Axios’s final installment of “Off the Rails” details a meeting on December 18th, 2020 where Sidney Powell, Former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne (resigned in 2019 after the board found out he had an affair with a Russian spy), and Mike Flynn tried to sell Trump on declaring martial law and all sorts of other shit which resulted in a screaming match and the principals nearly coming to blows with the White House legal team, who wanted them out. Read more here.

Recently there have been a lot of questions raised over the practice of allowing former presidents access to the intel briefing the current president gets daily. I’m assuming that the practice is in place so, for example, Barack Obama could have picked up the phone and called George W Bush for tips on how to deal with XYZ because Bush had dealt with it himself and Bush would’ve been apprised of the more recent developments regarding XYZ and adjusted his advice accordingly.

There’s no reason whatsoever to cut this off for former President Trump. The only thing that should be changed is the content of the briefings, insomuch as Trump should be given completely fake intel as to flush out what he’ll be giving to the Russians, Saudis, Israelis, etc. So (to use a simplistic example) if the CIA briefer tells Trump that an address in New Mexico is the site of a new secret robot factory where the military are building cyborg soldiers, then the FBI already has that place staked out to arrest whatever “tourists” just so happen to show up there. And then they can arrest Trump for mishandling classified info. It’s a win-win.

Axios: “Disagreements over legal strategy weren’t the only reason Donald Trump’s defense team collapsed just days before his second impeachment trial, Axios has learned. The notoriously stingy former president and his lead lawyer, Butch Bowers, wrangled over compensation during a series of tense phone calls, sources familiar with their conversations said. The argument came even though Trump has raised over $170 million from the public that could be used on his legal defenses. The two initially agreed Bowers would be paid $250,000 for his individual services, a figure that ‘delighted’ Trump, one of the sources said.”

“However, Trump didn’t realize Bowers hadn’t included additional expenses – including more lawyers, researchers and other legal fees that would be accrued on the job. He was said to be livid when Bowers came back to him with a total budget of $3 million. Trump called the South Carolina attorney and eventually negotiated him down to $1 million. All of this infuriated Trump and his political team, who think the case will be straightforward, given 45 Republican senators already voted to dismiss the trial on the basis it’s unconstitutional to convict a former president on impeachment charges. Trump’s political arm also was planning to pay separately for audiovisuals, a rapid-response team and legislative liaison. In the end, the money dispute added to frustrations Bowers and the other lawyers felt about whether the former president’s claims of election fraud should be central to their arguments. ‘I think there was some problems getting money for it, but it wasn’t [just] that,’ said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who helped Trump secure Bowers and other impeachment lawyers. ‘Just too many cooks in the kitchen.'”

Taking that no-salary gig at the White House sure did work out well for Trump’s favorite spawn and her enslaved manchild.

According to financial disclosures the pair filed before the end of the Trump term and reviewed by the Center for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), the currently shunned couple made between $23,791,645 and $120,676,949 in combined outside income during 2020 and through January 2021.

Ivana reported more than $1.4 million from the Trump DC Hotel, even though the hotel is showing a $4 million annual loss due to the coronavirus. 

Having a female member of Congress discuss a previously undisclosed sexual assault would typically be a jaw-dropping story, but when that Congresswoman was also a target of a group of insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol, that experience unfortunately becomes a subhead.

Democratic New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez described during a terrifying Instagram Live her experiences during the January 6th domestic terrorist attack on the Capitol, the fear she felt as mobs roamed the halls looking for her, and the distrust she felt toward her Republican colleagues who were live-tweeting the locations of House leadership during the attack.

AOC said she and her staff heard the mob coming through the hallways, some yelling threats about her.  Someone pounded on her office door, so she hit in the office bathroom.  The man burst in the door shouting, “Where is she?  Where is she?” as she tried to hide behind the bathroom door.

No, this is not a story about Ewic Trump.

Engineers at MIT have used nanotechnology to “teach” spinach plants how to send a message when their roots detect specific chemicals in groundwater, Euronews reports.

The plants can detect the chemical signature of nitroaromatics, a material used in explosives like landmines, and then uses carbon nanotubes in the plant to emit a signal that would trigger a message to humans of the presence of the nitroaromatics.

“Plants are very good analytical chemists,” explains Professor Michael Strano who led the research. “They have an extensive root network in the soil, are constantly sampling groundwater, and have a way to self-power the transport of that water up into the leaves.”

