[BALTIMORESUN] A federal judge is allowing key parts of a lawsuit against Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby, brought by five of the six coppers charged in the death of Freddie Gray, to move forward.
U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Garbis ruled that claims including malicious prosecution, defamation, and invasion of privacy can move forward against Mosby and Assistant Sheriff Samuel Cogen, who wrote the statement of probable cause.
Mosby's attorneys had said she has absolute prosecutorial immunity from actions taken as a state's attorney. But Garbis noted that her office has said it conducted an independent investigation.
"Plaintiffs' malicious prosecution claims relate to her actions when functioning as an investigator and not as a prosecutor," Garbis wrote.
Other counts, such as false arrest, false imprisonment and abuse of process, were dismissed, as Garbis had signaled he would do at an October hearing. All claims against the state were also dismissed.
The Maryland attorney general's office, which is representing Mosby, declined to comment on the 65-page ruling, saying officials needed time to review it.
Three of the officers charged in the April 2015 arrest and death of Gray were found not guilty of all charges by a judge, and prosecutors dropped charges against the remaining three officers last July.
David Ellin, an attorney representing Lt. Brian Rice, said that barring a reversal on appeal, the ruling means the officers' attorneys will begin the discovery stage, which includes deposing Mosby and others involved in the investigation.
That is going to be double-plus fun...
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
Mosby wants to prevent the discovery process.
Probably with good reason.
Posted by: lord garth ||
01/08/2017 5:55 Comments ||
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#2
Put that Mussolini-Chin-Thrust up for a good right cross, bitch
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/08/2017 8:15 Comments ||
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#5
Advice, #4 Pappy? She don't need no stinkin' advice.
Posted by: Barbara ||
01/08/2017 14:09 Comments ||
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#6
#4 I'm still wondering why she ignored advice, especially from her assistant prosecutors.
Good question! Two theories:
1) Being both connected and a rising star in state politics, Mosby figured she could give her career a huge boost, even though it would mean burning bridges with the police. One would hope a mentor, trusted advisor, or 1st year law student would advise against such legal buffoonery.
2) She suffers from Resting Bitch Face. Not only does this malady result in an unpleasant visage, but it squinches up the forebrain and makes the sufferer do stupid shit.
Just a bit from a long, fairly detailed article. Krebs writes on hacking and cybercrime. He's the author of Spam Nation: The inside story of organized cybercrime. I used to read him every day and I should probably start doing so again.
[KREBSONSECURITY] If indeed those who hacked the DNC were recruited from the ranks of the cybercriminal community focused mainly on financial crime, I would not be surprised in the least. The Russian source who first introduced me to much of the cyber underground told me exactly this when we first met some years ago. He had just left the Russian military for a job at a computer security firm in Russia, and his job was to build a presence on all of the Russian-language cybercrime forums and learn the real-life identities of the major power players in that space.
That source, who won’t be named here because it would compromise his current position and create legal problems for him, said he routinely saw Russian intelligence services recruiting hackers on cybercrime forums — particularly for research into potential vulnerabilities in the software and hardware that powers various national power grids and other energy infrastructure.
“All these guys had interest in hacking government resources, including Russian [targets],” my source told me. “Several years ago I got to know one of these hackers who worked for Russian government, [and] he operated his [cybercrime] forum as a government honeypot for hiring hackers. They were hiring hackers to work in official government organizations.”
Initially, he said, the hackers targeted U.S. military installations and U.S. news media outlets, but eventually they turned their attention to collecting government and corporate secrets full-time. The source said the teams routinely used botnets for foreign intelligence gathering and counterintelligence, and frequently sought to infiltrate botnets that were suspected of being co-opted for the same purposes by other countries.
“Then they started attacking foreign-only targets, and even started their own VPN (virtual private networking) service for English-speaking customers so they could capture corporate data,” he told me. “They also ran a service for checking stolen PDFs and other documents for [proprietary] data and classified information. If something like Stuxnet destroys some power plant, I will think about these guys first. Now I use them as a source of information about foreign intelligence botnets, so I really don’t want them to be uncovered.”
