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It’s schadenfreude week here at National Zero.  First, Alex Jones gets nailed with a judgment that will cost him tens of millions of dollars.  Then, the killers of Ahmaud Arbery get extended federal prison terms.  And now, Mar-a-Lago gets raided by federal agents.

So what do we know–and don’t know–yet about the raid of Mar-a-Lago.  Well, first, it’s not Watergate:  this is a search done by a federal warrant.  We also know that Trump wasn’t at Mar-a-Lago when the search warrant was executed.  And we know Trump is pissed, but that’s his normal condition.

Editorial Note:  Our normal story format will be altered as news breaks on this.  We’ll be re-upping this story as new information arises, with other stories posted as we typically do.

11:09 p.m. ET:  Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis comes out in favor of lawlessness and against enforcing federal laws.  It will be interesting to see how long this tweet lasts if/when an indictment is handed down by a grand jury.

The raid of MAL is another escalation in the weaponization of federal agencies against the Regime’s political opponents, while people like Hunter Biden get treated with kid gloves. Now the Regime is getting another 87k IRS agents to wield against its adversaries? Banana Republic.

— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) August 9, 2022

Attorney General Garland: preserve your documents and clear your calendar. pic.twitter.com/dStAjnwbAT

— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) August 9, 2022

You know it’s a bad day in MAGA Land when we can do a full roundup of reactions to a major story rather than just one. And this is definitely a far worse day for them than just Derek Chauvin getting convicted for the murder of George Floyd and that Nazi woman losing the election in France:

“The Day Democracy officially died in the USA!” – The current top comment on the TownHall article.

“A president who got 81 million votes would not do this to his opponent. One who stole an election would” – Top comment on one of at least eight Breitbart articles about the raid.

“Funny how the FBI didn’t raid Hunter’s apartment or look into Pelosi’s stock trading” – Part of the current top comment on one of the five and counting Gateway Pundit articles about the raid.

“CIVIL WAR HAS BEEN DECLARED!” – Top comment on “We Love Trump” (yeah, seriously).

“This is full blown authoritarian ? You wanted this lefties. It won’t end well for anyone” – Top comment on the American Greatness article about Trump’s meltdown over the raid.

“This is an unprecedented attack by a sitting president against his future opponent. Even the most moronic democrat needs to wake up and see what harm modern democrats are doing to our country. Anyone who’s ever voted democrat, hang your head in shame. grooming, tax and spend, big tech, media censoring, crook electing, party of victimhood” – PJ Media top comment.

That last one is particularly rich, and not just because of the “media censoring, crook electing, party of victimhood” shit which is risible enough on its own. The “unprecedented attack by a sitting president against his future opponent” already happened three years ago when Trump tried to torpedo Biden’s candidacy by withholding aid to Ukraine to get them to announce a fake investigation into Hunter Biden. Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind, you crybaby motherfuckers.

On a slow news night like this (!), I couldn’t let this nugget go:  the lawyer who just won nearly $50 million for the survivors of a child victim of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre confirmed that there was a photo of Alex Jones’s naked wife in the copy of the phone records Jones’s lawyers turned over.  And there’s a record that Jones sent that photo of his naked wife to Trump dirty trickster Roger Stone.

I know: it’s crazy. The President of the United States went to the site of an environmental disaster, likely exacerbated by human destruction of the ecosystem and intensified by climate change, and he was sympathetic to the victims and caring for their lives. He didn’t throw paper towels. He didn’t joke about them having a boat land in their backyards, or now having a swimming pool.  President Joe Biden didn’t do that during his trip Monday to flood-ravaged Kentucky.

After a spectacular week when he had significant legislative and foreign relations successes, he didn’t stroke his own ego by touting his claimed achievements–not that TFG had a list of actual productive achievements, but just a list of lies and unfulfilled promises. It’s so nice having a leader who can think of someone other than himself, and one that shows genuine concern for his constituents.

