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February 06, 2024 12:15 AM UTC

Tuesday Open Thread

  • 25 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

“A man gazing on the stars is proverbially at the mercy of the puddles in the road.”

–Alexander Smith

Comments

25 thoughts on “Tuesday Open Thread

  1. The Republican Party is a Failed State, Part 99. David Kurtz at TPM.

    I want to return to what will be a recurring theme this year: Donald Trump’s total takeover the Republican Party as a precursor to what he wants to do to America.

    For the center-left, there’s an abundance of schadenfreude watching Trump humiliate, demean, and marginalize any Republican who opposes him. The ritualistic dignity loss carries an amusing undertone, especially when the target had already prostrated themselves at the altar of Trump, to no avail.

    I enjoy it in a way, too, so I’m not scolding here. But the truth is that Trump’s consolidation of the GOP as a far-right party is already accomplished. He did that in his first term. What we’re witnessing now is his conversion of it from a political party into a tool of his personal political power. He wants it to be obedient to him, to serve him, to vanquish his enemies internal and external, to be an extension of himself. I’m not sure we’ve seen before the complete absorption of a major U.S. political party into a cult of its leader’s personality.

    The WaPo has a story up this morning on Republican fears that they will be the targets of Trump’s promised retribution if he is re-elected. You should read it. It’s an important story. But what’s happening on the Hill right now is, in its own way, a far better measure of what Trump is doing to the GOP that the vague, contingent fears of what he might do to Republicans down the road.

  2. There will be a few changes made ….

    Aurora Sentinel reported

    Arapahoe County DA John Kellner won’t run for re-election in 2024

    As of Feb. 5, [Amy] Padden was the only person to have filed paperwork with the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office formalizing her candidacy for the 18th Judicial District attorney position.

    1. No way Kellner would win the 18th in the 2024, with Douglas, Lincoln, and Elbert voters gone.  Padden creamed him in Arapahoe, by more than 50,000 votes.  

       

      1. I thought Kellner either lived in, or was moving to, Douglas County to run there.

        I’m guessing that Boy George will name Kellner Assistant DA or Chief Deputy.

  3. Federal Appeals Court Rejects Trump’s Claim of Absolute Immunity – The New York Times (nytimes.com)

    Finally ….. next stop, SCOTUS unless Trump’s lawyers want to play it really safe and file for rehearing en banc.

    Rehearing en banc will buy him some more time in the DC Circuit Court of Appeals so that it doesn’t reach SCOTUS until sometime in April or May. That would push briefing into the summer and arguments in late summer or early fall.

    1. The one-page judgment issued with the opinion said the mandate would not be stayed if Trump files a petition for rehearing (panel or en banc).  The clerk of court was directed to delay issuing the mandate until Monday (2/12):  "The Clerk is directed to withhold issuance of the mandate through February 12, 2024. If, within that period, Appellant notifies the Clerk in writing that he has filed an application with the Supreme Court for a stay of the mandate pending the filing of a petition for a writ of certiorari, the Clerk is directed to withhold issuance of the mandate pending the Supreme Court’s final disposition of the application. The filing of a petition for rehearing or rehearing en banc will not result in any withholding of the mandate, although the grant of rehearing or rehearing en banc would result in a recall of the mandate if the mandate has already issued."  

      So if trump files a PRH, the court is likely to rule on that quickly.  It'll take 6 of the 11 active judges of the court to grant rehearing en banc, so trump will need 6 of the remaining 8 active judges to get rehearing en banc.  That vote can take place quickly, most likely be email, if the DC Circuit's procedure is anything like the 10th circuit's.  Trump can get a stay of the issuance of the mandate by filing for a stay in SCOTUS.  I would hope that SCOTUS would deny the stay, which would force trump to probably petition for certiorari sooner rather than wait until day 90.  I wonder if Jack Smith will petition for cert. on something quickly to force the issue earlier.  I predict trump will seek a stay at SCOTUS in the first instance.  

      1. In looking at the lineup at SCOTUS, I would say there are probably four votes clearly against the immunity claim, two votes (Thomas and Alito) for whatever bullshit Trump brings before them, and three that could go either way (the three Trump appointees). 

        Of the three Trump appointees, I see Gorsuch as being the most likely to buy in to the bullshit Trump will present and Coney Barrett as the most likely to reject it.

        It takes 5 to grant a stay and 4 to grant cert so we could have the anomaly of SCOTUS taking the case but denying a stay.

        Remember the old days when Warren Burger actually got an 8-0 decision on Nixon's tapes? Those days are gone.

        1. Gone indeed.  Though Burger's inital draft opinion was not well received by his colleagues, and a lot of retooling went into it.  But the final decision was the death blow for Nixon.  

          Having said that, I could see the Court looking at this case and saying "no need to review it" and simply denying cert. 

      2. Yammie-pie can appeal the decision of the D.C. Circuit panel if he wants to. Still, according to ALL of the federal attorneys who appeared on MSNBC this evening, the panel would have spoken to their fellows on that bench before writing such an assertive denial. So he can ask for a different panel or an en banc hearing, but he’s likely to get the same answer. I also don’t think he can get 4 SCOTUS Justices to agree that there was anything wrong with the D.C. Circuit’s decision. 

