What does the passing of Senator Feinstein mean for the Senate?

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Friday September 29, 2023 · 10:43 AM PDT

2023/09/29 · 10:43

Thinking what this means for Democratic control of the Senate.
What this means for Schumer, Munchin, Cinema and our democracy?

A sign may be if McConnell reneges on Senate republicans agreement on a budget.

He seems to have said he will exert every possible rule he can in order to stop government from functioning.

McConnell says Republicans will block plan to replace Feinstein on Senate Judiciary Committee.

Politics Apr 18, 2023 4:59 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that Republicans won’t allow Democrats to temporarily replace California Sen. Dianne Feinstein on the Senate Judiciary Committee, arguing that they only want a stand-in to push through the most partisan judges.

McConnell called the effort to place a substitute on the panel as Feinstein recovers from a case of shingles “an extremely unusual” request with no known precedent.

www.pbs.org/...

Does it mean the end to President Biden’s judicial placements?

Republicans block temporary replacement for Feinstein on Judiciary ...

Apr 18, 2023 Senate Republicans blocked a resolution on Tuesday to temporarily replace California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein on the politically important Judiciary Committee, putting stalled judicial nominations Democrats were hoping to push forward back in limbo. abcnews.go.com/...

How will this impact Schumer, Munchin, Cinema?

No answers, just remembering what Republicans have said about replacing the Senator.

Worried about our democracy.

More crimes swirling around Trump. Charles Rettig, IRS chief, name which is never mentioned.

BrianParker14

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday July 10, 2023 · 2:01 PM PDT

2023/07/10 · 14:01

Recent reporting is John Kelly, Trumps former chief of staff, stating tfg’s asked about using IRS against several of tfg’s hate targets.

Trump Wanted I.R.S. Investigations of Foes, Top Aide Says

John F. Kelly, who was White House chief of staff, said that as president, Donald J. Trump wanted investigations into perceived enemies like James Comey, the former F.B.I. director.
www.nytimes.com/…

Mr. Kelly said that along with Mr. Comey and Mr. McCabe, Mr. Trump discussed using the I.R.S. and the Justice Department to investigate the former C.I.A. director John O. Brennan; Hillary Clinton; Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and the owner of The Washington Post, whose coverage often angered Mr. Trump; Peter Strzok, the lead F.B.I. agent on the Russia investigation; and Lisa Page, an F.B.I. official who exchanged text messages with Mr. Strzok that were critical of Mr. Trump.

But far less is known about how he tried to weaponize the I.R.S.

Mr. Trump was familiar with how I.R.S. audits functioned.

Approx. thirty paragraphs and the mystery man’s name isn’t printed even once in the NYT article.

Weaponizing the Barr inJustice Dept and the USPS etc was how he rolled. Of course tfg would contact his appointee at the IRS surreptitiously.

What the heck? Of course he did/would. He wasn’t asking for Kelly’s permission, he was bragging.

Gen. John Kelly confirms Trump wanted IRS to audit his foes or have the DOJ investigate them.

Sarah K. Burris

November 13, 2022, 9:44 PM ET
www.rawstory.com/...

Charles Rettig was a tfg’s holdover till just a couple of days after that article was published, well into President Biden’s first term.

The IRS, is currently (July 10, 2023) the subject of the first twenty minutes of the Nicolle Wallace program and the names tfg and Strzok and Comey and Kelly etc. etc. are constantly used BUT BUT NEVER is the name Charles Rettig mentioned.

Charles Rettig’, appointed by tfg to head the IRS held onto his office till, November, 2022, was allowed to complete his term, untouched or mentioned. Sorta like De Joy at USPS, except the IRS doesn’t have a Board to impede his removal.

Why in most articles by reporters, including this lengthy NYT piece, is his name avoided scrupulously?
Going on twenty minutes for this MSNBC Wallace report and still they can’t say Charles Rettig.
John Kelly, John Kelly, John Kelly, but no Charles Rettig.

The reason he asked John Kelly if he should have his hate list investigated was, because he was Bragging. Ask Strzok and Comey if they were targeted for IRS auditing. tfg didn’t have to ask John Kelly’s permission.

Trump has an intimate relationship with the man he appointed as chief of the IRS, Charles Rettig.

Here’s a part of the relationship.

IRS Chief Makes More Than $100,000 Per Year Off Trump Property, Documents Show.

www.forbes.com/...

and,

Trump’s IRS chief earns over $100,000 per year from Trump property while in office: new documents.

IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig has refused to release Trump’s tax returns despite law requiring him to do so.
Published September 2, 2020 2:25PM (EDT

www.salon.com/...

