After yesterday’s story in the NY Times broke about the Justice Department under Trump issuing subpoenas for the communication records of Democratic congressmen and congress women in order to find out who if any of them were leaking information to the press, should scare the heck out of all of us. The fact that they also subpoenaed a family member is really over the top. It is paranoia on the scale of Nixon and Agnew.
Per the NY Times today, The U.S. Justice Department’s independent inspector general opened an inquiry on Friday into the Trump administration’s secret seizure of data from House Democrats and reporters as prosecutors sought to hunt down the sources of leaks of classified information. In a statement, Michael E. Horowitz, the inspector general, announced he would review the department’s use of subpoenas and other legal maneuvers to secretly access communications records of Democratic lawmakers, aides, and at least one family member. Mr. Horowitz also said he will look at other recently disclosed actions to secretly seize data about reporters. The Biden Justice Department in recent weeks has disclosed that prosecutors during the Trump administration also sought and obtained phone records for journalists at The Washington Post, CNN, and The New York Times and then sought to stop the information from becoming public.“The review will examine the department’s compliance with applicable D.O.J. policies and procedures, and whether any such uses, or the investigations, were based upon improper considerations,” Mr. Horowitz said.
The Dr. Anderson saga at U of M was on lots of peoples minds after the revelations yesterday by Matt Schembecler which indicated his step-dad Bo knew about the concerns during his first year in 1969. This really changes things as it relates to when anyone at U of M knew about Dr. Anderson.
I gave Secretary of State, Jocelyn Benson kudos for expanding the number of slots available for in person appointments by 300,000. I gave her credit for listening to her critics. However, many people believe she needs to much more until the backlog is completely eliminated. Whatever she does, I hope she doesn’t go back to the old ways of the Secretary of State where going to the SOS office was up there with a root canal.
I am starting to enjoy watching the Tigers for the first time in five years. Manager AJ Hinch has had an amazing impact on the culture and the young Tigers approach to the game. I agree with General Manager Al Avila’s assessment that the Tigers have good young players who they are not in a hurry to trade to other teams for players who could have immediate impact. The Tigers are going to be very competitive starting in 2022.
Stay safe. Wash your hands regularly. Social Distance. Wear your mask properly. Schedule your vaccine.
Orchid of the Day: Roger Penske for all he has done for Detroit, including the annual Grand Prix at Belle Isle.
Onion of the Day: The guy on southbound I75 who decided he would be a traffic cop in the construction zone. He was in the lane that was closing and he would only go as fast as the car next to him in the right lane. If the car in the right lane stopped he stopped even though there were hundreds of yards of open road in front of him. He nearly caused multiple accidents behind him.
Quote of the Day: “This issue should not be partisan; under the Constitution, Congress is a coequal branch of government and must be protected from an overreaching executive, and we expect that our Republican colleagues will join us in getting to the bottom of this serious matter,” said Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader, and Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Hope you’re right about the Tigers Tom