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Former FBI Official Dismantles Trump Lawyer’s Latest ‘Idiotic Argument’ for Mar-a-Lago Obstruction

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During an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Friday former U.S. attorney and FBI official Chuck Rosenberg scoffed at one of Donald Trump’s attorney’s attempts to dismiss his potentially criminal obstruction of the Department of Justice as nothing more serious than having an overdue library book.

Speaking with hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, Rosenberg first parted ways with former Judge Andrew Napolitano who claimed on Newsmax that he definitely expected Donald Trump to be indicted by the DOJ after the November midterms, with the former prosecutor saying there are no certainties.

He was then asked about Trump attorney Jim Trusty telling a Fox News host, “You know what’s really interesting in terms of the affidavit, that oil slick of an affidavit that we received in terms of all the redactions? It leaves out June third. It leaves out a day when DoJwas allowed to walk around Mar-a-Lago, look at the storage facility, and assess things. And the advice they came up with five days later was, ‘Hey, put a lock on the door please’.”

Trusty then added, “I mean that’s not the stuff of an urgent nuclear-based espionage-type investigation. That’s the stuff of an overdue library book, and people that are perhaps holding this president to a different standard than anyone else.”

READ MORE: Florida parents outraged after teacher tells kids that saying Trump lost the election is an example of media bias

According to Rosenberg, the Trump lawyer’s assertion was nothing less than “idiotic.”

“Chuck, I’m just curious,” host Brzezinski prompted. “When members of Trump’s team call this something like an overdue library book, establishing that they have whatever documents it is we’re talking about — once again — does it seem to you, though, it is just sort of a misunderstanding and, you know, Trump could have given them back and it is not a big deal?”

“It is a big deal,” the attorney shot back. “Calling it an overdue library book is nonsense, Mika. It is much, much more serious than that. Who will be charged and what they’ll be charged with is to be determined.”

“This is not an overdue library book,” he continued. “If I had an overdue library book and gave it to a Russian intelligence officer, it wouldn’t help him very much. If i have top secret, classified information from the United States government and gave it to a Russian intelligence officer, I could do grave damage to the national security of the United States.”

“So in no way is this like an overdue library book,” he added. “I think lawyers really do themselves and their clients a disservice when they make idiotic arguments; that was an idiotic argument.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

 

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House Freedom Caucus Republican: Trump Is Spinning Out of Control

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A right-wing GOP lawmaker who has backed Donald Trump through both of his impeachments is sounding the alarm that the former president is becoming increasingly erratic which could put the 2024 general election at risk for his party.

According to a report from Politico, the closer Donald Trump gets to becoming the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nominee the more some GOP lawmakers are growing worried that not only will they lose their shot at taking back the White House, but he’ll take down-ticket GOP candidates down with him.

The report also notes that the battle between Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis is starting to turn off conservative voters and some are hoping that an alternative will rise from the squabble.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) was blunt about the GOP’s prospects as they stand today, telling reporters, “I’m worried about it,” and expressed fears that Trump will keep independent voters at a distance.

READ MORE: Trump lobs wild bribery claim against DOJ lawyer in all-caps midnight Truth Social rant

With a wide array of candidates having just appeared over the past weekend in Iowa, Rep. Zach Nunn (R-IA) claimed the infighting is turning voters — even Republicans — off.

“We’ll see if the two titans punching each other fires up the base, or if six months from now people are tired of both and ready for a third way,” Nunn explained before making tha blunt observation, “When you talk to Iowans, s–t-talking other candidates will not get you success. We don’t necessarily pick the winner, but we’re pretty good at smelling bulls–t.”

Kentucky Rep. Tom Massie (R), who has sided with DeSantis, is very worried about the possibility of Trump at the top of the ticket.

“I wish Trump were on Twitter. He’s in an echo chamber right now. And people don’t know how far he’s spun out from where he was,” he said in an interview. “The more visibility that we can help Trump get — when he attacks [his former White House press secretary] Kayleigh McEnany, for instance — the better.”

You can read more here.

 

Image via Shutterstock

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Pence Presidential Launch Mocked for Suggesting Drag Queens Are Assaulting ‘American Values’ – With No Mention of Trump

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Former Trump vice president Mike Pence on Wednesday officially launched his 2024 campaign for the White House, in a lengthy, polished video carefully constructed to position himself as the torch-bearer of American values, including Christian nationalism, while conveniently all but ignoring his four-plus years spent in service to Donald Trump, who recently was held liable by a jury for sexual abuse, is currently under a 34-count state felony indictment, and expected to soon be facing a slew of federal and state charges amid several other investigations.