Nicolle Wallace finished the segment by saying she’s gonna continue to look into John Kelly’s accusations about tfg’s ‘threat’ to have the IRS go after people who tell the truth.
Wonder if she will ever use the name Charles Rettig?

Why isn't Lorie Smith being prosecuted for lying to the Supreme Court? Cal woman lied is in jail.

BrianParker14

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday July 02, 2023 · 2:34 PM PDT

2023/07/02 · 14:34

Lorie Smith lied to bring a case before the Supreme Court, won and brought harm to America.
Not only didn’t she have a functioning business she lied about the prospective customers she claimed to have and didn’t. There are so many inconsistencies in her case as to bring intense scrutiny. Including charges of lying about having prospective customers. He was in a long time committed marriage w/a woman, is not gay, and never approached the liar Lorie Smith.

Haven’t heard any Democratic politicians demanding an investigation and prosecution for lying to the Supreme Court.

Now the Guardian reports a similar situation where an entitled women:

www.theguardian.com/…

Kathleen Sorensen, of California, sentenced to three months in prison for knowingly making false report of crime

Ramon Antonio Vargas

Sun 2 Jul 2023 02.00 EDT

A white California woman who styled herself on social media as a “mom influencer” has been ordered to spend three months in prison for falsely accusing a Latino couple of attempting to kidnap her children.

“She wanted a strong following [online]; she was looking for, you know, content for her name and her income and at our expense,” Sadie Martinez said to Good Morning America in response to Sorensen’s video, which has been viewed more than 4m times at least.

Prosecutors charged Sorensen with three misdemeanor counts of making a false report of a crime after her arrest in 2021. Jurors acquitted her of two of the counts, leaving Sorensen to face a maximum of six months in connection with the charge for which she was convicted.

Sorensen didn’t know the people she accused of threatening to kidnap her children.
It was reported after a brief investigation she was lying.
An investigation. What a novel ideal.

Judge Laura Passaglia sentenced Sorensen to a 90 days in prison, two months of which could be served on work release. The judge also told Sorensen to avoid any presence on social media for 12 months, during which time she would also have to agree to have her electronic devices searched and seized without a warrant and undergo four hours of implicit bias training. according to a statement from the local district attorney's office.

"Ms. Sorensen has been held accountable for her crime," District Attorney Carla Rodriguez said.
www.yahoo.com/...

I’m trying to understand the difference between what Kathleen Sorensen did and what Lorie Smith did?

Why can’t some rich Democratic ‘friend’ of “Mike” of the SC case, fund a lawsuit against Lorie Smith and lead to the Supreme Court neutering their decision and possibly against the funders.

The Supreme Court made an administrative decision a crime.
Why isn’t lying about it a crime? Charge Lorie Smith w/a crime.

Has the Supreme Court ever admitted to a mistake?

How to balance US budget and save Social Security and every social program. It ain't rocket surgery.

BrianParker14

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday June 25, 2023 · 3:59 PM PDT

2023/06/25 · 15:59

The Pentagon has never completed a successful independent audit. US Senators from both parties have introduced another attempt to pass a bill requiring a completed successful audit.
The Audit the Pentagon Act 2023.

The Pentagon can’t even tell us where all their buildings are.
"Right now, the Pentagon can't even tell you where all of its buildings are located in the United States,"www.sanders.senate.gov/…

Having failed to complete it’s last five audits (only recently required) five republicans, an Independent and four Democrats have introduced a bill, again, that would reduce the budget of any Department of Defense component by 1% if unable to successfully complete an audit. (And no guaranteed annual increase.)

While every other Government department is required and does pass an annual audit the Pentagon is $wallowing half of all discretionary spending and can’t or won’t tell Congress or the American people where almost half a trillion dollars goes every year.

The legislation comes after the Pentagon failed its fifth budget audit last year and after a CBS News report found defense contractors overcharged the Defense Department by nearly 40 percent to 50 percent. According to the Office of the Inspector General for the Defense Department, sometimes overcharging reached more than 4,000 percent. thehill.com/...

“DOD obligates more money every year than all civilian federal agencies combined.”
www.sanders.senate.gov/...

Another big issue is that the Pentagon hasn't been able to say how many contractors and subcontractors it employs. In 2018, it emerged that the Pentagon's Defense Logistics Agency did not have a paper trail for more than $800 million in construction projects.

A failed audit from one recent year "uncovered a warehouse full of aircraft parts for planes that haven't been used in over a decade," the Sanders aide said.

And then there's the F-35, the notoriously expensive and controversial joint strike fighter jet. Despite costing more than $1.7 trillion in its estimated life cycle, attempts to audit the program have run into major hurdles. www.npr.org/...

