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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
I'm a bit surprised Ted Cruz voted with Trump- it's exactly the kind of 'gain you Tea Party-cred, but has no chance of meaningful consequences' vote he normally breaks with the party on. And he's from a border state, meaning he has to answer to voters who'll be directly affected by the wall. And he hates Trump on a personal level.
I mean, nothing about the conservative ideology means they'd be okay with a National Emergency for a Border Wall either. That's an insane idea from any perspective, and the only reason it's gotten this far is because Republicans are apparently cowards. So then ideology of the judge is question is largely irrelevant- the question is whether the letter of the law allows this. And the answer to that is 'probably'.
https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2019/03/14/day-784/
https://apnews.com/57d35e5635dd47b3a736d2fbe0066e05
2/ The House voted 420-0 for the public release of Robert Mueller's report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and whether Trump obstructed justice when he fired then-director of the FBI James Comey. While the resolution is non-binding and the House cannot force the Justice Department to take an action, the move is an attempt to "send a clear signal both to the American people and the Department of Justice" that lawmakers expect to see the full account of Mueller's work. The resolution will also put pressure on Attorney General William Barr, who did not commit to making Mueller's findings public during his Senate confirmation hearings. The Senate, however, is unlikely to take up a similar measure. (New York Times / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal / Politico / NBC News)
One of Mueller's top prosecutors will be leaving in the next week or so. Andrew Weissmann was the architect of the case against Paul Manafort. Separately, Mueller's top FBI investigator, David Archey, has also left the team. The departures are the strongest sign yet that Mueller and his team have all but concluded their work. (NPR / NBC News)
3/ Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin suggested that he would protect Trump's privacy if House Democrats request Trump's tax returns, saying: "We will examine the request and we will follow the law … and we will protect the president as we would protect any taxpayer" regarding their right to privacy. Mnuchin said he "can't speculate" on how the administration will respond to demands for Trump's tax returns until it sees the request. House Democrats are preparing to ask the IRS for 10 years of Trump's personal tax returns under under a 1924 provision that requires the Treasury secretary to "furnish" any individual's tax return information to the House and Senate tax-writing committees. (Associated Press / ABC News / Politico / CNN)
https://apnews.com/b7c693b602744f63bddd2efbf52ef5c6
Mnuchin's Hollywood ties are raising conflict of interest concerns as he leads trade talks with China. While Mnuchin divested from his Hollywood film-financing firm after joining the Trump administration, he's been personally pushing Beijing to give the American film industry greater access to its markets. (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/14/us/politics/mnuchin-china-trade-hollywood.html
4/ Federal prosecutors requested documents about Michael Cohen's alleged "back channel" discussion with Rudy Giuliani about the possibility of a pardon. Cohen's attorney spoke with Giuliani roughly a dozen times and, in one email, referred to their conversations as a "back channel of communication." During one of their discussions, Cohen's attorney allegedly asked whether Trump would put a pardon for Cohen "on the table." Giuliani told Cohen's attorney that Trump was unwilling to discuss pardons at that time. The request from federal prosecutors is part of an investigation into whether the alleged back-channel discussions amount to "possible violations of federal criminal law." Giuliani insists that he and Cohen's attorney only talked about how Trump "was very mad at [Cohen]" and the fact that the investigation into Cohen had been assigned to the Southern District of New York. (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/13/us/politics/cohen-emails-giuliani.html
5/ A New York appellate court ruled that a former contestant on The Apprentice can proceed with her defamation lawsuit against Trump. Summer Zervos is one of about a dozen women who accused Trump of sexual misconduct before the 2016 election. Trump called Zervos and the other women "liars," prompting Zervos to file a lawsuit in 2017. The New York State Appellate Division’s First Department turned down Trump's argument that the case should be delayed until he is out of office because, as a sitting president, he was immune from a lawsuit brought in state court. The decision means Trump may have to sit for a sworn deposition. (ABC News / Washington Post / Politico)
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/14/summer-zervos-trump-1221742
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/02/nyregion/summer-zervos-trump-apprentice.html
poll/ 51% of Florida voters say they definitely won't vote for Trump in 2020. 31% say they definitely would vote for Trump, and 14% say they would consider voting for him. Overall, Florida voters give Trump a 40% favorability rating. (Quinnipiac)
Beto O'Rourke announced that he will run for president. In a video, O'Rourke said, "This is going to be a positive campaign that seeks to bring out the very best from every single one of us, that seeks to unite a very divided country." (Politico)
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/14/beto-orourke-2020-president-1207704
Adam Schiff suggested that Russians may have laundered money through the Trump Organization. While House Intelligence Committee is investigating the matter, Schiff said the committee is primarily concerned with whether or not Trump is "compromised by a foreign power." (Newsweek)
https://www.newsweek.com/russians-laundered-money-trump-organization-1362120
The Pentagon instituted its new transgender policy that limits the military service of transgender persons to their birth gender. Transgender service members currently serving will only be allowed to continue to serve if they adhere to the dress and grooming standards of their biological gender, and if they are unwilling to do so, they could be discharged. The policy will be implemented on April 12. (ABC News)
Not quite true for republican voters in any case. Many of them define pride in America in exclusivist terms, that people should earn or otherwise demonstrate their worthiness to live and work in this country. You could even define in-group favoritism as a core element in conservative ideology.
I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.@CharlesPhipps
: More like he assumed that proving the illegitimacy of the sitting President's claim on the office would lead to either a redo of the election or handing over the office to the defeated candidate of the opposing party. Which totally should be the case, frankly.
@TobiasDrake
: I know, right? You'd think that would be a no-brainer, especially since the Founding Fathers were apparently big on making the newly established Congress the dominant branch of the federal government (which it was; several presidents had to gradually claw out bits and pieces of power to create the presidential authority of today).

If we're lucky it takes Trump a couple days to realize he has to sign a veto, not just exclaim it.
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