Fri - These agents hunt down and kill middle-class taxpayers

Is Russia's Navy Blue?

Blasts at a Russian-operated airfield in Crimea this week have "significantly degraded" its navy's Black Sea fleet, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) says.

The Saky base in the west of Russian-ruled Crimea was rocked by a string of blasts on Tuesday, killing one person.

The blasts led to the loss of eight Russian combat jets, the MoD said in its daily intelligence update.

Ukraine has not claimed responsibility, but satellite images suggest the possibility of a targeted attack.

The cause of the blasts is unclear, but at least five fighter-bombers and three multi-role jets were "almost certainly destroyed or seriously damaged", the statement says.

The loss of eight combat jets will make only a minor dent in Moscow's overall fleet of aircraft, but will be a significant setback to the Russian Navy's Black Sea fleet, it says.

"The fleet's naval aviation capability is now significantly degraded," the ministry adds.

The Saky fleet is used to engage Ukrainian fighters in southern Ukraine and probably carries out assessment work further east.

Some of the bombers travelled from the base to Mariupol, the port city largely destroyed by Russian shelling, before it fell into Moscow's hands in May.

Russia denied that any of its aircraft were damaged in the blasts, but satellite images suggest otherwise.

Get Your Scorecard Here.  You Can't Tell the Investigations and Lawsuits Without a Scorecard

White House documents: Did Trump mishandle classified material?

January 6 and overturning the election: House select committee and Justice Department  The Justice Department is watching – and has an investigation of its own – so while there’s an outstanding question if the committee will recommend any charges for DOJ, it’s not a requirement for the feds to act if the committee does make a referral.

2020 Election: Efforts to overturn Georgia results

Trump Organization: NY AG criminal and civil investigation

Trump Organization: NY DA criminal investigation

Personal finances: Litigation with niece Mary Trump.  Meanwhile, the former President is suing his niece and The New York Times in New York state court over the disclosure of his tax information.

Defamation: Suit over Trump’s denial of rape claims by E. Jean Carroll

Michael Cohen: Claims of retaliation against Trump and Barr

Tax returns: Will Congress see them?

January 6: Lawsuits by police officers

Peter Strzok lawsuit.  Former top FBI counter-intelligence official Peter Strzok, who was terminated by the FBI in 2018 after the revelation of anti-Trump texts Strzok exchanged with a top lawyer at the bureau, Lisa Page, has sued DOJ alleging he was improperly terminated. 

It May Be a While Before You are Driving a Rivian

Rivian said Thursday that it lost $1.7 billion in the second quarter of 2022 as it works to ramp up its vehicle production amid the on-going supply chain crunch. The automaker’s losses more than doubled from the same period last year, when it lost $580 million.

Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe said on a call with investors that during “a lot” of the second quarter they were not able to fully utilize their production line.

“We weren’t even able to run a full single shift because of component supply,” Scaringe said.

Rivian expects supply chain shortages to continue to limit its growth, but it’s confident enough in an improved outlook that it said it expects to add a second shift at its Normal, Illinois, manufacturing plant later this year. Scaringe expressed confidence the production rate will continue to grow, as increasing the number of vehicles making it out of the factory doors is critical to achieving profitability.

Rivian, which has heavy backing from Amazon (AMZN), had 98,000 preorders in the US and Canada at the end of June, and it said its rate of preorders has increased this year. The majority of new buyers for its pick-up truck, the R1T, have never owned a pick-up truck before, the automaker said.

The hefty losses are in line with Rivian’s expectations for the year. It said the losses stemmed from its investment in people, technology and vehicle programs.

Rivian had laid off 6% of its workforce in July, citing inflation and increased interest rates.

Rivian produced 4,401 vehicles in the second quarter and delivered 4,467 vehicles, and its production increased 72% from the first quarter of the year, when it produced 2,553 vehicles. The automaker plans to produce 25,000 units this year. Rivian’s stock fell 2% in after-hours trading.

The automaker still has more than $15 billion in cash to finance its operations, which it says will be enough to finance its upcoming Georgia manufacturing plant and a new vehicle platform, dubbed R2.

