Michael Cohen got a new first name.  It’s “Embattled.” Every time you see his name, it says “Embattled” first.

Embattled attorney Michael Cohen has dropped a pair of much-touted libel suits against BuzzFeed and the private investigation firm Fusion GPS over publication of the so-called dossier detailing alleged ties between President Donald Trump and Russia.

I think somebody explained to Embattled Michael what a deposition and a subpoena are. I don’t think he paid proper attention in law school.

Jay Sekulow, one of Trump’s lawyers, found a great way to make a living.

Documents obtained by the Guardian show Sekulow approved plans to push poor and jobless people to donate money to his Christian nonprofit, which since 2000 has steered more than $60m to Sekulow, his family and their businesses.

Telemarketers for the nonprofit, Christian Advocates Serving Evangelism (Case), were instructed in contracts signed by Sekulow to urge people who pleaded poverty or said they were out of work to dig deep for a “sacrificial gift”.

Hey, the dude has payments on his airplane and God only knows what else. In his defense, he was trying to raise enough money to burn a wet elephant.

Here’s the script for his “Christian charity” phone calls.

Some people are going to a real special place in hell.

Thanks to SGray for the heads up.

Y’all, this is my baby boy.

I cannot imagine where he got a fighting spirit.

And yes, I am very, very proud of him.

Kris Kobach, the former head of Trump’s Voter Fraud panel, which lasted about the same length of time as a donut at a cop convention, is all covered in misery right now.

Kris W. Kobach, the secretary of state in Kansas and face of the Trump administration’s efforts to clamp down on supposed voter fraud, was found by a federal judge on Wednesday to have disobeyed orders to notify thousands of Kansans in 2016 that they were registered to vote.

People in Kansas can register to vote when they get a driver’s license.  A court ruled that Kobach was supposed to send a postcard to people notifying them that they were registered to vote and the location of their voting poll.  It must have slipped his damn mind because he didn’t do it.

“The Court is troubled by Defendant’s failure to take responsibility for violating this Court’s orders, and for failing to ensure compliance over an issue that he explicitly represented to the Court had been accomplished,” the judge wrote.

Here’s my favorite part:

Judge Robinson did not impose a fine or other sanctions, but ordered Mr. Kobach to pay “reasonable” legal fees to the A.C.L.U.

Oh man, that’s gotta hurt.

Thanks to everybody for the heads up.

Lookie here.

Yeah.

A new poll released Wednesday suggests the U.S. Senate race between U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke to be far more competitive than many political observers have initially thought.

The poll from Quinnipiac University shows the two men in a dead heat: 47 percent of registered voters in Texas support Cruz while 43 percent back O’Rourke, an El Paso Democrat.

That number falls within the poll’s 3.6 percent margin of error.

Ted Cruz is not human.  Seriously.  He’s one of those shape shifting reptilians the whacky people talk about.

Beto is a good one to beat him and a good one for Texas.

Remember Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai, aka Satan, who stomped all over net neutrality and seems damn proud of it, is sliming his way across all communications.

A broadband adviser selected by Chairman Ajit Pai to run a federal advisory committee was arrested last week on claims she tricked investors into pouring money into a multimillion-dollar investment fraud scheme, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Come to find out, Pai isn’t any better at picking all the best people than Trump is.

Pierce was charged with wire fraud last Thursday and faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Which would be an improvement on spending a month in the Trump  swamp.

Thanks to Henry for the heads up.