Judge Cannon wants to know whether Merrick Garland is supervising Jack Smith

The judge in Donald Trump’s classified documents case asked lawyers how much independence the special counsel has.

6/21/20241/2

Under persistent questioning from U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon,the prosecutors declined to divulge detailsand seemed caught off-guard by the inquiries. At one point, Smith deputy James Pearce saidhe was “not authorized” to discuss the level of communicationthat occurred between the attorney general and the special counsel.

“I don’t want to make it seem like I’m hiding something,” Pearce then said.

The questioning came at the end of a five-hourhearing focused on a long-shot effort by Trump to have the charges against him thrown out. Smith has accused Trump of hoarding national secrets at his Mar-a-Lago estate after his presidency and obstructing the government’s efforts to retrieve them.

Trump contends that Smith’s appointment by Garland as special counsel in November 2022 isunconstitutional and that Smith lacked the legal authority to bring the case against the former president.

Though other courts have uniformly swept aside similar challenges to the validity of special counsel appointments,Cannon— a 2020 Trump appointee to the bench —scheduled lengthy oral arguments on the matter, a sign that she was taking it seriously. During Friday’s proceedings, she gave little indication of how she intends to rule.

The Justice Department typically appoints special counsels to oversee cases in which the department’s leadership may have a conflict of interest. Under DOJ regulations, special counsels report to the attorney general but have more independence than other federal prosecutors.

Trump has publicly claimed, without evidence, that Smith is essentially a pawn of President Joe Biden. But in court,his lawyersare making a contrary argument:that Smith’s independence means he’s operating beyond the limits of what DOJ employeesare permitted to do. Under the Constitution, only an officer appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate can wield the level of power that Smith has, Trump’s lawyers claim. For decades, special counsels have not been presidentially appointed or Senate-confirmed. (Politico is changing the term uses, which is Smith is not an official DOJ officer and cannot be appointed to special counsel, he is not a DOJ DAG—I think the term is)

In questioning prosecutors about Garland’s supervision, Cannon seemed to betrying to determine how much independent authority Smith has in practice.

Before the judge asked her questions, Trump attorney Emil Bove pointed out that Garland had said that he had “no coordination” with Smith on the other criminal case that Smith has brought against the former president: charges alleging Trump tried to overturn the 2020 election.

Smith’s team, led by Pearce, sharply rebutted arguments that Smith’s appointment was illegal and described Smith’s role as an uncontroversial exercise of Garland’s ability to organize the Justice Department as he sees fit. Pearce emphasized that Smith was “in compliance” with longstanding Justice Department rules and regulations regarding his appointment and his handling of the case…

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:https://www.politico.com/news/2024/06/21/trump-classified-documents-cannon-garland-smith-00164541

>>21065032

2/2

The exchanges marked the beginning of a three-day stretch of intense hearings called by Cannonthat will continue Monday and Tuesday.

Monday’s hearing will focus on another aspect of Trump’s effort to invalidateSmith’s appointment — a claim that he is being improperly funded by an indefinite Justice Department budget line item.

The judge’s intense dive into an issue that has been brushed aside by most other courts has caused head-scratching in the legal community and drawn renewed criticism of her handling of the sensitive case. Adding to theunusual dynamic: Cannon permitted three outside experts — two in favor of Trump’s position and one in favor of Smith’s — to address the court for 30 minutes apiece, nearly unheard of in criminal matters. (The Supreme Court takes Amicus Briefs all the time, and these outside experts submitted Amicus

Briefs to the court. Politio intentionally misnames what is happening)

Cannon alarmed legal experts across the ideological spectrum in 2022 when she paused the Justice Department’s investigation of Trump’s retention of classified documents shortly after the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago. Her decision earned a sharp rebuke from a conservative panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which permitted the probe to advance. The Supreme Court declined to take up Trump’s appeal.

After Smith charged Trump in June 2023, Cannon was randomly assigned to preside over the case.She has moved slowly on many pretrial matters, some of them routine, and shehas indefinitely postponed the trial date.(Politico once again fails to state the Gravity of charging a Former President. It’s not at all unusual to take this case slowly and carefully, especially when Cannon revealed Smith was hiding evidence to implicates him in crimes against Trump as a defendant. Plus they are trying to put him in jail as a Candidate running for President, this shouldn't even be happening. the FBI didn't charge HRC before the 2016 election, or even after her losing.)

Trump’s attorneys spent much of the day asserting that Smith’s operation should not be allowed to continue.Bove maintained that allowing the special counsel to remain in place amounted to a “shadow government.”

Cannon responded, “That sounds very ominous,” and asked what Bove meant.

