is still employed by the Department of Justice, Barr at least on paper would have the right to give such an order.

But there’s just one problem. In a few days, that order could just be hot air. Mueller is reportedly about to leave the federal government.

Mueller is still employed at the Justice Department, meaning Barr would need to sign off on his testimony and could in theory block him from appearing. Mueller is also expected to leave the Justice Department soon, which could leave the administration with little control over his actions as a private citizen.

Peter Carr, a spokesman for the special counsel’s office, told The Hill on Monday that Mueller “will be concluding his service within the coming days.” Carr offered no information regarding negotiations surrounding the special counsel’s potential testimony.

Theoretically, if Mueller were still on the DOJ payroll and was ordered not to testify, Congress could simply subpoena him—and according to George Washington law professor Randall Eliason, there would be little legal basis for the White House to fight such a subpoena. Eliason noted that Mueller would have another option under that scenario—resign, then testify. Apparently Mueller is making a preemptive strike by preparing to leave now.

Even as a private citizen, Trump could potentially assert executive privilege to block Mueller’s testimony—but that would be fraught with political peril, and legal experts say that could also go nowhere.

Pass the popcorn.

WaPo: Jared was granted a security clearance after initially being denied by career staff

Darrell Lucus

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Wednesday April 03, 2019 · 7:02 PM PDT

2019/04/03 · 19:02

Earlier this week, White House whistleblower Tricia Newbold revealed some 25 people had initially been denied security clearances by career national security personnel—only to be overruled by political appointees.

That’s staggering enough. But it became even more so after the Washington Post revealed who one of the 25 was—First Son-in-Law Jared Kushner.

The senior White House official whose security clearance was denied last year because of concerns about foreign influence, private business interests and personal conduct is presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner, according to people familiar with documents and testimony provided to the House Oversight Committee.

Kushner was identified only as “Senior White House Official 1” in committee documents released this week describing the testimony of Tricia Newbold, a whistleblower in the White House’s personnel security office who said she and another career employee determined that Kushner had too many “significant disqualifying factors” to receive a clearance.

Their decision was overruled by Carl Kline, the political appointee who then headed the office, according to Newbold’s interview with committee staff.

So the obvious question—what red flags or flashing red lights were in Kushner’s background to make career staff reject his application for a clearance? It’s especially staggering given the troubling disclosures about his involvement with Russia.

Sounds like just the tip of a very large iceberg ...

New Jersey and feds probing employment fraud at Trump golf club

Darrell Lucus

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Saturday December 29, 2018 · 3:05 PM PST

2018/12/29 · 15:05

Another day, another potential investigation involving Trump. According to the (New York) Daily News, this involves staggering employment fraud at Trump National Bedminster.

Anibal Romero, a Newark attorney who represents several undocumented immigrants who used to work at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, said Friday he recently met with investigators from the state attorney general’s office and handed over fraudulent green cards and Social Security numbers that management at the club allegedly procured and gave his clients, Victorina Morales and Sandra Diaz.

Morales and Diaz, for those who don’t know, are the two housekeepers who told NYT earlier this month that supervisors at Trump Bedminster knew they were undocumented (though Diaz has since obtained residency) and set them up with bogus documents. At least three more housekeepers have come forward since then.

Their attorney, Romero, says that this was SOP at the club. He said that the women felt “trapped” and feared their bosses could use the documents against them.

How afraid were they? Well, earlier this fall, Romero concluded that federal authorities needed to get involved. But he didn’t trust Jeff Sessions’ Justice Department—so he reached out to Robert Mueller.

Before he met with the state prosecutors, Romero said he reached out to Mueller’s office because, while he wanted to contact federal authorities, he was concerned about looping in the Justice Department, which was headed by Jeff Sessions at the time.

“I wasn’t sure, one, if they’d take me seriously and, two, if this could backfire on my clients,” Romero told The News, referencing the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration agenda.

Mueller’s office, which is separately investigating Trump’s campaign for possible collusion with Russians during the 2016 election, made contact and informed Romero the matter was not within their jurisdiction.

A few weeks later, an FBI agent in New Jersey called Romero.

