Saturday, June 28, 2025

M3GAN 2.0 and MY MOM JAYNE a film by Mariska Hargitay

My girlfriend and I saw M3GAN 2.0 last night and saw it with nieces and nephews because they wanted to see it at night as well.  I'll take them to lunch later today.  We all loved it.  Probably not a critic's movie, but it's a lot of fun.


Two years later and human kind doesn't learn.  We've got a M3GAN  type to use for war and she's called  AMELIA.  To try to save the day, it's time to bring M3GAN 2.0 -- 2.0 because she's updated.  

If you liked the first one, you'll like this one. And she dances again!  I think that was the best thing about the first one.  


Last time, in "Mariska Hargitay's Jayne Mansfield film," I noted Mariska Hargitay's documentary about her mother.  Here are some videos if you're interested. 

Here's the trailer.



Here's Mariska Hargitay discussing it on THE VIEW.



Here she is speaking about the documentary with Stephen Colbert.



Here she is on THE TODAY SHOW.



And I thought it was coming to HBO.  Wrong!  It's there.  It went there last night.  Haven't watched it yet so that's what I'm going to go do now before I pick everyone up for lunch.


Going out with C.I.'s "The Snapshot:"


Friday, June 27, 2025.  Chump's wars on the economy and immigration are intertwined. 


Let's start with Andrea Guadalupe Velez.  Tom Wait (CBS NEWS) reports:


Andrea Guadalupe Velez, who is a U.S. citizen, expressed her relief after spending the past two days in a federal detention facility.

"It's been hard," Velez said. "I didn't know all this media coverage was happening and I'm just relieved that I'm outside."

Velez's mother and sister recorded federal agents carrying Velez away during an immigration enforcement operation. Her family had just dropped her off at the shoe store and had barely even driven a block before the arrest began. Velez said she remembered masked men suddenly surrounding her.

"It was just a day of work and everything happened so fast," Velez said. "They didn't identify themselves, so I was kind of scared. I was like 'what's going on?' ... I wasn't doing anything crazy. I was just going to follow orders, and they decided to pick me up, and that was kind of shocking."


Can you imagine that?  You're a US citizen.  And you're going about your business.  And thanks to Convicted Felon Donald Chump, you are terrorized.  Do not call that an arrest.  When law enforcement arrests a person, they identify themselves.  Dani Anguiano (GUARDIAN) notes:


Andrea Velez, 32, had just been dropped off at work by her mother and sister, the pair said, when they saw agents grab her.

“My mom looked at the rear mirror and she saw how my sister was attacked from the back,” Estrella Rosas told ABC7. “She was like: ‘They’re kidnapping your sister.’”

[. . .]

In other video, an agent can be seen lifting Velez off the ground and carrying her away. Witnesses told media, including CBS Los Angeles, that the agents never asked Velez for identification, and that she did nothing wrong.

“The only thing wrong with her … was the color of her skin,” Velez’s mother, Margarita Flores, told CBS Los Angeles.

 

She was kidnapped.  She was racially profiled.  I'm dictating the snapshot right now and flashing on what's probably already started but if not?  It soon will.


Chump's evil.  He's far from the only evil in this land.  As the terror mounts and continues, you damn well better believe that lower evils in this country are going to be harming immigrants and threatening them and forcing them into labor.  We're going to see an underground emerge -- a very ugly one.  The only way that stops is if Chump stops this bulls**t program. If you need an image to visualize, think of the community behind the sheets that Liam Neeson's truck pulls up to in ABSOLUTION. 

Please register what I said in the paragraph above.


Last summer, I addressed what a Chump presidency would mean for immigrants and those who might look like immigrants.  I said racial profiling would take place.  I said American citizens would be caught up in the drag net.  And while I did the job that lazy ass 'progressive' media -- THE PROGRESSIVE, THE NATION, DEMOCRACY NOW!, et al -- were supposed to be doing, the Socialists as those outlets instead trashed Kamala Harris, worked to defeat her.  It was all about suppressing turnout -- that was the point of Uncommitted, that was their goal.  And they did it.  At least 15% of the people who voted for Joe Biden in 2020 did not show up to vote in 2024.  


Uncommitted  lied about Kamala.  Don't forget that.  I'm not talking about the GOP or MAGA, I'm talking about a segment of the Socialsit left (largely DSA).  In "Media: How Amy Goodman harmed immigrants and helped elect Chump," Ava and I explained:


Let's just focus on one garbage outlet:

Democracy Now! is broadcast daily across the United States and Canada as well as in countries around the world. Our program is on Pacifica, NPR, community, college and satellite radio stations; on PBS, public, community and satellite TV; and viewed by millions of people online each day.

That awful program has a larger audience than THE NATION -- even including the paltry number of issues the print magazine sells -- or any other left outlet.

And how did the program  handle immigration from August through the end of October?  That would be the general election campaign.  How did they handle it?

In August, they did three stories on immigration policy.  Two attacked Kamala Harris and the third one attacked Kamala and attacked Chump stressing that they were no different.  In September they did no segments on immigration policy.  In October?  

Two.

They did two stories on immigration policies.  One stressed that Kamala was competing with Chump for who could be the worst on immigration.  The other was showing some of the documentary SEPARATED -- about what Donald did his first term as president.  Neither Amy nor her two guests brought up what Donald was saying he would do if re-elected.

There was no noting, for example, that he was saying he would deport immigrants, round them up and deport them, that he would deport American citizens with them (to keep families together, you understand), that he would end birthright citizenship.  

As DEMOCRACY NOW! and Amy Goodman ignored these stated plants, these threats, the ACLU pointed out:


It is tempting to regard these threats as overblown and calculated merely for political campaign purposes. But in recent months, Trump has repeatedly sought to rationalize his plans for mass deportation, blending military and national security rhetoric with xenophobia. When asked about the legality of using the military against civilians, Trump retorted that, in his view, "these aren’t civilians."

Still Amy Goodman ignored the topic. 

She and her enablers might try to insist there was a third segment in October: Tim Walz's debate.  No, that's not true.  First, as we've noted the DSA (Democratic Socialists of America) had claimed Tim as their own and their own victory to the press and on their official Twitter feed.  That's why they treated Tim Walz's bug-eyed, flop sweat performance as a victory.  And second, the footage from the debate and the segment itself focused on the lie that Haitians in the US were eating cats and dogs.  This was not about the actual policies Chump was proposing.

The Latina American voter on Tik-Tok got fed a bunch of nonsense by the media.  She regrets her vote.  She and others should regret the media they consumed.

It's worth noting that while Amy Goodman could only do five segments on immigration policy (again, two slamming Kamala, two saying Kamala and Chump were the same and one focusing on what Chump did in his first term), she had plenty of time for other topics during that same three month  period.

105.

