Recap: Day one of the Paxton Impeachment trial

September 6, 2023

I got to admit….I didn’t watch all of it.

OMG. Some quick notes on what I did watch/listen to. Paxton’s attorney, Tony Buzbee looks like an overly tanned Ken and he sounds like a civil attorney trying to act like a criminal defense attorney. He isn’t a criminal defense attorney. Even with my law degree from Facebook U I know a thing or two because I’ve seen a thing or two.

For instance they spent 10 minutes on an objection by Buzbee against evidence being presented that the Buzbee team introduced! Seriously. Team Buzbee provided the evidence. Team Harding was presenting this evidence to the jury (The Senate) and Buzbee was objecting to it. To compound this stupidity Lt Governor Patrick, who is presiding over the trial, let this stupidity continue for a full 10 minutes. Patrick isn’t a judge or a lawyer. His only experience is what he learned from Facebook U.

Buzbee on a number of instances objected to testimony on conversations between a witness and Paxton. My attorney friends says it was a case of Lawyering 101, a class Buzbee must have failed.

Only one witness was called. He talked about learning of Paxton’s involvement with Nate Paul (he is the guy Paxton illegally helped in a civil case), something he said was highly irregular for a sitting Attorney General to do. He met with Paxton and claimed Paxton agreed to not interface with Paul again, yet the very next day he did it again.

I’m going to have to watch the cross examination. This witness was pretty good. Clearly he was concerned about the integrity of the Office as well as Paxton’s actions.

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Texas Trump Republicans will let Paxton off the hook

September 5, 2023

Count on it.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial starts today. The trial will be televised and all Texans will have the opportunity to see the evidence against Paxton but they won’t. Most don’t care. Neither do the Republicans in the Senate.

If you haven’t been paying attention, their leader, Donald Trump, attempted to black mail the leader of Ukraine. Then he instigated a riot on the United States Capitol. He was impeached twice yet the republicans let him off the hook. Twice. If you think Texas Republicans in the Senate is going to vote to remove Paxton you really haven’t been paying attention.

This isn’t a criminal trial, that will come later. This is a trial to determine if Paxton is honorable enough to hold the office of top attorney. “Honorable” means nothing to republicans. Absolutely nothing. Evidence that will be provided will show Paxton had an affair and shared privileged information with a friend, Nate Paul, who moved his mistress to Austin. He hired an unqualified attorney from Houston, a referral from Nate Paul, to investigate a non-profit who was in litigation with Paul. That attorney issued 29 subpoenas and identified himself as a “Special Prosecutor”. Paxton’s staff squashed the subpoenas and ended the contract with the attorney.

The fact that he had an affair, compromised his position as lead attorney, and lied about it to his wife, a fellow Senator, would have been enough for Republicans to throw his rotten ass out the door. But that was prior to Trump. That was when Republicans actually were “conservative”, honorable, and moral.

Today the Republican Party leaders are just a bunch of low life, lying, cheating, stealing, adulterer sympathizer, excuse making, rotten bunch of fucking bastards. They will let Paxton off.

Count on it. You can watch the Republican Party crap itself live on the Senate website.

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Posted by johncoby

Fox 26 Houston airs Rumor Central. Will fire reporter.

September 4, 2023

This isn’t journalism.

Fox 26 aired a piece by Greg Groogan about a”rumor” that Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo was going to resign. Needless to say it was a baseless rumor started by an undisclosed individual. Usually TV station management would refuse to air a story based upon baseless rumors. If not any idiot journalist would have a great story every single day.

Groogan has a history of pissing on a campfire. He seems to enjoy it. Maybe someone ought to air a story based upon baseless rumors from a very reputable source: Fox 26 will fire Greg Groogan for his story about a baseless rumor. How is that for journalism? Maybe I can take over for Greg.

Dear Greg. Do better.

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Freak Show Part II. Tony Buzbee is running for Houston City Council

August 22, 2023

As Tony Buzbee said, he fights with both hands, drinks with both hands and will beat off his opponents in District G with both hands.

OMG. Just what we need in the race for District G, a damn freak show. Again. Four years ago Buzbee spent $13 Million of his own money in a race for Mayor. He ended in a runoff with Mayor Turner then got wiped out and went into political hiding for 4 years popping up for air to defend Ken Paxton in his impeachment trial.

