Countdown with Keith Olbermann

EPISODE 230: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:43) SPECIAL COMMENT: Special Counsel Jack Smith may be readying an indictment against Trump for illegally attempting to coerce Mike Pence to defy his legal duties in the Electoral College count? Ryan Goodman from “Just Security,” whom I cite here frequently though I don’t know him and only because he knows this stuff, told Bill Kristol’s podcast that he thinks Jack Smith quote “going to indict Trump for the False Slate of Electors scheme” – and with Goodman saying the odds Fonny Willis indicts on False Electors and election interference in Georgia are 90 percent, Trump could face twin federal and state cases on overlapping topics. And then Goodman adds something that took my breath away. Indicting Trump for False Electors, “AND quite probably/possibly the pressure campaign against Mike Pence.” Wait – what? Goodman sets the odds on Jack Smith indicting Trump ABOUT PENCE… at 60 to 70 percent. Pressuring the Vice President, Goodman says, quoting him again “is independent of whether or not he thought he won the election. He can think he won the election, doesn’t matter. But you can’t try to coerce a public official to defy their legal duties – which is just to count the votes.” Goodman doesn’t mention that, but you will remember that Stewart Rhodes and other Oathkeepers were prosecuted for – and convicted of – interfering with Congress’s ability to complete its legal duties. Ponder for a moment the prospect of Smith indicting Trump, running for the Republican nomination, for attempting to coerce PENCE, running for the Republican nomination. Oh and necessarily having Pence TESTIFY AGAINST TRUMP either before Trump is nominated or before the election.  I’m beginning to think we may have WILDLY under-estimated how many MORE things Jack Smith is about to indict Trump for. There is reason today to believe that the number of separate indictments OF Trump BY Smith could be as many as FOUR. Maybe even FIVE. B-Block (20:11) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Nikki Haley tries to make it sound like she DIDN'T say The Confederate Flag was just a symbol of "sacrifice, service and heritage" until Dylann Roof came along and spoiled it with his mass murdering. The Joe Rogan-JFK "debate" stink. The Bland leading the Blind? What on earth would they debate? HOW stupid Rogan is? And Military Mean Tweets (25:07) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Why was Lou Dobbs' wife subpoenaed in the Smartmatic case? David Clarke tries to get the Saudis off the hook for the Khashoggi murder. Curt Schilling says it's time for more shots, like at Concord, but he only means shots metaphorically. And the Chia Pet of Fox, Jesse Watters, has a plan for the homeless. C-Block (33:35) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: The New York crisis continues, with poor 3-year old Dior and her pneumonia (34:35) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: Speaking of Lou Dobbs' wife, it was just 42 summers ago when she and Lou had to leave CNN New York in a hurry and they had to hire as an emergency temp a radio sports guy with no TV experience - me. THEY started my career!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 229: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:42) SPECIAL COMMENT: First The Washington Post reported Trump had ignored advice from his $3,000,000 flat fee lawyer to settle with the DOJ, return ALL the documents in exchange for no charges. But he refused because non-lawyer Tom Fitton - who has a BA in English - told him the lawyers were wrong. Then it turned out Fitton told him that because of a case Fitton's outfit, Judicial Watch, lost. And they couldn't have lost it because they suck, it had to be a definitive ruling that gave all presidents the right to keep everything.  Now it turns out that even after that revelation, Trump is STILL deferring to Tom Fitton for legal advice he is wildly unqualified to give. He seems to have done it... last night! Fitton tweeted some nonsense in the morning. Trump regurgitated it as a social media post at dinner time: “So now that everyone understands that the Presidential Records Act, plus the Clinton socks case, totally exonerated me… when are they going to drop all charges against me, apologize, and return everything that was illegally taken?” The answer, as any lawyer or sane person could tell you, is, they’re NOT. The Presidential Records Act DOESN’T exonerate Trump, nobody “understands” the specious claims of exoneration, the Clinton Socks case is an irrelevant red herring and it’s not even CALLED the “Clinton Socks” case, they aren’t dropping the charges against Trump, nothing was illegally taken, and nothing is being returned to him. But Trump isn’t listening to that. He is listening… to Tom Fitton, Pretend Lawyer. Plus the New York Times goes inside the mind of Trump (careful): It explained in depth the reference to Trump’s “Beautiful Mind” boxes that when they appeared in the indictment document