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House Oversight Chairbilly James Comer on Friday formally and officially declined to act like a man and take up Hunter Biden lawyer Abbe Lowell on his challenge to allow Hunter to testify in an open, publicly televised hearing as opposed to a closed deposition, with Comer writing to Lowell:

“We received your letter dated November 28, 2023, concerning the deposition subpoenas issued to your client, Robert Hunter Biden. We appreciate your confirmation that Mr Biden is available and willing to testify on December 13. Pursuant to the terms of the subpoenas, the Rules of the House of Representatives, and the respective Committee rules, this testimony will occur initially in a deposition setting, as has been the consistent practice of Committees of the House of Representatives in recent Congresses – during both Republican and Democrat majorities – as well as these Committees during this inquiry. We also appreciate your confirmation that Mr Biden is willing to testify at a public hearing. We look forward to his testimony in a hearing at the appropriate time.”

“Mr Biden’s attempt to avoid sitting for a deposition pursuant to the terms of the subpoenas – by offering instead to testify at a public hearing – amounts to a demand that he receive special treatment from the Committees. Mr Biden will not succeed in attempting to dictate to the Committees how they conduct their investigation. The subpoenas Mr Biden has received compel him to appear before the Committees for a deposition; they are not mere suggestions open to Mr Biden’s interpretation or preference. Several Justice Department, FBI, and IRS officials have testified in transcribed interview and deposition settings, as has Devon Archer, Mr Biden’s business associate. Notably, other Hunter Biden business associates are also cooperating with our subpoenas and not demanding a public hearing first. Mr Biden seems to believe that he should be treated differently than other witnesses before the Committees. Nonetheless, if it helps to alleviate your stated concerns, you should be aware that, consistent with House and Committee rules and practice, we intend to videotape the deposition and release the deposition transcript soon after its completion.”

Walmart is determined to absolutely screw over its customer base in middle America. Bud light was the last company to show such unvarnished contempt for its consumers. https://t.co/MjxxmJS9mK

— Stephen Miller (@StephenM) December 1, 2023

Republican former Nevada Attorney General and 2022 Senate race loser Adam Laxalt has backed down from his post in the “Never Back Down PAC” that’s supposed to be helping Ron DeSantis defeat disgraced former President Trump for the GOP nomination, the New York Times reports .

If you check out the description of our “WATCH LIVE” post of the Friday morning vote on George Santos’s expulsion from the House we had couched it in a lot of uncertainty after what had seemed like a done deal in the political media universe had suddenly been cast into doubt this morning. First it was Speaker Mike Johnson coming out against it, next a flurry of tweets from Capitol reporters saying shit like “Some of the GOP members who told me they were a yes on expelling Santos now say they’ve flipped to no or undecided. Some are looking for guidance from leadership and not getting a ton – though others say they are seeing smoke signals suggesting they shouldn’t vote to expel” and “momentum appears to be trending in [Santos’s] direction” and so on and so forth.

And then it wasn’t even close. At all, with 29 more Republicans voting yes than were needed.

If you read yesterday’s rant about the media’s relationship with “momentum” on Capitol Hill you already know where we’re going with this: It had all the hallmarks of another scam operation designed to get wayward souls on board the GOP’s ship of unaccountability. Really the only thing tempering it is what David Joyce, a Republican member of the Ethics Committee, told CNN about how other scumbag Congressman Max Miller’s last minute email to his colleagues was received.

This two minutes and 11 seconds of pure copium laced with falsehoods is almost too much for us to unpack but we’ll try: First off what the fuck, lol. Chaffetz claims “nothing happened” to Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell for their imaginary transgressions when earlier this year they were both removed from the intel committee by Kevin McCarthy. Second, he asks Democrats “Where is your position on [Senator Bob] Menendez?” as if more than half of the Dems in the upper chamber haven’t called on him to resign, while ONE Republican there said the same. It’s true that Senate Dems haven’t tried to expel Menendez (and they should), but they’re probably also waiting on an ethics report.

Finally, back to Schiff and Swalwell, which at the get-go Chaffetz asked “How come they’re not having this vote” on the two Democrats which is, uh… Is gremlin-face really this fucking stupid or does he just believe, probably correctly, that the Fox News audience is this fucking stupid?

