U.S. Politics

[Rick Plant]

Carl Bernstein says it's time to investigate Ginni Thomas -- and gives a tip of the hat to old partner Bob Woodward



The latest reports about the efforts of Ginny Thomas to encourage the overturning of the 2020 presidential election are occurring in a far different media environment than during Richard Nixon's downfall, but legendary Watergate journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein are once again teaming up

After winning the Pulitzer Prize for their Watergate reporting in 1973, the pair's 1974 book All the President's Men was turned a hit 1976 movie starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman.

On Thursday, Woodward's name was first on the byline in a bombshell report in The Washington Post.

"Virginia Thomas, a conservative activist married to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, repeatedly pressed White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to pursue unrelenting efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in a series of urgent text exchanges in the critical weeks after the vote, according to copies of the messages obtained by The Washington Post and CBS News. The messages — 29 in all — reveal an extraordinary pipeline between Virginia Thomas, who goes by Ginni, and President Donald Trump’s top aide during a period when Trump and his allies were vowing to go to the Supreme Court in an effort to negate the election results," Woodward reported with Robert Costa.

Bernstein took to Twitter to offer his thoughts on what comes and his message was retweeted by Woodward.

"Time for an investigation of Justice Clarence Thomas & his wife, Ginni, after Woodward (yeah, him) and Costa revealed her unrelenting campaign inside the Trump White House to overturn the 2020 presidential election (and the Constitution)," Bernstein wrote.

https://twitter.com/carlbernstein/status/1507472187577421831

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/03/24/virginia-thomas-mark-meadows-texts/

[Rick Plant]

We’re seeing the lowest unemployment claims since 1969 because the American Rescue Plan got Americans back to work faster. The American Rescue Plan was President Biden's plan to Build Back Better and not one single Republican voted for this bill that has transformed America. Unemployment claims are at the lowest level since 1969. This is further evidence that President Biden and Congressional Democrats' investments in jobs and the economy are getting Americans back to work and getting the economy back on track.

U.S. weekly jobless claims lowest since 1969; continuing claims shrink
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/24/us-weekly-jobless-claims-lowest-since-1969-continuing-claims-shrink.html

[Rick Plant]

Great to see the President thanking our troops -- on the front line of NATO -- for their service.

[Rick Plant]

"I visited Ukrainian refugees who have fled to Poland this afternoon. You don’t need to speak the same language to feel the roller-coaster of emotions in their eyes. I want to thank my friend Chef José Andrés, his team, and the people of Warsaw for opening your hearts to help." - President Joe Biden

[Rick Plant]

The authoritarian aggression is also here at home with a Republican Party who attempted an illegal coup to keep Trump in power via an insurrection.

Biden says Putin ‘cannot remain in power’ in sweeping speech on Russian invasion of Ukraine

President Joe Biden said Russian leader Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power” over his invasion of Ukraine.



In a sweeping speech in Poland that marked the finale of a three-day trip to Europe, Biden urged democracies around the world to unify and commit to a long fight against authoritarian aggression.[/i]

President Joe Biden on Saturday said Russian leader Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power,” ratcheting up international pressure and further uniting NATO allies against Putin over his invasion of Ukraine.

“A dictator, bent on rebuilding an empire, will never erase the people’s love for liberty,” Biden said at the end of a sweeping speech in Poland. “Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia, for free people refuse to live in a world of hopelessness and darkness.”

“For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power,” Biden said.

Biden has hurled invective at Putin throughout the crisis in Ukraine, labeling him a “murderous dictator” and a “war criminal,” but has previously stopped short of calling for his removal from power.

Later Saturday, a White House official attempted to clarify that Biden “was not discussing Putin’s power in Russia, or regime change,” but rather was making the point that Putin “cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbors or the region.”

The president’s address at the Royal Castle in Warsaw marked the grand finale of a three-day trip to Europe. While in Poland, Biden met with Ukrainian refugees who had fled Russian aggression, as well as with U.S. troops stationed in Rzeszow, near Ukraine’s border.

In his speech, Biden urged democracies around the world to unify against Russia and commit to a historic battle against authoritarian aggression.

