They tried the Russia hoax .They tried 2 impeachments . They tried endless investigations into his businesses. They have a kangaroo court with the stated goal of it's members to ensure Trump is never President again.

They now raided his private home while he was away and seized boxes of documents that may or may not have been relevent to the alleged violation of the Presidential Records Act .

Trump asked a pertinent question in his lengthy response to the raid .

What is the difference between this and Watergate, where operatives broke into the Democrat National Committee? Here, in reverse, Democrats broke into the home of the 45th President of the United States,”

Good question . Ironically ,the raid yesterday was on the anniversary of Richard Nixon's resignation .

So the question is .......if they cannot stop Trump with this raid ;how far will they go ?

Bernard Kerik speculates that they could go as far as assassination in their lust to stop Trump.

Bernard B. Kerik on Twitter: "And just like in other Third World countries, if today’s raid by Biden’s FBI does not stop Donald Trump from running for president in 2024, their next move will be Assassination." / Twitter (https://twitter.com/BernardKerik/status/1556795614092005377?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5 Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1556795614092005377%7Ctwgr% 5E6c2e6d89b448c5497d3cc6eb065b2de9ea30c97d%7Ctwcon %5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thegatewaypundit.com%2F2 022%2F08%2Fbernie-kerik-fbi-raid-will-not-stop-donald-trump-next-step-will-assassination-video%2F)

As a side note . Thursday FBI Director Christopher Wray cut short a hearing at the Senate Judiciary Committee because he had a plane to catch . Turns out that important flight was a junket on the FBI’s luxury Gulfstream 550 jet to his favorite vacation spot in the Adirondacks .
Among the questions he dodged at the hearing was

the FBI’s mishandling of the case of Larry Nassar, who was convicted in 2016 of sexually abusing U.S. gymnasts ;and the lack of transparency about how the Department of Justice decided a jury would not convict FBI agents for their handling of the investigation.

He did not agree with Senators who argued that the Hunter Biden laptop was not Russian disinformation .

He declined to answer questions about why the FBI labeled the Betsy Ross flag, the Gadsden Flag, and the Gonzales battle flag as signs of “militia violent extremism” in their training docs

He declined to answer questions why the FBI is not enforcing laws designed to protect judges from intimidation in front of their homes .

Really good posts. I copied the first one to FB.

What's the difference between this and what happened on January 6, 2021?

Question for thought;
Is the Political Spectrum linear or circular ?
Maybe simplistic, but worthy of thought..

https://www.jagranjosh.com/imported/images/E/Articles/left-vs-right-political-spectrum.jpg

What's the difference between this and what happened on January 6, 2021?Huh? January 6th was a fairly small-scale riot. This was a government sponsored invasion of a man's private home. Now maybe it's going to turn out to be legit. That's possible, but how to compare that to 1/6 is quite a challenge.

CB, I think it's interesting that on your timeline you place liberalism at the end of a move towards freedom while conservatism is place at the beginning of a march towards slavery. I'd reverse those.

J, not my image or even timeline, just one I thought summed things up rather succinctly.

CB, it is a valid point. Others have presented it as a contest between weak people accepting a totalitarian government versus strong people insisting on freedom.

https://scontent.fmem1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/298591365_1357164194772053_9122876509888188013_n.p ng?_nc_cat=1&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=cqxtThvdrgIAX8Om0TB&_nc_ht=scontent.fmem1-2.fna&oh=00_AT853wCkDGwJ7oS8HE6d1pCb8Yt96ul_kqr4OxC5DXM8 3w&oe=62F7D0AE

Ben the spectrum I have used as a premise for years has liberty on one end and tyranny on the other. The one you post is circular. Mine clearly differentiates.

I have read Atlas Shrugged about a dozen times. It should be required reading

49405

https://emojis.wiki/emoji-pics/apple/rolling-on-the-floor-laughing-apple.png

The real reason for the raid is clear . If they can prove that Trump violated section b of 18 US code 1871 then they believe they can make a case of banning Trump from being eligible of being President again.

Whoever, having the custody of any such record, proceeding, map, book, document, paper, or other thing, willfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, falsifies, or destroys the same, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both; and shall forfeit his office and be disqualified from holding any office under the United States.

