US Politics Mega-thread - Page 696

Now KXAS reports that the day after the shooting, a Dallas Police Department investigator obtained a warrant to search Jean's apartment. The warrant, signed by 292nd District Court Judge Brandon Birmingham, says the police intended to look for "any contraband, such as narcotics," that could "constitute[e] evidence of a criminal offense."

The warrant seems to suggest police had reason to believe some sort of illegal substance was present at Jean's residence. When asked whether such probable cause existed, a Dallas police spokesperson referred Reason to the Texas Rangers, who took over the investigation soon after the shooting. A Texas Rangers spokesperson, in turn, referred Reason to the Dallas County District Attorney's Office.

A spokesperson for the district attorney said the search warrant was "fairly standard" for such a high-profile case, but added that "no specifics about the case will be released at this time to maintain the integrity of the case."

So it remains unclear why the warrant referenced narcotics. According to Houston-based criminal defense attorney Mark Bennett, there doesn't appear to be any legitimate legal reason for police to include that language. But there could be a practical one. "They want to smear the guy," he speculates. "He no longer has reason to complain about the search of his place, because he's dead," he adds.

On September 14 2018 06:16 Plansix wrote:
I always get weirded out by fantasy series with humanoids that are all one skin color that just happens to be white. I get that its all magic and authors can make it whatever they want, but entire races that are kinda close to humans but are all Caucasian just because seems like weird choice for an author. Unless the world lacks a sun, then it sort of makes sense.

On September 15 2018 00:11 micronesia wrote:
I wasn't paying close attention to the news coverage when the big storm hit Puerto Rico, but I have seen headlines arguing about how many people died. It is obviously becoming a politicized issue, driven completely by the left to make the current administration look bad. How could one storm or hurricane kill thousands of people? The president's explanation makes sense to me: There have been thousands of deaths attributed to the hurricane that would have happened anyway, which isn't the government's fault.

-A lot of people, probably.

A senior Democratic senator has alerted federal investigators to a confidential letter she received regarding Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trump’s conservative nominee for the US supreme court, in an extraordinary move that suggested she had been informed of possible wrongdoing.

Dianne Feinstein, who is the top Democrat on the Senate judiciary committee, said she had received information about Kavanaugh’s nomination from an individual who had strongly requested confidentiality. The letter was likely passed on to the FBI because the bureau is responsible for background checks into judicial nominees.

News of the letter came as Judge Kavanaugh faced fresh scrutiny about his relationship with another judge, who was forced to resign from the bench last year.

“I have received information from an individual concerning the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the supreme court,” Feinstein said in a statement.

“That individual strongly requested confidentiality, declined to come forward or press the matter further, and I have honored that decision. I have, however, referred the matter to federal investigative authorities,” she said.

A source who said they were briefed on the contents of the letter said it described an incident involving Kavanaugh and a woman that took place when both were 17 years old and at a party. According to the source, Kavanaugh and a male friend had locked her in a room against her will, making her feel threatened, but she was able to get out of the room. The Guardian has not verified the apparent claims in the letter. It is not yet clear who wrote it.

A spokesman for Feinstein declined to comment. The White House did not immediately return a request for comment.

While additional details about the letter were scarce, two media outlets have reported that the person who wrote the letter is being represented by an attorney, Debra Katz, who has been described in media reports as Washington’s #MeToo lawyer.

Katz has not responded to a request for comment from the Guardian. BuzzFeed reported that she was seen on Capitol Hill on Wednesday night, shortly after the Intercept first reported the existence of the letter.

On September 14 2018 10:13 Introvert wrote:
For the purpose of comedy, I sincerely hope the Guardian isn't getting trolled and this is the actual story of the supposed incident. They might be just be embarrassing themselves one last time before this is over.

I suppose for context I should add that this is a story from a well-respected news source on the last minute, highly suspicious accusations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh for some sort of misconduct, with #MeToo overtones.



And just as the cherry on top, the last ~900 words of the article are all about Kavanaugh's relationship to now-disgraced former Judge Kozinski, which is an obvious attempt to try and make this something, while being a recognition that it's really nothing. It's pretty dirty, really, but it IS funny.

www.theguardian.com

Edit: or, as one theoy I read says, this is purposely ridiculous so that when the "real story" comes out, it enhances it. Interesting thought.