Generally speaking, there are no depositions in criminal cases. What there are are voluntary witness interviews and grand jury subpoenas. And the Fifth Amendment. Criminal cases usually aren't made on documentary evidence, much, anyway. You gotta have credible witnesses that corroborate each other. And a lot of these fuckers aren't talking for fairly obvious reasons. And, for various reasons, it seems a lot of the victims that have spoken out don't have very good credibility. Which is not to say I don't believe them or anyone should disbelieve them, but many of their attempts to go on record in civil suits and the like have been contradictory, etc. And that blows a potential criminal case to hell. You're right there doesn't seem to be evidence of an investigation. But I'm a) not sure we really know that that looks like and b) I'm not sure that's been released or even ordered to be released. The dogs were certainly called off in 2008. They were let loose again in 2018-2019, perhaps on a limited basis, but they at least added a defendant that had not previously been discussed much. I'm sure they considered some others. I do recall that some grand jury testimony was released for the Epstein and Maxwell cases. Not sure how or if we'd know if there were other grand jury investigations. But that's where the rubber hits the road on investigation matters.
Im not sure I had a very positive view of Wall Street types to begin with. But this guy was the head of a major bond trading outfit. Bond traders arguably have better understanding and insight on economic issues than equity traders and certainly "deal dudes." And then there's Bessent. Of course, Peter Navarro has a PhD in economics, but it's something goofy like organizational economics. Can you imagine this bunch of dipshits confronting the 2008 financial crisis? You can certainly take issue with Paulson & Co.'s resolution of it, but it at least felt like it was in competent hands.
Here's a big problem. Most of this board has no idea what constitutes a convictable criminal case. There's a shitload of nasty implications in there but I have yet to see anything that indicates a viable criminal case. Hell, half the time I see a post of some allegedly smoking gun email, or other document, it turns out to be ambiguous enough that it would be rotten evidence for a criminal case. It's possible no one has really looked at this at DOJ because of an insidious conspiracy. That certainly happened in 2008. But just about every time you hear of a politically declined or manipulated prosecution, you hear about it from within DOJ, some tenacious reporter etc.
The Drum back? I know what I have lived through, and this is the shittiest of the shit. The country was in a slow burn before, now it's damned near on fire and we'll be lucky to survive.
Yes. There is. Because while politicians are generally corrupt and money in politics has fucked us, our politicians have still operated in good faith, in comparison to this one.
There's no both sides here. Which is not to say government under the non-Trump party has been great. But there's a massive difference between Trump II and any prior administration and the acceleration of the things you complain of, which are not illegitimate, has been staggering.
And Bush deported a bunch more, and Clinton before him. And, they did it quietly, calmly, so the American people didn't hardly notice. They didn't do it with armed mobs moving in large groups in suburban areas tear-gassing, bean-bagging, rubber-bulleting and flat murdering people. Or detaining citizens in brutal conditions for days and weeks on end.
I case anyone doesn't know, a President can appoint an acting USA for 120 days. If, in that time, a nominee doesn't get confirmed by the Senate, the judges of that district appoint the USA who remains until one is nominated and confirmed. Trump tried to claim he could do the 120 days over and over again. Courts have said, nope.
When I started losing my hair, I was deathly afraid I would have a weird little forepatch like that. Course, I wound up shaving my head, which mooted the whole thing, but that would have sucked. Also, I envied black guys where thinning wasn't as obvious because dark on dark. But then you go grey, but by then no one cares.
Well, y'know, those boots and pants pretty much originated more than a century ago, in the horse cavalry. What's remarkable is that they're still wearing them. I think even the mostly ceremonial Horse Cavalry of the 1st Cavalry Division doesn't wear them anymore.
I remain kind of enamored of steam power because, as a Mechanical Engineer, I took six hours of thermodynamics, which was mostly centered around steam. That subject, of course, has application in all "heat engines" (Otto, Diesel, Stirling, Brayton as well as Rankine.) but the basic case and the teaching case for MEs, was steam for about 50-75 years. Probably still is.
Well, setting aside who was wrong and who was right. Trump has nearly destroyed patriotism among the intelligent, productive, and capable people who are most likely to fix things, personally or through their votes, while promoting patriotism among those least capable of doing so. Obama was mostly the opposite.
Raskin should have said, "You can talk about that in one of your Cabinet meetings where you flatter the President, but the American people and this Congress has questions for you about the Epstein files, and you will answer them."
I'm starting to think that, like a ton of the unwinnable lawsuits Trump files seeking billions that never get to trial, this DOJ is happy if they can secure an indictment and twat/truth about it for a week or two. They have no real hope or intention of securing convictions on many/most of these. Of course, as Jack Smith noted, that is unethical.
Who the fuck do you buy electricity from? I have a 100 monthly surcharge from Oncor for shit they should have done on their own nickel before Icemageddon.
For all the dog and pony shows Jordan and Comer put Democrats and Biden Administration officials through, they always maintained some sense of decorum, despite ridiculous questions. But no, not this cunt.