That's the number of segments she did on Gaza during the same three month period, 105.  Many of those trashed Kamala.  In fact, those same three months featured at least 33 segment with Uncommitted (at least 33, many of her guest didn't disclose on air that they were part of the Uncommitted 'movement' that urged people not to vote for Kamala).  

So now Chump's been president for a week.  And the biggest issue right now?  His attacks on immigrants.  Again, in the three month lead up to the election, Amy Goodman did 105 segments on Gaza.  She only did five segments on the immigration policies of the two candidates -- four of the five slammed Kamala.  

Is it really the Tik-Tok voter's fault?

Or is it the crap ass, beggar (send money, send money!) media?

At what point, on the left, will we see others writing about this?


No time soon.  That's for sure.  They're too busy protecting one another and too busy plotting in secret on what their next media push will be.  They don't do journalism, they're an in-house outlet for a tiny club and they decide who to pimp and what to ignore.


It really asn't changed.  Look at the month of June which is alsmot over.  You'll find three immigratns that Amy Goodman did a segment on.  Three.

'There's more than three!'


You're right.  There's a ton of Arab immigrants that Amy's covered in the month of June.  But Arab immigrants are not the most targeted.  In California, for example, it has been Latinos followed by Asian-Americans.  Across the US, it is Latino immigrants more than any other group.  But you won't find that reflected in Amy Goodman's coverage. 


She's far from the only one who needs to be serving up public apologies.  There's the disgraced James Zogby who has seen one door after another shut in his face this year.  As should have happened. 


Here's that idiot and back stabber speaking after the DNC convention but before the election as he praised 'Uncommitted' and the efforts to stop people from voting for Kamala Harris, "I think we’ve reached a tipping point in terms of the degree to which we’ve become empowered and are therefore able to ensure that what we want can’t be ignored. We were able to gain even more traction precisely because we were slighted and ignored."


Are you at that tipping point?


No.


No, you're not.


What you did harmed the country.  What you did put Latinos at huge risk.  


'Joe Biden is evil!  Kamala Harris is evil!  Genocide Joe!  Genocide Joe!'  


James, where are you and the other little bitches now?


Oh, that's right, cowering in the shadows.


You don't dare protest in the streets, there are no large scale campus protests.  


You've all pretty much gone into hiding.  Palestinians continue to die in Gaza.  But there's no Genocide Don nick name.  No, you're too scared of him.  You all cower in fear and hide.  

`Back in 2024, you did nothing but sew division at a time when we should have all -- on the left -- been rallying behind Kamala to save this country.  


Some Democrats have done some stupid things in 2025 -- some elected Democrats.  I've avoided it as much as I can.  My attitude it we need no David Hoggs dividing us right now.  We need to come together because if we don't win in the mid-terms, this country is over.


So I'm trying to focus on what Dems do right and find something else to cover when a Dem does something stupid.  Now attacking people because of the color of their skin or the gender they sleep with or things like that?  I'll call you out, Seth Moulton and won't care that you're a Democrat.


Democrat.


I don't give two s**ts about you Socialista -- like Zogby -- who pretend for public consumption that you're Democrats.  You rat f**ked our party and gave the election to Chump.


Zogby and his rag-tag gang of Socialists (at least Rahsida's come out of the political closet finally) owe the American people an apology.  They especially owe all immigrants and those being perceived as immigrants an apology.  


People can't live their lives freely right now.  


Jory Rand (KABC) notes life for Andrea's family after she was kidnapped by ICE:


In the meantime, Velez's family has been left traumatized, afraid to leave the house and desperate to get her home.

"When my daughter gets out, I don't know how she'll live her life from now on because right now, in these times, the way we are, I think we won't be able to go outside anymore. Because we're already exposed her, and it's a brutal attack because they're basically kidnapping people," she said.

The family hails from Mexico and worked hard for decades to send their daughters to college. Velez graduated years ago and works in fashion. Her younger sister, Estrella, just graduated high school and is set to attend Mount Saint Mary's in the fall.


Andrea's attorney Gregory Russell tells Vivian Chow (KTLA), "They're alleging Ms. Velez assaulted an ICE officer. Now imagine this -- you're just dropped off at work. You're walking on the sidewalk and a 6-foot man in full armor and weapons, with his face shielded, starts charging at you. And that’s what she experienced. Now, who committed the assault here?"


They keep lying, ICE, and insisting that they were the ones assaulted.  This is why they're going end up drug addicts and suicide victims: They know they're lying.  That's why they won't appear in public without face covering.  They know they're lying and it will destroy them and eat them alive in the years to come.  They know this is wrong.


And we do too.  Earlier this week, two stenographers at USA TODAY couldn't grasp what polling actually meant.  What it meant was that Americans were turning against Chump on immigration.  We're there now even if USA TODAY's two typists couldn't grasp that reality.  Anna Commander (NEWSWEEEK) notes:


President Donald Trump's approval rating on immigration has dipped to its lowest mark amid his second term in the White House, a new poll from Quinnipiac University finds.

Why It Matters

Immigration policy remains a defining issue for Trump's presidency after fueling his 2024 election pursuit.

The president campaigned fervently last year on the promise of mass deportations and appointed Tom Homan as his border czar to execute his agenda.

The administration's approach on deportations—including expanded enforcement raids, the use of military force and legal maneuvering—has intensified partisan divisions and sparked significant public protest, particularly in urban centers like Los Angeles.

Federal immigration raids in Los Angeles this month led to large-scale protests, with demonstrations focused on downtown federal buildings. The unrest prompted Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat, to implement a curfew for portions of the area after incidents of vandalism.

What To Know

In the new poll released on Thursday, the president has a 41 percent approval rating on immigration, with a 57 percent disapproval mark.

The survey shows that 56 percent of voters also disapprove of the tactics employed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), compared to 39 percent who approve.

The poll was conducted from June 22 to June 24 among 979 "self-identified registered voters" across the country. The poll's margin of error is 3.1 percent.


This has been the trend -- the growing repulsion on the part of American citizens as we watch a masked Gestapo force take to the streets, beat up unarmed people and then kidnap them.  


Amy Goodman isn't really telling these stories on her program.  THE NATION?  I see ten stories on the main page.  Not one is about an immigrant or a US citizen mistaken for an immigrant.  They do, however, make time for Dave Zirin to cover torn ligaments and to run four stories on NYC's Dem mayor candidate -- written by four Socialists only one of whom has even a toe out of the political closet.  Remember, kids, DSA isn't really concerned with immigration.  They're like Bernie Sanders on the issue, if forced to, they will mutter a few words but they're not going to make it a priority or a focus. 

There are currently 11 articles on THE PROGRESSIVE's main page.  How many about what's being done to immigrants?


Zero. 


