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Democratic pitbull California Congressman Eric Swalwell goes after Judiciary Committee chair Jim Jordan’s personal distaste for following the law and complying with subpoenas.  Speaking to the Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, Swalwell went after Jordan’s hypocrisy:

It’s a hard job.  If it’s an easy job, we wouldn’t have asked you to do it, but you were asked to do it because you’re qualified, you’re competent, you care.  You show compassion.  You show up every day and you deal with [idiocy from Republicans].  Frankly, sir, I think sometimes you’re too nice because if I had a chairman who failed to honor his own lawful subpoena about 500 days after it was submitted to him, I would say, ‘Catch me when you’re serious. Come talk to me when you’re going to follow the law about whether you think I follow the law.  But that’s not who you are.  You take your job seriously even in front of a lot of unserious people.

UPDATE 12:27 p.m. ET:  CNN reports that the two sides have agreed that the plea deal with cover the gun charges, outstanding tax nonpayment issues from 2014 to 2019, and drug charges.  The two sides agreed that the plea deal does not cover other outstanding charges that may (or may not) be under investigation.

Original story:  Major confusion going on in the Hunter Biden court hearing as the two sides cannot agree on the issues included in the plea agreement which governed a felony gun charge and two misdemeanor tax charges.  According to MSNBC reporting, the prosecutors and Biden’s counsel had a disagreement on whether the agreement covered any potential future charges relating to his business dealings overseas.

President Joe Biden nominated former Democratic Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley to head the Social Security Administration, citing O’Malley’s experience in modernizing government agencies as a key talent needed for the agency, which has 60,000 employees and a $1.3 trillion budget.

“Since Day 1 I have fought to strengthen and defend Social Security, which tens of millions of Americans have paid into and depend on to support their livelihoods. I know that Governor O’Malley will continue to be a strong partner who works tirelessly to protect Social Security for generations to come,” Biden said in a statement.

After his Party declared a sweeping victory in Sunday’s election, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen announced Wednesday that he would step down from his 38-year rule of the southeast Asian country and that his son will take his place, NBC News reports.

Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party won 120 of the 125 available seats in Parliament–fewer than the complete sweep reported earlier–securing his reign and his succession plan.  In a ceremonial move, Sen advised Cambodia’s King Norodom Sihamoni before giving a televised address to announce the change.

Sen’s son, 45-year-old Hun Manet, is the West Point-educated head of the Royal Cambodian Army.  He was elected to the Parliament for the first time Sunday and will assume the Prime Minister role August 10th.

Russian-supporting local officials in occupied areas of Ukraine say Ukrainian forces have launched an offensive in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, home of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant which has been the subject of speculation about potential sabotage, the New York Times reports.

Military analysts suggest Ukrainian forces are trying to force their way to the Sea of Azov, reaching an area south of Orikhiv, a Ukrainian-held town of 14,000, about 60 miles north of the Azov on the south side of the Dnipro River.  A local official observed the Ukrainian offensive using German Leopard tanks and American-made Bradley Fighting Vehicles supplied by the West.

“From inception, the DeSantis campaign was doomed. Beginning with a total failure to launch, Ron DeSantis has warmly embraced establishment RINOs and Never Trumpers. Despite millions of dollars spent to promote his candidacy, Ron finds a way to fall to new all-time lows with every coming poll. Now, amid yet another failed reboot, DeSantis and his establishment handlers have resorted to directly parroting the talking points of radical Leftists.”

“When Ron DeSanctimonious was most recently summoned before donors to explain his flailing campaign, his top lieutenants admitted to lighting donor money on fire. Though, even more telling, a top DeSantis fundraiser confessed that their ‘strategy’ relied on endless political prosecutions of President Trump by radical Leftist prosecutors. As the DeSantis campaign continues to utterly collapse, Ron has shown he’s willing to take the side of deranged, Marxist prosecutors and the radical Left for any shot at stopping the nose dive that has left him in third place, heading only south,” says the Trump campaign in a statement titled “Unholy Alliance: DeSantis Campaign Colluding with Biden’s Weaponized DOJ to Stop President Trump and the MAGA Movement.”

Interesting how there’s no mention of “colluding” in the statement itself… or on second thought not really that interesting that the Trump campaign know they’re full of shit and don’t care because that’s a regular Tuesday for them. But even calling it a “strategy” is overselling it as the statement links to an NBC News story quoting some pro-DeSantis asshole keeping his fingers crossed “there is a possibility” that Donald will be forced to drop out because of his legal problems… exactly the kind of wishful thinking that’s come to define Tiny D’s rapidly collapsing presidential campaign.

Drunken shitbrain Rudy Giuliani on Tuesday night filed a motion in which he admitted to making false and defamatory statements about mother-daughter Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shae Moss in the aftermath of disgraced former President Trump’s defeat in the Peach State, saying he no longer contests the complaint against him, Politico’s Kyle Cheney reports.