18 U.S. Code § 2071 - Concealment, removal, or mutilation generally | U.S. Code | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute (cornell.edu) (https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2071)

Here is the problem with their thinking. The statute runs up against the Constitution . Sec 2 of the Constitution makes it clear what the qualifications for being President are . It also says that the only disqualifying thing is impeachment and conviction .

No Federal statute overrides the Constitution; especially in a case where separation of powers in involved . Congress cannot create a law that determines the qualifications for being President . That would make a Congress that has greater power than the Presidency .

Even the espionage act that some Dems claim Trump violated does not have provisions for disqualifications . It has more severe penalties but no disqualification.
18 U.S. Code § 793 - Gathering, transmitting or losing defense information | U.S. Code | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute (cornell.edu) (https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/793)

They know this . It is why they attempted a conviction trial in the Senate after he had already left office.

The real reason for the raid is clear . If they can prove that Trump violated section b of 18 US code 1871 then they believe they can make a case of banning Trump from being eligible of being President again.


You know what, Tom, I agree with you.
The establishment will do anything they can to stop another Trump fiasco..

so you then know from the rest of the posting that they are tilting at windmills . The only way they can stop him from running again would be if he is behind bars ....something the partisan Stalinist Kangaroo court is hell bent on achieving .

Trump fiasco..If record low unemployment is a "fiasco", then we need more fiascoes.

I think they may very well be strengthening Trump's hand rather than weakening it. They are now under great pressure to come up with something that is solidly inculpatory. That should make us all nervous given the generally corrupt behavior of this justice department.

That should make us all nervous given the generally corrupt behavior of this justice department.

There was I time I would've considered the possibility of an FBI agent planting evidence inconceivable . Then again there was a time when I thought the same about the idea of an agent falsifying a document to obtain a warrant to spy on a Presidential Candidate's staff .
FBI Attorney Admits Altering Email Used for FISA Application During "Crossfire Hurricane" Investigation | USAO-CT | Department of Justice (https://www.justice.gov/usao-ct/pr/fbi-attorney-admits-altering-email-used-fisa-application-during-crossfire-hurricane)

If record low unemployment is a "fiasco", then we need more fiascoes. .
Don't just cherry pick the highlight(s), look at the entire term, in a holistic manner, not the most conducive to showcasing the best of the United States in an international setting. After all the USA is self styled as the Leaders of the Free World.

Still not following you. The economy was great. Unemployment was incredible. Federal judges were appointed who believed in the rule of law. N. Korea was held in check. China was held in check. Russia was held in check. Now there was Covid, which basically flattened everyone. As far as negatives go, there were his chronically big mouth and his failure to get to a balanced budget. All in all, the pendulum was swinging on the positive side.

not the most conducive to showcasing the best of the United States in an international setting. After all the USA is self styled as the Leaders of the Free World.

The assumption in this statement is that the US was lacking leadership in world affairs under Trump.
Let's examine that .

Trump called out NATO to man up and commit resources they had previously agreed to strengthen the alliance. That proved to be prescient given the Russian invasion of Ukraine . Now that NATO members see that the world is not in a Fukayama End of History fantasy ,NATO realizes they are late to the game .

Trump worked with Asian nations to create a common block in the defense of Chinese hegemonic ambitions .

He was instrumental in brokering the Abraham accords in the ME creating alliances of common interest with Israel and various Gulf state to check the ambitions of the homicidal apocalyptic regime in Tehran ....the worlds leading sponsor of international terrorism. He correctly reversed the emperor's commitment to the JCPOA sell out that would lead to a nuclear terrorist state in Tehran .

He struck in Syria when they used chemical weapons and battled Russia in Syria
. He approved of the droning of Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ elite Quds Force, in Baghdad.

He negotiated a logical withdrawal from the 20 year involvement in Afghanistan ... a withdrawal that Clueless Joe completely screwed up .

So I don't see how his tenure as 'Leader of the Free World " was a failure .

Very good post. When people stop listening to the craziness of the one-note media and think for themselves, they find that things are not as they supposed.

Always for money and power.

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”
― C. S. Lewis

Oooops:

Trump search warrant: FBI took 11 sets of documents from Trump's Mar-a-Lago home (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-62527628)

Documents in boxes, in a room already searched by the Feds and padlocked by Fed advisory,

All former Presidents get a federally funded offices with staff. security clearances. Secret Service protection. and secure facilities (SCIFs) for classified records.Even if Trump had classified records, they were protected. However Trump was President and had the power to declassify any document .