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2017 00:00 ||
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If your schadenboner lasts more than 4 years...
The job market is about to get even more crowded for Washington Democrats, as thousands of Obama appointees join the hundreds of Clinton campaign staffers looking for employment.
There's rarely been less demand for their services. Ahahahahahahahahahahaha *gasp* ahahahahahahahahha
The Trump tornado is tearing up post-election planning around the Beltway. It's not just that those 4,000 administration jobs are no longer available to Hillary for America alumni, or that failed Senate candidates like Russ Feingold and Katie McGinty won't be able to hire their staff on the Hill. There are also the lobbying firms, trade associations and corporate government affairs offices that are pitching senior Obama aides' resumes into the round file while scrambling to hire operatives with Republican connections.
It's insult to injury for a generation of young operatives who are still managing their shock and grief from Hillary Clinton's loss. And for those who want to fight to keep President Barack Obama's legacy from being erased, there aren't a lot of places ready to pay them to do it. Talk to Uncle George Soros
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/08/2017 10:22 ||
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#1
Its one part of 'growing unemployment' I can live with. Of course they'll never connect with what they're about to go through with the working men and women in industries they've shut down with regulations and 'interpretations'.
#2
Of course they'll never connect with what they're about to go through with the working men and women in industries they've shut down with regulations and 'interpretations'.
If you need a visual to 'connect,' I recommend taking the Amtrak from Manassas, VA to Atlanta. It's a slow trek which takes you through the backside of towns and villages filled with run down, empty factories and lost dreams. One trip is all that will be required, I assure you.
#4
Lucky for these folks, there's a shortage of construction workers in Texas and other primitive states. I mean, how hard can it be? Most of the men and women they'll be competing with didn't go to Harvard. It's just, like, nailing boards together and stuff.
Posted by: Matt ||
01/08/2017 11:17 Comments ||
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It's just, like, nailing boards together and stuff.
[PJ] WASHINGTON -- National Action Network president Rev. Al Sharpton promised a "season of civil disobedience" in reaction to the nomination of Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) for attorney general in the Trump administration.
Sharpton, an MSNBC host, said activists have planned a march in Washington on Jan. 14 during the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend to protest the Sessions nomination. Sharpton recalled spending 90 days in jail for protesting on U.S. Navy land against military exercises on the island of Vieques in 2001 when George W. Bush was president, adding that civil disobedience usually works because it changes policy.
"We’re not just doing this to be doing it. We do it because it can lead to change and, believe me, there will be a season of civil disobedience particularly around the Sessions nomination," he said Friday on a conference call with other civil rights organizations’ leaders such as Cornell William Brooks, president and CEO of the NAACP, and Janet Murguia, president and CEO of the National Council of La Raza.
Sharpton offered a preview of the mass march, explaining that activists plan to outline their intent to visit senators’ offices and make some house calls to "make them understand" they will be held accountable for voting in favor of Sessions, whose confirmation hearings in the Senate Judiciary Committee are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.
#8
He's just pissed because he won't be a 'trusted advisor to the White House' anymore. I think Trump knows exactly what kind of people the Racist Twins are.
Obama to sleep for next three days.
[Breitbart] A litany of A-list celebrities braved below-freezing temperatures to attend President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama’s final party at the White House on Friday.
The star-studded crowd at the Obama’s farewell bash included George and Amal Clooney, Meryl Streep, Steven Spielberg, Stevie Wonder, David Letterman, George Lucas, Paul McCartney, and many more.
Cell phones were reportedly confiscated, forcing stars to snap and post photos and videos to their social media accounts from outside the White House.
"Stumbling out of the White House at 4am after an incredible night celebrating 8 incredible years," wrote actress Olivia Wilde in a Twitter post in which she was posing next to her partner, actor Jason Sudeikis.
