Criminal law, Torts

IRS Whistleblowers Sue Hunter Biden’s Lawyer Abbe Lowell for Defamation

Last January, I received a letter threatening me with a defamation lawsuit if I continued my criticism of Hunter Biden, including allegations of criminal conduct. It all seemed part of a “Legion of Doom” defense hatched by Biden supporters reportedly to target critics and even potential witnesses. I proceeded to write three more columns repeating the claims, but did not hear again from the Biden team. Now, it is the Biden defense that is being targeted with defamation lawsuits. IRS investigators Gary Shapley and Joe Ziegler are suing attorney Abbe Lowell over public allegations of criminal conduct on their part.

Lowell was hit with a $20 million defamation lawsuit that alleges “clear malice” in public allegations of criminally leaking grand jury material and other offenses.

Due to their extensive public interviews, Shapley and Ziegler would be considered “public figures” for the purposes of defamation. That will make the case challenging, particularly because Lowell will argue that he was zealously defending his client.

The case will also trigger massive fights over attorney-client privilege and other defenses. However, if allowed significant discovery, the case may shed light on the media reports of a scorched Earth strategy of the Biden team targeting critics and witnesses.

The whistleblowers claim, however, that Lowell “falsely and maliciously” accused them of “the illegal disclosure of grand jury materials and taxpayer return information — despite the fact that they never publicly discussed return information that was not already public.” Those constitute per se categories of common law defamation, which include allegations of criminal conduct. The alleged misconduct would constitute federal felonies.

One of the allegations is that Lowell or the team accused them of  leaking information to the press revealing that an investigation was taking place, apparently in violation of federal law. However, months earlier, they allege, Hunter himself publicly disclosed that he was the subject of a criminal tax investigation.

Lowell will likely argue that he was seeking congressional action on allegations to establish if his client was the subject of unlawful conduct by the government. He will argue that such defamation lawsuits chill communications with government.

There is an obvious irony in that defense given the scorched Earth tactics of the Biden team to target those of us who have written on the corruption of the First Family.

The suing of Lowell may offer another opportunity to review the standard for public figures, which I have previously questioned.

In New York Times v. Sullivan, Justice William Brennan wrote for a unanimous court in declaring that the First Amendment required a higher standard of proof for defamation than simple negligence for public officials.

News outfits were being targeted at the time by anti-segregation figures in lawsuits to deter them from covering the civil rights marches. Imposing a high standard for proof of defamation, Brennan sought to give the free press “breathing space” to carry out its key function in our system.

The court believed that public officials have ample means to rebut false statements, but that it’s essential for democracy for voters and reporters to be able to challenge government officials. To achieve that breathing space, the court required that public officials had to prove “actual malice,” where the defendant had actual knowledge of the falsity of a statement or showed reckless disregard of whether it was true or false.

That standard was later extended to public figures. The Court noted that celebrities are powerful in our celebrity-driven culture, have ample means at their disposal to protect themselves and chose their lives of notoriety.

Two justices have indicated that they might be open to the idea of revisiting New York Times v. Sullivan: Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch.  Gorsuch notably objected to the denial of certiorari in Berisha v. Lawson, in which author Guy Lawson published a book detailing the “true story” of three Miami youngsters who allegedly became international arms dealers.

A central figure in the story was Shkelzen Berisha, the son of Albania’s former prime minister. He sued Lawson alleging defamation and claimed that he was not, as portrayed, an associate of the Albanian mafia and that Lawson used unreliable sources for his account.

Berisha is a public figure rather than a public official.

The problem is that there is one missing element to imposing a higher burden on public figures like Berisha or the two whistleblowers: furthering the democratic process. In teaching defamation, the actual malice standard rests convincingly on a democratic rationale that a free people and a free press must have breathing space to criticize the government and their leaders. It helps protect and perfect democracy.

As I discussed earlier, I have struggled in class to offer the same compelling rationale for applying the standard to anyone who is considered a public figure. It takes very little to qualify as a public figure, or a “limited-purpose public figure.” However, why should private success alone expose someone like the IRS whistleblowers or athletes to a higher burden of proof for defamation? Writing about hot-dog-eating champion Michelle Lesco does not protect core democratic principles or even support core journalistic principles. To succeed, a Kardashian would still have to prove that a statement was false and unreasonable to print. Moreover, publications are protected in most states by retraction statutes limiting or blocking damages for corrected stories. Finally, opinion is already protected from defamation actions.

Clearly, the public figure standard is an obvious benefit to the media. However, without a compelling argument for a constitutional standard for public figures, it seems more like a judicially maintained subsidy or shield.

Notably, the media, including the New York Times and CNN, have lost key court battles in defamation cases. Those cases also could bring a new review of the public figure standard.

Here is the complaint: Shapley v. Lowell

158 thoughts on “IRS Whistleblowers Sue Hunter Biden’s Lawyer Abbe Lowell for Defamation”

  1. Trump is “a mentally-unstable sociopath, a fascist, Hitler, an existential threat to democracy, a misogynist, . . .”

    I thought the Left was against “hate speech” that incites violence — like the recent assassination attempt on Trump.

    Or is it just that they’re against speech that they hate?

    1. No no, not entirely so. Far from being against it, they are the artists of it.

      The National Socialist German Workers’ Party, the leftist cousins of the Marxist Socialist, was the epitome of hate speech in the 1930’s and 1940’s. In point of fact, using the latest technology of the time, the radio news broadcasts and movie theaters, the Nazi’s took hate speech to new levels of propaganda as never seen before. And they enforced it by “regulating”, that version of the social media of the day, not by asking the publisher to eliminate what they didn’t want broadcasted or editing it, no, no they declared it a violation at the level of treason with the penalty of death for anyone listening to a foreign or non-approved radio broadcast.

      Sound vaguely familiar…?

  3. “Extreme MAGA Republicans are the party of a national abortion ban and Trump’s Project 2025.”

    “We must stop them.”

    – House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries

  5. * The democrats in a coalition globally wanted to mock freedom of speech. They used it for lies, half truths, personal truth, propaganda of everything USA lovers believe in, and more and demonstrated and rioted, burned flags, disrupted schools , highways and commerce just to say the USA didn’t really mean “freedom” because this is what that is. They said the constitution is bunk.