“I believe in the American people, and I have faith God is not done with America yet,” Pence tweeted atop his campaign video. “Together, we can bring this Country back, and the best days for the Greatest Nation on Earth are yet to come!”

The well-known presidential historian Michael Beschloss, author of ten books, noted that it will “not be easy for a VP to separate himself from the President he served for four years.”

READ MORE: Double Bombshell: Mark Meadows and Trump’s Secret Service Agents Have Testified, NYT Reports

And he made this critical observation: Pence’s “just-released announcement video cites ‘drag queens’ and Biden-Harris but not a single mention or image of You-Know-Who,” referring to Donald Trump.

In fact, in Pence’s video (below), he falsely claims, “President Joe Biden and the radical left have weakened America at home and abroad.”

“The American dream is being crushed under runaway inflation. Wages are dropping, recession is looming. Our southern border is under siege.”

“And the enemies of freedom are on the march around the world,” Pence continues.

READ MORE: Watch: Mike Pence Showed Up to Speak at the NRA Convention – It Didn’t Go Well

“And worse still, timeless American values are under assault as never before,” Pence cries.

As he says those words, the video shows three frames that appear to be clipped from TV news reports. One reads, “VA Parents Push Back Against Critical Race Theory,” one reads, “Controversy Over Female Trans Swimmer,” and the last one reads, “Drag Queens Storm Faith-Based Story Hour in AR.”

Journalist Grace Panetta offered a similar observation, tweeting, “Former VP Mike Pence’s presidential announcement video features faith imagery and headlines about trans athletes and drag queens, but no obvious references to abortion, to which he is staunchly opposed.”

Democratic strategist Sawyer Hackett, senior advisor to former Obama cabinet secretary Julián Castro, went one step further.

“In his announcement,” Hackett writes, “Mike Pence says ‘timeless American values are under assault’ as headlines about drag shows and trans athletes play. But nothing about the armed Trump mob who tried to hang him at the Capitol.”

Watch Pence’s video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Untrue and Hateful’: Nikki Haley Slammed for ‘Damnable Lie’ of Blaming Teen Girls Contemplating Suicide on Trans Kids

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Fox News’ Sean Hannity Whines Charging Trump With ‘Obscure’ Obstruction Is Unfair

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Fox News host Sean Hannity suggested on Tuesday’s edition of his radio show that the possibility of former President Donald Trump getting charged with obstruction of justice is unfair because President Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton never had their homes “raided” by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

“So you know, and here’s the other problem, you know, with top secret classified documents. So what they’re doing here is they’re not going to go after what they thought was the crime. Because they didn’t raid Hillary Clinton’s residences. They didn’t raid Joe Biden’s four places where he had top secret classified information. No,” Hannity complained.

Both Clinton and Biden cooperated with federal investigators. Refusing to do so, or impeding their work, is considered obstruction, which is a felony.

READ MORE: Trump’s attorneys just walked into DOJ amid swelling indictment anticipation

“So they’ll look to something obscure,” Hannity continued. “‘Well, as a result of the investigation, it is alleged that Donald Trump obstructed justice’ — blah blah blah blah blah. Which, by the way, I would argue, legally, he doesn’t have any obligation to cooperate with, and nor can anyone give a real definition of whether or not, you know, exactly how one president is supposed to declassify the materials anyway.”

Trump has claimed that he declassified documents psychically and that they automatically had that status once he took them from the White House. Those statements are not just false — Trump was recorded acknowledging the limits to his power to declassify certain items, such as war plans for an attack on Iran.

Hannity then said that “it’s not going to have anything to do with the documents themselves, except it’ll be a process crime. That is my prediction.”

There are many indicators that Trump could facing an espionage charge (among a litant of others), as recently highlighted by experts.

READ MORE: ‘Nihilistic moron’ Trump heading for another indictment: George Conway

“They’re gonna go down the process crime route and they won’t apply the same standards to Joe, just like they didn’t apply the same standards to the Hillary, and whatever bone they throw you on Hunter is the low-hanging fruit that does not get to the heart of the family business with a multitude of countries that they were paid a fortune from,” Hannity added. “And we still haven’t gotten the final numbers, and clearly, Hunter Biden with no experience was leading up the effort and implicates his own father. They’re gonna stay as far away from the real crux of what legality would impact Joe Biden and just go after Donald Trump, to just continue their policies of politicizing or criminalizing political differences.”

Listen below via Media Matters for America or at this link.

READ MORE: Ex-DOJ official: Trump keeping ‘war plans’ makes it ‘inconceivable’ that he will escape indictment

 

Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr and a CC license

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