-Eyes were raised on Friday when, as part of pretrial motions in the FL classified documents case, Special Prosecutor Jack Smith asked for (and received) limitations on what Twice-Indicted Ex-President (TIEP) Trump could say about evidence to be presented to whatever is left of Trump's defense team. In the filing, the Department of Justice warned that many of the documents contain information that could "identify uncharged individuals" in what DoJ called "ongoing investigations" - making many legal observers speculate that Smith may have other documents not cited in the original classified documents case, or that there could be potential filings in more jurisdictions like DC (where Trump ostensibly worked) or even New Jersey (where Trump has another golf club and where some of the FL banker boxes were seen flown to and from in previously-released footage), or even whether potential indictees in this case could be investigated in one of the other investigations being conducted by Trump.
-The Big Enchilada of said ongoing investigations, of course, involve January 6, and just this morning, the Washington Post confirmed earlier reports that the initial DoJ investigations did not focus on Trump or other higher-up government officials - and did not do so until April 2022, when the "bottom-up" investigation apparently found enough evidence to make DoJ order the FBI to open investigations into some of those individuals (and, by implication, TIEP Trump). The strategy was embraced by Attorney General Merrick Garland and his deputies, leading to months of cries of WHAAR MAARIK GAAALANNN!??! throughout the land. The report followed remarks by former TIEP Trump AG Bill Barr, who on the Sunday talk shows speculated that while he originally "didn't think" Trump and others would be indicted on January 6 charges, he now believes they will, "and sooner rather than later," perhaps later this summer.
-As you can imagine, TIEP Trump did not take to this news well, making dozens of social media posts and short video responses disguised as 'campaign' videos, in which he name-called Barr and Smith, asserting with less than zero evidence that President Biden has accepted "at least" "$5 million" in bribes from "CHY-NAH," and for some reason continued to 'promise' a month-long celebration of the 250th Anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence across the country. Because ... okay ...
-In other, uglier social media news that also touches on the 2024 Presidential campaign, a QAnon member showed up at the doorstep of Dr. Peter Hotez, a TX-based pediatrician who was one of the leading spokespeople during the height of the COVID lockdown (and has also developed an effective COVID vaccine currently used in third-world countries). Why, you may ask, would a QAnon goof show up at a distinguished doctor's doorstep on Father's Day?
-Well, because Dr. Hotez made the mistake of responding on Twitter to an interview done on muscleheaded podcaster Joe Rogan's show of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., in which RFK Jr. continued spreading disinformation and misinformation about not just COVID vaccines, but autism and pretty much all vaccines. Dr. Hotez dared to push back on the RFK garbage - and in turn, Rogan responded on Twitter with "COME DEBATE AT ME, BRO!" at Dr. Hotez, who declined. Thus, the QAnon dude showed up also demanding "GO DEBATE AT ROGAN, BRO!" at Dr. Hotez.
-As if it now needed to be say, Twitter CEO and billionaire weirdo Elon Musk sided with Rogan, primarily because Musk is one of RFK Jr.'s biggest supporters in RFK's "primary campaign" against President Biden - and others note that Musk is now amplifying numerous anti-Biden posts, given that anyone who pays the still-richest-man-on-Earth $8/month can post whatever they want, which has led to a huge increase in racist and anti-Semitic accounts.
-This writer was banned from Twitter long before Musk bought the joint for offending too many racists (including, among others, Tomi Lahren and Michelle "Malkin" Magalang), so while I lurk there I am also ticking up active on three other Twitter competitors: Mastodon, Post.news, and Spoutible, all with the handle @jafedorko. Feel free to follow me there if you wish!
-And in movie news, the summer season sputtered a bit this weekend as two megahyped movies 'underperformed' at the box office. The latest attempt by DC Comics to try to do what Marvel has done, THE FLASH, opened with $50 million box office - a big underperform - but was not as disappointing as ELEMENTAL, which opened at $30 million and giving it the brand of being the smallest opening of a movie from Pixar in its history. The next big box office is theorized to be (as if you didn't know) INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY, the final installment of Harrison Ford as that iconic character.
-On this date in 1846, the first game of baseball played using rules we now use today, was played in NJ. On this date in 1865, Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, TX to inform residents that the Emancipation Proclamation was now law - thus establishing this date as Juneteenth. On this date in 1910, the first Father's Day was observed. On this date in 1934, the Federal Communications Commission was created. On this date in 2006, the Global Seed Vault - a repository of plant seeds and specimens created in reaction to climate change - was created. And on this date in 2016, LeBron James led the Cleveland Cavaliers to the NBA Championship, completing one of American sports' biggest comebacks and giving Cleveland its first world sports championship since 1964.
-Happy Birthday to Blaise Pascal, Wallis Simpson, Moe Howard, Guy Lombardo, Lou Gehrig, Alan Cranston, Pat Buttram, Pauline Kael, Louis Jordan, Nancy Marchand, Gena Rowlands, Shirley "Cha Cha" Muldowney, Salman Rushdie, Nick Drake, Phylicia Rashad, Ann Wilson, the Tasmanian Devil, Kathleen Turner, Paula Abdul, Jud Buechler, Jean Dujardin, Dirk Nowitzki, Garfield the Cat, Zoe Saldana, Macklemore, and Paul Dano.
-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to J.M. Barrie, Ed Wynn, Len Bias, Jean Arthur, William Golding, Manute Bol, James Gandolfini, Slim Whitman, Gerry Goffin, Anton Yeltchin, Ian Holm, and Champ Biden (the first German Shepherd).
-Feed the Worms: War Criminal Radovan Karadzic and now-disgraced hair mop Boris Johnson entered Earth on this date. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed on this date, and Sam Giancana got offed on this date.
-Nobel Peace Prize activist turned genocide-supporter Aung San Suu Kyi was born on this date. You decide how much of it is a Happy Birthday and how much of it will Feed the Worms.