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Well — This Is The Best “Indictment” I’ve Yet Seen — Of Trump’s Corrupt “Weaponization / Lawfare” Slush-Fund! Jim Comey Edition.

~ condor ~ 1 Comment

Many here will recall that Trump has insisted twice — and baselessly so — that Jim Comey be indicted by US DoJ MAGA acolytes serving under the tangerine dotard.

Apparently, overnight, Mr. Comey has sardonically raised his hand — and said he will apply for $2 million to $5 million, from the slush-fund — since both of these indictments were dismissed within weeks, as clearly baseless political stunts.

[Actually, though — his next words were that “this must be an Onion piece — it cannot be serious….”] I love the satire — and delicious irony. Mr. Comey is quite right, this Trumpian language is a tailored suit of clothes, to what has befallen him — albeit from Trump’s minions. He’s entitled to a payout, and Acting US AG Todd Blanche has said both Democrats and Republicans are eligible, donchaknow:

…The so-called “Anti-Weaponization Fund” will be administered by four commissioners appointed by Trump’s attorney general and one appointed “in consultation” with congressional leadership — Trump, who can fire the commissioners, will have ultimate control.

It will have the authority to issue formal apologies for alleged mistreatment of conservative political actors by previous administrations…. When Trump leaves office, any remaining money will not be available for his successor to use similarly, but will instead be distributed back to the federal government….

“The machinery of government should never be weaponized against any American,” said the acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, which is probably news to all those who have been subjected to politically motivated prosecutions by the justice department since Trump returned to power….

[T]here is no requirement that the fund’s work be made public, and required reports to the attorney general on its conduct are to be confidential. In addition to the creation of this massive slush fund, the agreement also requires that the IRS drop all audits of Trump and his family….

Geez. I’m actually feeling… a lil’ left out. No one ever bothers to indict me. Dammit. In any event, go get ’em Jim Comey! Grin….

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Two Minor Items — Both Bizarre Public Health Angle Stories… France, And Arkansas Editions.

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Of this first nonsense, I hesitate to highlight mentally deranged idiots — except to note that when they make credible threats of mass violence… they should be, and will be… jailed. That’s this Arkansas man, who from his mom’s basement, while playing multi-player online video games, threatened to shoot up the local Wal-Mart, if the US CDC were to decide, in the future, to impose any “lockdown” — over the cruise ship / Hantavirus event in the Atlantic. [No such thing has even been discussed, in Trump-World, BTW. There are 17 US residents isolating in Omaha for two more weeks. That is all.]

The more serious / disconcerting public health/Ebola story comes to us, from Paris — Air France had to divert from Detroit to Montreal, overnight — since French authorities had allowed a Congolese passenger to board the flight in error. This week, Tangerine 2.0 restricted people who’ve been in Congo, South Sudan or Uganda in the past 21 days — saying all such passengers must fly in to Dulles, for enhanced screenings, if they wish to enter the US.

…“Due to entry restrictions put in place to reduce the risk of the Ebola virus, the passenger should not have boarded the plane,” the CBP spokesperson said in a statement.

Montreal Trudeau International Airport directed request for comment to Air France, which confirmed that Flight 378 was diverted “at the request of U.S. authorities” after it departed Paris on Wednesday, landing in Montreal shortly after 5 p.m. ET.

“There was no medical emergency on board, and like all airlines, Air France is required to comply with the entry requirements of the countries it serves,” an Air France spokesperson said in a statement.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Monday that the U.S. will restrict entry for people without U.S. passports who were in Congo, South Sudan or Uganda in the last three weeks. The restriction is in effect for the next 30 days….

This is a fairly minor thing, but I was not aware that owning a US Passport gave magical vaccinations / endless immunity dosages… to never get Ebola. My point, with the bolded bit above… is again, Tangerine 2.0 is playing on racist / xenophobic stereotypes: Any US Citizen can — and might — be carrying the Ebola virus after being in Uganda or DRC, in the last three weeks.

To exempt them from screening — while forcing all others to enter through Dulles. . . makes zero public health / epidemiological abatement sense. Onward, just the same. These are truly… bizarre times, indeed. Just more of Trump’s asinine “sh!t-hole countries” rhetoric. Out.

