“Ms. Powell has received the January 6 Committee’s subpoena, and she looks forward to providing the Committee with significant evidence in support of the election fraud statements and claims she presented on behalf of the electors and clients she represented. Those claims are supported by expert reports and affidavits of witnesses that no court took the time to hear. Ms. Powell is a practicing lawyer, and she will comply to the full extent required by law and legal ethics. Ms. Powell looks forward to appearing before the Committee to answer questions, walk through the evidence, and present a full picture of the fraud and other misconduct that took place during the 2020 Election, including the myriad of election fraud allegations only now being examined by state officials in Georgia, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania” says a statement from Kraken sidekick Howard Kleinhendler. It’s a switch from her “No reasonable person would believe [this bullshit]” defense she used when trying to get the $1.3 billion Dominion lawsuit against her dismissed.

An new Economist/YouGov survey asked respondents if they had a favorable opinion of the Oath Keepers, and 20% said either very (8%) or somewhat (12%) favorable toward the MAGA terrorist militia. The same group of respondents said their opinion of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was 5% very favorable and 14% somewhat favorable, making the turtle man 1% less popular than a group whose leaders were charged with actual sedition against the US Government. The same survey shows Dems leading Republicans 43 to 39 on the generic congressional ballot.

In related news, on Wednesday federal prosecutors in the case of Oath Keeper Edward Vallejo revealed the Oath Keepers had 30 days’ worth of supplies as well as a massive cache of weapons and ammo prepared for a prolonged hostage situation at the US Capitol starting January 6th. Vallejo was not present at the Capitol, but staged in hotel room across the Potomac in Alexandria, Virginia, ready to reinforce his traitor brethren in holding members of Congress hostage for as long as necessary to prevent Joe Biden from being certified the winner of the 2020 presidential election.

Less than six months after his first special weeklong stand as guest of the autocratic Orban regime in Hungary, Fox News propagandist Tucker Carlson announced Wednesday his show is headed to Budapest for another five show set next week. The announcement comes as the Trump-endorsed White Nationalist strongman president faces a tough reelection challenge from a broad coalition of virtually every other possible Hungarian political faction in April. We could probably cap off this report with lyrics from the 2013 adult contemporary one-hit wonder “Budapest” by British songwriter George Ezra, but meh, it kind of sucks. Go shop at Marshall’s if you want to hear it.

The National Archives will hand over the Trump White House documents sought by the House January 6th Select Committee that were not subject to an injunction the DC Circuit Court of Appeals issued last month pending the Supreme Court’s decision on the case, NBC News reports. The nature of the set of four documents is unclear, though it’s kind of fucking stupid that they’re making this public and giving Trump ample time to pull some scam to block the delivery.

Indeed Trump’s lawyers are already pissing and moaning, seeking to have the archivist held in contempt. “The government has the burden backwards: President Trump is under no obligation to seek another injunction to prevent an act squarely prohibited by an injunction already granted him. Instead, it is the government’s obligation to seek relief if it wishes to release said documents,” Trump lawyer Jesse Binnall wrote in a letter to the appeals court late Tuesday night.

The committee is just mad they can’t date me.

— Jenna Ellis (@JennaEllisEsq) January 19, 2022

“The only one misleading the public is Letitia James. She defrauded New Yorkers by basing her entire candidacy on a promise to get Trump at all costs without having seen a shred of evidence and in violation of every conceivable ethical rule. Three years later she is now faced with the stark reality that she has no case. So, in response to Trump suing her and filing multiple ethical complaints, and on the heels of her failed governor’s race, she has no choice but to mislead the public yet again by misrepresenting the facts and ignoring her own inflammatory comments. Her allegations are baseless and will be vigorously defended” – Trump Org spokesworm.

Thank you for your endorsement, @joniernst!
 
It’s an honor to have the support of an American PATRIOT, and I look forward to seeing what we will accomplish together for ALL Americans. She’s an invaluable addition to @TeamHerschel, and one of my favorites! https://t.co/milWxMcLNa

— Herschel Walker (@HerschelWalker) January 19, 2022

On Tuesday voting technology company Smartmatic sued My Pillow asshole Mike Lindell for a yet to be determined sum in federal court. In the complaint Smartmatic says “Mr. Lindell used his disinformation campaign against Smartmatic for financial gain and acted with ill will and improper motives. Mr. Lindell not only knowingly participated in publishing false information about Smartmatic during the disinformation campaign, but he also did so with ill will and improper motives for self-promotion. Mr. Lindell acted on behalf of MyPillow and for personal financial gain… Mr. Lindell understood that making statements about Smartmatic could not change the outcome of the 2020 U.S. election. However, on information and belief, changing the outcome of the 2020 U.S. election was not his motivating factor when engaging in the disinformation campaign. Mr. Lindell used the disinformation to continue currying favor with President Trump and his supporters and to pursue his own personal and MyPillow’s financial interests.”