“He said to me that he had received a referral from Robert Mueller’s office and that he already knew the specifics and that he wanted to meet with me in person,” Romero said.

Romero met with the FBI a few days later, and gave them the same evidence that he gave the state prosecutors. While he has declined to say whether there is a formal investigation underway, he was told that the FBI would “coordinate” with their state counterparts.

The housekeepers are taking a calculated risk by coming forward, according to former federal prosecutor Harry Sandick. However, he thinks the supervisor could potentially be racked up as well.

“Immigration crimes are hard to prosecute so the government may see something like this as a possible deterrent case,” Sandick said. “To show that even someone who works at the President’s golf club is under the microscope is very impressive and tells you that anyone can be charged.”

If prosecutors have any sense, they will offer Romero’s clients immunity, or some other sort of deal that will allow them to stay here. And if I were their supervisor, I’d have a lawyer on speed dial.

Michael Cohen throws the National Enquirer under the bus

Darrell Lucus

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Tuesday August 21, 2018 · 4:24 PM PDT

2018/08/21 · 16:24

By now, you know that Donald Trump has a lot of reason to be very afraid after Michael Cohen pleaded guilty. After all, he admitted under oath that he hammered out hush money deals with Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal under orders from Trump.

But it turns out that someone else better be very afraid. Namely, David Pecker, publisher of Trump’s favorite tabloid, the National Enquirer.

Per CNBC, Cohen admitted conspiring with a media company to silence McDougal—a media company widely assumed to be American Media, parent company of the National Enquirer. The nature of that conspiracy? From Bloomberg:

The prosecutor told the judge the purpose of the payments was to ensure that the individuals did not disclose "alleged affairs with the candidate." Besides the $130,000 payment, Cohen admitted to making an illegal contribution of $150,000, which was how much McDougal received from the National Enquirer’s publisher to quash her story.

If I were Pecker or any other executive at American Media who had anything to do with this payment, I’d have a lawyer on speed dial. The Enquirer is already under fire for buying the rights to potentially damaging stories about Trump, then sitting on them.

When the Enquirer tried to brand Cohen as a turncoat this spring, I predicted that this would backfire on Pecker. Well, looks like it has—and bigly.

Darrell Lucus

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Saturday April 28, 2018 · 12:00 PM PDT

2018/04/28 · 12:00

It’s no secret that the only reason Trump’s approval ratings aren’t in the nether regions Bush 43 occupied in the fall of 2008 is because the religious right is still very much on the Trump Train. In recent weeks, one of Trump’s most diehard fundie supporters, Lance Wallnau, revealed just how deep that support runs. He actually thinks that turning the hot lights on the prospect that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia is a demonic trick—and that those who oppose Trump are letting the devil in.

Last Friday, Wallnau took to Facebook to warn his followers that opposing Trump leaves you a sitting duck for the devil. Right Wing Watch got a clip.

YouTube Video

To hear Wallnau talk, those of us who have “a visceral hatred of Trump” are giving Satan an open route to “more and more of your mind and more and more of your heart.” It’s especially true since Trump is chosen by God. He claimed with a straight face that Christians aren’t supposed to call out his flaws, but intercede for him so the devil can’t use them against him.

Wallnau warned that if we don’t intercede for Trump, we risk exposing ourselves to “the same warfare he’s under.” Or put another way—if you oppose Trump, “you’re going to let the devil into your house.”

If that wasn’t bat guano crazy enough, Wallnau came up with this chart that supposedly shows how Trump is indeed protected by the Almighty. Right Wing Watch got a screenshot.

Facebook Content

Yeah, that’s really persuasive. I’ve seen better stuff on an Etch A Sketch.

Wallnau doubled down just yesterday, when he called an emergency prayer meeting to protect Trump against the Mueller probe and the investigation into Michael Cohen. I followed it on Facebook and Periscope.

The meeting was prompted by Trump wailing about the “cloud” that was over him as a result of the Mueller probe during his train wreck interview on “Fox & Friends.” But Wallnau claimed that the cloud was also caused by a “demonic apparatus of manipulation, intimidation and control” aimed at pushing Trump out—and this overturning “the will of 50 million Americans.”

