Putin's Puppet: US Government hacked by Russia — Trump quiet as a mouse

Mod: Donald would sooner eat the leg of his first born from a hotdog bun than say anything that might offend his handler, Vladimir Putin. Not that many Republicans could care less, but such craven subservience really is treason.

US Government hacked by Russia — Trump mum (Raw Story link): It’s official, Russia has officially hacked the U.S. Government and there’s still no word yet from the president on if he cares enough to respond, the Washington Post reported Sunday.

According to the report, the Commerce Department has been hacked and possibly the Treasury Department as well.

“All of the organizations were breached through a network management system called Solar Winds, according to three people familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the issue’s sensitivity. Solar Winds could not immediately be reached for comment,” said the Post. 

Trump golfing and ranting about election conspiracies while the US government is attacked by Russia (Raw Story link): President Donald Trump spent the day golfing and ranting on Twitter. Meanwhile, the Russian government was hacking the U.S. Commerce Department.

The Washington Post reported Sunday that it wasn’t known what all was taken or what information was accessed, but it serves as another example of Russian aggression that is being ignored by Trump. “The state-sponsored hack was part of a broader cyber espionage campaign against the U.S. government and its interests,” according to the reports.

However, Trump ranted about the defense spending bill, saying that he would veto it, an unfortunate pledge for American soldiers as they and their families head into the holidays.

Six hours later, Trump went off again, this time falsely alleging that “tens of millions” of ballots were sent out “haphazardly,” delivering multiple ballots to people. If that was true, Trump would have proof that people voted more than once. He doesn’t.

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‘These are Trump’s thugs’: Steve Schmidt pins DC Proud Boy violence on presidential incitement

Mod: Donny might be out of state and federal court judges to annoy, but he still has his knife wielding street thugs.

‘These are Trump’s thugs’: Steve Schmidt pins responsibility for DC Proud Boy violence on presidential incitement (Raw Story link): In a series of tweets, Republican strategist and Lincoln Project founder Steve Schmidt pointed the finger at Donald Trump and pinned the blame on him for the violence that rocked Washington D.C. on Saturday night.

With reports of stabbings and gunfire, Schmidt linked to clips of the far-right white nationalists roaming the streets and stopping cars, calling the members of the group “Trump’s thugs.”

“Look at this closely,” he wrote above a video link. “These right-wing fascists are instigating political violence in the name of a defeated President who is inciting them. This is the Capitol of the United States. This is a glimpse of our future. This must be crushed at the ballot box.”

 “This is Trump’s doing. This is the result that Fox News, Newsmax and hundreds of lying right wing propagandists have produced for America. This is Trumpism,” he added before stating, “These are Trump’s thugs and they are fascists. They are rioting against democracy. We are at an extremely dangerous place as a country. It is essential to see the threat, it is grave.”

About those Proud Boys in kilts (Daily Kos link):The kilts were ordered from a company called Verillas, which is LGBTQIA+ owned and very progressive. They have a line for Pride. The owner of Verillas saw the photo of the jackasses and realized they were wearing $750.00 worth of their merchandise. Horrified, Verillas made a $1000.00 donation to NAACP to counteract the Proud Boys flabby-assed hate.

Mod: There you go, Trumpies. They're your people. Invite them to a Republican social.

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The 'MyPillow' Guy Accuses Fox News of Rigging Election Against Trump in Bonkers Rally Speech

Mod: The only half-mad MyPillow guy Mike Lindell spoke during the at times violent pro-Trump march out there in Washington DC yesterday, which of course had to feature some pleasantly plump Proud Boys dressed in matching yellow skirts. It was that kind of a day.

MyPillow Guy Accuses Fox News of Rigging Election Against Trump in Bonkers Rally Speech (MEDIA ITE link): CEO of MyPillow Mike Lindell spoke to the crowd at a pro-Trump march in D.C. on Saturday, and singled out Fox News Channel as being “in on” a major conspiracy to overthrow the Donald Trump because of their having called Arizona for Joe Biden.

“We cannot give up ever on this,” said Lindell to the crowd, which in no way was giving up, being as they were in D.C. marching under the banner of “Stop the Steal” and in protest of the election results and, more recently the Supreme Court. “This is a spiritual warfare in our country and in the world.”