He had those documents in his possession for 18 months and was in negotiations with the National Archives to comply with the Presidential Records Act.

11 sets of documents ? The emperor left office with 30 million docs he promised to digitalize . He has yet to do so and return them .

As already noted ,the goal is to get Trump on the espionage act . It is a desperate attempt by people who know they would lose badly to him in a fair election

AG Garland says searching Melania's closet was justified
https://media.babylonbee.com/articles/62f6a09adf92862f6a09adf929.jpg

Who will be the next nuclear power

A. Iran
B Mar A LAgo

Flashback

In the middle of directing the difficult task of transferring the historically important records of the Obama administration into the National Archives, the archivist in charge, David Ferriero, ran into a serious problem: A lot of key records are missing.
A first-rate librarian, Ferriero has been driving a much-needed digital overhaul and expansion of the National Archives over the nine years of his appointment. This will greatly improve the ability of digital search locally and remotely, as well as accessing the files themselves.

To support this effort, in 2014 President Obama signed the Presidential and Federal Records Act Amendments (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidential_and_Federal_Records_Act_Amendments_of _2014). For the first time electronic government records were placed under the 1950 Federal Records Act. The new law also included updates clarifying "the responsibilities of federal government officials when using non-government email systems" and empowering "the National Archives to safeguard original and classified records from unauthorized removal.” Additionally, it gives the Archivist of the United States the final authority in determining just what is a government record.
And yet the accumulation of recent congressional testimony has made it clear that the Obama administration itself engaged in the wholesale destruction and “loss” of tens of thousands of government records covered under the act as well as the intentional evasion of the government records recording system by engaging in private email exchanges. So far, former President Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Attorney General Lynch and several EPA officials have been named as offenders. The IRS suffered record “losses” as well. Former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy called (https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/05/clinton-email-trump-russia-probes-justice-department-double-standards/) it “an unauthorized private communications system for official business for the patent purpose of defeating federal record-keeping and disclosure laws.”

Crisis at the National Archives | RealClearPolitics (https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/06/10/crisis_at_the_national_archives_137241.html#)

So when will the FBI have a pre-dawn raid on the emperor's estate at Martha's Vinyard ?

Flashback Classified emails about drone strikes in Pakistan were in Evita's email server .

Emails in Clinton Probe Dealt With Planned Drone Strikes - WSJ (https://www.wsj.com/articles/clinton-emails-in-probe-dealt-with-planned-drone-strikes-1465509863)

For those not fully invested or following along, here's a succinct overview of the supposed malfeasance...

Trump warrant: Why did the FBI search Mar-a-Lago and what was found? (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-62528709)

And yes, it does sound like the establishment are trying to cover up this colourful period in US presidential history.

The President, after all, is the "Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States." U.S. Const., Art. II, § 2. His authority to classify and control access to information bearing on national security and to determine whether an individual is sufficiently trustworthy to occupy a position in the Executive Branch that will give that person access to such information flows primarily from this constitutional investment of power in the President and exists quite apart from any explicit congressional grant.

DEPARTMENT OF the NAVY, Petitioner, v. Thomas E. EGAN. | Supreme Court | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute (cornell.edu) (https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/484/518)

There is a rigorous procedure for declassifying for lower level staff and anyone else that requires it. Those procedures do NOT apply to the President and VP.

Steven Aftergood, director of the Federation of American Scientists Project on Government Secrecy, said that such authority gives the president the authority to "classify and declassify at will."

The official documents governing classification and declassification stem from executive orders. But even these executive orders aren’t necessarily binding on the president. The president is not "obliged to follow any procedures other than those that he himself has prescribed," "And he can change those."

So let's put this issue to bed . Trump did not illegally have classified documents in his possession.

The next issue is if he is compelled under law to turn over the docs to the National Archive. I have already cited the emperor still holding onto thousands of documents since he left office in 2016 . We also know that Evita's solution was to destroy devices and countless electronic document.

Trump had already turned over documents to both the Archive and to the FBI . The documents seized were already safeguarded in a secure room since June when the FBI supervised their storage . Any dispute between the national librarian and the former President was to settle through negotiations or from a judge.

