Coronavirus stimulus: Lawmakers unveil $908 billion bipartisan relief proposal

The bipartisan group of lawmakers — including Manchin, Senators Mark Warner (D., Virg.), Bill Cassidy (R., La.), Susan Collins (R., Me.), Mitt Romney (R., Utah) and several others — say their plan aims to find common ground on some of the most pressing issues, and it could be used as a framework for the next stimulus package.

“It would be stupidity on steroids if Congress left for Christmas without doing an interim package as a bridge,” said Warner.

You don't suppose Warner was referring to Susan Collins when he said stupidity on steroids do ya? Nah, I'm sure it was just a figure of speech!

51 years later
 

Zodiac Killer's cipher finally known after amateur codebreakers solve it, according to California FBI office.

Link to CNN story: https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/11/us/zo...rnd/index.html

MSNBC: Trump's Pardons are Worth a Second Impeachment Inquiry
 

I just read over on MSNBC that one way to protect American's from another reign of terror by T---p is to immediately hold Impeachment Hearings another time because this time, they can bar him from holding office ever again.



LINK: https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/trump-...id=msd_topgrid

Associated Press Update on criminal investigations concerning T---P
 

Criminal probe, legal fights await Trump after White House
AP -- Michael R. Sisak, 19th of November 2020 (updated news article).

A few miles south of the namesake tower where Donald Trump began his run for president, New York prosecutors are grinding away at an investigation into his business dealings that could shadow him long after he leaves office in January.

The probe led by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. is one of several legal entanglements likely to intensify when Trump loses power — and immunity from prosecution — upon leaving the White House.

Trump faces two New York state inquiries into whether he misled tax authorities, banks or business partners. Two women alleging he sexually assaulted them are suing him. Some Democrats are calling for the revival of a federal campaign finance investigation that appeared to end under U.S. Attorney General William Barr.

It isn’t known whether any investigation has gathered sufficient evidence to charge Trump with any crimes.

Prosecuting a former president would also be an unprecedented step in a country that has sought, since its founding, to sweep aside a departing commander-in-chief’s alleged transgressions in favor of a peaceful transition of power.

“With the country so sharply polarized in 2020, would a legal battle ultimately be seen as political retaliation? That is a difficult calculation,” said Meena Bose, executive director of the Peter S. Kalikow Center for the Study of the American Presidency at Hofstra University.
Trump has said that he has the “absolute right” to pardon himself for any federal offenses, but the concept remains untested because no president has ever attempted to do so. A 1974 Justice Department opinion said presidents could not pardon themselves because that would violate the “fundamental rule that no one may be a judge in his own case.”

Trump has used his pardon power to help out friends and high-profile defendants in the past, commuting the sentence of longtime friend Roger Stone in July and former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich in February, and has suggested he could do more of the same before his term ends.

Vance’s investigation is particularly troublesome for Trump because it involves possible state-level charges that could not be wiped away with a presidential pardon.

Vance, a Democrat, hasn’t disclosed the details of his probe, citing grand jury secrecy rules, but his office has said in court filings that it is related to public reports of “extensive and protracted criminal conduct at the Trump Organization.”

Trump’s former personal lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, told Congress that Trump often inflated the value of his assets when dealing with lenders or potential business partners, but deflated them when it benefited him for tax purposes.

While Trump has been in office, the investigation’s progress has been hampered by court fights over whether prosecutors could get access to his tax returns, or whether a president has any immunity from a state investigation. One appeal related to the records battle is now before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Vance’s office declined to comment. It isn’t clear whether the long-running probe is close to conclusion, or months or years away from any resolution.

A message seeking comment was left with a lawyer for Trump. In the past, Trump has called Vance’s investigation “a continuation of the witch hunt — the greatest witch hunt in history.”

New York Attorney General Letitia James is also investigating whether Trump’s company lied about the value of its assets to get loans or tax benefits, though her probe is civil — not criminal — in nature. Trump’s son, Eric Trump, spoke by video with investigators last month after losing a court fight to postpone the deposition until after the election.

There were new revelations Thursday that both James and Vance had also subpoenaed documents related to tax deductions taken by Trump’s company related to business consulting fees paid to his daughter, Ivanka Trump.