    They then showed equality isn’t really for lgbt , drug addicts, criminals, people of color, and others as displayed in the transgender day on the WH lawn , topless not meaning to be vulgar celebration. Equality is just for everyone else. Again, mockery displayed.

    Jeremy Bentham saud a political philosophy can encompass approximately 80 percent of the people. Abe Lincoln followed with you can fool all of the people some of the time and then Jesus Christ saying the poor will always be with us.

    The constitution, capitalism based in meritocracy, and a republic just doesn’t work for 20 percent of the people. That 20 percent will resort to crime as people will because of need or desire. Nothing is perfect.

    Black people have a cause. Jewish people have a cause as roadblocks to participation were in place. These roadblocks have through hard work and dedication have been chipped away.

    You may not get what you want. You may get what you need. It’s the best system the world has ever seen. It’s not perfect.

    Another gunman for Trump today.

    As to lies at the speed of light, gaslighting, depraved hearts and the new mail system and searches, the old laws apply. If you’ve published your letters publicly then your lies and half truths are accountable. Truth matters.

  6. The following are the top online comments on the MSN version of a WSJ article re: today’s 2nd attempt at assassinating President Donald Trump. These commenters reflect all too well the culture of death, as described by St Pope John Paul II, the grew from the abortion industry. Evil does exist despite what atheists / agnostics claim.

    Again, these are the TOP comments to the article entitled:

    Trump Safe After Another Apparent Assassination Attempt

    E B
    1h
    Headlines say: “Trump Safe.” I wasn’t worried about his safety. I don’t know anybody that was worried. Nobody really cares about him. We’re all rooting for the other guy.

    James Bartosh
    1h
    How do they know it was a assassination attempt. Are investigations over?

    Joseph Wayne
    21m
    This is horrible this is how they roll 😭

    gary johnson
    51m
    I shouldn’t point fingers but anybody with more than 2 brain cells knows whos behind it.

    Rewa …
    26m
    Gun shots BEHIND some bushes, i wudnt call this the best attempt of an assassination. 😂 Maybe the gunman was tryn to shoot some geese, that flew fr Ohio. 🤣🤣😂
    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-safe-after-another-apparent-assassination-attempt/ar-AA1qCDO5#comments

    #WhiteChristianNationalism#1ThreatToAmerica

      1. It’s probably another staged “assasination” attempt. Trump must be desperate for better polls.

        1. “The FBI is investigating the second assassination attempt on President Trump.”

          – CNN
          _________

          Seriously? The Deep Deep State “Swamp” Regime Blob FBI (i.e. Gestapo) ran the operation through cutouts.

          They followed JFK, MLK, and RFK from town to town before they were ultimately successful.

        2. Yes, Mr. Crooke was so enamoured of Trump that he practiced relentlessly to put a bullet millimeters from Trumps head without shattering his skull and then avvepted that he was going to be shot in the head with a hipower rifle

          And this new guy – from Hawaii – a state drowning in Trump supporters, is prepared to spend the greater part of the rest of his life in prison
          to Fake a Trump shooting.

  7. Maybe Governor Ron DeSantis should indict Harris for her lies and hate speech that have once again led to an assassination attempt on President Trump. Isn’t that what all this limitation of free speech centers about? Yelling fire in a movie theater? Yelling that Trump is an existential threat to democracy as they themselves destroy democracy, how many votes did she get again? If it were me I would do it in a split second!

  8. This message is for oldmanfromkansas:
    Wholly OT and sincere apologies to all for taking up space:

    I thought of you (not so old) this afternoon and wanted to forward this to you.
    I was literally in the old fishnet hammock (beautiful day here this afternoon) reading a paperback I just bought at the local library book sale,
    –the setting is a small historic rural town ((the kind that I –big-city suburban kid–have dreamed of all my life)). Anyway, charming book with sparkled light humor and I came across this which reminded me of you and your comment yesterday about “excessive love” in a different thread (the “Sixth Circuit” blog article?)
    Here’s a sampling of its refreshing lighthearted humor. In the story, the town rector has just been gifted an antique painting (Vermeer? people speculated), and an appraiser has been called in to the rectory’s crowded small office, along with several curious parishioners pushing against the walls:

    “‘With patience, forbearing on another in love,’ he [rector] reminded himself.
    “…In a moment, the frame was off, and the appraiser was holding the canvas up to the natural light. ‘Hmm,’ he said. Father Tim thought it a wonderful thing that a man could say only ‘Hmm’ and gain the fixed attention of an entire roomful of people. Even his pithiest of sermons failed to accomplish this.”

    I burst out laughing. The book is NYT Best Seller, the ‘first novel in the beloved Mitford series,’ entitled “At Home in Mitford” by Jan Karon.)

    Thanks for accommodating me everyone. who knows if oldmanfromkansas will ever see this.

    2. Lin, I just saw this and enjoyed the snippet. Thank you for thinking of me and for the book recommendation, I think I’ll check it out.

      Yours as always,
      Uncle Henry

  9. “It takes a whole other level of stupid to want 4 more years of what we’ve just been through”

    —Kid Rock

    1. For the “Replacement” illegal alien invaders who are “fundamentally transforming the United States of America,” those 4 years have been “La Nouvelle Renaissance.”

    1. America exists in equity, that is, by definition, the absence of bias and favoritism causing official segregation and desegregation to be irrefutably unconstitutional. 

  12. JD says he makes up stories…

    ‘If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do.'”

    “The GOP VP candidate is proud to have made up stories that have lead to closed schools and bomb threats in hospitals.”

    JD is such a nice guy, he is following very closely in the failed footsteps of his cult leader the convicted felon, sexual abusing trump.

    1. I think perhaps you may have dispositively interpreted in this case that “create” means “create a fiction.”
      I, too, watched his interview. He spent some time explaining the number of his constituents who had called, and his duty to his constituents to call for investigation. He said the media/reporters ignored him (notwithstanding the self-defensive response from city official) Either you are intentionally doing what the media does, OR you are gullibly believing in the media headlines.

      Here’s the comment JD made right after the first statement:
      “‘I say that we’re creating a story, meaning we’re creating the American media focusing on it,’ Vance said.”

      Why did you delete that?

      1. Why did you delete that?

        lin, help us out here: is that what is called a rhetorical question?