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Here’s A First Federal Suit To Enjoin Trump’s $1.8B Slush Fund Attempt: This One Is For Rigby!

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Rigby and I have been discussing how quickly federal suits will be filed against what is likely the most brazen act of corruption, by any president in the history of our nation.

We will need to wait no longer. This suit has been filed in DC on behalf of police officers injured at the Capitol — when the J6 insurrectionists and rioting mob of thousands beat them with sticks and stanchions, and pummeled them with fists.

…[The Slush] Fund endangers the lives and safety of Plaintiffs Harry Dunn and Daniel Hodges — officers who defended the Capitol on January 6, 2021 — in two ways. First, by its very existence, the Fund encourages those who enacted violence in the President’s name to continue to do so. Dunn and Hodges already face credible threats of death and violence on regular basis; the Fund substantially increases the danger.

Second, if allowed to begin making payments, the Fund will directly finance the violent operations of rioters, paramilitaries, and their supporters who threatened Plaintiffs’ lives that day, and continue to do so…

To prevent the public financing of paramilitary organizations in the United States, and to protect Plaintiffs from further violence, the fund must be dissolved. Dunn and Hodges bring this case to obtain that relief…

In January of this year, President Trump, his sons Eric and Donald Jr., and the Trump Organization sued the IRS for $10 billion in alleged damages arising from the 2017 and 2020 leaks of their tax returns. Compl., Trump v. IRS, No. 1:26-cv-20609 (S.D. Fla. Jan. 29, 2026), ECF No. 1…

That lawsuit was frivolous. Because Trump, as the sitting President, was both the plaintiff and in direct control of all defendants, Trump v. IRS lacked adversity, meaning there was no Article III case or controversy, and no subject matter jurisdiction. Trump all but conceded the lack of adversity earlier this year, he described the case as requiring him to “work out a settlement with myself…”

Yep. That’s gonna leave… a mark.

Now you know. Good call, Rigby.

Onward.

As We Approach Middle Age — Most Of Us Are About As Healthy As We Truly WANT To Be — If We Are Disciplined Enough… To ACT.

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There will certainly be genetic factors, or random accidents in the street — over which we exert essentially no influence.

But I certainly agree — that well-more than half of how one’s later life turns out. . . turns on which choices we make now — and keep making, well into our 80s. Here’s The UK Guardian’s study this morning, to back that notion up:

…Individuals bear at least 80% of the responsibility for their ill health in old age, according to a report aimed at challenging the belief that physical decline is… inevitable….

The report, launched at the Smart Ageing Summit in Oxford last week, argues that individuals have far greater control over their longevity than is commonly understood. The authors call on the government to take legislative action on alcohol comparable to restrictions on smoking.

Living Longer, Better — the Oxford Longevity Project’s first Age-less report — was co-authored by an interdisciplinary panel of UK-based experts in medicine, physiology, ageing and education policy. It was sponsored by Oxford Healthspan….

[From the report itself, then:] As they approach the age of 70, many people find themselves thinking about their own hopes for longevity: how they might best prepare to live in reasonably good health until they reach 90, or even for several years beyond that milestone…. This Report is for them – and also for their advisers, GPs, and other health-care professionals, and their advisers and trainers, for those who offer guidance to the public on best practice in the quest for enduring good health, for the media, and for the government…. [A]bove all, we hope it might change behaviour, and improve the lives of older people in the U.K., and indeed worldwide….

Sure — the correlation won’t be 1-to-1, in any individual case. But the broader object lesson is sound. Onward, smiling.

नमस्ते

The Able USDC Judge Tigar Re-Affirms — In East Bay V — That More Of Trump’s 2025 Black Sharpie Orders… Are “Arbitrary And Capricious”

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This was actually published about two week ago, but I’ve been off dousing other bonfires… smile. It is welcome vindication of what regular readers here well know: Tangerine 2.0 has no clue about the limits to his powers, via the US Constitution. Most of all, Congress must act — to do the things he pretends to do, by Black Sharpie scribbles — as to immigration policies. [One of dozens of my prior backgrounders, from across the last seven years, here.]

