Mueller Time Update: Special Counsel questions Jared Kushner about meeting with Russian ambassador as new evidence points to deal with Michael Flynn.

Courtesy of the New York Times:

President Trump’s son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner, met this month with investigators working for Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel, and answered questions about a meeting with a Russian ambassador during the presidential transition, according to a person briefed on the investigation. 

The questions focused on a meeting in December between Mr. Kushner, the ambassador and Michael T. Flynn, who at the time was the president’s incoming national security adviser, the person said on Wednesday. 

Prosecutors also asked Mr. Kushner about other interactions between Mr. Flynn and the Russian government, the person briefed on the investigation said. 

It appears that Mueller's team is now zeroing in on the meetings that may provide the most evidence of collusion, and this one becomes even more interesting when you read this about Flynn's upcoming grand jury testimony.

Courtesy of CNN:  

Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team has postponed an anticipated grand jury testimony linked to his investigation into Michael Flynn amid growing indications of possible plea deal discussions. 

Additional witnesses were expected to be questioned soon including a public relations consultant hired by Flynn's lobbying firm who was given an early December date deadline to appear before the grand jury, according to a person at the company. 

Ahead of the delay, the impression was that the testimony needed to happen soon, the source said. 

"Time seems to be of the essence," said the source at Sphere Consulting, the PR firm where the consultant worked. 

The grand jury testimony was postponed, the person said, with no reason given. There could be many reasons for a delay, including scheduling issues.

One of which is of course a plea deal which would mean that Flynn is spilling his guts and that Mueller is comparing his testimony against that provided by Kushner in those recent meetings. 

There has been quite a lot of talk about a possible subpoena headed Kushner's way in the near future, and it appears that may not have been such idle gossip.

It also appears that this investigation is in no way going to be over anytime soon, so I guess we can all look forward to watching Trump "blow a gasket."

There are now multiple grand juries gathering evidence for the Special Counsel's Russia investigations.

Courtesy of NBC News: 

Special Counsel Robert Mueller has tapped multiple grand juries, including juries in Washington and Virginia, in an effort to gather evidence in the ongoing federal investigation into Russia's meddling in the U.S. presidential election, three sources familiar with the matter told NBC News. 

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Mueller had impanelled a separate grand jury in Washington, but sources familiar with the matter say that Mueller is using existing grand juries in both Washington and Virginia.

As NBC News has previously reported, the FBI, with the help of the Treasury Department, the CIA and other agencies, is examining evidence of possible contacts, money transfers and business relationships between a variety of Trump associates and Russian officials, the sources say.

Records related to business transactions for former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn are among the documents that have been subpoenaed through the grand jury process.

So apparently the initial reporting that Mueller had impaneled a special grand jury just to look into the Russia matter was not accurate, but instead we learn that there are in fact two. (Actually to be precise it is two that we KNOW OF right now. There could in fact be more.)

Personally I think that is even worse news for Trump and his associates, because it could mean that the Virginia grand jury is gathering information about financial deals that Trump, his family and his associates, had with Russia, while the D.C. grand jury could be investigating Trump's attempts to interfere with the FBI investigation and the firing of James Comey.

The New York Times is reporting that both grand juries have already started issuing subpoenas for financial records and documents concerning business deals.  

All in all it appears that the more we learn, the worse it looks for Donald Trump and his supporters.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller impanels Grand Jury to investigate Russia's interference in 2016 election. This is big!

Courtesy of the Wall Street Journal: 

Special Counsel Robert Mueller has impaneled a grand jury in Washington to investigate Russia’s interference in the 2016 elections, a sign that his inquiry is growing in intensity and entering a new phase, according to people familiar with the matter. 

The grand jury, which began its work in recent weeks, signals that Mr. Mueller’s inquiry will likely continue for months. Mr. Mueller is investigating Russia’s efforts to influence the 2016 election and whether President Donald Trump’s campaign or associates colluded with the Kremlin as part of that effort.

Grand juries are powerful investigative tools that allow prosecutors to subpoena documents, put witnesses under oath and seek indictments, if there is evidence of a crime. Legal experts said that the decision by Mr. Mueller to impanel a grand jury suggests he believes he will need to subpoena records and take testimony from witnesses. 

