INTERNATIONAL CLIENT'S DAY UPDATES
Hey, The Client is ALWAYS Right! Right?! (Teeth Grind Teeth Grind Teeth Grind ...)
-In response to the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant being issued against him for crimes committed while invading Ukraine, a clearly-limping Vladimir Putin made his first visit to that country since Russia's invasion last year. Russian television recorded Putin making several walks through the city of Mariupol, one of the very few actual 'wins' the now-near-decimated Russian Army can claim, and observers noted that the visit, which was not accompanied by crowds or even interactions with locals, seemed 'rushed' and 'thrown together.' All of this as fierce fighting continues and a new aid package is readied by the U.S. Congress for Ukraine, likely to be filed this week.
-Slava Ukraini!
-Officials in the Manhattan Attorney General's office responded to Ex-President Trump's cry that Trump believes he will be arrested and arraigned on Tuesday for crimes connected to a payoff made to porn star Stormy Daniels in a reported three-minute stand. Not only did AG Alvin Bragg's office point out that no official notice has been issued to Trump or his attorneys about such an action (and in fact there are reports that the grand jury may hear one more witness tomorrow), but Bragg pushed back at Trump's three all-caps calls for PROTEST! (and many have noted that the word "peaceful" was never used in tandem with "protest" by Trump) should he actually be arrested, noting that "We do not tolerate attempts to intimidate our office or threaten the rule of law in New York." Preparations for a possible grand jury indictment in New York continue to be made despite the Trump threat.
-And, as if on cue, Republicans across the nation (except apparently for Ron DeSantis) threw aside any possible nerves they may have been feeling and have circled the wagons to defend their President and, if polling several months before the first 2024 primary are to be believed, the front-runner. Everyone from Sen. Lindsay Graham (VapoRs, SC) to Gov. Chris Sununu (R-emember my Daddy? DE) to former Vice President and would-be object of mob violence Mike Pence have come to the side of Trump, echoing Trump's screech that the charges are politically motivated and that Bragg should be focused more on violent crime running rampant in New York City than paying a political vendetta (violent crime in NYC is lower than it has been for at least the last 20-30 years, and many of the investigations taking place started while Trump was President).
-Going further, GOP UltraMAGA Leader Marjorie Taylor Greene (Z-Q-R, GA) posted right after Trump's Truth Social post that America will resist and, on the basis of this unjust charge or charges, re-elect Trump in 2024 - and that Trump will then purge the Department of Justice of all those civil service employees who dared cross Dear Leader. That was followed, of course, by Kevin McCarthy (SINO-R, CA) promising oversight hearings to investigate what he implies is a clear political motivation for the not-yet-complete arrest.
-And, of course, no report about things happening to Trump would be complete without Rep. James Comer (HunteR!, KY), who insists that everything happing to Trump is a clear distraction to cover up the Biden Crime Family, especially Public Enemy #1, Hunter Biden. Comer is promising to open his long-promised House hearings to "explore" Hunter's "laptop" and all the allegedly incriminating evidence on it that apparently will bring Biden down and somehow bring Trump back to the White House in a few weeks.
-Hunter may have other thoughts, though. Late last week, Hunter filed a lawsuit against John Paul Mac Isaac, the computer repair person who allegedly first got "Hunter's laptop" in 2019. While not fully admitting the computer Mac Issac allegedly had was Hunter's (because the only people that have actually seen the computer is Mac Issac - who is legally blind - and Rudy Giuliani), nonetheless claims that a copy of the data on the hard drive in question was "an invasion of (Biden's) privacy," noting that no reputable computer repair shop will make a copy of data without the knowledge or permission of the owner of the computer, much less then distribute the data as Mac Isaac acknowledges he did. The filing represents an aggressive move against many in right wing media who have spent several years trying to make Hunter a pariah and a cudgel to use against his father (which, to date, have not been successful).
-How are your brackets? After the first day of the men's NCAA basketball tournament ended, ESPN reported only 0.03% of the 20 million brackets entered in their databases were still perfect - and, after Friday, all brackets were busted. As you try to salvage those, you may pivot to the World Baseball Championships, where the U.S. faces Cuba today and Japan faces Mexico tomorrow, with the final on Tuesday. The tournament faces criticism as two Major League Baseball stars - Mets reliever Edwin Diaz and Astros infielder Jose Altuve - suffered serious injuries that may cost both of them most if not all of their MLB season, yet the tournament has also become wildly popular worldwide, with viewers in Japan calling in sick for games and raucous crowds from Caribbean and Central American countries rocking parks where games are played. The regular season begins NEXT WEEK!!!!
-On this date in 1918, Woodrow Wilson signed a bill creating Daylight Savings Time. On this date in 1931, the state of Nevada legalized gambling. On this date in 1982, forces in Argentina mobilized in reaction to a dispute with Great Britain over an island on the Argentine coast, which would lead to an invasion of the Falkland Islands weeks later. And on this date in 2003, American forces bombed Bagdad in an effort to oust Saddam Hussein over soon-to-be-debunked claims Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.
-Happy Birthday to David Livingstone, Wyatt Earp, William Jennings Bryan, Earl Warren, Moms Mabley, John Sirica, Jay Berwanger, Irving Wallace, Patrick McGoohan, Renee Taylor, Ursula Andress, Glenn Close, Bruce Willis, Andy Reid, Terry Hall, Ivan Calderon, and Hee-Seop Choi.
-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to Edgar Rice Burroughs, Edward Plattt, Randy Rhoads, John DeLorean, Luther Ingram, Arthur C. Clarke, Paul Scofield, Harry Reems, Jimmy Breslin, and Scoey Mitchell.
-Feed the Worms: Nazi leaders Albert Speer and Adolf Eichmann, assassin Sirhan Sirhan, and abuser Harvey Weinstein all entered Earth on this date. Frank Nitti bought it on this date.