The truth of what happened is that the FBI was acting as the muscle behind the Democrat Party . When 'obstruction of justice ' was mentioned in the warrant if was clearly about the efforts of the Kangaroo court to find anything to refer Trump to the Justice Dept for prosecution. I'm sure most of the items seized were not in the affidavit .

The 4th Amendment states

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.'

This raid was an unconstitutional violation in every regard.

It is very clear that there was no probable cause.
It is very clear that this was a fishing expedition .The FBI scooped up every piece of paper except perhaps napkins and toilet paper even though the amendment protects against general warrants.A warrant has to be specific .

Great post. That's why we keep you around, Tom.

The interesting thing is that these issues are important whether a person is a Trump supporter or not. There is no more dangerous institution in this country than the federal government. It has more power by far than any other. That being the case, it should be kept on a short leash.

There is more I did not address. As an example ;Trump makes the claim that some of the docs seized were protected by attorney -client privilege . Maybe if the FBI had not evicted his lawyer from MaL before they conducted their search then that issue could've been cleared up.

The FBI instead gave her brief unclear view of the warrant . Then they directed staff to turn off surveillance cameras ..... The Secret Service intervened according to reports . Who knows what shenanigans could've happened with the cameras off.

This whole thing smells . Garland waited days before he made a brief self congratulatory statement about the raid . He was compelled to release the warrant by court order .
With what happened with the Russia hoax would anything surprise ?

https://static-assets-1.truthsocial.com/tmtg:prime-ts-assets/media_attachments/files/108/828/301/250/364/169/original/7319df0398e4854a.jpg

Trump claims FBI seized his passport . Do they seriously thing he is a flight risk ? If he did ,the Dems would all do a group Snoopy dance.

If it were true that Trump had high level classified nuclear secrets that made his having them a threat to national security ;why did it take a year and a half for the government to seize them from MaL? Even after the warrant was signed off on by judge Reinhart ,the FBI waited 3 days to conduct the raid.


Paul Sperry is a journalist who was recently kicked off of Twitter ;banned for life. Sperry ,who writes for the NY Post ;Investor's Business Daily ,and the WSJ tweeted that many of the agents on the raid were ,according to his sources , under investigation by John Durham for their role in the Russia hoax.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FaDcE9mXEAA1upF?format=png&name=small

The suggestion is that the raid was made to seize records that implicate them in the collusion hoax.

What we do know is that the FBI had already visited MaL and asked Trump to put an additional lock on the room they were stored in.

But if they really wanted those "nuclear secrets " secured ,all the really needed to do was to store them on Hunter's lap top. Nobody cares what is in that .

weeks to decide to raid Trump's archive of vital nuclear top secret documents ????????

As Clueless likes to say C'mon man !!


Merrick Garland Weighed Search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago for Weeks - WSJ (https://www.wsj.com/articles/merrick-garland-weighed-search-of-trumps-mar-a-lago-for-weeks-11660601292?mod=djemalertNEWS)

This just in :

"A search warrant has been executed by the DOJ on Hunter Bidens home while he is on vacation with his father and business partner, the president of the United States. The search warrant is related to his business dealings in China with the CCP that may violate and threaten the security of the United States, his crack smoking with whores, weapons violations, and possible underage sexual activities all based on information contained in the “Computer from hell”.

source <sarc.com>

update . The FBI admitted they grabbed his passports and is returning them to him.

his father and business partner, the president of the United States. Funniest line!

It is becoming more obvious by the day that the REAL reason for the raid on MaL was to seize declassified Russiagate docs that implicate the senior officers of the FBI ;past and present .


June former Defense Department Trump appointee, Kash Patel, vowed to retrieve classified documents from the National Archives and publish them on his website .The Docs were also to be sent to John Solomon of 'Just the News ' for publication .
Trump had as President declassified them . He then instructed the National Archives to grants Patel and Solomon access .

In the last months of his administration, Mr. Trump issued several orders to declassify documents related to the 2016 FBI investigation into links between his campaign and Russia in the contest against Democrat Hillary Clinton. Mr. Patel said he witnessed additional verbal orders for a broad declassification directive in the administration’s waning days.
“It had to do with Russiagate. It had to do with the Hillary email scandal. It had to do with a whole lot of other stuff. And he said, ‘This is all declassified,’ ” Mr. Patel said.
Mr. Patel’s assertions seek to challenge a central tenet of the Justice Department’s position that urgent action was needed because highly sensitive national-security secrets were at risk.
Mr. Patel’s assertions seek to challenge a central tenet of the Justice Department’s position that urgent action was needed because highly sensitive national-security secrets were at risk.

