🚨 CONTEMPT OF CONGRESS 🚨

Hunter Biden blatantly defied two lawful subpoenas when he did not appear for his December deposition. Next week, we will consider a resolution and accompanying report to hold him in contempt of Congress for violating federal law. @JudiciaryGOP will…

— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) January 5, 2024

Chickenshit House Oversight Chair James Comer, too scared of allowing Hunter Biden to come in and testify publicly in front of his incompetently-run committee, has thrown down the gauntlet and scheduled a “markup” for a contempt resolution against the First Son. It’s gotta suck for Comer now that this is going to just give Dems a forum to cite whatever they want from the Thursday report on fat former President Trump’s income from foreigners during the presidency.

“On December 15, 2023, we wrote imploring that you recuse yourself from any participation in the case of United States v Trump, given your wife’s intimate involvement in Mr Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election and to obstruct its certification. This week, we are compelled to write to you again. This time, we must urge you to recuse yourself from any involvement in the case of Anderson v Griswold, because your impartiality is reasonably questioned by substantial numbers of fair-minded members of the public, who believe you wife Virginia (‘Ginni’) Thomas’s substantial involvement in the events leading up to the January 6 insurrection, and the financial incentive it presents for your household if President Trump is re-elected, are disqualifying…”

” When summoned to testify before the House January 6 Committee, your wife told the Committee that she attended the January 6 ‘Stop the Steal’ rally, where Mr Trump ginned up the attendees into a mob, which he then dispatched to the Capitol to ‘fight like hell’ to stop the electoral vote certification process. The January 6 rally morphed into the attack on the Capitol and on Congress, which the Colorado Court found to have been an insurrection, an act which disqualifies Mr Trump from having his name placed on the presidential primary election ballot in that state.”

“Not only did your wife attend the January 6 rally, but she was instrumental in planning it and bringing the insurrectionists to the Capitol. Your wife was one of nine board members for a conservative political group that helped lead the ‘Stop the Steal’ movement, a movement which culminated in the January 6 attack that the Colorado Supreme Court deemed an insurrection. It is unthinkable that you could be impartial in deciding whether an event your wife personally organized qualifies as an ‘insurrection’ that would prevent someone from holding the office of President,” says a letter sign by a group of House Democrats led by Georgia Congressman Hank Johnson.

On a new Data for Progress survey’s question asking “Of the following, what would you say are the biggest reasons why you think the economy is not getting better for people like you?” in most respondents cited the usual stuff like “Price of groceries,” “Price of goods and services other than gas and groceries, generally,” “Price of energy and utility bills,” and “Price of gas” as the most common reasons on the field where they were allowed to select up to three choices.

At the bottom of the list however, just under “Your upward mobility at work,” is “Gambling losses,” a fairly novel and let’s say interesting reason for a respondent to cite as why the economy isn’t working out for people like them, with 1 percent having picked it. In all likelihood this was just a single respondent being rounded up to 1 percent of a subsample from those who had answered “I do not think the economy is getting better for people like me” on the prior question as the crosstab shows this gambling problem at 1 percent of independents, males, and Latinos – and 0 percent among mutually exclusive demographics like females, Democrats, or Republicans.

So maybe this asshole was trolling. It’s still pretty goddamned funny Data for Progress even asked it, as if anyone who bet on the Saints to cover the spread against the Bucs last week could reasonably blame it on “the economy.” They might as well be asking some 28 year-old basement dwelling anime fan to list the reasons why he thinks the local dating scene isn’t working out for him these days.

In what maybe could’ve been the lede here, on the survey’s first question of whether “the economy is getting better for people like me,” 29 percent of the likely voter respondents said yes and 65 percent said no, a marginal improvement over the yes 24, no 70 finding from September. All of that gain was driven by Dem respondents as indie voters stayed static at 22 yes, 71 no while among Republicans it actually decreased slightly from 12 to 11 percent yes over a stretch in which, by almost every conceivable measure, the economy grew. Probably a safe bet that it’ll drop to low single digits among MAGA voters if the Dow Jones hits 40,000 in the next few months.

Bureau of Labor Statistics: “Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 216,000 in December, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.7 percent, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment continued to trend up in government, health care, social assistance, and construction, while transportation and warehousing lost jobs.”

Two Republican strategists tell Politico that disgraced former President Trump’s projection of invincibility carries a potential drawback in the “expectations game” if and when Nimrata “Nikki” Haley can dent him in Iowa or even win in New Hampshire this month, with one saying that the Orange Caesar’s attack ad on Haley is already a sign his team are “seeing numbers that make them nervous… There’s a real chance that voters will smell fear,” per GOP consultant Rob Stutzman.

New Hampshire Republican strategist Matt Bartlett – a former Trump White House aide who resigned in disgust after the Capitol insurrection – said “Trump is out there saying, ‘Listen, I’m 70 points up here, I’m 60 points up here. He’s setting this up, and this has always been his MO – of winning, of inevitability. That is a very dangerous thing when it comes to politics.”

