Law The Search For The 114th Supreme Court Justice: The Witch-Hunt Against Judge Brett Kavanaugh

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Why would magazine size not be considered a restriction on firearms? The constitutions prohibition on anti-firearm legislation is largely a blanket ban. It would be difficult to make a case for extracting magazine size as a separate issue.

Just using an example where the Federalist wankers are immediately willing to abandon "strict textualism" the moment that text doesn't support their legal conclusions.
 
Kavanaugh's paper trail becomes central to nomination fight in Senate
By Manu Raju and Ted Barrett, CNN | July 10, 2018



Senate Democrats, eager to sink the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, are ratcheting up demands for a mountain of documents about his time working in George W. Bush's White House, a sign that the high-stakes battle is quickly devolving into a process fight.

Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee began to discuss the matter Tuesday evening, but they had not yet made any determination on whether to ask the White House to turn over all the documents from Kavanaugh's time as Bush's staff secretary and as an associate counsel.

Forcing the White House to turn over those documents could slow Kavanaugh's nomination process, and potentially give Democrats new ammunition if any of the records reveal controversies from his past. But if Republicans don't ask for those records, they could be accused of ignoring relevant details about someone whose rulings could reshape American life for a generation.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/10/politics/brett-kavanaugh-supreme-court-nominee-documents/index.html
 
Kavanaugh's paper trail becomes central to nomination fight in Senate
By Manu Raju and Ted Barrett, CNN | July 10, 2018



Senate Democrats, eager to sink the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, are ratcheting up demands for a mountain of documents about his time working in George W. Bush's White House, a sign that the high-stakes battle is quickly devolving into a process fight.

Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee began to discuss the matter Tuesday evening, but they had not yet made any determination on whether to ask the White House to turn over all the documents from Kavanaugh's time as Bush's staff secretary and as an associate counsel.

Forcing the White House to turn over those documents could slow Kavanaugh's nomination process, and potentially give Democrats new ammunition if any of the records reveal controversies from his past. But if Republicans don't ask for those records, they could be accused of ignoring relevant details about someone whose rulings could reshape American life for a generation.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/10/politics/brett-kavanaugh-supreme-court-nominee-documents/index.html


We did the same thing with Kagan for her years with the Clintons in Arkansas.

We should do the same here. Transparency across the board.
 
We did the same thing with Kagan for her years with the Clintons in Arkansas.

We should do the same here. Transparency across the board.

Yes, I completely believe that he will be treated every bit as fairly by the Senate Dems as the Senate Reps treated Kagan. It will be the exact same thing. Totally.

Anyway, prepare for some ridiculous molehills-to-mountains transformation, with a hell lot of hyperbole copy/pasted from the Bork episode that will amount to absolutely nothing.

It's a shame that all these wasted witch-hunt effort could be put into something more productive, like finding the Fountain of Youth before the Notorious RBG inevitably kicks the bucket and hand Trump his third SCOTUS pick.
 
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Yes, I completely believe that he will be treated every bit as fairly by the Senate Dems as the Senate Reps treated Kagan. It will be the exact same thing. Totally.

Anyway, prepare for some ridiculous molehills-to-mountains transformation, with a hell lot of hyperbole copy/pasted from the Bork episode that will amount to absolutely nothing.

It's a shame that all these wasted witch-hunt effort could be put into something more productive, like finding the Fountain of Youth before the Notorious RBG inevitably kicks the bucket and hand Trump his third SCOTUS pick.

Dems should make the midterms 100% about RBG.

Dems take the house, and no Republican SC nominees shall pass. Insert gandolph meme.
 
Dems should make the midterms 100% about RBG.

That would be the smartest thing to do, but I have concluded that Dems on Capitol Hill are physically incapable of thinking about the long game. They only have the mind to think about important things with long-term repercussion like court and judges whenever a seat opens up on the bench, otherwise they would be too busy pandering about identity politics and artificial outrage about Trump's latest dumb tweets to think about the next step.