        One of the biggest influences in my life (among the ones who I’ve never met) is Dr. Thomas Sowell.

        On numerous occasions over the years, back to when the words ‘astroturfing’ and ‘gaslighting’ hadn’t yet been invented, Dr. Sowell would write something along the lines of “Beware of people that want to tell you just specific parts of a story, NOT THE WHOLE STORY”.

        That is the modus operandi of the culls who attempt to sabotage any honest debate with lies of omission and commission. Sometimes in the same sentence.

        Dennis McIntyre/”Anonymous” being the representative culls of that modus operandi here.

        1. OAD gaslighting has been around since before the Berlin Wall. The Communists used it regularly against their comrades to keep them in line. I never imagined that our own government would pick up where they left off.

          1. CULL said what?

            “1938”

            Where did the term Gas Light come from?

            The term “gaslighting” was coined from the 1938 British play called Gas Light, in which a husband manipulates a wife into thinking she is crazy by slyly changing the intensity of the gas lights in their home when she is left alone.

            – Study.com

            1. Your point is what? Read what I said dipwad, the Communist Party perfected gaslighting their public during the Cold War.
              That’s rich, You calling anyone a Cull…

                1. Apologies given
                  It’s hard to distinguish which Anon posts, good Anon or TDS Anon. I thought you were referring to me as a cull, which I probably may be😵‍💫

                    1. A unit that doesn’t conform to the unit standard, outside of the precision of tolerance. A warped timber from a pile of straight…

    2. YAWN

      We knew lawn boy was here, because the draft dodging coward anonymously questioned OAD’s service again.

      Safe from a bloodied nose in CO.

    3. JD is such a nice guy, he is following very closely in the failed footsteps of his cult leader the convicted felon, sexual abusing trump.

      Is that you, the gender blender man Harris replaced The Big Guy with – Woke Command Sergeant Major Stolen Valor Tampon Tim Walz? The convicted felon who told us all he carried an AR-15 into desperate battles in Iraq (when he wasn’t spending more time celebrating communism in Communist China)?

      Or (that mention of sexual abuse): is that you, the Unindicted Serial Felon and pedophile, President Daddy-Daughter Inappropriate Sex Showers?

    4. Your quote is bogus. You don’t say who you are quoting or provide a link. Whoever it can’t even spell the common word “led.” You are obviously the one making shit up.

      1. Oldmanfromkansas,
        A clear sign of their desperation.
        Harris’ debate performance did not move the needle like they hoped and needed.
        Her recent softball interview was so much word salad and cringe they are desperately trying to deflect.
        Nate Silver’s polling shows Trump winning.

        1. Here’s what the “LA Times” sayd about Trump’s BS attempts to pander to middle-class working people he already screwed with his labor policies:

          “Tax and policy analysts from across the ideological spectrum quickly lambasted the Trump proposal, saying it would make an already massive federal budget deficit even larger. It wasn’t immediately clear how much eliminating the three taxes would cost the U.S. Treasury, though one group said the Social Security tax ban alone would deny the government $1.6 trillion over a decade.

          Several critics said the proposals amounted to pandering to working-class voters whose support could tip the balance in several states. Offering breaks to those who earn tips and overtime felt like a “sham,” they added, coming from a man whose Labor Department failed to protect worker tips and enacted policies that made millions of employees ineligible for overtime pay.

          “Trump has a long anti-overtime record,” Heidi Shierholz, senior economist at EPI Action, a labor-oriented advocacy group, said in a statement. “While president, he stripped overtime protections from millions by refusing to defend the Obama-era overtime rule in court and instead publishing his own, much weaker rule.”

          By shifting the income eligibility level at which the Labor Department requires workers be paid overtime, Trump helped push an estimated 3.2 million workers out of the category designated to get the extra pay, usually at time-and-a-half, Shierholz’s analysis showed.

          An additional 5.2 million workers were subject to losing overtime payments from businesses that could misclassify them as managers or executives, a frequent maneuver employed by businesses, Shierholz said. And rules proposed by Project 2025 — written for a new Trump administration by Trump allies and former aides, but which the former president insists he will not follow — “would strip overtime protections from at least 8 million [additional] workers,” Shierholz said.

          The promise to exempt tips from taxes also rings hollow to some employee groups. That’s because of another action by Trump’s Labor Department, which approved regulations that allowed businesses to “pool” tips, to be shared among employees, but without assuring the money wouldn’t go to management.

          The Service Employees International Union said Trump-appointed bureaucrats cost workers an estimated $5.8 billion in tips each year. That “departs from long-standing practice and precedent and threatens the economic security of millions of working people and their families,” the union told the Labor Department.

          After an outpouring of 375,000 comments, many of them from outraged restaurant servers and bartenders, Congress approved a bill amending the Fair Labor Standards Act. It made clear that employers could not keep tips earned by their workers.

          The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment Friday. It has not rolled out detailed summations of the tax-cut proposals, including how the government would make up for the lost revenue or cut programs to make the changes “deficit neutral.”

          J. Bradford DeLong, a UC Berkeley economist, said the twin economic crises of the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic made deficit spending warranted. “But that time has come to an end,” DeLong said via email.

          “So the first question to ask of any promises about a tax cut is now: Is this going to be financed by cutting spending, and if so, on who, or is this to be financed by raising taxes on somebody else, and if so, on who?” DeLong said. “And if you do not cut spending and do not explicitly raise other taxes, then ultimately inflation will collect the taxes in a very unpleasant and destructive way.”

          DeLong said it appeared Trump and his advisors had not thought through such questions, which he called “profoundly unserious” behavior.

          Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of the center-right American Action Forum, said it seemed Trump cooked up his policy proposals on the fly, testing their popular reception at his rallies, without a sober assessment of their effect on the economy and the federal budget.

          “He’s looking for the populist appeal,” said Holtz-Eakin, who once headed the Congressional Budget Office and advised President George W. Bush. “These are gimmicks and horrible ideas. Some pointy head like [me] can worry about the impact and the numbers. That’s not his problem.”

          Not long after Trump called for an end to taxes on tips, Vice President Kamala Harris also said she would end tips on gratuities. The Democratic presidential nominee said she would simultaneously push for an increase in the federal minimum wage, now at $7.25 and unchanged since 2009.

