Stop with the excuses, already. Prosecute Donald Trump.

Gilead

Donald Trump

Coup attempt


Fig. 1. Donald Trump, depicted in an orange jumpsuit, reportedly by the Drudge, via Mediaite,[1] fair use.

There’s no way to predict whether the Justice Department will ultimately pursue charges against the former president or his associates. But in a court filing Tuesday night, government lawyers recounted numerous instances in which [Donald] Trump’s lawyers allegedly misled government officials during the investigation, and in which Trump or his team appear to have haphazardly handled materials that contained national security secrets.

The evidence laid out in the filing, experts said, could build a legal case that Trump attorneys Evan Corcoran and Christina Bobb obstructed the government’s investigation, allegedly telling FBI agents and prosecutors that they had handed over all classified documents when in fact many remained in Trump’s possession.[2]

And they’re still desperate for an excuse, any excuse they can come up with, to avoid charging Donald Trump:

Still, despite the mounting evidence found at Mar-a-Lago, there is no precedent for prosecuting a former president. That’s one of the questions investigators are probably grappling with as they proceed with their probe: What does it take to charge someone who once served as the commander in chief?

The evidence would need to meet a higher threshold than is necessary in a typical case, according to Chuck Rosenberg, a former U.S. attorney and senior FBI official.[3]

There is no explanation, none whatsoever, for this “higher threshold.” It just magically, mysteriously is, just like that nobody, not just the Department of Justice itself, can prosecute a sitting president,[4] and just like they have to avoid prosecuting when it might affect an election outcome.[5] There’s always an excuse.


Mariana Alfaro and Eugene Scott, “Judge’s openness to special master for Mar-a-Lago documents raises new questions in criminal probe,” Washington Post, August 29, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/08/29/special-master-trump-biden-pennsylvania/

Devlin Barrett, “Trump’s Mar-a-Lago documents already examined by FBI, Justice Dept. tells judge,” Washington Post, August 29, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/29/trumpspecial-master-documents/

Alex Griffing, “Drudge Puts Trump in an Orange Jumpsuit as Site Monitors His Potential Indictment,” Mediaite, August 29, 2022, https://www.mediaite.com/news/drudge-puts-trump-in-an-orange-jumpsuit-as-site-monitors-his-potential-indictment/

William Rivers Pitt, “An Enron-Inspired Law May Be a Sharper Legal Threat to Trump Than Espionage Act,” Truthout, August 30, 2022, https://truthout.org/articles/an-enron-inspired-law-may-be-a-sharper-legal-threat-to-trump-than-espionage-act/

Austin Sarat and Dennis Aftergut, “Americans are starting to get it: we can’t let Trump – or Trumpism – back in office,” Guardian, August 30, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/aug/30/trump-republicans-voters-midterms-democrats

Ishaan Tharoor, “The debate over American fascism gets louder,” Washington Post, August 30, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2022/08/30/fascism-biden-trump-american-history/

Devlin Barrett, “Justice Dept. says Trump team may have hidden, moved classified papers,” Washington Post, August 31, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/31/trump-documents-removed-storage-room/

Perry Stein et al., “Justice filing points to new legal trouble for Trump and lawyers, experts say,” Washington Post, August 31, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/31/trump-lawyers-legal-jeopardy/

Jennifer Rubin, “Former GOP Justice lawyers: Trump’s in a heap of trouble,” Washington Post, September 1, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/01/republican-lawyers-trump-documents/


Pittsburgh

Infrastructure


Fig. 2. Photograph by Emily Matthews for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 1, 2022,[6] fair use.

The Swindell Bridge still scares the shit out of me. Basically, this amounts to little more than a face lift:

While repairs [to the Swindell Bridge] were delayed due to supply chain issues, the work – maintenance, milling, and paving – is now completed.

Large repairs are still planned for this year and the full bridge rehabilitation project is still in the planning phase.[7]

Patrick Damp, “Swindell Bridge reopens to traffic today,” KDKA-TV, September 1, 2022, https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/swindell-bridge-reopens-to-traffic-today/


  1. [1]Alex Griffing, “Drudge Puts Trump in an Orange Jumpsuit as Site Monitors His Potential Indictment,” Mediaite, August 29, 2022, https://www.mediaite.com/news/drudge-puts-trump-in-an-orange-jumpsuit-as-site-monitors-his-potential-indictment/
  2. [2]Perry Stein et al., “Justice filing points to new legal trouble for Trump and lawyers, experts say,” Washington Post, August 31, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/31/trump-lawyers-legal-jeopardy/
  3. [3]Perry Stein et al., “Justice filing points to new legal trouble for Trump and lawyers, experts say,” Washington Post, August 31, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/31/trump-lawyers-legal-jeopardy/
  4. [4]Department of Justice, “A Sitting President’s Amenability to Indictment and Criminal Prosecution,” October 16, 2000, https://www.justice.gov/olc/opinion/sitting-president%E2%80%99s-amenability-indictment-and-criminal-prosecution
  5. [5]Michelle Onibokun and Chuck Rosenberg, “The Justice Department’s Policy Against Election Interference is Open to Abuse,” Lawfare, September 11, 2020, https://www.lawfareblog.com/justice-departments-policy-against-election-interference-open-abuse
  6. [6]Andrew Goldstein, “Swindell Bridge shut down after construction work causes debris to fall onto I-279,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 1, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/transportation/2022/07/01/swindell-bridge-shut-down-after-construction-work-causes-debris-to-fall-onto-i279/stories/202207010097
  7. [7]Patrick Damp, “Swindell Bridge reopens to traffic today,” KDKA-TV, September 1, 2022, https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/swindell-bridge-reopens-to-traffic-today/

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