Court documents filed Tuesday by the defense lawyer for #WalkAway douchebag Brandon Straka, who in October pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges in the Capitol riot, indicate that federal prosecutors directly asked Straka – who was part of the team organizing the January 6th, 2021 “Stop the Steal” rally – if former President Trump was part of a conspiracy to “disrupt” Congress later that day, the New York Times reports. Straka’s lawyer Bilal Essayli wrote “the government was focused on establishing an organized conspiracy between defendant, President Donald J. Trump, and allies of the former president to disrupt the joint session of Congress on Jan. 6” in a memo filed to the DC Circuit Court Tuesday as part of Straka’s sentencing motions.

Straka “answered all questions truthfully and denied the existence of any such plot,” Essayli wrote, however the revelation is noteworthy on its own as it is the first real indication the Department of Justice is actively pursuing a criminal inquiry into the Orange Kingpin himself.

A growing group of British lawmakers from Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s own party signed on to what the Limeys call a “Pork Pie” plot – 20 so far on Wednesday – building toward the minimum threshold of 54 required to trigger his removal from office as the “Partygate” clusterfuck appears poised to bring down the Conservative UK premier, Reuters reports.

I’m watching a lot of coverage about the events on the floor of the Senate relating to the status of the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, and the discussion is getting to the future of the filibuster.  I, for one, like the filibuster–not in its current form, of course.  I think that in its previous form–with a talking filibuster requirement–it could be a very useful tool.

A talking filibuster would require a member of the opposing Party to stand in the well of the Senate and talk for as long as s/he can to prevent a vote on the bill.  By keeping the floor, the filibuster would prevent any other business from coming to the floor of the Senate.

But back in 1970–just 52 years ago, not when the Founders watched Betsy Ross sew the first flag on the floor of Independence Hall before it flew over Fort McHenry, as many in the right wing would have you believe–the Senate changed the rule and allowed a two-track simultaneous process:  the targeted bill will be filibustered, but no speeches need to be made to tie up the Senate.  This was a mistake.  A big mistake.  It prevented any consequence for the Party instituting the filibuster.  They could block any and all bills, requiring 60 votes to close debate and get a vote on the bill, without any pain or punishment for the person blocking passage of a bill that would pass with a majority vote.

New York Attorney General Letitia James issued a statement Tuesday stating that her office filed motions before the state court to compel Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump to testify in the office’s ongoing investigation into financial fraud and false statements allegations.

“New York Attorney General Letitia James today took legal action to compel Donald J. Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., and Ivanka Trump to appear for sworn testimony as part of the office’s ongoing civil investigation into the Trump Organization’s financial dealings,” the statement reads.  “The motion to compel filed today seeks a court order enforcing testimonial subpoenas issued to Donald J. Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., and Ivanka Trump, as well as the production of documents held by Donald J. Trump. As the papers filed today make clear, each of the individuals was directly involved in one or more transactions under review. Earlier this month, the Trumps filed a motion to quash these interviews, and the papers filed today by the Attorney General oppose that motion.”

The case is a civil investigation into whether the Trump Organization and its officers manipulated the claimed values of properties to increase the value when they were using the real estate as collateral or lower the value when they needed to skip taxes.  While a civil lawsuit would not result in jail time, it could effectively bankrupt the family and the company in fines, penalties and back tax payments.

Vermont Independent-but-caucuses-with-Democrats Senator Bernie Sanders lobbed a threat to the reelection prospects of his Democratic-but-really-RepublicanLite colleagues Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, according to NBC News.

Asked by a reporter if he would consider backing primary challengers to the two centrists, who sit on the opposite end of the Democratic Party from him, Sanders responded “Well, yeah,” after explaining that Manchin and Sinema are not insulated from challenges.

Should he choose to, Sanders can call on one of the most extensively established networks of campaign volunteers to help an upstart Democrat who might challenge Manchen or Sinema.  His involvement in a primary campaign would also spark interest among young voters in those two states.

“I’m old enough to remember when we had a president who worked all day, every day for the American people.  And by the way, took no salary,” Fox personality (and woman with so little self esteem she married Ewic) Lara Trump said.  “Of course I’m talking about President Donald Trump who in four years in office made four dollars–that’s right, because he had to take one dollar a year, um, and I struggle to figure out any job where you could just not show up for a quarter of the days and keep your job.”

