<....In light of this evidence, the court sided with the secretary of state’s interpretation of the amendment. It held that the phrase “after the member’s current term is completed” applies to “the term,” not “the election.” That means “the election” mentioned in the text is the next election, not the election after the next one. So all 10 senators who walked out in 2023 are forbidden from running for reelection. Only two of these senators planned to retire. Four were elected in 2020 and will be locked out of reelection this year—a group that includes Senate Minority Leader Tim Knopp. The remaining four were elected in 2022 and will be locked out of reelection in 2026. (All may run again after sitting out one cycle.)

There is an interesting lesson here with implications for the effort to disqualify Donald Trump from reelection in 2024: The case illustrates why knocking a candidate off the ballot is not inherently undemocratic. Oregon Republicans, of course, did not engage in insurrection, as Trump’s opponents claim he did. But these senators did wield their power to prevent the people’s representatives from conducting the basic business of governance. It is perfectly legitimate for the citizenry to determine that an officeholder’s attempt to obstruct the legislative process disqualifies them from seeking office in the future.

Yes, Trump tried to block the counting of electoral votes, a weightier task than passing gun control or a new budget. Nonetheless, his end goal was to shut down the Senate until he got what he wanted (in the form of an unearned second term). Oregon legislators tried to shut down their Senate until Democrats became so desperate to keep the state running that they came to the table with concessions. The situations obviously differ in important respects, but they share a through-line: an interference with the operation of government that transcends checks and balances to subvert constitutional traditions at the core of representative democracy.

Trump’s opponents argue that, by enacting Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, the American people used the democratic process to safeguard the presidency from those who cannot be trusted to hold it. Oregon’s voters made a similar (if less fraught and dramatic) decision to safeguard their statehouse from lawmakers who cannot be trusted to exercise legislative duties responsibly. Neither judgment call threatens democracy; to the contrary, they enhance it by declaring that certain conduct is so harmful to self-governance that those who engage in it must be kept out of power as a matter of constitutional decree. Our rights are strengthened, not imperiled, when we enshrine that decision in our laws.>

<On Friday, Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith submitted a 67-page filing to the US District Court in the Southern District of Florida, where former President Donald Trump's criminal trial over alleged mishandling of classified documents is scheduled to take place later this year. The filing takes Trump and his lawyers to task for its "pervasively false narrative" concerning the case itself.

In his tweet of the filing Politico legal correspondent Kyle Cheney noted that Smith detailed how the government took a "cautious" and "incremental approach" to obtaining presidential documents from Trump, whom Smith described as having "unprecedented defiance" to lawful requests for documents the government is required to obtain and preserve.

"[T]he Government here confronted an extraordinary situation: a former President engaging in calculated and persistent obstruction of the collection of Presidential records, which, as a matter of law, belong to the United States for the benefit of history and posterity, and, as a matter of fact, here included a trove of highly classified documents containing some of the nation’s most sensitive information," Smith wrote. "The law required that those documents be collected. And the record establishes that the relevant government officials performed their tasks with professionalism and patience in the face of unprecedented defiance."

Smith's Friday filing is in response to a previous filing by Trump's legal team seeking additional "discovery" (i.e. documents, communications, transcripts, emails, etc.) that requested what Smith characterized as "abstract rulings on the scope of the prosecution team." Smith argued that the new discovery motion "should be denied as legally and factually flawed," since such requests "must be based on specific demands, tied to the case, for items material to preparing the defense."

"Instead of meeting those standards, the defendants’ motion seeks non-discoverable materials based on speculative, unsupported, and false theories of political bias and animus," Smith wrote. "Many of the requests are so generalized that it is difficult to decipher what they seek. Others reflect pure conjecture detached from the facts surrounding this prosecution."

