“The FBI is conducting ‘law enforcement activity’ at the Washington D.C. home of Oleg Deripaska, a FBI spokesperson confirms. NBC News is outside the home where a number of federal agents have gathered and are restricting access to the property. Deripaska is a Russian Oligarch and a former business partner of one-time Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort” NBC’s Tom Winter reports.

Adam Serwer, The Atlantic: “Governor Greg Abbott is afraid. Not of COVID-19, which is killing thousands of Texans, but of losing his primary. Last week, Abbott announced that he was banning COVID-vaccine mandates by ‘any entity’ in Texas, a policy so absurd that you’d be forgiven for thinking, as the running joke on social media goes, that the coronavirus wrote the executive order itself. You might as well ban restaurants from requiring employees to wash their hands, or bar hospitals from making surgeons wear masks in the operating room. According to The Texas Tribune, about 270 Texans a day have died of the virus in the past month – close to 70,000 people in total – and only 52 percent of the state’s population is fully vaccinated. The vaccines could control the pandemic, if Republican officials and their allies in conservative media weren’t so busy trying to convince their followers not to get them.”

“Throughout the pandemic, Abbott and other Texas Republicans have emphasized the need for ‘personal responsibility, not government mandates,’ even as they have imposed their own government mandates designed to thwart public-health efforts. Abbott has used the power of the state to prevent not just businesses but also schools and local governments from adopting coronavirus-mitigation measures. At Abbott’s urging, Texas Republican legislators are currently working on a bill designed to stop businesses from adopting such mandates. The reason for all this recklessness is that, as his 2022 primary approaches, Abbott is aiming to stay in the good graces of Fox News’s prime-time lineup, which retains a powerful sway over the Republican primary electorate, and former President Donald Trump. If either or both turn against him, their influence over Republican primary voters in Texas might actually make Abbott’s race competitive.”

Rep Jeff Fortenberry (Q – LA) sure sounds like he’s in a heap of trouble for lying to the FBI about a foreign bribery scam he’s been implicated in because the Deep State something something.

“Wonderful to see Colin Powell, who made big mistakes on Iraq and famously, so-called weapons of mass destruction, be treated in death so beautifully by the Fake News Media. Hope that happens to me someday. He was a classic RINO, if even that, always being the first to attack other Republicans. He made plenty of mistakes, but anyway, may he rest in peace!” says Fat Donald.

“At a tense school board meeting Monday night in Southlake, Texas, a former student gave painful testimony about antisemitic bullying that he said he endured in the Carroll Independent School District. Teachers grew emotional as they described feeling unsupported and under attack. And many parents defended a district administrator who told teachers to offer students books showing ‘opposing’ perspectives on the Holocaust, saying she was trying to follow a problematic new state law, while also condemning her interpretation of that law. The administrator’s comment, secretly recorded by a Carroll staff member during a training session this month and shared with NBC News, sparked international outrage and put a spotlight on a new Texas law that requires teachers to present multiple perspectives when discussing ‘widely debated and currently controversial’ issues. The administrator, Gina Peddy, the school district’s executive director of curriculum and instruction, has not replied to messages requesting comment. Monday’s school board meeting was the first time Southlake residents had a public forum to raise concerns about Peddy’s comment.”

“Jake Berman, a Jewish former student, told board members that the bullying he endured in the district two decades ago was so severe that he contemplated suicide. His parents eventually pulled him out of the school system. ‘I received everything from jokes about my nose to gas chambers, all while studying for my bar mitzvah,’ said Berman, adding that he believed Peddy’s comment exposed the problem with new laws that limit how teachers talk about racism and other controversial subjects. ‘The facts are that there are not two sides of the Holocaust.’ Peddy’s comment came during a teacher training session two weeks ago that was focused on which books teachers can keep in their classroom libraries. The district, to comply with the new Texas law, known as Senate Bill 3, had sent teachers a rubric asking them to grade books based on whether they provide multiple perspectives and to set aside any that present singular, dominant narratives ‘in such a way that it… may be considered offensive'” – NBC News.

“In court motion this morning, Jan 6 defendant Thomas Vinson, who’s pleaded guilty to misdemeanor and faces sentencing Friday, reports he’s been asked to testify as witness before the House Select Jan 6 Committee… and wants to do so” reports NBC Washington’s Scott MacFarlane.