Wallnau prayed that the cloud resulting from a “demonic collective composition of global witchcraft and curses” to be “blown back” by the Holy Spirit. He then asked that “the blood of Jesus” be applied to Trump’s past—a clear reference to the Stormy Daniels saga.

This comes in the face of Mueller telling the nation that he believes there is evidence Paul Manafort indeed colluded with Russia. It also came after Trump admitted Cohen was acting on his behalf when he arranged the hush money payment to Daniels. So exposing that is demonic? Apparently to Wallnau.

If Wallnau thinks turning the hot lights on this massive swindle on our nation is doing the work of the devil, we ought to start calling him Lance Armstrong Wallnau. After all, just like Lance Armstrong, Wallnau has no moral code to speak of.

Cohen's Prague trip could be a big problem even if there is no collusion

Darrell Lucus

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Saturday April 14, 2018 · 12:56 PM PDT

2018/04/14 · 12:56

Want to know how bad Michael Cohen’s position is? Even if it turns out that he never met with Russians in Prague, he could be in trouble if Robert Mueller can simply prove he was in Prague in the first place.

Why? The reason is buried in McClatchy DC’s bombshell story revealing that Mueller has evidence Cohen traveled to the Czech Republic through Germany.

Evidence that Cohen was in Prague “certainly helps undermine his credibility,” said Jill Wine-Banks, a former Watergate prosecutor who lives in Chicago. “It doesn’t matter who he met with. His denial was that I was never in Prague. Having proof that he was is, for most people, going to be more than enough to say I don’t believe anything else he says.”

“I think that, given the relationship between Michael Cohen and the president,” Wine-Banks said, “it’s not believable that Michael Cohen did not tell him about his trip to Prague.”

Wine-Banks, for those who don’t know, was the prosecutor who called BS on Rose Mary Woods’ attempt to explain the 18.5-minute gap on the Nixon White House tapes.

So that’s the rub, folks. The mere fact Cohen flatly denied he was in Prague could come back to bite him. Hard. Coupled with the fact that Cohen is now under federal criminal investigation, the pressure on Trump’s BFF is at the point where it’s getting awfully difficult for him to breathe.

Michael Avenatti thinks Cohen may flip on Trump

Darrell Lucus

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Thursday April 05, 2018 · 5:22 PM PDT

2018/04/05 · 17:22

It’s not often that you have a case where you’re screwed whether you’re telling the truth or not. But that’s exactly what happened when Trump declared that he didn’t know about the hush money deal Michael Cohen brokered with Stormy Daniels.

If he’s lying, he’s opened himself up to perjury and implicated himself in a campaign finance violation. But if he’s telling the truth, he may have ended Cohen’s legal career. Not only are lawyers required to keep their clients informed of such matters, but they aren’t allowed to offer financial assistance to a client in most cases. Plus, if Trump didn’t know about the agreement, it legally doesn’t exist.

But Daniels’ lawyer, Michael Avenatti, suggested there’s one other way this statement could bite Trump hard. He thinks it could potentially lead to Cohen flipping on Trump. Watch here.

"They are setting Michael Cohen up to be the fall guy... I don't think he has the metal to withstand it" - Stormy Daniels lawyer @MichaelAvenatti pic.twitter.com/oMuhRmFaEH
— TheBeat w/Ari Melber (@TheBeatWithAri) April 5, 2018

Avenatti told Ari Melber that all indications are that the Trump team is “setting Michael Cohen up to be the fall guy.” He’s bound to be under a lot of pressure—and Avenatti isn’t sure if Cohen can handle it. In a colossal understatement, Avenatti said that “very, very bad things could happen” if Cohen were to break ranks.

It cannot be repeated enough—Trump is cooked even if he’s telling the truth. Isn’t karma lovely?

Dana Loesch, swamp creature

Darrell Lucus

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Sunday October 22, 2017 · 3:57 PM PDT

2017/10/22 · 15:57

Right-wing commentator Dana Loesch grew up as a Democrat. However, she veered hard, hard right after the September 11 attacks. As her railings over the last decade make clear, her morph was not only total, but opportunistic as all hell.