The special counsel further elaborated that "it is necessary to set the record straight on the underlying facts that led to this prosecution, because the defendants’ motion paints an inaccurate and distorted picture of events." The filing lays out how Trump bucked the Archivist of the United States' attempts to obtain presidential documents required by law at every attempt dating back to late January of 2021, when President Joe Biden first assumed office and Trump became a private citizen. Smith also reiterated that his office had already supplied Trump and his attorneys with "1.28 million pages" of documents as a result of other discovery requests, and that his prosecutors will continue to be forthcoming with any requests that meet standard guidelines.

"The defendants have received substantial, timely, and thorough discovery in this case," Smith wrote. "This production not only complies with the Government’s constitutional and rule-based discovery obligations; it goes far beyond. The Government recognizes its discovery obligations, has complied with them, and will continue to do so.">

<Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene is being mocked after a video emerged of her struggling to pronounce the word “indictable”.

“This historical evidence is overwhelming that the Founding Fathers intended impeachment to be used to deal with the commission of ‘in-dick-table’ crimes and the abuse of power”, she said.

Ms Greene’s gaffe occurred on Tuesday while the House Homeland Security Committee were debating whether or not the homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas should be impeached for his handling of the US-Mexico border crisis.

Mr Mayorkas was accused of “wilful and systemic refusal to comply with the law” by allowing the release of migrants awaiting legal proceedings and breached “public trust” when he told lawmakers the US-Mexico border was secure, according to impeachment papers. It comes as Texas is embroiled in a row with the Supreme Court over measures to curb illegal migration in the state.

The committee ultimately voted to impeach the homeland security secretary on Wednesday, in a move that was opposed by Democrats. The articles of impeachment will now be considered in the House of Representatives.

The majority of House Republicans have supported Mr Mayorkas’ impeachment, with Rep Greene blasting eight members of her own party who voted against it.

Many users on X were amused by Ms Greene’s blunder on Tuesday.

“Marge Greene is an example of our lowest common denominator. She does not represent the best, the brightest, or even the median-IQ American,” one person wrote.

“Now that I think about it, I’ve never seen Marge and a box of rocks together in the same room,” another person said.

“My 7th grader knows the word INDICTABLE... this is a UNITED STATES CONGRESSWOMAN. Georgia should be embarrassed right now,” a third person added.

Others pointed out that her “glasses are not helping”.

Ahead of Tuesday’s hearing, Mr Mayorkas wrote a letter to Mr Green, accusing her of making “false accusations” against him.

“I assure you that your false accusations do not rattle me and do not divert me from the law enforcement and broader public service mission to which I have devoted most of my career and to which I remain devoted,” Mr Mayorkas wrote.

Ms Greene first attempted to impeach Mr Mayorkas in November over what she claimed was his failure to protect the US border with Mexico by not restricting the numbers of migrants crossing into the US, but the House voted to halt the bid to remove the Homeland Security Secretary.

Rep Greene said she was “outraged” at the vote, according to Reuters.

Following Tuesday’s hearing, one X user suggested: “Maybe a person who can’t even read/pronounce indictable shouldn’t be allowed to use it as a political weapon?”>

<[Event "Central New England Fall Open"] [Site "Fitchburg Mass"]
[Date "1984.11.03"]
[EventDate "1984"]
[Round "4.5"]
[Result "1-0"]
[White "Taylor, Steven A"]
[Black "Shaw, Alan"]
[ECO "B08"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]

Carlsen will surely find The Chessable Masters much more to his liking.>

Your 'insight' was a slur against Carlsen; as above, you insinuated, then stated outright that he 'ducked' Wijk aan Zee. Curious though that you had little to say of Caruana and Nakamura on the matter.

Why would Carlsen wish to 'defame' his successor, or did you intend to use another word? Your command of language is pitiful.