mystified so many while the rest of us immediately saw Russell Crowe. “It was a reference,” wrote The Times, “to the title of a book and movie depicting the life of John F. Nash Jr., the mathematician with schizophrenia played in the film by Russell Crowe, who covered his office with newspaper clippings, believing they held a Russian code he needed to crack. The phrase had a specific connotation. The aides employed it to capture a type of organized chaos that Mr. Trump insisted on, the collection and transportation of a blizzard of newspapers and official documents that he kept close and that seemed to give him a sense of security. One former White House official, who was granted anonymity to describe the situation, said that while the materials were disorganized, Mr. Trump would notice if somebody had riffled through them or they were not arranged in a particular way. It was, the person said, how “his mind worked.”  That explains Trump perfectly: hose are HIS documents. When will you give him back HIS documents. They are HIS. Not yours. Not the government’s. No law makes a difference. He held them. They have his name on them. He put them in the box. Not THAT box, THIS box. This is existential to Trump. To quote the Bugs Bunny cartoon about Daffy Duck and the treasure of Ali Baba “It’s mine, you understand? Mine! All mine! Get back in there. Down down down. Go go go. Mine mine mine.” Oh and when Trump went into that Cuban bakery Tuesday to "celebrate" after his indictment and shouted "Food for everyone!" Guess who didn't pay. B-Block (19:45) IN SPORTS: You've heard of Spiking The Football? The man who INVENTED Spiking The Football has passed away. Baseball's Commissioner insults the Oakland fans who were about to lose their team rather than empathizing them just to keep them as possible San Francisco Giants fans, and now the Justice Department will investigate the Saudis buying pro golf. (27:00) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Anti-transgender slob Michael Knowles says we need to revert to the world of the year 1220. Did I tell you Pat Sajak was a schmuck? He is retiring to run a whack doodle religious college. And the "Wannabe Dictator" graphic on Fox about Biden Tuesday night? The producer - an old Tucker Carlson staffer - is OUT. C-Block (32:27) FRIDAYS WITH THURBER: The most visual of his many fantastical, farcical stories of his crazy family: "The Night The Bed Fell."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 228: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:42) SPECIAL COMMENT: Trump may have done the one thing that would force the ENTIRE Republican party to repudiate him: The Israelis Intelligence Corps and the Mossad reportedly think Donald Trump has damaged the security of the state of Israel. “Top brass in the Israeli defense establishment,” writes the intelligence and strategic affairs correspondent Yossi Melman in the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, “are concerned that secret documents seized from (Trump) include material whose exposure has damaged Israel’s security.” Melman quotes two senior Israeli defense officials, one from the Mossad and the other from the Intelligence Corps as saying, quote: “It’s an absolutely reasonable possibility that some of the documents are about Israel and its capabilities, maybe even its nuclear program,” unquote. And reading between the lines, Melman and his sources never once mention the story of Trump reading the details of the Mark Milley plan to attack IRAN to Mark Meadows’ ghost-writers, so presumably what Israeli Intelligence fears is that Trump has damaged other elements of their nation’s security. So ANOTHER fault line opens between Trump and Republican Sacred Cows: Trump versus Troops, Trump versus Law And Order, Trump Versus… Israel. Damaging the 21st Century Republican Party’s supposed allegiance to Israel is the most sacred of its cows because it is viscerally important to the party’s fanatical religious base. Polling from as recently as 2018 confirms that at least HALF of the Evangelicals don’t give two actual spits about ACTUAL Jews or the NATION of Israel. It is simply a tentpole belief of their cult that before all the bible-thumpers can go to Heaven in a rapture, all the Jews have to be in Jerusalem and be converted or die. The Republicans pretend allegiance to Israel in order to maintain ownership of the Evangelicals who need Jerusalem preserved so they can be converted when the alarm goes off at Rapture O’Clock. Plus Pence takes a Nikki Haley style Trump-Endangered-The-Troops climbdown, Ryan Goodman thinks Smith has a backup play in New Jersey just in case things come acropper in the Florida trial, Judge Cannon has exactly 14 days of active Judge Stuff, Trump turned down a chance to make all this stuff go away. And the story of the British TV producer who shouted "President Trump? Are you ready to go to jail?" during his creation of a false victory narrative at a Miami Cuban bakery after the arraignment Tuesday, takes a strange twist. The guy who got in her