This week just keeps getting better and better-er:  The Daily Beast reports that Fox host and guy who threw parties in high school because he never got invited to any Tucker Carlson is “shitting himself” because he exchanged emails with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones that may outline embarrassing–and potential criminal– activity.

Carlson and Jones reportedly exchanged multiple text messages daily–perhaps coordinating coverage of things that would enrage their audiences, which is a Venn diagram of crazy.  In the defamation suit Jones lost and which he was ordered to pay nearly $50 million to the survivors of one of the students killed during the Sandy Hook massacre, Jones’s lawyers handed over a digital copy of the contents of Jones’s phone and did nothing to “pull back” the information from the plaintiffs, allowing them to put it all into the public record.

Those messages have been provided to the House Select Committee investigating the January 6th Republican-led domestic terrorist attack on Congress, and it’s likely the FBI has also requested copies of the information to facilitate its investigation into the Trump campaign attempts to undermine the Constitution.

It’s a highly addictive drug that could cause an overdose resulting in death. A happy, blissful death with a smile on your face from ear to ear, but death nonetheless. Your family will miss you.

Trump himself confirmed the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago indeed occurred Monday in a statement. Wrote the Orange God Emperor: “These are dark times for our Nation, as my beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents. Nothing like this has ever happened to a President Of the United States before. After working and cooperating with the relevant Government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate. It is prosecutorial misconduct, the weaponization of the Justice System, and an attack by Radical Left Democrats who desperately don’t want me to run for President in 2024, especially based on recent polls, and who will likewise do anything to stop Republicans and Conservatives in the upcoming Midterm Elections. Such an assault could only take place in broken, Third-World Countries. Sadly, America has now become one of those Countries, corrupt at a level not seen before. They even broke into my safe! What is the difference between this and Watergate, where operatives broke into the Democrat National Committee? Here, in reverse, Democrats broke into the home of the 45th President of the United States.”

“The political persecution of President Donald J. Trump has been going on for years, with the now fully debunked Russia, Russia, Russia Scam, Impeachment Hoax #1, Impeachment Hoax #2, and so much more, it just never ends. It is political targeting at the highest level! Hillary Clinton was allowed to delete and acid wash 33,000 E-mails AFTER they were subpoenaed by Congress. Absolutely nothing has happened to hold her accountable. She even took antique furniture, and other items from the White House. I stood up to America’s bureaucratic corruption, I restored power to the people, and truly delivered for our Country, like we have never seen before. The establishment hated it. Now, as they watch my endorsed candidates win big victories, and see my dominance in all polls, they are trying to stop me, and the Republican Party, once more. The lawlessness, political persecution, and Witch Hunt must be exposed and stopped. I will continue to fight for the Great American People!” concluded the obviously very agitated disgraced former President.

Big if true. Peter Schorsch, publisher of Florida Politics reports from two sources that FBI agents on Monday executed a search warrant at disgraced former President Trump’s lair at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. Verbatim from Schorsch: “Not sure what the search warrant was about. TBH, Im not a strong enough reporter to hunt this down, but its real.” Holy shit.

This evening will mark 48 years since Richard Nixon announced he would resign effective at noon the next day. If you’ve ever read The Final Days by Woodward and Bernstein you know that it was an absolute shitshow of dysfunction inside the White House as Nixon steadily and inexorably lost his grip on power, with Republican Senator Barry Goldwater and pals telling him the jig was up and an impeachment by the House would result in a swift conviction in the Senate trial.

Nixon forces his family to smile for a pic after telling him he was resigning

Now Woodward and Bernstein are still working, you see them on TV and in print. Then there’s guys publishing op-eds and doing appearances on MSNBC like Richard Ben Veniste, Nick Ackerman, and others who worked in Watergate special prosecutors Archibald Cox and then Leon Jaworski’s investigations. Nixon White House counsel John Dean’s still on the circuit too. Hell even Hillary worked the House Impeachment inquiry legal team. Henry Kissinger is still alive, God knows how.

But there’s one man with a unique perspective who, if he wasn’t so busy, would be great to hear from about what it was like inside Washington as everything came down for Tricky Dick.