According to the Houston Chronicle Buzbee was escorted through city hall by former Council Member Greg Travis. Who is Greg Travis? Glad you asked…..Travis resigned from city council to run for State Representative. He lost. He also resigned from all his committee assignments leaving the hard work to his colleagues. He also made racist comments about Michelle Obama with many calling for his resignation. That is who Tony Buzbee has sided with.

During his race for Mayor Buzbee attempted to play both sides of the political aisle, donating $90,000 to the Harris County Democratic Party, donating to the Gay Caucus, hosting a fundraiser for Donald Trump at his home, and seeking the endorsement from Steven Hotze an anti-gay hate monger. It didn’t work. He was boo-ed out of the room at the Democratic Executive Committee meeting and Hotze eventually pulled his endorsement. Even the Harris County Republican Party refused to endorse Buzbee.

Buzbee received the endorsement from the Houston Fire Fighters in the runoff. The Fire Fighters had previously endorsed Dwight Boykins as well as Anthony Dolcefino, one of the worst candidates to have run for city council. Buzbee was in good company.

Buzbee will probably spend another couple of million of his own money against current incumbent Mary Nan Huffman. Huffman has $100,000 cash on hand.

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Galveston County Commissioner Joe Giusti, Oath Keepers, on the hot seat

August 20, 2023

They are not even trying to hide it anymore.

Galveston County is being sued by a number of organizations for redrawing maps in 2021 that dismantled a minority district and created 4 majority white districts. Commissioner Joe Giusti was on the hot seat and testified that he knew his vote would eliminate the minority district. According the Galveston Daily News:

A Galveston County Commissioner testified Thursday he knew his vote for a redistricting map would eliminate the county’s sole majority-minority precinct.

“I was aware that voting for the map would eliminate the majority-minority district,” Precinct 2 Commissioner Joe Giusti said.

I’ve looked at Giusti’s campaign finance reports and they are interesting. I’ll publish that later. Many of these commissioners across the state are in pretty safe districts. They tend to be re-elected over and over again and they tend to think they are safe from having to follow the laws. Case in point, long term Commission Jerry Eversole in Harris County was fined $75,000 by the Texas Ethics Commission for stealing his donors money. He thought no one was looking until someone did and filed a complaint.

Back to Giusti. Giusti was found to be a member of The Oath Keepers by The Texas Tribune. The lead was recently convicted of seditious conspiracy and was sentenced to 18 years in jail for his role in the Jan 6 riot. The Oath Keepers was incorporated in 2009. Giusti claimed he was only in the group for a year but his campaign literature says something different. And now after claiming to have dumped his association with this extreme far right organization he is testifying about voting to end a minority district in Galveston County.

According to his literature he is a conservative, a gun nut, a husband, and a member of The Oath Keepers. #NoPlaceButTexas. Literally. They walk amongst us.

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City of Houston to host right wing hate group convention

August 19, 2023

The power of money.

Houston City Council has approved agreement to support Houston’s bid to host the 2028 Republican National Convention despite members voicing concerns over Republican policy priorities. Houston is competing with Nashville and Miami and could bring millions of dollars in tax revenues.

The RNC has a history of supporting hate groups such as the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, Moms for Liberty, and others. Over the last 8 years they have attacked the Gay community, have put our police in harms way by flooding the streets with guns. They have attacked Mexican Americans, Black, Asian Americans, teachers, Muslims, Jews, and almost every minority you can think of. This is who the Republican Party has become. The Republican Party is nothing but a bunch of hateful, fucked up, people.

Abbott with Proud Boys leader

Council Member Gallegos and District C Councilmember Abbie Kamin, were no votes on the agreement. According to the Houston Chronicle: “District I Councilmember Robert Gallegos was the only one who voted no to the Wednesday agreement, citing some Republican leaders’ policy stances and rhetoric on immigration, LGBTQ rights, abortion and election rules.”

“Any organization has the right to enjoy all that our city has to offer, and they should,” Kamin said in a statement. “But (I) cannot in good conscience support (the agreement) when large numbers of District C residents are being impacted by the explicit bigotry that’s been embraced by a small but loud faction” of the Republican Party.”

But the RNC brings money. And hookers. And hate. And tiki Torches.

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Posted by johncoby

CliffsNotes: Trump’s Georgia Indictment

August 16, 2023

I took another one for the team and read the entire 98 page indictment from the Fulton County DA. This is incomplete but I’ll update later.