Well, it looks like Loesch has undergone another completely opportunistic morph. For those who don’t know, Loesch was an ardent never-Trumper, even going as far as to condemn Trump for tapping Steve Bannon as campaign CEO.

But Loesch is singing a different tune now. In case you missed it, she has officially joined the right-wing bullying campaign against those opposing Trump. The NRA recently rolled out a new ad in which Loesch, the NRA’s national spokeswoman, warned the resistance that they were insulting average Americans by daring to stand up against the Donald.

YouTube Video

Loesch claimed that the opposition to Trump is “the most ruthless attack on a president” and his supporters ever. Really, Dana? What about the nonsense that Obama was a Mooslim and wasn’t even born here?

She then accuses us of “hateful defiance” of Trump’s legitimacy, which amounted to “an insult to each of us.” As far as she’s concerned, we’re guilty of sabotage. So we’re supposed to keep quiet about the prospect that Russia hacked the election for Trump? And that he sees fit to send hateful and violent tweets and retweets about his opponents?

The best-case scenario is that Loesch is still trying to convince herself or the right of her conservative bonafides. Going from being a never-Trumper to being an accomplice in the effort to silence opposition to Trump is quite a leap.

Well, I take that back. There is one other explanation. The NRA, remember, is the mouthpiece for a gun industry comprised mostly of privately-owned companies. So when Loesch is speaking, more often than not she is speaking for a cabal of faceless men who are not accountable to anyone.

Whatever the case, Loesch is yet more evidence that all the talk about “draining the swamp” is a lie. When you can go from being a never-Trumper to being a mouthpiece for the effort to bully Trump opponents into silence, you aren’t draining the swamp. You’re a creature of that swamp.

Why aren't we focusing on Paul Manafort's role in Junior's collusion?

Darrell Lucus

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Saturday July 15, 2017 · 8:10 AM PDT

2017/07/15 · 08:10

The news that a Russian lobbyist and former counterintelligence officer was on hand for Donald Trump Jr.’s now-infamous meeting at Trump Tower wasn’t the only bombshell detonated yesterday. It turns out that Trump’s legal team knew about the email exchange that led to that meeting for three full weeks before the so-called president says he learned about it.

However, if Trump and his team are thinking about throwing Marc Kasowitz and friends under the bus, they have another think coming. After all, Trump shouldn’t have needed to ask his lawyers about that meeting. There was one person in that room at Trump Tower who should have known this meeting was inappropriate at best and criminal at worst—Paul Manafort.

Remember, folks, Manafort dates back to the Ford administration. He almost certainly knows that you do not accept oppo obtained from a foreign power—especially when that foreign power is almost certainly spying on you. He was supposedly brought on as operating head of the Trump campaign with the specific goal of professionalizing its operations. Well, in this case, he failed, and failed bigly.

The one person who could have shut this meeting down with one word failed to do so. The one person who was obligated to immediately alert Trump about it failed to do so. At best, it was because Trump created an atmosphere were he couldn’t be told “no.” If that was the case, Manafort shouldn’t have taken the job.

Lawrence O’Donnell has argued that Jared Kushner, more than anyone else, has reason to be very afraid over this meeting because he didn’t disclose it on SF-86. But the one person who was theoretically above Kushner and Donald Jr. on the org chart has some explaining to do as well.

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AZ may have to replace voting machines examined in windmill-tilting audit—on taxpayers' dime

Richard Burr sued over stock swap

CNN: Navy secretary was pushed out for operating exactly how Trump wants to operate

Mueller reportedly about to leave DOJ in "coming days"--and derail efforts to derail his testimony

WaPo: Jared was granted a security clearance after initially being denied by career staff

New Jersey and feds probing employment fraud at Trump golf club

Michael Cohen throws the National Enquirer under the bus

Trump-worshiping pastor thinks exposing collusion is demonic

Cohen's Prague trip could be a big problem even if there is no collusion

Michael Avenatti thinks Cohen may flip on Trump

Dana Loesch, swamp creature

Why aren't we focusing on Paul Manafort's role in Junior's collusion?