“This fraud is real,” he said. “It’s of epic proportions that this election was stolen.”

After several more statements along the same lines, including his frequent line about having “broken” some mysterious “algorithms,” he pointed the finger at Fox News. “They were going for everything. They were going to take everything we had,” he said. “Why do you think Fox declared Arizona with only 14% of the vote in? They already knew what they did! They were in on it!”

 

As the crowd cheered he continued. “I’m serious, they had to be on it!”

He also said “they should all go to prison when they are found out.”

At the conclusion of his remarks, he delivered another line that is going viral on social media. Lindell was saying that the fraud will be proven, and that Trump will somehow still be elected. Then Lindell suggested we might already be in the Biblical “end times” just as the crowd was chanting “four more years” of Trump. Good timing.

Mod: But the true highlight of the day had to be Bill Barr telling Trump to bugger off.

Bill Barr dismisses Trump’s tweets as ‘the deposed king ranting’ (Raw Story link): Attorney General Bill Barr is dismissing President Donald Trump’s tweets, according to a new report by CNN.

Barr reportedly said, according to CNN’s Jaimie Gangel, “none of this matters— it’s the deposed King ranting. Irrelevant to the course of justice and to Trump’s election loss.” The report came after Trump had repeatedly lashed out at Barr on Twitter on Saturday.

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The Daily Beast: 'Oh, The Places Ivanka Won't Go!' (with apologies to Dr. Seuss)

Mod: This originally appeared on The Daily Beast (link), but since it is among the few sites I do not subscribe to, here is the Raw Story encapsulation of Kremlin Barbie's fun and whimsical dilemma.

Ivanka Trump’s bleak future ridiculed with classic Dr. Seuss parody (Raw Story link): On Saturday, writing for The Daily Beast, Erin Gloria Ryan penned an article titled “Oh, The Places Ivanka Won’t Go” — a parody of the famous Dr. Seuss children’s book, Oh, The Places You’ll Go! that highlights outgoing first daughter Ivanka Trump’s status as social persona non grata.

“Go f*ck yourself! Today ain’t your day. You’re out of the White House! You’re off and away! You’re deposed in D.C., Macy’s won’t sell your shoes. And if you run for office, You’re certain to lose,” began the parody.

According to recent reports, Ivanka has ambitions of running for office, but barely any base of support for doing so. She is facing an investigation over her role in the misuse of inaugural funds for the Trump campaign. And she and her husband Jared Kushner have reportedly spent $30 million on a plot of land on an exclusive island for the super-rich in Miami — a seeming acknowledgement that they are not welcome back in the elite Manhattan social circles they occupied prior to their roles in the Trump administration.

“Go to Florida! A place that is surely not sinking, Your neighbor, Tom Brady, stands next door, unblinking,” continued the parody. “An island of rich guys! And their tacky wives! An island of only The most matter-ing lives! No more pretending you care about others, Finally, finally, you’ll have all your druthers, You won’t have to pretend that you’re on vacation, The next time your dad endorses Aryan Nation! No more boos, no more jeers, Or electoral defeats. You’re finally living Among the elites!”

“And back on the mainland, Where things are not fine, Your time in the White House will be a punchline,” added the parody.  “And will you recede? Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)”

Twitter Slaps Harsher Restrictions on Trump’s Nutso Morning Tweet Storm (The Daily Beast link): President Trump was up early Saturday morning and rage tweeting in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision Friday to reject a Texas lawsuit seeking to overturn the election result. Twitter slapped harsh restrictions on three tweets, disabling anyone from liking or commenting on them, but then appeared to remove the restrictions soon after. 

The tweets contain absurd claims that Trump won the election and that he was “never even given our day in Court!” (He has been given multiple days in multiple courts—all of which have failed.) The social network has previously restricted engagement on at least one of Trump’s election fraud tweets but has usually only added a label to say the claims in the tweet are disputed.

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‘CONSUMER PROTECTION ALERT’ ad by Republicans for the Rule of Law warns Fox/Newsmax viewers of Trump $cam

Mod: Republicans for the Rule of Law is an anti-Trump outfit headed in part by Bill Kristol, the career conservative commentator. They are running an ad warning credulous folks not to give their money to Trump's fund raising scams.

