Feb. 29, 2024 - Supreme Court to rule on Trump immunity claim

Feb 29, 2024

Growing Scrutiny of Oct. 7 Rape Reporting

The Intercept has an important piece archaeologizing the bombshell New York Times investigation into the sexual violence of the Oct. 7 massacre. One thing they turned up was a Hebrew-language podcast after the fact in which a freelance reporter on the project speaks repeatedly about failed efforts to turn up evidence of rape at the places you’d expect to get it: Hospitals and rape crisis centers.

And a number of the “witnesses” and sources who were cited in the early reporting turn out to have a history of (a) not witnessing and/or (b) being bad sources.

The obvious issue with all of this is that reports of systemic sexual violence — especially from an outlet with the Times’ uniquely big megaphone — fuel bloodlust, which has no time for even the meager norms of war, which justifies atrocities.

The unobvious issue with all of this is that sexual violence is a reality of armed conflict. There apparently were victims of sexual violence — but since Oct. 7 they’ve had to live in a world that denies their reality. And none of us can know the individual experiences they’ve had as a result.

We do have a better idea today of what that whole bloodlust-fueled, by-any-means-necessary approach can lead to. Stuff like this:

An Israeli attack this morning killed an estimated 70 people who were assembled in Gaza City awaiting humanitarian aid, while injuring about 280 other people. Two minutes after I read those numbers, I saw al Jazeera reporting the number of dead was up to 77. When I clicked through to read the article, the number of dead had gone up to 104. So for God’s sake do not check the current death toll.

Either way, the new fatality numbers officially took the death toll in Gaza above 30,000. And a new report from NPR says that’s undercounting the dead. By thousands.

Bloodlust. Revenge. Retribution for what happened and also what didn’t happen on Oct. 7.

And it’s not just blowing up people waiting for food, it’s restricting the food supply in the first place.

Michael Fakhri, the UN special rapporteur on the right to food, says Israel’s doing it intentionally, telling the Guardian, “This is now a situation of genocide. This means the state of Israel in its entirety is culpable and should be held accountable.”

Here’s the Guardian’s look at the diminishing amount of aid coming in through the two crossing points:

Supreme Court to Rule on Trump Immunity Claim

The Supreme Court yesterday said that during its sessions in the week of April 22, it will hold a hearing on D4FRFP1 Donald Trump’s claim that he’s immune from prosecution because he lived in a magic house once where laws can’t go.

The case in question involves Trump’s attempt to steal that magic house and prevent the elderly Delaware native legally entitled to it from moving in.

The decision to hear the case does not mean that a majority wanted to hear it; it only takes four judges to put a case on the docket. And it’s possible that someone in the non-right-wing minority wanted to rule on this, too.

The April hearing date reportedly suggests a ruling could come before the current term ends in late June. Although the internet freaked out that this delay is giving Trump exactly what he wants, that’s not exactly true.

Trump had asked the right-wing court to delay even more than this — so he could get a ruling first from a lower court. The Supreme Court opted not to wait.

That said, the Supreme Court’s involvement makes it a lot less likely that we’ll get a verdict before Election Day.

Special counsel Jack Smith has said he won’t need more than six weeks to present his case. But Judge Tanya Chutkan is expected to give the legal teams at least three months for prep if the Supreme Court sends the case back to her. And who knows how long Trump will succeed in stretching out the trial, hoping the voters will hand him pardon power.

As he’s probably well aware, polls show a conviction will hurt him severely with voters. Luckily for him, history shows he has few if any convictions.

COUNTER-FACTUALS A lot of online anger at Attorney General Merrick Garland yesterday for not having brought the case sooner, presumably leading to a verdict in time for Election Day. And I get it! Justice is supposed to be swift!

But certainty about counter-factuals is…what’s the word I’m looking for?...bad. Imagine how much shit Garland would’ve taken for rushing the case if…

…he indicted Trump before the House committee laid the groundwork for public acceptance of a trial and therefore there was a massive groundswell of support for Trump from a populace that had yet to see the evidence? (Okay, the evidence that didn’t involve Trump himself criming on TV.)

…or if Garland indicted Trump super-expeditiously and maybe Smith didn’t have time to get his case together or maybe other cases and the House investigation didn’t prime so many cooperating witnesses to, uh, cooperate… and therefore Smith went to court with a weaker case than he’s got now … and therefore Trump was acquitted?

In that scenario, Trump is swept by legal vindication into Election Day. And maybe wins. Because Garland acted swiftly.

Imagine how pissed we’d be with Garland then?!? So, yeah, sure, go ahead and be pissed that Pres. Joe Biden tapped Garland in the first place. And top it off with fury at Garland for taking so long with this case. But do not add anger over the possible outcomes, which we don’t get to know.

MORE TRUMP LEGAL SHIT Y’know how Trump’s supposedly this great negotiator? Well, yesterday he tried to negotiate with the legal system. It was funny.

Instead of forking over the $454 million he owes for massive frauding, Trump made a counteroffer. Essentially saying, “Sure, I could in theory pay you what the court says I owe…or I could give you this luxurious new $100 million bond and throw in a set of Trump™ Steak Knives!”