[And significantly, this Northen California class litigation now has the implied backing (of the last term rulings at the Supremes)… on why faith based doctors’ groups in Texas do not have standing to impose nationwide bans on the abortion pill by mail-order. Conversley, the organizations resisting lawless attempts to curtail lawful immigration pathways… do have standing to challenge the Black Sharpie scribbles.]

Do go read it all — but here’s a bit of it — it is clearly correctly decided:

…Plaintiffs are legal services organizations challenging a rule imposing a rebuttable presumption of asylum ineligibility for individuals who do not utilize certain “lawful pathways.” Two events relevant to this case occurred while it was on appeal to the Ninth Circuit. First, the Supreme Court decided Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, 602 U.S. 367 (2024), which addressed organizational standing. Second, the Trump Administration took a series of executive actions foreclosing certain “lawful pathways” and otherwise restricting asylum. The Ninth Circuit remanded the case for this Court to reconsider its prior order granting summary judgment to Plaintiffs, in light of both intervening changes. Before the Court is the parties’ supplemental briefing addressing these issues.

The Court’s prior summary judgment order is hereby modified to reflect (1) that Alliance does not undermine Plaintiffs’ Article III standing and (2) that the termination of lawful pathways underscores the rule’s unlawfulness, as set forth below. The Court therefore reaffirms its prior order….

Now you know — onward, grinning.

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And Tonight, Tennessee Will Execute A Man In A Death Eligible Case, Where The State FORCED Him To Trial WITHOUT COUNSEL.

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This is… deplorable.

Moments ago, the Supremes (the five of them, anyway) refused to hear / look at Mr. Carruther’s emergency petition.

Later tonight, Tennessee will execute a man it never bothered to do DNA testing on, despite collecting DNA of the supposed killer, at the crime scene — and then relied on jailhouse informants. Some years later, his co-death eligible defendant won a new trial — and was released from jail, entirely — in 2015.

Finally, this man was forced to represent himself by the local Tennessee prosecutor and judge, in a death eligible case — in direct violation of Gideon v. Wainwright. Damn. This is… shameful. Out.

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The Fifth Cir. Is Clearly Wrong Here — But As To The Del Rio Texas Razor Wire Injury Cases, It Won’t Matter (Much).

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I will only offer a shortish squib from the “opinion” on this, since (again!) the Fifth Circuit plays politics, rather than simply applying the well settled federal preemption law. It still applies nationwide, on the nation’s navigable waterways. So…

Whatever.

As I said last month, the actual bodily-injury cases are now headed to a forced mediation — down in Del Rio. Texas — and MAGA Gov. Abbott’s GOP mono-rule doesn’t want to compensate the people — and families of the deceased — that MAGA Gov. Abbott’s concertina wire barriers… maimed and drowned. Welp. That will no longer stand.

See the mediation orders. So this injunction, against conduct long ago completed — as vacated by the goofy Fifth — means almost nothing.

But you could tell from the first paragraph that it was mostly a political manifesto (riddled with half-truths, and outright lies) — not so much any reasoned legal opinion. It darkly references (by the euphemism “surge“)… as well as “an invasion“, directly.

The Supremes have repeatedly held that there is no “invasion” at all on the Southern borders. Damn. Nonsense, that:

…This case concerns whether the State of Texas, exercising its historic, sovereign police powers, can legislatively protect its citizens from a surge of illegal aliens in response to an unprecedented border crisis and a declared invasion [Hah!]. The district court judge and a divided panel held that it cannot. Because the Plaintiffs that are challenging the new statute lack standing, we vacate the preliminary injunction without addressing the merits of the pre-emption claim….

What a load of crap. [Another broad hint that this is BS… is offered by the page count. The Fifth panel took over 150 pages… to make no ruling at all.] None that wold matter to any real world outcome, that is.

So… Onward, resolutely — just the same.

नमस्ते

Well — I Agree With The CDC’s Assessment: This Andes-Virus H. Presents A High Enough Risk, To Enforce 21 Day Quarantine Orders… Still, IRONIC.

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First things — first: this is the right public health approach. And if she is in fact the study abroad university educator I think she is, she well knows this is a risk of “Semesters at Sea” programs. And she should be mindful of her fellow… humans (to say nothing of her students).

