SUNDAY AIN’T A DAY OF REST
Here’s how competent Trump’s special persecutor Lindsey Halligan is: U.S. Magistrate Judge Lindsey Vaala expressed confusion and surprise at some points during the seven-minute court session when a federal grand jury impaneled in Alexandria, Virginia, returned the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey Thursday night. According to a transcript of the proceedings obtained by CBS News, Judge Vaala asked the newly named interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan why there were two versions of the indictment. A majority of the grand jury that reviewed the Comey matter voted not to charge him with one of the three counts presented by prosecutors, according to a form signed by the foreperson and filed in court. He was indicted on two other counts - making false statements to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding - after 14 of 23 jurors voted in favor, the foreperson told the judge. But two versions of the indictment were published on the case docket: one with the dropped third count, and one without. Vaala: “So this has never happened before. I’ve been handed two documents that are in the Mr. Comey case that are inconsistent with one another. There seems to be a discrepancy. They’re both signed by the (grand jury) foreperson. The one that says it’s a failure to concur in an indictment, it doesn’t say with respect to one count. It looks like they failed to concur across all three counts, so I’m a little confused as to why I was handed two things with the same case number that are inconsistent.” Halligan: “So I only reviewed the one with the two counts that our office redrafted when we found out about the two counts that were true billed, and I signed that one. I did not see the other one. I don’t know where that came from.” Vaala: “You didn’t see it?” Halligan: “I did not see that one.” Vaala (surprised): “So your office didn’t prepare the indictment that they —” Halligan: “No, no, no — I — no, I prepared three counts. I only signed the one — the two-count. I don’t know which one with three counts you have in your hands.” Vaala: “Okay. It has your signature on it.” Halligan: “Okay. Well.” Vaala also noted that the session began unusually late, at 6:47 p.m. Thursday evening, telling the grand jurors “I don’t think we’ve ever met this late” as she thanked them for their service. Comey’s indictment was personally signed by Halligan, not a rank-and-file federal prosecutor. Cosplaying “AG” Pam Bondi praised Halligan in a post on Xitter, writing that she “did an outstanding job.” For an incompetent, maybe.
A U.S. citizen injured during a Los Angeles immigration raid has filed a $50 million federal tort claim against DHS, ICE and CBP for use of “excessive force.” Rafie Ollah Shouhed, 79, said he suffered from multiple broken ribs, contusions and symptoms of a traumatic brain injury after ICE thugs allegedly slammed him to the ground. Agents were targeting five people from Guatemala and Mexico during the Sept. 9 operation at Shouhed’s car wash business. DHS said he was originally arrested for “impeding” a federal officer. Shouhede recalled saying to the goons, “What can I do for you? Can I help you?” He was then thrown to the ground by three masked agents and briefly taken into custody, according to the claim. He was eventually released without charges. V. James DeSimone, Shouhed’s attorney, said: “This was an outrageous and unlawful assault on a 79-year-old American citizen in his own place of business. Federal agents body slammed Mr. Shouhed, pinned him to the ground with a knee on his neck, ignored his pleas for medical care, and left him broken and in pain for hours. Their actions violated the Constitution, California civil rights law, and basic human decency.” The lawsuit after another Los Angeles citizen filed a $1 million claim against DHS, ICE and CBP in July following an arrest for recording a raid at a Home Depot store.
Attorney General Pam Bondi vowed a federal crackdown Saturday, saying America has entered a “new era of political violence.” Her stern warning against extremist groups targeting federal officers comes a day after she announced DOJ agents will be deployed to ICE facilities nationwide. Bondi wrote there will be “ZERO TOLERANCE” for political violence and domestic terrorism. Assassins have tried to murder President Trump twice and tried to kill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. In Minnesota, legislators, and even children attending Mass, were gunned down in cold blood in two separate incidents, and an assassin targeted and murdered our friend Charlie Kirk. A sniper shot three people at a Texas ICE facility, and now more than 200 violent rioters were at a Chicago ICE facility, chanting, ‘arrest ICE, shoot ICE.’ At least one had a gun.” She noted if protesters “so much as touch one of our federal officers,” they will be sent to prison. We’ve seen this before. We saw it in Portland and with the LA riots. These are not peaceful protests. These are coordinated attacks by radical extremists, and they end now. Anyone who threatens or assaults our federal officers will be arrested and charged federally, not in some liberal state court. Same goes for anyone who’s funding and aiding these extremists. You will be dismantled brick by brick. We are taking our country back. Make America safe again. The Department of Justice will seek the most serious available charges against all participants in these criminal mobs, including conspiracy offenses, assault offenses, civil disorder offenses, and terrorism offenses. While these never-ending attacks are designed to break our will, they only strengthen our resolve to complete the work begun. To that end, I have directed the FBI, DEA, ATF, and USMS to accelerate our efforts alongside DHS to locate, apprehend, detain, prosecute, and remove all illegal aliens present in our country. The rule of law will prevail.” She also instructed the Joint Terrorism Task Forces to “disrupt and investigate” all entities and people engaged in acts of domestic terrorism, including the repeated acts of violence and obstruction against federal agents.