IN THESE TIMES is a Socialist publication.  Visit their website and you'll find 19 articles (stop when you get to "Palestine" because articles under that heading and other headings below it are over a month old at least).  Of the 19, only one is 'about' an immigrant.  In a very long article that finds time to name check Aretha Franklin, Duke Ellington and Dred Scott, Jacob Wheeler works this in:


On June 16, just over a month after the meeting, the facility officially reopened, and the first detainees disappeared behind its walls. The advocacy group No Detention Centers in Michigan says that among them was Mayib Dieng, a Senegalese immigrant whom the group says was arrested last month in Detroit despite a work permit and a pending asylum status. No Detention Centers in Michigan worked with the Detroit-based African Bureau for Immigrants and Social Affairs to raise Dieng’s bond.

The fact that the prison will likely hold mostly non-white immigrants like Dieng stands out in this part of Michigan. 


DSA-bible JACOBIN has forty articles on their home page.  Not one about a Latino being targeted by ICE.  Not one.  They do manage, however, to file eight articles on the NYC Dem Mayoral candidate. Like their spiritual hero Bernie Sanders, they have other things to worry about apparently. 


The SEP frequently and rightly calls out the DSA (both are Socialist political parties).  At their publication, WSWS, Marc Wells reports:


On June 21, 2025, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents reportedly entered the premises of Riverside Community Hospital (RCH) in Southern California and detained at least one individual. It is unclear at the time of this writing whether the person was a patient, brought in for treatment, or detained while visiting the hospital. That the event took place was confirmed by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

Social media reports suggest that the nurse who attended to the detainee has also been taken by ICE, placed on administrative leave without pay and now faces possible termination. Hospital management is reportedly disciplining staff members who refuse to cooperate with ICE.

Posts from healthcare workers on Reddit’s r/InlandEmpire community, including one dated June 11, foreshadowed the incident, warning of “ICE at Riverside Community Hospital” and reporting two ICE vehicles on-site around 10 days prior. These chilling reports paint a picture of collaboration between federal agents and hospital management that cannot be interpreted as anything less than a grotesque betrayal of both legal and medical ethics.


But, hey, THE NATION's serving up torn ligaments, right?  That's almost worth something, right?


Richard Allyn (CBS8) reports ICE raided an apartment complex in Oceanside and arrested two adults while releasing the couple's two children.  Neighbor Marlo Cleveland is quoted stating, "They set off flash bangs in the house, they broke [the] window, they sent drones in. One guy had a hand grenade on his vest. What was he going to do with that?" 


Paula Ramon (JAPANESE TIMES) picks up the story of Narciso Barranco:


For Alejandro Barranco, a U.S. Marine veteran, it's difficult to process the way his father, a Mexican gardener, was detained in a raid in California as part of President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown in the nation.

"They handled this situation in a very unprofessional manner. These are not the standards of the United States government," Alejandro said in an interview.

Narciso Barranco, father of three marines, was intercepted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents Saturday while trimming a garden at a restaurant in Santa Ana, a city south of Los Angeles.

Kansas Immigration Council held a vigil for immigrantsKSNW reports, "In light of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts across the country, the Kansas Immigration Coalition held a vigil in Wichita Thursday night for families separated by recent detentions and deportations.  Over 100 people attended, and some took the microphone to share their personal experiences with immigration in the United States."  


Narciso was noted yesterday on Nicole Wallace's MSNBC program.




Suzanna Gambona (NBC NEWS) reports:

Attorneys are pleading for the release from immigration detention of a 6-year-old boy treated for cancer of the blood and bone marrow, who is being held in Texas with his mother and sibling.

The boy, his mother and his 9-year-old sibling, originally from Honduras, were seized after the three attended their May 29 immigration hearing in Los Angeles last month. Attorneys say the family could be deported within days because their attempt to secure asylum in the U.S. was cut short.

Their arrests are among many that Immigration and Customs Enforcement has carried out at immigration courts to shuffle more immigrants into a speeded-up removal from the country known as expedited removal. Many are like the mother and her children and were granted legal entry to the U.S. during the Biden administration.

The Trump administration has directed judges to dismiss the cases of immigrants who have been in the country less than two years, so ICE can more quickly remove them from the country. 


Still on this six-year-old child,  Dan Katz (TEXAS PUBLIC RADIO) quotes Immigrant Rights Clinic at Columbia Law School's Elora Mukherjee stating, "There were men waiting for them in civilian clothing. The [ICE agents] detained the family for many hours, and it was a terrifying time for the two children and their mother.  They were crying in fear. One of the agents at one point lifted up his shirt, which displayed the gun that he was carrying. The 6-year-old boy was terrified to see the gun. He urinated on himself and wet all his clothing. No one offered him a change of clothing for many hours."


That's abuse, let's be really clear, the US government has the child in custody and they are abusing the child.  A six-year-old in fear wets themselves?  You get the new clothes immediately.  You do not take ''hours" to provide the child with fresh clothes. The inhumanity is rooted in the fact that these people do not see the immigrants before them as human. And this allows all kinds of abuse to take place.  Sergio Olmos, Wendy Fry, Lauren Hepler and Anat Rubin (CAL MATTERS) speak with immigrants to find out what happens once ICE grabs them:


The men’s stories also suggest that agents are pushing people to sign removal forms before they can call home or speak with an attorney. Ahilan Arulanantham, co-director of the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at the UCLA School of Law, said those tactics would be “blatantly illegal.”

“You can’t condition phone access on anything,” Arulanantham said. “They have a right to call their family. They have a right to call a lawyer.”

He also raised concerns about the treatment the men described in government facilities. “It’s not permissible to manipulate the conditions of detention to encourage people to give up their rights,” he said.

Migrants can challenge the legality of their arrest and detention, he said, but they usually have to be in the country and be able to call a lawyer. 

The Department of Homeland Security didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Immigration detention centers are well above capacity, and the men we spoke with were almost immediately moved to an ICE tent camp in Texas and, within days, across the border to an immigration facility in Ciudad Juárez. 

Before the Trump administration began its mass deportation campaign, many immigrants arrested away from the border were released on bond with a notice to appear in immigration court. Those with criminal histories were typically held in detention facilities. 

Now, Bovino has made clear, he considers anyone who crossed the border without documents – the farm worker, the day laborer, the paletero – a criminal. 

 

Stuart Anderson (FORTUNE) notes, "At a Congressional hearing, Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell said the Trump administration’s deportation policies are one of the reasons U.S. economic growth has slowed. The comment confirms the views of economists who warned it would be challenging to grow the economy with an immigration policy focused on removing workers from the U.S. labor force. According to a recent Quinnipiac poll, 56% of registered voters disapprove of “the way Donald Trump is handling deportations,” and 40% approve." It's harming the economy.  You can't ignore that reality.  Jordan Rau (NPR) notes, "The long-term health care industry is facing a double whammy from President Trump's crackdown on immigrants and the Republican Party's proposals to reduce Medicaid spending. The industry is highly dependent on foreign workers: More than 800,000 immigrants and naturalized citizens comprise 28% of direct care employees at home care agencies, nursing homes, assisted living facilities and other long-term care companies."  Jennifer Borrasso (CBS NEWS) adds, "Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested 14 people during an operation at a Mexican restaurant in Allegheny County on Wednesday, ICE officials said."  



