I have seen the phrase “politically motivated” ever since I can remember. The most recent is here:

New York Attorney General Letitia James has been indicted on charges of bank fraud and false statements by a federal grand jury in Virginia. The indictment follows allegations related to a 2023 mortgage application and comes amid accusations of political retribution by President Donald Trump’s administration, which has faced criticism for targeting political opponents. James, who previously won a high-profile civil fraud case against Trump, denies the charges and claims they are part of a politically motivated campaign.

I get it, as Copilot pointed out to me:

if someone committed a crime, prosecution should follow. But the claim of political motivation isn’t always about denying the act—it’s about challenging the fairness, consistency, or intent behind the prosecution. In democracies, that challenge is part of the system’s self-correction mechanism.

But that isn’t the way I see it being used. It is used as an absolute defense. As in if the investigation or prosecution generates political advantage for some person in power, then there is nothing further to discuss. The investigation/prosecution should be halted.

Do people really believe that? Am I misreading the implications of its use? Is it just a “hail Mary” type of play when they are desperate to avoid the consequences of their crimes?

And, for the record, I am of the opinion that all government employees should be investigated and prosecuted for every hint of criminal or civil wrongdoing. They should be held to a much higher standard than people in private life.

As I expected, the number of data points and the error bands are narrowing with each passing day:

‘I had enough of his hatred’: Charlie Kirk suspect’s texts with roommate shed light on motive

Prosecutors shared new details about the attack in an information document – a formal accusation filed by a prosecutor – including the alleged text exchanges between Robinson and his roommate, which shed light on a possible motive.

On September 10, the roommate received a text from Robinson which said, “drop what you are doing, look under my keyboard,” according to the documents.

The note allegedly stated: “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.”

Prosecutors shared the following text exchange that allegedly took place:

After reading the note, the roommate replied: “What?????????????? You’re joking, right????”

Robinson: I am still ok my love, but am stuck in orem for a little while longer yet. Shouldn’t be long until I can come home, but I gotta grab my rifle still. To be honest I had hoped to keep this secret till I died of old age. I am sorry to involve you.

Roommate: you weren’t the one who did it right????

Robinson: I am, I’m sorry

Roommate: I thought they caught the person?

Robinson: no, they grabbed some crazy old dude, then interrogated someone in similar clothing. I had planned to grab my rifle from my drop point shortly after, but most of that side of town got locked down. Its quiet, almost enough to get out, but theres one vehicle lingering.

Roommate: Why?

Robinson: Why did I do it?

Roommate: Yeah

Robinson: I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out. If I am able to grab my rifle unseen, I will have left no evidence. Going to attempt to retrieve it again, hopefully they have moved on. I haven’t seen anything about them finding it.

Roommate: How long have you been planning this?

Robinson: a bit over a week I believe. I can get close to it but there is a squad car parked right by it. I think they already swept that spot, but I don’t wanna chance it

Robinson: I’m wishing I had circled back and grabbed it as soon as I got to my vehicle. … I’m worried what my old man would do if I didn’t bring back grandpas rifle … idek if it had a serial number, but it wouldn’t trace to me. I worry about prints I had to leave it in a bush where I changed outfits. didn’t have the ability or time to bring it with. … I might have to abandon it and hope they don’t find prints. how the f*** will I explain losing it to my old man. …only thing I left was the rifle wrapped in a towel. … remember how I was engraving bullets? The f***in messages are mostly a big meme, if I see “notices bulge uwu” on fox new I might have a stroke alright im gonna have to leave it, that really f***ing sucks. …judging from today I’d say grandpas gun does just fine idk. I think that was a $2k scope ;-;

Robinson: delete this exchange

Robinson: my dad wants photos of the rifle … he says grandpa wants to know who has what, the feds released a photo of the rifle, and it is very unique. Hes calling me rn, not answering.

Robinson: since trump got into office [my dad] has been pretty diehard maga.

Robinson: Im gonna turn myself in willingly, one of my neighbors here is a deputy for the sheriff.