Another photo of “war torn Portland”:
Bondi’s threat is real: A federal grand jury indicted three women over allegedly illegally doxing an ICE agent last month, the DOJ announced Friday. The three - two from Southern California and one from Colorado - allegedly followed an ICE agent home, livestreaming the encounter and posting the officer’s home address on Instagram. The women: Cynthia Raygoza, 37, of Riverside, Calif.; Ashleigh Brown, 38, of Aurora, Colo. and Sandra Carmona Samane, 25, of Panorama City, Calif. were charged with one count of conspiracy and one count of publicly disclosing the personal information of a federal agent, according to the indictment. Cosplaying Acting U.S. Attorney of Central District of California, Bill Essayli, said: “Our brave federal agents put their lives on the line every day to keep our nation safe. The conduct of these defendants are deeply offensive to law enforcement officers and their families. If you threaten, dox, or harm in any manner one of our agents or employees, you will face prosecution and prison time.” (Let’s see Essayli get a conviction - he’s 0 for 4 here now.)
This indictment comes as the ICE raids across the country face fierce pushback from activists and Democrats. Maladministration II has vowed to crackdown on those being violent or impeding the work of federal immigration officials.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro said Trump’s policies are costing lives. Now, he does not have a U.S. visa. Friday, Widdle Marco’s State Department cancelled Petro’s visa after he likened Trump to Hitler in a fiery United Nations speech and later urged the U.S. military to “disobey” Trump. “Trump does not speak of democracy, he does not speak of the climate crisis, he does not speak of life - he only threatens, kills, and lets tens of thousands be killed,” Petro said Friday. Later, he was filmed addressing pro-Palestinian supporters outside the U.N. headquarters: “It [the global force] has to be bigger than that of the United States. That’s why from here, from New York, I ask all the soldiers of the army of the U.S. not to point their rifles at humanity. Disobey the orders of Trump. Obey the orders of humanity.” The State Department responded by revoking Petro’s visa, posting on Xitter: “Earlier today, Colombian president Gustavo Petro stood on a NYC street and urged U.S. soldiers to disobey orders and incite violence. We will revoke Petro’s visa due to his reckless and incendiary actions.” Petro reportedly left before his visa was formally canceled, fired back online, accusing Trump of violating international law: “As President of Colombia, in the general assembly of the nations that we founded in the UN, I express my opinions freely. International law is the wisdom of humanity and it protects me. Genocide is a crime against humanity and humanity must respond, judge, and punish. Mr. Trump has violated the founding principles of the UN. Time to go to a more democratic place. I propose Doha as the headquarters of the United Nations.” This is the first time that the U.S. has revoked the visa of a head of state due to comments made during a visit to the UN.
The superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools was detained Friday morning by immigration agents, according to DHS, which said he was in the country illegally and had existing weapon possession charges. Superintendent Ian Roberts was arrested as part of a “targeted enforcement operation” and fled after ICE thugs approached him, according to statements from DHS and the Iowa Department of Public Safety. DHS said he was “in possession of a loaded handgun, $3,000 in cash and a fixed blade hunting knife” at the time of his arrest. The arrest spurred a protest outside the federal courthouse in Des Moines. “Education, not deportation / Free Dr. Roberts,” read one sign.
The South Korean Ministry of National Defense announced on September 23 that it will award government commendations to soldiers who - during the December 3 Emergency Martial Law and the Marine Corps member’s death incident - did not carry out illegal or unjust orders and upheld their duties as military personnel, designating them as “individuals who protected constitutional values.” The recipients of the commendations include Marine Corps Colonel Park Jeong-hoon, Army Colonel Jo Seong-hyeon, Army Colonel Kim Mun-sang, and Army Lieutenant Colonel Kim Hyung-gi (all recipients of the Order of National Merit Sam-il Medal), among a total of 11 individuals. Colonel Park was recognized for his contributions to protecting constitutional values, such as freedom of conscience, by refusing a superior’s order to suspend the transfer of the investigation results of the death of Corporal Chae incident to civilian police while serving as the head of the Marine Corps investigation unit. The Ministry of National Defense evaluated that Colonel Jo and Lieutenant Colonel Kim contributed to preventing national chaos by not following orders from the early stages of the December 3 Emergency Martial Law declaration and avoiding clashes with citizens. Colonel Kim was recognized for delaying the entry of Special Forces troops into the National Assembly by 42 minutes through three instances of withholding or refusing emergency flight approvals. I doubt that our Action Armed Forces would act similarly.