After Kavanaugh is inevitably confirmed, they will go right back to the usual routine and you wouldn't see any serious activities in preparation for RBG's replacement until she either retires or collapses on the bench, just like they've done literally nothing in the past year to secure a seat for Garland when everyone knew Kennedy would soon steps down, whereas Republicans have been working behind the scene to find a suitable replacement for Kennedy as soon as Gorsuch is in.

Consider this: Kavanaugh wasn't even on Trump's original list of 21. But there he is, leapfrogging at least 20 people on front of him, just like some people predicted last summer.

Dems take the house, and no Republican SC nominees shall pass. Insert gandolph meme.

May be that would be for the best. Politicians needs to remember that they're politicians, and whatever they're doing today will come back and bite them in the ass tomorrow when the table inevitably turns, so it would be better for everyone if they work out a horse-trade deal like it has been done many times before, rather than scorched-earth tactics.

But for now we've once again returned to that stage when instead of flinging mud at one another, dirty politicians would openly and intentionally drag a judge's good name through the mud instead, even when he is a respectable judge with impeccable legal standing who has no business being smeared by the likes of them.
 
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That would be the smartest thing to do, but I have concluded that Dems on Capitol Hill are physically incapable of thinking about the long game. They only have the mind to think about important things with long-term repercussion like court and judges whenever a seat opens up on the bench, otherwise they would be too busy pandering about identity politics and artificial outrage about Trump's latest dumb tweets to think about the next step.

After Kavanaugh is inevitably confirmed, they will go right back to the usual routine and you wouldn't see any serious activities in preparation for RBG's replacement until she either retires or collapses on the bench, just like they've done literally nothing in the past year to secure a seat for Garland when everyone knew Kennedy would soon steps down, whereas Republicans have been working behind the scene to find a suitable replacement for Kennedy as soon as Gorsuch is in.

Consider this: Kavanaugh wasn't even on Trump's original list of 21. But there he is, leapfrogging at least 20 people on front of him, just like some people predicted last summer.



May be that would be for the best. Politicians needs to remember that they're politicians, and whatever they're doing today will come back and bite them in the ass tomorrow when the table inevitably turns, so it would be better for everyone if they work out a horse-trade deal like it has been done many times before, rather than scorched-earth tactics.

But for now we've once again returned to that stage when instead of flinging mud at one another, dirty politicians would openly and intentionally drag a judge's good name through the mud in their games, even when he is a respectable judge with impeccable legal standing who have no business being smeared by the likes of them.


As I have said many times. I believe there is plenty of evidence that the DNC is, in the most conspiratorial terms, controlled opposition.
 
Oh no!!! Judge Kavanaugh is a fan of the Nationals?! Now that's a doozy!!! :eek:

Oh wait, the real shocking revelation being focused on by the media is that he actually pay his bills :rolleyes:

Kavanaugh ran up credit card debt buying Washington Nationals season tickets
Financial disclosure records show Trump’s Supreme Court nominee had $45,000 to $150,000 in credit card debt in 2016, which was later paid off.

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WASHINGTON — The vetting of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is just beginning, but his public financial disclosures make one thing clear: He's not as wealthy as many already on the high court.

Public disclosure forms for 2017 show that the federal judge would come to the nation's highest court with only two investments, including a bank account, together worth a maximum of $65,000, along with the balance on a loan of $15,000 or less.

If confirmed, his relatively modest means would rank him in the lower tier in personal finances among members of court. Some of his potential future colleagues list millions of dollars in investments.

The records also showed that Kavanaugh, a federal appellate judge nominated by President Donald Trump to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy, had between $45,000 and $150,000 in credit card debt in 2016, which was paid off by the following year.

In 2016, he also reported a loan balance between $15,000 and $50,000.

The White House said some of Kavanaugh's credit card debt listed on his 2016 financial form was due to buying season tickets to the Washington Nationals for himself and several friends, but officials stressed that he was reimbursed for the friends' tickets in 2017.