UPDATE (6:10 p.m. ET):  Gregory McMichael, the father of the man who shot Ahmaud Arbery, received a life sentence on the federal charges that he violated Arbery’s civil rights, according to USA Today.  The third man, William “Roddie” Bryan, received a 35 year sentence; Bryan was the only one of the trio to get a life sentence in the state trial that would offer parole, after 30 years, so this will likely keep him in jail another five years.
________________________

Original story:  Travis McMichael, the white man who chased Black jogger Ahmaud Arbery and shot him dead for running through a predominantly white neighborhood, has been sentenced to life in prison on federal civil rights charges, the Associated Press reports.

U.S. District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood of the Southern District of Georgia sentenced McMichael Monday morning.  McMichael is already serving a life sentence plus 20 years without the possibility of parole.  The federal conviction means that should McMichael somehow get a pardon or commutation of sentence from a future Georgia governor–which, let’s be honest, isn’t an impossibility with today’s Republican Party–he will still spend the rest of his life in jail.  It also nullifies the possibility that he would be released if his sentence is overturned on some technicality in some future appeal.

McMichael, along with his Greg McMichael, and neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan, pursued the 25-year-old Arbury as he jogged through a neighborhood after Arbury had stopped at a home construction site to get a drink of water from a hose.  Driving a pickup truck, with Bryan in a different car following and videoing the interaction, McMichael brandished a shotgun as he got out of the pickup truck.  McMichael shot Arbury three times with the shotgun–he later claimed he feared for his life even though he was armed and Arbury wasn’t–and then waited for law enforcement.

An evangelical Texas church will likely face a fusillade of lawsuits after putting on an unsanctioned version of the groundbreaking musical Hamilton in which it changed lines and the lyrics of songs to demean LGBTQ people, the San Antonio Express-News reports.

Audience members were, um, “treated” to lines that depicted the characters of Alexander Hamilton and Eliza Schuyler recounting how Jesus “saved” them.  To watch, people didn’t have to be in the room where it happened:  the church live streamed the performance.  For that, and a number of other reasons, the church is likely to face a lawsuit from Lin-Manuel Miranda and the owners of the copyrights of the musical.

Church pastor Roman Gutierrez claims that he got the rights to perform the musical prior to the August 5th performance.  However, rights to perform shows explicitly bar significant changes to the form, message and structure of the piece, particularly changing lines and lyrics. 

Snowflake Republican Pennsylvania state Senator and gov nominee Doug Mastriano’s lawyer had warned the House January 6th Select Committee’s planned Tuesday interview may end before his client is even sworn in if they can’t record the virtual appearance from their end and keep the footage “in escrow” to publicly release segments “in context” to counter any shorter releases of Mastriano’s answers by the committee, CNN reports. This, of course, is bullshit and sounds more like he wants to give his buddies the heads up on what committee investigators are asking about.

Alcoholic shitbrain Rudy Giuliani filed an emergency request Monday to delay his scheduled Tuesday testimony to the Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney’s grand jury investigating the failed attempt by Trump and his minions to overturn the 2020 election, CBS News reports.

Rudy’s lawyers claim his doctors don’t want him traveling after he had surgery earlier this summer to add stents to his heart but also say in the motion he wants it to be more like a “traditional” grand jury, whatever the fuck that’s supposed to mean, writing “Mr. Giuliani would be willing to [testify], in a room, alone, but with the ability to leave the room and consult with counsel as need be – the exact same conditions that would be present during a Grand Jury proceeding.”

So Biden's Deputy White House Press Secretary, @Andrewjbates46, is posting literal Nazi memes on Twitter and our corrupt media is completely silent about it.

I'm sure that if this was a Trump WH staffer, the media would treat it the exact same way and totally ignore it 🙄🙄🙄 https://t.co/FlgrWlVzNC

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) August 8, 2022

The House January 6th Select Committee have obtained the contents of Alex Jones’s phone after his dumbass lawyer accidentally sent it to Mark Bankston, the plaintiffs’ attorney in the Sandy Hook case, CNN reports. Gay frogs rejoice, for your oppressor is pretty fucked.