Bove suggested it was a“risk we are running” by allowing an official not confirmed by the Senate to take the actions Smith is taking.(At least two other times the SC threw out charges against Republicans and sanctioned him for illegal actions, I’m surprised they didn’t take his attorney license away)

During the hearing, Cannon asked attorneys for each side — as well as the three outside experts she permitted to argue — their position on various federal statutes dealing with the Justice Department as well as the lengthy history of the use of special prosecutors and attorneys.

One key moment of that history is the famous Supreme Court ruling that ordered then-President Richard Nixon to hand over tapes to a special prosecutor investigating the Watergate burglary.Cannon wanted to know whether the portion of that ruling dealing with the special prosecutor applied to Smith’s appointment.

Attorneys for Smith said that ruling, and several others at the appeals court level, were binding precedent that validated Smith’s appointment. Trump’s team disagreed. (The whole Nixon impeachment was lead by corrupt judges and courts, so no it shouldn’t be “binding precedent)

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:https://www.politico.com/news/2024/06/21/trump-classified-documents-cannon-garland-smith-00164541

>>21063956 Repub rejects Donald Trump endorsementPN

Republican Rejects Donald Trump Endorsement: 'Didn't Want to Have It'

(MORE FAKE NEWSFirst of all, Trump didn't send out and announcement that he was supporting Hogan. Because saying “he’d like to see him win” is not an official endorsement, it's a comment.They made up this whole bullshit. Second, I wonder if Trump said this to hurt Hogan’s chances because he knows Logan hates him, look at Views below. I doubt seriously Trump would officially endorse Hogan. Trump usually makes a big deal on Endorsements and wouldn't give an endorsement that was not asked for. News Week is going to have to retract this article)

Jun 21, 2024 at 5:31 PM EDTBy James Bickerton

Views: Speaking to The Hill Maryland based Democratic strategist Len Foxwell said Trump's run for a second White House term could undermine Hogan's Senate campaign.

He said: "It more than anything is illustrative of the problem that is going to plague Gov. Hogan throughout this campaign, which is that no matter what he does or what he says to distance himself from Donald Trump, that is always going to be the canopy over which he runs this race." KEK!

Republican Senate candidate Larry Hogan has rejected an endorsement from Donald Trump, saying he has "no interest in it." The former Maryland governor, who is now running for a Senate seat in the state, made the comment in an interview with the WTOP radio station. A 22 second clip of this was shared on X by Nick Iannelli, a reporter at the network, on Thursday.

The Context: Trump became the Republican's presumptive 2024 presidential candidate in March 2024 after a string of primary victories, establishing himself as the party's de facto leader. However the former president remains a deeply divisive figure, though his net approval has risen from -22 in October 2023 to -14 in April 2024 according to polling by Civiqs.

What We Know: Asked whether he publicly rejects Trump's endorsement in the WTOP interview, Hogan replied: "Well I just said I didn't seek it, I didn't want to have it and I have no interest in it.

"It's not something we're going to be promoting that's for sure in a state Donald Trump lost by 33 points. It doesn't really carry a lot of voters over to our cause so I don't think we're going to have any interest in accepting it."

Trump endorsed Hogan's senate campaign during a June 13 appearance on Fox News, when he said:"I'd like to see him win. I think he has a good chance to win. I would like to see him win. And we've got to take the majority."(That’s not an endorsement it's a comment)

The former president made the move despite Hogan, who is widely regarded as a Republican moderate, declining to endorse Trump, with a spokesperson telling Fox News he "has been clear he is not supporting Donald Trump just as he didn't in 2016 and 2020."

Views: Speaking to The Hill Maryland based Democratic strategist Len Foxwell said Trump's run for a second White House term could undermine Hogan's Senate campaign.

He said: "It more than anything is illustrative of the problem that is going to plague Gov. Hogan throughout this campaign, which is that no matter what he does or what he says to distance himself from Donald Trump, that is always going to be the canopy over which he runs this race."

https://www.newsweek.com/larry-hogan-republican-rejects-donald-trump-endorsement-senate-republicans-

>>21063989 This is an outstanding post by Martin Armstrong economics about Ukraine and the regionPNAnon is right

Blog NeoconsConsumed by HatredPosted Jun 21, 2024 By Martin Armstrong | UKRAINE

QUESTION: How can such hatred be passed down the generations for so long? I have never experienced a family grudge against another, so it is hard for me to understand. Besides, neither side is completely innocent for them to claim such an injustice. Far from it.

I have 2 high school friends that I graduated with that are State Reps in local districts and neither of them would be able to answer the question of why is no one interested in peace. Let alone investigate any of the Neocons.

Nonetheless, I do put questions and challenges out in the local political scene, like when the Covid mandates came out. But no one could give me a good answer. They just think my questions and protests are annoying.

ANSWER: That region retains hatred for generations. I believe it stems from the Eastern Rule of Law. In ancient Athens, if I killed someone in your family, you had the right of vengeance, and if you could not kill me, killing anyone else in my family, even the score. We saw a bit of that with the Hatfield vs. McCoys.

