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Giuliani pals plead not guilty, and by invoking privilege may bridge impeachment gap

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

[Regarding this story: Giuliani Associates Parnas And Fruman Plead Not Guilty, Raise Executive Privilege Concerns]

Recently indicted Parnas and Fruman are threatening to invoke privilege because they were (a) working for Giuliani on behalf of the president; and (b) had retained Giuliani as []

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Ambassador Bill Taylor’s testimony makes a liar of Gordon Sondland and is bad for Trump

[Bill Taylor]

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

As expected, ambassador Bill Taylor’s testimony today was bad for the White House and Trump. It was expected because, if you recall, Taylor was the one who texted Gordon Sondland that he felt it was “crazy to withhold security assistance for []

HBO appeals in ‘Leaving Neverland’ fight with Michael Jackson estate over a 1992 contract

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

[Regarding this Hollywood Reporter story: HBO Taking Michael Jackson ‘Leaving Neverland’ Dispute to Appeals Court]

This is pretty interesting. Michael Jackson’s estate wasn’t happy with HBO’s “Finding Neverland” documentary, so it looked to the boilerplate non-disparagement and arbitration clauses in a wholly unrelated []

Jehovah’s Witnesses say you should join because the Bible is so ‘harmonious’ and consistent

 In a new short video, ex-JW activist Lloyd Evans takes on a Jehovah’s Witnesses tract that includes this precious []

These are reasons the Founders included the Emoluments Clause Trump calls ‘phony’

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

Trump: “You people with this phony Emoluments Clause”

If it feels like “Emoluments Clause” is a phony thing cooked up to box Trump’s presidency in, know a few things []

What’s causing Christianity to dive in the U.S.? Um, seen Europe lately?

[Dreher used this image for his column. Oh boy.]

Thanks to our friend Roy Edroso, we have long enjoyed the columns of conservative writer Rod Dreher, but perhaps not in the way Dreher intended. (That’s just our way of plugging our friend Roy — you should really read him if you don’t already — and to []

Four dead in Bangladesh over a Facebook post that offended Muslims

 Police in Bangladesh say they had no choice but to open fire on demonstrators who were threatening their lives. Four people were killed in shooting by the police, and many others were injured, photos posted by CNN []

A reminder: Tulsi Gabbard’s personal guru is a real piece of work

[Tulsi Gabbard, Chris Butler]

And suddenly, Tulsi Gabbard is in the news again in a big []

Mulvaney’s sin: Getting out ahead of the others on the White House ‘so what’ defense

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

[Regarding this story: Mick Mulvaney Has Conservatives Asking: WTF Are You Doing?]

Yesterday I surmised that Mick Mulvaney was intentionally advancing the impeachment narrative to its inevitable destination: “Yeah, we crimed, we crimed a lot even, but what’s it to []

Mulvaney steps in it: Can anyone at the White House get their story straight?

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

After Mick Mulvaney’s press conference today, the White House’s official explanations for why Ukraine’s foreign aid was held back have fully gone full circle []