"Attention! Consumer Protection Alert! Beware of a new scam from Donald Trump targeting 2020 voters. Don't get fooled by Donald Trump's post-election scam!" (Raw Story link): The election was called over one month ago and the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Donald Trump’s Hail Mary lawsuit, but a conservative group is running a new ad against the president on right-wing networks.

The ad, by the anti-Trump group Republicans for the Rule of Law, was posted online by Bill Kristol on Friday evening. (Mod: Access below to view, courtesy of YouTube.)

“Attention! Consumer Protection Alert! Beware of a new scam from Donald Trump targeting 2020 voters, requesting money to be used for an official election defense fund,” the narrator said.

“Do not be fooled. Joe Biden will be the next president of the United States,” the narrator continues. “The election has been certified by all 50 states. Don’t get fooled by Donald Trump’s post-election scam!”

Trump Refuses To Come Out Of His Bedroom And Attend White House Christmas Party After SCOTUS Defeat (PoliticusUSA link): Guests at the White House Christmas party were informed that Trump would not be joining them or making remarks after losing in the Supreme Court.

In other words, Trump is pouting in his bedroom and refusing to come out after the Supreme Court refused to overturn the presidential election for him. Trump has pulled this stunt before. He also refused to come downstairs and greet newly elected House Republicans when they were brought by the White House to meet him.

Trump would rather stay in his bedroom likely on the phone while watching Fox News. 

One can only imagine Trump furiously working his cell phone plotting with his friends what his next move might be before the Electoral College certifies Biden’s victory on Monday.

Donald Trump really thought that the Supreme Court would save him. Instead, they have set the stage for him to be prosecuted for his financial crimes.

No wonder Trump is sulking. He is probably in bed sucking down Diet Cokes and worrying about his potential felony conviction. Trump is sulking and refusing to celebrate Christmas.

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U.S. Supreme Court shoots down scheme by Texas and Republicans to overturn the 2020 election

Mod: Quite a legal setback for the Trump secessionists. Many are just now throwing their cocktails across the lawn and demanding the help make them something much stronger.

Supreme Court shoots down scheme by Texas and Republicans to overturn the 2020 election (Raw Story link): President Donald Trump has lost in court once again. 

“The Supreme Court on Friday rejected an audacious lawsuit by Texas that had asked the court to throw out the presidential election results in four battleground states captured by President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.,” The New York Times reported Friday. 

“The court, in a brief unsigned order, said Texas lacked standing to pursue the case, saying it ‘has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another state conducts its elections.'”

“The move, coupled with a one-sentence order on Tuesday turning away a similar request from Pennsylvania Republicans, signaled that the court has refused to be drawn into President Trump’s losing campaign to overturn the results of the election last month,” the newspaper reported.

 

Marc Elias, who is coordinating lawsuits for Democrats, noted this is the 57th time Trump and his supporters have lost in court.

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Democrat wants to use Civil War law about traitors to ban 126 Republicans from being seated in Congress

Mod: It does sound like a great idea to me. They didn't love it, so now they can leave it. Right? Get 'em out.

Democrat wants to use Civil War law about traitors to ban 126 Republicans from being seated in Congress (Raw Story link): Only one-third of the Republicans elected to Congress in 2020 will be seated in Congress come January if one New Jersey Democrat has his way.  Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ) argued on Friday that the 126 Republicans seeking to overturn election results should not be seated in Congress.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Friday joined the group seeking to overturn the election results in four states.

Rep. Pascrell believes Section 3 of the 14th Amendment should be invoked to keep the Republicans from holding office.

“No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof,” the 14th Amendment reads.

Pascrell offered his analysis as why such a move is necessary.

“Stated simply, men and women who would act to tear the United States government apart cannot serve as Members of the Congress. 

These lawsuits seeking to obliterate public confidence in our democratic system by invalidating the clear results of the 2020 presidential election undoubtedly attack the text and spirit of the Constitution, which each Member swears to support and defend,” Pascrell wrote.

“Consequently, I call on you to exercise the power of your offices to evaluate steps you can take to address these constitutional violations this Congress and, if possible, refuse to seat in the 117th Congress any Members-elect seeking to make Donald Trump an unelected dictator,” Pascrell explained.