What person who watched the tally and understood the very basic arithmetic of the vote would think that it would be a good use of the House GOP majority’s time to try to expel those two and that it would be successful? In what world are the 90 or so Dems needed going to be on board with that?

In very related news, Bob Menendez’s son, New Jersey Dem Congressman Rob Menendez, did vote in favor of expelling Santos this time around, somewhat surprisingly so after his seemingly convenient no vote last month. The two Democrats that voted against expulsion were Nikema Williams and Bobby Scott, neither of whom we’d heard of before. Kevin McCarthy didn’t even bother to show up to vote after repeatedly blocking efforts to boot Santos while Kev was still Speaker.

Heels-wearing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who probably isn’t in a good mood after getting his balls handed to him by California Governor Gavin Newsom in their much-hyped Fox News debate on Thursday night, on Friday said Sunshine State GOP Chairman Christian Ziegler should step down after the second woman in his three-way sexual marriage that also includes Moms for Liberty co-founder Bridget Zielger fell apart with a criminal sexual battery complaint, FloridaPolitics.com reports

“I think he should step aside and think he should attend to that,” DeSantis told ABC News. “He’s innocent until proven guilty, but we just can’t have a party Chair that is under that type of scrutiny.”

DeSantis did not say Ziegler’s a sick fuck who has no place leading a state party dedicated to using government power to promote traditional family values and all that shit. It’s true Ziegler’s merely been accused of rape (Florida statute terms it as “sexual battery”) which of course he’s innocent until proven guilty. But it’s abundantly clear that nobody – DeSantis included – seems to be contesting that the three-way relationship was not real, which raises the question of how there’s no sort of written or unwritten morality clause coming into effect here and that he should step down anyway irrespective of the criminal case. Why isn’t that part of the “scrutiny” a consideration?

The US House of Representatives on Friday voted 311 to 114 – well over the 2/3rds majority present required – to expel lying piece of shit Long Island Congressman George Santos from the chamber, shaving one off the GOP’s razor-thin majority until a special election that will be hotly contested but likely lean in favor of a Democratic candidate. Santos becomes just the sixth member expelled from the House in the chamber’s 234-year history and the only one to have not been convicted of a felony or engaged in rebellion against the United States. The now-former congressman said nothing to reporters as he left the Capitol immediately afterward and got into a waiting car.

On Friday Ohio MAGA Congressman Max Miller – the former Trump White House aide accused of punching fellow staffer Steph Grisham while they were dating, the subject of (probably accurate) shit-talking from George Santos on the House floor on Thursday – sent an email to colleagues said to be wavering on expelling the piece of shit by sharing the “personal impact” of Santos’s crimes.

“Late yesterday on the floor I alluded to a personal impact of Rep Santos’s conduct. Earlier this year I learned that the Santos campaign had charged my personal credit card – and the personal card of my Mother – for contribution amounts that exceeded FEC limits. Neither my Mother nor I approved these charges or were aware of them. We have spent tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees in the resulting follow up. I’ve seen a list of roughly 400 other people to whom the Santos campaign allegedly did this. I believe some other members of this conference might have had the same experience. While I understand and respect the position of those who will vote against the expulsion resolution, my personal experience related to the allegations and findings of the Ethics Committee compels me to vote for the resolution. Since I alluded to this on the floor yesterday, and because of the significance of the question before us, I believe you’re entitled to this further explanation,” Miller wrote without adding anything about how letting Santos skate might make Republicans look like they’re abiding his conduct and voters might not react well to that. Just the “personal impact.”

The DC Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday rejected disgraced former President Trump’s “absolute immunity” defense against a number of lawsuits brought against him by several members of Congress and Capitol police officers for his inciting the January 6th MAGA insurrection.

The decision just might kind of have some not-good implications for Trump’s defense in his criminal case in DC for the failed coup attempt, as the court ruled “When a first-term President opts to seek a second term, his campaign to win re-election is not an official presidential act. The Office of the Presidency as an institution is agnostic about who will occupy it next. And campaigning to gain that office is not an official act of the office. So, when a sitting President running for a second term attends a private fundraiser for his re-election effort, hires (or fires) his campaign staff, cuts a political ad supporting his candidacy, or speaks at a campaign rally funded and organized by his re-election campaign committee, he is not carrying out the official duties of the presidency.”