          Harris’ team said it was aware of concerns that high-income individuals might try to mischaracterize their income as tips, to lower their tax liability.

          A campaign official who declined to be named to discuss internal policy discussions said: “As president, she would work with Congress to craft a proposal that comes with an income limit and with strict requirements to prevent hedge fund managers and lawyers from structuring their compensation in ways to try to take advantage of the policy.”

          Holtz-Eakin said Harris, like Trump, also had made proposals — like a proposed $25,000 in down-payment assistance to first-time homebuyers and a $50,000 tax deduction for small businesses — that potentially could expand the deficit. He accused her and Trump of not taking the U.S. debt crisis seriously.

          In the first seven months of this fiscal year, spending on net interest hit $514 billion, surpassing the amount that went to national defense. It was also more than the U.S. spent on Medicare.

          “Yesterday, for the first time in U.S. history, interest costs exceeded a trillion dollars in a year,” Holtz-Eakin said, noting that the fiscal year ends on Sept. 30. “And the year’s not over, so hold on.”

          The nonpartisan Tax Foundation estimated that Trump’s proposal to end taxes on Social Security benefits would increase the budget deficit by $1.6 trillion over 10 years and accelerate the insolvency of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds.

          Trump’s continuation of his 2017 cuts — including on corporate tax rates and capital gains — would be another budget buster. In last week’s debate, Harris protested that the result would be “a tax cut for billionaires and big corporations, which will result in $5 trillion to America’s deficit.”

          The Tax Foundation essentially concurred, saying that Trump’s tax cuts (prior to the most recent proposed reductions) would decrease federal tax revenue by $6.1 trillion over 10 years, and somewhat more modestly, when factoring in possible economic growth.

          Harris has proposed increasing taxes on capital gains and other sources. Still, the Tax Foundation estimated her tax and spending proposals would increase deficits by $1.5 trillion over the next decade. That shortfall could grow to $2.6 trillion, considering the economic impacts of her policies, the nonprofit said.

          Holtz-Eakin called the spiraling debt “appalling,” adding: “It is a paramount threat to the U.S. economy and to national security. Everybody who’s looked at it carefully has come to the same conclusion. But it’s hard work to deal with it, and [the candidates] don’t want to do the work.”

          This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.”

          1. Pro tip for Gigenius

            The LA Times lies almost as much as you. No one is going to read that.

            2. Tom: What are the people quoted in this article lying about and what proof do you have? It is a fact that Trump’s Labor policies did screw working people —pooling tips without any guarantee that management couldn’t keep the tips, broadening the classification of who is considered management to cheat workers out of overtime and changing the requirements for the threshold to qualify for overtime. His latest desperate ploy to get votes is yet another poorly thought out lie that will never happen.

              What facts do you have to counter these claims? You obviously don’t, so you do what MAGA media always does— accuse those who point out facts you can’t dismiss of lying.

          3. “a tax cut for billionaires and big corporations, which will result in $5 trillion to America’s deficit.”—Harris the genius

            With another rookie mistake. Clearly demonstrating her unfitness for office. she doen’t know the difference between “deficit” and “debt”

            Harris and Gigenius…two idiot peas in a pod.

          4. Gigenius acts like she cares about DEFICITS

            The deficit for 2019, the last year under Trump, pre-pandemic $984B

            For 2020, because of lockdowns and the CARES ACT, it was $3.13T

            2021, Biden and the dems overspent to the tune of $2.77T

            2022, Biden bragged about reducing HIS deficit to $1.38T (laughing my ass off)

            2023, Biden forgot he was a deficit hawk, and overspent by $1.70T

            2024, Gigenius favorite Prez will outshine himself again, to the tune of $2.03T

            Total deficits under Trump $5.5T

            Total deficits under Biden/Harris $7.88T

            Gigenius, here is an easy one. Which is higher, 5.5 or 7.88?

            This is despite the fact that REVENUE FOR 2021-2024 is FIVE TRILLION MORE than under Trump. (18.66 vs 13.53)

            So Biden/Harris managed to blow thru 18.66 TRILLION AND borrow almost 8 TRILLION MORE.

            So seriously, Gigenius, STFU about deficits and debt. You’re clueless.

            (All numbers from Statista.com)

          5. Gigi, how many people have you hired to work in your many enterprises, developments, and projects?

          7. Gigi – why do you beleive this kind of nonsense ?

            First nearly all Federal taxes come for the rich.
            All Trump’s proposals – no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no Tax on Social Security,
            Are the elimination of a FRACTION of the taxes on people who pay a tiny portion of the Federal Revenue.

            We can debate the merits of Trump’s various tax proposals – It is politically incredibly important that everyone pay some portion of the cost of operating the government, because if they do not – that creates a massive moral hazard regarding voting.

            We do not want people who do not pay taxes deciding how much taxes should be collected, from where and how those taxes should be spent. If you do not understand why that is a bad Idea – read Toqueville.

            Also if these are deficit busting ideas – Why is Harris copying them ?

            With respect to Corporate taxes – all corporate taxes are double taxation, and worse they are taxes on investment – the right tax rate for taxes on investment is always ZERO.

            And I am talking about REAL investment – govenrment spending is NOT investment.

            If something was a good investment – you would NOT need govenrment to spend – the market would poor money into any actual investment.

            Why do you keep trusting people who constantly LIE ?

            Total collected Federal Revenue during my entire lifetime has been within a tiny deviation from 18% of GDP.
            Why ? Because if Governments share of GDP exceed that, investment declines GDP grows more slowly or even declines, and Government gets LESS not more revenue. Federal Revenue strongly Tracks the Economy – not Tax rates – and has again for all of my life.

            There are reasons for this. Further there is masive amounts of data on the (in)efficiency of government – we do NOT want efficient govenrment – The most efficient form of government is fascism. We do not want people wielding the power to lock other us efficiently.

            We also KNOW to a farily high degree of accuracy whether tax increases or decreases will increase or decrease federal revenue.
            And yet – the executive and congress completely ignore that and “score” spending and tax bills based on completely absurd presumptions.

            Regardless the US does not have a tax problem – we have a spending problem.
            When Trump left office interest on our debt was about 200B/year – not it is $1T – that is the impact of exploding deficits and high interest rates.

            Those deficits are caused by massive increases in already massive government spending. Not taxes.