“This is yet a further sign that there is a long-term, large-scale series of prosecutions being contemplated and being pursued by the special counsel,” said Stephen I. Vladeck, a law professor at the University of Texas. “If there was already a grand jury in Alexandria looking at Flynn, there would be no need to reinvent the wheel for the same guy. This suggests that the investigation is bigger and wider than Flynn, perhaps substantially so.” 

As I texted back to my friend earlier today, shit just got real!

According to this Wall Street Journal article Mueller did NOT simply use an already existing Grand Jury for this investigation, he impaneled his own specifically focused on the Russia probe.

Also keep in mind that when appearing before a Grand Jury witnesses and defendants are not allowed to bring their lawyers in with them. Which means that the risk of perjury is very high.

Now keep in mind the folks that are likely to be called before this Grand Jury, and their difficult relationship with telling the truth.

I think that if Trump was seriously considering the idea of firing Robert Mueller that it is too late for that now, especially now that there are Senators introducing a bipartisan bill to protect his investigation.

The horse is already out of the barn, as my father might say.

Grand jury issues subpoenas for associates of former National Security Adviser Micheal Flynn, Donald Trump reported to be screaming at his TV sets.

Courtesy of CNN: 

Federal prosecutors have issued grand jury subpoenas to associates of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn seeking business records, as part of the ongoing probe of Russian meddling in last year's election, according to people familiar with the matter. CNN learned of the subpoenas hours before President Donald Trump fired FBI director James Comey. 

The subpoenas represent the first sign of a significant escalation of activity in the FBI's broader investigation begun last July into possible ties between Trump campaign associates and Russia. 

The subpoenas issued in recent weeks by the US Attorney's Office in Alexandria, Virginia, were received by associates who worked with Flynn on contracts after he was forced out as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2014, according to the people familiar with the investigation.

CNN learned of the subpoenas "hours before" Trump fired Comey?

Could that be the actual reason WHY Comey was kicked to the curb?

You may remember that I posted that Keith Olbermann video on Saturday where he suggested that there was a grand jury already in place.

We received some blow back on that but it appears that he was on the money.

In other news Donald Trump is currently losing his shit.

Courtesy of The Independent: 

Donald Trump was so frustrated by the ongoing investigation into his administration's links with Russia he would sometimes scream at television when news concerning it came on, according to one of his advisers. 

The US President has been growing increasingly enraged at his inability to control the probe exploring allegations of collusion between the Kremlin and his presidential campaign, two advisers told Politico. 

According to the unidentified staff members, Mr Trump repeatedly asked aides why the allegations would not disappear and demanded they defend him publicly. 

It looks like Trump is heading for that breakdown that we all predicted right after the election. 

Keith Olbermann makes a strong case that there is at least one grand jury hearing testimony about the Trump campaign's collusion with Russia.

Courtesy of Raw Story: 

Keith Olbermann on Friday set aside his usual “hyperbole” to lay out new developments in the FBI’s ongoing investigation into possible collusion between Donald Trump’s campaign and Russian operatives—including that a grand jury may have been convened on the matter. 

Olbermann began his latest installment of GQ’s “The Resistance” by pointing out there is “strong reason to believe there is a grand jury sitting in the Eastern district of Virginia right now. hearing evidence about the connections between Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and the Russians.” 

Olbermann said this was all-but “confirmed when FBI Director James Comey” testified before the Senate Judiciary committee,” revealing that the FBI is “coordinating” with “two sets of prosecutors,” including the U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia.

I have been working really hard not to get out over my skis on this Russian investigation thing.

As you all know there are lot of folks, particularly on Twitter, who are reporting that there is all sorts of evidence which suggests that many of Trump's associates, and even Trump himself, are headed to prison.

However I do not want to report anything that is not backed up by known facts.

In this video I thought that Olbermann made a compelling case for the existence of at least one grand jury.

If true this is a HUGE step forward in the investigation of what happened between the Trump campaign and the Russians during the 2016 election cycle.

This along with what I just posted earlier today about the Senate investigation is giving me some real hope about the outcome of these investigations.

Federal grand jury indicts Ammon Bundy and nine others involved in Oregon standoff.

Wait, indicted? Who said anything about getting indicted?

Courtesy of KOIN: 

A federal grand jury has indicted the leader of the armed standoff at an Oregon wildlife refuge and his followers. 

Federal prosecutor Geoff Barrow says the indictment involves the 11 people arrested so far “and others,” perhaps a reference to the four holdouts still occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. 

