Career Justice Department prosecutors are recommending the Attorney General not file charges against Florida Republican Congressman and accused child sex trafficker Matt Gaetz, saying they don’t believe they can secure a conviction because of the lack of credibility of cooperating witnesses, the Washington Post reports.

Gaetz and his friend, Florida Republican politician Joel Greenberg, allegedly hired underage prostitutes, transporting them across state lines to engage in sexual activities with them.  Greenberg became a cooperating witness, but he has been accused of various other crimes, including abuse of office and mismangement of funds.

The final decision to charge Gaetz will be left to senior department officials, but having staff prosecutors lobby against charging a target impacts that decision greatly.

Bless their little hearts.  They try so hard.  But as this individual in line to attend a Trump rally in Wilmington, North Carolina Friday demonstrates, MAGAts just can’t seem to grasp reality.

“… that Biden should be impeached for what he’s done, um, with, with wuhzer, with what he did with Afghanistan for one.  Um, just us leaving and not helping our, our troops that are still over there today, is just, i- it baffles my mind that a sitting president can, uh, sleep at night, ah, knowing what he’s done.”

Meathead Ohio Republican US House candidate JR Majewski came up with a really cool-sounding explanation for why he apparently publicly lied about his military service record by saying he served in Afghanistan when the closest he got to the front was a post in the relatively safe and comfortable forward base in Qatar: The records are classified. “The orders and military records that I have been able to obtain from my personal files shows that all of my deployments are listed as classified,” Majewski said Friday. It’s not clear why he is is publicly able to talk about these things but not, say, show the records to media outlets if he has them. Or why none of the people he served with in Afghanistan have come forward to vouch for his claims. But hey, it’s “classified.”

President Joe Biden on Friday said the Senate filibuster is toast if the Democrats win two more Senate seats in the Midterms, CNBC reports. He kind of left out the other piece of the puzzle, the equally crucial holding on to the House majority in the speech to the National Education Association in DC, but whatever. Anyone who pays attention to this shit knows Dems have to do it.

“If you give me two more senators in the United States Senate, I promise you, I promise you, we’re going to codify Roe and once again make Roe the law of the land,” said Biden. The power to get things done is in the hands of the American people, especially the women out there. I don’t think the MAGA Republicans have a clue about the power of American women. Let me tell you something: they’re about to find out,” thundered the ice cream-fueled Warlord of Democracy.

Alaska state House Rep David Eastman narrowly avoided being removed from the November ballot over his membership in the Oath Keepers as a judge ruled on Thursday it is too close to the election to make changes to the ballots. However Alaska Superior Court Judge Jack McKenna also wrote Eastman is likely to be kicked out of office and barred from running again in a December trial based on the weight of evidence and testimony already provided by a challenger to his eligibility, finding the plaintiff had shown a “high probability of success” on the merits of the case against Eastman.

The plaintiff, Randall Kowalke, a former local legislator, had challenged Eastman’s eligibility for office under the state Constitution’s “Disqualification for Disloyalty” clause, which stipulates “No person who advocates, or who aids or belongs to any party or organization or association which advocates, the overthrow by force or violence of the government of the United States or of the State shall be qualified to hold any public office of trust or profit under this constitution.”

Seeing as how the leadership of the Oath Keepers are about to go on trial for seditious conspiracy, Eastman holds a “Life Membership Commemorative Certificate,” and was in DC on the 6th (though he was not arrested or charged with any crime), it looks like kind of an open and shut case against the sick son of a bitch. It’s just too bad the legislature didn’t already kick him out themselves.

In yet another “no shit” news item about Republican hypocrisy, it turns out that Jim Marchant, the Trump-endorsed candidate for Nevada’s Secretary of State campaigning on a promise to end mail-in and early voting entirely because “election integrity,” voted by mail in 2006, 2008 and 2010 – in Florida’s elections while he was living in Nevada – according to records reviewed by CNN’s KFile.

Marchant also voted by mail in 2018 and the 2020 primary when he won the nomination to Nevada’s 4th district, going on to lose to incumbent Dem Congressman Steve Horsford – because of “fraud,” of course. “This is a ridiculous story, while admitting Mr Marchant has followed all election rules and regulations CNN attempts to make Mr Marchant look bad to cover for his liberal Democratic opponent who won’t even support common-sense measures like voter ID,” said a Marchant spokesworm when asked to explain why her boss is such a fucking hypocrite.