Ex-White House Aide Kash Patel Presses View Trump Broadly Declassified Documents - WSJ (https://www.wsj.com/articles/ex-white-house-aide-kash-patel-presses-view-trump-broadly-declassified-documents-11661083201)

Urgent ? The raid happened August 8 ,2022 . Trump left office January 20, 2021. That's 18 months + after his last day in office .
The Compost contends that there is a formal process the President must use for declassification .

A guide to classified information and the Trump Mar-a-Lago warrant - The Washington Post (https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/13/trump-warrant-classified-answers/)

How that issue is resolved will determine a lot .

Patel says he was there and a witness to Trump's verbal order .He says that WH council failed to change the classification markings on the docs. Given that Trump gave the orders in his final days ,that is believable .

"The White House counsel failed to generate the paperwork to change the classification markings, but that doesn’t mean the information wasn’t declassified,” Patel said. “I was there with President Trump when he said ‘We are declassifying this information.'”

Documents at Mar-a-Lago Marked 'Classified' Were Already Declassified (breitbart.com) (https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/05/05/documents-mar-a-lago-marked-classified-were-already-declassified-kash-patel-says/)

"White House counsel and company disobeyed a presidential order and implemented federal governmental bureaucracy on the way out to basically send the stash to the National Archives, and now that's where it's at," Patel said in a subsequent interview on June 23 on a different pro-Trump internet show.

Weeks before Mar-a-Lago search, ex-Trump DOD official vowed to publish classified documents from National Archives - ABC News (https://abcnews.go.com/US/weeks-mar-lago-search-trump-dod-official-vowed/story?id=88461618)


On his final day in office ,Trump did issue a written order to declassify Russiagate docs . So it appears Patel is right about Trump issuing an order .

Memorandum on Declassification of Certain Materials Related to the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane Investigation – The White House (archives.gov) (https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/memorandum-declassification-certain-materials-related-fbis-crossfire-hurricane-investigation/)

The question is if the President is compelled to follow declassification procedures that are previously established .

For most government employees who seek to have information declassified, their requests must go through a rigorous review process that can span the entire U.S. intelligence community, in order to ensure that sources, methods and other national security interests are protected. "[But] there's no formal process that a president is required to follow when declassifying information," Brian Greer, a former CIA attorney who specialized in classification issues, told ABC News.

And there you have it .....witness to the verbal order ;written memorandum by the President ; no requirement for the President to follow procedures established for the rest of the Executive Branch . Case closed

Look what he's done to himself!

https://scontent-ort2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.15752-9/299391808_2252648634893600_777734058945777251_n.pn g?_nc_cat=103&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=ae9488&_nc_ohc=8QJZ4972gskAX_dcvvR&_nc_ht=scontent-ort2-1.xx&oh=03_AVLK1iKjTM950RhVe8T8PYszopd0gk-IWR3VB6N4Xq3_mg&oe=6329A4E1

2 Developments
1. GSA NOT Trump staffers packet up the boxes of docs that ended up at Trump's residence at MaL . Trump could not possibly be responsible for what ended up at his home . This puts to bed the issue of intent . If indeed there were docs in MaL that had not been declassified ,it was the fault of the GSA . The narrative that "Trump took 15 boxes of classified documents" is a lie, Given the fact that Trump had been cooperating with the FBI in the storage and return of docs ;the raid was completely unnecessary for that reason.

2. Clueless waived privilege claims by Trump to facilitate the raid. His claim that the WH was not involved and had no prior knowlege is a lie .White House Deputy Counsel Jonathan Su had conversations with the FBI, DOJ and National Archives after 15 boxes of classified and other materials were voluntarily returned to the Archives from MaL Su told the Archives that Clueless would not object to waiving Trump's claims to executive privilege, a decision that opened the door for DOJ to get a grand jury to issue a subpoena compelling Trump to turn over any remaining materials he possessed from his presidency.
Archivist Debra Steidel Wall wrote ;
"The Counsel to the President has informed me that, in light of the particular circumstances presented here, President Biden defers to my determination, in consultation with the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel, regarding whether or not I should uphold the former President's purported 'protective assertion of executive privilege,'" ". I have therefore decided not to honor the former President's 'protective' claim of privilege."