face and called her a "Stupid B----" has self-identified, and he's a former member of the Trump Government AND was involved in image polishing for Putin in America, Michael R. Caputo. B-BLOCK (18:20) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: To finish off the Michael Caputo story and his world-class exit quote from the Trump Regime in 2020. Plus the Archives are mad at Trump AGAIN. Lindsey Graham makes another threat. And Fani Willis officially says she isn't postponing anything. (24:45) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Elon Musk wants America to have a dictator who'll kill everybody; The New York Times and Fox News share dishonors over Trump's Tuesday; and why do all these supposedly anti-pedophilia right wingers say such creepy things about kids and kids' characters and sex? Why did Ben Shapiro talk about Bert and Ernie wearing "assless chaps"? C-BLOCK (33:30) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: All the strikes are against 10-year old Slinky in the New York pound (35:00) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: The day in 1974 that I didn't go to Boston University because of...Howard Stern.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 227: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:43) SPECIAL COMMENT: Where is the enterprise, where is the daring, where is the simple nerve of Sophie Alexander, International Affairs producer for the UK’s SKY News. As Trump is doing the carefully staged man-of-the-people bit, the same act from the day he threw rolls of paper towels to the drowning residents of Puerto Rico, he hops into the Cuban hang-out The Versailles Bakery and all Sophie Alexander did was shout a question at Trump: are you ready to go to jail? “The emperor has no clothes.”  Put her in charge of CNN! Plus: "The Emperor Has No Clothes." No, not me. Congressman Don Bacon of Nebraska, as Trump was arrested for the second time in 70 days. “The espionage act has been used to go after traitors and spies.” Again – not me. Trump himself, last night, after prosecutors let him turn yesterday into one long campaign ad. “I certainly won’t support a convicted felon for the White House.” Also, not me. Republican Congressman Ken Buck of Colorado, Freedom Caucus member, signatory to the Texas Amicus Brief-Coup Attempt, who ten days ago said the investigations and the lawsuits and the arrests almost gave Trump credibility and he didn’t care and who yesterday changed sides. Like Nikki Haley and Tim Scott did. Like a trickle of other Republicans have. It may stop here. If it doesn’t, it may stop Trump. I hesitate to even HOPE that this is where enough of the G-O-P breaks to split the party but the last two days have shown what such a split would look like and it is along two simple fault lines: both conceits are wildly untrue but the Republicans think of themselves as the party of law and order, and the party of absolute prioritization of the military and what has been obvious to the rest of us for eight years is suddenly obvious to many in the GOP: Trump believes neither in law-and-order nor the military – Trump believes only in himself. What happens when it's The Troops...or The Trump? B-Block (23:11) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Tommy Tuberville doesn't show up, meaning Dick Durbin can bypass Tuberville's hold on Military Promotions, and Durbin says 'but that wouldn't be playing the game!' And Pat Sajak retires. Good! He's a schmuck! (28:48) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: MSNBC supplants Fox News atop the cable news ratings for the first time in 120 weeks. You're welcome. Vivek Ramaswamy tries to play the crowd at the Trump arraignment. And Doctor/Senator Bill Cassidy posts an umbrage selfie and makes a huge mistake. C-Block (33:40) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Puppy Simba, on death row at an insanely overcrowded New York pound (34:40) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: The day the president of MSNBC decided to try to chase me around the live studio while his pet project was debuting IN the live story and I had to figure out what to say when I called the cops to tell them he was threatening to kill me.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 226: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:42) SPECIAL COMMENT: In a normal world the criticisms were so milquetoast and so covered in caveats that they'd barely be noticed. In the context of the perpetual darkness of Donald Trump and the Coalition of Hatreds, they are bursts of sunlight. They inspired absolutely nobody, and it could all go away tomorrow as it has so many times before, but graded on degree of difficulty Nikki Haley and Tim Scott each gave The Gettysburg Address yesterday. SOMETHING has happened in the calculations of other Republicans regarding today’s indictment of Donald Trump. As it ridiculous as it might be Haley and Scott are running for the Republican nomination and that there have been calls on the right for them and everybody but Trump to