April 20, 2018 — Scott Johnson
We receive DNC emails addressed to “Rachelle” at our Power Line gmail account. Tom Perez and Keith Ellison are both on a first name-basis with Rachelle, whoever she is. Today’s correspondence promotes the DNC lawsuit against the Russian government, the Trump campaign and other defendants. The element of projection looms large in Perez’s message, as always in the recurring themes of the Democratic Party. The message announces “We’re suing the
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April 20, 2018 — Scott Johnson
The Democratic National Committee has just filed a civil lawsuit seeking millions of dollars in damages against the Russian government, WikiLeaks, the Trump campaign, and a supporting cast of thousands arguing that the parties conspired to influence the 2016 presidential campaign. The lawsuit is filed in federal court in the Southern District of New York (Manhattan). The DNC alleges a multitude of claims including conspiracy and violations of everything from
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April 20, 2018 — Scott Johnson
In her weekly Wall Street Journal column Kim Strassel formulates 11 “basic questions” for Comey to answer some time on his book tour promoting himself as our tutor in ethical leadership. They are all good questions. Here are six of them: • You admit the Christopher Steele dossier was still “unverified” when the FBI used it as the basis of a surveillance warrant against Carter Page. Please explain. Also explain
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April 20, 2018 — Scott Johnson
Ammo Grrrll changes up Thomas Wolfe mostly by adding humor in “You Can’t GET Home Again! Or, Thoughts From the Frozen Tundra.” She writes: Thomas Wolfe was quite certain that “You Can’t Go Home Again.” By which, I took it to mean that we have distorted impressions of people and places seen through the prism of childhood that do not hold up under the harsh light of adulthood. As grownups,
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April 19, 2018 — Scott Johnson
Responding to long-standing requests from congressional committees reiterated this week, the Department of Justice has finally released redacted copies of the seven memos drafted by former FBI Director James Comey summarizing his conversations with Donald Trump. The department is expected to deliver unredacted versions of the memos to the committees on Friday via a secure transfer. Although he prepared the memos in the course of his professional duties as FBI
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April 19, 2018 — Scott Johnson
We’ve written several times about Amy Wax, the distinguished professor at University of Pennsylvania Law School who has spoken truth to political correctness in the face of threats to her livelihood and attacks on her character. Penn law dean Ted Ruger has now succumbed to demands that Professor Wax be barred from teaching the required first year course on civil procedure. This past Thursday the National Association of Scholars honored
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April 19, 2018 — Scott Johnson
Yesterday Rep. Ron DeSantis and ten other Republican congressmen sent a letter to Attorney General Sessions, FBI Director Wray and Sessions designee John Huber seeking the investigation of Hillary Clinton, James Comey, Loretta Lynch and other players “in connection with 2016 campaign controversies,” as FOX News puts it in its report. Observing “the dissimilar degrees of zealousness” that have marked the investigations of the respective presidential campaigns, the letter cites
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April 18, 2018 — Scott Johnson
The death of Barbara Bush at the age of 92 gives us the occasion to look back on a meaningful life well lived. She died in Houston yesterday surrounded by her family. The wife of the 41st president, the mother of the 43rd, she was a great and gallant lady in her own right. She was widely admired and respected. The full Houston Chronicle obituary is posted here. I want
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April 17, 2018 — Scott Johnson
Last week I linked to the McClatchy story by Peter Stone and Greg Gordon reporting that Special Counsel Robert Mueller has evidence that Michael Cohen — President Trump’s personal lawyer — visited Prague in the summer of 2016, just as it says right there in the dodgy Steele Dossier. Cohen to the contrary notwithstanding via Twitter (below), the response to this story among political journalists and other observers was nigh
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April 17, 2018 — Scott Johnson
I’ve struggled with my weight ever since I quit smoking thirty-five years ago, going up and down 30 pounds several times. All I can tell you is that it’s a helluva lot easier going up than it is coming down, though you probably already knew that. Six years ago I picked up on the cues offered occasionally by Glenn Reynolds to the work of science writer Gary Taubes. Glenn had
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April 16, 2018 — Scott Johnson
I think of Minnesota Fifth District Rep. Keith Ellison as our man in Havana. He prays for the Castro regime so that it can continue to shelter Joanne Chesimard (a/k/a Assata Shakur), the first woman named by the FBI to its most wanted list. Ellison is also vice chair in charge of vice at the Democratic National Committee. On Friday Ellison told an audience at the Progressive Change Campaign Committee
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April 16, 2018 — Scott Johnson
Last night ABC broadcast its special edition of 20/20 carrying the interview of former FBI Director James Comey by former Clinton flack George Stephanopoulos. ABC has posted the transcript of the interview online together with video excerpts. It’s a friendly interview of a difficult subject. Stephanopoulos is helping Comey sell books; tomorrow is the official publication date of Comey’s memoir. Comey continues his bid for addition to Mount Rushmore or
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April 15, 2018 — Scott Johnson
The Daily Pennsylvanian posted a copy of the letter of resignation submitted by former Penn trustee and Penn Law School Overseer Paul Levy to Penn President Amy Guttmann in its story here, but it may not be accessible to readers in its entirety unless viewed on a desktop computer. The Wall Street Journal recently published an excerpt of the letter as a signal contribution to understanding what Roger Kimball has
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April 15, 2018 — Scott Johnson
We’ve written several times about Amy Wax, the distinguished professor at University of Pennsylvania Law School who has spoken truth to political correctness in the face of threats to her livelihood and attacks on her character. Penn law dean Ted Ruger has now succumbed to demands that Professor Wax be barred from teaching the required first year course on civil procedure. Paul Levy, a now former Penn Trustee Emeritus and
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April 15, 2018 — Scott Johnson
At the Daily Caller, Chuck Ross reports that Republican chairmen of three House committees have demanded that the Department of Justice provide copies of the memos written by former FBI Director James Comey following his meetings with President Trump. “There is no legal basis for withholding these materials from Congress,” according to the letter by Reps. Bob Goodlatte, Trey Gowdy, and Devin Nunes sent to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein
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April 14, 2018 — Scott Johnson
In “What is to be done?” I set forth the possibility that President Trump might shut down his entanglement in the Mueller probe (the Mueller Switch Project) by pardoning its criminal targets so far: Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, and the Dutch lawyer. He could do so with the explanation that Mueller’s probe has come up dry on its supposed predicate of Russian collusion with the Trump presidential campaign.
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April 14, 2018 — Scott Johnson
President Obama drew his infamous “red line” (“red line for us”) against the use of chemical weapons by the the Syrian regime on August 20, 2012. It proved to be something of a Chamberlainite red line “for our time.” The Syrian regime employed chemical weapons against civilians in Ghouta one year later, in August 2013. In the event, President Obama revealed his “red line” to be imaginary. He invited Vladimir
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