The White House did not say how much of the debt came from ticket purchases, or name the friends involved in the transactions.

Other costs on the credit cards included home expenses and "other items."

The documents do not provide a complete record of Kavanaugh's finances.

For example, primary residences — often a person's biggest asset — are not listed. And the value of investments and debts is reported only in wide ranges, as is the amount of debt.

Separate from the disclosure forms, the White House said that between Kavanaugh's retirement account balance between $400,000 and $500,000, and the equity in his home in Chevy Chase, Maryland, he has about an additional million dollars in wealth.

"At this time, the Kavanaughs have no debts beyond their home mortgage," said White House spokesman Raj Shah.

The annual salary in 2018 for a circuit court judge is $220,600, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

A 2017 report from the Center for Public Integrity said that at least six of the nine justices were millionaires, with Justice Stephen Breyer reporting a minimum net worth of $6.15 million in 2016 and Chief Justice John Roberts a minimum reportable net worth of more than $5 million. The report stressed that the disclosures are made in broad ranges, making it hard to know exact figures.

Regarding Kavanaugh being poorer than the others, many of whom had considerable earnings during years of non-government legal work, Shah said, "He's devoted his life to public service."

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna890831
 
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Dems should make the midterms 100% about RBG.

Dems take the house, and no Republican SC nominees shall pass. Insert gandolph meme.
"For the next 2 years, we will block any potential SCOTUS picks" isn't exactly inspiring stuff that gets people to the polls...
 
Oh the great American mystery of making credit card purchases that you know can be paid, which was then paid in full as intended in a timely manner.

Keep up the good work, investigative journalists!

The Mystery of Brett Kavanaugh’s Baseball-Ticket Debt
How did the nominee for the Supreme Court spend $60,000 to $200,000 on Washington Nationals seats—and how did he pay it off so quickly?
By David A. Graham | July 12, 2018

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According to financial disclosures, Kavanaugh had between $60,000 and $200,000 in debt, spread across three credit cards and a loan. (Federal rules require individuals to disclose ranges of debts, rather than specific figures, so the actual numbers are unknown.) As The Washington Post first reported, the White House has an explanation for the debts: Kavanaugh spent big on tickets to see the Washington Nationals, a team he’s known to back.

Raj Shah, a White House spokesman leading the communications push for Kavanaugh’s nomination, said that Kavanaugh had purchased Nats season tickets and playoff seats for himself and a handful of friends. Each credit card had between $15,000 and $50,000 of debt, as did the personal loan. By the time of his 2017 disclosure, the debts were gone, and Shah said that Kavanaugh’s only current debt is a home mortgage.

The eye-popping figures—tens of thousands on baseball tickets!—not only show how pricey America’s pastime has become. They also spotlight Kavanaugh’s own financial situation and the bruising contours of a high-stakes confirmation fight, and they raise the question of how he paid the debt off so quickly.

The more important, and curious, question is not how Kavanaugh accrued the debts attributed to the baseball tickets, but how he paid them down. It’s strange to imagine that a man of comparatively modest means would put tens of thousands of dollars on credit cards to buy baseball tickets, but even stranger that they would have been paid off so fast.

The White House says that Kavanaugh’s friends reimbursed him for the tickets, and that he no longer buys them. The fact remains that Kavanaugh suddenly cleared at least $60,000 and as much as $200,000 in mysterious debt over one year—sums large enough that senators might well want to know who the sources of the payments were.

It would be challenging, though not impossible, to accrue so much in ticket debt in such a short time. Full-season tickets—meaning all 81 Nationals home games—can run into the thousands of dollars for a single seat. At the most expensive price level, that could translate to around $35,000 per annum for a single seat, though most tickets are much less expensive. A renewing season-ticket holder at the most expensive price point would pay roughly $9,000 per year.

These numbers could put a dent in Kavanaugh’s salary. His disclosures show that if confirmed, he would have the smallest net worth of any justice. Getting the gig would probably inflate his assets. As a judge on the D.C. Circuit, he makes $220,600 a year, which would bump up to $255,300 on the Supreme Court.