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Sore Loser Apocalypse: Pennsylvania AG blasts Texas election suit as 'seditious abuse of judicial process'

Mod: No Time Magazine for Donald. Again. The Sore Loser Right is taking the crybaby thing to crazy new heights.  

Pennsylvania AG blasts Texas election suit as 'seditious abuse' of judicial process (The Hill link): Pennsylvania's attorney general on Thursday called Texas's bid to invalidate the election results of Pennsylvania and three other battleground states a "seditious abuse of the judicial process." 

The fiery Supreme Court brief from state Attorney General Josh Shapiro, which urged the justices to "send a clear and unmistakable signal that such abuse must never be replicated," came as battle lines hardened in the unprecedented and long-shot legal dispute

Texas on Monday filed a petition to the Supreme Court seeking to stop presidential electors in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin from finalizing President-elect Joe Biden's victory.

 The three other states named as defendants in the suit — Wisconsin, Michigan and Georgia — submitted their responses shortly after Pennsylvania, with 22 states and Washington, D.C., backing their effort.

Texas has the support of President Trump, who has asked the justices for permission to join the suit as a party, as well as amicus filings from 18 Republican state attorneys general.

Election law experts say the far-fetched lawsuit is unserious and has little chance of success.

“This is a press release masquerading as a lawsuit,” said Rick Hasen, a law professor at the University of California Irvine. According to Hasen, the litigation suffers from a number of major defects, any of which could be fatal to Texas’s case.

He said Texas lacks the legal right to sue over how other states conduct their elections, that the suit is likely better suited to a different forum than the Supreme Court and that the Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) likely waited too long to bring the challenge.

“The remedy Texas suggests of disenfranchising tens of millions of voters after the fact is unconstitutional,” he added, in a post that appeared on the Election Law Blog.

Additionally, legal experts said that even if the Supreme Court agreed to take up the case, the justices almost certainly will not intervene before the electors vote to finalize Biden’s victory on Monday.

Pennsylvania AG calls Ted Cruz a 'sad sack' after Trump asks for his help in Texas lawsuit (The Hill link): Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro (D) called Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) a “sad sack” after Trump asked him to argue Texas’s election lawsuit to the Supreme Court.

During an interview on CNN, Chris Cuomo asked Shapiro what he thought of Cruz reportedly agreeing to argue the case to the Supreme Court, should the court decide to hear it. "He has proven himself to be neither a genius in the law or a genius, frankly, in terms of an IQ,” Shapiro said of Cruz. “He is a sad sack.”

The suit from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) argues that electors from Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia and Pennsylvania should not be allowed to cast their votes on Monday because the election processes in those states were compromised.

The president filed a motion to intervene in the case on Wednesday, and 18 states have filed briefs backing the suit. 

“I don't know if I need to send you a surgeon to examine your spine or a psychiatrist to examine your head,” Shapiro said of Cruz and the attorneys general backing the suit. “But something is wrong with you if you continue to follow this president, if you continue to behave in these bizarro ways.” 

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Party of Terrorism: The Republican Party Is Now So Radical, Its Own Officials Are Scared

Mod: You really do have to wonder. Why is Donald Trump so important to his stormtroopers? Does he make them feel like they're something more than they are? Here's another. How exactly would they like to show off their new powers? 

PA GOP Leader: My House Would Get ‘Bombed’ If I Didn’t Want To Help Trump Overturn Election (Talking Points Memo link): Pennsylvania Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward (R) laid out in stark terms the pressure she and other Republicans are experiencing from their base to boost President Donald Trump’s corrupt war against the 2020 election results.

In an interview with the New York Times published on Wednesday, Ward described the backlash that she would’ve been dealt if she openly stated that she didn’t want to sign her fellow Republican colleagues’ letter last week requesting that federal Pennsylvania lawmakers invalidate the state’s Electoral College votes for President-elect Joe Biden.

“If I would say to you, ‘I don’t want to do it,’ I’d get my house bombed tonight,” Ward said.

The Republican leader told the Times that she did not join the other 64 Pennsylvania Republicans who signed the letter because she did not see it before it was sent last Friday.