<[Event "8th Monadnock Marathon"] [Site "Jaffrey NH"]
[Date "1985.10.26"]
[EventDate "1985"]
[Round "5.4"]
[Result "1-0"]
[White "Boudrot, Ed"]
[Black "Shaw, Alan"]
[ECO "A56"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]

<[Event "1983 BCC Championship"] [Site "Boston Mass"]
[Date "1983.??.??"]
[EventDate "1983"]
[Round "3"]
[Result "1-0"]
[White "Kelleher, William"]
[Black "Dracup, James"]
[ECO "B06"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]

<One should wonder whether this is a severe violation of the rules. I am regularly b& for at the very least half-one days if I dare to mention anything. Do not misunderstand me, I don't necessarily want the very same treatment as this individual gets, just I am perplexed how this place became such a cess pit and why these foul and malicious actors are not removed promptly.>

In view of your intrusion on yet another game page:

<go away you foul ass>

<Conservative group Moms for Liberty is reportedly struggling, and a good example of that was a recent school board meeting about a potential book ban, according to CNN.

Moms for Liberty saw a lot of early successes, but there is growing "pushback" about the group's conservative education agenda, according to the outlet's news report. This is reportedly occurring even on the group's home turf.

"In Florida, where the right-wing Moms for Liberty group was born in response to Covid-19 school closures and mask mandates, the first Brevard County School Board meeting of the new year considered whether two bestselling novels – 'The Kite Runner' and 'Slaughterhouse-Five' – should be banned from schools," according to the Saturday report. "A lone Moms for Liberty supporter sat by herself at the January 23 meeting, where opponents of the book ban outnumbered her."

According to the report, almost "20 speakers voiced opposition to removing the novels from school libraries. One compared the book-banning effort to Nazi Germany. Another accused Moms for Liberty of waging war on teachers. No one spoke in favor of the ban. About three hours into the meeting, the board voted quickly to keep the two books on the shelves of high schools."

This might be only one example in Florida, but the report ties the event to a larger trend with Moms for Liberty.

"Now the group is at a crossroads," according to the outlet. "'One of their major challenges is the fact that most Americans are actually pretty positive about their own children’s schools,' Jack Schneider, a professor of education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, said via email. 'Although their message may have appeal in the abstract, at least to conservative voters, families aren’t clamoring for disruption in their own children’s schools.'"

Several factors can be blamed for why "Moms for Liberty’s burgeoning influence in Republican national politics may be faltering," the report says.

"A sex scandal involving the husband of Moms for Liberty co-founder Bridget Ziegler, a Sarasota County school board member, has not helped the group’s cause," according to the report. "Ziegler has been on the forefront of the cultural battles GOP Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has waged in the public schools. DeSantis named her to the board now overseeing the Walt Disney Company’s special tax district in central Florida amid his clash with the entertainment giant over a state law that restricted how sexual orientation and gender identity could be taught in the classroom. Ziegler remains on the school board despite calls for her to step down.">

Good riddance to bad rubbish. The fundamentalists will have to find or create another front for their insidious plans against the country.

<Faced with having to pay writer E. Jean Carroll $88.3 million in total damages as the result of two separate trials related to sexual assault and defamation, Donald Trump is facing an overwhelming cash crunch should Judge Arthur Engoron also slam him with millions more in penalties in the still-to-be-concluded financial fraud trial.

In an interview with former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance, former Trump biographer Tim O'Brien speculated that the former president has approximately $600 million that he can tap into — but he could be looking at penalties close to $460 million that would devastate the former president if he is forced to pay up.

O'Brien, who has investigated Trump's financial status for years, claimed losing all that cash would be "a tough pill to swallow, even for somebody with Trump’s resources."

Speaking with Vance, O'Brien stated Trump may be worth close to the $3.1 billion that outsiders have estimated, but coming up with money will be no easy task and E. Jean Carroll's legal team may have to force the issue once all Trump's appeals are exhausted.

"Only about $600 million or so of that amount is in highly liquid holdings like cash. He can’t easily sell his stakes in some real estate ventures, so he’ll have to extract the payment from his cash hoard, most likely," he explained. "But he’ll hate having to do that and will resent it. So, lawyers and prosecutors may have to file liens against some of his assets so E. Jean Carroll can be paid.