“In this battle, we need to be clear-eyed,” he said. “We need to steel ourselves for the long fight ahead.”

Biden directly and repeatedly condemned Putin throughout the speech, accusing the Russian president of “using brute force and disinformation to satisfy a craving for absolute power and control.”

Biden slammed Putin for invoking Nazi imagery as a pretext for an invasion, calling it an “obscene” lie. And he said it is “Putin who is to blame” for the mountain of international sanctions that are crushing Russia’s economy and its currency, noting that the Russian ruble has been reduced to “rubble.”

Biden also spoke past Putin, attempting to deliver an appeal to whichever Russian citizens may be able to hear the speech.

“This is not the future you deserve for your families and children,” Biden said. “I’m telling you the truth, this war is not worthy of you, the Russian people.”

Biden’s message to Ukraine was more direct: “We stand with you. Period.”

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/26/biden-says-putin-cannot-remain-in-power-in-sweeping-speech-on-russian-invasion-of-ukraine.html

[Rick Plant]

WATCH: Marjorie Taylor Greene throws tantrum over Constitution's ban on insurgents running for Congress



Controversial Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) lashed out over a lawsuit challenging her eligibility to run for office following her efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

"A lawsuit filed on behalf of a group of Georgia voters on Thursday seeks to bar Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from running for re-election over her support for rioters who attacked the U.S. Capitol last year," MSNBC's Ja'han Jones reported. "The complaint resembles a lawsuit filed against Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) in January, which also cited the 14th Amendment’s language prohibiting people who have 'engaged in insurrection or rebellion' from serving in Congress."

Greene lashed out at the constitutional eligibility requirement.

"They are trying to take away my district's right to vote for me," she said, even though the lawsuit says her district has no such right to vote for her after she broke her oath.

"Their lawsuit is such a scam, it is so ridiculous, it's obvious they've never read the Constitution before," she argued, even though the Constitution appears quite clear on the point.

"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress...who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress...to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same," reads Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.

Watch: https://twitter.com/BobBrigham/status/1507816756898787330

[Rick Plant]

Rogue FBI informant tried to keep Whitmer kidnap plot alive, destroy evidence, feds say



DETROIT — A rogue FBI informant tried to keep the Gov. Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot alive, obstruct justice and destroy evidence after federal agents arrested more than a dozen men in fall 2020, prosecutors said Friday.

The informant, Wisconsin resident Stephen Robeson, urged others to destroy evidence, warned accused plot ringleader Barry Croft that he was wanted by the FBI and told another to destroy evidence by throwing a gun in a lake, according to a court filing.

Prosecutors leveled the allegations while trying to prevent Robeson from being called as a defense witness during the ongoing trial of four men charged with plotting to kidnap the governor.

Defense lawyers are expected to call Robeson as a witness in the next week or two and ask about his work as an FBI informant and leader of a fake militia who organized trainings and meetings and recorded members of the alleged kidnap plot.

Prosecutors Friday said Robeson is likely to invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination due to the possibility he would be charged with new crimes related to the kidnap plot.

Prosecutors Friday said Robeson is likely to invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination due to the possibility he would be charged with new crimes related to the kidnap plot.

The court filing Friday provides new details about Robeson's breakup with the FBI and wrongdoing that led to the convicted felon being indicted on a gun charge and dropped from the kidnap case in October 2020.

That is the same month FBI investigators arrested 13 men in connection with the alleged plot.

"The reason: Steve had been breaking the law without authorization and surreptitiously assisting the other conspirators," Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler wrote.

FBI agents sanctioned Robeson's activities, paid him, rewarded him, gave him secret recording equipment and let him commit illegal activities while working for the government, defense lawyers wrote in a request earlier this week to have Robeson testify.

"Robeson now seeks to assist the government to avoid answering for their actions by hiding behind the pretense of self-incrimination despite being given nearly carte blanche authority by his agents and handlers to gallivant across the country, parading himself as the leader of a national militia and being a significant link in the defendants’ case," defense lawyers Joshua Blanchard and Christopher Gibbons wrote.

They represent accused plotters Croft, 46, of Delaware and Adam Fox, 38, of Potterville. They are standing trial alongside Lake Orion resident Daniel Harris, 24, and Brandon Caserta, 33, of Canton Township.