            Further Combined federal State, and local Taxes are significantly above the revenue optimizing maximum – you CAN NOT get more money by raising taxes – but you can kill the economy.

            Further this massive federal spending is inflationary – because the Fed is buying a substantial portion of US debt.

            The fact that the US is the worlds largest economy. The fact that it is the worlds only super power. The fact that it is the worlds reserve currency all insulate the US to SOME extent to the fiscal discipline that has been imposed on nations like Greece or Venezuela when they behave irresponsibly. There is an old saying – when you borrow a million dollars from the bank – they have you over a barrel. When you borrow a billion dollars from a bank – you have them over a barrel. The US Debt is in tens of trillions.

            We have more headroom before things go to h311 that Greece – but we do not know exactly what point further boroowing becomes impossible and the world stops dealing with us, and the US dollar becomes junk.

            But if we continue it WILL happen – likely abruptly – without warning.

    5. ATS I know this is hard for left wing nuts – but As Vance said – the “story” was based on reports by constituents.

      Further there is evidence that it is atleast in part true.
      I do not beleive that the cats and dogs part has been confirmed – though that may still prove true.

      What is with absolute certainty true is that illegal immigrants are causing all kinds or problems in the places Biden/Harris dumped them.

      Springfield OH – which has been the focus of media attention has one illegal immigrant for each 3 citizens.
      They are having a large assortment of major and minor disruptions – which is exactly what you would expect when you dump 20,000 people on a city of 60,000 and those being dumped for the most part do not even speak the language.

      I am personally a proponent of large scale LEGAL immigration into the US.

      But just because I beleive we should be seeing atleast 2M LEGAL immigrants a year rather then the 1M that has been the norm for a decade,
      does not mean that until the laws can be changed – we MUST follow the law we have – that is what the rule of law means.
      It means follow the laws we have narrowly construed with respect to the powers of government and broadly with respect to the rights of citizens.

      I would like to see law that allows any adult to sponser one of more immigrants – vetted only for issues such as crime health, and terrorism.
      After that if you want to sponsor someone from Tehran and I want to sponsor someone from China – so be it.

      But sponsorship must also have meaning – for some period – like 7 years – the sponsor is responsible for precluding the immigrant from becoming a public charge. Should that occur – the immigrant gets deported with no prospect of return and the sponsor becomes liable for the public cost. No welfare, not government handouts, no free medical care. I am not saying let immigrants die. But I am saying that they must quickly care for themselves and never become a public burden – or they get deported.

      The fact that I would allow as many immigrants as can get sponsors in – 1M, 2M 5M does not mean I would not ALSO build the wall.

      Supporting more legal immigration does not mean supporting illegal immigration.

      Finally, just because I support large scale immigration – does NOT mean I am oblivious of the fact that many americans are being harmed by mass immigration. While the NET is positive – the harms are not small.
      Crime is one issue. The overwhelming majority of immigrants do not commit crimes. But the mass illegal immigration we have – HAS drug cartels bring soldiers into the US to support their illegal operations – and these people are incredibly dangerous.
      We have also seen nations like Venezuela open its prisons and send prisons to the US.
      Nor is this a US specific propblem – all over Europe violent crime is rising with increases in immigration.

      Jobs and standard of living is another. While more people means the creation of more jobs – job creation lags population and more immigration means more unemployment – and much of that will hit the existing working class hardest.
      More immigration also depresses working class wages and standard of living – that is simple law of supply and demand.

      If you advocate for large scale immigration – while remaining deliberately ignorant of the very real harms that come with it, you are immoral.

  13. New York Times v. Sullivan was decided in 1964. Social media did not come into existence until the 1970s, and then in only a rudimentary form. Before the advent of social media, there were limited widely available sources of current events type information– newspapers, a few television networks and radio. In those days, it was possible, arguably, for the public official’s and after 1967 even a public figure’s response to defamatory material to be heard or read by essentially the same audience. Today, the sources of information on which Sullivan rested its analysis have become, in many cases, secondary with social media platforms not only becoming dominant but also too numerous to track down. Another key difference today is that in Sullivan’s time, newspapers and televisions operated based on news cycles with hours of down-time between publications or broadcasts, within which the victim of the defamation frequently had the opportunity to make a simultaneous comment. Social media, on the other hand, is instantaneous, allowing for defamatory comments to spread world-wide with just the touch of a button, and but for curiously developed algorithms, generally without an editor’s hand controlling what goes out. Thankfully, most of our Constitutional values have adjusted with relative ease to changing technology. For example, technology has had virtually no impact on determining if a search is unlawful, whether it is of a coal bin or a cell phone. Not so much with the First Amendment. A new look by the Supreme Court is warranted.

    1. HonestLawyerMostly: I think your comment is good, thank you.
      Yet, I must note that a great deal of social media (e.g., X, Facebook, Tic-Tok) contains persons RE-POSTING and commenting on already-published material (what has been said, read, or seen via traditional media sources), followed with yay or nay commentary. Thus, like the per second per second component of exponential expansion, it still comes back to the originating media sources, n’est ce pas?
      Yes, a revisit is warranted. So is a updated visit to Virginia at Christmas-time.

      2. Good point. Clearly, there cannot be a different standard for social media since what would happen if a defamatory article is published in traditional media sources and then republished on social media? The challenge for the Court will be to arrive at a standard that can be applied to both without creating a “chilling” effect on journalism regardless of the medium.

    2. It is not some happy accident that changing technology has not broken our laws and constitution.

      It is fundamental to the way government,t he economy and human nature work

      As Nobel Economist Ronald Coase established – with no friction and strong property rights the free market will solve ever problem as best as can actually be done.

      In the real world we do not have no friction – but the technological advance of society means that friction constantly decreases.
      The result is that we are more free, more prosperous and need less government

      Changing technology DOES periodically break our laws and constitution – but almost always when they wwent too far and infringed on our rights in ways that technology makes obvious.

      I would further note that the claim that technology can magically allow government to somehow manage the complexities of society better is a lie.

      The advances in 19th century business management practices were thought to make the administrative state into a reality – Wilson was a great intellectual advocate of the application of that “technology” to government for societal benefit.
      Yet Wilson’s administrative state failed in the early 20th century and failed again under FDR.
      The advent of the computer was supposed to make it possible for govenrment to better manage society – and that too has failed.
      Today statists delusionally think that AI and technology is going to lead them to their dream of a managed society in which Government can nudge or force people into conduct and expression our betters think is best for all. This too will fail.