“It’s possible Joe Biden wins the New Hampshire primary with a larger margin than Donald Trump, and Joe Biden’s not even on the ballot,” Bartlett continued, referring to the write-in campaign for the president that’s still going even as Dems have struck the Granite State from the calendar.

Separately an anonymous former Trump minion tells the Daily Beast that Haley’s threat to the fat fuck shows that he and his team continue to be “in denial with the white suburban women vote.”

Ultra Trumpy and QAnon-y 2022 New Hampshire Senate race loser Don Bolduc, famous for having it both ways on whether the 2020 election was “stolen” but just one way on whether public schools have been providing litter boxes for kids who identify as cats, is continuing to support Nikki “Birdbrain” Haley in the Granite State’s upcoming primary with a new video that begins with Bolduc saying “Look, I’m MAGA all the way. I’ve always been America First, but this time…”

Always a great sign when you have to say “but” in a campaign endorsement video, though we guess Bolduc kind of has to given how closely he tied himself to the Orange God Emperor’s cult during the 2022 campaign. Interesting how Donald has gone two-for-two with his failed New Hampshire Senate hopefuls turning against him this cycle, with Bolduc here not even being the worst offender, as 2020 loser Corky Messner has publicly backed local efforts to remove Donald from the ballot.

Former President Barack Obama’s operation is going “all-in” to help out his former numero dos President Biden at securing “a brighter future together,” raking in $4 million so far – including $2.6 million from a recent “Meet the Presidents” donor contest, NBC News reports.

“We need your help to ensure Joe’s leadership continues to guide us forward. We know the other side won’t rest, so we can’t either,” Obama said in a video message posted Thursday. The 44th president has been so far the most successful surrogate for Biden’s reelection campaign, which has yet to post its Q4 2023 numbers but have hinted they exceeded their $70 million target.

Sources tell the New York Times that disgraced former President Trump reacted to House Majority Whip Congressman Tom Emmer endorsing him – even after the fat bastard had sank Emmer’s speakership bid so humiliatingly back in October – with five words: “They always bend the knee.”

Meanwhile the Times also reports the Orange Man is fuming over Ted Cruz failing to do the same in a timely manner, telling his minions. “Ted – he shouldn’t even exist. I could’ve destroyed him. I kind of did destroy him in 2016, if you think about it. But then I let him live,” Trump has said.

Some things are so trite, you don’t think you’ll actually hear them in real life.  Enter former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who can’t seem to get her infamous heels out of her mouth.  Responding to a comment by opponent Chris Christie–whose being “from New Jersey” apparently means he learned about the Civil War later–Haley actually threw in “I had Black friends growing up” while describing how slavery was taught as the cause of the civil war, but she was just “thinking past that.”  … because, y’know, we want a leader who regularly thinks “past” less important details.  Like slavery.

With ADP reporting stronger-than-expected private sector job growth in its monthly report and financial markets responding to signals that the Fed will cut interest rates soon, the dollar will finish its strongest week since July 2023 in what some overblown pundit will describe as another blow to the Biden Administration’s economic record.

As the international monetary markets opened Friday in Singapore, the dollar was up 1% for the week, Reuters reports.  “The USD strength we are seeing at the start of 2024 may have more to do with safe-haven demand as equity markets have struggled and market volatility has increased,” said Hamish Pepper, fixed income and currency strategist at Harbour Asset Management who is included in this story strictly for the name “Hamish Pepper.”

Mr. Pepper–we cannot confirm whether or not he holds a higher degree–is more skeptical of the market’s enthusiasm, saying “Fed rate cut expectations prove too aggressive,” but noting that the investors are also attracted to the dollar because it’s performing better than the yen and the euro.

“I think it’ll clarifly [sic] confusion amongst the states, amongst these rogue people like the woman we see in Maine who’s not even a lawyer who thinks she can find some obscure section of some satute [sic again] and apply it to a former president,” Alina Habba, the overpaid spokeslawyer for Donald Trump, explained, apparently believing the 14th Amendment is “some obscure section of some satute.”

A superseding indictment in the fraud case against Steve Bannon associate Guo Wengui allege that Guo and Bannon formed multiple “criminal organizations” as part of a widespread fraudulent enterprise to bilk donors out of funds, the Daily Beast reports.

The new document lists dozens of entities that comprise “Kwok Enterprises,” the umbrella fraudulent organization.  These include organizations Guo founded with Bannon with the claimed mission of fighting liberal groups and Chinese Communist Party, including groups called. he Rule of Law Foundation, Rule of Law Society, and New Federal State of China, a self-styled quasi-government-in-exile that attempted to open an “embassy” in New York. Once arrested on Guo’s ultraluxury yacht for fraud in another case, Bannon has not yet been charged in this case.