Robinson: you are all I worry about love

Roommate: I’m much more worried about you

Robinson: don’t talk to the media please. don’t take any interviews or make any comments. … if any police ask you questions ask for a lawyer and stay silent

The information document provides the most insight into the suspect’s alleged motive yet, and details how Robinson had “started to lean to the left,” according to his mother.

His mom told investigators that Robinson had become “more pro-gay and trans-rights orientated” in recent years and that he had began to date his roommate, “a biological male who was transitioning genders,” the document states.

It resulted in “discussions” with family members, “especially between Robinson and his father, who have very different political views.”

“In one conversation before the shooting, Robinson mentioned that Charlie Kirk would be holding an event at UVU, which Robinson said was a ‘stupid venue’ for the event,” the document states. “Robinson accused Kirk of spreading hate.”

As a manhunt was underway, Robinson’s parents recognized their son in the surveillance images circulated by the FBI. The suspect’s father believed the rifle used in the shooting matched a weapon that was given to his son as a gift.

He texted his son and asked him to send him a photo of the rifle, the document said. When Robinson did not respond, his father spoke to him over the phone where his son allegedly “implied that he planned to take his own life.”

His parents persuaded their son to meet at their home, where “Robinson implied he was the shooter and stated that he couldn’t go to jail and just wanted to end it,” prosecutors allege.

“When asked why he did it, Robinson explained there is too much evil and the guy [Charlie Kirk] spreads too much hate,” the document states.

“Too much evil and …. too much hate”? That is an interesting claim from Robinson. I have not spent more than a minute or two of listening to and/or reading Kirk’s works. But the evidence clearly shows Robinson has the unsurmountable lead on evil and hate in the Kirk v. Robinson contest.

Projection and insults is the best they have so it is not surprising as they are losing political power, they crank the dial up on the only tools they know how to use.

I would like to think that the error bands are tightening on the range of viable conspiracy theories. But my experience is the crazies can always escape the constraints of reality.

Via Andy Ngo:

Charlie Kirk Assassin Suspect Appears to Have Killed for Antifa, Confirmed Rifle Cartridge Messages Show

At a Friday morning press conference announcing the arrest of 22-year-old Tyler Robinson in the assassination of Charlie Kirk, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox revealed new details about evidence collected at the scene of the shooting.

There had been confusion after the New York Times cited an unnamed law enforcement source countering reporting by The Wall Street Journal and Steven Crowder (via his ATF source) about Antifa and trans phrases on rifle cartridges. Gov. Cox’s remarks now confirm that Antifa phrases were indeed found.

According to Cox, one cartridge was inscribed with: “Hey fascist! Catch!” Another read: “Oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao.”

…

The governor noted that other casings read: “If you read this you are gay lmao” and “Notices, bulges OWO what’s this?” The latter appears to be a reference to a furry online meme.

Cox’s clarification narrows the speculation: the casings bear clear Antifa references but, at this stage, do not appear to contain any direct mention of trans ideology.

Via MSN:

Tyler Robinson, 22, facing capital murder and weapons charges: Details emerge about alleged Charlie Kirk assassin

A suspect in the assassination of conservative activist and close Trump ally Charlie Kirk has been identified as 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox announced on Friday.

“We got him,” Cox said at a news conference to announce the arrest of Robinson who was taken into custody Thursday on suspicion of capital murder, weapons and obstruction offenses.

…

The suspect is said to be listed as politically “unaffiliated,” although both his parents are believed to be Republicans.

Cox said the suspect arrived on the campus of Utah Valley University on Wednesday at 8:29 a.m. in a gray Dodge Challenger. He was wearing a plain maroon t-shirt, light shorts, and a black hat with a white logo, as seen in surveillance videos. He wore the same clothes when he was arrested on Thursday night.

Robinson was not a student at the Utah Valley University, where the shooting happened.

“He was living, and had lived for a long time, with his family in Washington County,” Cox said.

Utah voting information seen by The Independent shows his voter status is “inactive,” meaning he has not voted in the last two general elections or responded to notices sent by a county clerk. His party affiliation is listed as “unaffiliated.”