Part of Vance’s criminal investigation pertains to payments made during Trump’s 2016 campaign to porn actress Stormy Daniels and model Karen McDougal to prevent them from publicly alleging they had extramarital affairs with him.

Cohen pleaded guilty to orchestrating the payments, which Manhattan federal prosecutors said amounted to illegal gifts to Trump’s campaign. They identified Trump in court filings as having directed Cohen’s efforts, but he was not charged. Trump has denied the affairs and said any payments were a personal matter, not a campaign expense.

The Justice Department has a longtime policy stating that it is unconstitutional to prosecute a sitting president in federal court.

There is also the potential that a Democrat-led Justice Department could pursue matters left uncharged in Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election interference, such as allegations Trump obstructed justice.

President-elect Joe Biden, a Democrat, has said that he would not direct his Justice Department to pursue charges against Trump — nor would he stand in the way of investigations it might take up on its own.

“I am not going to make that individual judgment,” Biden told reporters in August.

Some Democrats have cautioned that indicting Trump could enrage the nearly 74 million Americans who voted for him, complicating Biden’s promised effort to heal the nation’s political divisions. Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, a Democrat, has warned of the “potential cost to the nation” from prosecuting a former president.

Richard Nixon was pardoned by his successor, Gerald Ford, after resigning in 1974 over the Watergate break-in in an effort by Ford to end the fallout from an all-consuming political scandal. Bill Clinton, on his final day in office, struck a deal with special counsel Robert Ray to avoid prosecution over perjury allegations that led to his impeachment. He agreed to give up his law license for five years and pay a $25,000 fine for lying in a sexual harassment lawsuit.

Paul Rosenzweig, a former senior counsel in the Clinton investigation, argues that potentially criminal behavior stemming from Trump’s time as a businessman would make him an exception to the practice of not prosecuting former presidents.

“Never before have we had a president, who has been credibly accused of criminal activity from before his presidency,” he said.

Once out of office, Trump won’t be able to point to his busy schedule as a reason to delay civil lawsuits, like ones brought by E. Jean Carroll, a former magazine advice columnist, and Summer Zervos, a restaurateur and contestant on his old TV show, “The Apprentice.”

Carroll says Trump raped her in the mid-1990s in a New York department store. Her lawsuit says Trump’s denial of the allegation — including that she was “totally lying” to sell a memoir — defamed her. Carroll is seeking a DNA sample from Trump to see if it matches material found on a dress she says she wore during the alleged attack.

Zervos says Trump kissed and groped her when she sought to talk to him about her career in 2007. Trump denied her allegations and retweeted a message calling Zervos’ claims a hoax.

Trump’s lawyers have maintained that Zervos’ defamation suit should be delayed until he’s out of office. That’s now only about nine weeks away (eta: it's less than 3 weeks now).

LINK: https://apnews.com/article/donald-tr...949bc577858f6e

CNN: Carl Bernstein nails it, yet again.
 

Carl Bernstein: This is the ultimate smoking gun tape

CNN Newsroom

Legendary Watergate journalist Carl Bernstein reacts to audio obtained by the Washington Post of President Donald Trump pushing Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "find" votes to overturn the election results in the state.

LINK: https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/...in-sot-vpx.cnn


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I'm so glad we still have people in our society who have tons of experience in prior times, like back during the Watergate scene in Washington DC.

Will the GOP call for his immediate resignation?
Will TP be brought up on charges, serious charges for tampering with the vote and asking for other elected officials to overthrow American democracy?

Carl Bernstein makes the case for why this recorded phone call is solid evidence of a sitting president willing to commit crime, no matter the cost to others, at the expense of American democracy, at the expense of the safety and security of American citizens.

OMG, this is SO upsetting.

In other news: Nancy Pelosi is elected Speaker of the House, today.

NYTs OpEd
 

LINK: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/04/o...rgia-call.html

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Thought I would leave a link to an excellent Op-ed ftom The New York Times, while we wait for the final outcome concerning senate run-off election results.

I agree with the oped im that there needs to be law created to punish those who cheat and tamper with elections for those who seated with executive powers. The author of the oped makes the case for holding elected officials accountable.