The biographer also suggested Trump fears losing his fortune more than he fears the prospect of jail time looming in the Georgia RICO trial and the two federal cases being brought by special counsel Jack Smith.

"That’s because massive amounts of money aren’t in play in those cases – just possible prison time. But I don’t think that means Trump still doesn’t fear and resent the possible outcomes in the federal and state cases; he certainly does. He’s afraid of being found guilty and of serving time; hence the carping about being a victim and all of the performance art targeting judges and the system," he stated before adding, "At its core, however, is fear. The system finally caught up to Trump — in his 78th year. It’s also still unclear whether he might successfully run the clock out on those prosecutions.">

As Giuliani will also discover, it is tough to get anything like top dollar in a soft market, plus the ineluctable fact that everyone is only too aware of the legal troubles. Time to sit back and enjoy the show as they both wind up on the receiving end of the high hard one they have administered to so many others.

Bottom rail's on top, suckas!!!! Get the ladle ready for a massive helping of schadenfreude!!

<A federal investigation into the financing behind Donald Trump's foray into social media has grown to involve the FBI, the SEC, a division of the Department of Homeland Security and what is being described as "one of the government’s most elite anti-money-laundering teams" according to a new federal filing.

According to a deep dive by the Washington Post's Drew Harwell, there is no indication that the former president and his Trump Media have been accused of wrongdoing in the case involving the troubled Truth Social thus far, but there are questions over his involvement in "a business arrangement that federal agents now allege was undermined from its inception by financial fraud."

A central focus of the investigation, the Washington Post is reporting, is Patrick Orlando, Digital World’s chief executive, whose special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) stepped in to raise money for the project when banks wouldn't provide financing.

Reviewing government documents, the Post's Harwell wrote, Orlando "had been telling investors privately for months that he’d been talking with Trump about the deal" which is a violation of federal securities law according to the SEC.

According to the report, "One investor, the Miami Beach businessman Anton Postolnikov, had amassed a huge stake in Digital World. Postolnikov, who was born in Russia and is the nephew of a longtime Russian government official, sold most of his stake just days after Trump’s announcement sent the stock soaring, according to an FBI agent’s search warrant affidavit. His profit: $22 million," adding, "Another, a Ukraine-born nightclub manager turned private equity investor named Michael Shvartsman, told his business partners and a neighbor about the moneymaking opportunity, according to the affidavit — before securing $18 million in profits for himself."

That money churn raised red flags for investigators which has led to the deal being held up by the SEC as other government agencies became involved, and the $300 million raised that Truth Social had been expecting to keep operating being held up.

According to Harwell, "Investigators used a microphone-wearing undercover informant to secretly record Shvartsman’s attempts to move the profits — assets he told the informant he’d gained from the 's--- [that] happened with Trump' — into a web of offshore accounts. The documents also claim Shvartsman offered to introduce the informant to an unnamed official in Ukraine who needed help moving a 'significant amount of money.' Whether officials pursued that tip is unknown."

According to the Washington Post report, there are "...hundreds of pages of documents include a previously sealed indictment, HSI reports detailing undercover operations, emails, text messages, transcripts of recorded conversations, prosecutors’ memos summarizing evidence, and affidavits supporting search and seizure warrants for phones, digital data and bank accounts."

Asked for comment about the still growing investigation, Trump Media attorney Jesse Binnall asserted the alleged criminality “had no connection to Trump Media whatsoever.”>

<Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) literally ran away from Raw Story's reporter, who was asking her about the comments she made about Jan. 6 attackers.

In a lighthearted conversation with a reporter, Stefanik was asked about being a possible Donald Trump running mate. Her response was silence. The two walked together "awkwardly" through the Capitol tunnel, Raw Story's Matt Laslo relayed.

There was a single vote in the House Thursday and members meandered on and off the floor. Some walked through the Cannon House Office Building tunnel, casually shooting the breeze with reporters.

