This is an example of what the assailant in this screed once termed--on my part--'lazy and rather effortless analysis'.

As noted in the thread, anyone will see, without a great deal of analysis, the move chosen was the superior practical choice and very much in Fischer's style.

<...."incompetent" was the word used. It's more than just a word, it's an ever-present cyberbully attitude toward others. It should have been stopped long, long ago. The editor feels anybody he deems untitled/unworthy should not express their opinions, chess or otherwise. Such disgusting signature harshness occurs post after post, year after year, decade after decade....>

The only poster to actually use the above adjective was he who insists on playing attack dog and proposes to control all content.

<....A hardly suitable description for a risky but CORRECT chess move....>

You deem it correct, but provide no supporting analysis for your claim, which is, mais certainement, 'rather lazy and effortless', to use your words from another of your choleric rants.

<....Don't support cyberbullying else you are supporting the ever-present problem....>

<You> are the problem.

So that then, of course, you can run whingeing to the support forum--which you scorn in any event--and proclaim how hard done by you are as you play your schizoid victim/bully game.

I still enjoy very much to have the little confused bear on ignore.

<fredthedisingenuous: Boris was a worthy champion, and a gracious gentleman. Bobby is the GOAT as player, not as a person....>

Must feel great to set yourself up as sole arbiter of content--at least in your own mind.

<....The remark "...any competent player" was entirely unnecessary. The opposite of competent is "incompetent." It's more than just a word, it's an ever-present cyberbully attitude toward others. Namely, those who support 29...Qxf4. This degradation of others should have been stopped long, long ago. The editor feels anybody he deems untitled/unworthy should not express their opinions, chess or otherwise. Such disgusting signature harshness occurs post after post, year after year, decade after decade....>

Amazing as it may sound to you, <fredthehump>, your word is not final here.

As has been shown, sfod is the big cheat on CGs.>

Back in the saddle, playing that much beloved role of stalker and derailer of threads.

<After she visited J6 prisoners, Marjorie Taylor Greene joined Matt Gaetz in Texas, where they helped Donald trump [sic] kick off the presidential campaign.

During the rally, where Trump said he was “the most innocent man in the history of our country,” he praised Greene, who also had her time in the spotlight.

Trump expressed his support for Greene

The former president criticized democrats [sic], Ukraine, and many republicans [sic] but praised Greene.

Trump said, “Republicans cannot take it any longer. They have to get tougher, but they cannot take it. These Washington Republicans like Mitch McConnell who’s the absolute worst. They’ve got to get tougher; they’ve got to get like Marjorie Taylor Greene.”

Donald Trump asked Greene if she would “like to run for the Senate?” He added he would “fight like hell for you.”

Greene returned the favor

Greene, one of the most prominent Republican supporters of Donald Trump, attacked Manhattan DA on Twitter several times.

During the Trump rally, she talked to the media and again said that Alvin Bragg should be arrested.

Greene wants people to stand up to the abuse

In her interview, Greene said, “He (Bragg) should be arrested. You want to know why? We have to stop allowing Democrats to abuse us. It’s like we are a beaten spouse.”

She added, “We need to stand up to the abuse because they are the ones committing crimes.”

During the rally, where Trump said he was “the most innocent man in the history of our country,” he praised Greene, who also had her time in the spotlight.

Commentators were amused

Twitter users shared their thoughts on Greene’s video posted by Ron Filipkowski. One person wrote, “if it sounds stupid and speaks stupid..”

Another shared, “Always the victim in theatrical politics.”

This tweet has to hurt, as Greene is a God-loving pro-gun Georgia representative, “There is a special place in hell for this person!”

Greene was attacked by a whistle a day before

During her visit to J6 prisoners, Greene held a press conference but was attacked. Well, sort of.

She said there were paid protestors, but “they can whistle and say everything they want, but we will not be deterred. We do not care about them because they work for evil.”

Georiga representative wanted the whistler blower arrested

Further, she tweeted that the person who was whistling should be “arrested, and we tried to have him arrested.”

She also called the police, but they did not arrive on time, and the person whistling fled.

Though unpleasant, the Friday incident was erased the following day in Texas, where Greene continued to express her support for Trump.>

Another lame post with no specifics....>

Pro tip: wrong game with the wrong opponent.

Y'all don't like it, get shtupped.

<....pervicious [sic] idea of a worthwhile life is to cyberbully others. That's no contribution.>

<ATLANTA (AP) — A Georgia judge on Monday ordered the Fulton County district attorney’s office to respond to a motion by former President Donald Trump to throw out a report by a special grand jury that investigated attempts to interfere in the state’s 2020 presidential election.

The motion by Trump’s legal team also seeks to toss out all testimony from the inquiry and to bar Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from continuing to investigate or prosecute Trump.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ordered Willis to respond by May 1 and to let him know whether an in-person hearing is needed to resolve any issues. A spokesperson for Willis said her office would reply through its court filings.

