Michael Pachter

So please, spare us the faux outrage and please, don't try to argue with rational people that seeking phone records for the time a crime was underway is somehow an abuse of power.

I, for one, cannot wait till @robertgarcia.house.gov is CHAIR of the Oversight Committee

/10 end

Each of the phone participants would, of course, be notified if Smith thought the were either a perpetrator or a witness, and he just never got that far

It makes no sense to expect he would notify the subject of an investigation if they were neither charged nor sought as a witness /9

Merely "knowing" that they spoke to Trump that day is NOT evidence of participation in the conspiracy, nor is it evidence of guilt. It is entirely plausible that some of them (like Lindsey Graham and Kevin McCarthy) tried to convince Trump to call in the National Guard and stop the insurrection /8

are thus in a position to describe his state of mind. NONE were charged with conspiracy, because Smith had no access to the CONTENT of their conversations with Trump. They were prospective witnesses, entitled to due process and to claim 5th Amendment protections from self-incrimination /7

Thus, the line of questioning about "why weren't we notified" was as disingenuous as it was stupid. The congressmen who spoke to Trump that day are likely witnesses to his criminality or to his vindication. They had contemporaneous conversations with him during the insurrection, and /6

were involved in the call.

To complete the thought, Jack Smith sought phone records for members of congress NAMED by Rudy Giuliani and others (likely Mark Meadows) and only used those records to determine whether Trump communicated with them DURING the January 6 insurrection /5

ONLY the fact that a call was made or received, the time the call was placed and the duration of the call. The term "phone records" does NOT include the content of the call. In other words, there is no "recording" of the call. The only privacy violation is the knowledge of which numbers /4

The FBI is under no obligation to "inform" the capos or troops that their records were being reviewed. To the contrary, notification could result in a truncation of the conspiracy and could deprive the FBI of valuable information about whether it was continuing. Keep in mind the records show /3

If the FBI observes the boss making the order and has reason to suspect the boss spoke to his capos and his troops by phone, they can subpoena the capos' and troops' phone records to determine 1) if a call from or to the boss was made and 2) the duration and time of the call . . . /2

Beating a dead horse here, but the Republicans on Oversight were asking ridiculous and faux outraged questions about why Jack Smith didn't "notify" the reps and Senators whose phone records he subpoenaed

To give an example, let's pretend a Mafia boss orders his troops to rob a bank . . . /1

Nobody should care about my movie opinion, but I loved Sinners and Frankenstein and really enjoyed Bugonia. One Battle After Another--not so much. Sean Penn was phenomenal in an intentionally over the top role, however

If you're looking for a small gem, see Caught Stealing (free on Netflix)

From Andrew Ross Sorkin's interview at Davos.

Christine Lagarde of the European Central Bank said this: “It takes time to build trust. It doesn’t take much time to erode it. Trust has been eroded — maybe a little bit, maybe a lot.”

no matter how hard Greg Bovino tries to exude rugged masculinity he always comes off like Don Knotts in a Portlandia sketch

I think the better question is, what is the matter with anyone who voted for him?

I love these stories of the masked snowflakes in ICE

Read this and make sure you VOTE in primaries and in November

7 Democrats and all Republicans voted to continue funding this type of behavior

I wish he had actually called Trump out by name. We will survive life after Trump, and it is important to specify that the conflict is because of one person

Great speech otherwise

Rep Grothman said to Jack Smith that Trump is 100% certain he won the 2020 election

If that is true, Trump is delusional and should be removed from office

The bruise on the hand is bad, but the color difference between his face and the unbruised part of his hand is striking

Context: the US lost 2479

This was OUR war and our NATO allies sacrificed to support us

Wow -- Fanone coughs "go fuck yourself" to Trey Nehls as Nehls blames Capitol Police leadership for January 6

Here’s why I’m voting ‘HELL NO’ on the budget for ICE and DHS ⬇️

I’ve had dogs all my life. Easily the best dog I’ve ever had. Gentle and friendly, a member of the family

I literally read and play games all day, interrupted by a few business calls

Keeping my brain in shape. The rest of me, not so much

Watching that windbag Darrell Issa lambasting Jack Smith today reminded me to look up Issa’s new district: D+2, and if the recent trend holds, he will lose 57 - 43

Good riddance

Let the picture of the little five year old boy standing facing the car and the old man being dragged out of his house with no shirt on, let those images burn into your brain. We don’t have to be this country. We don’t have to live this way.

Donald Trump was a choice, Republican voters made for us.

I am inactive. It is around $250 a year. Have been since 1997

Ohhhh, just re-educated myself that it was Leif’s dad (Erik the Red) who named Greenland to make it more attractive to potential settlers

Trump’s confusion over Iceland and Greenland is exactly what Leif Eriksson intended . . .

NATO’S RUTTE: GREENLAND’S STATUS DID NOT COME UP IN TALKS WITH TRUMP – FOX NEWS