We'll wind down with this from Senator Elizabeth Warren's office:


Reports reveal ICE held people for days with little food and water, cramped cells, lack of access to health care

ICE recently changed policy to inhibit Congressional oversight, prevent Americans’ representatives from witnessing ICE’s violations

“We are disturbed that ICE appears to be using the Burlington facility beyond its original design to detain people in inadequate conditions in Massachusetts — and that ICE is undermining public transparency and accountability.”

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) led the entire Massachusetts Congressional delegation in writing to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Todd Lyons and ICE ERO Boston Acting Field Office Director Patricia Hyde, pressing them on whether ICE has been violating agency standards by holding detainees in inhumane conditions at a local processing facility in Burlington, Massachusetts. The lawmakers also warned of the damage from a new ICE policy to shield field offices from public view by preventing members of Congress from making unannounced visits as part of their oversight — a key function of their job to serve their constituents.

U.S. Representatives Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), Richard Neal (D-Mass.), Bill Keating (D-Mass.), Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), Lori Trahan (D-Mass.), and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) also joined Senators Warren and Markey on the letter.

“We are disturbed that ICE appears to be using the Burlington facility beyond its original design to detain people in inadequate conditions in Massachusetts — and that ICE is undermining public transparency and accountability,” wrote the lawmakers.

New reports reveal that ICE is holding people for days at a time at a field office in Burlington, Massachusetts, an office building designed to process people for no more than a few hours. ICE’s own policy says that, barring “exceptional circumstances,” no one should be detained in a field office holding facility for over 12 hours. But in recent months, ICE has used the Burlington office as a “de facto detention facility,” with conditions made worse by the Administration’s attempts to triple the number of ICE arrests per day.

Conditions at the facility are reportedly abysmal, including inadequate food, drinking water, beds, medical care, hygiene supplies, and more. These conditions appear to violate ICE’s own standards, warranting immediate attention.

Earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security issued new guidance prohibiting members of Congress from making unannounced visits to field offices, undermining lawmakers’ ability to conduct oversight on ICE’s practices and promote transparency. Meanwhile, ICE continues to dispute individuals’ reports of inadequate and inhumane conditions at field offices across the country.

“In effect, ICE appears to be violating its own detention standards, denying reports of violations, and then preventing the American public’s representatives from witnessing those violations,” wrote the lawmakers.

The lawmakers requested a congressional briefing and pushed for answers regarding the reportedly inhumane conditions at the Burlington facility and ICE’s intentions to rectify this situation, with a deadline of July 10.

###




The following sites updated:


Friday, June 27, 2025

Mariska Hargitay's Jayne Mansfield film

Mariska Hargitay has been on NBC long enough that there are probably a huge number of people who only know her for her LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT character Olivia.  And that's fair, it's a highly popular show and she's an excellent actress.  When she was starting out, however, most of us knew her as Jayne Mansfield's daughter.  MC Suhocki (TODAY SHOW) reports:


Mariska Hargitay has been on a journey her whole life to better understand her late mother, and now she's sharing who the "extraordinary" Jayne Mansfield was with the world.

In "My Mom Jayne," the HBO Original documentary Hargitay directed and produced about her mom, the actor interviews her family members about the woman she never got the chance to know.
"I want to know her as Jayne — my mom, Jayne," Hargitay says in the trailer.

Using boxes of her mother's memorabilia in a storage unit and the stories from her siblings, Hargitay pieces together who Mansfield was to her loved ones — beyond the Hollywood bombshell persona with the breathy voice known to the public.

After years of her own research, how would Hargitay describe her mom now?

"I would say she was a kind, compassionate, funny, empathetic, ambitious woman," Hargitay tells TODAY.com.

She also describes her mom, who played violin and piano, as a musician and "an artist with a whole lot of dreams and an appetite for love."


I think it's great that she's made this film and I really look forward to watching it on HBO soon.  Her mother deserves to be appreciated.  She's helped that happen with the documentary but also just by being present.  Jayne Mansfield, as an actress, often played confections onscreen.  She did that very well.  With an occasional dramatic role (THE WAYWARD BUS, for example), she demonstrated that she could do drama just as well as comedy.  But since her death, there was a lot of confusion of Jayne's comedy roles with who she was as a person.   Those were sweet characters so there are worse insults to be sure.  But sometimes it went beyond confusing the two to writers and commentators insulting Jayne.  It was kind of like, "She's dead so it's open season."  I can remember in college back in the 90s encountering that attitude among three different professors (one of who was a film history professor so he at least had a reason to bring up Jayne Mansfield in class, the other two weren't and one of them also made a joke about the horrible way she died).  

Mariska being present made people tone down some of the nonsense.  It was no longer abstract and/or an attitude of "She's dead, who's going to be hurt?"  Mariska being present made it, "This is someone's actual mother you're trashing."

Again, really looking forward to seeing the film. 


Going out with C.I.'s "The Snapshot:"


Thursday, June 26, 2025.  It's still the economy, stupid, and MSNBC works hard to shut itself down and go out of business. 


Let me start off with something in raised in a few e-mails.  I've noted here that there's too much going on to note everything in any snapshot.  Rachel Maddow noted that even doing a daily program on MSNBC during Chump's first 100 days didn't provide her with enough time to cover every story -- or even every major story.  Lawrence O'Donnell has noted the same.  I write one thing a day here (the daily is a nightly on Saturday and Sunday).  But there are also at least 24 other posts each day.  So there are videos and press releases and other things that go up and cover other topics.  

There's a topic that I didn't cover in a snapshot and apparently Jen Psaki did cover it "but I knew you wouldn't post it because of what you said about Jen."  I'm going to assume that refers to Ava and my "Media: If MSNBC could just clone Rachel Maddow . . .."  


Jen is in danger of losing her job.  Ava and I don't do pile ons.  When Britney Spears was the source of mockery, we avoided the topic because we don't do pile ons.  Otherwise, we might very well have been like so many others and having to issue apologies for the way in which we covered her.  

If Jen wasn't in danger of losing her job, we wouldn't have written what we did.  As she is currently, she's not prime time.  They could switch her to daytime, but she's not primetime.  We noted that she's shrinking  and not expanding since taking over for Rachel.  That is true.  We also noted that she's being buried under advice from this exec and that exec and consultants and -- It's too much and it would be too much for anyone.  She needs to make clear that she's heard the advice and she's going to use what she can and ignore the rest.

Then she needs to get back in front of the camera and breathe.  Don't be pushed around.  Don't give up your space.  Look into the camera and own the moment.  