Some might be tempted to draw a connection to recent reports of a possible cooperation deal with Jack Smith, as Rudy can’t argue one thing in a civil case and then another in an overlapping criminal case if he wants to stay out of prison. Now while that is certainly not at all outside the realm of possibility, the simpler (though not-mutually exclusive) explanation is that Rudy’s is just so utterly fucked in the case and is waving the white flag in hopes the plaintiffs don’t wipe him out.

#ImpeachBidenNOW

— Rep. George Santos (@RepSantosNY03) July 25, 2023

Jason Smith, the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, filed an amicus brief with the judge hearing Hunter Biden’s plea deal Wednesday morning, urging her to reject the plea agreements because of “political interference” may have led to Hunter getting a lax deal, CNN reports.

“The Defendant appears to have benefited from political interference which calls into question the propriety of the investigation of the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” Smith’s filing said, adding “it is critical that the Court consider the Whistleblower Materials before determining whether to accept the Plea Agreement.” Judge Maryellen Noreika, a Trump appointee, can reject the plea agreement on two misdemeanors for failure to pay taxes and one gun felony for lying on a federal gun application about drug addiction, a charge that will require to follow a court-mandated sobriety plan and check in with court officers for a few years.

Believing the Deep State is giving Hunter a pass even though a Trump-appointed US Attorney investigated the case and negotiated the deal, Smith refers to two IRS agents who testified they heard contradictory things to what the US Attorney investigating the case had said publicly.  This grumbling from two IRS agents whose recommendations were largely ignored by prosecutors seems to be the basis for the latest GOP claim to impeach President Joe Biden.

Spandex-wearing grapple freak Jim Jordan on Tuesday appeared wary of the Justice Department giving him exactly what he asked for by greenlighting Delaware US Attorney David Weiss’s testimony to Jordan’s House Judiciary Committee, telling CNN’s Manu Raju he’s “got like 11 or 12 different people we want to talk to” before he puts Weiss on the hot seat – despite having for weeks demanded the Trump-appointed lawman testify immediately on the Hunter Biden plea deal.

“We want to talk to the assistant US Attorney Ms. (Lesley) Wolf, and others want to talk to some of the FBI folks there. They’re going to talk to the lawyers who are part of the Tax Division of DOJ. We want to talk to all those people that are part of that investigation,” Jordan continued, laying bare his fear of Weiss blowing up Jodan’s bullshit conspiracy theories about the plea deal.

In his perpetual battle to insult and demean anyone he views as a threat, Donald Trump posted a 2012 tweet–remember those?–on his failing social media platform from then-Reuters managing editor Paul Ingrassia that drags current Utah Republican Senator and 2012 GOP Presidential nominee Mitt Romney through the mud, citing then-New Jersey Governor and current GOP presidential candidate Chris Christie’s embrace of President Barack Obama for his assistance getting aid to hurricane-struck Jersians:

Christie was so star struck with Barack Hussein Obuma [sic], that Romney, who is a terrible politician and horrible representative of the Republican Party, never had a chance of winning the Presidency. Christie sold Romney out, making one of the worst Convention Speeches in History—Virtually not even mentioning Romney by name. Romney sat watching, in a trance—He couldn’t believe it!

Here’s the reality Trump doesn’t want you to remember:  Mitt Romney got a higher percentage of the popular vote in 2012 (47.2%) than Trump did in either of his two popular vote losses (46.1% in 2016 and 46.8% in 2020).

Democrats on Tuesday entered a resolution to officially censure Georgia Republican Congresswoman and evolving three-toed sloth Marjorie Taylor Greene for dozens of offenses in the four-page list of objectionable actions.  The move was sponsored by freshman Vermont Democrat Becca Balint.

“Whereas Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has repeatedly fanned the flames of racism, antisemitism, LGBTQ hate speech, Islamophobia, anti-Asian hate, xenophobia and other forms of hatred; Whereas Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has repeatedly debased the memories of thousands of victims of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 by perpetuating conspiracy theories to shift blame and responsibility for the mass murder; Whereas Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has repeatedly assaulted the foundation of our democracy by perpetuating conspiracy theories related to the January 6 attack on the Capitol which sought to halt the peaceful transfer of power; Whereas Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has repeatedly called for violence against elected representatives and their families;” the measure starts before listing Marge’s actions.

An ocean buoy floating in Manatee Bay, Florida, an area near West Palm Beach, reached a temperature of 101.1ºF on Monday, the temperature of water most hot tub manufacturers recommend for their spas, NBC News reports.  Air temps peaked at 93ºF around 1 p.m. local time.