That said, it is deliciously ironic — that after Tangerine’s campaign was based in some large measure on saying the COVID-19 lockdown was a violation of people’s civil rights… that now, he is in the position of having his acting CDC Director issue federal administrative arrest orders — should Ms. Perryman forcibly try to leave the Univ. of Nebraska quarantine facility in Omaha, before her 21 days have elapsed. That’s… fascinating.

In any event, here’s that story — and a bit:

…Angela Perryman, an American passenger exposed to the deadly hantavirus on a cruise ship this month, expected a short stay at a special quarantine facility in Nebraska after her arrival last week.

On Monday, after making plans to depart, she received a federal order requiring her to stay for at least two more weeks. Health officials said they would contact law enforcement if she tried to leave.

“They are requiring us to remain in a locked facility and threatening us,” said Ms. Perryman, 47, “and denying us the right to home quarantine.”

Federal health officials did not respond to requests for comment. But the order Ms. Perryman shared with The New York Times says officials believe she would “constitute a probable source of infection to other people” if she left the facility to travel to another state….

W I L D.

These are simply wild… times. Onward to bike rides, and after school / dinner / park picnics. Out.

नमस्ते

The Speed Of The Latest Bundibugyo / Ebola Spread… Is Deeply Disconcerting, In DRC and Uganda Now: Over 130 Dead; Over 530 Are Ill.

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Again — USAID’s early detection and arrest capabilities would have made all the difference here. Thus, these excess deaths are directly attributable to Elon Musk and Donald Trump. Damn.

To be certain, the wildly-difficult work here — of getting the “evil djin back in the bottle” is all the more daunting because it is not clear that any of the existing vaccine stock will be effective, against the rather rare — but presently circulating — Bundibugyo strain of Ebola. In about five elapsed days, the fatalities have… TRIPLED. Here’s the morning’s tough news — and a bit:

…At least 131 people are believed to have died and 531 suspected to have been infected, according to the Congolese Health Ministry. An American missionary was among those who tested positive for the deadly disease.

Global health experts are worried about the capacity of this outbreak to cause widespread illness and death in central Africa — not least because this rare strain of Ebola, the Bundibugyo virus, has no approved vaccine or treatment and a shortage of available tests.

The outbreak was also undetected for weeks, adding to the complexities in containing it. It has ripped through a region riven by civil war and conflict, while health officials said funding shortages were further hampering their ability to fight Ebola….

Several metric tonnes of protective gear and sanitary supplies arrived in Buni, Ituri’s capital city yesterday, from Doctors Without Borders. But that will only be a tiny child’s finger — in the now-bursting dyke.

So, let history record that it was MAGA fecklessness — and racism — that were the twin causes of this, the excess deaths now being recorded.

नमस्ते

CIDRAP Offers Some Very Sobering “Undiagnosed” Mpox Clade 1b Data… Yikes.

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And again, we ought to look directly at the cuts to federal public health programs, engineered by DOGE / Musk / Tangerine 2.0 — when assessing blame for excess infections, debilitating life long conditions, and even… deaths.

I am sick and tired. . . “of being sick and tired. . .” of these deeply dangerous morons. In any event, here is the latest:

…Asymptomatic mpox infections among men who have sex with men (MSM) may be far more common than previously recognized and could be playing a role in ongoing transmission, according to a study published last week in Nature Communications. Researchers estimate that actual infections may outnumber diagnosed cases by 33 to one….

For the study, researchers led by teams at the University of California (UC) at Berkeley and Kaiser Permanente Southern California tested for mpox in MSM in Los Angeles during routine sexually transmitted infection (STI) screening from May to November 2024. Then they monitored the same group of MSM for clinically diagnosed mpox.

Among nearly 8,000 eligible participants, only 15 laboratory-confirmed mpox cases were identified through standard clinical testing. But when the team tested for mpox DNA in 1,190 specimens collected from the routine STI tests, they found infections in… men who never presented with mpox symptoms or received an mpox diagnosis….

Ominously, the authors estimate that undiagnosed infections account for between 33-40 percent of all transmitted cases, and, under more realistic modelling assumptions, potentially much more. Damnation.

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