Feb. 16, 2024 - FBI says Hunter Biden informant lied, like, a lot

… Impeachment informant arrested … Amazon attacks … Navalny dead … Putin mocks Carlson …

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So. Many. Lies.

In 2018, then-Pres. Donald Trump appointed David Weiss as a U.S. attorney. Weiss was soon investigating one of the most serious threats against America: The business dealings of history’s greatest monster, Hunter Biden, and the related corruption of his father.

Last year, Attorney General Merrick Garland made Weiss special counsel – meaning Weiss had more autonomy than most prosecutors – to investigate the Biden crime cartel. Republicans didn’t trust Weiss, calling him soft on Biden-crime. So you know they’re not happy about what happened yesterday…

Instead of arresting capo di tutti capi Giuseppe “Sleepy Joe” Biden, Weiss arrested the number-one source of information against the Bidens: Alexander Smirnov, who had plied the FBI and impeachment-hungry congressional Republicans with shot after shot of stiff, cold Smirnov lies. 

That’s right, as of now, the only way Republicans can have their Smirnov is on ice.

It was Smirnov who created the basic narrative that Trump and Republicans have pushed: That Joe Biden illegally participated in and profited from the admittedly smelly business deals that Hunter Biden wrangled due to his impressive business acumen and not his impressive patronym.

Weiss’s indictment of Smirnov calls the story “a fabrication, an amalgam of otherwise unremarkable business meetings and contacts.” Weiss said that Hunter Biden’s meetings had actually happened, but…

“...actually occurred … at a later date than [Smirnov] claimed and for the purpose of pitching Burisma on [history’s greatest monster’s] services and products, not for discussing bribes to [history’s greatest father of history’s greatest monster] when he was in office.”.

As Democratic strategist Sawyer Hackett pointed out, Republicans have been chugging Smirnov for years. Here’s Hackett’s nifty graphic of just Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) overindulging on Smirnov

According to Matthew Gertz of Media Matters, Fox’s Sean Hannity also got drunk on Smirnov, swallowing massive amounts and then regurgitating it on millions of viewers on at least 85 separate nights. 

House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-KY) responded to news of Smirnov’s lies by lying, saying “the impeachment inquiry is not reliant” on Smirnov’s FBI lies. Which would be news to then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who lied when he announced the impeachment inquiry, citing “a trusted FBI informant.”

The GOP impeachment inquiry may not be going home, but it can’t stay here.

NOT A FANI OF LIES Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis took the stand yesterday, defending herself against accusations she had a sexual relationship with and funneled money to prosecutor Nathan Wade. The accusation is being made by defendants who are seeking to remove Willis from her case against Trump and his fellow liars for trying to steal Georgia’s 2020 presidential votes.

Willis testified that she paid Wade back for her half of the trips they took together, and said the relationship began after she made Wade a prosecutor on the Trump case. She also testified that the people on trial for lying to steal the election are now lying about her to stop her from prosecuting them for lying to steal the election. As if someone accused of lying would lie to escape being convicted of lying!

As I mentioned yesterday, we just learned this week that True the Vote admitted to lying about its election-fraud claims with help from an informant who, unlike Smirnov, apparently didn’t even have the decency to exist.

TRUMP’S OTHER OTHER CASE A judge yesterday ruled that trial will begin on March 25, as planned, in Trump’s trial on charges he filed false business documents to cover up his hush-money payments which he made to cover up his putative sex with Stormy Daniels.

With the trial expected to run for six weeks, that means we could get a verdict as soon as May.

Trump’s current lawyer, as of yesterday, argued that the March 25 trial date doesn’t give the legal team enough time to prepare, especially since they’ll probably be replaced two or three times before then. And while it’s true that defendants bear a horrific burden when it comes to facing government prosecutors in court, it’s too bad the previous president didn’t spearhead massive judicial reform so that impoverished defendants like Trump have just much resources as prosecutors do. 

Amazon Attacks National Labor Relations Board for Existing

Amazon on Thursday argued in a legal filing that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is unconstitutional, joining similar legal arguments in recent weeks by SpaceX and Trader Joe’s. The NLRB was created by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt as part of his New Deal measures to restore the American economy, prevent another Great Depression, and improve the lot of workers. (h/t)

Amazon is fighting the NLRB over charges that the company retaliated against workers who unionized at a Staten Island warehouse. SpaceX is fighting the NLRB after firing eight workers who criticized SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, a stalwart defender of free speech. And Trader Joe’s is accused of union-busting.

The NLRB defends the right of workers to ally with each other via collective bargaining, and polices the world of corporate America when companies restrict those rights.

Now the three axis powers are attacking Roosevelt’s defenses of the allied powers of organized labor. And it’s not because someone suddenly found a new thing in the Constitution. It’s because corporate America has managed to sabotage the judicial branch by planting its moles as judges around the country in courts both lower and supreme.

For decades, the forces of democracy have (mostly) prevailed. In fact, also yesterday, SpaceX lost in its attempt to break through NLRB front lines in Texas, the state where SpaceX had argued the firing-Musk’s-critics case should be heard.

