Flotsam and Jetsam - Arizona in Question

I'm going to have to lead with something other than the Musk/Twitter shitshow, which seems to be in a short hiatus while the reporters celebrate Chanukkiah. The Arizona governator election in 2022 is coming down to a lawsuit, in which Kari Lake (R), who lost by a fingernail margin to Katie Hobb (D), is suing Maricopa County to have the election voided and thrown to Lake or rerun, based on the numerous issues there that hobbled same day voters, predominantly Republican voters. Yesterday we found out that the ballot printing problems turned out to be that 20 inch ballots were being printed on 19 inches, making them impossible to scan in the tabulation machines. Also, there was never any real count of ballots cast in the County, so any number of false ballots could have been slipped into the stream. From the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 12.22.22, at Am Great Nice Deb reports at the  Kari Lake Trial a Pollster Testifies Election Day Chaos in Maricopa County Was Enough to Change the Results also Kari Lake Expert Witness claims Missized Ballots That Caused Election Day Chaos Could Not Have Been An Accident  “These are not a bump against the printer and the settings change,” he explained. “There are security configurations. I’ve reviewed the evidence, and the printers are configured via script, which by any large organization that has to do multiple systems is the standard.” . . . When asked whether it could not have happened by accident,  Parikh said “no.” At PJ Media, Stephen  Kruiser says Kari Lake's Lawsuit Is Looking Anything but 'Frivolous' Now and Matt Margolis calls a Game-changer? Huge Revelation in Kari Lake's Election Challenge Trial and Is This the Biggest Bombshell of the Kari Lake Election Lawsuit? 

KARI LAKE TRIAL: AZ Co Elections Director - Scott Jarrett admits under oath ballot fit to print issue was known and is being investigated but Maricopa County never informed the public

This would suggest Katie Hobbs certified an election with ongoing printer issue investigations pic.twitter.com/ibEP4n006f

— Drew Hernandez (@DrewHLive) December 22, 2022

At the TN Star, Day One of Kari Lake Election Contest Trial Sees Testimony from Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer and Election Integrity Expert Heather Honey and  Expert in Kari Lake Election Suit: ‘No Doubt’ She Would Have Won Without Maricopa Election Day Chaos. Jennifer Van Laar at Red State reports on how Maricopa County Attorney Argues That Voters Who Wait Until Election Day to Vote Then Encounter Problems Reap What They Sow

Maricopa County has now officially shown its hand. They HATE voters that choose to vote on election day @KariLake @KariLakeWarRoom pic.twitter.com/13Vq0Rivja

— George (@BehizyTweets) December 22, 2022

Gee whiz, I remember a day when virtually everybody voted at the polls, and results were mostly tabulated the same day, and the winners announced. How did we manage that? Now, I don't believe that Kari Lake will succeed in overturning the Arizona election, but it's pretty clear a great deal of official incompetence, if not downright malice, was directed at same day (ie Republican) voters in Maricopa County.

Matt Margolis again, Delaware Supreme Court Issues Full Opinion Overturning Same-Day Registration and Vote by Mail Racists! Don't they know blacks and women can't be expected to get to the polls! Chris Queen at PJ Media, When Democrats Lose, It's Voter Suppression. When They Win, It's — Well, You Know. Slay, Two Men Convicted, Sentenced to Jail for Voter Fraud in Florida. Nathaniel Blake at Da Fed thinks that For Conservatives To Win, Republicans Must Get Comfortable Using Power. At Da Caller, Sean Hannity Testifies He Never Believed The 2020 Election Was Fraudulent, in Dominion suit.

Ben Whedon at JTN, Jan. 6 committee drops final report after 18 months of investigations, "Facing certain dissolution when Republicans take over the lower chamber, the committee made a last-minute criminal referral of Trump to the Department of Justice for his alleged role in the incident." Tristan Justice at Da Fed reports House Republicans Expose Pelosi’s Culpability In Jan. 6 Riot. John Hinderacker at Power Line wonders Was January 6 Pelosi’s Fault? Probably not, but she did not act to hinder it, which is a crime by her committee's view. At WaEx, More Doubts cast over Jan. 6 witness's testimony disputing Trump grabbed wheel of SUV. Even the committee didn't buy it. From the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 12.22.22, Behind The Black,  Today’s blacklisted American: The FBI’s purge of conservatives forces one agent to sue for sympathy to J6 protestors, not actions. At Da Caller, ‘A Recipe For Tyranny’: Here’s Why An Alaska Lawmaker Faces Removal From Office Under The State’s ‘Disloyalty Clause’ "Eastman was present at former President Donald Trump’s rally on Jan. 6 but did not enter restricted areas on Capitol grounds and has not been accused of entering the building." Stacy McCain on  The Shame of Adam Kinzinger

Something else Kinzinger doesn’t get: Congressmen are supposed to represent their constituents. In 2016, Donald Trump won the 16th District of Illinois by 17 points, with 55% to Hillary Clinton’s 38%. In 2020, the voters of the 16th District chose Trump by a 16-point margin, 56% to Biden’s 40%. In other words, the district that sent Adam Kinzinger to Congress voted for Donald Trump twice, by overwhelming margins, and you might think this would oblige Kinzinger to defend the man his constituents embraced, rather than to constantly attack Trump. Who is it, really, that is the threat to democracy?