Biden White House facilitated DOJ's criminal probe against Trump, scuttled privilege claims: memos | Just The News (https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/all-things-trump/biden-white-house-facilitated-dojs-criminal-probe-against-trump)

Alan Desrshowitz in Snoozeweek summarizes the issue.

Executive privilege, rooted in Article Two of the Constitution, empowers the president to confer confidentially with members of his staff without fear that these secret communications will be made public. It is akin to similar privileges such as those with one's lawyer, priest, doctor and spouse. Their purpose is to encourage candid communications that are intended to remain secret.
But now, the Biden administration is claiming that communications made by President Donald Trump when he was in office can be waived by subsequent presidents. If this were the case, it would mean the end of executive privilege, since no one would be able to count on the future confidentiality of communications made with a sitting president.


Executive Privilege Means Nothing if the Next President Can Waive It | Opinion (newsweek.com) (https://www.newsweek.com/executive-privilege-means-nothing-if-next-president-can-waive-it-opinion-1715230)

Hey this could be a good thing . Let's say Trump wins in 2024 and the DOJ gets serious about investigating the Biden crime family . Trump could waive Quid Pro Joe's privileges when he was Veep and President . Maybe Clueless did not think this one through .

3 The privileges of former Presidents in the Presidential Records Act trump the statutes used in the warrant to justify the raid .

The WSJ explains
The warrant authorized the FBI to seize “all physical documents and records constituting evidence, contraband, fruits of crime, or other items illegally possessed in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§793, 2071, or 1519” (emphasis added). These three criminal statutes all address the possession and handling of materials that contain national-security information, public records or material relevant to an investigation or other matters properly before a federal agency or the courts.

The materials to be seized included “any government and/or Presidential Records created between January 20, 2017, and January 20, 2021”—i.e., during Mr. Trump’s term of office. Virtually all the materials at Mar-a-Lago are likely to fall within this category. Federal law gives Mr. Trump a right of access to them. His possession of them is entirely consistent with that right, and therefore lawful, regardless of the statutes the FBI cites in its warrant.Those statutes are general in their text and application. But Mr. Trump’s documents are covered by a specific statute, the Presidential Records Act of 1978. It has long been the Supreme Court position, as stated in Morton v. Mancari (1974), that “where there is no clear intention otherwise, a specific statute will not be controlled or nullified by a general one, regardless of the priority of enactment.” The former president’s rights under the PRA trump any application of the laws the FBI warrant cites.

The Trump Warrant Had No Legal Basis - WSJ (https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-trump-warrant-had-no-legal-basis-mar-a-lago-affidavit-presidential-records-act-archivist-custody-classified-fbi-garland-11661170684?st=u1qa5b6p7zfeuw1&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink)

example of the retracted affidavit released by the Justice Dept under court order

https://static-assets-1.truthsocial.com/tmtg:prime-ts-assets/media_attachments/files/108/891/039/548/576/363/original/2d367e8ff329bbb4.jpg

you can "read " the whole thing here .

Heavily redacted Trump search affidavit released: Live updates | AP News (https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-mar-a-lago-criminal-investigations-government-and-politics-4ee554f467252929f96c70d42a93a05d)

In the May search, the FBI found 184 unique documents bearing classification markings, including 67 documents marked as CONFIDENTIAL, 92 documentsmarked as SECRET, and 25 documents marked as TOP SECRET. There is no reference to what was contained in those documents.There is a reference to material marked FISA. That could be Russiagate related material but there is no confirmation of the subject matter. Trump ordered the declassification of Russiagate material before he left office. Classification markings on documents only note they were classified at one point in time. It’s quite probable the docs were later declassified but the markings not updated before he left office.

I don't believe this has been discussed here yet

Trump has a RICO lawsuit ongoing in Florida in which he has named virtually every coconspirator of the Russiagate hoax as defendants .

He initiated the suit in March Some of the defendants named have been removed from the suit by court order. It appears that in late July there was a lot of movement in the case Comey was removed as a defendant as was Andrew McCabe. BUT the FBI is not off the hook yet . Last week Adam Schiffhead and Rod Rosenstein were removed by court order .