“Plaintiffs bear the burden of establishing that jurisdiction over the Congressional Defendants exists and have failed to do so here. Sovereign immunity therefore bars Plaintiffs’ claims against the Congressional Defendants. Plaintiffs note in their Complaint that T-Mobile was only added to ensure compliance with the Court’s Order. Because there is no viable claim against T-Mobile, the Court will also dismiss it. Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiffs’ Motion to Quash is denied and the Congressional Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss is granted. The Clerk of the Court is kindly directed to terminate this action,” says the ruling from Arizona US District Court Judge Diane J. Humetewa saying Arizona GOP Chairwoman “Chemtrails” Kelli Ward has no standing to challenge a subpoena for her phone records from the House January 6th Select Committee.

Ward, an osteopathic physician, had even tried to use HIPAA to shield her phone records, based on some bizarre argument alleging “the enforcement of the Subpoena must be enjoined until and unless limitations are put in place to protect the [protected health information (‘PHI’)] of the Plaintiffs’ patients,” as if the House January 6th Select Committee gives a fuck about which Arizonans were patients at her quack weigh-loss clinic called “Mole Medical Services”.

.@Stevescalise:

"The Commitment to America is going to show the country if you give us a Republican majority in the House, these are the things we do." pic.twitter.com/RHb1gQeGsB

— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) September 23, 2022

“Voting” began Friday on the annexation referendums in the Kremlin-puppet pseudo-states in the Donetsk and Luhansk breakaway territories and in the partially Russian controlled Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of eastern Ukraine, the Associated Press reports. When, not if, victory is declared by the pro-Moscow sides in the fake election, the Kremlin will then use that as a pretext to send legions of deeply unwilling new conscripts in the Russian military to surrender to the Ukrainian army instead “defend” the newly sovereign Russian territory. Well the lucky ones will surrender if haven’t already been turned into borscht by American-supplied artillery.

Canada is preparing for Hurricane Fiona to hit landfall on its Atlantic provinces as it skirts the eastern United States, with the potential for the hurricane “to be a significant and historical weather event” for Nova Scotia, CNN reports.

It’s been over one year since the last hurricane made landfall in Canada, with the nation telling people in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and the Magdalen Islands to prepare for severe weather and rain.  Currently a category 3 hurricane about 125 miles north of Bermuda, Fiona is forecasted to hit Nova Scotia Saturday afternoon.

“Fiona is projected to be a significant and historical weather event for Nova Scotia,” said John Lohr, the minister responsible for the provincial Emergency Management Office, adding “It has the potential to be very dangerous. Impacts are projected to be felt across the province. Every Nova Scotian should be preparing today.”

Hardcore MAGA Arizona Secretary of State candidate Mark Finchem revealed to the media on Thursday he had sat for interviews with both the Department of Justice and the Jouse January 6th Select Committee about his involvement in the 2020 “Stop the Steal” bullshit, ABC News reports.

“They asked me, why was I there? I said, ‘Well, I think you already know. I was there to deliver an evidence package to Representative Paul Gosar,'” said Finchem following a debate against Dem rival Adrian Fontes. “I was interviewed by the DOJ and the J-6 commission as a witness. So for him to assert that I was part of a criminal uprising is absurd. And frankly, it is a lie.” Finchem spoke on stage at a rally in DC on January 5th, while the MAGA horse were pre-gaming the insurrection.

Interstate 75 about 30 miles north of Tampa was shut down for hours Wednesday after a tractor trailer involved in a multi-vehicle accident spilled its load of Coors Light across the highway, the Associated Press reports.

The accident happened around 6 a.m. when a semi clipped another truck as it was changing lanes.  A couple other vehicles were sideswiped by the trucks.  As following traffic slowed, a separate tractor trailer plowed into the stopped vehicles, splitting one of the trailers open and spilling thousands of cans of the Silver Bullet onto the roadway, where some of the cans discharged their contents.  But don’t worry:  no beer was wasted, just Coors Light.

Florida taxpayers have already shelled out $950,000 to charter airplane company Vertol Systems for Republican Governor Ron DeSantis’s aborted second “own the libs” flight where he intended drop asylum seekers from Texas in Delaware, WTSP CBS-10 in Tampa Bay reports.

Vertol Systems is based in Oregon but owned by James Montgomerie, who lives in Florida and was a major financial supporter of Florida Republican Congressman and accused child trafficker Matt Gaetz, having donated more than $7,000 total to his campaign and a Super PAC he controlled during the 2016 and 2018 election cycles.