According to the New York Times, a board of inquiry has found insufficient evidence to charge the Capitol Police lieutenant who shot Ashli Babbitt, one of the domestic terrorists who had attacked the Capitol on January 6th.

The pro-Trump insurrectionist was crawling through a broken window on a door leading to the Speaker’s lobby which itself leads to the House chamber.  Babbitt refused to halt herself when the officer fired.  She was struck in the neck and died later at a Washington, DC hospital.

DC Police, Capitol Police and the Department of Justice have not commented on the investigation.  The Justice Department opened a civil rights investigation, which is standard in an officer-involved shooting death.

Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell condemned the views of Republican Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene in a stinging rebuke of the congresswoman and her fellow conspiracy-spewing colleagues, reports the Associated Press.

“Somebody who’s suggested that perhaps no airplane hit the Pentagon on 9/11, that horrifying school shootings were pre-staged, and that the Clintons crashed JFK Jr.’s airplane is not living in reality,” said McConnell.  “This has nothing to do with the challenges facing American families or the robust debates on substance that can strengthen our party.”

The freshman congresswoman has spewed various debunked conspiracy theories, both before she joined Congress and since she took office.  She’s an admitted QAnon believer, which promote a ridiculous fable of pedophilia, child sacrifice and a government “deep state” with Donald Trump as fashioned as the savior.

President Joe Biden is set to release $1.3 billion in federal funding designated to help the island commonwealth of Puerto Rico combat the impact of climate change, and the administration will loosen restrictions Donald Trump put on post-hurricane relief, the New York Times reports.

Trump signed an executive order on January 20th, hours before he left office, that significantly restricted the use of $4.9 billion in federal aid Congress had allocated after Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico in 2017.  Biden will reverse the order.

The deliberately slow distribution of funds have hampered recovery efforts in Puerto Rico, where tens of thousands of people were still without housing according to a July 2020 report in the Washington Post. 

White House Statement: “The President and the Vice President had a substantive and productive discussion with Republican senators this evening at the White House. The group shared a desire to get help to the American people, who are suffering through the worst health and economic crisis in a generation. While there were areas of agreement, the President also reiterated his view that Congress must respond boldly and urgently, and noted many areas which the Republican senators’ proposal does not address. He reiterated that while he is hopeful that the Rescue Plan can pass with bipartisan support, a reconciliation package is a path to achieve that end. The President also made clear that the American Rescue Plan was carefully designed to meet the stakes of this moment, and any changes in it cannot leave the nation short of its pressing needs.”

“The President expressed his hope that the group could continue to discuss ways to strengthen the American Rescue Plan as it moves forward, and find areas of common ground – including work on small business support and nutrition programs. He reiterated, however, that he will not slow down work on this urgent crisis response, and will not settle for a package that fails to meet the moment.”

For some as-yet unknown reason, about 14% of patients who recover from severe cases of COVID-19 have developed diabetes, new studies show, according to the Washington Post.

Many of the patients who develop the condition had no history of diabetes.  In some cases, the patients’ blood sugar levels return to normal before they leave the hospital, while others develop “full-blown” diabetes that require long-term maintenance.

COVID-19 has been linked to a wide-range of chronic and acute conditions including blood clots, neurological disorders, and kidney and heart damage, but new studies add both Type 1 or Type 2 (insulin-dependent) diabetes.

“The Walt Disney Company announced today that it has entered into a five-year overall exclusive television deal with writer-director-producer Ryan Coogler’s Proximity Media, with principals Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian, Ludwig Göransson, Archie Davis and Peter Nicks. Coogler, who co-wrote and directed Marvel Studios’ acclaimed global smash hit Black Panther and is currently at work on the sequel, will develop new television series, which includes one based in the Kingdom of Wakanda for Disney+. The deal also enables Proximity to develop television for other divisions of the Company.”

“‘Ryan Coogler is a singular storyteller whose vision and range have made him one of the standout filmmakers of his generation,’ said Bob Iger, Executive Chairman, The Walt Disney Company. “With Black Panther, Ryan brought a groundbreaking story and iconic characters to life in a real, meaningful and memorable way, creating a watershed cultural moment. We’re thrilled to strengthen our relationship and look forward to telling more great stories with Ryan and his team’ – Marvel Entertainment Press Release.

Philadelphia Inquirer: “In introducing his new lawyer, Bruce L. Castor Jr., former President Donald Trump hailed his pick as a ‘highly respected trial lawyer’ who brought a national profile to the team that will defend him at his Senate impeachment trial next week. But in Castor’s home state of Pennsylvania on Monday, the choice left Trump’s closest allies, GOP officials, longtime colleagues – and even some of Castor’s closest friends – scratching their heads in confusion and surprise.”

