August 23, 2022

We reject the free speech-trampling rules set by J.D. Vance and DeSantis for covering their rally

https://twitter.com/jayrosen_nyu/status/1562086483623911424?s=20&t=ZDLg0kewi5qZuKEAXHPnuA


Letter from the editor :

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a likely presidential candidate in 2024, scheduled a trip to Ohio Friday to stump for Senate candidate J.D. Vance, and our reporters were not there because of ridiculous restrictions that DeSantis and Vance placed on anyone covering the event.

The worst of the rules was one prohibiting reporters from interviewing attendees not first approved by the organizers of the event for DeSantis and Vance. When we cover events, we talk to anyone we wish. It’s America, after all, the land of free speech. At least that’s America as it exists today. Maybe not the America that would exist under DeSantis and Vance.


Think about what they were doing here. They were staging an event to rally people to vote for Vance while instituting the kinds of policies you’d see in a fascist regime. A wannabe U.S. Senator, and maybe a wannabe president.

Another over-the-top rule was one reserving the right to receive copies of any video shot of the event for promotional use. That’s never okay. News agencies are independent of the political process. We do not provide our work product to anyone for promotional use. To do so would put us in league with people we cover, destroying our credibility.

https://www.cleveland.com/news/2022/08/we-reject-the-free-speech-trampling-rules-set-by-jd-vance-and-ron-desantis-for-covering-their-rally-letter-from-the-editor.html

August 17, 2022

Trump executive Weisselberg to admit to 15 felonies tomorrow

By Ben Protess, William K. Rashbaum and Jonah E. Bromwich
Aug. 17, 2022
Updated 6:06 p.m. ET

Allen H. Weisselberg, who for decades was one of Donald J. Trump’s most trusted executives, has reached a deal to plead guilty on Thursday and admit to his role in a long-running tax scheme at the former president’s family business — a serious blow to the company that could imperil its chances in an upcoming trial on related charges.

The plea deal will allow Mr. Weisselberg, who was facing up to 15 years in prison, to spend as little as 100 days behind bars, according to people with knowledge of the matter. And it does not require Mr. Weisselberg, the Trump Organization’s longtime chief financial officer, to cooperate with the Manhattan district attorney’s office in its broader investigation into Mr. Trump, who has not been accused of wrongdoing.

But Mr. Weisselberg will have to admit to all 15 felonies he was charged with and if called as a witness at the company’s trial will have to testify about his role in a scheme to avoid paying taxes on lavish corporate perks, the people said. That requirement will put the Trump Organization at a disadvantage and make Mr. Weisselberg a central witness at the October trial, where the company will face many of the same charges.

Mr. Weisselberg will not implicate Mr. Trump or his family if he takes the stand in that trial, the people said.

The prosecutors also essentially accused him of conspiring with the Trump Organization, which he will have to acknowledge at his plea hearing on Thursday and at the trial if he is called as a witness.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/17/nyregion/weisselberg-trump-plea-testify.html

August 12, 2022

Ben Rhodes just said on MSNBC that there's no way Trump declassified all those documents

He said there's a lot of protocol Trump would have to go through and there's no way he would have gotten this done on his way out the door. It doesn't matter one way or the other but confirms my suspicions.

August 3, 2022

The Senate just voted 95 to 1 to expand NATO w/ Finland & Sweden

Who was the holdout? Hawley.

https://twitter.com/themaxburns/status/1554960686001885184?s=20&t=DsUMzvbKsUDE-W8uGe7dyQ