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Yesterday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the launch of an impeachment inquiry to gather the specific articles of impeachment against Donald Trump. It was a painfully long time coming, and after months (years, really) of aggressively declaring his innocence, he seemed to be panicking yesterday.

Pelosi says he called her in the afternoon to see if they could make some sort of deal regarding the whistleblower complaint he’s been working so hard to bury. (Her response: “Tell your people to obey the law.”) Trump also tweeted that he would release the “transcript” of the call between himself and Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky that set off this entire ordeal.

Then, after Pelosi announced the inquiry, he tweeted that this is “A total Witch Hunt!” because Democrats “never even saw the transcript of the call,” which is kind of the point. You can’t say they don’t have grounds for impeachment because they don’t know what was said when one of the crimes you’re being accused of is forcing your own Justice Department to illegally hide the original complaint—not to mention that the point of launching an impeachment inquiry is to collect the details.

Anyway, Trump did release that transcript Wednesday morning. Well, sort of. It’s actually not a transcript at all, but rather a “memorandum” of the phone call, meaning it was pieced together from “the notes and recollections” of Situation Room and national security officers who were listening. It’s very reminiscent of Attorney General Wiliam Barr’s summary of the Mueller Report, which was seriously, let’s say, creative, with the way it interpreted the report’s findings.

They are running the exact same play. Don’t let the media and dems be fooled again. Hold the bastards to account: https://t.co/vpcgRgTVUN

— Travis Helwig (@travishelwig) September 24, 2019

But what’s really incredible is that even in the obviously doctored non-transcript that Trump himself authorized to be released, they’ve done a really bad job of hiding Trump’s crimes. At least with the Mueller Report, Barr’s summary gave some credence to Trump’s constant declarations of “NO OBSTRUCTION, NO COLLUSION.”

Here, it’s still really obvious that Trump was trying to solicit foreign interference in the 2020 election, with a heavily implied quid pro quo.

The White House transcript of the Ukraine call uses three ellipses – all when Trump is making requests, like here. pic.twitter.com/vCGJlAg2la

— Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) September 25, 2019

The memo shows Trump very clearly asking Zelensky to work with Barr to investigate Joe Biden’s son. And while there are some convenient ellipses around the part where Trump might have explicitly said that he would withhold already promised aid money if Zelensky didn’t help, or if he promised something else in exchange for that help, the context is clear. He said that “the United States has been very very good to Ukraine,” but that that isn’t “reciprocal.” Trump told Zelensky he “would like you to do us a favor, though” immediately after Zelensky brought up aid money designated for Ukrainian defense.

The transcript of the call reads like a classic mob shakedown:

– We do a lot for Ukraine
– There’s not much reciprocity
– I have a favor to ask
– Investigate my opponent
– My people will be in touch

Nice country you got there.

It would be a shame if something happened to her.

— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) September 25, 2019

And remember, this is the version of the story Trump felt comfortable releasing.

I assumed–given that the White House released it–that the Ukraine transcript would be ambiguous, & provide plausible deniability re: a quid pro quo.

It’s not. Right after the Ukranian leader mentions military purchase, Trump says “I would like you to do us a favor, though.” pic.twitter.com/yHcGcSvS1c

— Eli Savit (@EliNSavit) September 25, 2019

i stupidly thought the call wouldn’t be so incriminating, but i forgot rule #1 of current american politics: donald trump is fucking stupid.

— Oliver Willis (@owillis) September 25, 2019

“Let’s get out ahead of this issue by releasing the smoking gun that implicates all of us.”

— Kashana (@kashanacauley) September 25, 2019

Trump apparently genuinely believes this memo makes him look good.

Will the Democrats apologize after seeing what was said on the call with the Ukrainian President? They should, a perfect call – got them by surprise!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 25, 2019

Trump sincerely believes the “transcript” is a great look for him: “The way you had that built up, that call, it was going to be the call from hell. It turned out to be a nothing call. Other than, a lot of people said, ‘I never knew you could be so nice.'” pic.twitter.com/skIdOGr1Uy

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 25, 2019

The White House felt so confident they even released talking points to Democrats, which they then recalled, probably because these points are ridiculous.

No joke: White House just emailed all Dem offices asking to “recall” the talking points email. https://t.co/4fFtVYmrPd

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) September 25, 2019

So that’s where we’re at now. The White House is still hiding the original whistleblower complaint, the “transcript” they released is still totally incriminating, and the Attorney General is so heavily and directly implicated that he should be recusing himself from any investigations moving forward, but definitely won’t.