Sundance at CTH laughs that The Holy Grail Quest for President Trump’s Tax Returns Ends with the World’s Loudest Sad Trombone. "The only person who seems happy is Geraldo Rivera, who likely thinks that perhaps now his opening of Al Capone’s empty vault has finally been eclipsed in its ridiculous nothingness." Atop Da Hill Tobias Burns whines about How Trump paid $0 in income tax in 2020, legally. “I think Trump’s 2020 losses were real, largely resulting from business losses he suffered at the start of the COVID pandemic,” Steve Rosenthal, a tax expert with the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, said in an email to The Hill. “That is why he paid zero taxes in 2020.”   Also, President Trump Proposes Criminal Penalties for U.S. Government Officials Engaged in Administrative Noncompliance with Immigration Law. Sure, but it won't pass, and if it did it would be vetoed. Stacey Matthews at LI, ‘Anti-Vaxxer’: Dems, Media Pounce on New Talking Point About Ron DeSantis as 2024 Speculation Heats Up. It's not "anti-vax" to be anti-coercive. Lincoln Brown at PJ Media, DeSantis’ COVID Vaccine Grand Jury Gets the Green Light From the Florida Supreme Court. 

I&I claims Biden Should Be Fired So Americans Can Have Jobs. Across da pond at Da Mail, 'You could hear the president dropping f-bombs all over the West Wing': White House insiders reveal explosive details about how furious Joe Biden exploded at staff as they struggled to get a grip of border crisis. From NYPo, Hunter Biden adds top Dem lawyer Abbe Lowell as House GOP probes await. Althouse, "Sitting across from [Kamala] Harris had me thinking about how I’ve devoted a good deal of my life to analyzing how the media, and Americans more generally, treat powerful women." "Writes Molly Jong-Fast in a Vanity Fair piece with a long title: "KAMALA HARRIS, A VERY TURBULENT YEAR IN AMERICA, AND THE CHALLENGE OF BEING FIRST . . . It sounds as though, in the middle of the interview, she's ransacking her own mental archive in search of any substance to use in this big Vanity Fair piece she's supposed to write." Dan McLaughlin at NRO (cited by Haut Hair) This new AZ poll shows risk to Dems with Sinema's defection.

Jimmy Failla@jimmyfailla "Don’t bag on Zelensky for showing up to the White House in a sweatshirt. Apparently a member of the Biden administration stole his luggage."

Ace, Media Blacks Out Story of Transgender Beating the Crap out of a Girl in the Girls Room at Oklahoma School "Remember when we used to segregate private spaces by gender, to prevent the possibility of a boy or man getting a girl alone and isolated and either sexually violating her, or using a man's brute force to beat the living hell out of her? Glad we've left those Dark Ages behind! . . . Via Instapundit, a list compiled by "JL" at the Glinner Update of, the writer says, transgender "women" (men, that is) who have physically or sexually attacked women." Beege Wellborn at Haut Hair, Dismissed: Detransitioners "too rare" to warrant attention "You couldn’t possibly “regret” being pushed into irrevocable mutilation of your body and its chemistry at a young age or when your mental state was fragile. No, no, no. In fact, you actually were carved into the person you were meant to be, but ee-ville transphobes ruined it for you."

Ace, Carolyn Ellison, Daughter of Pal of SEC Head Gary Gensler, Makes Deal to Testify Against SBF. "I'm sure the fact that she has a close connection to SEC head Gary Gensler didn't help her get the deal, or get a kinder deal than she deserves." From the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 12.22.22, Victory Girls: FTX Fallout: Guilty Pleas And Extradition. Sundance, Manhattan Judge Sets $250 Million Bond and House Arrest for FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried. NYPo, Sam Bankman-Fried released on record $250M bond, placed under house arrest. Back to his parents basement. "The bond would be partially secured by Bankman-Fried’s parents’ interest in their $4 million home next to the elite school, and that equity would have to be paid within three weeks, Gorenstein said." But somebody unknown put up the rest. Hmmm. Fox 13, FTX founder Bankman-Fried allowed $250M bond, house arrest. At WaEx, Regulator wined and dined by SBF and FTX out at the SEC. "SEC General Counsel Dan Berkovitz announced that he is departing his role at the agency effective Jan. 31, the agency said. Berkovitz was an ally of FTX within the financial regulatory agency and had meetings with SBF and other crypto lobbyists."

