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OH NO: Prosecutor Confirms Trump Investigation is Now "Criminal"
We learned last night about a major change to the scope of the current New York Justice Department’s investigation into the Trump Organization. New York State Attorney General Letitia James’s office was already in the middle of a civil investigation of Donald Trump’s company. Now they are investigating the Trump Organization “in a criminal capacity,” according to a spokesperson. This is not the same investigation being done by the Manhattan District Attorney. Rather, this is being conducted in conjunction with the criminal investigation of Trump and the Trump Organization by the office of Manhattan prosecutor Cyrus Vance Jr.
The full statement from Letitia James’s spokesperson reads, “we have informed the Trump Organization that our investigation into the organization is no longer purely civil in nature. We are now actively investigating the Trump Organization in a criminal capacity, along with the Manhattan DA. We have no additional comment at this time.” Trump is employing his usual strategy of calling both investigations “witch hunts,” which suggests there could be something to both of them. This is partly all thanks to Michael Cohen, Trump's former attorney, who has said many times now that the Trump Organization misstated real estate valuations to reduce its tax liabilities and to get better loan and insurance terms. Trump threw Cohen under the bus years ago after Cohen went down for issuing a hush money payment to Stormy Daniels on Trump’s behalf. Maybe all this time later, Cohen will get his revenge and Trump will get his turn in court.
Pro-Transparency Tucker Carlson Doesn't Want Riot Investigation
One of the notable people who does not want an investigation into what happened on January 6th is Fox News propagandist Tucker Carlson. Tucker expressed gratitude yesterday to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy for being opposed to a January 6th commission. Carlson said on his program that “this is not a partisan show” which is ludicrous. He then called for taking down the names of the 30 to 50 Republicans who support or are considering supporting a commission to investigate the riots. Tucker said, “voters deserve to know the names of every congressional Republican who votes for this farce.” One such person Tucker called out is GOP Congressman John Katko, who is the ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee.
The reasons for Tucker Carlson opposing a January 6th commission are obvious and they have nothing to do with concern about civil liberties being taken away or a second Patriot Act. This is about Carlson wanting to shield himself and his right-wing allies from criticism. Some insurrectionists have tried to blame Trump and Fox News personalities for radicalizing them to the point where they were convinced storming the Capitol was the right thing to do. Although Tucker himself will never be implicated for having a role in inspiring the riots, it’s certainly possible that some of his buddies could. Tucker probably also recognizes that the Capitol riots make the right as a whole look bad. But ultimately this won’t be up to Carlson. The commission will be created with or without Republican support and Carlson will just have to deal with the blame he, his network, and his allies receive over it.
From yesterday’s show:
Republican Who Denied There Was Insurrection Photographed Barricading Doors
Many Republican lawmakers have been desperately trying to rewrite the story of what happened on January 6th. One such person is Congressman Andrew Clyde of Georgia. On the day of the attacks, Clyde was pictured helping security forces barricade the doors of the House chamber. Another image showed Clyde yelling, appearing to be (understandably) fearful for his life. Fast forward a few months and the congressman is now revising history about the attacks. Clyde said during a recent congressional hearing that “watching the TV footage of those who entered the Capitol and walked through Statuary Hall showed people in an orderly fashion staying between the stanchions and ropes taking videos and pictures. You know, if you didn’t know the TV footage was a video from January the 6th, you would actually think it was a normal tourist visit.” Clyde’s comments are false and he knows that because he lived through it. Yet he still has to play his role and parrot the narrative of Donald Trump and the right-wing base.
--More on the show:
--Coronavirus cases are now down almost 90% in the United States
--Europe announces it will open to vaccinated Americans for travel by the end of June
--Many Republicans, including some Republican leaders, are opposed to an investigation into the January 6 Trump riots
--Multiple January 6th Trump rioters are trying versions of the "Trump defense," claiming either Trump himself, or Fox News, are responsible for their actions on that day in Washington DC
--Eric Trump and Andrew Giuliani both appear on Fox News and attempt to outdo each other with the most harebrained and absurd interview of the day
--Donald Trump appears to abandon Rudy Giuliani as the walls close in from the standpoint of an investigation
--A delightful voicemail caller is telling random strangers how happy she is to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19
--On the Bonus Show: Rudy Giuliani's son s running for Governor of New York, Bank of America will raise minimum wage to $25 by 2025, no masks required at most Texas state facilities anymore, much more...
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