Meanwhile, over in the House, six different committees are moving forward with their investigations to gather information for the actual articles of impeachment. Maxine Waters, who’s been leading this charge from Day 1, has a clear explanation of what that looks like:

Rep. Maxine Waters explains how the impeachment inquiry process will work and expresses her expectation that the process will “move very quickly.” pic.twitter.com/SV4yNH5Ncy

— Maddow Blog (@MaddowBlog) September 25, 2019

(image: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

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Just weeks after the California state legislature unanimously passed a bill that would allow student-athletes to benefit off their name, image, and likeness, a New York state senator introduced a similar bill that would require colleges to pay student-athletes.

Last week, New York State Sen. Kevin S. Parker introduced Senate Bill S6722A also known as the “New York Collegiate Athletic Participation Compensation Act.” Just like California’s Fair Pay to Play Act, the bill proposes to give college athletes the ability to sell the rights to their own names, images, and likenesses. The New York bill, however, goes a step further. Should it be passed into law, college athletic departments would also be required to divide a 15% share of their annual revenue with all student-athletes.

“It’s about equity,” Parker told ESPN. “These young people are adding their skill, talent and labor to these universities. … You don’t need the shortcuts and the end-arounds because now we’re providing some real support for these student-athletes.”

Sen. Parker is receiving praise for the bold bill, including from NBA superstar LeBron James, one of The National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) biggest critics. James shared an article on Twitter highlighting Parker bill and the senator thanked him in a tweet.

Thank you @KingJames for sharing this article highlighting my proposed legislation. Looking forward to working alongside you and your team to get this passed! https://t.co/cvnVkCq8no

— Senator Kevin Parker (@SenatorParker) September 18, 2019

There won’t be any actions or decisions on Parker’s bill for several months since the New York state legislature is not in regular session again until January.

Parker admitted that he modeled his initial proposal after California’s Fair Pay to Play Act, which passed in the state assembly in a 73-0 vote and then in the state senate with a 39-0 vote. The bill is currently waiting for Gov. Gavin Newsom’s approval.

The NCAA expressed opposition to California Senate Bill 20, arguing that the bill is “unconstitutional and would adversely affect competitive balance throughout collegiate athletics.” The organization also warned that the state’s colleges could be excluded from the league and will not be allowed to participate in championship tournaments if this law passes.

Matt Reeves’ upcoming cinematic reboot of Batman, tentatively titled The Batman, has potentially added two members to its cast. According to a story coming from The Hollywood Reporter, actor Jeffrey Wright (Westworld) has entered negotiations to play the part of Gotham Police Commissioner James Gordon. At the same time, Deadline is reporting that Jonah Hill is up for a villain role, although that one is so far undisclosed. The Hollywood Reporter says WB is undecided as to who he’ll play yet rumors are leaning towards his playing the Riddler.

DC Comics

The upcoming big screen reinvention of the the Dark Knight so far only has one star attached, and that is Robert Pattinson as the titular hero. No one is sure how many other villains are in the film, but rumors about that there will be several. The names that have been thrown about are Penguin, Catwoman, Riddler, Two-Face, and Firefly. With the exception of Firefly, these are Batman’s most famous rogues. The big omission from this potential list of threats is the Joker; given how we’ll have had two cinematic versions of the Clown Prince of Crime in just three years, we can see why Reeves left him out.

DC Comics

This new film is rumored to lean heavily into Batman’s detective angle, setting up a big mystery that involves many of Batman’s most famous villains. It sounds on paper like an adaptation of  the classic DC Comics story The Long Halloween. It’s still unclear if this version will connect to the Batman we saw in Batman v Superman and Justice League; although it would have to be as a prequel if it does. But it sounds more like this will totally be its own thing separate from the DCEU.

Both Wright and Hill are stepping into some very big shoes. Gary Oldman played Gordon in three films;  most recently J.K. Simmons portrayed the Commissioner as a cameo in Justice League. And Hill will be taking over for none other than Jim Carrey. But we expect these interpretations to be quite different than what we’ve seen before. Especially when it comes to the bad guys.

The Batman has a scheduled release date of June 25, 2021.

Images: Warner Brothers / Nefflix

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