Update no.1163

 Update from the Sunland

No.1163

22.4.24 – 28.4.24

Blog version:  http://heartlandupdate.blogspot.com/

 

To all,

 

The follow-up news items:

-- In the criminal business fraud case, People of New York v. Trump [NYSC, Cty of NY Indictment No. 71543/2023] [1107], the defendant and his legal team are attacking Michael Cohen as a serial perjurer in hopes of discrediting him and his testimony. Yes, he pleaded guilty and served prison time for his perjury. What they do not mention, and I hope the prosecution brings into sharp focus, Cohen committed perjury as the behest of and in the service of [the person who shall no longer be named]. That feckless conman sent Cohen to prison, and now he attacks his servant for doing what he wanted him to do—interesting juxtaposition.

-- In the case of the Arizona 1864 prohibition [1161] any abortion except to save the life of the mother, who decides if her life is threatened? How much of a threat has to exist? What if that degree of threat is different in each state? How close to death does the pregnant woman have to get to permit a life-saving abortion? And who decides that threshold . . . a passel of white, male politicians?

What is wrong with this picture? Hmmm!

-- On the 20^th of this month, President Biden signed into law the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act[PL 118-049; H.R.7888; Senate: 60-34-0-6(0); House: 273-147-0-11(4); 138 Stat. xxx] [1161], which renewed and reformed the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA): [PL 95-511; 92 Stat. 1783; 25.10.1978], especially §702, the U.S. citizen surveillance provision.

-- The available public congressional information indicated the supplemental foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and the Gaza Palestinians (H.R. 8034, 8035, 8036, 8038) [1162] has passed the House. There are conflicting reports as to whether the bills have been sent to the Senate, or whether any Senate action has been taken. Reports also suggest there is overwhelming support in the Senate for passage, which will hopefully be completed next week. According to the Defense Department website, the president signed the package of four laws into law on the 24^th. This aid is long overdue, especially for Ukraine. We can only pray it is not too late for Ukraine. This was an off week (kinda) for Congress and presumably the staff. The Library of Congress has not kept up this week. I expect to report the precise details next week.

 

On Tuesday the 23^rd, Arizona Attorney General Kristin Kay Mayes filed a grand jury indictment against 18 individuals—People of Arizona v. Kelli Ward et al [SupCt AZ cr 2024-006850; Ind: 93 SGJ 81]—on nine charges of conspiracy, fraud and forgery associated with their interference in the 2020 election. The 11 fraudulent electors were named outright in the indictment. Seven additional defendants were redacted in the original indictment for reasons undisclosed so far. I am quite unsure why Attorney Mayes felt compel to redact the names of Defendants 012 through 018, but she did. Perhaps, the redaction indicates that those defendants reside out of state and would require extradition. Various news sources have connected the dots to deduce the identity of the redacted defendants. By the information provided in the indictment coupled with other public data, the redacted and deduced defendants are:

(012), Rudolph William Louis ‘Rudy’ Giuliani

(013), John Charles Eastman

(014), Boris Epshteyn

(015), Jenna Lynn Ellis

(016), Christina Gabrielle Bobb

(017), Michael A. ‘Mike’ Roman

(018), Mark Randall Meadows

The indictment also listed five additional coconspirators 

Unindicted Coconspirator 1 — Donald John Trump [redaction mine]

Unindicted Coconspirator 2 — likely former state Senator Kelly Townsend; long standing member of the Oath Keepers

Unindicted Coconspirator 3 — former state Representative Mark William Finchem and unsuccessful (sore loser) candidate for Arizona secretary of state

Unindicted Coconspirator 4 — likely Kenneth John ‘Ken’ Cheseboro.

Unindicted Coconspirator 5 — John D. ‘Jack’ Wilenchik

The case is yet another election interference prosecution of principally the fake electors and their enablers similar to cases already in play in Georgia and Michigan. The Ward case is election process interference from an Arizona perspective. Mayes presented some of the factual evidence well beyond the probable cause threshold for charges to be filed, and from my perspective, beyond the reasonable doubt threshold for conviction in court. Many of the people involved appear in other state and federal election interference cases. Unfortunately, the leader of the bunch was not indicted, but I respect Attorney General Mayes’ decision to go as far as she felt she could to successfully prosecute the case in court.