At least one member has been caught pretending to be on his phone to dodge questions. Stefanik merely walked in silence. "Do you think there are still Jan. 6 hostages?" Raw Story asked.

That's when she whipped out her cell phone.

"I'm going to vote. This is about to close," Stefanik complained.

In reality, they were only about halfway through a 15-minute vote.

Stefanik raced away, putting her cell phone away once she fled from the reporter.

Ahead of the vote, about five other lawmakers fearlessly spoke to Raw Story about Taylor Swift, George Santos' ethics questions and even the recent UFO hearings.

Stefanik told "Meet the Press" last month that she considers those attackers from Jan. 6 who are in prison akin to "hostages." It caused an uproar in her home state as actual hostages were kidnapped by the U.S.-designated terrorist group Hamas in Israel. NBC sought her out to ask about that, but never heard back.

"The reality is that most of the alleged rioters, particularly those charged with misdemeanors like parading through the Capitol, have been released pending trial," the NBC report explained after her controversial comments. "The overwhelming majority of those incarcerated have either pleaded guilty to crimes or been found guilty by juries. Others were ordered held pretrial because they presented a threat to the public, violated pre-trial conditions, or are considered a flight risk.">

Question too tough for ya, Elise the Otiose? Ya wanna play with the big boys, softballs will be harder and harder to find. Get used to it.

<Blow it out your perfidious.

For someone that [sic] hates my guts, you sure do spend a lot of time following FTB all around this website. You don't seem too drunk though (yet) this Saturday now Sunday morning. Just puffy being your usual miserable terd [sic] self, failing to make any sort of chess contribution whatsoever while FTB schooled you once again on what is really going on.

Clearly you are off to a fast start in 2024 on repeating as Lame Chess Poster of the Year. You'll hit 50,000 lame, vague, angry, contrived, mischaracterizing, dishonest, devil-inspired, imaginary, hateful, odd-ball, racist, sexist, self-promoting and blundering posts sometime this spring. Ever thought about working part-time for the fake news Washington Post?

Maybe next time you can remember to tell us how you beat Chandler and Rogers in the same tournament playing 1.e4 which pushed your rating up over 2600 for the sixth time. Then you can download your bogus victories into your personal forum as is customary. It's been a 40 year lapse, so there's no time like the present to take advantage of Chessgames' lack of monitoring that you would not have dared tried when Daniel was about.

Now get back to your job and shine on China. Don't forget Australia either. We have some good honest contributing members from down under. They need their vitamin D like everybody else.>

Callate, cabron.

<[Event "89th US Open"]
[Site "Boston Mass"]
[Date "1988.08.??"]
[EventDate "1988"]
[Round "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[White "Chambers, Chris"]
[Black "Glueck, David"]
[ECO "C17"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.Bd2 Ne7 6.Nb5 Bxd2+ 7.Qxd2 O-O 8.f4 a6 9.Nd6 cxd4 10.Nf3 Nbc6 11.Bd3 f6 12.O-O fxe5 13.fxe5 h6 14.g4 Rxf3 15.Rxf3 Nxe5 16.Rf2 Qxd6 17.Qf4 Bd7 18.Raf1 N7c6 19.h4 Qe7 20.g5 Nxd3 21.cxd3 e5 22.Qg3 hxg5 23.hxg5 Qe6 24.g6 Qh3 25.Qg5 Qg4+ 26.Qxg4 Bxg4 27.Rf7 Be2 28.R1f2 Bxd3 29.Rxb7 Bxg6 30.Rg2 Bf7 31.Rc2 d3 32.Rf2 Nd8 0-1>

Got a problem with the number of posts made? Don't like the content?

<[Event "89th US Open"]
[Site "Boston Mass"]
[Date "1988.08.??"]
[EventDate "1988"]
[Round "?"]
[Result "1-0"]
[White "Glueck, David"]
[Black "Gelman, Geoffrey"]
[ECO "C17"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]