University of Chicago Law Professor Aziz Huq writes in Politico about Trump’s bullshit lawsuit to block the National Archives from releasing White House records relevant to his failed attempt to overturn the election to the Capitol riot committee being an obvious attempt to simply stall until the Republicans can take the House back and kill the inquiry, suggesting how Biden circumvent it: “The Justice Department can seek expedited resolution of the constitutional question by seeking declaratory relief against the former president in the D.C. District Court, and then request ‘cert before judgment’ to get high court review quickly on the bounds of Article II authority.”

“A second option for Biden would be to leverage the president’s broad authority under Article II of the Constitution to decide whether and how to release classified material – i.e., not just whether to hand over a record, but over whether and how to keep specific facts confidential. As one GOP senator noted, an incumbent president has the power to ‘declassify anything at any time.’ Here, moreover, Article II authority is at a zenith because disclosure also serves Congress’ Article I interest in effective oversight. Using his constitutional power to declassify at will, Biden could order his aides to review the materials, and then disclose relevant portions to the committee staff.”

“A precedent for such broad use of the president’s declassification power comes from the Trump years. Famously, as president, Trump employed this power cavalierly to disclose classified information to Russia’s foreign minister and ambassador. Trump also pushed law enforcement and intelligence agencies to declassify details about the Russia investigation. Having so recklessly used that power, he’s hardly in a position to complain about it now. Both these approaches deal with the profound problem faced by the select committee – not Trump’s constitutional claim to executive privilege, but the strategic use of litigation to deflate the rule of law. And both have the virtue of fitting comfortably within our constitutional traditions in the process.”

“Ron Watkins is best known as the accused operator of ‘Q,’ the anonymous forum account that sparked the QAnon conspiracy theory. After announcing his bid for a battleground congressional seat in Arizona last week, though, he’s tried to distance himself from QAnon. He’s off to a bumpy start. In an interview Monday with The Daily Beast, Watkins and science fiction author Tony Teora, his ‘volunteer campaign coordinator,’ struggled to explain why, if Watkins is not involved in QAnon, he’s among the keynote speakers at a QAnon conference called the ‘Patriot Double Down’ in Las Vegas this coming weekend. ‘When you say that’s a QAnon convention, I never saw anything posted that it’s a QAnon convention,’ Teora said, until a reporter for The Daily Beast pointed out that the conference’s organizers use the aliases ‘QAnon John’ and ‘Q Queen Amy.'”

“Further cementing the conference’s QAnon ties, a poster for the event features both ‘Q’ and ’17,’ an important number for QAnon believers since ‘Q’ is the 17th letter of the alphabet. ‘The number 17 is just an auspicious number,’ Watkins said. ‘Ron, Ron, oh God, oh God!’ Teora said. Watkins’ bid looks set to test the powers and limitations of QAnon celebrity, demonstrating whether a candidate can beat better-funded primary competition through QAnon ties alone. If Watkins defies expectations and wins, he could further open the door for other QAnon promoters to run for office” – Daily Beast.

AP: “When Republican lawmakers in Tennessee blocked a policy to ease up on low-level marijuana cases, Nashville’s top prosecutor decided on a workaround: He just didn’t charge anyone with the crime. Meanwhile, in Georgia, the Gwinnett County solicitor vowed not to punish anyone for the crime of distributing food or water to voters in line. Tampa’s chief prosecutor says a law that allows law enforcement to detain protesters until their court date is ‘an assault on our democracy.’ And a DA in Douglas County, Kansas, promised not to enforce a new state law that makes it harder for nonpartisan groups and neighbors and candidates to collect and return absentee ballots for voters.”

“Progressive prosecutors around the country are increasingly declaring they just won’t enforce some GOP-backed state laws, a strategy at work in response to some of the most controversial new changes in recent years – near-total abortion bans, voting restrictions, limits on certain protest activity, laws aimed at LGBTQ people, and restrictions on mask requirements. The elected law enforcement leaders say they’re just doing what is right as support has grown for changing a system they believe has relied too heavily on locking people up, particularly for low-level, nonviolent offenses. But politics is also at play here. These lawyers live in deep blue districts where their decisions are popular with voters, and they have to be reelected.”

“A Los Angeles judge approved rapper Kanye West’s request for a name change on Monday, the Los Angeles Superior Court confirmed to CBS News. The rapper, 44, legally changed his name to ‘Ye,’ his longtime nickname. He filed the petition to change his name in August 2021, citing ‘personal reasons,’ according to paperwork obtained by Entertainment Tonight” – CBS News

CNN:  “About 400 Australian koalas will be vaccinated against chlamydia as part of a trial that researchers say they hope could play a significant role in the longer-term survival of the animals.  Chlamydia, a sexually transmitted disease also found in humans, has spread widely among Australian koalas, affecting half the animals in some areas.