This indictment is divided into 

  • 161 separate “Acts” which I believe is simply a list of evidence of a crime concerning the violation of the RICO Act, 
  • A section title Manner and Methods of the Enterprise, a fancy way of saying how the 19 indicted carried out their coordinated conspiracy, 
  • A list of 41 “Counts” which are specific charges against each of the 19 indicted.

So…who was indicted? (19 total)

  • Trump former president
  • Giulliani Trump’s attorney
  • John Eastman Trump’s attorney
  • Mark Meadows Trump’s chief of staff
  • Kenneth Chesebro Trump’s attorney
  • Jeffery Clark Anti-Environment lawyer
  • Jenna Ellis Trump’s attorney
  • Ray Stallings Smith Trump’s attorney
  • Robert Cheeley Georgia Lawyer
  • Michael Roman Director of Trump election team
  • David Shafer Fake elector
  • Shawn Still Fake elector
  • Stephen Lee Former police officer
  • Harrison Floyd Executive director of Black voices for Trump
  • Trevian Kutti Publicist 
  • Sidney Powell Trump’s attorney
  • Cathleen Latham Fake elector
  • Scott Hall Bail bondsman
  • Misty Hampton Coffee county election official

What charges were filed against Trump? (13 total)

  • RICO Act
  • Solicitation of violaton of oath by a public official
  • Conspiracy to commit inpersonatin a public officer
  • Conspiracy to commit false statements and writings
  • Conspiracy to commit filing false documents
  • Conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree
  • Filing false documents
  • Solicitation of violation of oath by public officer
  • False statements and writings

What charges were filed against everyone else?

Various charges but EVERYONE was charged with VIOLATION OF THE GEORGIA RICO (RACKETEER INFLUENCED AND CORRUPT ORGANIZATIONS) ACT

Who testified against Trump?

  • Republican elected officials
  • Republican members of Trump’s administration

What did the accused specifically do according to the Manner and Methods of the Enterprise?

  1. False Statements to and Solicitation of High Ranking State Officials 
  2. Creation and Distribution of False Electoral College Documents 
  3. Harassment and Intimidation of Fulton Countv Election Worker Rubv Freeman 
  4. Solicitation of High-Ranking United States Department of Justice Officials 
  5. Solicitation of the Vice President of the United States 
  6. Unlawful Breach of Election Equipment in Georgia and Elsewhere 
  7. Obstructive Acts in Furtherance of the Conspiracy and the Cover Up 

INTERESTING NOTES FROM SOME OF THE 161 ACTS:

  • Giuliani left voice recordings to a number of Republican elected officials in various states falsely claiming voter fraud and coercing them to overturn the election in various states
  • Giuliani, Trump’s lawyer made multiple appearances including at the Republican National Committee Headquarters falsely claiming voter fraud.
  • Giuliani made false statements to Speaker of the House in Arizona in an attempt to unlawfully appoint fake electors
  • Giuliani made false statements under oath to the Pennsylvania subcommittee
  • Giuliani made false statements concerning election officials in Fulton county resulting in harassment and threats
  • Powell, Trump’s lawyer made multiple appearances including at the Republican National Committee Headquarters falsely claiming voter fraud.
  • Powell conspired with SullivanStrickler LLC to unlawfully access voting machine equipment in Coffee County
  • Powell instructed SullivanStrickler to illegally obtain data from Dominion Voting Systems equipment
  • Powell illegally took possession of personal voting data and ballots
  • Powell conspired to steal voting data
  • Powell was to be appointed by Trump as “Special Counsel” to investigate voter fraud in Georgia
  • Cathleen Latham, a fake elector, was charged with multiple counts of perjury
  • Robery Cheeley, a Georgia lawyer, was charged wth multiple counts of perjury concerning the fake electors
  • Trump solicited speaker of the Georgia House to call for a special session to put in fake electors
  • The three fake electors impersonated a public officer by falsely holding themselves are the qualified presidential electors. (They weren’t)
  • The three fake electors committed forgery by knowingly making a false document titled “CERTIFICATE OF THE VOTES OF THE 2020 ELECTORS FROM GEORGIA,”
  • The three fake electors signed this document claiming to be the duly elected and qualified electors. They were not.
  • Stephen Lee traveled to the home of Ruby Freeman with intent to influence her testimony.
  • Lee recruited Harrison Floyd , a Black man, because Ruby Freeman was afraid of the white man.

