Affidavit Decision Coming, Pence Wants Us to be Nicer to the FBI, Liz Cheney Goodbye, Trump as the SMOD

From the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 08.17.22 (Afternoon Edition), LI notes how the FBI Returns Trump’s Passports the Agency Supposedly Didn’t Have. I hope they made the agent who grabbed them personally deliver them back to President Trump and apologize. But they didn't. Today's fight will be the affidavit hearing, where the same anti-Trump judge magistrate will get to decide whether the DOJ/FBI affidavit used to justify the search will be released. If it isn't, I think we can presume it would help Trump bolster his case that the raid was unjustified. At the Wombats In The Mailbox: 08.17.22 (Evening Edition), This ain't Hell, Hearing to be held to unseal Mar-a-Lago raid affidavit. Vicky Taft at PJ Media, BOMBSHELL: Outing of Trump Raid 'Leaker' Shatters FBI Document Excuse, Now All Eyes Are on Affidavit Hearing. WaPoo whines Trump wants Mar-a-Lago affidavit released, as some aides ponder risk. They're point is that it's strictly a one-sided view, the DOJ making it's case for the raid. I think Trump thinks it's worth the risk. Ace suspects Did the DOJ and FBI Lie To Get Another Warrant, This One to Recover Documents Exposing Their Crimes In Getting the Previous Fraudulent Russiagate Warrants? "Neo-Neocon shared this theory, written up by her commenter TJ Olsen, but offered by Robert Barnes on Viva Frei's podcast."

At the Wombats In The Mailbox: 08.17.22 (Evening Edition), The Lid, AG Garland And The FBI’s Rushed Hit Job At Mar-a-Lago. "Merrick Garland, the AG, Mr. I don’t want to do anything to make the DOJ look political, sat on the search warrant for a few weeks.  Was it because he wanted to get the raid closer to the mid-terms, or was it because he suspected that Donald Trump was about to announce a run for President?" ET has a Special Report: Behind the Trump Raid, unfortunately paywalled. John Emord at Front Page watches while DOJ Scrambles to Find Non-Existent Evidence of 'Intent'. "While DOJ can snow a grand jury into believing lame evidence credible and succeed in indicting just about anyone (not difficult when the prosecution runs the show unopposed), it cannot be sure of a conviction from a court without evidence beyond a reasonable doubt of the specific intent necessary to prove its case." Nick Arama at Red State thinks Jonathan Turley Takes DOJ Apart for Latest Leak on Why FBI Raided Trump Jonathan Turley,@JonathanTurley, "The latest leak suggests that the FBI acted on a subpoenaed security tape from outside the storage room at Mar-a-Lago. While the DOJ demands a total seal on the affidavit to protect the integrity of the investigation, these details continue to be selectively leaked..."  Matt Margolis at PJ Media, Why Don't the Twitter Censors Want Anyone Talking About the FBI Raid on Mar-a-Lago? "Twitter Censored All My PJ Media Articles on the FBI Raid of Mar-a-Lago". CNN whines that Trump is considering releasing surveillance footage of FBI Mar-a-Lago search. If there were something obviously damning it would have already happened. I think it's an attempt to goad the FBI into seizing it. Capt. Ed at Haut Hair catches WaPoo's false concern  Is there a lawyer in the house for Trump? "So let’s not pretend that attorneys aren’t facing cancel-culture pressures these days. Is that the case here, though? Maybe that’s a stretch too. Trump already has some experienced attorneys on board for this effort, as the Post acknowledges . . ."

From the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 08.17.22 (Afternoon Edition) The Geller Reports ‘The past six years we have an FBI and DoJ that have literally become the enforcement arm of the Democratic Party’. Via the Wombats In The Mailbox: 08.17.22 (Evening Edition), This Ain’t Hell has a Wray Update, and at Am Think Sloan Oliver thinks The Justice System Has Gone Beria. At Am Spec, Jed Babbin calls it Lavrentiy Beria’s FBI, "They were shown the man years ago and they’re certain they’ll find the crime." At Twitchy, Here’s a savage thread by Tom Elliott on why citizens should be pro-defunding the FBI. 

