Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America celebrate the arrest of the founder of Wikileaks leader Julian Assange, the man responsible for the largest publication of classified material in history that risked compromising American troops and operations. They also remember all the times the media pushed disgraced attorney Michael Avenatti as a serious candidate for 2020 after Avenatti was indicted on 36 charges of tax dodging, perjury, and theft from clients. And they wonder what lessons have really been learned in Virginia after Democrats in the state apologize for rushing to judgment on Ralph Northam.
indictment
Toensing Blasts Mueller Raid: ‘That Is So Corrupt’
Listen to “Toensing Blasts Mueller Raid: ‘That Is So Corrupt'” on Spreaker.
Longtime Trump associate Roger Stone was arrested Friday and hit with a seven-count indictment, but former Justice Department official Victoria Toensing is aghast at how Mueller arrested the longtime political operative and says even if the Trump campaign was trying to get information from Wikileaks about Hillary Clinton’s hacked emails, that it is not a crime.
Before dawn Friday, a large presence of armed FBI personnel and police surrounded Stone’s Florida home, knocked on the door and ordered him to let them in. Stone later appeared in federal court on Friday. He will be arraigned in Washington next week.
Toensing, who served as a deputy assistant attorney general and a federal prosecutor, says the tactics used to arrest Stone were grossly excessive.
“That is so corrupt. That is reserved for terrorists and drug dealers who are going to flee if they know they’re going to be arrested. This is not done for a process kind of crime. I am so offended as a former Justice Department person.
“Where was (FBI Director) Chris Wray? Where was (acting Attorney General) Matt Whittaker? How could they have allowed this?” said Toensing.
“This is how conservatives and Republicans are treated, whereas people like (Hillary Clinton associate) Cheryl Mills, who a federal judge said the other day was clear she she had committed perjury, they get immunity,” said Toensing.
Toensing is also demanding that incoming Attorney General William Barr address what she considers the problem of rogue special prosecutors. She says special counsels regularly tell defendants to testify how the prosecutors want in order to make their legal headaches go away.
“Independent counsels and special counsels have got to stop. I would hope that one of the first things that Bill Bar does is rewrite the regulations for the special counsel,” said Toensing.
Listen to the full podcast to hear Toensing give multiple examples of defendants harassed by special counsels for refusing to falsely implicate their superiors in criminal activity and to hear her explanation for why it wasn’t a crime even if Stone and the Trump campaign tried to find out what was in the stolen Clinton emails.
Sinking Stone, Trump’s ‘Austin Powers Villains’, NYT vs. Christian Schools
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David French of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America dissect the Mueller indictments of Trump ally Roger Stone and how the latest revelations should concern the president. They also comb through the indictment and marvel at Stone’s intimidation tactics, which David likens to a rejected script for a mobster film. And they slam the New York Times for trying to pile on Christian education by begging young people to #exposeChristianschools.
Cohen Accuses Trump, Rep. Hunter Indicted, Media & Mollie Tibbetts
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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America serve up three bad martinis. They begin by discussing Michael Cohen accusing President Trump of conspiring with him to break federal campaign finance laws and discuss how this is likely to play out. They also recoil at the indictment of Republican California Rep. Duncan Hunter for fleecing his campaign accounts to fund lavish personal vacations and other expenditures. And they slam the media for showing immediate disinterest in the Mollie Tibbetts story once they learned the man charged with her murder came to the U.S. illegally.
GOP Leads Ohio House Race, Republican Rep. Indicted, John Hinckley Requests Release
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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America cheer the narrow lead of Republican Troy Balderson over Democrat Danny O’Connor in the special election for Ohio’s 12th Congressional District, but they fear the low GOP-voter turnout in a strong red district bodes badly for Republicans in the 2018 midterm elections. They also suspect Democrats will use the insider trading indictment against New York Rep. Chris Collins to paint Republicans as a party of corruption and greed. And they’re perplexed by the public support for the release of John Hinckley, Jr., who shot four people during the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan in 1981.