Trump's Card

[San Bernardhinault]

Oooooh! WHAT A DAY!

Duncan Hunter just got indicted, too!

He's a non-entity on the national stage, but he's the Representative for CA-50, which starts about 200 yards from where I'm sitting. And he's a vile, horrible little man who is the epitome of political cronyism, being in his dad's former seat. Sadly, Alpine/Julian/Ramona are so right wing that we're very unlikely to have a Democrat in the seat, but even so, anything that hurts Hunter is deeply satisfying.

[San Bernardhinault]

And, by the way, here's a detail for you:

"He and his wife Margaret, who also served as his campaign manager, are accused of routinely using campaign money to pay to fly his pet rabbit back and forth from his district"

[ursus arctos]

[ursus arctos]

But Wait! There's More!

https://twitter.com/joncoopertweets/status/1031842648611540993

https://twitter.com/joncoopertweets/...42648611540993

And yes, dear friends, NONE OF THIS MATTERS UNLESS THE DEMOCRATS TAKE AT LEAST ONE HOUSE IN THE MIDTERMS

[ursus arctos]

[San Bernardhinault]

The Duncan Hunter stuff is just brilliant. The more I read, the better it gets.

He appears to be a member of the drunken douche-bro caucus. He is a shill for the tobacco industry, to the extent that he vaped in Congressional hearings.

Here is our valiant douche



He also once claimed "I'm a marine, we get things done" when he took down a painting from the wall of a Democratic congressman because it was "offensive"

Being a drunken douche, he spent all his money. Which meant that he took from the campaign to finance everything. $20k in overdraft fees, $30k in credit card fees, school fees, dental work. He bought a bunch of holidays - but always, and only, on Expedia, so the campaign receipts wouldn't show the destinations. And the rabbit flights. But he also spent it on small beer stuff like the Hawaiian shorts mentioned above, ipods, beanies, trips to the hair salon.

His wife, who he paid to be campaign finance chairman, was given a campaign credit card. She spent $10k at Costco, $5k at Walmart. Because of this, he tried to throw her under the bus, claiming that all the dodgy expenses happened back in San Diego while he was in Washington. So, not only a douche, but actually a complete arsehole, too.

Added to throwing his wife under the bus, he appears to have been having a number of affairs: "spent $162 in campaign funds for a personal stay at the Liaison Capitol Hotel with Individual 14" is included in the indictment.

You almost couldn't make this shit up.

As I've said before, it's a super Republican district. But there is literally no mechanism to get Hunter off the ballot after he finished in the top 2 in the California primary system. And the Democrat running against him is pretty brilliant and is also liable to produce absolutely immense amounts of Trumpy bile in Trumpy East County San Diego. That's because Ammar Campa-Najjar is not only an alumnus of the Obama Whitehouse, but he's also half-Mexican half-Palestinian. He actually appears to be the real deal, and it's a tough break that he's in such a difficult district. But if he wins it would be glorious.

[ursus arctos]

https://twitter.com/inyoungk/status/1032080823011483648?s=21

https://twitter.com/inyoungk/status/...011483648?s=21


This is abject from the Dersh

https://twitter.com/foxnews/status/1032071989433966598?s=21

https://twitter.com/foxnews/status/1...433966598?s=21

I am old enough to remember when he was thought of as a serious legal scholar (though I always saw him as the embodiment of his institution’s worst characteristics).

[tee rex]

The "federal candidate" is flying to West Virginia for a "rally" tonight.

That is going to be wild

The crowd chanted "Lock her up". Yep.

I can't recall the source, but did read that 75% of Americans were unaware of the Manafort trial. The verdict might have knocked a couple of points off that score.

[ursus arctos]

This is quite a solid piece of “on the whistle” analysis

https://twitter.com/lawfareblog/status/1032102944840265728?s=21

https://twitter.com/lawfareblog/stat...840265728?s=21

[Femme Folle]

And, by the way, here's a detail for you:

"He and his wife Margaret, who also served as his campaign manager, are accused of routinely using campaign money to pay to fly his pet rabbit back and forth from his district"

You really couldn't make this up.