drop out and endorse Trump as a way to show they believe in Trump. And instead, at an event where he announced the endorsement of 140 Republicans, Tim Scott instead said “This case is a serious case with serious allegations.” And while that squeak heard round the Trump-World was reverberating, Nikki Haley went on Fox and said if the indictment is “true...President Trump was incredibly reckless with our national security. More than that, I’m a military spouse, my husband’s about to deploy this weekend. This puts all of our military men and women in danger, if you talk about what our military is capable of, or how we would go about invading or doing something with one of our enemies. If that’s the case, it’s reckless, it’s frustrating and it causes problems.” In the time of terrified subservience, as if Trump were Shtalin with hemorrhoids, Nikki Haley accused Trump of being reckless with the national security and endangering the lives of military men and women and talking about our military plans to invade – or defend against – other countries. In other words, she said everything I said on this podcast yesterday. And all the things DEMOCRATS WON’T SAY. And she said them on Fox.  Tim Scott and Nikki Haley would be the LAST two I would’ve expected this from, and they did it on the same day, and they did it in what was for them very high profile venues and it means that they have completely re-calculated the equations. Each had slammed the indictments, unequivocally, last week. Haley and Scott didn’t grow consciences over the weekend. The scales did not fall from their eyes. Neither is smart enough to have figured this all out by themselves. They HAVE to seen internal polling, or heard dire assessments of what is behind the indictment, or gotten advice from people THEY know and people they think know, that this is the moment to turn on Trump. It could be something we don’t know about or it could be something The Wall Street Journal put up at noon yesterday. Headline: “Trump Needs White Suburban Women. His Indictment Splits Them. Key swing group could help decide who takes White House in 2024.”  SOMETHING has HAPPENED. B-Block (20:43) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Fox sues Tucker Carlson for damages. Damages? Have you SEEN his Twitter videos? And the Saudi purchase of the PGA Tour now has to get past a Senate investigation (24:44) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Josh Blackman, would-be Maureen Dowd replacement; The Guardian has bad news for Harmeet Dhillon; And the guy who nearly killed The Washington Post, Fred Ryan, quits to become the boss at the Center For Civility at The Ronald Reagan Foundation (that's a job that comes with 52 weeks of vacation a year). 29:32 THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: I played a clip of him a few weeks back, from a New York radio newscast we did together in 1980. He was the most talented person I ever worked with, and in the 40 years since nobody's come close. He was also the most mean-spirited, the most screwed up, and he met a tragic end. Will Spens, remembered.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 225: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:42) SPECIAL COMMENT:  Donald Trump has put the lives of tens of thousands of American service men and women at risk – all around the world – by stealing the documents. Donald Trump doesn’t give a damn if American troops live or die. Donald Trump HATES THE TROOPS. And why aren’t we hearing that? Bill Barr, The National Review, Governor Sununu, and The National Review blistered Trump. Scott Jennings, the rabid CNN conservative? Jennings hit a point that in normal times would have been enough for the Republicans to have already thrown Trump overboard, for all time? “If you had a son or a daughter who was serving…in a hostile place and you thought maybe their information was in a document that could have been picked off the friggin floor, do you know how this could impact a military family? The thing is when you’re commander in chief, you have this responsibility to the military and the people who serve. It’s sort of offensive to me actually that we would be so cavalier with the information that could possibly put our people in jeopardy.” And if there is anything more shocking than the number of anti-Trump statements ESPECIALLY from lawyers and from HIS lawyers – it is the fact that in normal times the Democrats would have taken the essence of Scott Jennings’ point: TRUMP PUT THE LIVES OF THOUSANDS OF AMERICAN SERVICE MEN AT RISK, and they would have hung that fact around the necks of not just Trump and everybody close to him, but around the necks of EVERY Republican who didn’t condemn him and the Democrats would be screaming “Why does Donald Trump hate the troops?” and “Why does Ron DeSantis hate the troops?” and “Why does Lindsey Graham hate the troops?” and if the POINT ITSELF wasn’t decisive enough, the Democrats could follow it up with the new CBS News poll that asks is there a national security risk if Trump kept nuclear