As the Supreme Court becomes more directly implicated in partisan politics, the new model of a nominee has become a relatively young jurist—someone who will serve on the Court for decades, and someone who has relatively little paper trail that might trip him or her up during the confirmation process. The case of Kavanaugh’s debts shows how challenging it is for even a cautious, ambitious lawyer like him to avoid potentially damaging scrutiny.

https://www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/565022/
 
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McConnell: "Reporters Have Learned Kavanaugh Buys Baseball Tickets and Pays His Bills"
By David Rutz Follow | July 12, 2018



Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) poked fun Thursday at a report about Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh's incursion of credit card debt buying baseball tickets, and he warned against the practice of "Borking."

The Washington Post reported Wednesday that Kavanaugh "incurred tens of thousands of dollars of credit card debt buying baseball tickets over the past decade and at times reported liabilities that could have exceeded the value of his cash accounts and investment assets," according to a review of his financial disclosures provided by the White House.

White House spokesman Raj Shah said Kavanaugh incurred the debt buying Washington Nationals season tickets for himself and a "handful" of others, as well as spending on home improvements. In 2016, Kavanaugh reported between $60,000 and $200,000 in debt accrued over three credit cards and a loan, and they were either paid off or fell below the reporting requirements in 2017.

"I'm glad that outside fact-checkers are already swatting down Democrats' desperate attacks on his nomination," McConnell said on the Senate floor. "In a breaking news, bombshell report just last night, we learned that Judge Kavanaugh enjoys America's pastime. Investigative reporters scoured his financial disclosures and learned that he and his friends buy tickets to baseball games and that he pays his bills. So, as you can see, there's still plenty of silliness to go around."

McConnell said there was widespread agreement it was wrong to "Bork" a Supreme Court nominee, calling it "harmful to our democratic process." The slang term is named for Robert Bork, the Ronald Reagan nominee for the Supreme Court in 1987 who was ultimately not confirmed after he was vilified by Senate Democrats and left-wing activists.

http://freebeacon.com/politics/mcconnell-reporters-kavanaugh-buys-baseball-tickets-bills/
 
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What is pretty interesting and funny is that many of Trumpbots were Republicans that hated and still hate Mitch.

His shady and fucked up shenanigans gave Trump 2 SCOTUS picks and Trump has picked McConnel judges.

McConnel got his SCOTUS picks which will last for decades. Trump's positions on trade, immigration trade etc will die pretty quickly.

How long and how much this erodes the soft power of the US has yet to be seen (I think this was a horrible trade off).

But Mitch has played a historic hand and let Trump bare the burden for most of his dirty work. He even shielded most of his party from culpability by not even bringing Garland to a vote

The more important thing to factor into that is if Mitch didn't make a Justice in play for the 2016 election, how many voters would've dropped off for Trump? I find it very odd the Democrats are choosing to make Russia collusion the main topic when it's much much clearer that the Justice appointment caused a material swing. They should piss their base off over that.
 
The more important thing to factor into that is if Mitch didn't make a Justice in play for the 2016 election, how many voters would've dropped off for Trump? I find it very odd the Democrats are choosing to make Russia collusion the main topic when it's much much clearer that the Justice appointment caused a material swing. They should piss their base off over that.
Well, to be fair, illegally colluding with a hostile foreign power to disrupt our elections is a huge fucking deal.
 
Well, to be fair, illegally colluding with a hostile foreign power to disrupt our elections is a huge fucking deal.

Which of the two has the clearest evidence? You have to understand though the left is highly interested In this, the longer time goes on, this is going to become less and less popular without a smoking gun and most think Mueller isn't going to outright indict Trump. Putting all of most of the narrative in this is settling a very risky 2020 set up. The justice Obama wanted already was lost and there's good reason to rally the base up about that, especially when justice #2 is getting appoInted now.
 