The filing is an effort by Trump to escape one of the multiple legal challenges he faces, including a state inquiry in New York into hush money payments to women who alleged sexual encounters with the former president as well as a pair of U.S. Justice Department criminal investigations. One examines his efforts to overturn his loss in the 2020 election. The other examines Trump’s possession of hundreds of classified documents at his Florida estate.

Willis began her investigation shortly after the release of a recording of a January 2021 phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. In that conversation, the then-president suggested that Raffensperger, a fellow Republican, could “find” the exact number of votes needed to overturn Trump’s narrow election loss in the state to Democrat Joe Biden.

The special grand jury heard from about 75 witnesses and considered other evidence before issuing a report that includes recommendations for Willis on criminal charges. McBurney released the report’s introduction and conclusion, as well as a section in which the grand jurors expressed concerns that some witnesses may have lied under oath, but the rest of the report has remained under wraps so far.

Willis said in a January hearing that decisions on indictments were “imminent.”

The challenge by Trump's legal team, filed last Monday, also contended that McBurney misinterpreted Georgia law and erred by not disqualifying Willis from the entire probe when he ruled in July that Willis could not pursue charges against Burt Jones, now Georgia's lieutenant governor.

Trump's lawyers asked for another judge besides McBurney to hear the challenge. He did not acknowledge that push in Monday's brief order.

The lawyers also faulted Willis for granting repeated news interviews, citing a list of 39 media appearances and saying her comments cast ”a shadow of bias over her office and the entire investigation."

Trump's lawyers similarly argued that interviews that the foreperson and other grand jurors have given should disqualify the case.>

<"Florida is where woke goes to die," according to the Sunshine State's governor, Republican Ron DeSantis, who has based much of his expected 2024 presidential campaign on being "anti-woke."

But a new poll from Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal is devastating to many of the policies being promoted and enacted by Governor DeSantis in his "free state of Florida," calling into question how he and other Republicans who embrace his ideas will fare on the national stage.

"Patriotism, religious faith, having children and other priorities that helped define the national character for generations are receding in importance to Americans," warns the WSJ, with some on social media pointing to a graphic that purports to capture how much America has changed in the past 25 years.

The importance of issues of patriotism, religion, having children, and community involvement have dropped dramatically across America. The one that has increased? Money.

One Democratic strategist calls it "eye-popping."

Money is also the only issue on which Democrats and Republicans both agree.

But the real siren for Republicans comes in answers to so-called "culture war" questions.

The gap between Democrats and Republicans, expectedly, is huge, but DeSantis – should he launch a presidential run – will confront conservative and independent voters (not to mention, of course, Democrats) who aren't as keen on, say, banning books, as he might like.

Asked, "Which of these concerns you more about schools today?," a whopping 61% chose "some schools may ban books and censor topics that are educationally important." Just 36% opted for "some schools may teach books and topics that some students or their parents feel are inappropriate or offensive."

And more than half the country (56%) say they have some or a great deal of confidence in public schools. Just one-third (33%) said very little or none.

DeSantis' attempts to radically reshape the concept of public education in Florida made another dramatic move last week, when the Republican-majority legislature passed a bill the expands the school voucher program to every student. It could decimate enrollment in public schools, which would also reduce the amount of federal funding public schools in the Sunshine State get. Expected to cost billions, it could also lead to expansions of private and faith-based schools.

Monday morning, surrounded by school children, DeSantis signed it into law.

And yet nationally, according to the WSJ poll, a plurality of Americans oppose school vouchers.

"Do you favor, oppose, or neither favor nor oppose states giving parents tax-funded vouchers they can use to help pay for tuition for their children to attend private or religious schools of their choice instead of public schools?"

37% oppose the vouchers.

34% support them.

Democratic strategist and former Hillary Clinton campaign national spokesperson Josh Schwerin lists a "few findings from the new WSJ poll that should scare Republicans relying on 'woke' attacks": "1) Tolerance is as important as money 2) Book banning is far worse than offensive content 3) Majorities think society has been about right or not gone far enough on range of DEI issues."

For those who look at Trump rallies, watch right-wing news, or listen to GOP politicians or influencers, the idea that another "red wave" is coming next year may seem real, but even the right-wing Wall Street Journal found that a plurality of voters (44%) identify as Democrats – and just 38% identify as Republicans. 18% call themselves independents without leaning one way or another.

Nearly half the country (47%) identifies as moderate.

One issue from the poll DeSantis and the GOP do seem to have support on is diminishing the rights of transgender Americans, who are under attack every day.

Despite increased anti-trans hate crimes, despite the 430 anti-LGBTQ bills filed this year alone (according to the ACLU,) a plurality of Americans (43%) say society has “gone too far” in accepting transgender people. Just one-third say society hasn’t gone far enough.

But on other issues of equality, as Schwerin mentioned, nearly half the country (48%) say society has not gone far enough in promoting equality between men and women. And pluralities also say society has not gone far enough in accepting people who are gay, lesbian, or bisexual (37%), and businesses taking steps to promote racial and ethnic diversity (39%).

There's another statistic that also flies directly in the face of DeSantis and his "where woke goes to die" motto.

Two-thirds of the country say society has either not gone far enough has been "about right" on "Schools and universities taking steps to promote racial and ethnic diversity."

<Donald Trump offered bizarre explanations for his social media threats against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in a waffling interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Monday.

Hannity asked the former president to explain two posts that sparked uproar last week as a possible indictment against Trump could soon be announced by Bragg’s office. On Thursday, Trump posted a photo of himself wielding a baseball bat beside a photo of Bragg with his hands up. The post was later removed. In another post, Trump suggested a potential indictment against him by Bragg could result in “death & destruction.”

In a rambling answer, Trump seemed to suggest that he didn’t know about the photo, which was reportedly part of a linked article, when he shared it. He also seemed to be under the impression that people thought the image actually showed him threatening Bragg with a baseball bat, clarifying at length that “these were two separate pictures.”

“They took that picture from the White House and they put it up and then they put a picture of Alvin Bragg up,” he said, after going off on a tangent about the company that made the baseball bat.

Regarding the “death & destruction” post, which is still up, Trump tried to cast it as a message of concern rather than a threat.

“I didn’t say ‘do something bad.’ I say I am afraid that people will do something because people are very angry about it,” he said.

Earlier this month, Trump indicated that he expected to be arrested last Tuesday as part of Bragg’s investigation in New York, which reportedly would center on a 2016 hush money payment to adult film actor Stormy Daniels in exchange for her silence about an alleged affair with Trump.

Trump’s intense rhetoric since then has at times been reminiscent of the language he used prior to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, with many onlookers sounding the alarm it could lead to more violence.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-Calif.), for example, said on Friday that Trump clearly “has not learned his lesson” from the riot at the U.S. Capitol and warned that “if he keeps it up, he’s going to get someone killed.”>

Same as many another bully, the Orange Criminal proves himself a p**** of the first water when faced down.

<Fox News hosts Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade debated over Donald Trump’s revelation that he wouldn’t have supported the government’s intervention after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

Doocy and Kilmeade were co-hosting Fox & Friends on Tuesday as they reacted to Trump’s interview the previous night with Sean Hannity. Amid Trump’s attacks on his political foes and defenses of his conduct, the former president blamed SVB’s implosion on high-interest rates while saying, “I wouldn’t have supported the bailout.”

While there has been a public debate about whether this was a bailout in the usual sense, Doocy called it “disturbing” to hear Trump wouldn’t have backed it.

“If you remember when Silicon Valley Bank was imploding, there was a run on the bank,” Doocy said. “Had the [Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation] not stepped in to guarantee the loan — whatever the account was — there would have been a run on every bank in America. So, you know, for the former president to say I just would have let it spin, that is a problematic problem…”

Kilmeade countered by citing Kevin O’Leary’s bailout opposition, even though O’Leary also kept money with SVB.

“He said let the regional banks die,” Doocy replied. “But for the former president to say he would not have stepped in to stop that, that’s troubling.”

“Well, it could be troubling, or it could be a good, solid policy,” Kilmeade pushed back. “People look at the San Francisco Fed…They saw the CEO on the San Francisco Fed board at the same time ignore the problem, and then they see him cash in $3.4 million, and then they watched him go on vacation. And there is [sic] a lot of people who say maybe Trump is right.”

Doocy responded by maintaining his view that the government’s intervention prevented a broader run on the banks from happening.>

<On Monday, Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene and other Republican members of Congress questioned ATF agents conducting an inspection of a gun store in Smyrna, Georgia.

Greene tweeted that the ATF had arrived with 16 agents from cities like LA and San Francisco.

Greene also tweeted about the school shooting in Nashville, calling it an "absolutely horrific needless tragedy" and criticizing President Joe Biden for failing to protect children.

Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene questioned ATF agents carrying out an inspection of a gun store in Smyrna, Georgia, on Monday. She cited the fact she serves on the House Oversight Committee.

Greene shared footage showing her and other Republican members of Congress speaking to an ATF public information officer at the scene of the inspection at Adventure Outdoors in Smyrna. The ATF is the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The interaction came on the same day as a shooting at a school left three children and three adults dead after a 28-year-old shooter opened fire at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee.

"Members of our Georgia delegation were present for an unprecedented ATF inspection at longtime and well respected Adventure Outdoors in Smyrna, Ga," Greene tweeted on Monday.

Adventure Outdoors describes itself as "Georgia's largest outdoors sporting goods store" and "The Actual Largest Gun Store in the World."

"After we questioned their motives and informed them of Oversight and Republican controlled Appropriations, they all left," Greene added. "Protect the Second Amendment and the law abiding businesses."

Greene also tagged Georgia Republican Representatives Barry Loudermilk, Mike Collins and Rich McCormick.

In another tweet, Greene shared a video that showed her with Republican colleagues as she spoke to an ATF public information officer who said it was a routine inspection.

However, Greene tweeted that the number of agents and the fact many of them were not from Georgia was "unprecedented." She criticized the Biden administration, adding that the administration is "against the Second Amendment."

Greene went on to tell the ATF officer that she serves on the Oversight Committee, while her colleagues also serve on congressional committees. She said, "We're here for the people, also to basically hold the government accountable," adding that the government had been "weaponized."

In her tweet, Greene wrote that "the ATF showed up with 16 agents, most from out-of-state from cities like LA and San Francisco, to 'inspect' Adventure Outdoors in Smyrna, GA."

"This visit was unprecedented. The sheer amount of agents from the bluest parts of the country is unusual and unnecessary to conduct a routine audit," she added.

"This is a prime example of Joe Biden and the Democrats weaponizing federal agencies to silence and intimidate their political opponents. I fear this is just the beginning and they are directly targeting our Second Amendment and our right to protect and defend our families," Greene went on.

"I'm proud to have joined my colleagues to do our job and conduct Congressional Oversight on this highly suspect 'inspection,'" she said.

Greene also tweeted about the shooting in Nashville on Monday. She posted that her "prayers are with the victims and families at the Covenant School in Nashville. Another absolutely horrific needless tragedy."

"Children and school staff should always be protected the same way politicians, money, precious stones, and gold are protected, but even more so, by good guys with guns," the Republican wrote.

Greene also criticized President Joe Biden, calling him a "fool" and a "failure."

"Gun grabbers like Joe Biden and Democrats should give up their Secret Service protection and put themselves on the same level as our unprotected innocent precious children at school," she tweeted.

"School shootings should NEVER happen and will end immediately when our nations [sic] children are defended the same way Joe Biden is by good guys with guns!!! End this now," Greene added.>

<Questions Over Kamala Harris and Her Competence as VP Grow - A growing consensus in Washington suggests that Vice President Kamala Harris is the wrong person for the job. People in both parties have said publicly and privately that she is over her head.

Kamala Harris: All of the Problems

President Joe Biden privately expressed his frustration with Harris’ failure to take responsibility for the disastrous tide of illegal migration across the U.S.-Mexico border.

Former White House physician, Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, introduced a nonbinding congressional resolution last week calling on the president to remove Harris as his border czar.

“The resolution demands that a competent leader be appointed who will prioritize the safety of Americans, acknowledge that border security is national security, ensure Customs and Border Protection (CBP) receives the resources needed to execute their job effectively, and stop the flood of fentanyl pouring across our border,” a statement posted on Jackson’s congressional website said.

Biden’s advanced age could make it more likely that his vice president would be forced to assume the presidency. That has Democrats worried. However, some point to her interracial identity

“Even some Democrats whom her own advisers referred reporters to for supportive quotes confided privately that they had lost hope in her,” the New York Times said in February.

Vox had multiple conversations with two dozen sources on background, including White House officials, Democratic strategists, and academics about Harris’ prospects.

Her problems in office have been defined by four things they said. They included:

-Her gaffes and frequent statements that make her look foolish and unequipped for the presidency should she be called to step into the role;

-Lingering questions as to how she has handled her role as vice president;

-The perception that she’s been held to a higher standard due to her racial background, sex, and worries she would have to jump into the presidency should Biden either die in office or be incapacitated;

And that criticisms against her overlook the limitations of the vice presidency, which has no stated constitutional responsibilities. FDR’s vice president John Nance Garner referred to the office as not being worth “a quart of warm spit.’”

Harris often gives confused and incoherent responses to interview questions.

She dismissed Lester Holt of NBC News in a June 2021 interview about illegal migration when he asked why she had not visited the border as the Biden administration’s point person on the issue. Harris dodged the question.

“At some point, you know, we are going to the border. We’ve been to the border. So this whole thing about the border, we’ve been to the border. We’ve been to the border,” Harris said.

Holt replied that she had not been to the border.

On other occasions, Harris has been mystifying, such as last September when she suggested that the U.S. had a strong relationship with the “Republic of North Korea,” which invited cringe-responses from around the world.

“I think some Democrats are disappointed. There was a lot of excitement around her candidacy and the historic nature of her candidacy. And since she’s taken office, that excitement has fallen flat,” Carly Cooperman, a Democratic strategist, told Vox.>

<Jimmy Kimmel said Donald Trump’s latest boast doesn’t pass the evidence test.

The ex-president claimed that “tens of thousands” would turn out for his rally in Waco, Texas over the weekend and even said it could be his biggest ever.

“The number of tickets that are gone, I think it’s unprecedented, I think it’s the biggest we’ve had ― and we’ve had 100,000 people at rallies,” he told Newsmax the day before.

Photos from the event tell another story, as Kimmel found.

“The venue in Waco holds 50,000 people, you can see from this aerial view that the crowd was about, I don’t know, 47,000 short of capacity,” he said. “More people show up to the annual sausage show down in Waco than showed up to this event.” >

If the Orange Cretin had paid homage to the events of thirty years ago, maybe he would have garnered a few thousand more lost souls.

<The long-debated agreement on “Power of Siberia 2” (POS2) – a massive pipeline project to pump gas from Western Siberia to China via Mongolia – has become emblematic of the one-sided and slightly abusive relationship between China and Russia since the start of the Ukraine war. It is not good news for Moscow.

Ahead of Xi Jinping’s recent visit to Russia, Putin boldly announced that the pipeline deal was ready to be signed off, prematurely labelling it “the deal of the century”. But Xi, unmoved by such excessive zeal, declined to sign anything. No mention whatsoever of POS2 appears in the official statements Xi made during the meetings. In the final joint communiqué, all a disappointed Putin could comment was that more work still had to be done “on study and approval”.

It is in this context that we should read Xi’s parting words to Putin – oracular and ominous – that referred to “changes coming, such as haven’t been seen for a century”, which “we can push forward together”. China watchers have been poring over these words for every last nuance, but it’s pretty clear that Xi was framing himself as leader, with Putin nominally by his side, of a revisionist assault on the liberal world order.

Beijing’s vision for the People’s Republic of China’s centenary in 2049 is the global triumph of a “fully developed, rich and powerful China”. This will not include sharing power with a chaotic Russian kleptocracy. The harder Xi focuses his efforts on realising the “China Dream”, the more implacably will his political and economic coercion be directed at Putin and Russia, and the weaker and more dependent both will become.

Xi’s revisionist goals entail wiping out the shame of historical territorial losses. He has imposed Communist authority on Hong Kong, seeks to do so in Taiwan, and undoubtedly has the same ambition for the 600,000 square kilometres – three times the area of Great Britain – which Tsarist Russia wrested from Opium War-weakened Manchu control in 1858-60 under the Treaties of Aigun and Peking. This area includes parts of Siberia, from which Putin’s much-vaunted pipeline deal would extract resources to sell to China.

Since the Chinese Communist Party regime derives much of what it parades as “legitimacy” from these revanchist campaigns, paying Putin for Siberian resources feels like buying family silver back from a robber. Beijing regards its loss of Mongolian lands in the same way, given the crucial Soviet role in breaking Mongolia away from the remnants of Chinese authority in the early 20th century.

Already, cross-border economic activity in Siberia by uncounted Chinese communities, including in Khabarovsk and Vladivostok, tacitly revive historical Chinese claims to this resource-rich and highly strategic region. For decades, Chinese gangsters have been smuggling precious Siberian resources back to China through a porous frontier – often in collusion with Russian criminals. It’s a clear breach of Russian sovereignty.

Putin’s disastrous assault on Ukraine may have drawn his gaze far away from Russia’s 4,200km border with China, along with many thousands of soldiers who should guard it, but the Chinese remain focused. Xi Jinping’s zero-sum ambition for the “great rejuvenation of China” is imposing itself step by step on Russian soil.>

<There was already a strong case against former President Donald Trump in the Mar-a-Lago documents case, in the form of evidence that he intentionally concealed over 100 classified and top-secret government documents, even after he was repeatedly asked and even subpoenaed to return them. But if Trump was in trouble before, testimony and documentation from his own lawyer, Evan Corcoran, could turn out to provide the final evidence necessary to charge Trump — and soon.

CNN's reporting indicates that prosecutors will focus on a series of critical events in May and June 2022. They plan to ask Corcoran about his conversations with Trump regarding the May subpoena for documents, the search that followed, the drafting of a June statement signed by Christina Bobb saying there had been a diligent search and, finally, the call between Corcoran and Trump on the day last June when the DOJ subpoenaed surveillance footage that showed boxes being moved out of the storage location at Mar-a-Lago (which a witness later said was done at Trump's direction).

The common thread involved here is Trump's intent. It has been reported that after the subpoena was received, Trump ordered materials moved to conceal them from his own lawyers and the government — which would show intentional concealment. If Trump then lied to Corcoran, that would be more proof of intentional misconduct. And if Trump was hiding documents, that would have caused the search to be incomplete and the statement made to the government to be false. The government had some of this evidence already, as we explained in our Model Mar-a-Lago Prosecution Memo, but now Corcoran is likely going to hammer the case home.

"He could be jailed": Legal experts say Trump's DA threats could result in "additional charges"

Here it appears that Trump was engaged in a pattern of obstruction of justice — that is, he was intentionally covering up his possession of these documents and being dishonest with a government investigator, and potentially his own lawyers. It also appears that Corcoran may have been used by Trump to advance that alleged obstruction. Indeed, to get the Mar-a-Lago search warrant in the first place, there was previously been a probable cause finding of obstruction under 18 U.S.C. § 1519, as well as for the Espionage Act violations under 18 U.S.C. § 793(e) and concealing government records under 18 U.S.C. § 2071.

Proof of intent goes to those offenses as well. Each requires a showing of willfulness for Trump to be convicted (or, in the case of obstruction, an intent to obstruct or impede). That proof of intent is often hard to come by in prosecutions of complex statutes. Attempts to conceal the truth from investigators, however, are powerful proof toward demonstrating a consciousness of guilt. We expect that will ultimately be persuasive evidence to a jury.

It was apparently also powerful evidence for the federal judges who considered whether to pierce Trump's privilege over communications with his lawyer. In American law, that is no small thing. The attorney-client privilege is sacrosanct and cannot be easily overcome. In this case, that required proof that the "crime-fraud exception" applied.

To get the Corcoran testimony and documents, the courts likely went past finding mere probable cause that Trump committed a crime. We don't have the exact details of the district court decision and the D.C. Circuit appellate docket, which remain under seal. But under the law, to pierce the attorney-client privilege, the government must prove a prima facie case and prove that communications were made to further a fraud or crime. That's exactly what U.S. District Chief Judge Beryl Howell ruled in a sealed order that reportedly found "compelling preliminary evidence" that Trump had "knowingly and deliberately misled his own attorneys."....>

<.....The extraordinary speed with which this has moved from Judge Howell's district court decision (on March 17) to the overnight briefing schedule in the D.C. Circuit (on March 21), to Corcoran's testimony on Friday makes clear that special counsel Jack Smith is bringing significant urgency to the documents case. Smith is certainly working the Jan. 6 case hard, with the just-revealed news that last week a federal trial court set aside executive privilege for eight top Trump aides. (Trump has said he will appeal that decision.) But in this case we got the trial court decision, the appeal and its resolution within five days. Smith seems to be applying extra urgency to the Mar-a-Lago documents case, which tells you something about Trump's peril. DEFCON going up.

For Trump, legal peril seems to exist at every turn. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is apparently on the verge of indicting the former president for his role in a hush-money scheme dating from the lead-up to the 2016 election. And prosecutors in Atlanta are apparently considering racketeering charges against the former president in connection with reported attempts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia. Such charges would entail very stiff sentences.

Recent efforts by Trump and House Republican extremists to intimidate and obstruct the Bragg investigation, which are likely to occur in the other criminal investigations into Trump as well, can be expected to have zero effect on the will of those prosecutors to do their job, except perhaps to make it all the stronger.

Although the outcome of any one of the four potential criminal cases focused on Trump remains unclear, Trump appears to be in hot water — with the temperature rising to a rapid boil.>

Time for someone in Florida to ready himself for a heavy dose of bendoveriluvu....

<At some point this offseason, the Packers made the decision to move on from Aaron Rodgers and one reason that happened is apparently because he wouldn't return their calls.

When Rodgers left town following the conclusion of the 2022 season, both sides seemed open to the idea of the quarterback possibly returning in 2023. Before that could happen though, Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst wanted to get Rodgers on the phone to talk about the future of the team. However, those conversations never happened because Rodgers was apparently ducking every phone call he got from the Packers.

"You'd love to have those conversations about where our team's going and how he might fit into that," Gutekunst said Monday, via ESPN.com. "We were unable to have those, so it is what it is."

According to Gutekunst, the Packers tried to reach out to Rodgers on multiple occasions.

"A lot of attempts and went through that, but at the same time, again, we're always looking out for what's best for the Green Bay Packers," Gutekunst said, via NFL.com. "As time went on, we kind of had to move."

With Rodgers ghosting him, Gutekunst eventually made the decision that it was time to move on from the four-time NFL MVP.

"Our inability to reach him or for him to respond in any way," Gutekunst said, via ESPN.com. "I think at that point, I had to do my job and kind of reach out [to other teams] and understand that a trade could be possible and see who was interested."

Rodgers and the Packers actually did have some amicable talks in the days after the the team's regular-season finale, but as Gutekunst has already noted, they never talked after that because Rodgers wouldn't pick up his phone.

"I was really looking forward to the conversations with Aaron to see how he fit into that," Gutekunst said. "Those never transpired. So there came a time where we had to make some decisions, so we went through his representatives to try to talk to him [about] where were we going with our team. At that point, they informed us that he would like to be traded to the Jets."

The Packers' version of events doesn't exactly line up with Rodgers' version, which he shared during a March 15 appearance on The Pat McAfee Show. One thing the two sides do agree on though is that things were cordial at the end of the season.

"Everything that I was told in the week that I was in Green Bay was: 'Take as long as you want and we want you to retire a Packer. If you want to come back and play, obviously the door is wide open,'" Rodgers said, via the AP. "That was the information I was going on."

According to Rodgers, the team decided to move on -- without telling him -- while he was on his four-day darkness retreat, which ended on Feb. 23.

"They want to move on," Rodgers told McAfee. "They don't want me to come back and that's fine."

Of course, one key detail Rodgers failed to mention is that he might have played a big role in why Green Bay didn't want him back. If Rodgers was avoiding contact with the team, then he put the final nail in his own coffin when it comes to his career with the Packers.

At some point, Rodgers will definitely be asked about these comments and it will definitely be interesting to hear what he has to say. >

<NEW YORK (AP) — FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was charged with directing $40 million in bribes to one or more Chinese officials to unfreeze assets relating to his cryptocurrency business in a newly rewritten indictment unsealed Tuesday.

The charge of conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act raises to 13 the number of charges Bankman-Fried faces after he was arrested in the Bahamas in December and brought to the United States soon afterward.

FTX filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 11, when it ran out of money after the cryptocurrency equivalent of a bank run. He has remained free on a $250 million personal recognizance bond that lets him stay with his parents in Palo Alto, California.

He has pleaded not guilty to charges that he cheated investors out of billions of dollars before his business collapsed.

The alleged bribes stemmed from the operation of Alameda Research, which is affiliated with FTX, Bankman-Fried's global cryptocurrency exchange.

The indictment said Chinese law enforcement authorities in early 2021 froze certain Alameda cryptocurrency trading accounts on two of China's largest cryptocurrency exchanges. The accounts, it said, contained about $1 billion in cryptocurrency.

Bankman-Fried understood that the accounts had been frozen by Chinese authoritIes as part of an ongoing probe of a particular Alameda trading counterparty, the indictment said.

After Bankman-Fried failed several attempts to unfreeze the accounts through the use of lawyers and lobbying, Bankman-Fried ultimately agreed to direct a multimillion dollar bribe to try to unfreeze the accounts, the indictment said.

The bribe payment of cryptocurrency then worth about $40 million was moved from Alameda's main trading account to a private cryptocurrency wallet in November 2021 and the frozen accounts were unfrozen at about the same time, the indictment said.

Meanwhile Tuesday, Bankman-Fried’s lawyers also sent Judge Lewis A. Kaplan a new to limit him to a laptop and a phone and block him from using any other cellphones, tablets, computers, video games or “smart” devices with internet access other than electronic devices owned by his lawyers that he might need to prepare for trial.

Kaplan set a Thursday hearing in the case.>

Many doses of bendoveriluvu to follow the verdict....

<A new analysis is pointing out the hypocritical flaws in Rep. James Comer's (R-Ky.) call for probes into what is being described as the "'weaponization' of government investigations."

In the new piece, The Daily Beast's Roger Sollenberger began with an overview of Republican lawmakers' latest display of public outrage over Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's investigation into former President Donald Trump.

"Last week, Comer and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) fired off a controversial missive to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, claiming Bragg was flirting with 'an unprecedented abuse of prosecutorial authority' in his reportedly pending decision to indict former President Donald Trump," Sollenberger wrote. "The letter demanded funding records related to the probe and preemptively attacked any coming charges as 'a politically motivated prosecutorial decision.'”

He added, "But Comer has yet to answer for what appears to be a politically motivated prosecutorial decision from his past."

Sollenberger went on to discuss previous issues surrounding Comer writing, "During the 2015 primary, the Comer campaign tied those leaked emails to a grand jury investigation into local blogger and erstwhile attorney Michael J. Adams, who had been publishing rumors of the abuse allegations since the early stages of Comer’s run."

He added, "But the Comer campaign was itself responsible for putting that grand jury into motion in the first place, when Comer’s running mate, Chris McDaniel, passed other emails he’d received from the blogger to a county prosecutor, Rob Sanders — who also happened to be a political ally."

According to Sollenberger, "Not only did the Comer campaign initiate the grand jury investigation, they were also the ones who first revealed it to the public — and at a crucial moment in the election."

The latest analysis comes just days after Congressional Integrity Project (CIP) president Kyle Herrig recently sounded off about Comer's "political stunts."

“While Comer may have grown accustomed to leading political stunts that don’t pack much of a punch, a law enforcement investigation in Kentucky into his apparent admission that he illegally hacked a server and leaked documents would have serious consequences,” Herrig alleged in the statement.>

<Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie does what other 2024 Republican presidential contenders rarely do by condemning presumptive frontrunner Donald Trump, even if the rebuke comes two election cycles too late.

Christie idled on a chance to chastise Trump when they shared a debate stage in 2016 – something he now calls a "strategic error." He supported the former president in 2016 and 2020, helping with debate preparation and more.

But the final straw for Christie came on election night in 2020, when Trump stood behind the presidential seal and falsely claimed the election had been stolen.

"When you put yourself ahead of our democracy as president of the United States, it's over," Christie said.

Chris Christie wants to take down Donald Trump

In a town hall Monday evening at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics – a frequent stop for presidential candidates in the early voting state – Christie blasted Trump and said the country needs someone with guts to take him down in 2024. He said he would decide in the next two months whether he's running.

Christie said Republicans need to find someone who can do to Trump what he did to Marco Rubio in a 2016 debate, when Rubio awkwardly repeated talking points as Christie knocked him off his game. That's the only thing that will defeat Trump, Christie said.

"You have to be fearless because he will come right back at you," Christie said. "So you need to think about who's got the skill to do that and who's got the guts to do that because it's not going to end nicely. No matter what, his end will not be calm and quiet."

Christie slams Trump over 'retribution' comment

"Trump said a few weeks ago, 'I am your retribution,'" Christie said. "Guess what, everybody? No thanks."

"The only person he cares about is him," Christie added. "If we haven't learned that since Election Day 2020 until today, we're not paying attention."

The former New Jersey governor took the current Florida governor to task over recent Ukraine comments in which Ron DeSantis said the Russian invasion there was a territorial dispute. He has since walked back those comments.

Christie was clear in the New Hampshire town hall about his position, saying the war in Ukraine is "authoritarian aggression" from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

DeSantis needs "a wake-up call to Tallahassee," Christie said.