The Westfall Act allows the federal government to substitute itself as defendants in civil claims against federal employees when claims are related to defendants’ work as an employee. This happened on July 22. Note the date . 2 weeks later the FBI raided MaL and grabbed up docs that the affidavit says are Russiagate ;FISA related docs.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FbGZILMWAAAujdp?format=jpg&name=large

Here's the document. The first few pages involve definitions and are not redacted. Start at page 9 and go to 30. See how much information you get out of that.

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22267182-trump-search-warrant-affidavit

The problem is Trump did not keep organized filing systems . So docs marked confidential were comingled with love letters from un-Kim .That poses a national security threat .

Now what is more secure

1. Evita's email server where classified docs were stored and destroyed
2. The national archives were Sandy Burger walked in and stuffed docs into his socks
3. Bubba's sock draw
4. Mar a Largo where Trump kept docs at the FBI direction in a double locked room in a building that was guarded by secret service.
5. The swamp where classified docs are routinely leaked to the press.

Now what is more secure

1. Evita's email server where classified docs were stored and destroyed
2. The national archives were Sandy Burger walked in and stuffed docs into his socks
3. Bubba's sock draw
4. Mar a Largo where Trump kept docs at the FBI direction in a double locked room in a building that was guarded by secret service.
5. The swamp where classified docs are routinely leaked to the press.
Great point. It's a shame the liberal dems here have abandoned the field. I'd love to know their view on that.

Why did Trump take all those classified documents to Mar-a-Loco?

Why wouldn't he? Now if someone can demonstrate some nefarious intention on his part, then fine, but so far that has not been the case.

Did you also ask why HC had classified documents on a personal, unsecured email server?

This is actually what I'd like to know your view on.


Now what is more secure

1. Evita's email server where classified docs were stored and destroyed
2. The national archives were Sandy Burger walked in and stuffed docs into his socks
3. Bubba's sock draw
4. Mar a Largo where Trump kept docs at the FBI direction in a double locked room in a building that was guarded by secret service.
5. The swamp where classified docs are routinely leaked to the press.

Why wouldn't he? Now if someone can demonstrate some nefarious intention on his part, then fine, but so far that has not been the case.
Did he have official permission?

what do you mean by "official permission " ?? He was the President . Who was he supposed to get permission from ?

A President can leave office and take with him anything he wants?

(Our country has three equal branches of government -- executive, legislative, and judicial.)

He can declassify anything he wants.

The question you were asked, as is oftentimes the case, goes unanswered.

He can declassify anything he wants.
With no oversight by the other two branches of government?

The Legislative can impeach or override a veto. SCOTUS can decide a legal issue once someone brings suit.

When Biden decides to commit the feds to 500 bil in new spending without the approval of Congress, that would be a good time for the repubs to bring a legal case pointing out how unconstitutional that is and let the SCOTUS decide it.

The answer is that there is a vague ambiguous law called the Presidential Records Act that has no enforcement written into the law. Disputes between the President and the National Archives have been handled in the past by negotiations between the 2 .

I have no doubt that this is heading to SCOTUS for resolution and Congress will no doubt move to strengthen the law .

They better make that move prior to November.

A judge in FLA will appoint a "special master " to review the stuff the FBI seized and prevent the FBI from reviewing privileged information.

The judge also will order the FBI to "specifying all property seized" . Presumably that will prevent them from making Russiagate related docs disappear .

They better make that move prior to November.

wouldn't matter Art 1 sec 9 prohibits Congress from passing ex post facto law

wouldn't matter Art 1 sec 9 prohibits Congress from passing ex post facto lawNot what I meant. I was just saying that after the Nov elections, the dem majority in the House will be history.

I'm beginning to wonder about the red wave.

NY 19th district had a special election . The Repub Marc Molinaro tried to make the economy ,crime and inflation the issue. The Dem upset winner Pat Ryan made the SCOTUS Dobbs abortion decision the issue. NY 19th is a bell weather district that voted for consecutively the emperor; Trump, Clueless.

This comes after the surprising abortion decision in Kansas.
Special elections are often a measure of voter enthusiasm for party or issues.

The margin of error is getting too close for comfort. I have no doubt that the Repubs will take the House ,but maybe not by this wave they expect and better dare not assume

The Senate is way too close for comfort . . A REAL wave could go a long way to pushing the Repubs over the edge.