I was called by the old Yugoslavic government. They were talking about how their ethnic enemies had killed 600 of them and thrown them in a common grave. I thought I missed something in the news. When I asked when it was, they replied about 700 years ago.

As I have said, we had employees in Ukraine on both sides – Donestk and Kiev. When we had a conference in Greece, the one from Kiev would not take the shortest return flight because it connected in Moscow. You could NEVER bring a bottle of Russian Vodka to dinner in Kiev. That would be a huge insult. They insist that Kiev should now be spelled Kyiv because of their hatred of Russians

That is why the CIA protected Ukrainian Nazis who engaged in ethnic cleansing of Polish, Hungarians, Jews, and Russians.The Ukrainians were so evil they even horrified Germans. They cut babies out of a pregnant woman, put in a live cat, and stitched her up. All of these things are documented. Poland has come out and confirmed that Ukraine REFUSES to apologize for its “dark past” and the world is willing to go to nuclear war all for these people? When will the world wake up that the American Neocons are engaging in the same ethnic cleansing, for they claim roots in Ukraine and are persecuted by Russians? Naturally, some have not been indoctrinated, but you can have an intelligent conversation. But many were brainwashed with hatred just a Stalin taught kids that the State was your real parent and if your biological “caretakers” ever spoke against the State, they were to report them.

Even Zelensky, before becoming president, hid his Jewish background and joked about confiscating assets from Jews and Russians. This was the humor in Ukraine.

The hatred in that area runs very deep, and it has been taught for generations all because the borders have changed constantly. Talk to a 20-something Ukrainian, and they will tell you what the Russians did to them. It was a Bosnian Serb who, on June 28th, 1914, assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife that instigated World War I all because of this ethnic hatred that is passed from generation to generation as the borders have constantly changed…

https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/world-news/neocons/consumed-by-hatred/?

>>21065226

2/2

World War I was rooted in deep hatred. The Ottoman Empire was declining, contributing to the political destabilization of the region. For, if you recall, the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the siege of Viena in 1683 divided the region.

That was the first financial panic I discovered on that list, leading me to the Economic Confidence Model.

Austria-Hungary held Serbia responsible and instantly declared war on July 28th against all Serbs. Russia then mobilized and came to Serbia’s defense. By August 4th, Germany, Russia, France, and the United Kingdom were all drawn into the war by alliances just like NATO today. The Ottomans joined the fight in November 1914.

NATO should have been defunded and shut down in 1991. Its sole purpose was to defend Europe against Russian communism. When communism collapsed, so did the idea of expanding to defeat capitalism, as a good Marxist would advocate.

WHAT HAPPENS IF UKRAINE LOSES

NATO has been fearful that the climate change agenda would strip money from it, and as I have said, internal documents have shown that it has sought to remain relative with a threat from Russia to invade Europe. Russia has no interest in conquering Europe. That was the days of Communism. Yet NATO has promoted war to keep its funding. Here are the Declassified Documents from the Clinton Administration. When communism fell in 1991, there were proposals that Russia join NATO. That is why there was a coup against Gorbachev by Russia’s Neocons, who saw it as surrendering to the West.

NOBODY in the media is interested in peace. All they do is promote war. This is NOT going to end well, and the West will find that the center of the world economy will be lost, and this time, it will migrate to China. This is NOT my personal opinion.

This is theforecast by the ONLY real AI computer with virtually a 50-year track record in geopoliticsthat has called all the elections and conflicts.The war would begin in 2014, and this war would start in Ukraine. I am 74. I get to leave this planet. So, I have nothing to gain or lose. My only regret is what I leave behind for my grandchildren because these evil people are consumed by their own hate and self-interest.

NATO will create World War III just like the alliances created in World War I. Nobody in the leadership role of any country dares even to question what is taking place. I guess we deserve what we get. It is just our time. No matter what I write or say, I cannot change our date with destiny.

War is created by the Elite – never the people.

Hopefully, in 2032, we will learn from these mistakes and change things for the better.

We will not change society until we witness how these Neocons destroy it.

https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/world-news/neocons/consumed-by-hatred/?

22 Jun, 2024 12:29

Russia strikes Western-supplied air weapons depots in Ukraine – MoD

The attack came in response to Kiev’s attempts to damage the country’s energy infrastructure, the Defense Ministry has said

The Russian military hasconducted high-precision strikes on Ukrainian ammo warehouses, including those storing drones and air weapons supplied by the West, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has said.

In a statement on Saturday, the ministry said that it had carried out a group strike overnight using long-range air and sea-based weapons and drones on several types of targets. These includedUkrainian energy infrastructure facilitiessupporting Kiev’s defense industryas well as warehouses storing ammo and air weapons supplied to Ukraine by Western countries.

“The goals of the strike have been achieved. All designated targets have been hit,” officials have said.