But Musk and Twitter have not disappeared entirely. The main issue today seems to be the FBI's statement, to the effect of "well, we always do this and we didn't force anyone to censor anything, and by the way, this is a conspiracy theory." Dan Greenfield at Front Page claims the TwitterFiles Shows How the FBI Hacked the Constitution "We’re shooting guns. We’re kicking down doors. I’m learning about the constitution. This is awesome.'”" Madeleine Hubbard at JTN, FBI responds to Twitter Files: 'We never direct or ask them to take action', "The Twitter Files revealed that the FBI regularly contacted the social media platform about content it deemed questionable." Like election jokes. Breitbart, FBI ‘Responds’ to Twitter Files Allegations of Bureau Involvement in Censorship. Cutie Pavlich at Town Hall thinks The FBI's Response to the Twitter Files Is Not Going Over Well. David Strom at Haut Hair says FBI response to Twitter Files is on brand

During Trump’s presidency the FBI was clearly his enemy. They ran operations against him (remember when FBI Director Comey considered wearing a wire to tape Trump?) Comey illegally leaked documents, the FBI spread falsehoods about Trump, and clearly there was a vendetta against the former president. They pretended that the Steele Dossier was credible and led the media to this conclusion, all the while knowing it was trumped up oppo research from the Clinton campaign. They are liars. The top rungs of the ladder are filled with power hungry liars who are cashing in.

Whatever you think of Trump, the FBI was obviously his enemy and acted the part. They really were out to get him, and with the Hunter Biden laptop story suppression, they eventually did.

The FBI’s response to the revelations is classic. They can’t dispute the facts, so they spin the story. “Nothing to see here, move along.”

Jonathon Turley, “Conspiracy Theorists…Attempting to Discredit the Agency”: The FBI Attacks Critics Objecting to its Role in Twitter’s Censorship System "

It is not clear what is more chilling: the menacing role played by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Twitter’s censorship program or its mendacious response to the disclosure of that role. This week saw another FBI “nothing-to-see-here” statement to the release of files detailing how it actively sought to suppress the Hunter Biden story before the 2020 election, gave millions to Twitter, and targeted even satire or tiny posts that did not conform with its guidelines.

From Twitchy, Michael Shellenberger takes the FBI APART for calling #TwitterFiles ‘misinfo’ in BRUTAL thread

FBI calls Twitter Files "misinfo" but doesn't deny that it

- had Hunter Biden's laptop since Dec 2019

- told Twitter a hack-and-leak involving Hunter may occur in Oct 2020

- was spying on Giuliani when he gave a copy of laptop hard drive to NY Posthttps://t.co/Iq3EBm3IAC

— Michael Shellenberger (@ShellenbergerMD) December 22, 2022

From the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 12.22.22, The Lid: The FBI Destroyed Its Once Great Reputation. At Da Mail, Spooks infiltrate Silicon Valley: Facebook is riddled with ex-CIA agents – including President’s briefer who now runs 'harmful content' team – so many ex-FBI work at Twitter they have Slack channel and Google is rife with ex-CIA. I wonder how many are "sheep-dipped?"

The Spec World, cited at Haut Hair looks at The shocking Hunter Biden twists in the Twitter Files. At the Free Bacon, Think Tank Funded by Pro-Biden Billionaires Colluded With Journalists and Big Tech To Kill Hunter Biden Coverage. Jazz Shaw at Haut Hair, For the Laptop from Hell scandal, the coverup is worse than the crime and that's really saying something.

PM reports Biden's DOJ to prosecute ABC News investigative journalist following FBI raid. "James Gordon Meeks was working on a book about Biden's botched Afghanistan withdrawal in 2021."

It remains unclear why Meek was on the FBI's radar. A federal judge signed off on the search warrant the day before the raid, which allegedly included an immense amount of firepower, including an armored vehicle and almost a dozen heavily armed agents. Among other devices, the raid allegedly unearthed a laptop with classified information, "sources familiar with the matter" told Rolling Stone.

ABC was told his resignation was for "personal reasons" and were not even aware of the raid until months later. The network has made no legal intervention, nor voiced support for the reported, implying that these events are not related to his journalism.

"This is a guy who has done a lot of good in the world. ABC would be firmly in his corner if it was for legitimate journalism. None of it adds up," a former colleague said.

It's not clear at all to me that ABC would be firmly in his corner if he were writing a negative book about Joe Biden.

Sundance reports Elon Musk Perplexed as Twitter Begins Widespread Suspensions of Accounts Critical of U.S. Funding for Ukraine and Zelenskyy Grift. Clearly time to trim a little more fat? Look at the ex-FBI guys.