Gramsci wrote: Mon Jul 25, 2022 1:16 pm I guarantee the Dems want nothing substantial to happen other than a bunch of lanyards yelling “excuse me, Sir!”

I honestly think the DNC prefer losing to doing anything that would actually impact American’s lives in a positive way.

jfv wrote: Mon Jul 25, 2022 12:16 pm ^ If Trump is never president again, it is a win.

The Washington Post wrote:People familiar with the probe said investigators are examining the former president’s conversations and have seized phone records of top aides

The Justice Department is investigating President Donald Trump’s actions as part of its criminal probe of efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, according to four people familiar with the matter.

Prosecutors who are questioning witnesses before a grand jury — including two top aides to Vice President Mike Pence — have asked in recent days about conversations with Trump, his lawyers, and others in his inner circle who sought to substitute Trump allies for certified electors from some states Joe Biden won, according to two people familiar with the matter. Both spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.

The prosecutors have asked hours of detailed questions about meetings Trump led in December 2020 and January 2021; his pressure campaign on Pence to overturn the election; and what instructions Trump gave his lawyers and advisers about fake electors and sending electors back to the states, the people said. Some of the questions focused directly on the extent of Trump’s involvement in the fake-elector effort led by his outside lawyers, including John Eastman and Rudy Giuliani, these people said.

In addition, Justice Department investigators in April received phone records of key officials and aides in the Trump administration, including his former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, according to two people familiar with the matter. That effort is another indicator of how expansive the Jan. 6 probe had become, well before the high-profile, televised House hearings in June and July on the subject.

The Washington Post and other news organizations have previously written that the Justice Department is examining the conduct of Eastman, Giuliani and others in Trump’s orbit. But the degree of prosecutors’ interest in Trump’s actions has not been previously reported, nor has the review of senior Trump aides’ phone records.

[...]

Federal criminal investigations are by design opaque, and probes involving political figures are among the most closely held secrets at the Justice Department. Many end without criminal charges. The lack of observable investigative activity involving Trump and his White House for more than a year after the Jan. 6 attack has fueled criticism, particularly from the left, that the Justice Department is not pursuing the case aggressively enough.

In trying to understand how and why Trump partisans and lawyers sought to change the outcome of the election, one person familiar with the probe said, investigators also want to understand, at a minimum, what Trump told his lawyers and senior officials to do. Any investigation surrounding the effort to undo the results of the election must navigate complex issues of First Amendment-protected political activity and when or whether a person’s speech could become part of an alleged conspiracy in support of a coup.

Many elements of the sprawling Jan. 6 criminal investigation have remained under wraps. But in recent weeks the public pace of the work has increased, with a fresh round of subpoenas, search warrants and interviews. Pence’s former chief of staff, Marc Short, and lawyer, Greg Jacob, appeared before the grand jury in downtown Washington in recent days, according to the people familiar with the investigation. Both men declined to comment.

[...]

There are two principal tracks of the investigation that could ultimately lead to additional scrutiny of Trump, two people familiar with the situation said, also speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.

The first centers on seditious conspiracy and conspiracy to obstruct a government proceeding, the type of charges already filed against individuals who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 and on two leaders of far-right groups, Stewart Rhodes and Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, who did not breach the Capitol but were allegedly involved in planning the day’s events.

The second involves potential fraud associated with the false-electors scheme or with pressure Trump and his allies allegedly put on the Justice Department and others to falsely claim that the election was rigged and votes were fraudulently cast.

Recent subpoenas obtained by The Post show that two Arizona state legislators were ordered to turn over communications with “any member, employee, or agent of Donald J. Trump or any organization advocating in favor of the 2020 re-election of Donald J. Trump, including ‘Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.’ ”

[...]

This year, the fake-elector scheme has become a major focus of the Justice Department inquiry. After Trump lost the election, lawyers and others close to him urged GOP officials in key states to submit alternate and illegitimate slates of electors to reject the results of the state vote totals. Those would-be electors were aided in their effort by Trump campaign officials and Giuliani, who said publicly that the rival slates were necessary and appropriate, and has been described as overseeing the strategy.

Last month, federal agents fanned out in multiple states to serve grand jury subpoenas, execute search warrants and interview witnesses — a significant escalation of overt investigative activity. As part of that effort, agents searched Eastman’s electronic devices, and conducted a search at the home of Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department official who enthusiastically embraced some of Trump’s last-ditch efforts to stop Biden from becoming president. Many of those who received subpoenas were told specifically to turn over their communications with Giuliani. [...]

Gramsci wrote: Mon Jul 25, 2022 1:16 pm I guarantee the Dems want nothing substantial to happen other than a bunch of lanyards yelling “excuse me, Sir!”

I honestly think the DNC prefer losing to doing anything that would actually impact American’s lives in a positive way.

Krev wrote: Thu Jul 28, 2022 4:56 pm

Gramsci wrote: Mon Jul 25, 2022 1:16 pm I guarantee the Dems want nothing substantial to happen other than a bunch of lanyards yelling “excuse me, Sir!”

I honestly think the DNC prefer losing to doing anything that would actually impact American’s lives in a positive way.

The DNC has been remarkably effective at giving a minority party concentrated in corn/hick/Sharia Law states control of all legislation.

Geiginni wrote: Thu Jul 28, 2022 5:56 pm

Krev wrote: Thu Jul 28, 2022 4:56 pm

Gramsci wrote: Mon Jul 25, 2022 1:16 pm I guarantee the Dems want nothing substantial to happen other than a bunch of lanyards yelling “excuse me, Sir!”

I honestly think the DNC prefer losing to doing anything that would actually impact American’s lives in a positive way.

The DNC has been remarkably effective at giving a minority party concentrated in corn/hick/Sharia Law states control of all legislation.

I think it's partly our fault as liberal voters, that we're more attracted towards milquetoast idealists than hard-nosed managers that have a bit of an authoritarian streak in them. We need some dems that, like LBJ, aren't afraid to intimidate and bully their opponents to get what they want.

Chud Fusk wrote: Thu Jul 28, 2022 10:08 pm

Geiginni wrote: Thu Jul 28, 2022 5:56 pm

Krev wrote: Thu Jul 28, 2022 4:56 pm

The DNC has been remarkably effective at giving a minority party concentrated in corn/hick/Sharia Law states control of all legislation.

I think it's partly our fault as liberal voters, that we're more attracted towards milquetoast idealists than hard-nosed managers that have a bit of an authoritarian streak in them. We need some dems that, like LBJ, aren't afraid to intimidate and bully their opponents to get what they want.

Where are these people? I haven't been given any opportunity to vote for any hard-nosed manager besides Cuomo, and it turned out not to be his nose