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Senate impeachment trial shaping up more to be a motion to dismiss than a trial

 Attorney Scott Pilutik wrestles with the news of the day, from a lawyerly perspective…

Whatever the senate impeachment trial winds up being, it appears it will resemble a motion to dismiss more than a trial, since McConnell evidently has 51 votes for a process that won’t permit a vote on witnesses until after the two sides []

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Dershowitz for the defense: Only Giuliani has debased himself more zealously

[Alan Dershowitz]

Attorney Scott Pilutik wrestles with the news of the day, from a lawyerly perspective…

[Regarding this story: George Conway: Why Trump had to hire this legal odd couple]

I was never a Van Halen fan but nevertheless found myself wincing at a video of David Lee Roth in Las Vegas from a few weeks ago. He []

Iconic sequoia dies 500 years before it should in another sign of the climate apocalypse

[California’s majestic sequoias are dying early]

“Lazarus” is the name given to an iconic specimen of giant sequoia, in the Giant Forest located in Sequoia National Park. These magnificent trees can reach 300 feet (90 meters) during a lifespan that can exceed 3,000 years, and are famously resistant to droughts and fires. Lazarus,more than 2,000 years []

Peruvian idol surprisingly turns out to have escaped conquistador destruction

 In 1533 Hernando Pizarro completed his conquest of Peru, and destroyed many symbols of the Inca Empire’s royal dynasty and religion. He ordered that the people break open the vault containing the giant wooden statue of Pacha Kamaq (“Earth Maker”), father of the popular goddess Pacha Mama (“Earth Mother”), and destroy its idol, which the []

NXIVM: Judge allows anonymous victims to give statements in Raniere sentencing

[Judge Garaufis and Keith Raniere]

Judge Nicholas Garaufis has issued an order to permit victims to provide impact statements at Nxivm leader Keith Raniere’s sentencing without having to disclose their identities.

This will include alleged victims who were not included in the second superseding indictment against []

White supremacists picked up for plotting murder while Trump whines about gun rights

[Three alleged white supremacists picked up in northern Georgia]

Attorney Scott Pilutik wrestles with the news of the day, from a lawyerly perspective…

The FBI arrested six white supremacists (three who entered the country illegally from Canada) in advance of a planned gun rally in Virginia where the FBI claims that a few members planned to “open []

‘Baby Jesus’ finds the way home to Bethlehem after 40 years

 A library book due in 1980 was returned a couple of weeks []

Never mind the party photos — Trump’s own lawyer proved the link to Giuliani’s pals

[Attorney John Dowd]

Attorney Scott Pilutik wrestles with the news of the day, from a lawyerly perspective…

After Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman were arrested in October, they somehow managed to secure John Dowd as their lawyer. But Dowd was also the president’s lawyer. Because Parnas and Fruman could conceivably be in conflict with Trump, Trump would []

New texts turned over by Lev Parnas reveal creepy spying on Yovanovitch

[Trump and Hyde]

Attorney Scott Pilutik wrestles with the news of the day, from a lawyerly perspective…

Lev Parnas’ lawyer delivered a bunch of text messages and handwritten notes to Congress, this coming after a prolonged fight over whether they could be disclosed at all — Republicans had been fighting it.

After a quick review, most of []

Stone age monument defaced with ‘alien’ figures by unidentified vandals

 In the second week of January, Cheryl Straffon of the Cornish Ancient Sites Protection Network (CASPN) announced that the megalithic structure Mulfra Quoit had been marred by graffiti, which should wash off, but will require professional restorers to work carefully, as this is a registered historic site. []