Jamal’s Apple Watch

On Saturday, pro-government Turkish newspaper Sabah reported that Turkish officials have audio recordings of the torture and murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a US-based Saudi journalist who went missing on October 2nd after entering the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul and is presumed dead at the hands of a Saudi hit squad. The newspaper claims that Khashoggi recorded his own death on his Apple Watch and transmitted the audio files to his iPhone, held by his fiancée on the street outside the consulate.

That’s a memorable but unlikely story. Smartwatches connect to cellphones via Bluetooth, and it’s doubtful a signal could travel that far, and the likely recording app only transfers audio files after the watch wearer turns it off, a hard task for the deceased. If Turkish agents have such recordings, it’s most likely because they have the Saudi consulate bugged, and they spread the watch story as cover.

Mr. Khashoggi was a permanent resident of the U.S., so maybe the American ambassadors to Turkey and Saudi Arabia can look into the matter. Oh wait, President Trump still hasn’t appointed anyone to those crucial diplomatic posts.

If an Imam Said That, Trump Would Close His Mosque

“Hillary wants to abolish — essentially abolish the Second Amendment. By the way, if she gets to pick, if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don’t know. But I tell you what, that will be a horrible day.”
— Donald Trump, August 9, 2016

If an American imam said that, President Trump would close his mosque. At a minimum.

More:

“Trump Wonders If Gun Owners Could Stop Hillary Clinton,” Daivid A. Graham, The Atlantic

“Gabby Giffords: Trump’s ‘2nd Amendment’ Line Insinuates Violence,” Catherine Thompson, TPM Livewire

The Conspirator: Wok n’ Roll Rebel

Mary Surratt: “You want rice with that?”

Robert Redford’s movie about the conspiracy to assassinate Abraham Lincoln, “The Conspirator,” will premiere in wide release this week. The film depicts historical events that are particularly meaningful for Washingtonians, since they all took place around here. 

The conspirators included Mary Surratt, the only woman among the ten who were tried for conspiring to kill the President. The Surratts had a farmhouse in Clinton, Maryland, which they used as a tavern. After her husband died, Mary Surratt rented it out and lived in the family’s house in the District, where she took in boarders. The DC house was where the conspirators met.

Today, you can visit the Surratt farmhouse, now a museum.  It’s near Andrews Air Force Base. And the Surratt boardinghouse? It’s at 604 H Street, NW. Try and visit at lunch time. It’s a Chinese restaurant called Wok n’ Roll.

 

See the movie, get a free tour of the Surratt House Museum Details here. And read the excellent book Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer by James L. Swanson.

Image mashed-up by Mike Licht. T-Shirt from Ringleader Clothing.

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Federal Judge John Roll Assassinated in Arizona

John McCarthy Roll, Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, was assassinated in Tucson today. Nominated by President George H.W. Bush at the recommendation of Senator John McCain, he joined the court in 1991.

Police have arrested 22-year-old Jared Loughner in the shooting incident, which also killed a 9-year-old girl and four other Americans. Twelve other people were wounded, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D, AZ-8). Rep. Giffords, whose Tucson office was vandalized after her healthcare reform vote, had organized today’s non-political “Congress on Your Corner” event.