We wrote that piece because (a) MSNBC is in serious trouble right now -- ways that people don't even know outside the executive offices -- and (b) Jen is not delivering the numbers the network was hoping for and there's talk already of replacing her.  

That piece was our flare for Jen.  She has continued to be noted here.  In fact, a video was posted of her show Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.  She needs to center herself and breathe.  

That's the only way she's going to hold this spot.  If she can't, she can't.  That's the Jen aspect of what Ava and I wrote.  The part about "MSNBC is in serious trouble right now" is the other reason we wrote.  MSNBC has had one identity crisis after another.  Joe Scarborough may be seen as a 'consistent' but don't forget he's repeatedly shape shifted himself and, years and years go, would joke and laugh with his 'buddy' and fellow on air Mike Savage.  

The network has been poorly run repeatedly.  We didn't really watch MSNBC until 2024.  We might catch Andrea Mitchell during the day while having lunch.  We might catch Chris Hayes at night.  Both were dependent upon our speaking schedule that day.  I listened to Lawrence O'Donnell's program on SIRIUS XM or caught it via Apple Podcast.  When a friend at MSNBC told us how bad things could get, we said we'd take a look at the network and we did.  

Most people are suited to host programs during daytime or to nighttime.  There's really not overlap.  The only one who I know of that could pull off both was Phil Donahue.  He demonstrated he could carry a daytime audience for years.  He also demonstrated, on MSNBC, that he could carry a primetime audience.  

Dick Cavett should never have been on prime time.  He didn't have the personality.  You can argue when the talk show was on PBS, that it didn't matter.  But he didn't stick to PBS.  I never liked Johnny Carson but he could deliver nighttime.  It's a different type of program and more 'in your face.' David Letterman was too large for daytime and bombed when he tried it but when he came back as a nighttime host, he became a legend.   Chris Hayes does a nice program.  It is not in-your-face.  That's not his style.  He should have long ago been switched over to daytime where likeable matters so much more. Where likeability matters so much, in fact, that when you lose it -- see Ellen DeGeneres -- you lose your program. 

All shows need a POV but prime time talk shows especially need it.  Ari, Stephanie, Lawrence and Rachel have that.  Joy Reid had it.  MSNBC is programming as though FRIENDS and WILL & GRACE will never go off the air.  Instead of making a strong programming bloc that would lift the ratings for the network, they're spacing out the real hits and putting Chris and others on in between.  Chris is not UNION SQUARE but some of the programs are truly not Must See TV.  Again, there should be no space between the heavy hitters.  There has been no real thought put into the schedule. 

FOX "NEWS" doesn't do that.  They know who is daytime and who is nighttime.  And their shows have a POV.  That's one of the reason their ratings are high.  Another reason is a FOX "NEWS" viewer has no life and lives in front of the TV.  I can't think of anything worse than watching one show after another like a zombie in front of the TV.  I miss Rachel on a daily basis but I'm glad because when she was on daily, it was get the TV on in time for Chris and sail through to the end of Stephanie's program (Nielsen viewer, so the TV had to be on to gather the Nielsen data).

MSNBC has never been run like a real network and heads may roll if they don't get it together.  If Jen can reclaim her voice, she's fine on primetime.  If she can't, they should switch her to daytime because she has likeability and even buried under 'suggestions,' she remains likeable.  


The VA almost got mentioned in a snapshot this week regarding work.  There are many things that don't make it into the snapshot when it goes up because there's just too much stuff that we are trying to squeeze in.  We're starting with the economy so we'll be dropping that topic into this snapshot.

Donald Chump has ruined the economy.  It is not recovering and it honestly can't recover at present.  He's too erratic, he's too stupid.  And his administration flunkies are too scared to tell him the truth:  (in the words of Taylor Swift) You need to calm down.   His erratic behavior and his constant threats and insults negatively impact the markets.  He's a fool.



After the Trump Administration intensified its push for federal workers to return to the office, a new study highlights the potential downsides of this mandate.Conducted by Alessandra Fenizia and Tom Kirchmaier, researchers from the George Washington University and the London School of Economics, the study focuses on productivity impacts of work-from-home (WFH) arrangements for public sector jobs. They found that working from home boosts productivity by 12% compared to in-office work.
The prevailing sentiment is that physical presence ensures better accountability and productivity. However, the study’s findings suggest that these arguments might be more rooted in perception than reality. 

The study, which evaluated detailed administrative data from police staff alternating between home and office settings, indicates that employees working from home managed more cases per day, without any increase in errors or loss of quality. These findings held true even when researchers controlled for variables such as shift length and nature of tasks, ensuring that the results were not merely artifacts of different work schedules. Moreover, the productivity boost was amplified when tasks were assigned by supervisors rather than through automated systems, suggesting that the structure and management of remote work can play a critical role in maximizing its benefits.
One of the primary reasons for increased productivity was a reduction in workplace distractions. The study found that in the office, employees were more likely to be interrupted by conversations, coffee breaks, and other non-work-related interactions. By contrast, the relative isolation of remote work allowed for sustained focus, contributing to the higher case numbers logged from home. This challenges a common narrative promoted by some legislators, who argue that employees who work from home are more likely to slack off without the direct supervision afforded by office settings. 

Rep. James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, for example, during the Jan. 15 2025 “Stay-at-Home Federal Workforce” hearing, blamed service backlogs on officials “coddling federal workers with a perk—telework—that allowed them to shirk their duties.” Similarly, House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana told reporters on Dec. 5 2024 that only “about 1 %” of federal employees are “actually working in the office,” adding that workers must “return to their desks and get back to the work they are supposed to be doing,” a claim that Politifact rated as “Pants on Fire.” However, Fenizia and Kirchmaier’s data showed no such shirking; instead, it demonstrated that remote work can enhance efficiency without sacrificing quality.

No surprise, idiots like Mike Johnson didn't know what they were talking about.  By the way, Happy Pride, Mike, happy Pride. 

I have no idea if what I'm about to note is going on anywhere other than the VA but we were speaking to a number of veterans last week and many work for the VA.  

So Chump and others want to look tough.  But they just look inept (yet again).  

You're Blake.  You work for the VA.  The ability to work from home is why you applied and you work for the VA in Atlanta.  Or that's where you've 'worked' while working from home.  They're insisting that the employees aren't working from home anymore.  What they're not making clear is that a number of them are also not working at the VA they work for.  Blake working for the Atlanta VA?  Blake took that position because he could work from home.  But he actually lives in Kentucky.  

Guess what?  He's not moving to Atlanta.  He's not going into the Atlanta VA he works for.  He's finding a VA facility in Kentucky that has an empty desk and he's working for the Atlanta VA out of a desk in Kentucky.

Per the findings in the TIME article, that's not helping increase work.  