In the meantime...


Go Warmock, Go Ossoff! Go Georgia Voters!!!

It looks like the Democrats have it, but no one will make the official call. Gah!

John Ossof mother was born and raised in Sydney Australia "My town YAY"
If he wins he will be the first, to enter US politics,with close personal connection to Australia.

https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-a...06-p56s01.html

Ex-DC police chief to T---P: "shut the hell up and get out of the way!"

https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/...mp-sot-vpx.cnn

In other viral news flashes; Yay for Ossoff & Warnock!!!

Thank heavens for the hard work of Stacy Abrams and the Black and Latino outreach for coordinating and immobilizing the vote in Georgia.

Just the act of calling his minions to engage in this siege is TREASON ~ this is not a demonstration ~ it's domestic terrorism . I've been in the Capitol bldg. the walls reek of honor. I felt so proud to walk those hallways. The fact that this mob of unamerican Trump supporters have the enter the Capitol is criminal.

I am overjoyed that Warnock & Ossoff both won!!! I knew we had a chance but given that the polls lately seem to have inflated Democrats' standing I wasn't sure.

Thank you Georgia voters! You not only made sure that your state is well-represented but you have made a huge difference in what Biden & the Democrats will be able to do.

Big thank you to Stacey Abrams and all the other organizers who have worked so hard for years and years to mobilize the vote and overcome all the Republican attempts at voter suppression to make this possible!

I agree with ~ocean that what is happening in the US Capitol today is treason and domestic terrorism. Anyone backing this and trying to claim the election was fraudulent is a traitor to the United States of America and Democracy. The Capitol is indeed hallowed ground.

The voters have spoken. Our votes count. Democracy won. And we must never, ever stop fighting.

I agree with Bulldog: we got to keep up the Good Fight to ensure that our democracy remains in tact.

Btw, it is good to see you on the forum boards today, Bulldog.

:tea:

I find that the pro-Trump insurrectionists are being allowed to just wander off into the night much more unsettling than the fact that they attacked the Capitol today. There certainly was a lot of non-policing in one of the worlds most militarized cities. This version of democracy is a comfortable and welcoming space for white supremacist violence. It has left me speechless.

Dozens of women have been arrested and handcuffed for sitting outside senate offices in protest during the Kavanaugh hearings

Black people, disabled people and protestors of all kinds peacefully praying, walking, singing in the name of justice inside the Capitol these past 4 years were dragged out in wheelchairs, mocked by the police, and beaten

Disabled people have been dragged out of their wheelchairs as they were arrested by the Capitol Police during healthcare bill protests.

The examples are endless.

It's just lucky for these terrorists that none of them pulled a George Floyd and tried to pass a phony twenty dollar bill to buy cigarettes. Because then the cops get serious.

If I didn't know better I would think police forces in the US exist primarily to enforce the race/class divide & not actually to protect public safety. Well they will protect white supremacist safety.

Today has shown the police don’t need de-escalation training, they choose who to escalate on, that’s not a training issue. Police don’t need unconscious bias training, they are conscious of their bias.

Historically protestors can't get anywhere near the capital. You would get your head cracked open if you got near some barrier. There are videos of the police opening the barrier for these rioters today. They are letting this happen. Can we imagine why?

Unsure what white privilege is? White privilege is being able to storm the heart of US democracy with nary a rubber bullet in sight.

Should anyone still doubt the inequality of justice in the US, today should clear that up for you.

The police literally did nothing today except take down an inconvenient barrier and pose for some selfies with white supremacist terrorists who were storming the Capital building. Then law enforcement just let them all go.

Right now my concern is for black and brown essential workers trying to get home tonight after curfew. The police will show no mercy there.

$721,531,000,000 defense budget revealed to be powerless against white people

https://www.click2houston.com/resize...JR2FG6ZA34.JPG

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US Capitol Police in D.C. opened gates for yesterday's terrorists.

Video shows police opening the guard gates for the rioters

If this is actually what it appears… it means this was orchestrated on some level.

Click the link to see the video. Very disturbing.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/202...o-Mob-Not-Good