and military documents and the answer was YES, Trump put the National Security at Risk, YES… from 38 percent OF REPUBLICANS. Why in the chorus of sheep bleating about Trump’s rights and Hillary Clinton this and weaponization that, are virtually ALL the dissenting voices… Republicans? Where are the Democrats? Where are the Democrats talking about the grave risk Trump was and is to National Security? Where are the Democrats demanding that he will be president again only over their dead bodies? Where are the Democrats saying no matter how this trial turns out, Trump definitely put American troops at risk for the sake of his ego, and he may have gotten American troops KILLED, and he may STILL get American troops KILLED? Where is the outrage? Axios reports the Democratic National Committee asked Democrats in the Committee to no-comment the indictment. The PRESIDENT is no-commenting the indictment. The entire hierarchy of the Democratic Party is staying off-stage because of some kind of nonsensical, 1975-notion that to speak out against Trump’s criminality and treachery and treason is to somehow grasp a third rail, that because if you speak up for truth and honesty and Americanism and you are a politician you have somehow POLITICIZED truth and honesty and Americanism. Mr. President, House Democrats, Senate Democrats, we elected you to stand up for the rule of law, against Trump. Proclaim it and exult in it. Your silence will be mistaken for weakness. Kick him when he's down - and sing the anthem while you do it. B-Block (20:05) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: How lucky is the Glenn Beck ally who confronted Brittney Griner in an airport? She could've snapped him in half. Conor McGregor TRIED to snap an NBA mascot in half. And Fox and Friends comic relief Brian Kilmeade thinks David Beckham had to learn English when he moved to America. (23:43) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Join me in celebrating the one year anniversary of Minet. C-Block (39:20) EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY: Troubadour in New York (40:30) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: Just last week a new doctor asked me if long ago I had fallen off a cliff or something and I had to explain to him - Yes! While filming a TV commercial! Doesn't everybody do that?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A SPECIAL TRUMP INDICTMENT WEEKEND EDITION; EPISODE 224: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:41) SPECIAL COMMENT: I am sorry only sorry the 37 counts in the indictment of Donald Trump is not a capital case. It is that bad, and he will remain a threat to every man, woman and child in this country as long as he lives. Worse yet, the running joke yesterday was Trump spilled all of our secrets - on the floor at Mar-a-Lago. How could all of the foreign spy organizations have NOT stolen them? How do we know they didn't? How can we be certain? “The classified documents Trump stored in his boxes included information regarding defense and weapons capabilities of both the United States and foreign countries,” reads the indictment. The next sentence is worse. Trump had documents detailing “United States nuclear programs.” There are references to a document about American nuclear weaponry and another about another country’s nuclear capacity. The next sentence is WORSE. He had “potential vulnerabilities of the United States and its allies to military attack.” The next sentence is WORSE. He had America’s “plans for possible retaliation to a FOREIGN attack.” All that keeps us safe from countries that still harbor dreams of attacking this country – North Korea, Russia, maybe China… all that could have ENABLED those countries to transform those dreams into battle plans… all of that, Donald Trump stole and kept. And kept near the club pool. And near the liquor supply closet. And other documents were kept in the bathroom, next to the toilet. It. Is. That. Bad. It is as bad as the Rosenbergs, as bad as the other nuclear spies of the 1950’s, as bad as Rick Ames and Robert Hannssen. It is, in fact, worse. B-Block (29:07) THE REST OF THIS PODCAST IS REPEATED FROM FRIDAY'S EDITION: Donald Trump has been indicted on seven charges and the foremost of them is  a violation of the Espionage Act, specifically designed to send to prison for ten years, someone who was legally allowed to possess UN-classified National Defense Information, but refused to return it to the proper government authorities. It's 18 US Code 793-D. It fits the allegations against Trump better than any of his suits. It erases all his stated defenses and excuses, like Trump’s belief he owned a magic wand of declassification, and a new one posited in just the last few days that he was the president so of COURSE he had the right to possess defense information. It describes a crime involving information that ISN’T classified, which the defendant at some point HAD the right to possess. Trump lawyer James Trusty says even he hasn’t even seen the actual indictment but only had broad