You've really just ticked off your work force and you've done so at a time when you don't need to be doing that since the incoming and soon to be incoming workers are not that motivated to work a job that insults them and some don't want to be in the workforce and you're facing an increasingly less educated work force (the whole trend stories about young male loneliness).  And let's also bring in what Paul Krugman pointed out earlier this month:

Young workers always have higher unemployment than workers as a group. College graduates always have lower-than-average unemployment. But normally education trumps age: Even recent college graduates have relatively low unemployment.

But not now. As I suggested, the current unemployment rate for young college graduates isn’t the highest we’ve ever seen. But previous peaks have come at times of general economic distress, like the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Now we have low overall unemployment, only slightly above historic lows, but unemployment among college graduates between 22 and 27 at recession-like levels.


Chump has no clue and what it really underscores to me is Chump's lack of vision. 


Yes, he's got Project 2025 and other hate merchants telling him what to do.  Even there, he can't stick to the playbook.  He has no long term vision and never has.  And you can see the impacts that's having on the economy and the markets and the country.  Gabriela León (EXPLICAME) reports on Chump's labor 'plans:'



The mass layoff plan promoted by the Trump Administration, known as a “reduction in force,” has returned to the Supreme Court for a final decision. If approved, it would affect 22 government departments, resulting in the termination of thousands of federal employees. However, the consequences could extend far beyond the public sector, according with GoBankingRates.
Although the layoffs focus on federal workers, their ripple effects could reach the broader U.S. labor market. According to employment experts, a significant contraction in the federal workforce could affect job stability, local economic systems, and public confidence.

“Substantial cuts in the federal workforce can generate impacts on job stability, consumer spending, and a widespread sense of insecurity in the job market”, warned Eric Kingsley, partner at Kingsley Szamet Employment Lawyers.

One direct consequence would be increased competition for private sector jobs, especially among skilled federal workers seeking new opportunities. This influx could push down entry-level wages, forcing experienced professionals to accept lower pay.


He's not preparing for that.  He has no idea what's going on.  This is, please remember, the administration that actually loathes education.  That's why they put Linda McMahon in charge of it, a certified idiot who found JOKES FOR THE JOHN too difficult to comprehend.  Linda McMahon, the CGI version of Mammy Yokum. 


Business leaders' confidence in the U.S. economy has halved since the beginning of the year, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co., as companies grapple with the impact of President Donald Trump's tariffs and broader geopolitical uncertainties.

The financial services firm's latest Business Leaders Outlook Survey, released Wednesday, found that optimism for the economy fell to 32 percent in June from 65 percent in January. Additionally, 25 percent of respondents said they expect a recession to occur at some point this year, up from only 8 percent in January.
Concerns over the trajectory of the U.S. economy have been fueled largely by Trump's trade agenda, which has led to significant stock market volatility and heightened fears of rising costs for both businesses and consumers. However, these anxieties have been somewhat tempered by the current pause on reciprocal tariffs, as well as the temporary easing of trading tensions between the United States and China.

While the survey was largely conducted prior to the start of the recent conflict between Israel and Iran and was completed before America's targeted strikes over the weekend, this could contribute to these existing economic anxieties.

One expert told Newsweek that a re-escalation would represent "another adverse supply shock to the economy."


Again, he's too erratic for the markets.  He's doing real damage.  Fed Chair Jerome Powell sugar-coated it to an extend on Tuesday when appearing before the House Financial Services Committee but he hadn't even been speaking for a full minute before he noted "elevated uncertainty" and, less than a minute later, he was again using the term "Surveys of households and businesses, however, report a decline in sentiment over recent months and elevated uncertainty about the economic outlook, largely reflecting trade policy concerns."  

Again, he sugar coated it but the message was not good if you paid attention.  He observed, "Policy changes continue to evolve, and their effects on the economy remain uncertain."  Erratic.  "Inflation remains elevated," that's not good news.  Especially since candidate Chump promised to bring prices down but instead, once sworn into office, drove them up and they remain elevated and are impacting consumer confidence.  Chump does not know what he is doing and that's how I translate this statement Powell made to the Committee:

The effects on inflation could be short lived -- reflecting a one-time shift in the price level. It is also possible that the inflationary effects could instead be more persistent. Avoiding that outcome will depend on the size of the tariff effects, on how long it takes for them to pass through fully into prices, and, ultimately, on keeping longer-term inflation expectations well anchored. 

Yesterday, Howard Lutnick, erratic and shrill Commerce Secretary, was yet again whining that Powell had to cut interest rates.   Did Lutnick catch any of Powell's testimony on Tuesday?  "For the time being, we are well positioned to wait to learn more about the likely course of the economy before considering any adjustments to our policy stance."  Did he catch that?  Chump's too erratic and that's why there is so much uncertainty.  It's not for nothing that Wall Street came up with TACO ("Trump Always Chickens Out").  


 'Trump Always Chickens Out' is the phrase bestowed upon him by whom?  Wall Street.  I've noted hear all along when many outlets were too scared to hold Chump accountable that business doesn't play.  Jeff Bezos?  He'll whore his ass until it just gapes non-stop with no closure in sight.  But the business sector -- especially the business press -- does not fluff and flatter leaders who damage the economy.  That's all they care about.  And that's why Chump hasn't gotten the same free ride from the business press that other outlets have given him.

Our economy was in pretty good shape.  Joe Biden steered us in the right direction and we were recovering economically from the pandemic.  All Chump has done since he got in office is weaken our economy.  And it's not any better this month than it was last month.  There are so many problems facing our teetering economy  Jennifer Sor (BUSINESS INSIDER) notes:


The US has flirted with the dreaded S-word for much of this year, and it's not out of the woods yet.
That's according to Torsten Sløk, the chief economist at Apollo Global Management, who thinks the US is at a critical inflection point for stagflation, a dire scenario in which economic growth slows while inflation remains high.

That problem is often regarded as even harder for policymakers to solve than a typical recession, as higher inflation can prevent the Federal Reserve from cutting interest rates to boost the economy.
The scenario has largely been triggered by President Donald Trump's tariffs, Sløk wrote in a white paper published on Monday.

"Tariff hikes are typically stagflationary shocks — they simultaneously increase the probability of an economic slowdown while putting upward pressure on prices," Sløk wrote, adding that consensus forecasts on Wall Street for economic growth had drifted lower this year, while inflation forecasts have edged higher.