Everything in the entire election interference conspiracy was built upon the BIG LIE, i.e., substantial fraudulent votes had been cast by any one of nefarious means in sufficient quantity to alter the outcome of the election. The only problem was the BIG LIE was false. No physical evidence was ever and still has not been presented to anyone, anywhere. Unindicted Coconspirator 1 [the person who shall no longer be named] was not the only person touting those false claims, but he was the principal agent and vocalist; he used the power of the presidency and the White House to proliferate those absolutely false claims. The Republican House of Cards stands upon the vaporous foundation of the BIG LIE. There is no substance to the claims of the BIG LIE, just hot air from desperate politicians, unscrupulous lawyers, and bevy of lemmings following their leader over the cliff’s edge into the chasm.

 

Comments and contributions from Update no.1162:

Comment to the Blog:

“I agree the impeachment of the Secretary of Homeland Insecurity was another political farce.

“Little Fingers reported for the accounting fraud trial this morning, spouting the usual nonsense on the way in.

“Drastic abortion laws are backfiring against the GOP, but in the meantime, they cause great suffering.

“The concept of ‘peace through strength’ has failed throughout history. Even the Romans couldn’t actually implement that.

“Israel will be able to continue their genocide if the Senate passes Johnson’s bundle.”

My response to the Blog:

Yes, it was, and I am glad it’s over. I must say I am again disappointed a few of the saner Republicans in the Senate did not reject the motion to proceed, but hey, these are the times in which we live.

Yeah, I listened to his soliloquy with a strong sense of nausea and revulsion, but the worst part is, there are people who believe his drivel.

I sure hope so. Regression 160 years is just not a good thing no matter how we spin it. Women deserve more respect than that. I also hope the Republicans pay a very heavy price for this debacle. I will vote in my part to extract that price.

We could argue that point, but I am not sure it is worth our collective time. I have no idea what the alternative might look like.

I strongly disagree with your statement. I do not like how they are prosecuting their plan against Hamas, but genocide . . . no! There are right-wing elements in the current Israeli government who are “kill them all” crazies, just like we have in the opposition party today, but I do not see genocide. Hamas has so thoroughly imbedded its infrastructure in the Palestinian population of Gaza that I can only see that Hamas sought these casualties to elicit international public response, and unfortunately, the Israelis took the bait in their rage after 7.October.2023. I hope and expect the Senate to pass all four bills today, and the president to approve them in the next day or two.

“That’s just my opinion, but I could be wrong.”

 . . . Round two:

“We will obviously differ on Gaza. I will point out that the history of barbarism in Palestine goes back to Biblical times. Among other things, by their own Old Testament account, their barbaric God destroyed the Midianites--men, women, children, and even pets. That particular account, which is told with relish, is what convinced me I'll never belong to the Abrahamic religions. Fast forward to recent history: the Zionists (not the Jews as a whole) have long been committed to sole possession of Palestine ‘from the river to the sea.’ They continue trying to carry that out, with U.S. support.”

 . . . my response to round two:

OK. So it shall be.

I have no argument regarding your observation regarding the history of violence in the region dating back to the beginning of recorded human history. There is also no argument that an intolerant, ultra-right-wing group exists within Israeli society and currently in the Israeli government, just as similar groups exist in the United States of America. The ultra-right exerts inordinately more influence over Israeli politics and military actions than they do in the U.S., but the American version is trying desperately to achieve Israeli-level nationalism. I have long condemned the Netanyahu support for the West Bank settlement program, and I now condemn the heavy-handed decimation being carried out in Gaza. Yet, I do support Israel’s need and objective to eradicate Hamas, just as we have done with al-Qa’ida, ISIL, and other such terrorist groups. President Biden is doing his best, in my humble opinion, to influence the Israeli government to modify their approach to dealing with Hamas while respecting Israel’s sovereignty. Ultimately, the Israeli people must vote Netanyahu and the right-wing nationalists out of office, remove them from using the instruments of state to further their violence.

By the way, We, the People, must do our part to prevent any possible coalescence of Israeli ultra-right-wingers and the American version. At the moment, it is President Biden who is standing in the breach. We must vote this coming November.

 . . . Round three:

“On the other hand, maybe Biden or whoever controls the DNC has visited Epstein's Island.”

 . . . my response to round three:

Oh my, that is quite a stretch and quite the conjecture indeed.

 . . . Round four:

“It is indeed a conjecture, but it would explain the U.S. disregard for the genocide.”

 . . . my response to round four:

Perhaps, but the problem I have is . . . despite the mistakes made by the IDF and IAF, I do not see purposeful attempt to kill Gaza Palestinians. Yes, there are obscenely large numbers of collateral fatalities, but that is not genocide; it is war, e.g., the firebombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and other German cities. I do not like the death toll any more than you do, but genocide is a very long stretch.

 

My very best wishes to all.  Take care of yourselves and each other.

Cheers,

Cap                  :-)