Talking Points Memo has the story Ferguson Prosecutor: I Knew Witnesses Lied To The Grand Jury.  This is their commentary on the Buzzfeed story Prosecutor Says He Knew Some Witnesses Were Lying To The Ferguson Grand Jury.

St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch says he knew some of the witnesses who said they saw Michael Brown get shot were lying, but he let them testify to the grand jury anyway.

The Buzzfeed article had a link to the following YouTube video of the radio interview.

I am glad that I watched the video instead of just relying on the stories from the two sources mentioned above. The two stories certainly made it sound horrible about what the prosecutor did. However, I did have one question. When the prosecutor presented these lying witnesses, did he tell the grand jury that he thought they were lying? It seems from the interview that he did tell them of the reasons for doubting their testimony.

It is still up to you to decide if you think the prosecutor is telling the truth. Even if he is telling the truth, you may still decide that presenting this testimony was either the wrong or the right thing to do. However, now you have the “original” source for the story on which to base your judgment. I have also warned you that you ought to listen to what went on before you pass judgment. If you decide you don’t have the time or desire to listen to the 30 minute interview, just be careful about how much you want to repeat of the article about the interview, or how certain you want to portray what you know based on these articles. You may also be forming opinions of what you have heard that are even more steps removed from the original source material. Be careful and be skeptical.

I received an email from Campaign For America’s Future. If you have seen my previous posts on TPP, you know I think this is a very important issue.

Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell knows who he works for, and it’s not you and me. He’s announced his first priority when he takes the gavel will be to pass the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The TPP is a big, multi-national trade deal negotiated in secret. The big corporations love TPP because it will invalidate scores of environmental and labor regulations and let them ship jobs overseas. Consumer laws could be trumped by unelected tribunals. The deal is stuffed with provisions that could not survive in the light of day. So Senator McConnell is dead set on passing this deal using a “fast-track” process that will skip niceties like public hearings and amendments. We have to stop this. There’s no time to feel sorry for ourselves over the last election. The consequences are too grave. We must raise the alarm. The Campaign for America’s Future will organize progressive groups and allies in Congress (even some conservatives). We will create and distribute educational materials and petitions. We will inundate Congress with letters and phone calls. Will you help fund the campaign to stop this dangerous, job-killing trade deal before it’s too late? This is an on-the-ground, in-the-air and across-the-wires campaign. We have the truth and large portions of the public on our side, but we are going to be vastly outspent. You can help level the playing field. We truly appreciate you and are aware that every dollar you give is a sacrifice. We will not let you down. Click here to make a donation to help stop fast track in its tracks. © 2014 Campaign for America’s Future Inc. 1825 K Street, NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20006

Elizabeth Warren posted on her Facebook page.

Less than a week after Wall Street slipped a bailout provision written by Citigroup into the government spending bill, the Fed has given the big banks another victory. Delaying the Volcker Rule is one more giveaway that lets Wall Street have more time to make risky bets using taxpayer-backed money. This is a nice favor for the lobbyists working to slow down the implementation of Dodd-Frank and chip away at critical financial reforms, but it’s a bad deal for middle class families and our economy.

The post were an introduction and comment on The New Republic article Wall Street Is Dismantling Financial Reform Piece by Piece.  You can’t realize the height of the duplicity of the deal the banks slipped into the Cromnibus spending bill, until you read how the article connects that to this delaying of the Volcker Rule.   This is something that Machiavelli would have written about if he were writing The Prince today.