Tuesday, November 19, 2024

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An unidentified hacker has gained access to a computer file shared in a secure link among lawyers whose clients have given damaging testimony related to Matt Gaetz, the former Florida congressman who is President-elect Donald J. Trump's choice to be attorney general, a person with knowledge of the activity said.

The file of 24 exhibits is said to include sworn testimony by a woman who said that she had sex with Mr. Gaetz in 2017 when she was 17, as well as corroborating testimony by a second woman who said that she witnessed the encounter.

The files were downloaded by a person using the name Altam Beezley at 1:23 p.m. on Monday, according to the person, who was not authorized to speak publicly. A lawyer connected to the case sent an email to the address associated with Altam Beezley, only to be informed in an automated reply that the recipient does not exist.

The material does not appear to have been made public by the hacker.


Monday, November 18, 2024

[The Washington Post] Two women testified that Matt Gaetz paid them for sex, lawyer says



An attorney representing two witnesses in the House Ethics Committee investigation is going public with allegations against Trump's pick for attorney general 

By Jacqueline Alemany, Liz Goodwin and Perry Stein


https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/11/18/matt-gaetz-ethics-report-allegations/


A woman testified to the House Ethics Committee that former Rep. Matt Gaetz paid her for sex and that she witnessed President-elect Donald Trump's pick for attorney general having sex with a 17-year-old at a party, her lawyer said over the weekend.
Florida attorney Joel Leppard said in an interview with The Washington Post that one of his clients witnessed Gaetz having sex with the minor at a drug-fueled party in July 2017 — and that Gaetz was unaware of her age at the time but subsequently was told she was underage. ABC News first reported the news.
This woman and a second woman, who is also represented by Leppard, testified that they were paid by Gaetz to have sex with him and individuals who attended these "sex parties." They were paid through Venmo or other conduits — including the PayPal of Nestor Galban, whom Gaetz has referred to as his "adopted son."
Gaetz never pressured Lepperd's clients to do drugs at these parties, one of his clients testified, but said that the usage of drugs, such as ecstasy, was widespread and expected. When they were asked by House investigators if Gaetz showed signs of being on drugs, the women answered affirmatively, according to the lawyer's account.


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https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/11/18/matt-gaetz-ethics-report-allegations/

Saturday, November 2, 2024

Thursday, October 24, 2024

This is a Surprise to NO ONE, right? Trump says he’d ‘fire’ special counsel Jack Smith in ‘two seconds’ if elected again



Smith has led the Justice Department's investigations into Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and the hoarding of classified documents.

By Amy B Wang


Former president Donald Trump said Thursday that he would "fire" special counsel Jack Smith on his first day back in the White House if he is elected again, making clear that he would push to drop a pair of federal cases against him.
In an interview Thursday morning with conservative podcast host Hugh Hewitt, Trump was asked what he would do if he had to choose between firing Smith or pardoning himself at the start of a second term.
"Oh, it's so easy. It's so easy. … I would fire him within two seconds," Trump said of Smith, who is leading the Justice Department's investigations into Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and the hoarding of classified documents.
As part of the election-related investigation, Trump was indicted by a federal grand jury in August 2023 on four criminal counts, including conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempting to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2024/10/24/trump-fire-jack-smith/


Tuesday, October 22, 2024

The Many Links Between Project 2025 and Trump’s World



Former president Donald J. Trump has repeatedly claimed that he had nothing to do with Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation's conservative policy initiative to reshape the federal government. Mr. Trump has said that he has not read its proposals and does not know who is behind it. But Project 2025 has numerous ties to Mr. Trump and his campaign, a New York Times analysis has found.

The people behind Project 2025 are no strangers to the former president. The Heritage Foundation's president, Kevin D. Roberts, and a co-founder, Edwin J. Feulner, have each personally met with Mr. Trump. And the analysis of the Project 2025 playbook and its 307 authors and contributors revealed that well over half of them had been in Mr. Trump's administration or on his campaign or transition teams.

Large portions of the "Mandate for Leadership," the driving document behind Project 2025, were written by longtime Trump loyalists who were advisers to Mr. Trump during his first term.

Sunday, October 20, 2024

CISA's Jen Easterly on Fortifying Democracy: "Our Elections Have Never Been More Secure"



Jen Easterly, Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), is facing one of the most critical moments in her career as the 2024 U.S. presidential election rapidly approaches. With a background as a West Point graduate, Army veteran, and Rhodes Scholar, Easterly brings a wealth of experience to the task. Leading CISA, which was established in 2018, she is at the helm of the nation's cyber defense and critical infrastructure resilience. Her mission extends to securing the integrity of the election infrastructure, which has become more challenging in the wake of increasing foreign and domestic threats.

The 2024 election landscape presents a different array of challenges compared to previous years. CISA was designated as the federal lead for election security following Russia's attempts to meddle in the 2016 election. Since then, the agency has significantly ramped up its capabilities, working alongside state and local election officials to fortify election systems. This collaboration aims to reassure voters that their ballots are secure and will be counted accurately.

https://newsletter.cybersecurityhq.io/p/election-security-easterly-leads

Wednesday, October 16, 2024

What’s the chance that Trump knew about the planned killing and actively hid it?



Trump Bragged About 'Saving' Saudi Crown Prince's 'Ass' After Khashoggi Murder

The president is proud of helping an autocrat escape accountability for his role in the murder of a Washington Post journalist

Thursday, October 10, 2024

Disgusting. Republicans now Challenge the Validity of Votes from Overseas Military Personnel



Republicans challenge legitimacy of overseas votes, including military

The Pennsylvania suit opens a front in GOP efforts to raise questions about the validity of mail-in ballots, targeting a group that had been seen as off-limits.

By Colby Itkowitz and Amy Gardner





It Couldn’t Happen Here



Monday, September 16, 2024

We should call this Victim CLAIMING |



Another chance for Trump to frame Democrats as dangerous has emerged

Trumpworld is eager to have Americans blame his opponents' rhetoric for assassination attempts — both to nullify their arguments and to cast Trump as a victim.




https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/09/i16/another-chance-trump-frame-democrats-dangerous-has-emerged/

Monday, September 9, 2024

Three radical Trump policies Americans can’t ignore



The GOP nominee's plans for immigration, tariffs and opponents would be violent and foolish.

Opinion by Eugene Robinson


He seems sincerely, and incredibly, unable to understand how tariffs work. He portrays them as "taxes" on foreign countries, but actually it is U.S. importers who foot the bill, who will then pass those extra costs along to consumers. Trump's tariffs would effectively be a huge tax increase on any American who buys anything made overseas.
Speaking last week to the Economic Club of New York — of all audiences — Trump defended this bad idea by praising the McKinley Tariff, an 1890 measure that raised import duties to nearly 50 percent and caused prices to soar. The tariff, named for Republican House member and future president William McKinley, ended up making Americans poorer and producing less revenue for the government, not more.
Anyone who wonders whether a second Trump term would really be so bad should listen to what he intends to do. It won't just be bad. It will be much, much worse.


Article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/09/09/trump-deport-immigrants-tariffs-democracy-policies/

Thursday, September 5, 2024

USA TODAY Network: Dive into Donald Trump's thousands of lawsuits - azcentral



Donald Trump: Three decades

4,095 lawsuits


An exclusive and ongoing USA TODAY analysis of legal filings across the United States finds that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee and his businesses have been involved in thousands of legal actions in federal and state courts over the past three decades. They range from skirmishes with casino patrons to million-dollar real estate suits to personal defamation lawsuits.

https://www.azcentral.com/pages/interactives/trump-lawsuits/