#6
Going out as tone deaf as he came in. The people who voted for Trump really don't see obumble partying with hollyweird swells as doing anything at all to fix the country's problems.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
01/08/2017 10:36 Comments ||
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#7
Of course, not having to see the truly horrible creatures swillary would have brought to parties at the White House is going to be nice.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
01/08/2017 10:37 Comments ||
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#8
Hope they enjoyed it. This will be the last time they are let near the white house for the next 8+ years. Posted by DarthVader
Think of the NBA front office travel and per diem savings.
#9
Pretending to enjoy themselves for the cameras while they all mourned the end of an era together. Still, statistically speaking at least one of them was very secretly a Trump voter, who must have been enjoying him/herself enormously.
[The Hill] President-elect Donald Trump’s skepticism of the Intelligence Community’s findings on Russian election interference has raised fears among experts that Trump will bypass intel analysts and demand that his personal team conduct its own analyses of raw data.
Tossing aside career analysts can create false conclusions, critics warn -- like the George W. Bush administration’s incorrect assessment that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (WMDs).
"The risk is that you request raw data to support a conclusion and you avoid seeing anything that contradicts it," Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, told The Hill. "We can already see we have a president-elect who has difficulty with facts that are at odds with the narrative that he wants to tell or diminish his achievements."
Presidents receive so-called "raw intelligence" all the time -- recordings, satellite images and other data that hasn’t been evaluated and contextualized by career analysts. But there is also plenty of precedent for a president who wants to cherry-pick information to advance his own policies.
Onlookers doubt that the firebrand president-elect is likely to sift through data himself, but they are worried he will send a team of loyalists to go through the information and brief him themselves.
In a Trump White House, that could be anyone from retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, Trump’s pick for national security advisor, to Steve Bannon, the incoming White House chief strategist. Intelligence Community not happy with Mike Flynn and Steve Bannon, absolutely shocking. Who knew ?
#2
"We can already see we have a president-elect who has difficulty with facts that are at odds with the narrative that he wants to tell or diminish his achievements."
Always with the bad vibes Freudian Projection. Tell me again about what the sitting president said to Romney in 2012 about Russia.
#3
Wait till Trump asks for the raw intelligence on 'Russian hacking'
Posted by: john frum ||
01/08/2017 8:11 Comments ||
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#4
Tossing aside career analysts can create false conclusions, critics warn -- like the George W. Bush administration’s incorrect assessment that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (WMDs).
Didn't the CIA claim that Iraq having WMDs was a 'Slam Dunk'?
I would think providing the raw data and helping the President understand the meanings of items would be your job.
A good thing the honourable senator didn't say that around here. Rantburg doesn't hold with that kind of talk.
[PATDOLLARD] The CIA is in the liquidation business, everyone knows that. "Six ways from Sunday to get back at you" is a menacing threat of liquidation. This is how low the Dems are now stooping. They are trying to literally terrorize Trump into submission.
Excerpted From The Washington Examiner: The new leader of Democrats in the Senate says Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... is being "really dumb" for picking a fight with intelligence officials, suggesting they have ways to strike back, after the president-elect speculated Tuesday that his "so-called" briefing about Russian cyberattacks had been delayed in order to build a case.
"Let me tell you: You take on the intelligence community -- they have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer Senator-for-life from New York, renowned for his love of standing in front of cameras. Schumer has been a professional politician since 1975, when disco was in flower. Tuesday evening on MSNBC after host Rachel Maddow informed him that intelligence sources told NBC news that the briefing had not been delayed.
"So, even for a practical supposedly hard-nosed businessman, he’s being really dumb to do this," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
If anything happens to DJT I pity the Washington elite. It will be ugly.
#3
I don't think the CIA would do anything that dumb. Now if details about past affairs, purchases, Internet browsing habits or shady dealings were to come to light, that could cause problems.