“He is acting as office-seeker, not office-holder – no less than are the persons running against him when they take precisely the same actions in their competing campaigns to attain precisely the same office. President Trump himself recognized that he engaged in his campaign to win re-election – including his post-election efforts to alter the declared results in his favor – in his personal capacity as presidential candidate, not in his official capacity as sitting President. That is evident in his effort to intervene in the Supreme Court’s consideration of a post-election lawsuit challenging the administration of the election in various battleground states. He expressly filed his motion in the Supreme Court ‘in his personal capacity as candidate for reelection to the office of President’ rather than in his official capacity as sitting President.” It keeps going but you get the gist.

This is it! Maybe! Lying piece of shit Long Island Republican Congressman George Santos will be expelled from the House of Representatives! Possibly! There are enough votes to kick his flabby ass out of Congress for good! Or there are not enough votes to kick his flabby ass out of Congress for good! It’s a not sure thing! That’s really exciting! Kind of! We think it is! Just watch the video above!

Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor has died the age of 93, the court announced on Friday, setting up a heated Senate confirmation battle for her seat as an election year appro-

Oh wait, O’Connor retired from the court like 20 years ago. Silly us for thinking that justices are supposed to stay on the bench until they die and shift the court’s ideological balance if the president and the Senate majority are aligned to confirm a replacement to their side’s advantage.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson on Friday told Punchbowl’s Jake Sherman that he will vote against expelling George Santos, with Johnson evidently having decided that tossing a gay immigrant scumbag who ripped off the NRCC from his chamber before he’s convicted might set a bad “precedent” – as in voting yes could be incongruous with supporting a presidential candidate also credibly accused of federal felonies. And make it harder to pass legislation. There’s that too.

Meanwhile “moderate” New York Republican Marc Molinaro tells CNN’s Manu Raju that he and his anti-Santos colleagues are “closing in” on the 90-ish number of GOP yes votes (assuming all Dems vote yes too, probably a safe assumption) but that it will be “tight.” It’s not clear yet what Johnson’s own no vote will do in terms of swaying other Republicans, though it probably isn’t a good sign.

Well, that didn’t take long!

I am not a fan of @Moms4Liberty. I was attacked for saying this months ago. But something doesn’t smell right.

Never has, if you want my honest opinion.

Why did you delete this post, @TinaDescovich? https://t.co/25ZFDJaGKL pic.twitter.com/MKqK2EDT6E

— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) November 30, 2023

Would be worried if it was only Laura Loomer saying she had dirt on these Nazis and not an actual criminal complaint against the co-founder’s husband. Otherwise we might be getting hyped up about a massive scandal that could destroy “Moms for Libertarianism” or “Mops for Libraries.”

An in-depth review of “independent” presidential candidate Cornel West’s finances by Forbes finds that his assets equity in a home co-owned with Princeton University and a retirement account worth roughly a combined $505,000 versus $465,000 in outstanding tax liens leaves his net worth at about $40,000, which Forbes describes as “leaving West little breathing room if other debts pop up.”

And they “popped up” quite a bit over the years given his five marriages and habit of knocking up women then not paying child support. Doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who would handle the “managing the world’s largest economy” part of the job he supposedly seeks very well at all.

But absolutely perfect for the actual job he’s in all probability been hired to do, unwittingly or otherwise, by certain actors with a vested interest in seeing West on the ballot in a number of key states where he could help swing the 2024 presidential election a certain way. A guy who’s for all intents and purposes broke will happily accept a bargain price in exchange for such a service.

“Extreme House Republicans have spent the entire year investigating President Biden, and over and over again, they have failed to turn up any evidence of wrongdoing. In fact, their own witnesses and documents have time after time debunked their false allegations. Faced with this level of ‘failure theater,’ these same extreme House Republicans now appear to be trying to invent claims of ‘obstruction’ and ‘stonewalling’ to rationalize their illegitimate so-called ‘impeachment inquiry.’

“Some House Republicans are even leaning on these false claims as a predicate to vote to formally authorize such an inquiry. The problem: Claims of ‘obstruction’ and ‘stonewalling’ are easily refuted by the facts. Those House Republicans don’t have to simply take our word for it: They should listen to comments from their own colleagues, such as Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer who has bragged on TV that he has received ‘100% of what we’ve requested’ and even said ‘we’re in the downhill phase of this investigation now because we have so many documents,'” reads a memo from White House impeachment “war room” guy Ian Sams sent to House Democrats on Friday.

