You Are There

​What kind of a day was it?  A day like any other in Trump Land, except -- You Are There.
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The New York Times released a prodigious investigation revealing that Trump and the Trump family have been involved in major tax fraud for many decades, dating back at least until the time time he was five years old used as a corporate tax front and was made a millionaire when he was eight years old for his father to dodge taxes, and the family schemes and personal frauds and unreported bailouts from his father all hiding millions of dollars continued and got worse -- including for his sister who is currently a sitting federal judge.

The Republican senators released a letter from the former boyfriend of one of Brett Kavanaugh's accusers, Julie Swetnick, which suggests, among other things, that because she allegedly had a loose sex life it therefore wasn't possible she could be "train" gang raped.

Trump ridiculed Kavanaugh-accuser Dr. Christine Ford with a wide range of smears about all the things she couldn't remember 36 years ago when she was 15-years old after a traumatic incident.  He additionally said that this was a scary time to be a young man.

Reports have come in that, despite Trump's insistence he has given the FBI free reign to investigate whoever they want, this is not the case, and in fact their parameters remain extremely limited.

A letter written by Brett Kavanaugh -- who denied under oath that he drank to excess and couldn't say if he was the 'Bart O'Kavanaugh' referred to in the memoir by his best friend Mark Judge -- has surfaced from high school that jokes about being part of a group of "loud, obnoxious drunks with prolific pukers among us" and is signed, "Bart."

A few comments.

Given the numerous accusations of tax fraud and Trump's own lawyer calling it slander -- slander!!! -- there's been no traditional Trump claim of suing the NY Times.  Most of the crimes addressed in the Times article have passed the statute of limitations, though some could be dealt with by the IRS -- however that organization is operating under authority of the Trump administration.  Keep in mind though that the Trump family lived in New York.  And the New York State Taxation authority released a statement about the massive Times story.: "The Tax Department is reviewing the allegations in the NYT article and is vigorously pursuing all appropriate avenues of investigation."

Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and his party's senators show yet again why all this is about the Republican Party.  But if GOP senators stand by the letter they released, they should happily insist that its author Dennis Ketterer be willing to testify about it under oath to the FBI and Judiciary Committee.  And their actions in releasing a sick letter that determines whether or not Ms. Swetnick could properly be gang raped ignores that she claimed in addition to acts against herself that OTHER WOMEN were "train" gang raped.  So, what on earth does her ex-boyfriend's letter have to do with THAT?

It's worth remembering that Trump's comments attacking Dr. Ford and how scary it is for young men is himself someone who a) initially said he found Dr. Ford's testimony credible, b) endorsed an accused-pedophile, and c) has 16 charges of sexual abuse against him. And now, here he is ridiculing a woman who was sexually attacked when she a child.  Of course, reality is that claims of sexual attacks by women are about 95% more likely to be true than made-up.  And that's just attacks where the women actually are willing to make the charges.  But beyond even that, when it comes to Trump's hand-wringing over false charges against young men, Trump is the person who took out a full page ad and called for the death penalty of the Central Park Five young men, who were later exonerated.  Indeed, Trump should imagine what it's like to be black and ACTUALLY falsely accused. And shot dead. And why athletes take a knee.

As for the FBI investigation still having limits on it despite Trump insisting to the contrary, it's always nice to be reminded that one should never forget Trump is a pathological liar and simply shouldn't be trusted even if it's to say, "Good morning."

And it's important to be reminded, as well, that the charges against Brett Kavanaugh aren't just about whether he committed attempted rape and other sexual abuses earlier in his life, but also -- and critically -- whether he repeatedly lied under oath over matters material to his nomination and committed perjury when testifying to the Senate for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court.

Oh, and there are still over 400 children separated from their parents with no plans from the Trump administration to reunite them, despite being ordered to do so by the courts.

And you are there...