#5
Yeah right...like the 60ish rantburg regulars are going to rise up and smash the state. The US government is unbelievably well armed and is more than capable of taking care of any problems you might pose. They'll laugh and tell you to go back to your web browsing and stfu. And you will because your back hurts and you can't see 100 yards to shoot any more. Oh, the rants will be epic but nothing but keyboard warrioring. Let's not kid ourselves, if they bump off Trump you won't be stringing them up from lampposts.
Some bikers will get killed maybe. The great vaunted white rural class is too fat and on Oxycontin to pose any threat. Conclusion: mostly harmless.
#6
Ref #5. When you have some free time, I recommend a reading of “Jack Hinson’s One-Man War,” written by Lieutenant Colonel Tom C. McKenney, USMC (Ret). It's a story about an old man who lived along the Tennessee River. I think you might enjoy it.
McKenney's book relays the story of the only naval vessel and troop transport in the history of the Republic to ever hoist a flag of surrender whilst underway, to a single enemy marksman.
#7
The US government is unbelievably well armed and is more than capable of taking care of any problems you might pose.
They said the same thing in Iraq. Didn't make headway till the Anbar Awaking and the locals decided to work with the Coalition.
1 - Don't count on the military. It'll break when its turned on the population.
2 - That's a population full of young vets from the WOT in that Red flyover country.
3 - Where are the govt personnel to live? Among the population. One of the reasons local police/govt are far less effective in other countries going through 'disturbances' because everyone knows where they live.
You've seem to have been checked out on what's going on in the ME about how effective all that government firepower can be beyond potential to applicable.
Excerpt of ending paragraphs: There is very little reason to have confidence that our current intelligence leadership, tied to our current bureaucratic structures, is up to that task. The next time you’re taking your shoes off at the airport, think what a few million dollars’ worth of prevention and bureaucratic reform might have accomplished at the end of the 20th century, and how different the world and this country might have looked had things gone differently. This isn’t a fight about ethanol subsidies or another culture-war campaign about which toilet is used by whom. Some things you have to get right, and this is one of them.
#17
Some interesting comments to #16 from Qwiket, particularly the following from OlduberGoober:
OldUberGoober • 2 days ago
I believe, with no scientific but plenty of practical evidence, that bureaucracies invariably and quickly reach a point where they are spending much more time and effort on the bureaucracy than on their mission. NASA is a prime example of this, bumming rides to orbit on Russian rockets and having their best American successes hiring SpaceX and OSC to do what NASA once did. Mostly they endlessly design the next big thing, but never actually get it to fly. Like most other federal agencies, they are a bureaucracy-shaped rathole we throw money down.
My solution: Every single bureaucracy should be closed and replaced every 25 or so years. One could avoid 'startup shock' by having two competing agencies with staggered terms. There would need to be a strong bias, encoded in law, against hiring people form the previous agency.
It's an ugly solution, but less ugly than what we have now.
#19
Not to break the above mentioned Rantburg rules but it would be the height of Irony if this fool was found dead by some very interesting circumstances.
The first rule of having six ways from Sunday to get back at someone fatally is that you don't talk about having six ways from Sunday to do it.
Sorry to hear about .com. He was a good one on Rantburg.
#20
The beauty of an accurately fired metal projectile impacting the skull of a bad guy is, it didn't matter the race, physical condition, male or female gender of the index finger on the trigger, #5. It wonderfully delivers the target to the ultimate point of no return. There are many millions of those patriots here compared to only a hand full of bad guys, so only a fraction of the population will have the honor of shooting, and then unfortunately only once #5.
#25
Y'all are very welcome. I only knew PD.com through our interactions at Rantburg, but he was always kind to me, and he coloured how I think about the world.
[Daily Caller] President-elect Donald Trump promised to fire incompetent and dishonest Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) employees, but he will have to fight the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) -- the largest federal worker union -- every step of the way.