strokes painted to him, and mentioned the Willful retention part of the Espionage Act (confirming 18 US Code 793-D), multiple charges about false statements, conspiracy, and quote “several obstruction-based charges” including witness tampering. At approximately 7 PM Eastern Daylight Time on Thursday June 8, 2023, his attorneys were informed by the Department of Justice by PHONE, and HE was informed by those attorneys, that Trump had been indicted in Miami on seven separate SEALED counts of criminal conduct none of them yet formally revealed to the public but clearly pertaining to the classified and defense documents he stole and kept in his home and office at Mar-a-Lago and reportedly including charges of Illegal Retention of National Defense Information, Conspiracy To Obstruct Justice, False Statements to government investigators. Seven counts. For context: the usual number of indictments for former presidents or current presidential candidates is… approximately… zero. CBS News is reporting that for all his bravado, Trump reacted to the indictments with anger because Trump had quote “people in his inner circle who reassured him for months that it was very unlikely to happen.” And this momentous day in history is capped by the worst home video ever recorded. It is a masterpiece of missteps. On the Rushmore of Rushed-Work. A new high in low. Trump posted it at 7:57, from his golf club in Bedminster New Jersey, he is standing in front of a large painting, seemingly depicting a White House office scene from the late 19th Century. Trump has been positioned directly under a spotlight of some kind so his Flock of Seagulls combover that he has honed to exactly his preferred shade of spray-on Gold Rust-O-Leum has been bleached white and it looks like a yarmulke that has slid forward towards his bright white eyebrows. He is also perfectly placed in front of the painting in such a way that a man shown standing in the painting now appears to be one foot tall and standing ON TRUMP'S SHOULDER. And were that not stupid enough, he is twirling his mustache like Snidely Whiplash just back from tying Sweet Nell to the train tracks. It's startlingly fitting.  C-Block (49:40) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: SCOTUS shocks with voting rights decision that could tip House to Democrats; Chris Licht is gone but so are CNN's ad revenues; We cross our 10 millionth download! (52:00) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Why bash Gene Simmons because he knows about the politics of Northern Ireland? You can still taste the air on the Atlantic seaboard but Fox will still mock it all. And OF COURSE George Santos's lawyer went to the Capitol on January 6th!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 223: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:42) SPECIAL COMMENT:  Donald Trump has been indicted on seven charges and the foremost of them is  a violation of the Espionage Act, specifically designed to send to prison for ten years, someone who was legally allowed to possess UN-classified National Defense Information, but refused to return it to the proper government authorities. It's 18 US Code 793-D. It fits the allegations against Trump better than any of his suits. It erases all his stated defenses and excuses, like Trump’s belief he owned a magic wand of declassification, and a new one posited in just the last few days that he was the president so of COURSE he had the right to possess defense information. It describes a crime involving information that ISN’T classified, which the defendant at some point HAD the right to possess. Trump lawyer James Trusty says even he hasn’t even seen the actual indictment but only had broad strokes painted to him, and mentioned the Willful retention part of the Espionage Act (confirming 18 US Code 793-D), multiple charges about false statements, conspiracy, and quote “several obstruction-based charges” including witness tampering. At approximately 7 PM Eastern Daylight Time on Thursday June 8, 2023, his attorneys were informed by the Department of Justice by PHONE, and HE was informed by those attorneys, that Trump had been indicted in Miami on seven separate SEALED counts of criminal conduct none of them yet formally revealed to the public but clearly pertaining to the classified and defense documents he stole and kept in his home and office at Mar-a-Lago and reportedly including charges of Illegal Retention of National Defense Information, Conspiracy To Obstruct Justice, False Statements to government investigators. Seven counts. For context: the usual number of indictments for former presidents or current presidential candidates is… approximately… zero. CBS News is reporting that for all his bravado, Trump reacted to the indictments with anger because Trump had quote “people in his inner circle who reassured him for months that it was very unlikely to happen.” And this momentous day in history is capped by the worst home video ever recorded. It is a masterpiece of missteps. On the Rushmore of Rushed-Work. A new high in