Chump is too erratic and is doing real damage to the economy and the American people intuitively understand that.  Dan Goldman (DENVER 7) explains, "Consumer confidence in the economy fell in June according to The Conference Board’s monthly Consumer Confidence Survey released Tuesday.  It’s the fifth time in the last six months the report has shown a decline and cuts nearly half of the gains from May’s report."  It's what Emma Nelson's reporting on today for THE MINNESOTA STAR TRIBUNE about how so many in that state realize that Chump's worsened the economy.  Or refer to Martin Sanbu at THE FINANCIAL TIMES


The Centre for Economic Policy Research, a network of many of Europe’s best economists, has worked up quite a trade in producing “rapid response” economic insights into current affairs. It shone, for example, at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic when unprecedented lockdowns required an entirely new perspective on economic policy. The group’s “rapid response” programme has now produced a 40-chapter ebook, comprising almost 500 pages of analysis, on the economic fallout from the second Trump administration. 
Among other things, the analyses put numbers on views we have also developed here at Free Lunch. For example, even if you think it’s a good thing to expand manufacturing as a share of the economy, Michael Strain’s chapter shows that Trump’s radical trade policy is unlikely to boost US manufacturing output or jobs by much (a possibility I discussed here and here). The ebook also features a very important chapter by John Coates, which goes through the economic costs of undermining the rule of law (it was evident the Trump administration was doing so within days of taking office). Anna Maria Mayda and Giovanni Peri show how the crackdown on immigrants will shrink the US economy, a theme also addressed by my Free Lunch co-conspirator Tej last Sunday
 Other chapters explore the prospects for groups that Trump’s policies are supposed to help, in particular the middle class and those in rural areas. The answer is: not well. Richard Baldwin highlights how many more middle-class Americans are working in services, not in manufacturing, and therefore stand to lose out in purchasing power when tariffs make manufactured goods more expensive and do nothing for service sectors. Mary Hendrickson and David Peters examine the fallout for rural areas from tariff retaliation against US agricultural exports (as well as immigration crackdowns and healthcare subsidy cuts). As they remind us, US farmers only got through the US-China trade war of the first Trump administration thanks to financial support from the federal government.


Another issue negatively impacting the economy is Chump's immigration actions.


And we're back to MSNBC.

And . . . It's MORNING JOE.  I don't like Joe personally.  I was planning on ignoring the show -- and had since and his wife groveled in front of Chump.  

But that segment?  Better than anything MSNBC offered yesterday -- excepting Lawrence and Stephanie.  

What we got instead was Abortion Barbie.

Remember that?  Remember her?  

If not, it's not your fault.  But I'll help you out with nobody's first name: Wendy.

In 2014, MSNBC hosts actually called her "Abortion Barbie."  She was going to shake up Texas and be the way forward and let's grab the smear that Republicans are using against her and reclaim it and . . .

They worked awfully hard to make Wendy Davis a star.  And Ava and I pointed out in the middle of all that garbage was that they were destroying Wendy's campaign:  


Davis needs to lower the stardom and demonstrate how she can be a work horse.

She needs to lose the ridiculous hair, she's not Donald Trump's ex-wife, and either pull it into a ponytail (which Texas women relate to) or get it cut.

She needs to tone down the make up as well.

She's a little too 'starish' currently for Texas.

And Greg Abbott?

Greg Abbott is in a wheel chair.  He has been since 1984.  From that wheel chair, he's been on the state supreme court and successfully and repeatedly run for attorney general.  That's the kind of can-do spirit that Texans admire.

Cecile Richards is deeply stupid.

Making Wendy Davis a media star only made her a vapid blond with big hair.

If Cecile knew a damn thing about Texas politics, she would have already realized that Greg Abbott's not going to be beaten by a glossy 8 x 10 photograph.


And yet there was MSNBC yesterday.  Jen and Chris the worst of the offenders but pretty much everyone but Lawrence and Stephanie (I didn't catch Ari's show so I don't know what he did) lying and lying and fluffing and fluffing.

Zohran Mamdani 'won' the NYC Democratic Party's mayoral primary.  (Predicted to win, results aren't in and it could actually be weeks.)

He did not become Mayor of NYC on Tuesday though you have to forgive aged idiots like Bernie Sanders -- our old racist, Bernie, 'endearing' himself yet again to Black voters yesterday with his rude and dishonest remarks -- for thinking Zohran is the mayor.

MSNBC on airs like Chris and Jen lying about what a huge victory this was and blah blah blah and come from behind and --

Stop lying.  Do you think your viewers don't remember you bringing him on your MSNBC programs over and over?  There were at least nine serious candidates in that primary.  But if you watched MSNBC, you only heard, day after day, from and of Zohran.  

Oh, you did hear about Cuomo, they were eager to attack Cuomo daily.  

Near the end, the week before, Brad Lander made it into MSNBC's news cycle for one day because of an action he took to defend immigrants that made national news.  Otherwise, they would have continued to ignore him as they did throughout the campaign.

What hurts your ratings, MSNBC?  

Looking like cheap little whores and, Chris and Jen, that's what you looked like as you went on and on thinking the viewers at home hadn't watched your shows for the last month and seen all the whoring.

There were the whores back again.

Doing to Zohran yesterday what they did to Wendy Davis.

Zohran did not have the popular backing he needed -- in the first round, he got 43 percent to Cumo's 36 percent.  He could have.

If he'd been stronger on immigration, he could have.

What's especially sad there is that when he was running for office in 2020, he was much stronger and much clearer on the issue of immigration.  

With Brad -- a Socialist just like Zohran -- making so many stronger moves and remarks demonstrating his support for immigrants, his large number of supporters are watching to see what they think of Zohran.  In the first round, Brad got 11 percent of the vote.  The bulk of that support was because Brad ran on an issue (a fact that eludes old man Bernie -- and please read Elaine's "We do not need an 87 y.o. president -- pack it in" from last night and grasp that Bernie is not needed anymore, we do not need that tired old man running for president again -- that is as insane as Bernie himself is).  

And MSNBC, the network that made Zohran their personal choice, could have helped him yesterday in the general election by addressing actual issues.  

But the idiots of MSNBC saw fit to try to do another star creation.  It failed Wendy Davis and left Texas under the control of Greg Abbot (still under that control, by the way).  But they just know what works, right?

Yesterday was not the time for star making and star making isn't really needed in a politician to begin with.  

What was needed was discussing real issues.  Not generic statements.  Not trash about how this primary proves something!!!!!

What it appears to have proven is that rank choice voting -- something I've supported for decades and what we use each year when polling our community for their top ten on books of the year -- is not going to work. 

I'm not saying that because of who appears to have won.

I'm saying that because it's Thursday morning and it may be weeks before we actually have a winner.  

That's not really a  selling point for rank-choice voting.  NYC is a city.  I favor rank-choice voting and favor it nationwide.  But I'm going to be rethinking that now because I'm not in the mood to wait weeks after a presidential election to find out who won.

And are we we aware that the figures I used on percentage -- the same ones the media's using -- aren't accurate because they don't include ballots still enroute in the snail mail?  

That got ignored -- the nonsense of waiting weeks for the actual results -- but it also ignores that NYCers aren't voting on prom king.  They're voting for issues.  They will be doing that in the general election.  And your fluffing a thirty-something isn't helping him.