“‘It is a cruel disease that causes debilitating conjunctivitis, bladder infections and at times, infertility,’ Amber Gillett, Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital veterinarian and coordinator of research, said in a statement on Friday as the trial began. The bacterial disease, which can be spread from mothers to their newborns, can also cause blindness, researchers say. The koalas will each receive one dose of the vaccine and will be microchipped before being released into the wild.

“‘While this vaccination will directly benefit each of the animals, the trial will also have a focus on the protection provided by vaccination,’ said Peter Timms, professor of microbiology at the University of the Sunshine Coast, which is leading the trial.  Although in many cases chlamydia can be treated with antibiotics, the researchers said they hope the vaccine will help improve the survival and reproduction of the animals.  Estimates of koala populations vary as they are difficult to count in the wild. A 2016 study by the University of Queensland calculated there were around 330,000 koalas left in Australia.”

NBC News:  “While President Joe Biden’s economic agenda is mired in Democratic infighting, the Senate is quietly making history with his judicial nominees.  The Democratic-controlled Senate voted 52-41 Monday to confirm Gustavo Gelpi to be a judge on the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Boston, making him the fifth new circuit judge with a background as a public defender on Biden’s watch.

“Set against recent history, that is a remarkable statistic. President Barack Obama confirmed five former public defenders to the appeals courts over his entire eight years, according to the progressive judicial group Demand Justice. Biden has matched that in his first nine months.  Overall, Gelpi is Biden’s eighth new judge with experience as a public defender. That is as many as presidents Donald Trump, Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton landed in their first years combined, said Chris Kang, the chief counsel of Demand Justice.

“‘It really is amazing how far Biden has shifted the paradigm,’ Kang said. ‘This is going to be an important part of his legacy.’  With the latest confirmation, Biden is outpacing every other president since Richard Nixon in confirming circuit judges, who have the last word in most federal cases — although the pace will be difficult to maintain.”

Associated Press:  “North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the sea on Tuesday in a continuation of its recent weapons tests, the South Korean and Japanese militaries said, hours after the U.S. reaffirmed its offer to resume diplomacy on the North’s nuclear weapons program.  The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff didn’t immediately say what kind of ballistic missile it was or how far it flew. Japan’s coast guard issued a maritime safety advisory to ships but didn’t immediately know where the weapon landed.

“South Korea’s presidential office was planning to hold a national security council meeting to discuss the launch. A strong South Korean response could anger North Korea, which has been accusing Seoul of hypocrisy for criticizing the North’s weapons tests while expanding its own conventional military capabilities.  Ending a monthslong lull in September, North Korea has been ramping up its weapons tests while making conditional peace offers to Seoul, reviving a pattern of pressuring South Korea to try to get what it wants from the United States.

“Within days, President Joe Biden’s special envoy for North Korea, Sung Kim, is schedule to hold talks with U.S. allies in Seoul over the prospects of reviving talks with North Korea.  Nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang have stalled for more than two years over disagreements in exchanging the release of crippling U.S.-led sanctions against North Korea and the North’s denuclearization steps.”

On Hannity, Ewic Trump apparently has situational amnesia relating to the hundreds of weekends spend by his father at a Trump property during his term while humble bitching about Joe Biden spending some weekends at his home in Wilmington, Delaware.  “Afghanistan is falling!  Guess what?  You have President Biden who is in Delaware not solving that problem.”

Reuters:  “A Russian businessman funded an account used by two ex-associates of Rudy Giuliani to donate to U.S. political campaigns, according to documents shown in court on Monday.  Prosecutors presented the financial records to a Manhattan federal court jury in the second week of the trial of one of the former associates, Lev Parnas, on charges of violating campaign finance laws.

“Prosecutors say the Ukraine-born Parnas and another Giuliani associate, Belarus-born Igor Fruman, illegally funneled money from Moscow-based businessman Andrey Muraviev to candidates in U.S. states where the group was seeking licenses to operate cannabis businesses. Parnas pleaded not guilty.  Two Muraviev-owned firms wired $1 million to an account held by Fruman’s FD Import & Export Corp between June and December 2018, bank statements showed.