low. Trump posted it at 7:57, from his golf club in Bedminster New Jersey, he is standing in front of a large painting, seemingly depicting a White House office scene from the late 19th Century. Trump has been positioned directly under a spotlight of some kind so his Flock of Seagulls combover that he has honed to exactly his preferred shade of spray-on Gold Rust-O-Leum has been bleached white and it looks like a yarmulke that has slid forward towards his bright white eyebrows. He is also perfectly placed in front of the painting in such a way that a man shown standing in the painting now appears to be one foot tall and standing ON TRUMP'S SHOULDER. And were that not stupid enough, he is twirling his mustache like Snidely Whiplash just back from tying Sweet Nell to the train tracks. It's startlingly fitting.  B-Block (22:00) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: SCOTUS shocks with voting rights decision that could tip House to Democrats; Chris Licht is gone but so are CNN's ad revenues; We cross our 10 millionth download! (25:00) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Why bash Gene Simmons because he knows about the politics of Northern Ireland? You can still taste the air on the Atlantic seaboard but Fox will still mock it all. And OF COURSE George Santos's lawyer went to the Capitol on January 6th! C-Block (32:00) FRIDAYS WITH THURBER: Some James Thurber stories are funny and some are poignant and some are supernatural. But some also have plots worthy of Arthur Conan Doyle writing Sherlock Holmes. And such a one is "The Catbird Seat."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 222: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:42) SPECIAL COMMENT: The White House correspondent for the UK newspaper “The Independent” Andrew Feinberg reports that Special Counsel Jack Smith will ask his Washington grand jury to indict Donald Trump for violating the Espionage Act and for obstructing justice – no later than a week FROM today and as early as today. The Independent also reports that Smith has been RATHER clever. The anticipated indictment of Trump about the stolen documents will be for violating 18 US Code 793, Gathering, Transmitting or Losing Defense Information, a part of that does NOT require that any actual documents in question to be CLASSIFIED, but merely that there is defense information involved and the accused stole it or told others about it or lost it. That in turn means that the cornerstone of Trump’s defense: a president can declassify whatever he wants, he doesn’t have to tell anybody he’s done it, he just does it by thinking about it with his superior mind – is irrelevant. Classified, shmassified. Those guilty of doing it “shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years or both” The timing caveat, quoting The Independent:” It is understood that prosecutors intend to ask grand jurors to vote on the indictment on Thursday but that vote could be delayed as much as a week until the next meeting of the grand jury to allow for a complete presentation of evidence, or to allow investigators to gather more evidence for presentation if necessary” unquote. The caveat from a news consumer’s P-O-V should be: as of recording time, there is no separate reporting confirming what The Independent published. However, The Guardian says Trump’s lawyers were told LAST WEEK by Smith’s office that he is a prosecutorial target on the stolen documents and obstruction of justice. The New York Times says Trump’s legal team was notified he is the target on the HANDLING of the documents, but no idea when. ABC, CNN and Politico report the lawyers were sent a target letter.  The Times adds “Aides and advisers to Mr. Trump spent the day in a state of high tension.” I BET THEY DID. The Trump response to all of this, on social media: “No one has told ME I’m being indicted.” The felon is always the last to know! B-Block (13:37) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: CNN fired Chris Licht - at dawn - in Central Park - explains what caused all the damn SMOKE here. He was fired for being a schmuck. He should've been fired for not understanding that the cable news "middle" he pursued doesn't exist, will never exist, hasn't existed for 25 years. Journalism and "advocacy" and profits can all be made. You just have to be what he wasn't: Good At It. C-Block (29:40) UPDATE: Fox is telling Tucker Carlson he can't DO a "series" on Twitter. They have a contract with him, he can't create video content for any rivals, and they're right. Besides, Episode 1 revealed his awful secret: Tucker Carlson sucks  at just staring at a camera and yammering. Take the cash, Tuckson (30:40) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: I've been talking about Chris Licht since August 19 of last year - the 15th episode in this series. I want you to listen what I said then, the day after he cancelled the network's only show that recognized the threat to democracy that was Fox News and its imitators.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