“The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is preparing to land humans on the moon for the first time since 1972 in a mission known as Artemis III. Since GAO’s September 2022 report, NASA and its contractors have made progress, including completing several important milestones, but they still face multiple challenges with development of the human landing system and the space suits. As a result, GAO found that the Artemis III crewed lunar landing is unlikely to occur in 2025. In July 2023, NASA stated that it is reviewing the Human Landing System schedule.”

“The Human Landing System program is aiming to complete its development – from project start to launch – in 79 months, which is 13 months shorter than the average for NASA major projects. The complexity of human spaceflight suggests that it is unrealistic to expect the program to complete development more than a year faster than the average for NASA major projects, the majority of which are not human spaceflight projects. GAO found that if development took as long as the average for NASA major projects, the Artemis III mission would likely occur in early 2027.”

“As of September 2023, the Human Landing System program had delayed eight of 13 key events by at least 6 months. Two of these events have been delayed to 2025 – the year the lander is planned to launch. The delays were caused in part by the Orbital Flight Test, which was intended to demonstrate certain features of the launch vehicle and lander configuration in flight. The test was delayed by 7 months to April 2023. It was then terminated early when the vehicle deviated from its expected trajectory and began to tumble. Subsequent tests rely on successful completion of a second Orbital Flight Test,” says a bummer of a new General Accountability Office report.

Despite Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis acting like a 13-year-old acting like a teenager whose mother just reviewed his browser history during his debate with Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom, Fox hostess and former White House professional liar Kayleigh McEnarny handed the debate to DeSantis:  “DeSantis gets an ‘A’; he was the clear runaway winner.  However, Gavin Newsom given a bad pile of facts gets a ‘C’; he’s a sharp messenger.  Watch out, that guy’s coming.”

At least 117 people in 34 states have contracted salmonella poisoning after eating cut cantaloupe–sold both as an individual product or as part of fruit salads–pushing officials to warn people not to eat the fruit if they don’t know the farm where it came from, the Washington Post reports.

Two brands, Malichita or Rudy, have been linked to the known cases, with the products having been sold at Kwik Trip, Bix Produce, Kroger, Sprouts Farmers Market and Trader Joe’s stores around the country.  Earlier this month, the companies recalled their whole fruit from stores, but failed to recall fruit that was sent to processors.

Saying Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is on a “banning binge, a cultural purge” going after LGBTQ, women’s rights and reproductive medical care to take the US back to a “pre-1960s” time, California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom landed the fatal punch in his final statement during the dog-and-pony show Fox “News” hoped would bring Ron DeSantis into prominence to justify dumping Trump:  “But there’s one thing in closing that we have in common, is neither of us will be the nominee for our party in 2024.”

DeSantis did nothing to improve his chances.  He was smoked by Newsom on most topics, but also comically noted that more people moved from California to Florida than the other way.  And that’s true, but largely due to California being double the population of Florida.  In fact, a higher percentage of the population of Florida left to move to California than the percentage who moved the other way, according to the US Census.

Saying it “overstepped state power,” a federal judge has blocked a ban on the social media site TikTok instituted by the Montana state government from going into effect, a significant strike against conservatives who want to block access to the Chinese-owned site particularly popular with young people.

According to NBC News, Clinton-appointed Senior District Judge Donald Molloy commented that users sign up for the service voluntarily and voluntarily giving their information to the app, a comment to which prompted Montana Solicitor General Christian Corrigan to assert the Republican state government needed to limit people’s freedom to do what they chose because Montanans are smart and they “don’t know what they’re doing. They’re exposing themselves to the Chinese military. So we need to say ‘ban TikTok citizens from exercising certain individual liberties.’”

Republican Montana Governor Greg Gianforte, famous for assaulting a reporter, signed the bill in May, and the ban would have gone into effect in January 2024, resulting in a fine of up to $10,000 for each time someone in Montana had the app advertised to them or was offered the opportunity to download the app.  TikTok or the app store would have been responsible for the fine, not the individual who downloaded the app because, y’know, Republicans are the Party of Personal Responsibility.  But then, Gianforte bodyslammed a reporter when he was asked a question about the Affordable Care Act, which is a completely rational response.