In a filing yesterday, Judge Anil Singh told Trump, and I’m paraphrasing here, “Fuck off, loser.” Trump will try his offer again next month before a full appellate-court panel. But barring a victory there, he’s expected to have to pay up by March 25.

Hilariously, the reason Trump gave for not posting bond for the full amount right away basically amounts to, he doesn’t have the cash. Which, ironically, if he had been honest about all along, he wouldn’t have been able to do his frauding.

EVEN MORE TRUMP LEGAL SHIT A judge yesterday removed Trump from the Illinois presidential primary ballot because the Constitution says you can’t hold office if you suffer from insurrectile dysfunction.

The ruling is stayed while a bunch of other legal shit happens — including the Supreme Court’s consideration of Colorado’s decision to bounce Trump from the ballot. But this makes three states now where Trump has been at least provisionally removed from the ballot because some smart-ass official decided to uphold the Constitution.

GOP Blocks IVF Rights

The Republican Party yesterday blocked a Senate bill that would have cemented the right to perform and obtain In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) services, in order to preserve the sanctity of people’s understanding that, yes, the GOP actually opposes IVF.

The bill enshrining IVF rights was introduced in the wake of Alabama’s Supreme Court ruling that said frozen embryos are people, which in the state of Alabama means you can only kill them after they get a bullshit “trial.” Because IVF involves the destruction of excess frozen embryos, also known by their brand name as Dippin’ Dots™, IVF facilities in the state stopped doing it.

So Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) brought the IVF rights bill to the floor yesterday under a fast-tracked process that requires unanimous consent. Which the Republican Party did not give.

Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) objected, killing the bill, which she said was “full of poison pills,” which, ironically, she should have let live considering that they’re even larger than Dippin’ Dots™.

What poison pill was she talking about? The story I linked to above didn’t explain so I had to look it up — DAMN YOU TO HELL, STORY THAT DIDN’T EXPLAIN. Thankfully, the right-wing’s well-funded media/advocacy machine was right there when I needed it!

Duckworth’s bill, it turns out, allegedly would require people who work in fertility clinics to do their jobs — which includes flushing Dippin’ Dots™ down the toilet (and/or giving them a dignified burial because who the hell knows these days). Hyde-Smith frames this as a violation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).

And she’s kinda right, because Democrats framed RFRA sloppily, so that it not only protects people from government discrimination, it also lets you break the law if Jesus is your crime boss. Hyde-Smith argues that RFRA should protect people who love Dippin’ Dots™ from being fired for refusing to trash leftover Dots. You know, the way you or I would be fired in a heartbeat for not doing our jobs.

Next on the to-do list: Contraception and divorce!

McConnell To Step Down

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced yesterday that in the fall he’s stepping down from his leadership position, even though he’s just 82 years old.

Reportedly, McConnell said last month that he had just one last priority: Securing a new batch of weaponry for Ukraine. That bill passed earlier this month…but remains trapped by Russian forces in the House.

The big question now is whether McConnell will be replaced by a loyalist to D4FRFP Donald Trump. McConnell publicly blamed Trump for the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, merely because Trump made it happen.

McConnell yesterday coyly acknowledged the realities of life in Trump-world, saying, “I have many faults, misunderstanding politics is not one of them.”

Of course, McConnell also gave us three right-wing Supreme Court judges now poised to help Trump seize power “legally” and demolish the international stability and American leadership that were McConnell’s last, greatest priority. Hey, maybe misunderstanding politics is one of his many faults!

Most of the Senate GOP still back McConnell — despite, not because of, his iciness toward Trump. It’s not that McConnell is warm and cuddly with others: He commands a powerful and ancient beast of dark fundraising forces.

With McConnell stepping aside, that could clear the way for a Trump loyalist, thereby depriving the Senate GOP of its final shreds of sanity, competence, donations, and votes right as it heads into the fall elections.

One Rib-Tickling Quickie

Remember how Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) dealt with the (current) looming government shutdown by splitting government funding packages into two tranches, with one set to expire tomorrow? Well, last night congressional negotiators reached a deal on a stopgap measure to extend that funding until a week from Friday, which is when the other tranche expires. In other words, their solution is to re-consolidate the funding that Johnson split in two as his solution.

TCB

I LIED I know, I know. I promised you new stories yesterday. And yet, there were no new stories yesterday. Commence excuse-making mode in 3…2…

For one thing, I had some last-minute issues come up that made finishing up a little tougher. That said, I could have gutted it out and gone all day to finish up. But…

…then I read that the Mayorkas impeachment won’t be sent to the Senate until next week AND all of these big political stories dropped. All of that means a lot less attention to my reporting on the impeachment than if I hold off until the impeachment goes to the Senate. So, I’m sorry for the bait-and-switch and now I’m fresh out of excuses to make these stories worth the wait. Fuck!

You can give me shit for any of this on Twitter or Facebook or Bluesky or Mastodon. And if you haven’t already, please consider becoming a paid subscriber so I can keep doing this newsletter and my original reporting.

Go get ‘em, kids…!

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