What a chicken shit coward:
According to a report this afternoon from POLITICO, Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano is balking when it comes to his scheduled interview with the January 6th Select Committee.
In a letter addressed to chair Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), Mastriano lawyer Timothy C. Parlatore said the Republican would not testify unless Parlatore can record the session.
“Senator Mastriano is currently the Republican nominee for Governor and is engaged in a hotly contested general election race. Given the committee’s demonstrated propensity for releasing edited clips of interviews without the requisite context to support a false partisan narrative, I am concerned that there is a risk that your committee will do the same to Senator Mastriano. Members of your party like Sean Patrick Maloney, Democratic Campaign Chair, have openly admitted that the goal of the hearings you are conducting is intended to paint the Republican party as irresponsible and power hungry ahead of the midterms. For this reason, my client has legitimate concerns that your committee may attempt to influence the outcome of the Pennsylvania state elections through the dissemination of information.”
The Jan. 6 committee had issued a subpoena to Mastriano on Feb. 15 for documents and testimony. It was not until after he captured the GOP nomination for governor in May that a produced documents to the panel. At that time, Mastriano’s lawyer told POLITICO that he and the committee had agreed the candidate would sit for a voluntary interview instead of a compelled deposition.
Here are some more details:
But in the three months since then, the situation seems to have changed. Parlatore, the lawyer, opened his letter by noting that the committee is “now demanding” that Mastriano sit for a compelled deposition, rather than a voluntary interview.
He argued that the select panel cannot hold compelled depositions because the rules governing it require the involvement of a ranking member appointed by the minority party — and none of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s picks are seated. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) is the vice chair of the panel, but she was appointed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Unlike other litigants, Parlatore didn’t argue that the committee was illegitimate or incapable of issuing lawful subpoenas. Rather, he specifically looked at the narrow and technical issue of whether depositions can begin given the committee’s composition. Other legal challenges to committee subpoenas have all failed.
Parlatore asserted in his letter that this same argument resulted in the committee agreeing to have another client of his, Giuliani ally Bernie Kerik, sit for a voluntary interview instead of a compelled deposition.
Parlatore charged the committee with “a demonstrated propensity for releasing edited clips of interviews without the requisite context to support a false partisan narrative,” and said he worried they could do the same to Mastriano. As a solution, he suggested that he also record the session himself and only release portions if the panel released clips “that require additional context, so as not to mislead the voters in Pennsylvania.”
Parlatore concluded the letter by raising the prospect of a legal fight.
“If we cannot agree on a reasonable arrangement for a voluntary interview, then we will have little choice but to go to court and litigate this issue,” he wrote.
A spokesperson for the select committee declined to comment.
Parlatore told POLITICO that Mastriano is worried about the way video clips from the interview could be edited.
“Senator Mastriano has nothing to hide and is happy to answer the committee’s questions, but is concerned that through deceptive editing, the committee could attempt to influence the outcome of the 2022 Pennsylvania state election through the dissemination of disinformation,” he said in a statement. “As long as we can agree to prophylactic measures to prevent such an occurrence, he is happy to proceed with the voluntary interview.”
While Mastriano is trying to avoid justice, Attorney General Josh Shapiro (D. PA) is delivering justice:
The developer of a major pipeline system that connects the Marcellus Shale gas field in western Pennsylvania to an export terminal near Philadelphia pleaded no contest Friday to criminal charges that it systematically polluted waterways and residential water wells across hundreds of miles.
Dallas-based Energy Transfer Operating agreed to independent testing of homeowners' water and promised to remediate contamination in a settlement of two separate criminal cases brought by the Pennsylvania attorney general. Under a plea deal, the company will also pay $10 million to restore watersheds and streams along the route of its Mariner East pipeline network.
A judge heard and approved the plea at a hearing in Harrisburg on Friday.
"We are holding Energy Transfer accountable for their crimes against our natural resources," Attorney General Josh Shapiro said at a news conference after the hearing.
The company's Mariner East 1, Mariner East 2 and Mariner East 2X pipelines are designed to carry propane, ethane and butane from the Marcellus and Utica Shale gas fields to a refinery processing center and export terminal in Marcus Hook, a suburb of Philadelphia. Construction wrapped in February.
Meanwhile, over in the U.S. Senate race:
Fetterman has been describing Oz as an out-of-touch celebrity who’s largely lived in New Jersey. Or, as Colbert put it: “Fetterman has gone full troll on Oz’s Garden State ass.”
Fetterman has recruited several New Jersey celebs to send messages to Oz, such as rocker/actor Steven Van Zandt.
Speaking of Fetterman:
Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, a Democratic Senate nominee, will hold his first public rally next week since suffering a near-deadly stroke four days before the May 17 primary election, his campaign announced Friday.
The rally is planned for Erie, Pa., one of the state’s swing counties, on Aug. 12. Fetterman has only recently resumed attending in-person fundraising events and has made a few brief public appearances — but nothing on the scale of what is planned next week.
“Before the 2020 election, I said that if I could know one single fact about the results, I could tell you who was going to win Pennsylvania. Whoever wins Erie County will win Pennsylvania,” Fetterman said in a statement announcing the rally. “Erie County is Pennsylvania’s most important bellwether county. I’ve visited Erie dozens and dozens of times in the past, and I am honored and proud to be returning to the campaign trail here.”
Health and Democracy are on the ballot this year and we need to get ready to keep Pennsylvania Blue. Click below to donate and get involved with Fetterman, Shapiro and these Pennsylvania Democrats campaigns: