Bits: DJT's trial; Extremists fabricating fake evidence; Extremists ignoring the rule of law

Everybody is reporting that DJT's espionage trial (the Mar-a-Lago documents case) will start on May 20, 2024. The NYT makes these strange comments:

Mr. Trump’s advisers have been blunt that winning the presidency is how he hopes to beat the legal charges he is facing, and he has adopted a strategy of the delaying the trial, which is expected to take several weeks, for as long as possible.

Well, if DJT plans to delay as much as possible, or even more than possible, how on Earth or anywhere else in the universe will that trial last just a couple of weeks? One would expect DJT delay filings upon delay filings to bicker over every possible thing bickerable or not. One would expect that to take months and months before the trial even gets to the merits of the case. 

I'm very confused. I smell a rat in the woodpile and see a snake in the underwear drawer.

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I've been wondering for several years when the radical right authoritarian elites would cross the line and openly fabricate evidence to be used against political enemies in court and elsewhere. Some radical Republicans in congress have clearly crossed that line. The Hill writes:

Republicans Thursday released a copy of an unverified tip to the FBI alleging a scheme to bribe President Biden — a tip that has not been corroborated but is nonetheless fueling GOP investigations into the Biden family.

The FD-1023 form released Thursday details secondhand allegations that Burisma’s CEO and founder Mykola Zlochevsky thought having Hunter Biden on the board could help insulate the company from its problems with the prosecutor, that Zlochevsky sent millions of dollars to President Biden as well as Hunter Biden and that two recordings about the matter exist that involve President Biden.

Those key details in the form are not verified or corroborated.  

Democrats have also released information collected during the first impeachment effort that included a conversation purported to be with Zlochevsky that contradicts the information relayed in the FD-1023 form.  

“These claims have reportedly been scrutinized by the Trump Justice Department, a Trump-appointed U.S. attorney, and a full impeachment trial of the former President that centered on these very issues, and over and over again, they have been found to lack credibility,” White House spokesperson Ian Sams said.

 Here we have the radical authoritarian Republican Party smearing political enemies with unverified and uncorroborated allegations of wrongdoing that have been previously investigated and debunked. That fits my definition of fabricating evidence and using it in official proceedings in congress. Grassley and any other participating congressional Republicans should be impeached for treason and jailed for life.

As usual these days, Republican hypocrisy and double standards are shameless and the bad faith is poisonous and blatant. 

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Radical anti-democracy Republican politicians in Alabama continue to defy the courts. One source comments:

Alabama GOP refuses to draw second Black district, 

despite Supreme Court order

Alabama Republicans rejected calls to draw a second majority-Black congressional district this week, instead creating maps that Democrats and advocates say completely ignore a recent ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court.

A federal court ordered the state to redraw its congressional map last year to include two districts where Black voters make up voting-age majorities, “or something quite close to it.” The Supreme Court affirmed the ruling this year, prompting the Legislature to call a special session to redraw the map this week.

But on Friday, the Republican-controlled Legislature is poised to pass a map with just one majority-Black seat.

This exemplifies modern radical right Republican Party elites. They are solidly anti-democratic, openly contemptuous of the rule of law and civil liberties, racist, morally rotted, solidly pro-tyranny and deeply corrupt.

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MTG maybe have violated several porn laws when she showed nude pics of Hunter Biden. The New Republic writes:

In her desperation to prove wrongdoing by Hunter Biden, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene may have sent his nude photos to minors.

To support her argument, she held up poster-size prints of Biden’s nude photos, which were taken off his laptop. Not only were her actions wildly inappropriate—Oversight Chair James Comer did not reprimand her, though—but she may also have violated D.C. revenge porn law.

And now, Greene may have emailed the nudes to minors. The Georgia representative emailed her constituents Wednesday evening claiming she had confirmed Biden was guilty of sex trafficking and tax fraud (she had not). The email included a video that showed his nudes. 

There is no screening for age when signing up for Greene’s email newsletter, so any minors who subscribe—such as for a social studies project or simply to stay up to date—have now received nudes from their congresswoman. If that is the case, then Greene would not only have violated her state’s revenge porn law, but she could also have broken federal laws banning the distribution of obscene material to minors.

Honestly, who can make this stuff up? It has to be real, stupid and malicious as it is. IMHO, the Republican Party is a gigantic mess.