MORE TO  COME!!!

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So much for the “Law and Order” party. Congressman Ron Jackson.

August 15, 2023

Law and order my ass.

Case in point, Congressman Ron Jackson, former White House doctor who was accused by the Department of Defense of “making “sexual and denigrating” comments about a female subordinate, violated the policy on drinking alcohol on a presidential trip and took prescription-strength sleeping medication that prompted worries from his colleagues about his ability to provide proper medical care.”

He is now a Republican Congressman. How fitting. As with the Republican Party he was caught on video being taken down by police. According to the video he is heard threatening law enforcement like a whiny little bitch:

“I’m going to call the governor tomorrow and I’m going to talk to him about this (expletive), because this is (expletive) ridiculous,” Jackson can later be heard telling a state trooper, his voice raised.

According to the Houston Chronicle it got worse as the Sheriff noted:

Shortly after the encounter, Carson County Sheriff Tam Terry talked with Jackson by phone. According to the sheriff’s written report, Jackson repeatedly told Terry that there needed to be consequences for the deputies who had handcuffed him. After Terry responded that he didn’t need to be threatened, Jackson said that “he would pull hell and high water and come and ‘bury me in the next election,’ ” the sheriff wrote.

He is a perfect republican. A hypocritical, whiny little bitch. At least he didn’t whack the police over the head with an American flag.

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Texas Tribune Festival Sept 21-23

August 14, 2023

This ought to be very interesting!

From the Texas Tribune About page:
Venture capitalist John Thornton founded The Texas Tribune and provided its initial $1 million in funding in 2008. Evan Smith joined as co-founder and CEO with Ross Ramsey serving as co-founder and executive editor, and the Tribune launched on election night of 2009. Today, the Tribune is recognized as a leader in digital-first journalism as well as a national role model for sustainability. In 2022, Thornton retired from the board, and Smith and Ramsey retired from the staff. Sonal Shah began as Tribune CEO in January 2023. Smith remains a senior adviser to the Tribune.

The Tribune Festival will be held in Austin and has a slew of interesting speakers as well as a couple of douches including Ted Cruz. Speakers include Katie Couric, James Carville, Karl Rove (yes, Karl Rove), Congressman Colin Alred, Jake Tapper from CNN and many others.

Should be a very interesting weekend. You can find detailed information here.

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Texas Governor Abbott “Texas is not for sale. Someone bought it already”

August 3, 2023

Greg Abbott has some balls to be claiming Texas is not for sale.

Abbott has sold Texas to the highest bidder for decades. Who do you think runs the state? Who do you think bankrolls republican candidates across the state even candidates against Greg Abbott?

I’ll give you a hint, Texas oligarchs and their PACs. There is the PAC, Defend Texas Liberty, who has pumped millions into races including $10,000 into our local CCISD races. Two Texas billionaire oligarchs funded this PAC, Farris Wilks and Timothy Dunn. They donated nearly $12 million in just 3 years to their PAC. It is an unlimited source of money as documented by CNN.

There are the Weekley brothers, David and Richard, homebuilders and developers. They own Greg Abbott’s ass. They donated $28 Million over the last decade. There are PAC’s like Texans for Lawsuit Reform that has raised millions to fund candidates that would, and have, weakened our civil justice system. There are Home Insurance PACs, funded by the insurance industry, claiming to be advocating for the homeowner. LOL.

These PACs are responsible for our sagging education system, high insurance, electricity, and college costs, our out of control health care costs. But don’t trust me, just look at your damn bills. So spare me with your stupid bullshit Abbott and Fox News. Texas has been sold already. Bought and paid for. How about focusing on that instead the pissant donation by George Soros?

But….Soros has single handedly funded a PAC called Texas Majority with a $750,000 donation, a small drop in the bucket compared to the millions donated by Texas oligarchs. In their last report TM has spent about $650,000 on consultants, travel, salaries, and polling. I’ve listed their contributions and expenditures below. Soros has been known to fund candidates in deep blue areas with far left candidates and after losing his money dries up. I would keep an eye out for this PAC.

Contributions
NameAmount
Democracy PAC II$850,000
Others$2,040
Total$852,040
Expenditures
Consulting$356,763
Polling$108,574
Overhead$47,239
Fundraising$32,053
Travel$30,397
Other$15,524
Legal$6,377
Food$585
Fees$573
Total$601,216

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