The first migrant trafficking flight DeSantis ordered, which flew about 50 Venezuelan migrants staying in Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts via Florida as a publicity stunt for his 2024 presidential campaign, cost $615,000.  A flight that was scheduled for Tuesday to go from Longview, Texas to Wilmington, Delaware–the home of President Joe Biden–was abruptly rerouted first to Tennessee and then to Teterboro, New Jersey.  It did not carry any asylum seekers, but Florida taxpayers still paid $950,000 to the company anyway.

“So again, anybody who had a hand in, say, like, the last five wars that diminished American power, killed Americans, made us poorer, hurt the United States long-term in very real ways, anyone who participated in any of that should probably bow out of the conversation about the latest war for the same reason you wouldn’t, say, take financial advice from someone who had gone bankrupt or go to marriage counseling with someone who has been m-m-m-divorced three times, because they have demonstrably failed in their so-called area of expertise,” wannabe polo player and Hungarian tourism envoy to cable TeeVee Tucker Carlson declares without an iota of self-awareness that he’s shilled for a reality show performer with multiple bankruptcies–whom Carlson promoted as a nearly-supernatural business genius–to manage the nation.

Democratic consultant Robert Creamer and his organization, Democracy Partners, won a $120,000 decision against conservative propaganda producers Project Veritas for a deceptive “undercover sting” committed on a Democracy Partners leader.

“BREAKING NEWS: @DemPartners has won a jury verdict on every count of our lawsuit against Project Veritas and its founder James O’Keefe. The group, known for using undercover tactics to go against political opponents, was ordered by the jury to pay $120K in damages & possibly legal fees,” the group posted on Twitter.  “#DemocracyPartners co-founder #BobCreamer said: We thank the Jury for its decision and are deeply appreciative of the time and effort the members of the Jury devoted to consider our case. Hopefully, the decision today will help to discourage Mr. O’Keefe and others from conducting these kinds of political spy operations – and publishing selectively edited, misleading videos in the future.'”

Creamer’s group sued under fraud and wiretapping statutes for illegally recording Scott Foval, a Democracy Partners associate, discuss “bracketing” at Trump rallies.  An edited version of an illicitly-recorded conversation was put online to make it seem like Foval was advocating stoking violence, according to Politico.

(tap tap tap) Is this thing on? 🎙️

The Langley Files, #CIA's official podcast, episode 1 is now available! Listen to CIA Director William J. Burns bring #CIA out of the shadows as we celebrate our 75th year of serving the nation.https://t.co/MNqGbbOdik#TheLangleyFiles #CIA75 pic.twitter.com/a1Lr0XkfIK

— CIA (@CIA) September 22, 2022

CNN reporter Christiana Amanpour pulled out of a scheduled interview with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi while he was in New York City to attend the United Nations General Session because his aides demanded she wear a headscarf in his presence, NBC News reports.

Amanpour wanted to question Raisi about the ongoing domestic unrest in Iran as crowds protest the death of a 22-year-old woman who died while in the custody of the country’s morality police, reportedly for not properly covering her hair.

The CNN crew was finished setting up the room in a New York hotel for the interview.  Forty minutes after Raisi had been scheduled to arrive, an aide approached Amanpour “suggesting” she wear a headscarf in recognition of the Islamic holy months of Muharram and Safar. 

Well, those Liberty Eagles boys on the football team are sure in for a shocker when they venture from their bubble to play the University of Massachusetts in Amherst:  ESPN reports UMass has scheduled its LGBTQ Pride Day on the same day as the Liberty game.  We understand the Liberty student-athletes on the field–who are recruited to play football, sometimes under false pretenses–have likely had a more worldly experience than the school’s students and boosters.  Imagine the shock and horror of having to arrive at the stadium with all those gay rainbows around.  Kudos, UMass.  Well done.  Thanks to Wilson Wade for the tip.

“Close and dismantle the FBI. Now… And to hell with all those who have turned a once-respected agency into an evil political organization that would be the envy of the KGB”

– The current top comment on the PJ Media article “Justice Department Opens Investigation Into Mike Lindell,” posted Thursday morning. No, you can’t reply, unless you join their “VIP” subscription.

According to Politico, House Democrats have come to an agreement to support four bills dealing with community violence prevention and policing being brought to the floor for a vote, but if the vote on their first anodyne bit of legislation is any indication, House Republicans want violence to continue to be a talking point they can campaign on.