EPISODE 221: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:40) SPECIAL COMMENT: The UK newspaper "The Independent" reports Trump may be indicted as early as tomorrow for violations of the Espionage Act, specifically 18 U-S Code 793, Gathering, Transmitting or Losing Defense Information, a part of the act that does NOT require the actual documents in question to be CLASSIFIED – a deliberate choice by prosecutors, a strategic one, which thus completely ERASES Trump’s defense that whatever he stole, he had somehow DE-classified it by blinking three times in succession or throwing ketchup at a particular White House wall. Those guilty of violations of 18 U-S Code 793, quote, “shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years or both” and the Independent Counsel’s Grand Jury will be asked to vote an indictment against Trump for violating 793 as early as TOMORROW, with the caveat that “that vote could be delayed as much as a week until the next meeting of the grand jury to allow for a complete presentation of evidence, or to allow investigators to gather more evidence for presentation if necessary” unquote. “The Independent” reports emphasizes that an indictment on ONE charge from 18 U-S Code 793 is far from all of it – that Trump may also be indicted on OTHER counts within the Espionage Age umbrella, AND potentially for Obstruction of Justice, AND that Jack Smith’s mysterious FLORIDA Grand Jury is still operating and further indictments could emanate from there. The Washington Post in fact reports that the BULK of indictments could come from the Miami Grand Jury, which could give us a scenario in which there is ONE indictment in Washington tomorrow or next week, and many more from Florida in the weeks to come. The Independent’s White House correspondent Andrew Feinberg adds that Mark Meadows DID flip, so, told you so. Quote: “It is understood that the former North Carolina congressman testified as part of a deal for which he has already received limited immunity in exchange for his testimony. A source who was briefed on the agreement claimed that the alleged agreement will involve the ex-chief of staff entering pleas of guilty to unspecified federal crimes.” The Independent says Meadows attorney George Terwilliger said the guilty plea story is quote “complete bull(spit)”but would NOT answer questions about immunity or testimony. B-Block (8:47) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: CNN fired Chris Licht - at dawn - in Central Park - explains what caused all the damn SMOKE here. He was fired for being a schmuck. He should've been fired for not understanding that the cable news "middle" he pursued doesn't exist, will never exist, hasn't existed for 25 years. Journalism and "advocacy" and profits can all be made. You just have to be what he wasn't: Good At It. (18:50) NOTE: The remainder of this bulletin is from Wednesday's original podcast: Mark Meadows has flipped. There’s no other possible conclusion. The news has been coming for weeks. Per ABC, Meadows testified to the Jack Smith Election Grand Jury and to the Jack Smith Documents Grand Jury. And 20 members of the Trump Secret Service detail - past or present - have been subpoenaed to testify in Washington, while we begin to see what the third Smith Grand Jury in Miami is all about and how it might but Trump on trial there and not Washington. And this all explains both why Bloomberg reports "Trump representatives in recent weeks have asked for recommendations of Washington-based counsel with trial experience…” and why Trump returned yesterday to stochastic terrorism. He made social media posts demanding that his thugs "fight" to prevent his indictment, just as he told the crowd on the Ellipse in Washington on January 6 to "fight" the certification. Dismiss Trump and his animal-like cunning and destructive skill at your peril and OUR peril. What you think you see in him is as bad as you think it is. Or worse. Always. Always. On January 6th. Yesterday. The Truth Social posts were made in hopes of getting somebody to attack Jack Smith or Merrick Garland or someone. The Trump thinking is not complex: "This other creature is in my way. Destroy this other creature." B-Block (38:20) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Chris Licht does it again! ANOTHER presidential town hall - and how you can get one. And when is the parade for CNN Media Reporter Oliver Darcy and will he be riding in the front car or in the metaphorical hearse in the back? (21:29) IN SPORTS: Don't delude yourself. The PGA golf tour did not "merge" with LIV Golf. It sold itself to the Saudis, after a year of talking about Saudi blood money. It's despicable and it will either be prevented, or it will destroy the sport in the country. And Jacob deGrom is probably out of baseball until Opening Day 2025. Who didn't see that coming? (26:59) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: It's condescending, proselytizing Harris Faulkner of Fox - and her pronouns are D,U,M,B.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.