Christie knocks Pence: 'Who needs him?'

Christie took issue with Pence saying he would let the American people decide whether Trump's call to suspend the Constitution to overturn an election was disqualifying for the presidency.

"Well...man! Who needs him? If it's up to the American people to decide, then stand out of the way and don't pretend to be a leader," Christie said.>

<Hours after declaring that 'we're not going to fix' the uniquely American problem of pervasive gun violence in the wake of Monday's mass shooting at Covenant School in Nashville, United States Congressman Tim Burchett (R-Tennessee) suggested on Tuesday that renewable sources of energy are ineffective and inefficient wastes of time and money.

The Biden administration, and unfortunately the Democrats in Congress keep pushing these Green New Deal-style agendas. Honestly, Mr. Speaker, they just don't work. There hasn't been a new development in solar in over twenty years, and windmills are just what they are. Windmills. The wind doesn't always blow, and the Sun doesn't always shine in East Tennessee, and I'm sure that's the way it is across this great nation and it's costing Americans way too much. We're done with all this nonsense, Mr. Speaker.

Social media tore into Burchett not only for his remarks but also for his past Christmas card showcasing his family posing with assault weapons.

.H.Ɔ.ꟼ: "Did this guy take a class in dumb?"

Adrienne Lawrence, Esq.: "Did he run on a platform of ineptitude? Between his 'nothing is going to change' about mass shootings this morning and now this, I'm astonished."

Jedseph: "Imagine if they actually did research before rambling."

Dr. Grumpy Biologist: "He's never heard of battery storage. Sad! That folksy twang doesn't fool me because I have the same accent :)."

Average Dude: "He forgets hydropower to start with and 'solar panels' as well as 'solar boilers' (water heating) work perfectly in winter conditions too (at a lower turnout but that is a relative factor as also in summer you can have lower turnouts even when to hot for PV panels)."

Joc Doc: "All I hear: 'Human existence, we’re done with this nonsense.' ~Rep Burchett."

Andra&Co: "The oil won't always flow either."

Dave: "I've been off-grid Solar for 12 years now and every time I grab a cold beer out of the fridge, I say 'this is nonsense.'"

Brandon Renkes: "Actually yes, the wind is always blowing and the sun is always shining."

BlueStateBabeOnCounterSocial: "And yet, the wind and the sun are two of the main forces that have shaped and given energy to this planet for literally billions of years."

VoteSCBlue: "Judging by his family Christmas card, they don't have trouble buying clothes....or thousands of dollars worth of guns to show off. Because what better way to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ than with military-style weapons for all the children."

Kay: "This the guy who said he won’t do anything against gun violence?"

Conor Jeory: "Oh right. can't do anything about anything.">

<<U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is lashing out at Twitter owner and CEO Elon Musk after the social media company, she says, suspended her official government account for seven days for posting apparently anti-transgender tweets. At least four of her tweets appear to have been deleted.

Rep. Greene appears to have been promoting an unverified claim that “Antifa” and transgender activists are planning a “Trans Day of Vengeance.” Fox News is also claiming there is a “Trans Day of Vengeance,” and a website the report links to says it will be on April 1.

“My Congressional account was suspended for 7 days for exposing Antifa, who are organizing a call for violence called ‘Trans Day of Vengeance.’ The day after the mass murder of children by a trans shooter. Restore my account immediately,” Greene demanded, tagging Musk, Twitter Safety, and the head of Twitter Safety, Ella Irwin.

There is no evidence that “Antifa” which is not an actual group, has anything to do with the alleged Trans Day of Vengeance.

The Independent adds Greene made “unfounded” claims “about the Nashville school shooting being a product of ‘Antifa’ and ‘trans-terrorism.'”

According to The Hill, Congresswoman Greene tweeted a poster of the alleged event, and Twitter removed the post, so she repeatedly reposted it, only to have Twitter remove it.

Ella Irwin, Twitter’s head of trust and safety, tweeted: “We had to automatically sweep our platform and remove >5000 tweets /retweets of this poster. We do not support tweets that incite violence irrespective of who posts them. ‘Vengeance’ does not imply peaceful protest. Organizing or support for peaceful protests is ok.”

On her personal Twitter account, Greene also promoted a similar, baseless claim:

“In the wake of a transgender shooter targeting a Christian school and murdering kids, every American should know the threat of Antifa driven trans-terrorism. Twitter should not whitewash the incitement of politically motivated violence,” she said, pointing to another of her tweets that had been removed.

Greene on Monday made anti-trans remarks in the wake of the the Nashville shooting.

“How much hormones like testosterone and medications for mental illness was the transgender Nashville school shooter taking? Everyone can stop blaming guns now,” she said.

Currently, numerous right-wing and far-right wing Twitter accounts are linking the alleged Trans Day of Vengeance to Monday’s horrific Covenant Presbyterian elementary school shooting in Nashville, where three nine-year olds and three adults were shot to death. The shooter allegedly identified as transgender, according to Nashville police.>