During the 115th Congress, Trump -- along with Republican majorities in both the Senate and House of Representatives -- can enact sweeping reforms to improve every department and agency in the federal workplace.
Republicans controlled the 114th Congress, too, but outgoing Democratic President Barack Obama routinely threatened to veto GOP proposals.
Trump and AFGE already share some history. When the GOP presidential candidate proposed expanding a VA program that lets veterans get private medical care, AFGE quickly blasted the idea.
#1
Just repeal the Executive order on union standing in the federal government. There can be no 'equal' standing between a sovereign government and a union.
#2
I agree with Procopius. OR transfer VA people who get in the way to the same VA hospital and fill the place with all the ones of a kind. Then set standards of care in a ranking order and watch them FAIL. Publicize the failures. Or find some transfer place where the person winds up in a dead end career move. Same thing. Garbage dump them. just fill the place up even if there is no work at all to do. Just BEING THERE should be enough to end a career.
Don't care how crowded it gets with people who can't cut it. Let them have stacked offices in the halls. ( no patients, of course ). Let them just look at one another all day.
The Vets can get treatment , just not a that facility. Make sure the Union isn't changed, just smeared all over itself. Make it very obvious. See how long they can smell each other.
Reagan showed how to do it. Haven't seen a rash of planes falling out of the sky so I doubt that dumping these pencil pushers will have any significant downside.
#4
Sadly if he did sweep away the federal unions I'm sure Congress would act quickly to make it actual law on both sides - overriding any veto. I'm sure Mitch and Ryan would jump right in.
They do love eating that union dogcrap.
[The Hill] Former CIA acting director Michael Morell said President-elect Donald Trump’s rhetoric will undermine the agency by causing a "wave of resignations" and affecting its ability to work with foreign intelligence services.
Similar to the tsunami of recent Comey related resignations at the FBI no doubt.
Is his comment a threat or a promise?
"First, expect a wave of resignations. Attrition at the C.I.A., which has been remarkably low since Sept. 11, 2001, will skyrocket," Morell wrote in a New York Times op-ed published Friday.
"The primary motivator for some of our smartest minds to go to work at the C.I.A. is to make a difference to national security, to play a role in keeping the country safe. All of the sacrifices -- from the long hours, polygraph tests, unfair media criticism, not to mention the real dangers to life and limb -- are worth it, if you are making a difference."
Morell’s latest criticism of the president-elect comes as the intelligence community issued a declassified report that found Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign to help Trump win the presidency.
Morell said Trump’s rejection of the CIA’s assessment about Russia’s interference is "an unprecedented political challenge for our national security establishment" and "a danger to the nation."
While Morell called Trump’s Friday intelligence briefing "a step in the right direction," he also said "his disparagement of American intelligence officers over the last few months is likely to cause significant damage to the CIA."
Trump’s comments will make it difficult for the agency to work with other foreign intelligence services and develop foreign assets, Morell explained.
#1
Michael Morell with his finger on the pulse of the intelligence community. Where would we be without him.
Jim Woolsey quits Trump team. Leon Panetta rips Trump on hacking last week. Morrel sez everyone soon to quit agency. Brennan recently warned Trump about going south on Iran deal. Anyone see a pattern ?
#3
Trump appears to be all about avoiding foreign entanglements, steering clear of efforts at 'regime change,' staying home and minding our own business. This obviously runs counter to the current agency business development model.
If I had to guess, I'd reckon Mike Flynn and others on the Trump train are encouraging a turning away from costly foreign political shi* disturbing intrigues, gun running and the like, in favor of a return to the more traditional role of intelligence collection, analysis, and dissemination.
Wrestling power from these lizards will be quite difficult. They have obviously mounted a combined assault and enlisted the assistance of the odious and despicable Sen. Chuck Schumer and others.
#7
Former CIA acting director Michael Morell said President-elect Donald Trump’s rhetoric will undermine the agency by causing a "wave of resignations" and affecting its ability to work with foreign intelligence services.