The indictment was sealed Wednesday afternoon, but Barrow says it would be made public within 24 hours.

Here is who has been arrested so far: 

The FBI arrested Ammon Bundy, Ryan Bundy, Brian Cavalier, Shawna Cox, Ryan Payne, Joseph O’Shaughnessy, Peter Santilli, Duane Ehmer, Jason Patrick and Dylan Anderson on probable cause. Six were arrested during a traffic stop along Hwy 395, others arrested at or near the refuge. 

Arizona resident Jon Ritzheimer was also arrested in connection to the occupation but remains in custody in Arizona.

So I guess now we will see if these yahoos really have the courage of their convictions, or if they simply thought that the federal government was going to be too intimidated by their awesome facial hair and Brokeback Mountain cosplay to actually arrest them.

Personally I think that loudmouth Ritzheimer will be the first to crack the minute he hears the door slam on his prison cell.

Oh yeah, he's going to crack. In fact I bet he's been giving up his pals for over a week now.

Despite being completely exonerated by a Texas grand jury, Republicans have no intention of ending their witch hunt against Planned Parenthood.

"I'm in the middle of an investigation, stop trying to distract me with facts."

Courtesy of HuffPo: 

Republicans are determined to push on with their investigation of Planned Parenthood, even after a Texas grand jury cleared the organization of wrongdoing on Monday and instead indicted two anti-abortion activists who targeted the family planning provider in a series of undercover videos. 

The grand jury’s decision hasn’t affected Republicans' plans to continue investigating Planned Parenthood, however. Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), who is chairing a select investigative committee that purports to be investigating “big abortion providers" -- but for all intents and purposes is only scrutinizing Planned Parenthood -- said in a statement Tuesday that “the mission of our investigation has not changed.” 

“We will continue to gather information and get the facts about medical practices of abortion service providers and the business practices of the procurement organizations who sell baby body parts,” Blackburn said. “These are issues of importance to the American people. We will study the laws on the books and follow the facts to defend life." 

Blackburn's committee was created even as other Republicans, like Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), said they didn’t find any evidence of wrongdoing on the provider’s part. Multiple state investigations have come to similar conclusions. 

Those are your tax dollars at work folks.

 Just to provide a little context, the Republicans are also still investigating Benghazi.

Republicans, if there is a dead horse around, you can bet they all busy beating it. 

Grand jury indicts anti-choice activists behind doctored Planned Parenthood videos.

David Daleiden

Courtesy of The New York Times:  

A grand jury here that was investigating allegations of misconduct against Planned Parenthood has instead indicted two anti-abortion activists who made videos of the organization. 

In a statement, the Harris County district attorney, Devon Anderson, said Monday that the director of the Center for Medical Progress, David Daleiden, had been indicted on a felony charge of tampering with a governmental record and a misdemeanor count related to purchasing human organs. 

Another center employee, Sandra Merritt, was indicted on a charge of tampering with a governmental record. 

The Center for Medical Progress had covertly shot videos of Planned Parenthood officials discussing the provision of body parts from aborted fetuses for research. Mr. Daleiden, 26, had posed as a biotechnology representative to infiltrate Planned Parenthood affiliates and surreptitiously record his attempts to procure tissue for research. 

Ms. Anderson said in the statement that grand jurors had cleared Planned Parenthood of any wrongdoing. She did not specify in the statement what record or records were allegedly tampered with.

You know sometimes justice does prevail.

This is great news and I look forward to Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, Carly Fiorina, Fox News, and many other conservatives to come out an apologize to the American people for misleading them about these videos.

Oh who am I kidding, these people will NEVER take responsibility for their actions.

Bar complaint filed against Ferguson grand jury prosecutor Bob McCulloch. About damn time!

Courtesy of CBS St. Louis:  

A bar complaint against St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch and Assistant Prosecuting Attorneys Kathi Alizadeh and Sheila Whirley has been filed regarding the handling of the Ferguson grand jury. 

Attorney and former judge James R. Dowd and attorney Robert Ramsey reviewed the grand jury transcript – including evidence, witness interviews and testimony – before a group of seven citizens and attorneys – led by Christi Griffin, founder of the Ethics Project – filed an 11-page complaint with the Office of the Chief Disciplinary Counsel in Jefferson City, Missouri. 

Griffin says the complaint focuses on more than 15 Rules of Professional Conduct the group believes were violated, including the following: 

- Presenting witnesses to the grand jury – including Darren Wilson – who McCulloch, Alizadeh and Whirley knew or should have known would make false statements, is not exhaustive. 

Under Missouri Supreme Court Rule, the Office of the Chief Disciplinary Counsel has the duty to investigate allegations of misconduct by lawyers and for prosecuting cases where the misconduct poses a threat to the public or to the integrity of the legal profession. It is the position of the complainants that McCulloch, Alizadeh and Whirley’s conduct have done both. 

- Presenting the grand jury with a legal instruction ruled unconstitutional for decades. 

- Mislabeling and misplacing evidence related to key witness Dorian Johnson.

 - Failing to provide specific charges to the jury after “dumping” on them thousands of pages of interviews and evidence the complainants cite as going above gross negligence.

Personally I hope this is only the beginning and that this guy not only loses his job but gets sued into bankruptcy.

A member of the Michael Brown grand jury is suing so that he can speak out about the case. And we should all hope he wins.

Courtesy of St. Louis Post-Dispatch:  

A member of the grand jury that declined to file criminal charges against former Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson in the death of Michael Brown sued St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert McCulloch Monday for the right to speak publicly about the proceedings. 

The suit says that the former juror, identified in court documents only as "Grand Juror Doe," wishes to speak out to challenge public misconceptions about the case and that speaking publicly could "contribute to the current public dialogue concerning race relations" that was sparked by the Aug. 9 fatal shooting. It hints that jurors were not unanimous in their decision. Doe also wants "to advocate for legislative change to the way grand juries are conducted in Missouri," the suit says, and more simply, be able to talk about the case "with close family members at home." 

..............

The plaintiff claims McCulloch's characterization of the grand jury's view of the evidence after they declined to indict Wilson was at odds with Doe's opinions of the case, that the public's understanding of the grand jurors' views is "not entirely accurate." 

The investigation of Wilson "had a stronger focus on the victim than in other grand jury cases," the suit says. The presentation of evidence and "the State's counsel to the grand jury" "differed markedly and in significant ways. . . from the hundreds of matters presented to the grand jury earlier in its term." The suit also claims the legal guidelines presented to jurors in applying facts of the case were "muddled and untimely" compared to other cases.

Well we all know that this gran jury case was fixed from the get go, so it would be really great to have the opportunity to hear what really happened behind the scenes. 

It might also be helpful to the Feds who are doing their own investigation.

MSNBC reported last night that St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch put witnesses before the Ferguson grand jury that he KNEW were lying. WTF?

Click image to play video

Courtesy of Crooks and Liars:  

Certain witnesses who spoke before the grand jury investigating the Aug. 9 shooting of Michael Brown told obvious lies under oath, St. Louis Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch said Friday. 

“Clearly some were not telling the truth,” he said during an interview on KTRS 550. He added that he's not planning to pursue charges against any lying witnesses. 

In his first extensive interview since the grand jury decided not to indict Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson, McCulloch said he had no regrets about letting grand jury members hear from non-credible witnesses. 

“Early on I decided that anyone who claimed to have witnessed anything would be presented to the grand jury,” McCulloch said. He added that he would've been criticized no matter his decision. 

During the interview, McCulloch referenced a woman who claimed to have seen the shooting. 

This “lady clearly wasn't present,” McCulloch said. “She recounted a story right out of the newspaper,” backing up Wilson's version of events.

Okay I am pretty sure that it is unethical to have witnesses provide testimony to a grand jury that you know are lying.

And I KNOW it is against the law to lie to the grand jury.

So why isn't anybody getting prosecuted over this?

I think that the prosecuting attorney should be disbarred and this woman thrown in jail. That to me seems obvious.

And then I would like somebody to call Hannity out for constantly using the ONE witness which supported his inner prejudice and his desire to find Darren Wilson guiltless.

South Carolina bucks national trend, indicts three cops in last four months.

Courtesy of TPM:  

As communities around the nation protest decisions not to charge officers who have injured or killed suspects, South Carolina prosecutors have obtained indictments against three white officers for on-duty shootings of unarmed black men in the past four months. 

It might seem unusual that officers would face charges in a law-and-order state like South Carolina. But a former prosecutor with some high-profile cases under his belt said officials are acutely aware that people think there is a good ol' boy network in the state and are extra careful to give cases involving police officers the highest level of scrutiny. 

"As prosecutors, you are well aware of that stereotype and so you go that extra mile to make sure justice is done," said state Rep. Tommy Pope, who served 13 years as a chief prosecutor and perhaps is best known for his prosecution of Susan Smith, who was convicted of drowning her two sons in a lake. 

It took nearly four years for a grand jury to hand down a murder indictment in the latest South Carolina shooting. A white former police chief and at the time the only officer in the small town of Eutawville (YOO'-tah-vihl) was charged Wednesday in the 2011 shooting death of an unarmed black man after an argument, a case that instantly drew comparisons to the Ferguson, Missouri, shooting and the chokehold death in New York.

Wow who thought that South Carolina would break from the pack?

Or rather not so much breaking from the pack, but seeing the writing on the walls.

It is always hard to see the silver lining when such incredible miscarriages of justice occur, but if we start to see an increase cops being indicted for using excess force or deadly force, especially when dealing with black people, then perhaps the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown will not have been in vain.

Jon Stewart on Rand Paul's contention that the death of Eric Garner was partly due to taxes, "What the fuck are you talking about?"

Speaking of Comedy Central pundits, this month is the Colbert Report's last month on the air.

It's finally episode will air on December 18th.

So Colbert is really pulling out all of the stops and will broadcast from Washington D.C. on Monday. His guest will be a certain President of the United States, which I think indicates the kinds of people who are fans of the show.

These two shows have often served as an oasis of sanity during incredibly divisive times, and I for one will be incredibly sad to see one of them coming to an end.

For the most tone deaf response to the Grand Jury decision on the choking death of Eric Garner where else would you go except Fox News?

Courtesy of Think Progress: 

Moments after the decision was announced, Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson expressed her deep concern about the outcome. Not concern that the police killed Garner, who was allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes, without facing legal repercussions. But concern that anger over the decision could impact a “the tree lighting ceremony” scheduled for that evening at Rockefeller Center.

Sadly for Carlson her worst fears were realized.

The mayor’s appearance tonight at the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting has been canceled.
— Mike Grynbaum (@grynbaum) December 3, 2014

Yeah it really sucks when the unnecessary death of a black man, and a miscarriage of justice, screws up people's holiday plans.

And coming in a close second in tone deafness is potential 2016 presidential candidate Rand Paul, who blamed the whole thing on taxes. That's right taxes: 

Well you know I think it’s hard not to watch that video of him saying ‘I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe’ and not be horrified by it. But I think there’s something bigger than the individual circumstances. Obviously, the individual circumstances are important. But I think it is also important to know that some politician put a tax of $5.85 on a pack of cigarettes so that driven cigarettes underground by making them so expensive. But then some politician also had to direct the police to say, ‘hey we want you arresting people for selling a loose cigarette.’ And for someone to die over breaking that law, there really is no excuse for it. But I do blame the politicians. We put our police in a difficult situation with bad laws.

Well so much for Rand Paul's attempt to court the African American vote.

The Grand Jury's decision in the Eric Garner case was so terrible that it drained the funny right out of Jon Stewart.

You know we rely on Jon Stewart, and Stephen Colbert, to find the humor in situations that seem to defy laughter.

However during last night's show Stewart's reaction was really the ONLY reaction that we could have expected him, or anybody, to have in response to this incomprehensible news.

Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Victor White III, Eric Garner,  after awhile it is simply too much to take anymore.

Finally white America has discovered something about itself that minorities have known all along. And they don't like it.

NYPD cop who choked 400 pound African American man to death does not get indicted by Grand Jury. Anybody else noticing a pattern?

Courtesy of New York Daily News:

Eric Garner’s widow reacted with shock and dismay Wednesday after a Staten Island grand jury chose not to indict the NYPD officer who killed her husband with a chokehold. 

“Oh my God, are you serious?” Esaw Garner, her voice rising in shock and anger, told The Daily News. “I’m very disappointed. You can see in the video that he (the cop) was dead wrong!” 

Garner was referring to the shocking cellphone video first published on NYDailyNews.com that showed Officer Daniel Pantaleo placing Garner in a chokehold — a move banned by the NYPD — and wrestling him to the ground. 

“The grand jury kept interviewing witnesses but you didn't need witnesses,” the anguished widow said. “You can be a witness for yourself. Oh my God, this s--- is crazy.” 

Esaw Garner said she is now placing her hopes for justice with the U.S. Department of Justice. (A few minutes ago Attorney General Eric Holder said that there would definitely be an investigation.)


That man did nothing to put those police officers in danger and yet they felt it necessary to swarm him and take him down to the ground. Everybody knows that a man that size is going to have trouble breathing while on his stomach, ESPECIALLY with a bunch of cops on his back.

And this man was not robbing anybody or pushing around some convenience store owner, according to witnesses he was breaking up a fight. (Though police also say he was selling illegal cigarettes.)

Please somebody tell me again how we have to accept that the Grand Jury decision must be trusted and that we have no right to second guess them.

Darren Wilson did NOT know about the convenience store robbery when he confronted Michael Brown on the streets of Ferguson. Update!

Courtesy of the Daily Mail:  

In Wilson's now very public account of his encounter with Michael Brown and Dorian Johnson on August 9 he has claimed that he asked Brown and Wilson to move to the sidewalk rather than walk in the street. 

When they walked on, Wilson has repeatedly stated, he realized they matched the description of two suspects wanted in connection with the robbery of nearby Ferguson Market. A youth matching Brown's description had stolen a box of Swishers cigarillos. 

It was this realization, he stated, that caused him to reverse his vehicle and sparked the car-side confrontation that left Brown dead on the street with six bullets in his body. 

But the sworn testimony of Wilson's squad supervisor directly contradicts this account. 

Wilson's supervisor was the first officer to speak with the 28-year-old cop following the shooting. The men spoke before St Louis County Police had even been notified of the incident and before the medical examiner or investigating officers had arrived on the scene. 

At that time, the supervisor said:'He [Wilson] did not know anything about the stealing call.' 

When pressed by the attorney questioning him, the officer reiterated that Wilson, 'did not know anything'. 

Asked, 'He told you he didn't know about there being a stealing at Ferguson Market?' 

The officer responded, 'Correct.' 

Now this is a key fact because, number one it proves that Wilson was not responding to a person that he knew to be violent, and number two it proves that Wilson lied to the Grand Jury. 

And the part that I found particularly enlightening was that in fact Wilson could NOT have known about the robbery because the call came in AFTER the shooting had already taken place.

(Update: Okay somebody asked me how I know that the robbery call came in after the shooting. In point of fact I described that poorly. What I meant to say was that it was unlikely that other officers would be looking out for Brown as the responding officer only received the call after 11:54, which is immediately after the robbery took place. He then had to drive to the convenience, conduct his interview (At which time he received a more detailed description.) Brown was shot dead at 12:01 which means that quite literally this officer was probably in the process of conducting his investigation.  And as this was a low priority, unarmed, snatch and grab it is very unlikely that he called for assistance or put out an APB.)

And remember 15 witnesses said that Michael Brown was running away when Wilson started firing at him, and 16 said he had his hands up before the last bullets were fired.

I think at this point the Justice Department has no choice but to launch their own investigation.

This whole thing stinks like crazy.

Showing side by side video of President Obama calling for peaceful protests alongside violence on the streets of Ferguson. Just Fox News things.

Courtesy of the You Tube site:

While President Obama delivered his response to the decision by the grand jury in Ferguson not to indict Officer Darren Wilson, Fox News offered a split screen view of events on the ground. At one particular moment, around 10:15 p.m. EST, as the president called for non-violent demonstrations, protestors could be seen attempting to turn over a police car.

You know you almost can't blame Fox. This is almost tailored made for their racist narrative.

Here is all of the evidence released by St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert McCulloch. There is a journal entry from Witness 40 that, if accurate, seems to explain how Michael Brown was shot in the top of the head. But then Witness 14 had a completely different take.

And here are Officer Darrell Wilson's "injuries."

As you can see he was really manhandled. Apparently by a toddler. Remember Michael Brown was six foot five, and weighed 289 lbs.(And by the way these pictures look much different than ones taken in another series of photos after the shooting.)

I will admit that there is a lot of contradictory evidence released by the Grand Jury, but it seems clear that there was a lot more credibility given to Wilson's version of events than to versions coming from other witnesses.

After reading through some of it I think that if I had been an African American living in Ferguson I might have been on the streets last night as well.

Grand jury finds shooting of man in Ohio Wal-Mart by local police justified. Video tape would very much like to disagree. Update!

Courtesy of Fox News:  

Officers' actions were justified in the fatal shooting of a man holding an air rifle inside an Ohio Wal-Mart store, a grand jury determined Wednesday -- using surveillance video the slain man's family said shows the shooting was completely unjustified. 

The Greene County grand jury opted not to issue any indictments in the Aug. 5 death of 22-year-old John Crawford III inside a Wal-Mart in Beavercreek, Special Prosecutor Mark Piepmeier said. 

A 911 caller reported Crawford was waving what appeared to be a rifle in the store. Police said he was killed after failing to obey commands to put down what turned out to be an air rifle taken from a shelf.

He "was killed after failing to obey commands?"

Really?

Well here is a newly released video tape of the shooting, so you tell me when this man had time to respond to the police before thee started shooting.

I quite literally hear the police tell him to either "get down" or "put it down" and then they open fire.

This from HuffPo: 

Police have said multiple times that Crawford refused commands to drop the air rifle, according to the Dayton Daily News. The surveillance video, obtained by the Xenia Daily Gazette, appears to show Crawford shot almost immediately after police encounter him.

Yeah that's what I saw as well. The man simply did not have time to respond to police and they gunned him down. 

From the tape it is clear that Crawford was not thinking of the object in his hand as a gun, and as he spoke on his cell phone he is seen moving it around in a manner that could easily make some shoppers, who did not recognize it as an air rifle, nervous.

But the actions of the police in this matter simply did not seem justified in that he had made no threats, and did not point the toy at any shoppers in a threatening manner.

However before you despair know that despite this finding the police may not walk away scott free: 

The Justice Department said Wednesday it will launch an investigation into the shooting death of a black man inside an Ohio Wal-Mart, just hours after a local grand jury voted not to indict the white police officer who shot him. 

Immediately after Wednesday's grand jury decision, the city of Beavercreek publicly requested that the FBI review the officers’ actions to determine if there were any civil rights violations.

If by "civil rights violations" they mean filled him with holes before he had a chance to explain himself, then yeah I think the FBI has a case. 

I'm sorry but I am having an almost impossible time believing that if John Crawford III had been some white dude screwing around with an air rifle in Wal-Mart that his family would have been notified to come and identify his body at the morgue.

Update: If you in any way think that cops shooting black men for no good reason is a rarity in this country, then you might want to take a look at this tape of a recent traffic stop.

Once again, a white man would have walked away unscathed.

Four more school employees indicted in Steubenville rape case.

Courtesy of CNN:  

A grand jury investigating the 2012 rape of a 16-year-old girl in Steubenville, Ohio, has indicted four school employees, including the school superintendent, who faces felony charges, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced Monday. 

Steubenville City Schools Superintendent Michael McVey faces three felony counts: one charge of tampering with evidence and two counts of obstructing justice. He also is charged with making a false statement and obstructing official business, both misdemeanors, DeWine said. 

Also indicted was elementary school principal Lynnett Gorman and wrestling coach Seth Fluharty, both of whom are charged with misdemeanor failure to report child abuse. Volunteer assistant Steubenville football coach Matt Bellardine was charged with four misdemeanors: allowing underage drinking, obstructing official business, making a false statement and contributing to the unruliness or delinquency of a child. 

This brings to six the number of people the grand jury has indicted after two students were convicted of rape, DeWine said. A school technology director and his daughter were indicted in October. 

In March, Steubenville High School football players Ma'lik Richmond and Trenton Mays were convicted of the rape, which authorities said took place at a party in August 2012. Photos and videos of the incident made their way onto social media and attracted national attention, rocking the small eastern Ohio community. 

Richmond was sentenced to a minimum of one year in a juvenile correctional facility. Mays got two years. 

A grand jury then began investigating whether others should be charged. In October, it indicted William Rhinaman, 53, the director of technology for Steubenville City Schools, on charges of tampering with evidence, obstruction of justice, obstructing official business and perjury. 

His daughter, Hannah Rhinaman, 20, of Mingo Junction, Ohio, was also indicted that month on two counts of receiving stolen property and one count of grand theft, according to a news release from DeWine's office.

This is very good news, in a case that demonstrated just how far a town will go to protect their athletes. Even at the expense of a 16 year old girl's reputation and personal safety.

These school employees were supposed to protect this child, and instead did everything they could to protect her attackers and to prevent justice from being carried out.

For those who are not up to speed on the Steubenville rape case just click here.