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Politicians behaving badly

Ken Paxton "settles" without a trial after nearly a ten-year pause on his security fraud indictment, having also dodged impeachment.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton Reaches Deal to Avoid Criminal Trial (NYT, paywall lifted)

Nearly nine years after his indictment on charges of felony security fraud, Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general, reached a deal with prosecutors on Tuesday to avoid a criminal trial that had been set to begin next month.

The deal, announced by the prosecutors and lawyers for Mr. Paxton during a hearing in Houston, does not involve any admission of guilt but requires Mr. Paxton to pay nearly $300,000 in restitution, take legal ethics classes and perform 100 hours of community service.
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AND... it's not really a plea deal. He's not even making a plea. Just... "settling" for pretty much a wrist slap's worth of "restitution" so long as he follows the agreement and completes any obligations within 18 months.

Justice, baby: behold the sliding scale. This is how a disgraced state's Attorney General fares. I don't think the judge was terribly impressed, she made a point of saying the arrangement was between the accused and the prosecutor so there was nothing the court could do to block it.... but that if the agreement was not met, there would "be a very speedy trial.." OK then. Best she could do. Moving on.

Nice role model for "rule of law." Good luck explaining to your kid how this works. Don't forget the part about how "your mileage may vary".
 
lizkat said:
Ken Paxton "settles" without a trial after nearly a ten-year pause on his security fraud indictment, having also dodged impeachment.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton Reaches Deal to Avoid Criminal Trial (NYT, paywall lifted)



AND... it's not really a plea deal. He's not even making a plea. Just... "settling" for pretty much a wrist slap's worth of "restitution" so long as he follows the agreement and completes any obligations within 18 months.

Justice, baby: behold the sliding scale. This is how a disgraced state's Attorney General fares. I don't think the judge was terribly impressed, she made a point of saying the arrangement was between the accused and the prosecutor so there was nothing the court could do to block it.... but that if the agreement was not met, there would "be a very speedy trial.." OK then. Best she could do. Moving on.

Nice role model for "rule of law." Good luck explaining to your kid how this works. Don't forget the part about how "your mileage may vary".
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This is Texas, he’s a Republican, why am I not surprised? 😡
 
Hmm... first this Republican dude alleges Arizona has had some fraud issues regarding past elections. Now he drops out of his own state house re-election race because some sigs on his nomination petition look a whole lot like his own signature, and a couple of the purported petitioners have filed affidavits saying they didn't sign the petition. Don't think that was exactly the sort of fraud he was alleging when he was trash talking Arizona's electoral integrity back in the day.

apnews.com

Arizona Republican drops reelection effort after accusation he forged signatures

A leader of the conservative group Turning Point Action has resigned from the organization and dropped his bid for reelection to the Arizona House of Representatives after he was accused of forging signatures on his nominating petitions.
apnews.com apnews.com

Smith cast the allegations as a coordinated attack by Democrats that was “silly on its face,” but said he would drop out to avoid racking up legal bills.

“I might be confident in victory, but all it would take is a judge believing any one person, and all would be lost,” Smith said in a statement he posted to social media.
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Nothing like casting aspersions on the judiciary while trying to minimize responsibility for messing with integrity of the electoral system.

And, it may prove an expensive mistake for the state GOP. Their majority in the state legislature is narrow an d now they have just one candidate for two house seats in this guy's district. They'll apparently resort to a write-in campaign. Good results from those take a lot of planning and often end up with a lot of invalid votes (Donald Duck, My Cat, etc.) or just blanks for the slot. Sounds like a perfect opportunity for the Dems to run some ads with their own suggestions for a blue write-in, and expalinng exactly why!

Smith is a first-term lawmaker in a safe Republican legislative district in the Phoenix suburbs, but his departure from the race leaves the GOP with just one candidate for two House seats as the party looks to hold onto its slim legislative majority. Smith urged voters to write in the name of another Republican from the district.
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Kari Lake, gee. Why does the GOP field so many candidates who traffic in thinly veiled threats of violence... amid talk of the "armor of God."

Anyway her last such reference caused me to uncork a few bucks for Ruben Gallego, her Dem opponent for the Senate seat in Arizona that is open for 2024 due to Sinema's decision not to defend it. Arizona needs to get a darker shade of blue with both Kelly and Gallego in the Senate to help offset some of red noise from that state in the House. What they don't need is Kari Lake. She's like the wannbe Senate version of MTG.



Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) aired concerns over Arizona Senate hopeful Kari Lake’s call to voters last month to “strap on a Glock” saying Lake’s remarks could get someone injured — or worse.