Shawn Fleetwood at Da Fed reports Deranged Russia Hoaxer Peter Strzok Is Back With One Of The Most Unhinged Trump Conspiracy Theories Yet "In a tweet referencing a Truth Social post by Trump, in which the former president announced that the FBI took several of his passports during the bureau’s raid on his Mar-a-Lago home, Strzok baselessly claimed that one of the documents is a “Russian passport” that is “kept in a vault at Yasenevo and only swapped out at third country meets.”" I assume that was a joke, but I don't know, he seems pretty humorless. Vicky Taft at PJ Media, Russia Collusion Hoaxer Wants Us to Trust the FBI on Trump Raid. Um, That's a Hard Pass, Peter Strzok. "Gee, why would we ever question the veracity and integrity of Peter Strzok’s FBI?" Mike LaChance at LI, MSNBC Brings on Peter ‘Insurance Policy’ Strzok to Vouch for FBI’s Integrity

Jack Phillips at ET, Pence Says Republicans Shouldn’t Criticize FBI for Mar-a-Lago Raid. Ace notes Mike Pence: Talking About Defunding the FBI is Just Like Talking About Defunding the Police adding "Except that the FBI is a rogue agency which is acting as the Armed Paramilitary of the Democrat Party. And also: "Defund the FBI" is a parody of the left's "Defund the Police." But the actual suggestions for destroying the FBI involve breaking it up into a bunch of smaller, less powerful component organizations -- the crime lab, the crime statistics lab, etc. -- and devolving some of its functions to other agencies and local police forces." The Wa Free Bee says Yes, We Will Question the Integrity of Our Federal Law Enforcement Officials. At Summit News, Congressman: “Tyranny” Is Coming “Right Into Everyone’s Living Room Very Very Shortly” “This is about intimidating anyone who refuses to bend the knee to the narrative.” At the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 08.17.22 (Afternoon Edition) EBL catches Victor Davis Hanson claiming “The FBI is beyond redemption”. CNS News reminds us IG: “FBI…Identified '81 Email Chains Containing Approximately 193 Individual Emails That Were Classified…and Sent to or from Clinton’s Personal Server’" and didn't do jack shit. Da Caller notes how Liberals Hated The Espionage Act. Then The FBI Used It Against Trump. At Compact, Malcom Kyeyune pontificates on The Decline of American Legitimacy. Dan Greenfield at Front Page asks Will 2024 be 1984?, "Call it fascism, because that’s what it is. . . . The Mar-a-Lago raid is a warning that the machine is rapidly preparing to fight off the “threat of democracy” to the 2022 and 2024 elections by once again weaponizing national security, censoring “misinformation”, and stamping out the political opposition." At Am Think, W.R. Wordsworth follows the trail From Civil Compromise to Partisan Persecution. At the Wombats In The Mailbox: 08.17.22 (Evening Edition)  The Political Hat: Weaponized Government Is Here To Stay.

Like the story of Johnny Rotten, Liz is gone, but she's not forgotten. Well, at least she'll be gone in the next congress. Stacy McCain wonders Who Hates Republican Voters Worse, Allahpundit or Liz Cheney? I think both of their amps go to 11. Ace, Buh-Bye Liz Cheney, Northern Virginia's Bonus Representative By Way of Wyoming.  At Da Wire, Liz Cheney Destroyed In Wyoming GOP Primary; Trump Responds. "Cheney’s loss comes after she chose to fight harder against Trump’s claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen than she fought against President Joe Biden (D) and the Democrats." Jeff Carter The Retirement of Liz. "It had nothing to do with Trump and native Wyoming people finally saw through the fog." Politico whines about How Team Trump systematically snuffed out Liz Cheney's reign in Congress. Spencer Brown at Town Hall has The Arrogant Tweet Liz Cheney Regrets the Most, "Here’s a sound bite for you: Bring it." Rajan Laad at Am Think dislikes Liz Cheney's graceless concession speech follows her landslide defeat in WY primary. Grace was never a Cheney thing. Seth Barron at The Post, Liz Cheney’s neoconservatism is dead. Stake, garlic. Shawn Fleetwood at the Fed argues The Best Historical Analog For Liz Cheney Isn’t Lincoln. It’s Colin Kaepernick Nick Brody (cited at Haut Hair) “The one certainty is that she will not go away quietly.” At Da Caller, Liz Cheney, After Losing By 37 Points, Says She Is ‘Thinking About’ A Presidential Run. If the Republicans won't do things her way she'll attempt to wreck the party. Twitchy, WATCH: CNN’s Alisyn Camerota asks what Liz Cheney’s defeat ‘[means] for our democracy’ … so who’d like to tell her?. It worked. At Breitbart, a Report that Former ABC President, J6 Show Trial Adviser at Liz Cheney’s Concession Speech. I hope he cried like a little girl. At the Wombats In The Mailbox: 08.17.22 (Evening Edition), LI, Liz Cheney Goes Down In Defeat, Primary Called Soon After Polls Closed, the Weasel Zippers Due To Idiotic “Ranked Voting” Lisa Murkowski Survives Primary Challenge, Will Continue On To General Election In November, and CNN: Our Democracy Is In Danger Because Liz Cheney Lost and Don Surber: Meet Harriet Hageman, the Liz-ard slayer, Louder with Crowder, LIZ CHENEY GETS SLAUGHTERED IN WYOMING PRIMARY AS TRUMP AND OTHERS RUB IT IN HER FACE  and 357 Magnum: The Media Is Treating Cheney Like a Fallen Hero.  Breitbart notices Records: Liz Cheney’s Net Worth Ballooned as Much as 600 Percent During Her Time in Office. Funny how that happens. At the NYT cited at Haut Hair, hate for cowboy hats, Liz Cheney and the right's new identity politics. Althouse, "You're saying you're content with the left-wing conspiracy to prevent somebody being democratically re-elected as President? finds Trump as the SMOD

