File under Gravity Makes Things Fall Down:

Stating the obvious, federal judge ruled this week that former AG Bill Barr misled her, Congress, and the American people about the Mueller report, using an internal DOJ memo as the excuse to not charge Trump with obstruction of justice in the investigation.  Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the DC Circuit ordered the DOJ to release the memo saying that it was more of a strategy memorandum and not a legal opinion protected by attorney client privilege.

I would say there’s a good chance that Barr’s going to get his for letting Trump off the hook, lying in public, and then politicizing the DOJ to protect Trump and punish his enemies (and career staff).  This is long overdue, and I’ll be popping popcorn for this show.

Trump is now in Mar a Lago for Christmas.  I can only hope they changed the locks on the White House and have started the deep clean and fumigation.  On his way out the door, Trump granted another 26 pardons, mostly for more of his allies, corrupt congressmen, and murderers who he really enjoys pardoning.  Included on yesterday’s list was Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, and Charles Kushner (Jared’s father) who plead guilty in 2004 to 16 counts of tax evasion, 1 of retaliating against a witness, and 1 for lying to the FEC.  Nice guy.  The congressmen were felons Steve Stockman (fraud and money laundering), Chris Collins (securities fraud) , along with Duncan Hunter along with his wife (misuse of campaign funds).  He also pardon George Papadapoulos and Alex Van De Swaan, snared by Robert Mueller.  He also pardoned the Blackwater mercenaries who killed 14 innocent Iraqis and wounded another 17.

During his time in office, Trump has turned the President’s pardon power on its head.  Envisioned by the Founders as a tool for mercy, to right wrongful sentences or false charges, the pardon power depends on the President actually using these powers for those purposes.  There have been some isolated abuses of this power, like when Clinton pardoned Mark Rich, but those instances are rare.  Trump has used the power almost exclusively to pardon his friends and fellow criminals, those endorsed by Hollywood stars, and criminals who committed their crimes against those who Trump doesn’t like.  They are overwhelmingly white and male.

These pardons are so corrupt that even a few Republicans have been able to stand vertically, sans backbones, to condemn them. Even conservative Been Sasse of Nebraska called these pardons to be “Rotten to the Core.”  That’s an understatement, way too little, way too late.

Federal judge Reggie Walton (appointed to the bench by GWB) issued a scathing opinion today about Bill Barr’s summary of the Mueller report, calling into question his “candor” and “credibility”.  He has ordered that the DOJ release the unreacted report so he he can judge for himself if Barr essentially lied to the public to protect Trump and bury the report.  A few meaty tidbits:

“The Court has grave concerns about the objectivity of the process that preceded the public release of the redacted version of the Mueller Report and its impacts on the Department’s subsequent justifications that its redactions of the Mueller Report are authorized by the FOIA.”

“…a review of the redacted version of the Mueller Report by the Court results in the Court’s concurrence with Special Counsel Mueller’s assessment that Attorney General Barr distorted the findings in the Mueller Report.”

And the crowning blow:

“The speed by which Attorney General Barr released to the public the summary of Special Counsel Mueller’s principal conclusions, coupled with the fact that Attorney General Barr failed to provide a thorough representation of the findings set forth in the Mueller Report, causes the Court to question whether Attorney General Barr’s intent was to create a one-sided narrative about the Mueller Report—a narrative that is clearly in some respects substantively at odds with the redacted version of the Mueller Report.”

Like all stories about corrupt officials, the truth of this particular corruption will come out.  This opinion by this Republican appointed judge is just the first step in dismantling the veil of lies constructed by Trump, his minions, and his corrupt attorney general.

It’s just a matter of time.

At 448 pages, the Mueller report is tough sledding, described as hard to read “as a terms of service” document.  Insider has solved that problem for you.  They hired Mark Bowden, a journalist and author who wrote “Black Hawk Down,” “Killing Pablo,” and “Hue 1968.”  They also hired an artist who illustrates graphic novels.  Bowden took the entire Mueller report and supporting documents to masterfully write a narrative description, complete with illustrations, of the findings of the Mueller report.  The read is long, but a page turner.  If you want to understand the stunning story of Trump’s criminality and horrible conduct, this is it.

This is a must read, and a must share story.

“If We Had Had Confidence that the President Had Not Committed a Crime, We Would Have Said So”

DOJ Policy Says It Is “Unconstitutional” to Charge the President With a Crime; “Charging the President With a Crime Was Therefore Not an Option We Could Consider”

“The report speaks for itself.”

So, the only thing that’s saved Trump’s ass so far is DOJ policy to not indict a sitting president.

Boom

You’ll recall that way back in 2017 when Trump fired James Comey, Sarah Sanders, White House Liar, stood at the briefing room podium and told the American people that the FBI under Comey had been in turmoil and that “countless FBI agents” had called and told the White House how unhappy they were under Comey.  She later admitted that her statement “wasn’t based on anything”.  In other words, she stood in the White House briefing room and knowingly lied to the American people to protect Trump.