However, family members said Robinson had become “more political in recent years,” expressed negative views of Kirk and told family members he believed the Turning Point USA founder was “full of hate and spreading hate,” Cox said.

He revealed that the family member told investigators that at a recent family dinner, Robinson had mentioned Kirk’s upcoming Utah Valley event, and “they talked about why they didn’t like him and the viewpoints that he had.”

After the shooting, Cox said Robinson’s father recognized his son in photos that law enforcement released and reached out to a family friend, who happened to be a minster, to encourage Robinson to turn himself in.

My hope is this will end the tiresome speculation I have been reading in various places. It was obvious to me there was far too little information to make nearly all the conclusions asserted.

Years ago, I decided I did not have the time to correct everyone on the Internet, or even in the comments to my blog, that is wrong. Yes, many speculations were decent hypothesis, but as one of my physics professors once said, “We need lots of data with narrow error bands or else the theorists will drive trucks through them.” Decades later I still remember the three data points with error bands on the blackboard and the set of squiggly lines he drew through them.

We now have many more data points with much tighter error bands. The set of squiggly lines than can be fit through those error bands just became far fewer in number and significantly less squiggly.

But, as I have come to discover, people will vehemently believe what they want to believe. Or, as Paul Simon sang:

All lies and jest, still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.

<heavy sigh>

This will be interesting:

Epstein Files Drop: The Left’s Trump Smear Campaign Just Collapsed – PJ Media

Democrats and Republicans have spent weeks demanding the release of the Epstein files. Well, now they’ve got them. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer confirmed that the long-awaited document dump is officially underway, pledging unprecedented transparency and accountability.

“Just to give a quick update: I think everyone knows who we’ve subpoenaed thus far in the initial batch,” Comer said. “We subpoenaed six former Attorneys General as well as Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton.”

Comer confirmed that the scope has since expanded to include former Labor Secretary Alex Acosta, who oversaw a controversial plea deal for Epstein years ago. “Acosta is coming in, I believe, September the 16th or 19th,” Comer said. “We’ve got that date down. I know that we’ll have a lot of questions for him with respect to an earlier Epstein prosecution that he was involved in when he was U.S. Attorney.”

The chairman also revealed that tens of thousands of pages of records are now in the committee’s possession. “We have the documents — the initial batch that had been sent by the White House. As you know, we also subpoenaed Pam Bondi for those documents. The White House is working with us — I want to publicly thank the White House for turning over so many documents thus far,” he explained.

“We’re in the process of uploading those documents for full transparency, so everyone in America can see them,” Comer said. “As quick as we can get them uploaded — as the Speaker said, there are 34,000 pages — we’re doing everything we can to get those uploaded. We want those to be public as soon as possible.”

I expect there are going to be a lot of people disappointed their most hated politician is not going to be caught with their pants down and a swarm of underage kids in bed with them.

And, furthermore, I expect some of those same people will claim the documents were “cleaned up.” It is just the way these things go. People are never satisfied with the evidence when they have had a lot of time to speculate. Of course, they could be right. And after all this time it will be virtually impossible to conclusively prove them wrong.

Via The Atlas Society @TheAtlasSociety:

This may not end well:

Israel strike live updates: Israel launches dozens of strikes in Iran, IDF says

Early Friday morning, local time, Israel launched dozens of strikes against Iran and declared a state of emergency, according to Defense Minister Israel Katz.

“Following the State of Israel’s preemptive strike against Iran, a missile and drone attack against the State of Israel and its civilian population is expected in the immediate future,” Katz said in a statement.

See also: US says it was not involved in Israel’s military strikes in Iran and Iran doubles down as US signals Israel could strike during nuclear talks.

President Trump says U.S. forces were not in involved in the strike and Iran has no reason to attack U.S. bases in the area. I have my doubts that Iran will give the U.S. a pass when they retaliate.

My biggest concern is that perhaps Iran has multiple nukes complete, or close enough to completion, and Israel was unable to destroy them on Iranian soil. Then there is the possibility of Russia providing some nuclear aid.

The next few days and weeks are going to be “interesting.”

I wish my underground bunker in Idaho were complete and Barb and I were in it.