That's a question provoked by something Sam Harris says in this video. His instant answer is "It's not left wing. Liz Cheney is not left wing."

Pushed with the question, "You're` content with a conspiracy to prevent somebody being democratically elected President?" Harris stutters and gets out: "It was a conspiracy out in the open." Then: "But it doesn't matter — what part's conspiracy, what part's out in the open." More stumbling, then a retreat into outer space: "If there was an asteroid hurtling toward earth and we got in a room together with all of our friends and had a conversation of what we could do to deflect its course, is that a conspiracy?"

In Presidential politics, Da Caller notes Mike Pence Says He’ll ‘Consider’ Testifying For January 6 Committee If Invited, and 'Bonchie' at Red State thinks Mike Pence Gets to Work Burning His 2024 Campaign to the Ground "For my part, I think Pence’s pursuit is delusional. There is exactly one person in the GOP who would be palatable to Trump voters if Trump himself weren’t the nominee, and his name is Ron DeSantis." Also, Trump Takes His Troll Game to Another Level, Starts Endorsing Democrats. Bwahahaha! Matt Vespa at Town Hall, Journalist: Trump Supporters Are the Most Dangerous Animals I've Ever Covered. Probably so. AllahPundit worries Are we sure the backlash to the Mar-a-Lago search is an insurmountable problem for DeSantis?. At Am Spec, Tim Scott Says He’s Not Running for President But His New Book Tells a Different Story, “Never play the role of victim when the role of hero is waiting for you.”

At the state level, we start with a warning, Rick Moran at PJ Media, Don't Look Now, but Democrats Are Gaining on Republicans Across the Board. AllahPundit has a boner, Dems lead in RCP's generic ballot average for first time since November. Capt. Ed, O-HI-Uh-Ohhhh: Vance edges out Ryan in new Emerson poll. Victory Girls don't like how brain-damaged John Fetterman Cosplayed Anime Child Abuser. Anime? Cosplay? That's the story! Also, Palin And Alaska Wait For Election Results. AllahPundit keeps his chubby, Alaska fallout: Murkowski likely to win, Palin at risk of losing? At Wa Free Bee, She Won Her Texas Primary as an Unabashed Liberal. Now Michelle Vallejo Is Abandoning Her Far-Left Policies. "House candidate scrubs radical views from campaign site after bitter primary fight." Tacking to the center is an old tactic. But what is the real her?

At the Wombats In The Mailbox: 08.17.22 (Evening Edition),The Geller Report L.A. Claims 27% Error Rate in Gascon Recall Signatures But LESS THAN 1% Error Rate in Mail-in Ballots in 2020. Funny how that works, eh? Sam Mangold-Lenett, at Da Fed, If Big Tech Isn’t Regulated Before 2024, The Election Will Be Rigged Again. The chances of it being regulated in such a way as to not help Democrats in negligible.