Last Call For Here Comes The Judge, Con't

DC Distrct Court Judge Tanya Chutkan has clearly run out of patience with Donald Trump's now bog standard social media threats and attacks on the legal system, and she's warning Trump of consequences if he continues.

 

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan warned Donald Trump and his attorney Friday that repeated “inflammatory” statements about his latest criminal prosecution would force her to speed his trial on charges related to his bid to subvert the 2020 election.

“I caution you and your client to take special care in your public statements about this case,” Chutkan told Trump lawyer John Lauro during a hearing. “I will take whatever measures are necessary to safeguard the integrity of these proceedings.”

Chutkan’s stark admonition came at the conclusion of her first courtroom session in the newest criminal case against the former president. The aim of the hearing was for special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecutors and Trump’s attorneys to hash out disputes about the handling of evidence in the case. Once Chutkan enters a so-called “protective order” governing evidence, prosecutors say they’re prepared to share millions of pages of documents with Trump’s team, jumpstarting the case and setting it on a path to trial.

But Chutkan, aware of the national spotlight on her oversight of the explosive case, repeatedly emphasized that she intended to keep politics out of the courtroom and treat Trump like any other criminal defendant. That included potential consequences if he makes statements that could be construed as harassing or threatening witnesses.

“The fact that he’s running a political campaign has to yield to the orderly administration of justice,” Chutkan said. “If that means he can’t say exactly what he wants to say about witnesses in this case, that’s how it has to be.”

“Even arguably ambiguous statements from parties or their counsel, if they can be reasonably interpreted to intimidate witnesses or to prejudice potential jurors, can threaten the process,” Chutkan added later. “The more a party makes inflammatory statements about this case which could taint the jury pool … the greater the urgency will be that we proceed to trial quickly.”

 

Ahh, but Trump isn't the only person to experience the Finding Out phase of messing with federal judges today.

 

Sam Bankman-Fried is heading to jail after a U.S judge on Friday revoked his bail, finding probable cause that the indicted founder of the bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchange tampered with witnesses at least twice.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan's decision to jail the 31-year-old former billionaire ahead of his Oct. 2 fraud trial over FTX's November 2022 collapse came after prosecutors said he had "crossed a line" by sharing private writings by former romantic partner Caroline Ellison with a New York Times reporter.

"He has already - without violating any other bail condition save that he not commit another crime - gone up to the line over and over again," Kaplan, who is known for his no-nonsense demeanor in the courtroom, said in a hearing in Manhattan federal court.

The judge rejected a defense request to delay Bankman-Fried's detention pending appeal of the decision.

The decision could complicate Bankman-Fried's efforts to prepare for trial. He faces charges of having stolen billions of dollars in FTX customer funds to plug losses at his Alameda Research hedge fund, where Ellison was chief executive officer.

She has pleaded guilty and is expected to testify against him at his Oct. 2 trial.

Bankman-Fried, who has pleaded not guilty, sat with his shoulders hunched, leaning forward on the table and fidgeting with a Post-It note as the judge order him detained.

He had a blank expression as he was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs by members of the U.S. Marshals Service after removing his shoelaces, watch, jacket and tie and emptying his pockets.

 

Obscenely rich and powerful criminals held to account for their actions before a trial even starts is music to my ears.

Long overdue StupidiTag™: Behold The Finding Out Phase!

 

 

Black History Matters

Black History Matters, because Black History is American history, but in Ron DeSantis's Florida, it's propaganda and indoctrination designed to take history away from everyone.

 

Slavery was a compromise. The Black Lives Matter movement led to more crime. Masculinity helped win World War II.

Those are some of the lessons included in PragerU Kids videos, an educational entertainment program created by PragerU, a right-wing advocacy group long criticized for its content being “misleading” or factually inaccurate. Its videos have prompted even more backlash online since PragerU CEO Marissa Streit announced last month that the group is partnering with the state of Florida as an education vendor to provide supplemental lessons.

Among the PragerU Kids videos making the rounds on social media is one called “Leo & Layla Meet Frederick Douglass,” in which a pair of children go back in time and meet an animated depiction of Frederick Douglass. In the video, Douglass, an abolitionist who devoted his life to anti-slavery efforts, describes slavery as a compromise between the Founding Fathers and the Southern colonies for the benefit of the U.S. The depiction also criticizes fellow abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison.

The animated video drew swift criticism from social media users who deemed it propaganda, and condemned an apparent reference to the police violence protests of 2020, in which a purported Douglass said “William refuses all compromise, demands immediate change, and if he doesn’t get what he wants, he likes to set things on fire,” referring to Garrison.

“This is some of the most dangerous & false propaganda I’ve ever seen,” one person tweeted. “The description of Frederick Douglass in this animation is a flat out lie and the concept that children should be learning from this should scare everyone.”

Another added: “This video bastardizes the essence of Frederick Douglass. It’s insulting for me as a former history/govt teacher. I can’t imagine how devastating it must feel for Black people to see this dehumanizing curriculum implemented (or continued) in Florida public schools.”

Streit, though, said in a phone interview Thursday, that any educational offering could potentially include material that could be deemed offensive.

“I challenge those same people to look through every word that Scholastic has printed or, or every word that BrainPOP has published, and tell me that you’re not going to find something that you are not offended by," she said. "But you know, I completely stand by what’s in our videos. I actually think that our Frederick Douglass video is a great one.”

Streit contends that critics have only read one version of history — a progressive one, documented in works like "A People's History of the United States" by Howard Zinn. "The fact that people are so upset is actually a sign of the fact that there has been one way of doing things for a very long time," she added.

Her sentiments echo her announcement last month that the K-12 “supplemental educational resources” are a response to U.S. schools being “hijacked by the left.” The news comes as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is running for president in 2024, has championed controversial changes to the state’s education curriculum. His administration has tried to block a high school Advanced Placement African American studies course and signed laws to restrict the instruction of reproductive health and gender identity in schools. Additionally, challenges to book access have reportedly increased as a result of DeSantis’ education bills.

In a statement, the Florida Department of Education said in part: “The Florida Department of Education reviewed PragerU Kids and determined the material aligns to Florida’s revised civics and government standards. PragerU Kids is no different than many other resources, which can be used as supplemental materials in Florida schools at district discretion.”

 

PragerU hogwash as an officially recognized supplemental lesson for kids in Florida is disturbing as hell. It's vile, and they give the excuse that the right-wing noise machine always gives: "Stupid libtards fear our real history in the marketplace of ideas!"

Well yes, "slavery was an acceptable compromise that helped the Blacks" is something that should be shunned along with flat earth nonsense and "your womb belongs to God and the state".

And I wish  Zinn's People's History of the US was as ubiquitous in high school or college as the right claims it is, Jesus.

Black History Matters.

The House GOP Circus Of The Damned, Con't

Ol' Jim Comer is promising to subpoena President Biden, Hunter Biden, and anyone else in the Biden family he can drag under the lights in his fantasy delusions.

 

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, who is leading the investigation into Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings, said Thursday his panel plans to subpoena members of the Biden family, including possibly President Joe Biden.

“This is always going to end with the Bidens coming in front of the committee. We are going to subpoena the family,” Comer, R-Ky., said during an appearance on Fox Business.

“Obviously, with all the opposition and obstruction we’re getting from the Biden attorneys now, we know that this is going to end up in court when we subpoena the Bidens,” he continued. “So, we’re putting together a case and I think we’ve done that very well.”

Comer said that had he subpoenaed Joe and Hunter Biden on the first day he became Oversight chairman, a judge would have thrown it out. But after months of investigations, Comer argued that his team has put together a case that “would stand up in any court of law in America.”

Comer’s subpoena threats come just one day after he released a third memo detailing bank records that show Hunter Biden and his associates received millions of dollars from foreign entities while his father was vice president — a fact that has been known for years. But the White House and congressional Democrats point out that none of the records, or the new memo, demonstrate that Joe Biden was involved in his son’s business transactions.

“Comer and his fellow extreme Republicans in Congress are now admitting they haven’t uncovered any proof of involvement or wrongdoing by President Biden,” said White House spokesman Ian Sams. “They simply will continue to spread innuendo and lies as they pursue a baseless impeachment stunt to attack the President.”

 

I actually do want to see Comer try. I figure that'll be worth 5 to 8 House seats flipped to blue from red.

 

You'd think Trump was going to be indicted again or something...