{"id":42605,"date":"2021-01-25T11:19:34","date_gmt":"2021-01-25T19:19:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=42605"},"modified":"2021-01-25T11:19:34","modified_gmt":"2021-01-25T19:19:34","slug":"open-thread-1-25-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2021\/01\/25\/open-thread-1-25-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread – 1\/25\/2021"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s a tired\/painful day here in the CatBox.  Due to Republicitis, I plugged the toilet so bad that it won’t plunge, and I had to call Maintenance to come snake it.  They should be here around lunch time.  Dang that’s embarrassing!  My Video Meeting yesterday turned out to be with volunteers only, but it was still a good time.  Yesterday, I was disappointed that Tampa Bay beat Green Bay.  I don’t like Tom Brady.  He deflates his balls and lives Trump**.  However, both my Chiefs and Nameless’ Chiefs won.  WWWendy is coming this evening.  Since Trump** is out, Oh Wow!  It’s Monday.<\/font><\/p>\n

Jig Zone Puzzle<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

Today’s took me 3:06 (average 5:28).  To do it, click here<\/a>.  How did you do?<\/font><\/p>\n

Cartoon<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

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Short Takes<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

From Crooks and Liars<\/a>: <\/font>It\u2019s no shock that both the campaign and the officials on the permit are all trying to erase their connections. From AP<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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In a statement, the president\u2019s reelection campaign said it \u201cdid not organize, operate or finance the event.\u201d No campaign staff members were involved in the organization or operation of the rally, according to the statement. It said that if any former employees or independent contractors for the campaign took part, \u201cthey did not do so at the direction of the Trump campaign.\u201d <\/p>\n

At least one was working for the Trump campaign this month. Megan Powers was listed as one of two operations managers for the Jan. 6 event, and her LinkedIn profile says she was the Trump campaign\u2019s director of operations into January 2021. She did not respond to a message seeking comment. <\/p>\n

The AP\u2019s review found at least three of the Trump campaign aides named on the permit rushed to obscure their connections to the demonstration. They deactivated or locked down their social media profiles, removed tweets that referenced the rally and blocked a reporter who asked questions.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cShell companies and \u2018dark money\u2019 may hide details of Trump ties to DC protests,\u201d OpenSecrets.org<\/a> reports. But not all. For example, Open Secrets found that Powers was paid about $290,000 by Trump\u2019s campaign while on its payroll from February 2019 through at least November 2020, according to FEC records.<\/p>\n