Gratefully Little Russiagate

I guess the autopsy of Soleimani is sucking up almost all the media energy, leaving little left for the various aspects of Russiagate. I would be tempted to accuse President Trump of some sort of "wag the dog" tactic, but to do that you would have to assume the media was not self aware. . . Oh wait.

Sundance at CTH has Dan Bongino Interviewing Rudy Giuliani – Topics: New York Crime, Iran, IG FISA Report and Biden Family Corruption…



Bill Fidursky at AmThink wonders Doesn't what Joe Biden did regarding Hunter qualify as an 'official act'? Sure seems like it to me.

Whatever the reason or pretext for Joe Biden's threatening to withhold $1 billion in U.S. aid to Ukraine unless the prosecutor investigating Burisma was fired, as vice president of the United States, Joe Biden committed an official act in matters that involved his son, his son's employer, the major shareholder of his son's company, and a significant source of his son's income. Instead of interfering in and disrupting any Ukrainian matters involving his son, Joe Biden should have simply recused himself from any domestic or foreign matters that involved his son. As things have progressed, the then–vice president's disruption and meddling into Ukrainian investigations appear to have worked to the advantage of Burisma and Mykola Zlochevsky.

As a self-styled purported expert in foreign affairs, does Joe Biden even understand that inherently corrupt societies favor the dispersal of large amounts of cash and favors to incur the goodwill of influential individuals or to buy protection? Having the younger Biden tag along on an official trip to China, where the younger Biden has reported business interests, is another matter.

In shampeachment, WSJ reports that the Trump Administration Subpoena Case Gets Mixed Reaction from Court Panel but Sundance digs deeper in More Administration Leaks and Ongoing House Maneuvers Highlight Dem 2020 Strategy…

The House Judiciary Committeee (HJC) argued in the DC court of appeals to obtain the Mueller grand jury information [6(e) material], and compel testimony of former White House counsel Don McGahn. Also today, more leaks from the inside the administration.

The House has a group of dozens of various DOJ and former Obama officials working on their behalf. That House network also has several currently employed DOJ, FBI, State Department and Intelligence Community officials feeding them information on current real-time events. The HJC are currently arguing the Mueller material and the McGahn testimony are needed for the impeachment trial of President Trump.

First, if the HJC team wins the argument to the three member DC Appellate Court, the DOJ will likely file for a full ‘en banc’ review by the entire panel. If the HJC wins the ‘en banc’ argument the DOJ will likely appeal for an administrative stay by the Supreme Court.

However, if the HJC team loses, they will most likely not file an appeal and will quickly release the impeachment articles to the Senate. The impeachment articles (Abuse of Power and Obstruction of Congress) are currently withheld in an effort to bolster the DC appeals court argument; lose the legal argument and the Dems just start leaking anyway.
. . .
The political opposition research against President Trump will either come out legally via HJC, or it will come out illegally via leaks. However, it will come out. The DC Appeals Court and/or the Supreme Court decisions will determine which path.

Most of the Mueller team material is irrelevant for the purpose of Trump-Russia. There is no there ‘there’, and there never was. The Mueller investigation in 2017/2018 was never really designed to find evidence of Trump-Russia… it was designed to find dirt on Trump and his family. That dirt, under the guise of investigative evidence, was then assembled into a political dossier.

Anyone who could deliver rumor, innuendo, gossip or manufactured evidence toward that end, similar to the Steele Dossier was used and included in the Mueller material.

Forget about arguing the Mueller probe found nothing on Trump-Russia therefore… (fill in blank). That argument is moot. The purpose of the Mueller effort was dirt on Trump; it didn’t (and doesn’t) matter what that dirt is. Essentially: find dirt, put in file.

At NYDN, McConnell and Pelosi dig in their heels on standoff over Trump impeachment trial. Your point?

Gary Gindler at AmThink wonders Have the Democrats Reached Their Stalingrad? Kind of a strained metaphor, but amusing.

Linked by EBL in Meghan Markle Moves To Canada 🇨🇦🇬🇧🤷🏻‍♀️,  Claire Duburcq, 1917: A Review,   Dracula: A Review, Tanya Tucker: The Jamestown Ferry and Five Came Back: The World War II Directors: Capra, Ford, Houston, Stevens, and Wyler 🎥🇺🇸.