The Defense Ministry stated that the latest attack came inresponse to “attempts by the Kiev regime to cause damage to Russian energy facilities.” Ukraine has for several month have been launching drone raids on Russian oil processing facilities, including those located far from the border.

Russia has been routinely targeting energy infrastructure in response to Kiev’s cross-border attacks, while insisting the strikes do not target civilians.

Ukrainian officials have acknowledged severe damage to the power grid, with the population being affected by rolling blackouts. A Financial Times report earlier this month claimed, citing sources, that theembattled country had lost over half of its power generation capacity.

https://www.rt.com/russia/599746-russia-strikes-western-weapons/

21 Jun, 2024 23:09

Gates may bring ‘downfall of western civilization’ – Musk

Bill Gates’ ex-wife has endorsed Joe Biden, a move Elon Musk condemned as a terrible idea

Billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk has pushed back on Melinda French Gates’ endorsement of US President Joe Biden, suggesting it might be bad for the West.

The ex-wife of Microsoft mogul Bill Gates endorsed Biden on Thursday, presenting him as the candidate that cared about women. The incumbent Democrat is facing a rematch with his predecessor Donald Trump in November.

“I am once again asking for the scorned billionaire wife to Democrat activist pipeline to be studied,” conservative influencer Ashley St.Clair wrote on X (formerly Twitter) in response. “Melinda Gates is about to spend so much divorce money on getting Joe Biden elected.”

“Might be the downfall of western civilization,” replied Musk. He also agreed with St. Clair’s follow-up that “many villain arcs [are] being pursued under the guise of philanthropy.”

French Gates’ 2021 divorce left her with an estimated net worth of over $11 billion. She quickly pivoted from her foundation work to political activism on behalf of the Democrats.

The ruling party in Washington already has a prominent ex-wife of a tech mogul in a major supporting role, however. Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, used some of his inheritance to donate to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.

The Emerson Collective, which she founded in 2004 to engage in educational philanthropy and social justice, expanded its portfolio to immigration advocacy during the Obama administration. Powell Jobs has since used it to buy The Atlantic magazine in 2017 and a stake in Axios.

Meanwhile, Musk’s politics shifted towards the Republicans after Biden came to the White House. The Tesla founder and SpaceX CEO ended up buying Twitter in 2022, after complaining about widespread censorship on the platform, and rebranding it as X.

He has stopped just short of endorsing Trump in the 2024 election, but endorsed a Republican victory as a way to preserve the US from collapsing.

“I voted 100% [Democrat] until a few years ago. Now, I think we need a red wave or America is toast,” Musk said in March.

https://www.rt.com/news/599730-gates-endorse-biden-musk/

>>21065373

NOTEAll the money given to Bidan's personal superPac, he gets to keep and use if not all drained by the election.

22 Jun, 2024 08:13

US forces Russia to close visa centers – ambassador

The Americans are also trying to make Russia’s diplomats “hide behind embassy walls,” but this won’t happen, Anatoly Antonov has said

US authorities are closing both Russian visa center offices in the country and will deprive Russia’s diplomats of tax exemption, Moscow’s ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, has revealed.

The Russia Visa Application Center operates in Washington and New York, assisting those looking to get permits to travel to Russia with preparing the necessary papers and submitting them to the Russian consular offices.

"The Americans notified us that the visa center is closing,” Antonov told the journalists on Saturday. Themove by Washington creates a “serious extra burden for us given the fact that our consulate general offices in Houston and New York are drained of blood” due to expulsions of Russian diplomats from the US, he stressed.

The decision to revoke tax exemption status from Russian embassy workersis another “petty, nasty attack” by Washington, the ambassador said.The cards are common practice and handed out to diplomats in all countries, he explained.

US officials didn’t provide any reasoning for their actions, Antonov noted. As for a possible response by Moscow, he said that “there is no need to make any rash moves. We need to consider what the specific consequences of what we will have to do.”

According to the ambassador, the Americans “are trying to break [Russia], trying to change [its] foreign policy, trying to force our diplomats to hide behind the walls of the embassy, to stop communicating and working,” he said.

"This will not happen. Until the last diplomat, while we remain here, we will keep performing our duties,” the ambassador assured.

Relations between Moscow and Washington have steadily deteriorated over the past decade, with the administration of former US President Barack Obama shutting down several Russian consulates after accusing Moscow of “interference” in the 2016 presidential election. The diplomatic row has only escalated since Moscow launched its military operation in Ukraine in February 2022, prompting a wave of Western sanctions and several tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats by both countries.

Last month, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov warned that Moscow may well downgrade its diplomatic ties with Washington if the West “continues on the path of escalation” in terms of supporting Ukraine or making hostile economic moves.

https://www.rt.com/news/599738-us-visa-center-antonov/

(Sundance is right, they are trying to keep all American’s locked up in the US)