“Few said they had any idea that Castor – Montgomery County’s former limelight loving, hard-charging district attorney, a man who harbored statewide political ambitions only to see them flame out as he burned bridges again and again with his own party – was up for such a high-profile job. Fewer still had the any inkling of how he – a man who hasn’t been involved in state politics in years, has cultivated no known links to Trump’s inner circle and hasn’t publicly endorsed the baseless notion, popular in his party, that the election was stolen by fraud – had found his way onto the former president’s radar.”

CNN: “Rep. Liz Cheney, under fire from former President Donald Trump and his staunchest defenders, is picking up support from some influential Republicans as her allies close ranks and resist the effort to oust her from the third-ranking spot in House GOP leadership. On Monday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was the latest Republican to give her a boost, saying in a statement to CNN that she had ‘the courage’ to act on her convictions in the aftermath of her vote to impeach Trump last month on a charge he incited the deadly insurrection that ransacked Capitol Hill on January 6. ‘Liz Cheney is a leader with deep convictions and the courage to act on them,’ McConnell said. ‘She is an important leader in our party and in our nation. I am grateful for her service and look forward to continuing to work with her on the crucial issues facing our nation.'”

“The statement comes as a cross-section of GOP lawmakers – from top Republicans in Senate leadership like fellow Wyoming Republican Sen. John Barrasso to some conservative House Freedom Caucus members like Rep. Chip Roy of Texas – have publicly defended Cheney in the face of the onslaught from Trump defenders eager to see her defeated. Last week, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, a close Trump ally, traveled to Wyoming to rally against Cheney with Donald Trump Jr. calling into the event and demanding she be defeated in next year’s primary.”

The chair of the Hawaii state Republican Party has resigned after the group’s Twitter account posted support for various QAnon conspiracy theories, the Associated Press reports.

Shirlene Ostrov, a retired Air Force colonel, quit as of Sunday, the state GOP said in a statement.  The state party’s vice chair of communications, Edwin Boyette, had resigned January 24th, one day after posting the tweets, one of which declared those who advocate QAnon conspiracies are “motivated by a sincere and deep love for America. Patriotism and love of County (sic) should never be ridiculed.”

Ostrov resigned “to allow the party to recover from the controversy and focus on finding excellent candidates and fighting for policies that improve the quality of life for Hawaii’s hardworking families,” the party said in a statement.

“The MyPillow account has been suspended. Twitter says account was suspended for violating its ban evasion policy. Mike Lindell had been banned from Twitter a few weeks ago. So it sounds like he tried to tweet through the company’s account. Therein concludes my reporting on the social media suspension of an account about pillows” – CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan.

After a court battle lasting more than two years, 31 Florida counties will now provide Spanish language voter information and ballots, including mail-in ballots and instructions, CNN reports.

The lawsuit, brought by voting rights and immigration advocates, alleged that the counties were effectively running English-only elections, a violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which states Americans who were raised in schools where Spanish was the dominant language cannot be deprived the right to vote due to a language barrier.

Florida has a number of native Spanish speakers, which increased as people fled Puerto Rico following the devastation of Hurricane Maria.

The FBI arrested a domestic terrorist who took part in the January 6th coup attempt at the Capitol after tracking him down because he was wearing his phone number on the back of his jacket, Insider reports via Yahoo News.

Troy Faulkner participated in the attack at the Capitol bedecked in a coat emblazoned with “Faulkner Painting” and the business’s phone number on the back. Faulkner is the owner of Faulkner Painting in Columbus, Ohio and he was recorded breaking a window at the Capitol.

Faulkner was arrested Friday after an FBI agent confirmed his identify via his Facebook account, where he posted conspiracy theories regarding Hunter Biden’s laptop and images in support of “White Lives Matter.”

In a milestone that hopefully foretells a turning point in the fight against coronavirus, more Americans have now received at least one dose of an available vaccine than were infected with the coronavirus, Bloomberg reports.

As of Monday afternoon, official numbers have 26.5 million Americans having received at least one dose of the approved vaccines, versus 26.3 million who have been infected, as tallied by the Johns Hopkins University COVID tracker.

Since the vaccine rollout, 1.3 million people have been vaccinated on average daily, accounting for 7.8% of the US population, with the majority of those happening in the last ten days.  Just 1.8% have received the required two-dose regimen.