MAGA Mike has refused to swear in newly-elected congresswoman Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) until she presents official results from the special congressional election she won. This type of action has never been taken against a newly-elected congress member in the history of the YS government. Grijalva noted that two weeks ago, newly-elected Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA) was sworn in the day after winning his election, on the basis of unofficial vote count results which were not disputed. Grijalva’s election is similarly not disputed. It is merely “coincidental” that she is Signature 218 on the discharge petition demanding release of the full Epstein Files and her signature will require MAGA Mike to schedule the vote.
Maladministration II has pulled out every stop to target schools and hospitals that support transgender people. Lacking the law on its side, it has leaned on federal funding threats to enact bans on bathrooms, healthcare, and recognition itself, an attempt to erase trans people by dictate alone. Prestigious institutions like Brown, Columbia, Harvard, and Penn have already bowed to the pressure, choosing to capitulate rather than fight. But resistance is building at the local level. This week, Chicago Public Schools became the latest district to defy the administration outright, declaring it will support all of its students, including its transgender students. “I want to emphasize our district’s continued commitment to CPS policies that have been called into question recently by the federal government,” said Macqueline King, interim CEO of Chicago Public Schools. “This school year alone, the U.S. Department of Education has threatened to withhold $12 million in grant funding unless CPS dissolves our Black student success plan and reverses our policies around transgender and gender-nonconforming students. We are confident that our policies do not violate federal law, and we find the government’s actions deeply disappointing. That said, CPS will not back away from our commitment to Black, transgender, or any other student groups. We will continue to consider diversity among our greatest strengths, and we will move forward with protecting the rights of all students. Our district will not back away from doing what we know is right.” Denver Public Schools announced it would ‘not waver or back down’ from its policies. In Virginia, five districts went further, taking the Trump administration to court over the same threats.”
We’re five days from a government shutdown, with no negotiations between the two parties in sight. You’d still think that for the sake of appearances, the Republican leaders who control Congress would keep their troops in town in case of a last-minute deal to avoid a shutdown or to get stuff done before it happens. Instead, MAGA Mike Johnson is keeping the House in recess. He doesn’t want Republicans back in Washington next week, saying the House GOP leadership feels hey’ve already done their job by passing a CR. There’s another reason Johnson wants the House floor inactive. Democrat Adelita Grijalva’s special-election victory in Arizona on Tuesday to fill the seat left vacant by her father’s death means there will be 214 Democrats in the House once she’s sworn in. She’s indicated she will instantly sign the discharge petition sponsored by Republican Thomas Massie and Democrat Ro Khanna to force a vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which would require the Justice Department to release everything it has on that explosive scandal.
Aaron Rupar gets today’s last word: “The FBI has proven it can’t be trusted to provide narrative-free evidence to the public. This is par for the course for the rest of the govt under Trump, which can’t be trusted at all because everything in it exists only to serve Dear Leader.”
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I read President Petro's comments and wondered how long it would take for 47 and his lackeys to retaliate against Truth, which seems to be their superpower.
The superintendent of Des Moines schools was weaponed up when arrested? Why, that's the American way, isn't it? Perhaps he was that "good guy with a gun" they always talk about, one that was going to take down a school shooter. (See how all this stuff swirls before hitting the main sewer line.)
A duty to disobey an illegal order is a duty similar to the Secret Services' duty to take a bullet for a POTUS. In other words, you do what you should, but by doing so, you are doomed. And I agree our top brass showing up for the Hegseth Spectacle this week are likely to look timid more than defiant, or even sullen. And, of course, Trump has now inserted himself into the affair so he can show us how he's smarter than all the folks in the room.
Thanks for reporting that some of the school districts are defying the stupid orders coming from the functionally illiterate in DC. By doing so, the districts are teaching one of the most important lessons of our time. I salute them.
Taking a suggestion from the photo from Karen, RN, and going to the porch for a good read and to schmooze with the dog walkers and kids on their way to park across the way. Decompression on a Sunday evening.
“Here come ol’ flat top, he come groovin up slowly, took an hour in mirror, thinks he foolin da MAGA, ….,”