      Some of my work is in AI related fields. Improvements in AI will likely be positively life altering in the next few decades.

      At the same time many many many AI applications are not possible – the computing power necescary for them simply does not and can not ever exist. One of the problems is that the “experts” dreaming of global societal management are blind to the incredible complexity of global society.

      There is a 70 year old text – “I, Pencil” that try’s to tell the story of the complexity involved in making one pencil – something that costs less than a penny.

      Those on the left think delusionally that technology is making societal control easier – That is at best only marginally true arround the edges.
      The reality is that as Coase noted – with strong property rights and absent friction – with technology constantly reduces,
      ordinary people engaging with each other do a far better job of solving their proplems tha can ever possibly be done by top down management.

  14. looks like the 3 year old baby trump is having a hissy fit.

    “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform

  15. Dennis McIntyre LIE OF THE DAY

    Episode IX

    Jonathan

    Today McInliar continues his charade of owning a vineyard in RPV. He does not. He is a pathological LIAR living in an alternate reality. You may recall, this is the imaginary “vineyard” that his late mother “bequeathed” him, along with 2 indentured servants, whom he promised his mother he would “never let go” (which sounds rather more like slavery). Recall, however, he previously admitted to living in an open carry state.

    Out of privacy interests we will only say that Dennis copied and pasted his entire rant about Tarrannea from a Reddit post by someone who actually DOES live in RPV, and is also a Trump hater. For your readers who have never been, we highly recommend this beautiful resort, and Trump National is a true gem, for the golfers out there. The elitist locals will of course hate you for being there, so beware.

    As for the landslides, Portuguese Bend has a history dating to the 1950’s, half a century before Trump bought the golf course that is NOT in Portuguese bend. McIncrier does love to conflate. But I digress. It is a problem of their own making. One poster said it best:

    “Humanity has a penchant for doing the stupidest m-f sh^t out of pure greed and hubris then crying for help when sh^t hits the fan.”

    As for wildfires, Newsome was too busy figuring out how to turn a budget surplus into a huge deficit to worry with forest management, and instead thinks hard working Americans owe people like Dennis his priceless vistas.

    Below is a link to beautiful Trump National for any of your readers who care to have a look at the amazing “eyesore”. McIncrier is truly an elitist commie who thinks he owns even that which he does not. He doesn’t like it that TNLA is a public course, open to all. How divorced from reality he is, shows in that he thinks that if Trump were forced to sell, this amazing golf course would cease to exist. Bwahahahahahahahaha. Idiot.

    https://www.trumpnationallosangeles.com/

    1. On June 2, 1999, the 10-year, $126 million construction project on the Ocean Trails golf course was almost complete and close to its scheduled opening when a landslide unexpectedly occurred, caused by the sudden reactivation of ancient landslide C,[6] and 980-foot (300 m) of the 18th hole fairway disappeared under the ocean when a fissure parallel to the cliff appeared and subsequently collapsed.[11] A 705-foot (215 m) long island was created due to the landslide, temporarily trapping a local resident.[11] The landslide caused most of the 496-yard (454 m) par 4 18th hole to slide 50-foot (15 m) toward the ocean,[10] including the fairway and green.[6][10][11][13]

      Also due to the slide, bike paths, walking paths, the edge of the bluffs and a segment of an LA County sewer line disappeared. It is believed that fluid discharge from the sewer line, probably leaking before the slide, acted as a lubricant on the thin underlying layer of bentonite, which became saturated with liquid sewage in turn, and this acted as a facilitator for the stratified geological accumulations to slide relative to each other.[6][11] Bentonite, a form of clay, exhibits a low frictional coefficient when wet, i.e. it becomes slippery.[6] The golf course opened with only 15 holes because of the landslide.[11]

      The landslide caused the Ocean Trails Golf Course construction project to go into bankruptcy. Covered by insurance funds, a massive geotechnical project was launched to reconstruct the 18th hole using 1,250,000 cubic yards (955,694 m3) of earth to fill it.[10] The stabilization work and the slide caused cosmetic damage to the course.[11] At the time, golf course historian Geoff Shackelford said that at the then projected cost of repair of more than $20 million, the 18th hole would have been “the most expensive single hole in history”.[10]

      After three years, legal issues between the involved banks and developers caused the geological stabilization work to stop.[11] In 2002, Donald Trump stepped in and bought the 300-acre (1.2 km2) property, including the golf course, with the intention of finalizing construction and repairs by the summer of 2003.[14] On January 20, 2006, the 18-hole Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles opened in Rancho Palos Verdes. The reinforcement fill designed to stabilize the area affected by the slide is located under holes 17 and 18.[11] During the massive geological stabilization process the golf course was open for business.[6]

      The geological stabilization process was based on a geotechnical design involving the use of geosynthetic materials designed to enhance the cohesion and strength of the landslide fill.[6] Asked about the safety of the work, Trump said: “If I’m ever in California for an earthquake, this is where I want to be standing”.[6]

      In 2008, Trump sued the city of Rancho Palos Verdes for $100 million, alleging that the city did not allow him to make the improvements needed to maintain the “Trump image.”[14][15] The lawsuit was settled in 2012 for undisclosed terms.[9][16]

    2. Didn’t Dennis previously claim that his “property” was near San Fransisco?

      The dude just can’t stop lying.

  17. None of us can honestly deny that ALL forms of media (e.g., New York Times, NBC’s Meet the Press) are not only game players but rather game changers in creating/influencing/actually manipulating political views of their audiences/viewers/readers.
    Few of us would have known what Lowell even said, but for its exploitation through reporting media.

    To avoid defamation, media often relies on:
    (1) selective fact-reporting that leans toward/touts one favored side of a story, rather than outright lying;
    (2) “anonymous” sources or persons deemed as having “inside knowledge” without being mandated to reveal such sources;
    (3) touting “polls” and poll results without pollsters being required to qualify results by sampler methodology; venue/forum; invitation or solicitation; geographic or demographic base; or audit (manipulation of results).