“The defendants and entities set forth in paragraph 3a., together with others known and unknown, were members and associates of a criminal organization (the ‘Kwok Enterprise’) that engaged in criminal activity, to include wire fraud, bank fraud, money laundering, and securities fraud,” the charging document reads. “The Kwok Enterprise constituted an ongoing organization whose members functioned as a continuing unit for the common purpose of achieving the objectives of the enterprise.”

Bodycam footage from Montgomery County, Maryland police officers responding to a call from Harrison Floyd, a Trump co-defendant in the Fulton County, Georgia RICO case and the former Black Voices for Trump director, show him getting arrested for assaulting a federal agent after apparently unsuccessfully attempting to avoid service of a grand jury subpoena, according to Politico. 

Christopher Worrell, the Florida Proud Boy who cut his ankle bracelet and fled house arrest days before his sentencing for his January 6th crimes last August only to be tracked weeks later back to his East Naples home where he was arrested after pretending to have passed out on the floor due to a drug overdose, was sentenced to ten years in prison on Thursday, CBS News reports.

Worrell reportedly tried to rekindle his acting skills in front of the judge during his sentencing hearing, claiming that his actions were “inexcusable and unjustified” and that he was “truly sorry,” adding “Nearly three years ago today, I made some choices I sincerely regret.”  Reminder:  he fled house arrest in August 2023, not “nearly three years ago.”

The Westgate Resort in Kissimmee, Florida resort on Thursday announced that white nationalist Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene‘s Saturday January 6th insurrection anniversary event had been canceled due to her sponsors, the Republican Party of Osceola County, having lied to their hosts about the nature of the event by claiming it was a booking signing, NBC News reports.

“Please be advised that Westgate was not made aware of the purpose of this event when we were approached to host a book signing. “This event has been canceled and is no longer taking place at our resort,” said Westgate Resorts said in a statement after NBC had informed them what was going on and that a bunch of pro-Capitol riot MAGA scumbags had been headed to their property.

WHOA! Fox News reports MORE files from a lawsuit between Jeffrey Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre and his convicted accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell have been unsealed! They didn’t link it!

That’s right! All it says is “Fox News Digital is still going through the files and this will be updated.”

Remember hydroxychloroquine, the COVID miracle cure that fat former President Trump hyped during the height of the pandemic and loved by millions of right wingers until got replaced by the even more miraculous horse paste ivermectin? No? Well we don’t blame you because a lot of other stupid shit happened in the nearly four years since the heady days of the hydroxychloro-craze, like Dr Seuss books getting cancelled and Mr Potato Head losing his genitals and Herschel Walker…

Anyway, Politico EU reports that French researchers estimate that 16,990 people in France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Turkey and the United States died from having taken the malaria drug between March and July 2020, with the research team from having extrapolated that figure from a prior study on randomized mortality outcomes. The French team’s new paper stresses that the death toll they arrived at is almost certainly a lowball given the limited time and geographic scope.

“What do you have to lose? Take it,” then-President Trump said on April 6th, 2020.

God bless the self-important nouveau riche:  their political campaigns are the only truly successful form of trickle-down economics.  According to the Washington Post, Republican political dilettante Vivek Ramaswamy sold more than $33 million in the stock of his company, with a campaign spokesperson saying he’s “making a significant investment in the campaign.”

Ramaswamy divested about 5.5% of his holdings of Roivant Sciences, the company he founded, but he still holds more than 51 million shares valued at more than half a billion dollars.  His campaign reportedly abandoned traditional advertising in New Hampshire just weeks before the primary, and he’s dropping in the national polls as well, treading water at most polls’ margin of error.

The Messenger, aka The Hill 2.0, which just this morning the Daily Beast reported is weeks away from running out of cash to fund operations, having only generating less than $5 million in revenue after founder Jimmy Finkelstein promised $100 million after its May launch, is desperately seeking a buyer and if we hadn’t given it away in the headline you probably would have already guessed that this is exactly the kind of opportunity that malign, moneyed right wingers thrive.

The sharks include, per Axios “Omeed Malik, a financier who backed Tucker Carlson’s new media venture, Garrett Ventry, a Republican political operative, Ryan Coyne, founder of digital media agency Starboard, and George Farmer, the former CEO of Parler who sits on the board of Britain’s conservative news network, GB News.” Without any skepticism whatsoever, Axios writes that the group “aren’t interested in getting involved with the company’s editorial efforts, but believe The Messenger needs to create more revenue opportunities beyond traffic-based advertising and events,” even after mentioning that their $30 million offer “for a 51 percent position – could provide The Messenger with a much-needed lifeline, but would require Finkelstein to give up control.”

It’s not like The Messenger or The Hill under Finkelstein were ever bastions of progressive, rational coverage, but it’s hard to credit any of this shit about the MAGA propaganda dickheads not being interested in making any changes to the editorial direction of the site like Axios does so blithely.

Extremist Arizona Congressman Andy Biggs shouldn’t be THIS hard on his party. They did at least manage to expel George Santos and run Kevin McCarthy out last year. Those weren’t nothing.