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Chris Christie's former ally and aide were convicted in Bridgegate.

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William E. Baroni Jr., the former deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and Bridget Kelly, Christie’s former deputy chief of staff for legislative and intergovernmental affairs, were both convicted of all the counts against them, the U.S. attorney’s office in New Jersey said.

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During the trial, the defense for Kelly and Baroni tried to pitch them as Christie’s scapegoats. Prosecutors described them as the governor’s “loyal lieutenants” intent on helping their boss run for president.

Bridget Kelly testified Christie knew about it.
[More...]

Thank you President Obama. Another 72 inmates received commutations of their sentences today, bringing his 8 day total to 172 and !

President Obama on Friday commuted the sentences of 72 inmates, the latest sign he is accelerating his clemency push during his final months in office.

It was the second time in the past eight days the White House announced that a large group of people, most convicted of nonviolent drug offenses, would be released from federal prison. The two batches totaled 170 inmates.

In total, 944 people have had their sentences cut short by Obama — more than the last 11 presidents combined — with 760 receiving commutations this year alone.

Please keep them coming!

I am just getting back from long jail day and have not seen or listened to any news. Traffic was just abysmal everywhere.

This weekend it will be worse. Streets around me will closed Sunday while they move a museum to the neighborhood. They are even expecting crowds:

Public viewing areas will be located along the route on Broadway, 11th Avenue, 13th Avenue and Bannock Street.

I'm also following my own advice and not reading any more so called news about the election or email investigations.

On comments: If I find any name-calling or insults among commenters, those commenters are going into time out until after the election. Either be polite to each other, don't respond to each other, or get lost. I'm not going to wade through threads of insults.

Remember to vote. This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Bernie Sanders campaigned with Hillary today. So did Pharrell Williams.

Sanders also made the case for a Clinton presidency, saying she would raise the minimum wage, reverse the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, advocate for equal pay for women and paid family leave and take steps to address global warming. He warned Trump would throw 20 million people off health insurance by repealing Obamacare and said Trump's campaign has been built around “bigotry.”

Pharrell Williams talked a lot about women. But I was more interested in this:

During his remarks, Williams said Clinton has made a “personal commitment” to him to fix certain “wrongs,” including a 1994 crime bill that’s led to the mass incarceration of African American males. “This country hasn’t always been fair to all people,” he said. “But I think Hillary’s gonna help fix these wrongs,” said Williams.

I have no Trump news to report. Mrs T used a line in her anti-bullying speech today that has only been used by one other person -- Marla Maples in 2011. "I believed if you could dream it you could become it." The concept is hardly original to either of them, but the only people to use those exact words are M & M. (Yes, it's hard to believe anyone would find either of them readable, let alone quotable.)

The teenager from Gaston County, North Carolina who is the subject of the latest Anthony Weiner sexting investigation is very unhappy with James Comey's recent letter to Congress about emails. She has provided Buzzfeed with an open letter to Comey. The full letter is here.

I am the 15-year-old (now 16) who was the victim of Anthony Weiner. I now add you to the list of people who have victimized me. I told my story originally to protect other young girls that might be a victim of online predators.

...In his “cooperation” with you and with his love of the spotlight, Anthony Weiner has given information that led to the media finding me. You have assisted him in further victimizing me on every news outlet. I can only assume that you saw an opportunity for political propaganda.

[More...]

At a campaign rally over the weekend, Donald Trump asked people to vote for him, saying "What do you have to lose?"

It would take a book to answer that question. Shorter version: It's a suicide mission for America.

But let's just start with something simple, like how Donald Trump left Atlantic City when he was done with it. [More...]

Variety Magazine made it's first endorsement of a presidential candidate today. Here's what it said about Trump:

Donald Trump lacks the experience, knowledge, and diplomacy to hold public office. His run for the presidency can be viewed as nothing more than a ploy to land another TV deal or launch a new cable channel so he can continue spewing his sexist, racist views. (Variety frequently writes about how sexism and racism run rampant in Hollywood, publishing such stories as a way to keep shining a light on the inequities that oddly still exist in a business that is largely liberal.)

Trump has a long history of disrespect for and objectification of women. ...As for Trump’s .... views, we’re talking about a man who wants to build a wall to block immigration and expel all Muslims and undocumented immigrants (whom he dubbed “bad hombres”) in our country.

New polls are probably meaningless since more than 22 million have already voted. But, the latest stats as of 8 minutes ago show Hillary has a 72% chance of winning and will likely get 304 electoral votes.