    Moreover, “corrections” or palliative measures occur weeks, months, sometimes years later, on the lower corner of page 3 (print sources) or as an aside quickly added for televised or radio programs.

    Aye, there’s the rub.

    1. Lin,
      I would argue MSM as a game changer is failing as more and more Americans turn to alternative media for their news. They are better informed then watching the likes of Rachel Maddow or reading the NYT.

    2. ALL forms of media (e.g., New York Times, NBC’s Meet the Press) are not only game players but rather game changers in creating/influencing/actually manipulating political views of their audiences/viewers/readers.

      Lin, is the activist Mainstream Media the servant of the Democratic Party? Or is the Democratic Party the servant of the Marxist Mainstream Media.

      Seems a fair question, given that the Mainstream Media Marxists often seem to become uniformly obsessed with a new “issue” and only then does it become a pillar of Democratic Party issues that need redress and compensation.

    3. lin: here’s the “rub” with your attempts and the attempts of MAGA media to normalize Trump. He is a mentally-unstable sociopath, racist, xenophobe, misogynist and convicted criminal. He will literally say or do ANYTHING to get what he wants, and what he wants now is the presidency of the United States of America. He mostly wants that to vindicate his valid loss to Joe Biden and to avoid being incarcerated for his crimes by pardoning himself. He stands for nothing–NOTHING–not American patriotism, not altruism–NOTHING but raw power desired by someone who can’t stop lying, attacking his critics, and who craves power and attention.. He is a loudmouthed braggadocious buffoon who has cozied up to the radical Christian Nationalists because they will vote to save those “unborn babies” and to shove their religious slop down evreyone’s throats. Anyone who dares to challege him is attacked–to wit–Linsey Davis and John Muir. Davis asked him whether, in 9 years’ time, he had a replacement for Obamacare. Of course, he does not, but he has a “concept of a plan”. When she tried to pin him down and admit he really doesn’t have a plan, he refused to admit it. He also said that Democrats support killing healthy newborn babies after they are born–something that is illegal in every state. Davis called him out on that one, too. He doubled down and claimed that Gov. Northam admitted this–which is a lie.

      He spreads lies–that Haitian immigrants (that he lies about them being illegal–there are on a protected persons status)–in Springfield Ohio are stealing dogs and cats and eating them. Ohio Gov Mike DeWine and local officials in Springfield deny this. Does that stop Vance and Trump from continuing to lie about it–NO. They have doubled and tripled down, and Vance has the gall to try to claim legitimacy by claiming that he’s investigating a “constituent concern”. Now, schools had to close and city hall received a bomb threat. Haitians are afraid to go outside. Because Muir confronted Trump about this being untrue, Fox and other MAGA media attacked ABC, Muir and Davis with not only being unfair, but feeding Harris the questions in advance. Repulsive Sean Hannity said, in an interview with Trump, that he was “debating” 3 people. It’s always everyone else’s fault when Trump loses–rigged election, widespread voter fraud, dead people voting–he has convinced the majority of Republicans that his “victory” in 2020 was “stolen”. Never mind that all proof is to the contrary, and polls predicted he would lose.

      How about abortion–Trump refuses to be pinned down–on one hand, in front of radical Christians, he brags about being the only one who got Roe v. Wade reversed by following the commands of the Federalist Society to name ultra-conservatives who previously wrote about how they could get Roe could be overturned, and then lied about their stance on stare decisis during confirmation hearings just to get onto the court. However, now that it’s clear that most Americans oppose banning all abortions and that this will be a key issue in November–well, now he’s in favor of abortion. He lied about “most Americans” wanting Roe reversed–something Kamala Harris drilled him on very successfully when she kicked his ass last Tuesday. Of course, he lies and claims that 90% of those who watched the debate said he “won”–another lie. He’s afraid to go another round with her.

      He lies about Project 2025 being the playbook he will implement, but Vance wrote a foreword to the book and over 40 former members of his administration were contributors. The book SAYS it is the plan for the next Republican administration. It is wildly unpopular too–cuts to Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid, school lunch programs, SNAP benefits, unitary power in the President, control of the DOJ and FBI, firing 50,000 civil servants and replacing them with syncophants that Republicans are already lining up,—the list goes on and on. Because voters found out about it, he disavows it–that’s a lie too. Then there’s his economic plan–massive tariffs on all imported goods, which will cost Americans several thousands of dollars more each year and the massive tax cuts mostly benefitting the wealthiest. Economists agree that his plan would be a disaster, and that’s not considering how he’ll come up with the money to round up, incarcerate and deport millions of migrants. The national debt will soar. And, even if he does that, who is going to do the work they are doing–picking fruits and vegetables, construction work, housekeeping, kitchen work?

      We are now at a crossroads–on the one hand, you have mainstream media who see what Trump is–how manifestly unfit he is to even be out of prison running around free, much less qualify to be the most-powerful person in the world, with access to the nuclear codes–and a cadre of MAGA media, paid for by wealthy corporations and individuals who don’t want to pay their fair share of taxes, and who endlessly spew lies and conspiracy theories that, sadly, guillible people believe. They trade on “saving unborn babies” and racist tropes about Haitians and other immigrants doing despicable things. So, it’s now somehow unfair for real journalists like Muir and Davis to dare to call out the most-egregious lies of Trump—those that can get people killed.

      So, you, lin, as well as Turley and other MAGAs try to normalize Trump and MAGA media and trash traditional journalists who dare to point out the truth about Trump being a sociopath, liar, misogynist, xenophobe, racist and convicted criminal. That sad thing is that there are vulnerable people out there who believe MAGA media and lies. Some of them attacked the Capitol based on the Big Lie. Some of them called in bomb threats to Springfield, Ohio’s city hall and are intimidating Haitians who live there. If he loses in November, which, for the sake of America, most of up hope he does–is he going to send an armed mob to try again to take over the Capitol and injure more people? He’s already setting the stage for claiming that his “victory” in November will be stolen.

      lin: it’s NOT “manipulating” people to point out Trump’s lies. It would be journalistic dishonesty to fail to do so. What IS manipulating people is MAGA media spreading the lies and falsely accusing real journalists of being in the tank for Harris/Walz.

