The New Face of Late Stage Putinism
Plus: Yes, Federal Courts Have Jurisdiction in the Jan. 6th Case Against Trump
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CATHY YOUNG: In Death, Prigozhin Becomes the Face of Late-Stage Putinism.
ON TUESDAY, YEVGENY PRIGOZHIN, the ex-convict turned Putin-favored restaurateur turned pro-Kremlin warlord turned anti-Kremlin rebel, was buried in St. Petersburg with all the mystification that accompanied his life. Likely fearing that the funeral of the mercurial chief of the Wagner mercenary group could become an occasion for unrest, the authorities used decoys, with security measures and apparent funeral preparations at three different city cemeteries; the actual burial was conducted as a private event at a fourth, the small and obscure Porokhovskoye Cemetery. (One exiled Russian pundit recalled an old Odessa joke in which a grave inscribed āHere lies so-and-so, the famous shell-game artistā is flanked by two other graves inscribed āOr maybe here.ā) Prigozhinās erstwhile patron and widely presumed murderer, Vladimir Putin, did not attend, and the former hotdog vendor was buried without the military honors to which his Hero of Russia award entitled him. Meanwhile, rampant speculation continued that Prigozhin, formally identified as one of the ten people killed in the still-unexplained crash of his private jet on August 23 during a flight from Moscow to St. Petersburg, was alive and possibly hiding in Africa, where the Wagner Group has had extensive military and business operations.
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KIMBERLY WEHLE: Yes, Federal Courts Have Jurisdiction in the Jan. 6th Case Against Trump.
ON MONDAY, U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE TANYA CHUTKAN set March 4, 2024, as the trial date for the federal case against Donald Trump on four criminal counts arising from the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Trumpās lawyer, John Lauro, reportedly made a slew of impassioned arguments for a much later trial date, including putting forward an ill-considered comparison to the 1931 Scottsboro Boys cases, which went to trial six days after an indictment of nine black youths falsely accused of raping two white women. He also flagged his plans to file a motion to dismiss the case for lack of ājurisdiction,ā setting up a constitutional showdown that will likely wind up before U.S. Supreme Court, possibly on an immediateāor āinterlocutoryāābasis, given the high stakes involved for the office of the presidency itself.
šØ OVERTIME šØ
Happy Friday! Sometimes a week is gone in the blink of an eye, and before you know it, the seasons begin to change. Summerās great, but you can always offer an Ohioan more Fall.
Yes, D.C. has its own regional pizzaā¦ āA Ledo pizza is basically a bunch of mistakes.ā And theyāre good ones! I like Ledo because it is similar to Saint Louis and Ohio style.
In Pennsylvaniaā¦ Despite some solid recent wins in the Keystone state, insiders say the Democratic party there is in trouble.
JVL on Fast Politicsā¦Talking schadenfreude with our pal Molly Jong-Fast.
How the ACCās month-long sagaā¦ was settled in 15 minutes earlier today.
Proud Boy who smashed Capitol windowā¦ sentenced to 10 years.
On Jan. 6th, a Trump campaign aide told police officersā¦ to 'go hang yourself.ā No word if he still has a job with the campaign.
Ron DeSantis Is Afraid of Questionsā¦ From a 15-Year-Old.
The CPAC exorcismā¦ Strange things are afoot at Matt Schlappās ACU.
Never Back Down sounds the alarmā¦ Ron DeSantis (read: Jeff Roe) needs $50 millionā¦ or else!
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