Which of the two has the clearest evidence? You have to understand though the left is highly interested In this, the longer time goes on, this is going to become less and less popular without a smoking gun and most think Mueller isn't going to outright indict Trump. Putting all of most of the narrative in this is settling a very risky 2020 set up. The justice Obama wanted already was lost and there's good reason to rally the base up about that, especially when justice #2 is getting appoInted now.
I'm not saying they shouldn't emphasize the Supreme Court nominations by any means. It seemed you were being overly flippant about what is looking more and more like treason, imo.

What happened with Garland is unconscionable to me. I can't believe people still back the Republicans in this country. They've made it very clear that they don't care about our nation in the slightest.
 
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Judge Kavanaugh’s Former Clerks: Diverse, and Deployed to Vouch for Him
By Elizabeth Williamson | July 11, 2018

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Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, President Trump’s nominee to replace Justice Anthony M. Kennedy​
WASHINGTON — Part of the White House public relations campaign to win confirmation of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court began only seconds after President Trump nominated him, when Judge Kavanaugh gave a shout out to his former law clerks and effectively called on them as character witnesses.

“As a judge, I hire four law clerks each year,” Judge Kavanaugh said Monday night in remarks at the White House. “I look for the best. My law clerks come from diverse backgrounds and points of view. I am proud that a majority of my law clerks have been women.”

Of the 48 clerks who worked for Judge Kavanaugh over 12 years on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, 25 were women, said Katie Wellington, who worked for him in 2014, when all four clerks were women, including Usha Chilukuri Vance, who now clerks for Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.

The Class of 2014 “was the first year that any judge on the D.C. Circuit had hired four female law clerks,” said Ms. Wellington, now an associate at Hogan Lovells in Washington. “It was important to him. His mother was a judge,” she said, adding that 20 of Judge Kavanaugh’s female law clerks have clerked on the Supreme Court.

Many of those women — and men — are now deployed to vouch for Judge Kavanaugh in a campaign coordinated by CRC Public Relations, a Washington firm whose conservative clients include the Federalist Society, according to its website. The Federalist Society, which functions as a conduit for conservative appointments to the federal courts, supplied Mr. Trump with a list of two dozen reliable conservatives from which he chose Judge Kavanaugh and before him, Neil M. Gorsuch.

By 9:07 p.m. Monday, while Mr. Trump was still introducing Judge Kavanaugh to the country, a query from CRC landed in reporters’ inboxes: “Would you be interested in speaking with any of the former Judge Kavanaugh clerks? Below are statements for your stories.”

The quotes resembled book jacket blurbs, praising Judge Kavanaugh’s “herculean work ethic,” “deep and nuanced understanding of the law” and “overriding commitment to do justice in every case.” They depicted Judge Kavanaugh as “thinking more rigorously and working more ferociously than any of us,” laboring “on the 100th draft of an opinion (literally) while we both split a Domino’s pizza,” and giving a clerk who gave birth to a son “a copy of ‘Good Night, Gorilla,’ with a thoughtful note.”

Sarah Pitlyk, a former clerk who is now special counsel for the Thomas More Society, a nonprofit law firm that litigates on behalf of anti-abortion groups, said in her statement that Judge Kavanaugh was “an exemplary judge: brilliant, principled and faithful to the text.”

Some of the statements went beyond jurisprudence. “The last time I ran in a 10K with Judge Kavanaugh, I was 30 and he was 47, and he smoked me! He’s run two Boston marathons — which is two more than I’ve run,” said Justin Walker, a clerk from 2010 to 2011 who is now an assistant professor of law at the University of Louisville.

Another touched on fashion advice. “Early in my clerkship, the judge called me into his office and said he noticed that my collar was curling up in front,” wrote Eric Hansford, a clerk from 2011 to 2012 who is now an assistant United States attorney in Washington. “He pulled down his tie, took the collar stays out his own shirt, and handed them to me. The next morning, I came in to find a pile of collar stays on my chair. I still use those collar stays.”