2pm EDT Aug 8: We are still monitoring a tropical wave S of the Cabo Verde Islands in the far East Atlantic. This system has a 20%🟡2-day & 40%🟠5-day chance of tropical cyclone formation before conditions become less favorable by this weekend.

Outlook→https://t.co/m9946DpwNQ pic.twitter.com/x3UnZz7yY1

— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) August 8, 2022

The Biden Administration is readying a new $1 billion care package to help Ukraine win the fight against Ivan, said to include “Capabilities in this package include: Additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), 75,000 rounds of 155mm artillery ammunition, 20120mm mortar systems and 20,000 rounds of 120mm mortar ammunition, Munitions for National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), 1,000 Javelin and hundreds of AT4 anti-armor systems, 50 armored medical treatment vehicles, Claymore anti-personnel munitions, C-4 explosives, demolition munitions, and demolition equipment, Medical supplies, to include first aid kits, bandages, monitors, and other equipment,” per a screenshot of an official press release.

“In total, the United States has now committed approximately $9.8 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the Biden Administration. Since 2014, the United States has committed more than $11.8 billion in security assistance to Ukraine. To meet Ukraine’s evolving battlefield requirements, the United States will continue to work with its Allies and partners to provide Ukraine with key capabilities calibrated to make a difference,” said the press release.

Russia meanwhile is reportedly sourcing drones from Iran and did not publicly say no to North Korean dictator Kim Jon Un’s offer of 100,000 troops in exchange for food and oil. Sad!

Democracy is doomed because election denying candidates are on the ballot in crucial swing states and elsewhere, the mainstream media reports. Cruelly and deliberately tormenting the sanity of impressionable worrywart libs, the mainstream media led their stories reviewing the 2022 midterm landscape by treating the victories of 2024 MAGA coup plotters in key races as much closer to inevitabilities than is actually realistic if current polling is anywhere near accurate.

Republicans who have disputed the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election — and who could affect the outcome of the next one — are on a path toward winning decisive control over how elections are run in several battleground states. https://t.co/oMjyGnbsSP

— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 3, 2022

Concerns about the economy, Joe Biden’s approval rating, and culture war battles, the mainstream media added, giving “balance” to their reporting which all too often is unfair to Republicans because of shit like Hunter Biden’s laptop. But by all means let the “horserace” and both-siderism bullshit get you and decide that hope and more importantly voting are pointless. Let Politico, Axios, Chuck Todd, and their ilk have their ultra-mega hyper news cycles that Republican victories in 2022 and a second Trump Administration would bring them. That kind of shit makes them money.

Right wing Wisconsin billionaires are sinking over $10 million into PACs backing utter piece of shit Republican Senator Ron “RonAnon” Johnson as he faces a tough reelection fight against Dem Lt Governor Mandela Barnes, Forbes reports. Of the haul, building materials oligarch Diane Hendricks kicked in $6.5 million while Dick and Liz Uhlein of the “ULINE” warehouse and office supply company spent $4 million for their precious white snowflake threatened by a mean Black liberal.

This is a guy who was caught on tape admitting that Trump lost Wisconsin fairly, not once but twice (and called Trump an asshole), said his state has enough jobs already and doesn’t need more, blocked a vote on COVID-19 stimulus checks in December 2020, probably cheats on his taxes, can’t get his story straight on how he planned to hand fake electoral college votes for Wisconsin and Michigan to Mike Pence on January 6th 2021, and is 18 points underwater in approval in Wisconsin.

That list could be a lot longer. Say what you will about Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz. They say dumb, evil shit all the time too, but fortunately for them and unfortunately for us they’re in pretty safe seats and have the luxury of non-accountability. RonAnon doesn’t, and neither do his donors who are obviously desperate to keep a reliable conservative vote in the Senate even if he is prone to self-sabotage like saying Social Security and Medicare should be subject to annual renewal.