[Ginger Yellow]

Aargh, WTF is TPM's redesign.

[Satchmo Distel]

I'm still pessimistic about the midterms. For example, Puerto Ricans are not registering in Florida in sufficient numbers to make a difference:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.e08fe945192b

[Flynnie]

In a dramatic development in my personal life, my mom announced to me that she's basically going to force her employer to sack her (and therefore get a golden handshake) as her boss (who she has worked with for 25 years, and even dated a few times BITD) has outed himself as an ardent Trumpite and is turning into a reality-free autocrat that recommended she read Art of the Deal. Her rather vehement anti-Trump protestations seem to have landed her in hot water. Once this happens, she's putting the house on the market and moving back East to look after her mom for a bit, then to retire somewhere on the Eastern seaboard*.

Like I said, she's known this man for 25 years and never once thought he was far-right politically. He's also Chinese-American, a group that tends not to like Trump.

I wonder how many people have a similar story of a boss or family member who has Trump Derangement Syndrome.

*she apparently mentioned Western Mass to my dad, who having wanted to return to New England for years, had to bite his tongue not to go "yes!!!" and show his hand too early.

[WOM]

This is quite a solid piece of “on the whistle” analysis

https://twitter.com/lawfareblog/status/1032102944840265728?s=21

https://twitter.com/lawfareblog/stat...840265728?s=21

That was long and very, very good. God, I love clarity in writing.

[Sits]

Yeah that was very informative.

[anton pulisov]

@realDonaldTrump:

If anyone is looking for a good lawyer, I would strongly suggest that you don’t retain the services of Michael Cohen!

The extended self-impeachment continues.

[anton pulisov]

Sean Spicer was a guest on the Miriam O'Callaghan show on RTE radio in Ireland.

How the mighty have fallen.

[Ginger Yellow]

@realDonaldTrump:
If anyone is looking for a good lawyer, I would strongly suggest that you don’t retain the services of Michael Cohen!

The extended self-impeachment continues.

He only hires the best people, don't you know.

[elguapo4]

Sean Spicer was a guest on the Miriam O'Callaghan show on RTE radio in Ireland.

How the mighty have fallen.

Harsh on Miriam

[WOM]

Cohen has now been subpoenaed in the NY State 'Trump Foundation' case.

Nice to see his dance card filling up after suddenly clearing out.

https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2...ion-probe.html

[MsD]

Checked today, and my bet is that he'll be impeached in 2018. Bah, wish I'd just bet he'd leave office.

[ursus arctos]

Just impeached, or does he have to be convicted?

There's some chance of the former if they get killed in the midterms, virtually none of the latter.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

Yeah, but if he has any brain left, he will know that the moment he steps down, then New York is going to try and make sure he dies in rikers island. Lets say that you are part of the New York establishment, you are going to have to feel a certain amount of anger and shame, that the most gauche. most absurd. lowest-rent hustler in the history of the NY real estate market, managed to set himself lose on the dim rubes of the mid west. That and they have full access to Michael Cohen. Cohen is going to spill his guts about certain things to the special counsel. but he's going to have all sorts of things that he can tell New York.

This is the thing that really annoys me about all of those late night comedians. who seem to be the vanguard of the opposition. They think that what rudy gioliani says is funny, rather than a deliberate plan to speak to a hardcore of fucking morons. I don't seem to really get that they're in that horrible position where the ruler is such an outrageously obvious criminal. that he has a choice between respecting democracy, or dying in jail. This is a time or real peril. That and he's already going full bore to attack the legitimacy of an investigation run by a fucking conservative republican, who was appointed to senior positions by both republican and democrat presidents. His only way to stay out of jail is to shit on law and order to such a degree that he doesn't have to go to jail. Robert Mueller is apparently a thug.

[ursus arctos]

Especially if Zephyr Teachout becomes our next Attorney General.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

That can't be a real name.