He says it like it's a bad thing.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/08/2017 8:52 Comments ||
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#9
And everyone was going to resign their commissions after teh ghey were uncloseted. Number of uncloseting-related resignations that I am aware of: zero.
#18
The agency is full of substandard, uninspired, unmotivated political hacks hired for their loyalty to the Clintons and the Zero.
Not a lot there to keep, I'm sure the real professionals at Langley can't wait for this to happen so they can get back to the real business of the agency
#19
The agency is full of substandard, uninspired, unmotivated political hacks hired for their loyalty to the Clintons and the Zero.
One of the challenges (and there are many) is most of the bureaucrats never deploy or leave the beltway. The result is, two separate agencies; the operators and the career D.C. feather merchants.
[BALTIMORESUN] Federal workers in Maryland and across the nation are bracing for reductions in head counts, civil service protections and even salaries when President-elect Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... and Congress turn their attention to government spending later this year.
Trump, who ran on a promise to "drain the swamp," has identified hiring freezes at most federal agencies as a top priority for his early days in office. Republican politicians, many of whom have long advocated for reducing Washington's footprint, are looking to cut benefits and make it easier to fire poor performers.
The threats and preliminary steps taken by Congress have created anxiety for many of the government's 2.1 million employees, including some 300,000 who live in Maryland.
One thing I'd do is re-distribute the federal employees to around the nation better than we have. With the internet and video conferencing there's little need to have so many folks in the DC area. If more of the federal government lived in (and came from) flyover country, perhaps the federal government wouldn't be so contemptuous of the people...
"People don't know what to believe, and they're in a state of uneasiness," said Witold Skwierczynski, a Catonsville man and the head of the American Federation of Government Employees council that overseas Social Security Administration field offices. "That's the feeling I hear. People are unsettled."
Especially union officials. Remember, unionization of federal employees is something protected by nothing more than an executive order.
Fiscal conservatives, long stymied by President Barack Obama My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world. I hope you'll join with me as we try to change it... in their efforts to trim the government workforce, have read the November election as affirmation that voters want a slimmer federal bureaucracy. Though government employee issues were not discussed much during the election, federal regulations and spending were central to Trump's campaign.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/08/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
Boomers are now retiring in record numbers. A simple federal hiring freeze would assist greatly.
#2
You know that Congress, not OMB, micro manages the military, by limiting the number of senior officers and NCOs as well as the total authorized force strength. How about applying the same to every other Department and agency. Seem the mechanism has allowed Congress to cut DoD strength on numerous occasions.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[BALTIMORESUN] A federal judge is allowing key parts of a lawsuit against Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby, brought by five of the six 
I recommend a career reset for Ms. Mosby. 
[KREBSONSECURITY] If indeed those who hacked the DNC were recruited from the ranks of the cybercriminal community focused mainly on financial crime, I would not be surprised in the least. The Russian source who first introduced me to much of the cyber underground told me exactly this when we first met some years ago. He had just left the Russian military for a job at a computer security firm in Russia, and his job was to build a presence on all of the Russian-language cybercrime forums and learn the real-life identities of the major power players in that space.
[PJ] WASHINGTON -- National Action Network president Rev. Al Sharpton promised a "season of civil disobedience" in reaction to the nomination of Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) for attorney general in the Trump administration.
[PATDOLLARD] The CIA is in the 
[Daily Caller] President-elect Donald Trump promised to fire incompetent and dishonest Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) employees, but he will have to fight the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) -- the largest federal worker union -- every step of the way.
[The Hill] Former CIA acting director Michael Morell said President-elect Donald Trump’s rhetoric will undermine the agency by causing a "wave of resignations" and affecting its ability to work with foreign intelligence services.
[BALTIMORESUN] Federal workers in Maryland and across the nation are bracing for reductions in head counts, civil service protections and even salaries when President-elect 