The company also said that its delivery vehicles have carried more than 430,000 packages for Amazon since early 2021.

I'm Not a Big Fan of Focus Groups, But ...

Florida swing voters in our latest Engagious/Schlesinger focus groups said the FBI's search of Mar-a-Lago was justified — and that it would be a "serious crime" if former President Trump did take classified documents from the White House.

Why it matters: Trump's GOP allies are almost universally echoing his unsubstantiated claims of law enforcement overreach or politicization. The aggressive rhetoric may be boosting Trump's base support and fundraising, but it's not cutting through for this mix of Democrats, independents and Republicans who once backed him.

Could He Be Worse Than TucKKKER?  " These agents hunt down and kill middle-class taxpayers that don’t pay enough."



Kilmeade’s spiel over the IRS came as Republicans, including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), claimed “87,000” new tax collectors were “coming for YOU.” That figure came from a 2021 report that estimated funding could go toward hiring roughly 87,000 IRS employees.

A Treasury Department official said the funding, which is meant to aid IRS enforcement for 10 years, would cover a wide range of positions, including auditors who would crack down on “corporate and high-income tax evaders,” Time reported.

Taking the 5th Is Not a Get-Out-of-Jail-Free Card

Donald Trump asserted his 5th amendment privilege against self-incrimination yesterday when questioned in the New York attorney general’s probe of the Trump Organization.

Some news reports suggest that Trump’s refusal to answer questions might make it harder to bring him to justice or was no big deal.

I believe that, even without knowing what questions were asked, Trump’s deposition will prove to be devastating. Letitia James should now be able to obtain any civil remedy she desires in terms of monetary fines and even the “corporate death penalty” for all Trump entities.

When I practiced as a criminal defense counsel, I represented a defendant who was simultaneously being pursued criminally and civilly.

Here is the defendant’s dilemma. The defendant is first sworn to tell the truth in his deposition. To avoid answering questions under the 5th Amendment, the defendant must truthfully assert that answering a specific question “may tend to incriminate him.” This means that the defendant is saying that a truthful answer will be evidence or lead to evidence of a crime committed by the defendant.

In a criminal case, the defendant’s assertion of the 5th amendment cannot be used against him as evidence of guilt.

Not so, in a civil case. In New York, the evidence rule is that when a person refuses to answer a question on 5th amendment grounds, the finder of fact may infer that a truthful answer would be adverse to that person’s interests.

Here is where the skillful attorney uses the magic of “yes” “no” questions to put the witness in an untenable position.

For example, the press has reported that part of the evidence against Trump is that he claimed that his properties had a low value for tax purposes and of higher value for obtaining loans from banks.

So, a hypothetical line of questioning could have be:

Q. Mr. Trump, I am showing you a property valuation signed by you which says that Trump Tower was worth $50 million dollars. Was that figure accurate?

A. I refuse to answer on the grounds that my answer may tend to incriminate me.

Adverse inference—the valuation is not accurate. If it was accurate, the truthful answer to the question was “Yes” and not incriminating.

Q. Did you know that the 50 million dollar figure was not true when you signed the valuation?

A. I refuse to answer on the grounds that my answer may tend to incriminate me.

Adverse inference—He knew it was false at the time. If he did not know it was inaccurate, the truthful answer to the question is “No” and not incriminating.

Several more step by step questions, leading to:

Q. Did you intend to defraud the people of New York of property taxes by using a false property valuation?

A. I refuse to answer on the grounds that my answer may tend to incriminate me.

Adverse inference—He can no longer claim lack of intent to defraud because if he did not intend to defraud, the truthful answer to the question was “No” and not incriminating.

Lawyers working for Ms. James have millions of documents and have had months to construct questioning of the type illustrated above. Trump reportedly asserted his 5th amendment privilege more than 400 times.

That is 400 adverse inferences which establish facts incriminating Trump and foreclosing potential defenses.

Nor will Trump be later able to repudiate the adverse inferences created by his testimony. If he were, for example, to later testify that the 50 million dollar valuation was accurate, the next question would be:

Q. So Mr. Trump, when you were asked that question in your deposition and asserted the 5th amendment, you lied under oath, didn’t you?

Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.