Eastman, the Dems, and Discovery
Eastman, the Dems, and Discovery
Plus: About Those Drone Strikes in Russia
Recently in The Bulwark:
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LAURA K. FIELD: John Eastman: The Dems Made Me Do It.
FOR NEARLY TWO YEARS NOW, since he was revealed in September 2021 to be the author of the notorious “coup memos,” John Eastman has been walking a bizarre legal and political tightrope.
On the one hand, we have the man who filed a legal claim on behalf of President Donald Trump in Texas in December 2020 seeking to invalidate millions of votes. The man who was invited to join Trump’s unofficial legal team later that month, where he wrote the two elaborate memos delineating various paths that Trump and Vice President Mike Pence could take to delay or overturn the election count. Who tried in person to persuade Pence that, at the very least, he had the authority to delay the vote count; who spoke at Trump’s “Save America” rally on January 6th, repeating conspiratorial lies about election fraud; whose emails that same day reveal that during the siege of the Capitol that he blamed Pence for not acting as he had advised; who was caught on video (by an undercover activist) boasting about working to overturn the election; who lost his academic appointments in the aftermath of these events; whom a federal judge concluded had “more likely than not” broken the law; who may soon be disbarred in the state of California; and who is so worried about being indicted by Special Counsel Jack Smith that he has requested a postponement of those disbarment proceedings.
KIM WEHLE: Trump’s Obviously Bad Argument About the Discovery Process.
ON FRIDAY, U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE Tanya Chutkan will hold a hearing on Special Counsel Jack Smith’s motion for a protective order in the January 6th-related criminal case pending against Donald Trump. The government filed the motion immediately following Trump’s announcement on Truth Social, posted the day after his “not guilty” plea last week, that “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!” Although the government’s proposal is routine and relatively modest in its scope, Trump’s legal team is irresponsibly running around claiming it’s a First Amendment “attack on . . . members of the press.” Chutkan will see through this ruse, for sure. But the damage has already been done: By forcing the press to engage in this senseless debate, Trump has again stoked doubt about the foundations of our legal system
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MARK GALEOTTI: Sanctions on Russia Are Working—Just Not How Some People Thought.
DO SANCTIONS WORK? THE KREMLIN would certainly like you to think not—indeed, it hopes you’ll think they are actually counterproductive, helping Russia achieve economic independence while undermining Western economies. Take as an example a front-page article in the government-owned Russian newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta, a stodgy cross between newspaper of record and breathless propaganda outlet. No subtlety was evident in the crowing headline: “They got what they deserved. The consequences of the departure of European companies from Russia.”
CATHY YOUNG: About Those Drone Strikes in Russia.
ON WEDNESDAY MORNING, the Moscow suburb of Sergiev Posad, about forty miles from the city center, was rocked by a massive explosion that shattered windows, sent debris flying, and caused a huge column of gray smoke to rise toward the sky. The site of the blast was the Zagorsk Optical and Mechanical Factory, described as a producer of optical and optoelectronic devices for various clients including the Russian military. But as theories about the cause of the explosion multiplied, so did questions and reports about what had really been inside the building.
🚨OVERTIME🚨
Happy Thursday! Tomorrow’s Overtime will be shorter than usual, as I’ll be on the road. Justice Thomas is under the spotlight again after another well crafted ProPublica story. Habitual Thomas defenders were trying to pre-buttal the story, but it’ll be interesting if the Harlan Crowe Krewe gets the group back together for another very embarrassing public excuses parade.
The funniest detail of the latest ProPublica story? It has to be Mark and Tricia Paoletta’s lyrical tribute, like they’re the FedSoc Whiffenpoofs. So, I asked Artificial Intelligence to give me hypothetical lyrics to such a ditty and here’s what it gave me.
It’s a gas, baby… An AI supermarket meal planner had some interesting recommendations.
No, fellow Republicans…. the Justice Department is not biased against us. Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez weighs in at the Post.
If Boris Epshteyn weren’t in enough trouble already… New allegations and video emerged of him groping women at a Phoenix nightclub.
The first “scammer” QB… Is none other than Johnny Manziel.
Florida’s Third Senator? Happens to be the Senate’s dumbest: Tommy Tuberville, whose residency is in question.
Also in Florida… Divers found 32 cars in a lake by Miami International.
Meanwhile, in Ohio… The doctor who told the Ohio House that the vaccine made you magnetic has had her license suspended.
What the Hell Happened to the Claremont Institute? II… The folks at The New Republic published a story with the same headline we used two years ago. (They’ve since changed it.) It’s also very good and worth reading, though I’m biased and think Laura K. Fields’s one is better.
A Fenway first… You know those lights on the Green Monster? One caught a ball.
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CORRECTION: The headline of this edition of Overtime mistakenly read “Durham” when it was supposed to say Eastman.
Editorial photos provided by Getty Images. For full credits, please consult the article.