The Judge declared a mistrial in the Bill Cosby trial today. I think it was the right call, given the inconsistencies in the accuser's testimony:

The defense seized on inconsistencies in the version of events Ms. Constand gave when she went to the police the next year, and statements she made later on: She said the assault took place in March 2004, after dinner at a restaurant, then said it occurred earlier, unconnected to the restaurant outing; she said the incident had been the first time she had been alone with Mr. Cosby in his home, then said it was the third time, and that she had rebuffed his sexual advances the first two times; she said she had minimal communication with him after the incident, then acknowledged many contacts.

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Three weeks ago I wrote that Talkleft's 15th birthday is coming up and I was weighing whether to keep blogging. TalkLeft's official birthday is today: I launched this blog on June 15, 2002-- and have written on it almost every day since then.

Thanks to the many kind responses (and several donations) I received, I've decided to keep going. I think there is a lot to talk about, and that these are such scary times, we all need a place to vent.

I also want to thank every one who has taken the time to read a page, post a comment, given us a news tip, linked to TalkLeft, donated dollars and befriended us.

If you missed donating a few weeks ago, and appreciate Talkleft's longstanding and continued existence, and the effort that goes into my researching and writing, or just want to buy me a birthday drink, donations are very much appreciated. [More...]

While James Comey had not been investigating Donald Trump personally, according to the Washington Post, Trump is a subject of Robert Mueller's investigation -- which now includes the firing of James Comey.

Daniel Coats, the current director of national intelligence, Mike Rogers, head of the National Security Agency, and Rogers’s recently departed deputy, Richard Ledgett, agreed to be interviewed by Mueller’s investigators as early as this week. The investigation has been cloaked in secrecy, and it is unclear how many others have been questioned by the FBI.

The Washington Post does not say the FBI is the source of the information. It just says "Five people briefed on the interview requests, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly" provided the information."

Trump is now fielding questions to his personal lawyer, Mark Kasowitz, who in turn, refers them to his publicist/crisis manager, Mark Corallo. Where have we heard Corallo's name before? In the Valerie Plame investigation -- he was the spokesman for Karl Rove's lawyer, Robert Luskin.[More...]

Bill Cosby's jury told the judge today they are deadlocked. He told them to keep deliberating, and gave the Allen (dynamite) charge.

I just heard a recap from CNN's reporter and I can certainly understand why the jury hung. From CNN (no link due to autoplay video):

The jury -- which has deliberated for about 31 hours in all -- is made up of four white women, six white men, one black woman and one black man. They were bused in from Allegheny County near Pittsburgh and have been sequestered in a hotel for the trial.

Jeff Sessions will begin testifying soon. I'll be at the jail, but will try to listen on the car radio.
Here's a place to discuss it.

Rod Rosenstein testified this morning and stated only he can fire Mueller. And he would not do so without a good reason. I didn't believe the rumor to begin with-- considering the sources.

Sorry about the lack of blogging this weekend. I just don't feel like writing when all the news is about Trump. And I had more important things to do. Like try and find this pair of sunglasses worn by actress Kate del Castillo. I spent hours online trying to match and find them and couldn't. I ended up going to my local optical shop and buying these, which while different, I really like. [More...]

As of this moment, and of course subject to change (as is everything with the Trump Administration), Jefferson Sessions will testify publicly tomorrow about Russia.

Unfortunately, Senators want to ask him about the one meeting that probably wasn't a meeting, and he'll come out looking okay.

Members of the committee are likely to ask Sessions about a possible third undisclosed meeting that is now under investigation, according to media reports.

There was a meet and greet at the foreign policy speech in April 2016. There are photos of both of them. But according to most people, including the event host, there was just a meet and greet:

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the freeze on Trump's travel ban.

A West Coast federal appeals court upheld the freeze on President Trump’s travel ban Monday, declaring that Trump had exceeded his lawful authority in suspending the issuance of visas to residents of six Muslim majority countries and suspending the U.S. refu­gee program.

...Unlike other courts in the past, the three judges on the 9th Circuit did not dwell on Trump’s public comments. Instead, they ruled that Trump’s travel ban lacked a sufficient national security or other justification that would make it legal.

Trump will probably turn more effort to packing the courts with conservative judges. Rather, he'll let the Federalist Society do the picking. I doubt he'd know how to pick a judge on his own.

I just read that Apple's next Safari browser upgrade will block auto-play videos. It can't come fast enough.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Here's the transcript of the testimony so far.

Sounds like he said he believes Trump is a liar, and that he directed him to drop the Flynn investigation, but he can't say whether Trump committed obstruction of justice.

Was there a smoking gun in his testimony? Not from the news coverage I've seen.

ISIS claimed credit for today's dual attacks inside the Iranian Parliament and at the mausoleum of Imam Khomeini, the late founder of the Islamic Republic, which killed 12 people and wounded dozens. ISIS's affiliated news agency A'maq posted a short 25 second clip showing one person dead inside parliament.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said:

"The Iranian people are moving forward, and today’s fumbling with firecrackers will not affect the will-power of the people. Everyone must realize this, the terrorists are too small to affect the will of the Iranian people and the authorities'. This also reveals that if the Islamic Republic had not resisted, at the center of all this conspiracy, we would have had much more trouble of this sort in the country. God willing, they will "bite the dust."

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Here is James Comey's prepared testimony on Trump and Russia. The New York Times has this description.

Trump says Comey's statement vindicates him because it confirms he assured Trump he wasn't personally under investigation.

I don't think that's the issue. The issue is whether he interfered or attempted to interfere in a criminal investigation. There's enough in Comey's statement to show he attempted to interfere with the investigation into Mike Flynn. Comey makes it clear he understood Trump to be requesting the FBI drop the investigation. Is it a smoking gun? No. But it is another loose brick in the wall of the House of Trump, the foundation of which crumbles a bit more every day. [More...]