“It’s dangerous,” Kelly told NBC’s Kristen Welker during an interview on “Meet the Press.” “What Kari Lake said could result in people getting hurt or killed.”
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The run-up to the election “is going to be intense,” Lake told supporters during a rally in Arizona’s Mohave County. “And we need to strap on our — let’s see. What do we want to strap on? We’re going to strap on … our seat belt. We’re going to put on our helmet or your Kari Lake ball cap. We are going to put on the armor of God. And maybe strap on a Glock on the side of us just in case,” she said.
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OK, I know Fetterman is a wishy-washy Democrat, but I decided to check the source of that tweet. It looks like it’s based on some comments he made the other day to Bill Maher, and also possibly Morning Joe.

Leading Report appears to be some right wing cheerleading site akin to Huffpo, just on the opposite side of the political spectrum. So they ran with it as if it’s breaking news. Big surprise: everything over there is breaking news.

In a Fox News article, which I’m not gonna link to, Maher praises Fetterman for speaking freely in a way that usually only former politicians do. Fetterman tell him that nearly dying made him feel free to speak in that same way. All Fetterman is actually doing here is acknowledging openly what we already knew about him: that he’s not a progressive.

He still sounds like a Democrat in the rest of the interview however, including predicting that Biden is going to win this fall, and saying that his fellow Democrats who don’t think so might as well put on a MAGA hat.
 
TBL said:
I’ll never forget that headline about him: John Fetterman, American Jagoff

That about sums up what I think of Mr. "I was dead, now I'm based". Wish he could've stayed--

Okay, I'll refrain from saying that. 😉
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G'head, say it!!

Well given the choice at the time, Dems had no real choice. It'll be interesting in a few to see who may challenge him. If he even runs for reelection.
 
ronntaylor said:
Well given the choice at the time, Dems had no real choice.
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So, so true. I mean, Dr. Oz? C'mon. Pennsylvanians said, uh, no in 2022 and went for Fetterman.

The problem there was Trump's endorsement of Oz during the primary. The Rs with money were afraid to peg much dough against Trump's pick in a contest for an open seat. The Dems got lucky because Dr. Oz beat out former hedge fund executive David McCormick in the primary. McCormick was a little too sane for the moment, I guess. Then in the general election, predictably, Dr. Oz got swept away in those leanin'-blue mideterms.

But, that was 2022. In 2024, McCormick is back like a bad penny and this time he won the R primary. But he's running against incumbent Dem Senator Bob Casey this time, not for an open seat as Oz and Fetterman were doing in 2022 after Toomey announced his retirement.

So the Rs are having to pour real money into that race. Someone must have told Trump to keep his mouth shut this time around if anyone says "Pennsylvania." Anyway so far he hasn't said he doesn't like his party's pick. Rs probably just hope McCormick won't drop down in the polls or Trump might start bad-mouthing him. Their nightmare is always that Trump doesn't give a fig about party, only about himself and his own opinions.

The good news? Only 8% of Pennsylvanians say they never heard of Bob Casey. Incumbency in a US Senate seat is worth its weight in gold, plus Casey is a former PA governor and in total has won three state-wide elections

McCormick is mostly known from his 2022 outing v Trump's pick Dr. Oz in the R primary, and there's some leftover controversy over whether McCormick's "really" a Pennsylvania resident, since he still rents a mansion in Connecticut...

Still the race is close and the money will make it closer as time goes on. Rs see the seat as one they could flip to gain control of the Senate. I'm not sure about that but the Rs' ad buy money is like over moon and the Ds have a lot of other seats to defend this year.
 
This is a seriously petty Republican…

www.theguardian.com

Vermont Republican secretly poured water into colleague’s bag over months

Mary Morrissey apologizes after being filmed dumping liquid into backpack of Democratic legislator Jim Carroll
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com

A Vermont lawmaker was compelled to apologize publicly after being caught on video pouring water into her colleague’s work bag multiple times across several months.

The bizarre behavior is allegedly a part of a campaign of harassment that one legislator aimed at another who represents the same district in the Green Mountain state, independent outlet Seven Days first reported.
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Now that she got caught on tape, she’s sorry.
 
Get this shit. Tell me how much you don't respect Martin Luther King Jr, without telling me, and getting upset when you're called out for that lack respect.



wwmt.com

Mich. GOP candidate apologizes for 'disrespectful' AI-generated MLK Jr endorsement video

Anthony Hudson is running as a Republican in Michigan's 8th Congressional District.
wwmt.com wwmt.com
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FLINT, Mich. (TND) — A Michigan congressional candidate apologized late last week for his campaign's use of a Martin Luther King Jr.-like voice for an endorsement video.