Brad, in the first round, was a serious challenge to Zohran and Andrew.  And that was because of his positions, statements and actions on the immigration issue.

Trying to make Zohran twinkle won't produce winning results in the general election.  But MSNBC wants to be a star maker so they did nonsense and fluff when they could have been devoted to actual issues and expanding support for Zohran that way.  

It's moments like these that make me think maybe MSNBC does need to go off the air.  That's what the worry is right now.  Not low ratings.  The suits are worried that MSNBC will actually go under.  

We got Jen talking campaigning with Zohran -- gushing.  The primary is over and no one needs the bragging or the spit shining.  It's not going to help Zohran.  You had him right in front of you, Jen, and you could have made a real difference by drilling down on policy.  Instead, you came off like a fan girl airhead.

If that's what MSNBC has to offer, go ahead and shut it down.

But the same time they offered that garbage, they also had Lawrence and Stephanie offering these two segments. 






That's real.  THE MORNING JOE segment we highlighted earlier is real.  Not a MORNING JOE fan but we'll highlight them as opposed to the crap fluff that too many MSNBC programs keep churning out and doing so at their own risk.


Let's wind down with this from Senator Adam Schiff's office.


Watch his remarks here. 

Washington, D.C. – Today, during the Senate Judiciary Committee’s judicial nomination hearing, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) pressed Emil Bove, President Donald Trump’s nominee for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, on whether he suggested that DOJ attorneys should ignore court orders.

Key Excerpts: 

On Bove suggesting he would ignore court orders to advance President Trump’s immigration agenda: 

Schiff: […] In the complaint, it says Bove stated that DOJ would need to consider telling the courts “fuck you” and ignoring any such court order. Did you say anything of that kind in the meeting?  

Bove: Senator, I have no recollection of saying anything of that kind, to the extent I usually —  

Schiff: Wouldn’t you recall, Mr. Bove, if you said or suggested during a meeting with Justice Department lawyers that maybe they should consider telling the court “fuck you”? It seems to me that would be something you’d remember, unless that’s the kind of thing you say frequently.   

Bove: Well, I’ve certainly said things encouraging litigators at the department to fight hard for valid positions that we have to take in defense of our clients.   

Schiff: And have you frequently suggested that they say “fuck you” and ignore court orders? Is that also something you frequently do such you might not remember doing it in this occasion?   

Bove: No. And as I explained, I have never directed —  

Schiff: So, did you or did you not make those comments during that meeting?   

Bove: Which comments, Senator?  

Schiff: You really need me to repeat it? Did you suggest, as Mr. Reuveni wrote, that DOJ would need to consider telling the courts “fuck you” and ignore any such court order?   

Bove: I did not suggest that there would be any need to consider ignoring court orders. At the point of that meeting, there were no court orders to discuss.   

Schiff: Well, did you suggest telling the courts “fuck you” in any manner?   

Bove: I don’t recall.   

Schiff: You just don’t remember that. Well, let me ask you this. It also says in the complaint, “Bove indicated and stressed to all in attendance that the planes needed to take off no matter what.” These are the planes that a judge was ordering not be used to render people to a maximum-security prison outside the country. Did you say during that meeting, did you stress to all in attendance that the planes needed to take off no matter what?  

Bove: Senator, your characterization is not accurate.   

Schiff: It’s not my characterization. It’s the characterization of a decorated prosecutor who was in that meeting. Are you saying that he’s lying?  

Bove: As I said at the beginning of the hearing

Schiff: No, no, I’m not interested in what you said the beginning of the hearing. I’m interested in whether you stressed to people in attendance that the planes needed to take off no matter what. Did you say that?  

Bove: I certainly conveyed the importance of the upcoming operation.   

Schiff: Well, don’t paraphrase here. Did you tell people in attendance the planes needed to take off no matter what?   

Bove: I don’t recall the specific words that I used.   

Schiff: Wouldn’t you recall saying that if you had instructed that the planes needed to take off no matter what, including whether the court ordered otherwise? You wouldn’t remember that?  

Bove: This is a mischaracterization, Senator, there were no court orders at this point.   

Schiff: Well, there was a court order. Wasn’t there?   

Bove: No, that’s —  

Schiff: Wasn’t there a court order by Judge Boasberg. If not in this specific case, then in related cases that that people not be sent out of the country until the court could rule? Wasn’t there a court order?  

Bove: Not at the time of that meeting, Senator. 

On calling for the meeting notes referenced in the whistleblower’s report on Bove: 

Schiff: […] Let me ask you this, Mr. Bove, if there are notes of that meeting, will you provide them to this committee? 

Bove: I defer to the committee and to the executive branch on the procedure.  

Schiff: And if the committee requests them, will you provide those notes to the committee? 

Bove: I defer to the executive branch on the handling of that request.  

Schiff: And let me ask you about notes from another meeting, which are contesting here, and that is the meeting over the decision to dismiss the case in New York, the corruption case against the mayor of New York. According to Ms. Sassoon, the U.S. Attorney at the time, during the meeting with Adams’ attorneys, where she described Adams’ attorneys repeatedly urging what amounted to a quid pro quo, that you admonished one of the lawyers in the room to stop taking notes. Is that true?  

Bove: I don’t believe I instructed that attorney to stop taking notes. I did remark on the fact that he was taking extensive notes, yes. 

Schiff: And why did it concern you that he was taking notes of that meeting?  

Bove: Because at that point in the meeting, we were discussing who was responsible for media leaks, and I was making the point that only the prosecutors had created an extensive record that could support detailed leaks. 

Schiff: And you were concerned, were you, that information about this potential quid pro quo might become public? Was that the concern? 

Bove: I’ve explained that there was no quid pro quo.  

Schiff: Will you provide the notes of that meeting, which you, according to the U.S. Attorney, instructed be collected at the end of the meeting?  

Bove: I think a member of my staff may have given that instruction outside my presence, and I defer to the committee and the executive branch on records requests and how there should be handled. 

[…] 

Schiff: […] I’ve requested the notes from two pivotal meetings that go to the heart of the nominee’s credibility. The meeting over the decision to drop charges against the mayor of New York, and the meeting in which the whistleblower alleges that the nominee suggested ignoring court orders and telling the courts, essentially, “fuck you.” The witness has said that the decision whether to turn off those notes will determine or depend, I guess, on whether there’s an assertion of privilege of some kind. And we have the great, good fortune at this moment to have the Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney General here with us today. We can resolve this right now. I would ask through the chair whether the Attorney General and the Deputy Attorney General will approve the provision of these notes to the committee. They could be provided to the chair and the Ranking Member in camera, if necessary, so that the question that Senator Kennedy asked about whether there was some illicit bargain, and that my colleagues have asked, can be resolved. If there are detailed notes of these meetings, it will give us an answer to who’s telling the truth here. 

###




Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Imbeciles Appear Before Congress" and the following sites updated: