Classified Files: So, Joe Biden Kept Some, Too?
Classified Files: So, Joe Biden Kept Some, Too?
Documents dating back to the Obama years are found in Biden's old office, the NYPD searches for a couple who had sex on a city bus, and Paul McCartney gets nearly run over crossing Abbey Road
Thanks for rising up with me on this Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023.
On this day in 1776, Thomas Paine published Common Sense. Wendy’s aired a TV commercial on this day in 1984 in which Clara Peller asked, “Where’s the beef?!” for the first time. And The Sopranos debuted on this day in 1999. Fuggedaboudit!
Here Now the News:
RUT ROH, JOE: The DOJ is reviewing potentially classified documents found in the Washington office space of President Joe Biden’s former institute, the White House said Monday. They date back to when he was President Obama’s vice president, according to the Associated Press.
WHEN AND WHERE DID THEY FIND THEM? On Nov. 2, 2022 — just days before the midterm elections, “a small number of documents with classified markings” were discovered in “a locked closet” by Biden’s personal attorneys, who were clearing out the Washington, D.C. offices of the Penn Biden Center. That’s where the president worked after he left office in 2017, until shortly before he launched his presidential campaign in 2019. All this is according to special counsel to the president Richard Sauber. He said Biden’s team alerted the White House Counsel who turned the documents over to the National Archives the next day. But no one’s explaining why we’re only learning about this now, and House Republicans are vowing to find out why.
WHO’S INVESTIGATING NOW? Attorney General Merrick Garland asked U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois John Lausch — a Donald Trump appointee — to review the documents and determine whether any crimes were committed. The DOJ is still weighing whether to charge former president Trump for keeping more than 350 classified documents in his Mar-A-Lago estate in Florida.
HOW IS THIS ANY DIFFERENT FROM WHAT TRUMP DID? The Hill answered those questions:
The FBI was not involved in retrieving Biden’s documents
Trump had many more documents of varying classification degrees
Biden’s team alerted the National Archives quickly
Trump had authority over certain documents that Biden as a V.P. did not
The former president asked on his social media platform: “When is the FBI going to raid the many homes of Joe Biden, perhaps even the White House?”
Politicukoos
HOUSE GOP TARGETS IRS: As promised, House Republicans passed a bill to rescind the bulk of an $80 billion IRS funding boost signed into law last year. But this first legislation passed by the GOP-controlled House will be DOA in the Democratic-controlled Senate. The measure passed in a party-line vote, 221-210, Monday evening, as The Hill reported.
WHAT OPPONENTS ARE SAYING: “House Republicans agree on one thing: rich people shouldn’t have to pay taxes,” say the Patriotic Millionaires group. “House Republicans are showing that, to them, the most important thing they can do for our country is to make it easier for wealthy criminals to cheat on their taxes illegally.”
WHAT ACCOUNTANTS ARE SAYING: Cutting out that IRS funding could actually increase the national debt, according to an analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The number crunchers say the GOP bill to rescind IRS funding would reduce revenue by about $186 billion over the next decade — while cutting just $71 billion in spending. All told, that would add a net $114 billion to the deficit, reports Business Insider.
MTG LOCKED OUT OF TWITTER (AGAIN): Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene learned the hard way: Don’t mess with Dr. Dre. TMZ says Twitter locked the account of the Trump-loving transphobic Georgia congresswoman because she tweeted a video containing the copyrighted music of Dr. Dre, without first obtaining his permission. "I don’t license my music to politicians, especially someone as divisive and hateful as this one,” he told TMZ. The video shows Greene wandering the halls of Congress, smiling, holding her cellphone with “DT” displayed on the caller ID and Still D.R.E. playing. It’s kinda like choosing Coldplay’sViva La Vida as the soundtrack to a Hitler music video. Yes, someone actually made such a thing! Watch here.
