The Political Thread

[Chris]

Testimony Fleshes Out Account of Trump’s Demand to Go to Capitol on Jan. 6

But a newly released transcript of an interview of the Secret Service agent who drove Donald Trump’s vehicle that day disputes that he tried to grab the steering wheel or lunged at another agent.

www.nytimes.com

“The president was insistent on going to the Capitol,” recounted the driver, whose name was not disclosed. “It was clear to me he wanted to go to the Capitol. He was not screaming at Mr. Engel. He was not screaming at me. Certainly his voice was raised, but it did not seem to me that he was irate — certainly not, certainly didn’t seem as irritated or agitated as he had on the way to the Ellipse.”

But, the driver said, Mr. Trump never lunged for the steering wheel or physically accosted the agents, contradicting the most sensational and hotly disputed elements of testimony given to the House Jan. 6 committee by a White House aide. The transcript of the driver is the first extensive eyewitness account of what happened in the armored vehicle to be made public.

“I did not see him reach,” the Secret Service driver told investigators for the House panel. “He never grabbed the steering wheel. I didn’t see him, you know, lunge to try to get into the front seat at all. You know, what stood out was the irritation in his voice, more than his physical presence.”

The driver’s transcript adds detail to one of the most scrutinized episodes of Jan. 6, 2021. The transcript was never released publicly by the House Jan. 6 committee, which entered into an agreement with the Secret Service regarding 12 interviews to avoid disclosing “privacy information, for-official-use-only information, intelligence and law enforcement sensitive records and raw intelligence information.”

 

[Chris]

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/11/bloodbath-at-rnc-trump-team-slashes-staff-at-committee-00146368

Donald Trump’s newly installed leadership team at the Republican National Committee on Monday began the process of pushing out dozens of officials, according to two people close to the Trump campaign and the RNC.

All told, the expectation is that more than 60 RNC staffers who work across the political, communications and data departments will be let go. Those being asked to resign include five members of the senior staff, though the names were not made public. Additionally, some vendor contracts are expected to be cut.

 

[Chris]

Consumer prices rose 0.4% in February and 3.2% from a year ago

Inflation rose again in February, keeping the Fed on course to wait at least until the summer before starting to lower interest rates.

www.cnbc.com

The consumer price index, a broad measure of goods and services costs, increased 0.4% for the month and 3.2% from a year ago, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday. The monthly gain was in line with expectations, but the annual rate was slightly ahead of the 3.1% forecast from the Dow Jones consensus.

 

[Chris]

Uvalde police chief resigns after report defended officers over deadly attack

Daniel Rodriguez, who was on holiday in Arizona during 2022 attack that killed 22, says resignation is best for his family

www.theguardian.com

The Uvalde police chief who was on vacation during the Robb elementary school shooting submitted his resignation on Tuesday.

 

[Chris]

Alaska Airlines Flight Was Scheduled for Safety Check on Day Panel Blew Off

The 737 Max remained in service for a day after the airline’s engineers, concerned about warning lights, scheduled it to come in for maintenance. During that period, a door plug came off in flight.

www.nytimes.com

A day before the door plug blew out of an Alaska Airlines flight on Jan. 5, engineers and technicians for the airline were so concerned about the mounting evidence of a problem that they wanted the plane to come out of service the next evening and undergo maintenance, interviews and documents show.

 

[Chris]

Aaron Rodgers and Jesse Ventura Top R.F.K. Jr.’s List for Running Mate

Mr. Kennedy said he had been speaking with the Jets quarterback “pretty continuously” for the past month.

www.nytimes.com

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has recently approached the N.F.L. quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the former Minnesota governor and professional wrestler Jesse Ventura about serving as his running mate on an independent presidential ticket, and both have welcomed the overtures, two people familiar with the discussions said.

Mr. Kennedy confirmed on Tuesday that the two men were at the top of his list. It is not clear if either has been formally offered the post, however, and Mr. Kennedy is still considering a shortlist of potential candidates, the people familiar with the discussions said.

 

[Brandon Blaze]

These dumbasses can’t agree on fucking shit that would actually help this country, but this is the type of shit they can come together and agree on? Fuck off.

 

[Chris]

Biden clinches Democratic nomination

President Biden won the Georgia Democratic primary, according to Decision Desk HQ projections, giving him enough delegates to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination and all but guaranteeing …

thehill.com

President Biden won the Georgia Democratic primary, according to Decision Desk HQ projections, giving him enough delegates to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination and all but guaranteeing he will face off against former President Trump again in November.

 

[Samoa Looch]

Mr. Kennedy confirmed on Tuesday that the two men were at the top of his list. It is not clear if either has been formally offered the post, however, and Mr. Kennedy is still considering a shortlist of potential candidates, the people familiar with the discussions said.

Spoiler

Sorry, but I just couldn't resist

 

[Grimoire Lenin]

RFK Jr. is such a fucking mook.

 

[Chris]

Biden clinches Democratic nomination

President Biden won the Georgia Democratic primary, according to Decision Desk HQ projections, giving him enough delegates to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination and all but guaranteeing …

thehill.com

President Biden won the Georgia Democratic primary, according to Decision Desk HQ projections, giving him enough delegates to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination and all but guaranteeing he will face off against former President Trump again in November.

And Trump with the Republican nomination. What a country

 

[Grimoire Lenin]

America.

 

[Chris]

These dumbasses can’t agree on fucking shit that would actually help this country, but this is the type of shit they can come together and agree on? Fuck off.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/03/13/tiktok-ban-house-vote-live/

The House on Wednesday approved legislation that would require TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell it within 180 days or risk having the app barred from app stores and web hosting services in the United States.

The vote in favor was overwhelming, but that doesn’t ensure the measure will become law. It must still be considered by the Senate, where Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Tuesday said he might block any swift consideration, something he did a year ago to a similar bill.

Wednesday’s vote marks the first time one of the houses of Congress has approved legislation that could effectively ban a major social media platform — one used by an estimated 170 million people in the United States monthly.

 

[Brandon Blaze]

Can’t agree on health care, can’t agree on any good type of boarder policy, can’t agree on stuff to help the homeless, make education better, can’t agree on any god damn thing that will help millions of Americans, but hey yeah let’s ban this fucking app.

 

[Comrade Khan]

Can’t agree on health care, can’t agree on any good type of boarder policy, can’t agree on stuff to help the homeless, make education better, can’t agree on any god damn thing that will help millions of Americans, but hey yeah let’s ban this fucking app.

they don't WANT to fix any of it, they want you to be distracted instead