One of the last remaining federal judges defending democracy against these axis powers ruled yesterday that SpaceX will have to face the NLRB on decidedly hostile ground: the beaches of California. The judge ruled that that’s the appropriate venue for the case, since that’s where the company and the workers are.

U.S. OFFENSIVE TARGETS OTHER AXIS U.S. forces yesterday went on the offensive against other axis powers set on world domination of the wide, wide world of sports. The Justice Department announced it will scrutinize the terms of a deal to combine three companies’ armies of athletes and teams to rule the world of sports for a thousand years.

Warner Bros Discovery, Fox, and Disney announced plans earlier this month to collaborate on a joint sports streaming service to capture America’s youth audience. 

Putin’s Very Good Week

The Russian government announced this morning that 47-year-old Alexei Navalny has died of old age. Navalny was in the fourth year of a 19-year prison sentence after being convicted of aggravated aggravation of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He was transferred in December to a high-security prison in the Arctic Circle before his death this morning of totally natural causes. Navalny had a history of health problems, including chronic being-poisoned-by-Putin.

Navalny had run for office and organized massive rallies against Putin, calling Putin corrupt. Navalny’s profile rose when another Putin critic, Boris Nemtsov, died in 2015 in a tragic accident involving a bullet.

To prove that he wasn’t corrupt, Putin had Navalny tossed in jail, where Navalny could comfortably recover from his chronic poisonings.

Also suffering health issues this morning is another Putin critic, the nation of Ukraine.

Russian forces advanced on the southeast Ukrainian city of Avdiivka this morning. Defending Ukrainian troops have abandoned some of their positions in the militarily strategic city. Once home to 32,000 people, the city’s only residents today are an estimated 923 civilians, most of them elderly people who have refused to leave.

Kansas City Shooters Heroically Stood Their Ground

Police have detained two juveniles but say they have not identified the “several” shooters who killed a radio DJ and wounded 20 other people in Kansas City on Tuesday. The police did say yesterday that they believe it was a personal dispute, meaning that every single one of those “several” shooters was standing their ground in self-defense.

Self-defense is the reason many people cite when buying guns, and that’s leading more often to heroic shootings such as the rally melee, in which a lot of ground was stood and several selfs were defended, presumably from being disrespected.

The several heroic shooters were forced to stand their ground after police failed to resolve the dispute before it led to gunfire. More than 800 police officers only responded to the scene after an agonizingly long wait of zero time units because they were already on scene to make sure nothing bad happened. Like a terrorism attack, which they successfully prevented.

Luckily, the shooters were able to defend themselves thanks to the brave work of congressional Republicans who have diligently protected the supply chain all the way from the hedge-fund companies that make guns, through shady gun shops that sell guns, to the self-appointed civilian guardians who nobly use guns to stand their ground.

Once the several shooters are identified and charged, they’re expected to appear in court, after which they will likely be honored with a victory rally for their heroic ground-standing.

Media Watch

PUTIN Alexei Navalny wasn’t the only fatality of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s this week.

Putin gave an interview Wednesday in which he discussed his once-in-a-lifetime interview last week with Tucker Carlson of TuckerCarlson.com, Tucker Carlson’s website and home of Tucker Carlson’s The Tucker Carlson Network, which airs such Tucker Carlson programs as Tucker Carlson’s The Tucker Carlson Encounter, The Tucker Carlson Interview, Ask Tucker [Carlson], After The Tucker Carlson Interview, Tucker Carlson Uncensored, T [Tucker] C [Carlson] Shorts, and Tucker Carlson’s movie unit, Tucker Carlson Films.

In related news, I made up none of those.

In a rare admission of Russian government incompetence, Putin hinted that due to a failure of Russian intelligence, his analysts had mistaken Carlson for a journalist. “I honestly thought he would be aggressive and ask so-called sharp questions.”

Putin said the intelligence failure led to a defense failure, explaining that he had been expecting and even hoping for actual journalisming. “I wasn’t just ready for that, I wanted it, because it would have given me the opportunity to respond sharply in kind.”

Blindsided by Carlson’s non-journalism, Putin instead called up his auxiliary defense, attempting to bore Carlson to death with lengthy history diatribes. 

Campaign Watch

PUTIN ENDORSEMENT During his interview Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin (yeah, this guy again) was asked who he’d prefer to see win the presidency. The Russian leader has been embraced as a hero by the right-wing after D4FRFP¹ Donald Trump repeatedly praised Putin.

Putin obviously endorsed Pres. Joe Biden.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether Putin was fucking with Trump. Or fucking with Biden. Or fucking with news media who’ll obsess over who Putin’s fucking with.

But, referring to a meeting with Biden three years ago, Putin noted there was already speculation at the time that Biden was incompetent. “I saw nothing of the sort,” Putin said. “Yes, he glanced at his notes. Honestly, I glanced at mine too … There’s nothing to it.”

Putin said he preferred Biden as “a more experienced, predictable person. He is a politician of the old school.” Putin added, “But we will work with any leader of the United States, who is trusted by the American people.” Which neither Biden nor Trump would be.

TCB

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1. D4FRFP = Disgraced, quadicted, fraudster, rapist, former President.