Anthony Hudson, a Republican candidate for the state's 8th Congressional District, said one of his volunteers’ friends posted the video online. In the since-removed video, the voice said the civil rights leader “came back from the dead” with “another dream,” according to a post by a Chicago radio station.

“I have another dream. Yes, it is me – Martin Luther King. I came back from the dead to say something,” the voice said. “As I was saying, I have another dream that Anthony Hudson will be Michigan’s 8th Congressional District’s next congressman. Yes, I have a dream again. Okay, now I am going back to where I came from. Goodbye.”
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At the end of the video, a Hudson-like voice said he approved the message. In an X post Friday, Hudson blamed his volunteer's friend for posting "an AI video without my knowledge."

I would have NEVER approved such a STUPID and DISRESPECTFUL video! I sincerely apologize that all of you have seen this and I’m extremely furious about this situation,” he wrote. “This could happen to any of us so please be cautious and aware of who has your person information.”
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The response unsurprisingly...


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I can't with this mutherf--k-r.
 
I don’t know what was worse: the behavior or the attempted excuse for it…

slate.com

A GOP Lawmaker Was Arrested After Chasing a Stripper With a Gun in the Middle of the Night

His defense belongs in the Crisis Response Hall of Fame.
slate.com slate.com

a 62-year-old Michigan state representative named Neil Friske delivered what may go down as the signature political arrest of the year, getting collared at 2:45 a.m. Thursday by Lansing PD because, according to an initial report by the MIRS news service, he had “chased an adult dancer after a disagreement” and “had a gun in his possession at the time.” Authorities say the county prosecutor’s office is reviewing his case and that he may be arraigned on Friday or Saturday.
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SouprMatt said:
I don’t know what was worse: the behavior or the attempted excuse for it…
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At the very least the guy's campaign needs a PR spokesman able to spin better when not having much to go on.

Asking everyone for prayers, nice touch.

Not so much the suggestions that the arrested state representative chasing a stripper down the road with a gun had anything to do with either the pending release of absentee ballots or the fact that his opponent in a state legislative race has "deep state ties."​

Why not tack in the fact that the incident took place near the time of the full moon.​
​
Surely everyone would understand it better in that context? 🤪​


Honestly this country has gone off the deep end voting fringe-right pols into office until they're practically mainstream.

Try to imagine twenty years ago some pol getting busted for chasing a stripper down the road at 2:45am and his campaign team instantly reminding the world that the guy is "always exercising his 2nd Amendment right."

Can't get there? Me either.

Truth be told, first thing came to my mind when I read about the feckless MIchigan lawmaker was from way farther back than 20 years ago. It was a wry comment from Lindsey Graham during Bill Clinton's impeachment hearings regarding late night phone calls with the White House intern Ms. Lewinsky.

“You know, where I come from, any man calling a woman at 2am is up to no good."

Love to know what Graham might think of a gun-toting Rep Friske running down the road after a stripper in the wee hours...

Of course it may turn out the stripper in this instance was up to no good, who knows. But whether it warranted the rep's "exercise of 2nd Amendment rights" seems a bit up in the air.
 
Ted Cruz: I went to Cancun in the middle of a blizzard that knocked out power and killed a bunch of people in my state!

Greg Abbott: Hold my beer…

newrepublic.com

Greg Abbott Traipses Off to Asia as Hurricane Beryl Pummels Texas

It seems the Texas governor is taking inspiration from Ted Cruz’s infamous Cancun trip, dipping just as a natural disaster hits his state.
newrepublic.com newrepublic.com
 
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Not gonna lie, I appreciate the title of this article

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I think what impressed me is how far back this has gone, to the point that they were all in IDGAF mode, when it come to concealing this stuff.

Seriously one of them when confronted by investigators at home for their phone, asked to be excused to go to the bathroom to delete the messaging apps off the phone. Like they weren't going to figure that out? 🤨 Then Adams himself supposedly changing the password on his phone from 4 to 6 numbers to "help" the investigators, then claiming he already forgot the password. 🤨 Who the F' is that comically stupid, that isn't a formerly indicted president?

I don't mean to be petty,

laugh-giggle.gif


but... I do.

Seriously, guess who's got this guy's back now?

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During a press conference at Trump Tower in New York City, the Republican former president suggested Adams, a Democrat, was bound to be indicted after criticizing the Biden administration’s handling of the migrant surge that overwhelmed the nation’s largest city.

“I watched about a year ago when he talked about how the illegal migrants are hurting our city, and the federal government should pay us, and we shouldn’t have to take them. And I said: You know what? He’ll be indicted within a year. And I was exactly right,” Trump said. “Because that’s what we have — we have people that use the Justice Department and the FBI at levels that have never been seen before.”

Adams alluded to similar shadowy forces at work in the DOJ.
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FTMF
 
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