Kelly Ann Conway on CNBC this morning (video here, at 2'10" in) was asked about the child rape civil lawsuit pending against Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein in the Southern District of New York. (Case No. 16-cv-07673-RA, Doe v. Trump et al.) The case is set for a scheduling conference on December 16. (Order here.) Trump has not yet been served with the lawsuit, which was amended on Sept 30, added a claim of defamation and libel to the rape allegations and an additional witness affidavit. Conway's bizarre response:

“Oh, come on,” Conway gasped. “That you would analogize the two. Give me a break.”...“That’s such a ridiculous conflation,” Conway remarked. “To just throw the rape word in there when we’ve got 650,000 emails based on an active investigation of Huma Abedin’s pedophilia husband because he’s sexting pictures of himself to some 15-year-old girl in North Carolina, I think that’s just ridiculous.”

So according to Conway, Weiner sexting and Huma's emails are a more serious matter than a forcible rape claim by a then 13 year old girl brought in federal court, where she is represented by two lawyers and her complaint is supported by two witness affidavits, one of whom claims to be an eyewitness to the rape and the other says she was told about it at the time.

This is not about whether the claims are true -- of course, allegations in a civil lawsuit, just like allegations in an Indictment, are not proof. They are mere allegations. Trump is entitled to the presumption of innocence, even on civil allegations. Clearly he should not be presumed guilty. [More...]

"If you got a warrant, I guess you got to come in"

A law enforcement source tells the AP the FBI now has a warrant for Huma Abedin's emails on a computer seized in her husband's sexting investigation.

There are differing accounts in every major news publication about why the FBI wants to look at Huma's emails. None are reliable, all are anonymous leaks.

What is clear is that FBI director James Comey has torpedoed his legacy and the reputation of the F.B.I. See this article by former Deputy Attorney Generals Jamie Gorelick (under Clinton) and Larry Thompson (under Bush) opining Comey has damaged our democracy:[More...]

Via Reuters:

Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton leads Republican Donald Trump by 15 percentage points among early voters surveyed in the past two weeks, according to the Reuters/Ipsos States of the Nation project.

Though data is not available for all early voting states, Clinton enjoys an edge in swing states such as Ohio and Arizona and in Republican Party strongholds such as Georgia and Texas.

According to University of Florida’s United States Election Project, 19 million voters have already cast their ballots -- that's 20% of the electorate.

According to the State of the Nation polling results released Saturday, on Thursday Hillary had a 95% chance of winning the electoral college votes.

As to the qualities of good temperament and judgment expected of the next Commander in Chief and leader of the free world, comparing the FBI's nebulous reference to any potential significance of emails recently found on the Wiener/Abedin home computing devices, to the dozen or more allegations by various women of inappropriate sexual overtures and/or contact against Donald Trump, is like comparing the flu to AIDS.

A female Trump supporter in Iowa has been charged with election fraud for voting for Trump twice.

The fire on the American Airlines 767 at O'Hare is really scary. How did they get all those people (and a dog) off the plane in one minute?

In Syria news: The so called "moderate rebels" teamed up with the Al Qaida linked jihadists from Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (formerly Nusra) in yesterday's Aleppo assaults. The U.S. media just wants to talk about the wonderful moderate rebels. What a joke. How is JFS less a threat to the West than ISIS? It isn't. Earlier this month, there were reports JFS is readying attacks on the West.

This is an open thread, all topics (besides Hillary's emails and Comey) welcome.

The Trump Campaign is expending its last gasp for life on Anthony Wiener and his wife. How pathetic, but typical.

I've spent the last day reading the FBI 350 page report on the emails and supporting documents like the FBI 302 of Huma Abedin's and Hillary Clinton's interviews, the transcripts of Comey's hours of testimony before the House Oversight Committee, and all the depositions(including Huma Abedin's) at Judicial Watch.

I don't know how many times you can say "There's nothing there." [More...]

I don't know where the week flew away to, it just did. I've got more jail visits this morning and afternoon, and since we can't use phones or internet once inside, it will be dinnertime before I get back to a computer.

I hope Donald Trump implodes and says some more ridiculous things. I'm really looking forward to never seeing his face on TV again.

When I get some time, I'd like to figure out what's happening with El Chapo and ISIS. If I do, I'll write it up soon.

Chema Venegas -- the thorn in the side of Lord of the Skies -- gets his own show on Telemundo around January. It's now filming. I'll be so glad when the cop shows like Narcos and Bloque del Busqada are done. El Principe was the best series I've seen all year. Even the cops and drug dealers were good guys (but not the crooked Intelligence agents (think equivalent of our CIA). Sad though that all the good people died at the end -- In Principe, there is only salt water -- tears of the sea.

It's still airing on Unimas on Demand and Hulu with subtitles if you missed it.

Other than that, I only watch James Corden and Action Bronson (F*ck That's Delicious) these days. James remains the happiest guy on TV and I get happy just watching him. I wasn't wild about Lady Gag's carpool karaoke, but I did like seeing her spend the hour in the band pit with Reggie Watts. That was a good place for her. She tried to do the monologue for James, but it fell flat. [More...]

I know all you folks love Joe Biden. I don