An endorsement letter signed by 34 former clerks — “every single one of Judge Kavanaugh’s clerks not prohibited by their current or pending employment from signing,” according to the letter — was also sent to Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa and the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, who is the committee’s ranking member.

“We never once saw him take a shortcut, treat a case as unimportant, or search for an easy answer,” the letter reads. “Instead, in each case, large or small, he masters every detail and rereads every precedent. He listens carefully to the views of his colleagues and clerks, even — indeed, especially — when they differ from his own.”

The letter points out that the former clerks now serve as “prosecutors, professors, state and federal public officials, and attorneys at private law firms, corporations, and nonprofits,” adding, “Our ranks include Republicans, Democrats, and independents.”

Two of Judge Kavanaugh’s former clerks are married: John Bash, a clerk from 2006 to 2007, finished his year with Judge Kavanaugh a month before his wife, Zina Bash, signed on. Mr. Bash went on to clerk for Justice Antonin Scalia, and Ms. Bash, for Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. Mr. Bash is the United States attorney for the Western District of Texas, and Ms. Bash is senior counsel for Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general. Ms. Bash was previously Mr. Trump’s special assistant for regulatory reform, legal and immigration policy.

Mr. Bash’s statement praised Mr. Kavanaugh’s “personal integrity, intellectual rigor, fairness, open-mindedness and fundamental decency.” Ms. Bash called Judge Kavanaugh “an enthusiastic role model to so many women.” In emails, the couple said they were not speaking in an official capacity.

Brian Fallon, the executive director of Demand Justice, a progressive group urging Democrats to vote against any nominee on conservative groups’ list of preferred candidates, said the focus on Judge Kavanaugh’s staff is part of “a purposeful effort to cast himself in a light that is favorable to women because he’s anticipating that his views on abortion and contraception are going to be major issues in his confirmation.”

Mr. Fallon added that “the whole reason for the Federalist Society short list was to ensure that Trump is adhering to their key views, including on abortion.”

Ms. Wellington sidestepped the politics.

“It’s a unique relationship,” she said of the bond between Judge Kavanagh and the four women who were his clerks in 2014 and 2015. “You spend an entire year with just five people, and you work quite closely with the judge, you learn his writing style, the way he approaches cases and precedent. You get to see him as a pre-eminent figure in the legal community, but also as an everyday person.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/11/us/politics/kavanaugh-supreme-court-clerks.html
 
how un-american of him to pay his bills and enjoy america's past time sport. foreshame trump!!! FORESHAME!!!
 
I'm not saying they shouldn't emphasize the Supreme Court nominations by any means. It seemed you were being overly flippant about what is looking more and more like treason, imo.

What happened with Garland is unconscionable to me. I can't believe people still back the Republicans in this country. They've made it very clear that they don;t care about our nation in the slightest.

I'm not flippant about the investigation at all and have said it should continue and the administration shouldn't try to shut it down. But I acknowledge it's still an ongoing investigation that did not indict Trump yet. I'm just saying if a lot of the media time gets put towards Russia collusion and no indictment shows up during 2020, do you really feel like the Democrats ran on the correct priorities? It seems to me also that the democrats that our more focused on Russia are more focused on impeachment as well. It just all seems to me like a losing strategy when they easily could win 2020. The court being is play is what likely won the election for Trump. The same could be true for Dems in 2020.
 
Oh no!!! Judge Kavanaugh is a fan of the Nationals?! Now that's a doozy!!! :eek:

Oh wait, the real shocking revelation being focused on by the media is that he actually pay his bills :rolleyes:

Kavanaugh ran up credit card debt buying Washington Nationals season tickets
Financial disclosure records show Trump’s Supreme Court nominee had $45,000 to $150,000 in credit card debt in 2016, which was later paid off.

lead_large.jpg



https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna890831
I like it. Thy are trying their very best to find something disqualifying. And if there was something disqualifying to be found, it would be in the public interest for it to be exposed. When they are forced to run with small beer like this, one can be confident the guy is fairly clean.
 
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