      3. Yammie-pie can appeal the decision of the D.C. Circuit panel if he wants to. Still, according to ALL of the federal attorneys who appeared on MSNBC this evening, the panel would have spoken to their fellows on that bench before writing such an assertive denial. So he can ask for a different panel or an en banc hearing if he wants, but he's likely to get the same answer. I also don't think he can get 4 SCOTUS Justices to agree that there was anything wrong with the D.C. Circuit's decision. 

  4. H/T Liz Cheney

    Former representative  Liz Cheney (R-WY) summed up the day’s crisis over the national security measure: “On Trump’s orders, Republicans  in Congress are rejecting the border security deal. They’re also abandoning America’s allies in Ukraine. Trump and the [Republicans] are losing the war on purpose in an inexcusable betrayal that will strengthen America’s enemies for years to come.”

  5. Tina Peter's trial has been continued again.  It's now set to start July 29th.  She fired her lawyers (Richards Carrington firm) and new counsel is an attorney in Carbondale, Michael Edminster.  She claimed irreconcilable differences with her now-fired lawyers.  She also claimed she has COVID.  Regardless, the judge granted the continuance.  Absent something extraordinary happening, the trial will not get continued again.  But it is now set to take place after the GOP convention.  https://coloradosun.com/2024/02/06/tina-peters-trial-delayed/#:~:text=A%20judge%20postponed%20a%20criminal,with%20tampering%20with%20election%20equipment.

     

    1. How could she have COVID since those people believe it was just a hoax?

      I wonder if those irreconcilable differences had anything to do with the lawyers wanting to get paid and she thinking otherwise?

      Then again, she may have been trying to tell them to run her theory of defense based on her crackpot fantasies and delusions.

      1. I suspect that may have been the case, at least in part.  Knowing her and also the Richards Carrington firm, I'm unsurprised that a conflict arose.  I suspect that if she tries to fire her new counsel and get another continuance this summer that she is unlikely to succeed, absent really compelling circumstances.  

  6. Update on Mayorkas impeachment ….

    It ended in a 215-215 tie so one Republican changed his vote to "No", then they moved for reconsideration, and there will be another vote tomorrow.

    Scalise was the one missing member. I'm guess they'll wheel him in tomorrow for the re-vote.

    There Republicans made good on their threat to vote "No." 

     

    1. Update on the update!  

      Karoun Demirjian

      Feb. 6, 2024, 6:45 p.m. ET7 minutes ago

      7 minutes ago

      Karoun Demirjian

       

      The final vote is 214 to 216, which means one more Republican flipped to no.

    2. The honest 3 Republicans:  WAPO said "The vote had unexpectedly come to a tie after three Republican lawmakers bucked party lines to vote against the measure. Two of those lawmakers — Reps. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) and Ken Buck (R-Colo.) — had previously said publicly that they would not support the measure. But a third, Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) had stayed mum about how he would vote."

      On that next vote.  The last vote changed in order to have a member of the Republican leadership be able to ask for a reconsideration. (215-215, then 214-216 to allow reconsideration)

      Absent – Steve Scalise

      Scalise:  "Republican Representative Mike Simpson predicted that his leaders would arrange a second vote on Mayorkas once House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who has been receiving treatment for cancer, returns from sick leave.

      Scalise's office did not say when he plans to return to work."

      Vacancies:

      • Resigned February 02, 2024  Rep. Brian Higgins, D, NY-26
      • Resigned January 21, 2024 Rep. Bill Johnson, R, OH–06
      • Resigned December 31, 2023 Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R, CA-20
      • Expelled December 01, 2023, Rep. George Santos, R, NY-03
  7. Since Trump's lapdogs in Congress are uninterested in governing, in favor of political showboating, file this one under Trump's Stupid Pet Tricks:

    Catie Edmondson

    Feb. 6, 2024, 6:59 p.m. ETJust Now

    Just now

    Catie Edmondson

     

    To recap what has happened on Capitol Hill today: Republicans torpedoed a bipartisan border deal they demanded, leaving the fate of aid to Ukraine and Israel in peril. House Republicans tried to pre-empt that deal by proposing a standalone aid bill to Israel but were unable to pass it, with opposition from Democrats and their hard-right flank. And, finally, they failed to impeach the homeland security secretary after promising to do so for months.

  8. In bigger than our state.

    "The US Justice Department won’t file charges against President Joe Biden over his handling of classified documents found in his private home and office, but an investigative report will be critical of his actions, a person familiar with the matter said Tuesday"

    1. So he gets a scolding for carelessness. That's a far cry from what's coming to The Screaming Yam for willfully keeping and attempting to conceal similar material. One's absent-minded and disorganized, the other's a thief and perhaps a spy.

    2. The House Government/Oversight Committee and the Judiciary Committee will take the report and begin their own "investigation" into Biden's conduct a la the notorious Benghazi Committee, after which they will recommend that Biden be impeached for his conduct.

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