    4. @lin

      Ah, but we can. If no one is watching, it’s the tree falling in the forest, that is abundantly clear, and astonishingly, wealth is not always the determining factor after all. Why do you think they expend so much effort trying to squash independent media, up to and including this site? Our 1A and the people who’ve chosen to defend it are all that’s saved us from Europe and their kin’s fate.

      Make no mistake – we are already in another Western war; the bullets just aren’t fired from a gun. Protect our rights in every way you can, and DO NOT cease speaking up.

  18. Jonathan: In other news DJT was in California on Friday, giving as press conference at his golf club in Rancho Palos Verdes. I was interested in what DJT had to say because I own a property at the top of the hill that overlooks Trump National Golf Club. DJT has been a thorn in our side since he bought the property in 2002 at a discounted price of $27 million after the 18th hole fell into the Pacific Ocean.

    At his press conference DJT threatened California and Gov. Newsom. He said that if re-elected he would refuse to send federal aid to California to fight wildfires unless Gov. “Newscum” endorses DJT’s priorities of lowering taxes. Joe Biden has never engaged in that kind of extortion. He has quickly responded by providing federal relief to California fighting wildfires, hurricane relief to Florida and flooding in Texas and Louisiana. No conditions were attached even though Biden disagrees with the governors of those states over abortion and other issues.

    DJT had other complaints about the Democratic state: “You don’t have a honest voting system. They send out millions and millions of ballots. They go over the place. You have a very dishonest system over here. If I ran with an honest vote in California, I could win California”.

    As usual DJT lies about how elections are conducted in the “Golden” state. I have voted in California since 1960. The elections have always been safe and secure. Since the Covid pandemic in 2020 every voter now receives a mail-in ballot that either can be mailed back or dropped off at a neighborhood drop box. The GOP in California has never successfully challenged the vote. Of all his over 60 court challenges to the vote in 2020 DJT never challenged the vote in California!

    It’s all sour grapes for DJT because his policies, when he was President, were never popular with California voters. California this year will overwhelmingly vote for Kamala Harris. She’s a home town girl who was a popular AG and served the state with dignity when she was Senator.

    DJT is particularly reviled in RPV. His golf club there is just a short distance from Portuguese Bend and the landslides where residents have lost their homes. Some of the residents there were at DJT’s press conference. They asked DJT what he would do to help them. He refused to answer.

    DJT has a long history of fighting the City and the residents of RPV because of what he wanted to do with his property. A local resident, Chris Pisano, summed up the attitude of RPV residents about DJT: “Trump had been nothing but trouble, starting with the giant American flag the city made him take down; suing the school district over a lease; having to tear out ficus trees he illegally planted to block his club’s view of the Portuguese homes because he said are ugly; to me personally having to go the Coastal Commission to block him from building a golf shop on his driving range, I want to get rid of him. Or at least get him off the national stage”.

    From personal experience I can attest to the fact that most residents of RPV hate DJT. He has been a pain in our butts since 2002! We are hoping AG Letitia James will solve the problem. If DJT loses his appeal of her $450 million judgment we a praying she will go after DJT’s golf club that overlooks our beautiful Pacific. It’s an eyesore and reminds us every day about how DJT treats his neighbors with disdain!

    1. Dragon and the Polaris Dawn crew splash down off the coast of Florida, completing the @PolarisProgram’s first human spaceflight mission pic.twitter.com/Sobt66zxnL
      — SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 15, 2024

      1. What does this have to do with the topic at hand?
        You and Dennis with your “In other news…”
        Both here looking for attention.

    2. Dennis
      Biden and the Democrats undoubtedly extort and persecute any State government that is Republican. Seems like I recall Biden threatening Gov. DeSantis with withholding funding if he didn’t follow COvID lockdown mandates. You are soooooo FOS, give it up, it’s embarrassing.

    4. Dennis: “I was interested in what DJT had to say because I own a property at the top of the hill that overlooks Trump National Golf Club. DJT has been a thorn in our side since he bought the property in 2002 at a discounted price of $27 million after the 18th hole fell into the Pacific Ocean.”
      Wait. wait. Is Dennis saying (between the lines) that if Trump had not purchased and saved an undesirable piece of real estate, that Dennis’ little piece of undesirable real estate might have slid down the hill into the ocean?

      1. Dennis is a pathological liar. Go to zillow and you can see that he owns no such property.

    5. As a Californian, may I say “Eat the Rich”. Our taxes are too damn high, and Trump is right.

    6. It’s too bad that you hold in great contempt , the guy who will help stop the mountain ,and your property from falling into that Beautiful Pacific Ocean . The hate you hold diminishes your character
      and casts a frowning shadow on your soul.

    7. Jonathan: In other news DJT was in California on Friday, giving as press conference at his golf club in Rancho Palos Verdes.

      Look at the face of one dead American female Marine, Dennis McIntyre. One dead hero that Harris and Biden empowered, funded, and helped Iran’s Muslim terrorists murder, Dennis
      https://media.townhall.com/cdn/hodl/rs/images/2023/08/Christy-shamblin-1052×615.png

      Dennis: with all the time you’ve spent today presenting all your different screeds to us, do you have just five minutes to emulate a human being? To watch the mother of one of the Marines murdered at Kabul with the help of Biden and Harris, talking about what a wonderful American her daughter Sgt. Nicole Gee was, how Sgt. Gee said the day before she was murdered how proud she was to be saving Afghan babies?

      Do you have five minutes to listen to that mother talk about how much damage Biden and Harris have done to her family and all Americans by empowering and funding wholesale slaughter by Iran’s radical Islamic terrorism? To listen to her reminding us of how Harris and Biden abetted and provided security for the Muslim terrorist that murdered her daughter, those other American troops, and hundreds of innocent Afghans and foreign nationals that helped us?

      Do you only have time for hours here performing as a syncopatic propagandist, and not even five minutes to learn about this incredible female Marine, Sgt. Nicole Gee – murdered with the help of Biden and Harris?

      Mother Of Sgt. Nicole Gee Slams Harris And Biden For Allowing Muslim Terrorist To Murder Her And Hundreds Of Others
      https://redstate.com/jenvanlaar/2023/08/07/mom-of-marine-killed-in-kabul-airport-bombing-i-live-every-day-knowing-these-deaths-were-preventable-n788951

  19. Legion of Doom seems to be turning out more like Legion of Dumb.
    Should be interesting if this goes forward.

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