“That account then paid off more than 99% of the balance on a credit card account Parnas, Fruman and a company they founded used to make more than $150,000 in donations to candidates and committees ahead of the Nov. 6, 2018 election, the records showed.  Fruman pleaded guilty to violating campaign finance laws in September.”

“The Jan 6. select committee investigating the Capitol riot released a report and resolution on Monday night that seeks to hold Steve Bannon in contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a subpoena The report is the first of several steps that need to be taken to hold Bannon in contempt of Congress for failing complying with his subpoena. Bannon failed to show up for a deposition before the panel last Thursday and committee members have warned they would move quickly to hold non-cooperative witnesses who don’t comply with subpoenas with contempt” – Axios.

DONALD J. TRUMP v. BENNIE J. THOMPSON, civil action 21-2769 is now posted on courtlistener.com.

The first problem with this case is that Trump is suing the January 6th Committee and the Archivist of the United States, when the decision over whether to release documents resides primarily with the White House. That demonstrates either a fundamental misunderstanding of the concept of legal standing, or a premeditated decision to bring a legal case that is designed to fail, for the  purpose of feeding the right wing propaganda mill. While the Archivist of the United States can make an appeal to the courts if he believes concerns of Executive Privilege are not being properly addressed by the current administration, the White House has already agreed to the release of two troves of documents, and the archivist cannot be compelled to withhold documents due to specious claims of privileges that Trump no longer has any legal right to. To clarify this assertion: the only records that a former President would have a legal right to sue over would be matters such as that former President’s personal health records, or records that deal with family issues but have no bearing on government function. Trump’s case is flawed because the relief that he is seeking deals with unofficial acts in a matter where there is probable cause to believe a crime has been committed. To deny Congress access to records of communications regarding the January 6th riots would violate the Balance of Powers clause by limiting the ability of Congress to investigate an attack on the Capitol building that appears to have been coordinated -at least in part- by Executive branch personnel, creating a gross imbalance of authority between the branches of government.

Daily Beast: “Right-wing provocateur Dan Bongino on Monday seemed to issue a challenge to his syndicated radio show’s carrier: Get rid of your vaccine mandate for employees or fire me. ‘You can’t have both,’ he said. More than two months ago, Cumulus Media announced that ahead of the company’s scheduled Oct. 11 return-to-work date, employees would be required to get at least one shot of the approved COVID-19 vaccines before coming back to the office. CEO Mary Berner said the rule would apply to all employees save for those who permanently work from a remote location or those with legal exceptions. Inside Radio reported last week that multiple Cumulus employees who refused to get vaccinated had either been fired or quit. That included several radio hosts, one of whom called the mandate ‘unethical and immoral,’ prompting Bongino’s Monday rant.”

“Bongino himself got the jab on the advice of his doctor, he said, because he is a cancer survivor. Even so, the radio host insisted, he is fighting Cumulus Media’s ‘political decision.’ But while Bongino raged against Cumulus’ vaccine rules on Monday, he was notably silent about the stringent vaccine policy implemented by his other partners at Fox Corp. (Bongino hosts a Saturday night talk show on Fox News and his radio show is live-streamed on Fox Nation.)”

“Donald Trump is suing the Jan. 6 select committee and the National Archives to block the release of his White House’s records related to the Capitol attack.  The former president’s lawyers filed the suit in D.C. district court on Monday. It names the Jan. 6 panel’s chair, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), and the national archivist, David Ferriero, along with the committee and the archives. And it calls the Jan. 6 probe ‘a vexatious, illegal fishing expedition'” – Politico

“Sinclair Broadcast Group, which operates dozens of TV stations across the U.S., said Monday that some of its servers and work stations were encrypted with ransomware and that some of its data was stolen from the company’s network. The company said in a regulatory filing it started investigating the potential security incident on Saturday and on Sunday it and found that certain office and operational networks were disrupted. The Hunt Valley, Maryland-based company owns and/or operates 21 regional sports network and owns, operates and/or provides services to 185 television stations in 86 markets. The broadcast group, which is known for pushing a conservative viewpoint through editorials and reports that it compels its stations to run, did not immediately say how many TV stations were directly affected. Sinclair said it’s taken measures to contain the incident and that its forensic investigation is ongoing. Sinclair said it currently can’t determine whether or not the data breach will have a material impact on its business, operations or financial results. No ransomware groups immediately took credit for the incident” – CBS News.