Since the early 1990’s, Federal law has required audits for all government agencies. Since 2013, all but DOD have been able to meet that requirement. Last year, the DOD failed its fifth audit and was unable to account for over half of its assets, which are in excess of $3.1 trillion, or roughly 78 percent of the entire federal government. www.sanders.senate.gov/...

The DOD is the milliionaire/billionaire maker while significant billions are unaccounted for and just disappear.

Billions Over Baghdad: How Did $9B in Cash Airlifted from the Fed to Iraq Go Missing?
One month after the invasion of Iraq, the United States began airlifting planeloads of cash to Baghdad. Between April 2003 and June 2004, a total of $12 billion of U.S. currency was shipped to Iraq where it was to be dispensed by the Coalition Provisional Authority for reconstruction. To date, at least $9 billion cannot be accounted for. In a startling new expose in Vanity Fair, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalists Donald Barlett and James Steele follow the money trail from the Federal Reserve to Iraq.
www.democracynow.org/...

Theft, corruption and possibly incompetence has cost Americans trillions of dollars just in the past decade. Guessing the billionaire owned House republicans will not like the idea of their owners not being able to manipulate our tax dollars (to their advantage) and will not allow America to see where the missing billions are going.

Want to balance the budget?
It ain’t rocket surgery.

Force the generals and admirals to watch our pennies and be accountable.
Then collect the taxes the wealthy don’t pay and finally raise taxes on billionaires.
That’s how America can pay for Social Security, Medicare and every social service, forever.

Trump indicted! NBC Reports

BrianParker14

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday March 30, 2023 · 2:36 PM PDT

2023/03/30 · 14:36

MSNBC and NYTimes Reporting NYC Grand Jury is voting on the hush money NOW.
NYC police moving around barriers.

Manhattan Grand Jury Voting in Donald Trump Hush Money Case: Sources.www.nbcnewyork.com/…

Multiple reports the Grand Jury is actually voting at this time.
Hope it is true.
May be coordinated w/their expected month long vacation.
Wanting to be out of town.

Now it’s being reported they HAVE indicted.

ICC reportedly about to ask for arrest warrants concerning stolen children and infrastructure destr.

BrianParker14

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday March 13, 2023 · 3:18 PM PDT

2023/03/13 · 15:18

Several news orgs reporting the International Criminal Court (ICC) is about to issue arrest warrants.
Concerning Ukraine and Russia.
Possibly one concerning stolen children and another involving the destruction of civilian infrastructure.

The investigations, according to the prosecutor will be ongoing if warrants for arrests are issued.

It isn’t known if the warrants will be open before arrests have been made.
It hasn’t been speculated whether Putin is among those being considered.

The New York Times and Reuters news agency reported that the prosecutor, Karim Khan, would ask pre-trial judges to approve arrest warrants on the basis of evidence collected so far. If successful, it would be the first time ICC warrants have been issued in relation to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
www.theguardian.com/...

In a response to a request from CNN on the NYT’s reporting, the ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor said that they “provide no comment on this report.”

ICC’s Khan visited Ukraine last month to probe Russia’s attacks on power and other infrastructure. Speaking to reporters during the visit, Khan said: “We see clearly a pattern, I think, in terms of the number, scale and breadth of attacks against the power grids of Ukraine. www.cnn.com/…

When asked whether the court’s process may be too slow to meet the expectations of the Ukrainians, the top prosecutor said: “What people want are not Pyrrhic victories.”

No word if this will inspire Garland to proceed.

Special Counsel Jack Smith returns to U.S. following recovery.

BrianParker14

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday January 04, 2023 · 3:04 PM PST

2023/01/04 · 15:04

MSNBC talking head just said Special Counsel Jack Smith has got to get to know his staff and who he can count on (trust).

Does this mean he’s not even met his staff.
Too many questions about how the DOJ is managing the investigations into tfg.
This is quite confusing. Apparently he’s been able to keep up w/the work while in Europe.
I’ve never written a diary before and clearly this isn’t one.
But I felt it important to post as there are no other diaries mentioning this and it seems important. Not as important as selecting a Speaker.

Special counsel Jack Smith returns to US weeks after being appointed Trump investigator: Report

Story by Cami Mondeaux • 7h ago

The Justice Department’s special counsel tasked with overseeing two major investigations into former President Donald Trump has reportedly returned to the United States after staying in Europe to recover from an injury.

Special counsel Jack Smith returned to the country weeks after being appointed to head the DOJ investigations in November, initiating a series of high-profile moves from The Hague, sources told the Washington Post. It’s not entirely clear when Smith returned to the U.S., but officials told the outlet on Tuesday he had been back “for some time.”
www.msn.com/...

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