If confirmed, the temperature may be a record:  the previous recorded high ocean surface temperature prior to this week in Florida was a relatively paltry 99.7º recorded at Kuwait Bay in the Persian Gulf.  Globally, the average surface water temperature hit a new high of 70ºF last April.

Realizing that he’s too weak and incompetent to work his way up the pyramid by impeaching Secretary of Homeland Security Alex Mayorkas, Attorney General Merrick Garland, FBI Director Chris Wray, Secretary of State Tony Blinken, or other MAGA public enemies first, titular Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy has concluded his safest bet to please his Orange God Emperor and his cult of fanatic extremists in the Republican caucus is to simply move forward with trying to impeach President Joe Biden as soon as realistically possible, CNN reports on more House GOP impotence.

It’s still easier said than done for the cowardly figurehead as a number of “moderate” Republicans in swing districts do not want anything to do with such an effort at least as the completely made-up case against Biden currently stands. “The Watergate profile is what we should benchmark off of, not the Pelosi method of putting it on the floor without a single committee hearing. Pelosi watered down and lowered the threshold for impeachment, and we should not follow her example. It’s not good for the country,” said Nebraska Congressman Don Bacon, a Biden-district frontliner who may or may not actually be principled here. New York Congressman Mike Lawler wouldn’t even answer a question from CNN about it. Worse, Freedom Caucasian Ken Buck is reportedly deeply skeptical and, as a member of the House Judiciary Committee, he could present a serious roadblock to getting any articles of impeachment out of the Judiciary Committee and onto the full House floor.

A federal judge ruled that Bowe Bergdahl, an Army Sergeant who pleaded guilty to desertion and other charges merited a new trial after defense attorneys showed the military judge who presided over the trial had applied for a job as an immigration judge in the Trump Administration, a position appointed by the sitting attorney general, Military.com reports.

Bergdahl’s lawyers argued that the judge, Col. Jeffery Nance, stated on a disclosure form that he was a “terminal colonel” and that his next position would be retirement.  However, he had already applied for the immigration judge position in 2017.  The lawyers argued that in seeking a political appointment, Nance may have been influenced by conservative cheering to convict Bergdahl, who walked away from his post in Afghanistan in 2007 and was subsequently held by the Taliban for five years before returning to the US in a prisoner exchange.

The military could choose to charge Bergdahl again, or if they drop the charges, Bergdahl could petition to be reinstated at his old rank.  Bergdahl could also opt to stay discharged and seek to change his discharge status from dishonorable.

“There’s some reporting, I understand,” newly-demoted Laura Ingraham lies as she starts outlining her fantasy to have Trump-appointed US Attorney David Weiss testify before bumpkin Republican Oversight Committee chair James Comer’s hearing with one of the people who claim he lied to the committee about his independence.  Always one to kowtow to TeeVee people, Comer agrees that it would be something to consider, and then goes on to implicate Weiss in “a major cover-up” without offering any evidence that anything was actually covered up.

In very much related news, on Thursday the House Oversight committee will hold a public hearing in which Area 51 “whistleblower” David Grusch will testify to his secondhand knowledge of alleged alien technology in the government’s possession, a far more grounded and realistic topic than virtually everything else the jackass has pursued so far this Congress.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s failing 2024 presidential campaign this week fired Nate Hochman a former National Review columnist and Tiny D speechwriter who put together that deeply cringey music video which ended with an image of a Nazi Sonnenrad symbol, Axios reports.

“Nate Hochman is no longer with the campaign. And we will not be commenting on him further,” said another DeSantis minion in a statement to Axios. The guy should’ve been fired for that video anyway. It was that fucking bizarre and awful with its wojak characters and pop music.

Country singer Jason Aldean has deleted six seconds of scenes from the video for his redneck vigilante tribute, “Try That in a Small Town,” the Washington Post reports, with the video no longer having scenes of BLM protests included.  Aldean faces continued criticism for the song, which challenges protesters, presumably those from the 2020 Black Lives Matter and subsequent movements, to exercise their First Amendment rights in those redneck small towns, where Aldean suggests the good ol’ boys’ll kick the shit out of them, like redneck good ol’ boys are wont to do to people who hold different views from them because they can’t rationally explain their views.  And it’s all done in the name of the gosh darn U.S. of A.

Aldean’s video has already been criticized for its location–a Tennessee court house infamous as the site of a Black teen’s lynching in the 1920s–and the fact that the song glorifies the type of extrajudicial punishment and intimidation popular with the KKK and other hate groups in various small towns across the country.

Take this with a huge grain of salt given that it comes from Kari Lake advisor Caroline Wren, who supports a politician who claims to be the righteous governor of Arizona despite having lost the election and every subsequent case about the outcome of the election.  It could be a Trump-favoring attempt to sow distrust in the DeSantis camp, or it could be a sign that DeSantis followers don’t see a turnaround for the plummeting campaign.