Ward also said that Trump had called her to claim her state’s voting process had been plagued by voter fraud (no such voter fraud has been proven to exist, contrary to Trumpland’s claims), similar to how the President called Pennsylvania House Speaker Bryan Cutler (R) twice last week to get the state’s majority-GOP legislature to send pro-Trump electors instead of the electors Biden won. Cutler rejected Trump’s push but signed the letter to Congress.

Even in Defeat, Trump Tightens Grip on State G.O.P. Lawmakers (The New York Times link): Last week, allies of President Trump accused Republican leaders in Pennsylvania of being “cowards” and “liars” and of letting America down. 

Mr. Trump himself called top Republicans in the General Assembly in his crusade to twist the arms of officials in several states and reverse an election he lost. The Pennsylvania lawmakers told the president they had no power to convene a special session to address his grievances.

But they also rewarded his efforts: On Friday, the State House speaker and majority leader joined hard-right colleagues — whom they had earlier resisted — and called on Congress to reject Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s 81,000-vote victory in Pennsylvania.

The extraordinary intervention by the president, and the willingness of some top party leaders to abet his effort to subvert an election, demonstrates how Mr. Trump’s sway over elected Republicans is likely to endure after he leaves office and how his false claims of a “rigged” 2020 vote may inflame the party base for years to come. Courts across the country have summarily thrown out Mr. Trump’s claims of a stolen election. 

But 64 Republicans in the General Assembly signed a letter last week urging Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation to reject the state’s Electoral College votes for Mr. Biden. 

Kim Ward, the Republican majority leader of the Pennsylvania Senate, said the president had called her to declare there was fraud in the voting. But she said she had not been shown the letter to Congress, which was pulled together hastily, before its release.

Asked if she would have signed it, she indicated that the Republican base expected party leaders to back up Mr. Trump’s claims — or to face its wrath. If I would say to you, ‘I don’t want to do it,’” she said about signing the letter, “I’d get my house bombed tonight.” 

Mod: More at the link.

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Russian media suggests the Kremlin grant asylum to Trump so he can’t be prosecuted in America

Mod: It looks like Putin is going to get himself a new doorman.

Russian media suggests the Kremlin grant asylum to Trump so he can’t be prosecuted in America (Raw Story link): On Wednesday, The Daily Beast reported that several Russian state media programs have toyed with the idea of outgoing President Donald Trump being given asylum by Moscow — so that it wouldn’t be possible for U.S. officials to prosecute him.

On the Russian talk show 60 Minutes, for example, “Experts in the studio enthusiastically discussed the likelihood of Trump being charged with a bevy of offenses from tax evasion to fraud and sexual assault. They concurred that Trump’s presidential pardon would not help him in state cases, unlike the recently advanced constitutional amendment in Russia that secured lifetime immunity from criminal prosecution for the country’s former presidents.” 

Meanwhile, “The rabidly anti-American military expert and member of the Russian Defense Ministry’s Public Council, Igor Korotchenko … compared ‘poor Trump’s’ anticipated legal troubles to the Stalinist repressions of 1937,” and “State-controlled RIA Novosti opined that the looming threat of criminal prosecutions is the Democratic Party’s way of ‘spitting at Trump on his way out,'” while “Staunch Kremlin propagandist Dmitry Kiselyov’s Sunday show Weekly News argued that for Trump, pardoning himself is a matter of survival.” 

Some Russian figures have even openly given Trump suggestions for how to abuse his office on the way out the door.

“Notorious politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who previously suggested that Putin should milk Trump like a cow before he is forced to leave office, enumerated actions he hoped Trump would undertake prior to his departure: recognize Russia’s annexation of Crimea, leave NATO, withdraw U.S. troops from every place they’re stationed worldwide, arrest disloyal U.S. state governors, refuse to recognize the outcome of the elections, force all states to conduct mandatory recounts, and induce Attorney General Bill Barr to pursue any actions that would benefit Trump,” said the report.

The president’s closeness with Russia has been a defining controversy of his presidency, having been the basis of the FBI investigation later taken up by special counsel Robert Mueller. There was never sufficient evidence found to charge Trump or his campaign with a criminal conspiracy with Russia, although several instances were documented of Trump officials being eager to accept Russian assistance.

Mod: Donald needs to make it clear that he does not do windows.

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