The group was arrested in early October 2020. Robeson knew about the looming arrests and was instructed not to tell anyone. He warned Croft anyway, and told another person, who was secretly working as an FBI informant, to encrypt a training roster, according to prosecutors.

Robeson also said despite the arrests, he was willing to continue helping with the kidnap plot, prosecutors wrote. He called another FBI informant, Dan Chappel, and told him to throw Croft's gun in a lake and get rid of a vehicle that was used during surveillance, according to the government.

"Steve dubiously claimed in a statement to agents that he did the above things to try and avoid being 'outed' as a source," Kessler wrote.

Robeson was indicted in March 2021 and accused of illegally obtaining a sniper rifle in what amounted to the first sign of trouble with a high-profile case of domestic terrorism that has revealed and raised questions about FBI agent misconduct.

He pleaded guilty in October and avoided a prison sentence under terms of a deal with prosecutors.

Prosecutors Friday asked Chief U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker to schedule a hearing outside the presence of jurors so Robeson can be questioned. Then Robeson's testimony in front of jurors should be barred, according to the filing.

"The government believes that — at a minimum — Steve will invoke his privilege against self-incrimination in response to the government’s questions on cross-examination," the prosecutor wrote. "Assuming he does, his refusal to testify will be based on a well-founded fear of incriminating himself arising from his obstructive and other potentially criminal actions outside the scope of his work as a(n informant)."

Meanwhile, defense attorneys on Friday in court Friday tried to blunt the testimony of a man who said he plotted to kidnap Whitmer, getting him to admit that after his arrest he had referred to the group as a “bunch of jokers” just playing roles.

But Kaleb Franks, who pleaded guilty in February, said he had lied to the FBI because he feared going to jail for his part in a staggering scheme to grab Whitmer from her vacation home in northern Michigan just before the 2020 national election.

Franks said he was hoping that “LARPing” — live-action role-playing — would “explain the firearms ... all the stuff that was a part of the crime."

“If you were LARPing, would you have pled guilty?” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Roth asked.

“No,” Franks replied.

He testified on the 10th day of trial of the four men charged with conspiring to kidnap Whitmer. Franks agreed to cooperate with prosecutors with the hope of getting a lighter sentence in June.

He said Fox believed Whitmer’s COVID-19 restrictions were “tyrannical” and that the U.S. Constitution gave the men a right to strike back. Earlier in the week, another man who pleaded guilty, Ty Garbin, said a kidnapping could ignite a U.S. civil war involving anti-government groups and possibly prevent the election of Joe Biden.

Franks' main testimony occurred Thursday in federal court in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He described training in summer 2020 for an eventual assault on Whitmer's second home in Elk Rapids, reinforcing testimony earlier in the week from Garbin, the first person to plead guilty.

“I was going to be an operator,” Franks said. “I would be one of the people on the front line, so to speak, using my gun.”

He said he stayed with the group because he was depressed and had hoped he would be killed in a shootout with police.

Defense attorneys on Friday tried to trip Franks up by highlighting inconsistencies.

“Your testimony from the last couple days has been, ‘These guys were serious.’ That's not what you said to the FBI when you were arrested,” Croft lawyer Joshua Blanchard said. “You referred to the group as a whole as a bunch of jokers, that they're LARPing. ... When we use that term we're referring to people who go to the comic con to dress up as Pokemon."

Franks acknowledged telling investigators that Fox, described as the leader, was regularly egged on by a man who turned out to be an FBI informant secretly recording conversations for months. It conflicted with his earlier remarks that Dan Chappel didn’t try to steer the group.

“I was untruthful in that interview because I was trying not to go to jail,” Franks told the jury.

He also acknowledged a heroin problem and that he had illegally used an opiate substitute while in custody in the case.

Defense attorneys were trying to show the jury that there was no credible plot, just a lot of profane, violent and crazy talk about Whitmer and other politicians trampling their rights during the pandemic.

The jury was sent home about 50 minutes early Friday because a government witness hadn't arrived yet. Jonker was unhappy.

© The Detroit News