Boom Goes The EV
ANOTHER REASON I DRIVE A HYBRID: Just a month after General Motors recalled 140K Bolt electric vehicles because they might catch fire, Volkswagen announced Monday it’s recalling more than one-thousand of its rear-wheel drive I.D. 4 EVs for fear they, too, might burst into flames. All-wheel drive models are not affected. More details from Autoblog.
Look! Up In The Sky!
WHAT IS IT? IT’S… IT’S GREEN: A recently discovered comet will make an appearance in the night sky starting this week for the first time in 50,000 years. And you can’t miss it, because it’s green! Details on where and when to look up at CNN.com
Hollyweird And Wonderful
STAR TREK SPOILERS: You won’t catch me spoiling anything, but if you’re looking for some clues to next month’s premiere of the final season of Star Trek: Picard on Paramount+, then click here for the link to TrekMovie. The producers and stars appeared in Pasadena Monday to talk to TV critics and media reporters about what’s to come starting Feb. 16.
NICOLAS CAGE SAYS NO TO STAR WARS: The actor turned down an invitation to appear in the Disney+ series The Mandalorian for one simple reason: “I’m a Trekkie, man,” said Cage. “That’s where I roll.” Details in the New York Post.
NOLA SAYS NO MEL: Actor director Mel Gibson has been disinvited to be co-Grand Marshal of a parade in New Orleans, less than 24 hours after being announced as taking part. Organizers of next month’s Krewe of Endymion parade cited unspecified threats as the reason; They did not provide any details about those threats. Gibson’s involvement initially drew protests from the Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans, the Greater New Orleans Clergy and the Jewish Community Relations Council, citing his past anti-Semitic remarks and other controversies. There’s been no comment from Gibson or his representatives so far.
Trans World
THE HATE JUST KEEPS ON COMIN’: At least 23 bills in 14 states targeting the transgender community have been announced so far, writes Erin Reed of the excellent Erin in the Morning Substack. “These bills represent a significant escalation in attacks on trans people in the United States,” she writes. Click here for a link to her Substack and I recommend you subscribe.
LGBTQ Review
FLORIDA BIGOTS SHUT DOWN SCHOOL PLAY: In an ironic twist, a play about censorship has been canceled at a high school in Jacksonville, Fla., because of the infamous “Don’t Say Trans or Gay” law otherwise known as the Parental Rights in Education law. The play is Indecent by Paula Vogel, about the real Broadway show shut down in 1923 for featuring a lesbian kiss. Details at LGBTQ Nation.
Have You Seen This Very Horny Couple?
SEX ON A NEW YORK CITY BUS: The NYPD is looking for a pair of lovers who clearly COULD NOT WAIT to get it on. According to WNYW-TV, a 13-year-old girl walked in on their tryst when she boarded a city bus in Bushwick, Brooklyn last month. She had stepped to the back to find a seat, and found a man and a woman in the seats across from her, performing a sex act in public view. Caught in the act, the couple took off, but not before the onboard camera recorded their faces (and maybe a lot more). Hey, at least the woman wore a mask, for, you know, protection. More details here from Fox5.
Paul McCartney’s Close Call
ABBEY ROAD RAGE: Of all the ways we have lost two beloved members of the Fab Four — John Lennon to an assassin’s bullet, George Harrison to lung cancer — imagine the shock if rock legend and former Beatle Paul McCartney, now 80, were to die in the crosswalk of Abbey Road! It almost happened, daughter Mary McCartney tells the UK tabloid, The Mirror. The photographer says they had just wrapped a photo shoot at the famed recording studio when she says she asked her dad to pose for another picture:
“As we were leaving [the studio], I said, 'I'll film you [on the crossing],' and he went over and this car totally didn’t stop for him!" Luckily, Paul nimbly dodged the driver, and crossed Abbey Road safely. It is of course the spot where the Beatles shot their famous album cover of the same name. No word on whether McCartney opted for shoes or no shoes this time.
Thanks for rising up with me today. I hope you’ll consider subscribing and sharing this newsletter with a friend! Until tomorrow, may your news be good news!
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