Editor’s notes:  First, is Lara Trump morphing into Fran Drescher?  Second, her felon-in-law spent more than 200 nights at one of his private clubs in New Jersey or Florida–not including the entire final month of his administration, which he did in exile from Mar-a-Lago.  And Lara actually does know what it’s like to have a no-show job: She was getting paid $15,000 per month by the Trump campaign for doing basically nothing.

The Muslim man who took four people hostage in a weekend standoff at a Colleyville, Texas synagogue had, ten days before, been ejected from a mosque outside Dallas for acting erratically, CNN reports.

Officials with the Islamic Center of Irving said Malik Faisal Akram asked staff at the mosque if he could sleep overnight at the facility.  He began acting irrationally when told he could not, saying “you’ll be judged by the Lord Almighty for, you know, not helping out a fellow Muslim brother,” before staff had to physically escort him out of the building.

Akram returned to the mosque the next day, apologizing for his behavior the previous day.  Khalid Hamideh of the Islamic Center said Akram was a “flip flop in the behavior in the extremes.”

Five Hall of Fame pro sports figures with West Virginia connections signed a letter to Senator Joe Manchin urging Manchin to support John Lewis Voting Rights Act, saying Americans’ right to vote is under threat.

“Some of us have roots and shaped our lives in West Virginia, others followed very different paths and some of us have been rivals in sports or business. But we are all certain that democracy is best when voting is open to everyone on a level playing field; the referees are neutral; and at the end of the game the final score is respected and accepted,” the letter read, in the expected sports analogy.

NBA legend Jerry West; college football coach Nick Saban; NFL player and WVU Hall of Famer Oliver Luck; NFLer and WVU Hall of Famer Darryl Tilley; and former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue signed the letter.

At this point, it’s no longer a question of if Fox host and man who still wears Buster Browns Tucker Carlson is an agent of the Kremlin; it’s a question of how much he’s getting paid.  In this episode, Tuck makes the case that yeah, sure, it’s completely reasonable for Russia to invade Ukraine… and we shouldn’t do anything about it.

“Why are the Russians so upset?  Why are we moving to some kind of conflict?  Well, there’s one reason,” Carlson says.  “Over a number of different administrations, the United States government has pushed Ukraine to join NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Imagine if Mexico fell under the direct military control of China. We would see that as a threat, of course. There would be no reason for that. That’s how Russia views NATO control of Ukraine and why wouldn’t they?  We don’t get anything out of pushing Ukraine into NATO, so why are we doing this?”

“I mean, it is a trainwreck on every single level,” Trump administration spokesmodel Kellyanne McEntire (a.k.a. Binder Barbie), famous for reading a bit of disinformation from her prepared notes before ending her rare press briefings.  “They’re still three million jobs short, by the way, of where we were pre-pandemic.”

Miss McElroy believes that the Biden Administration must create more jobs in the first 11 months in office than what the Trump cabal did in more than three years–not to mention the plummet Trump took in the last month.  For the record, pre-pandemic, the Trump Administration had 6.98 million net new jobs created through February 2020; his net job “creation” was a loss of 2.86 million.  In his first eleven months of Biden’s first term, 6.22 million jobs have been created.

“We write to notify the Court that tomorrow, January 19, 2022, as previously scheduled, the Archivist intends to release to the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (Committee) records from the fourth tranche of documents over which the former President has asserted privilege. See Letter from Dana A. Remus to David Ferriero (December 17, 2021) (December 17 Letter). 1 On December 17, 2021, the Counsel to the President
directed the Archivist to withhold those records for an additional thirty days – i.e., through today, January 18, 2022 – to enable the former President to seek an injunction if he wished. See id. Because the former President has not obtained such an injunction from any court, the release will proceed as scheduled absent an intervening court order” says the National Archives to Trump.

Russia is moving thousands of troops into Belarus for an announced war game with host country, but intelligence analysts worry the maneuvers are just a cover to allow Russia to invade Ukraine through its ally, the Associated Press reports.

Russia’s Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin confirmed that Russia was moving a number of units and at least 12 Su-35 fighter jets and several air defense units to Belarus.  Ukraine and Belarus share a 675 mile border, and Russia already has military units and tens of thousands of soldiers along Ukraine’s north and south borders, with massive amounts of troops to the east.

If troops in Belarus are used to invade Ukraine, it puts Russian troops along the majority of Ukraine’s northern border, with Russians occupying Crimea to the south.