The so called process of classification and declassification was clarified in EO 13526 by the emperor

The President Executive Order 13526 | National Archives (https://www.archives.gov/isoo/policy-documents/cnsi-eo.html)

I want to highlight a key section :

Information originated by the incumbent President or the incumbent Vice President; the incumbent President’s White House Staff or the incumbent Vice President’s Staff; committees, commissions, or boards appointed by the incumbent President; or other entities within the Executive Office of the President that solely advise and assist the incumbent President is exempted from the provisions of paragraph (a) of this section,"

This was affirmed by SCOTUS in 1987 'Dept. of Navy v Egan '
The President, after all, is the "Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States." U.S. Const., Art. II, 2. His authority to classify and control access to information bearing on national security and to determine whether an individual is sufficiently trustworthy to occupy a position in the Executive Branch that will give that person access to such information flows primarily from this constitutional investment of power in the President and exists quite apart from any explicit congressional grant. See Cafeteria Workers v. McElroy, 367 U.S. 886, 890 (1961). This Court has recognized the Government's "compelling interest" in withholding national security information from unauthorized persons in the course of executive business. Snepp v. United States, 444 U.S. 507, 509 , n. 3 (1980). See also United States v. Robel, 389 U.S. 258, 267 (1967); United States v. Reynolds, 345 U.S. 1, 10 (1953); Totten v. United States, 92 U.S. 105, 106 (1876). The authority to protect such information falls on the President as head of the Executive Branch and as Commander in Chief

DEPARTMENT OF NAVY v. EGAN | FindLaw (https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/484/518.html)


The new spin i'm hearing is that classified or not the DOJ used statutes in the affidavit that do not rely on the classification status of the docs .

The question is who runs the government ...... the elected chief executive President of the United States or some permanent unelected bureaucracy ?

The idea that, "It's wrong if Trump does it, but it's OK for liberal dems," should concern us. That unequal application of law is a serious enemy.


The question is who runs the government ...... the elected chief executive President of the United States or some permanent unelected bureaucracy ?Good question.

The question is who runs the government ...... the elected chief executive President of the United States or some permanent unelected bureaucracy ?
Our government is run by three branches -- executive, legislative, and judicial -- that cooperate with each other and with none overriding the other two.

The legislative and executive branches routinely check each other with no participation at all from SCOTUS. One checks the other.

The legislative and executive branches routinely check each other with no participation at all from SCOTUS. One checks the other.
Thus, "the elected chief executive President of the United States" does not "run the government".

Our government is run by three branches -- executive, legislative, and judicial -- that cooperate with each other and with none overriding the other two.

lol I disagree Each branch has unique and specific functions and we would be better off if all the branches understood that and did not encroach on each other's powers .

There is nothing in the Constitution that says the legislative or judicial branches can make executive decisions. In fact the Constitution is very clear
The 1st sentence of Article 2 states

The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America.


Deciding what is and what is not classified is an executive decision.

Likewise a President who makes an EO that "forgives " student loans encroaches on the power of the Legislative Branch as Madam Mimi correctly stated a year ago.


Likewise there is nothing in Article 3 that gives courts the power to legislate ;as our courts have so often done.

There is nothing in the Constitution that says the legislative or judicial branches can make executive decisions.
I didn't say they can.

then you agree that the chief executive of the US RUNS the government much like every chief executive of every business in the world runs the business. They may not own it but they are selected to run it .

then you agree that the chief executive of the US RUNS the government much like every chief executive of every business in the world runs the business. They may not own it but they are selected to run it .
Not at all! The three branches are in this governing thing together and consult, communicate with each other. Chief executives consult with others in the company before making decisions.

no there is only ONE chief executive in any company and there is only one President who by Constitutional authority is the sole and only chief executive .
To help you understand ; the Constitution gives each branch it's own distinct role .

Congress ,may make law but it is the President who enforces the law . In a company that may be the Chief financial officer who gives a budget to the CEO , and of course they are all answerable to the board of directors ..... in the case of the government that is the American people through the electoral process .

Checks and balances are written in ;but there in no ambiguity that the President is the chief executive

Specifically he alone decides what is classified or not .

If you can show me the instance where Congress had any say in that then please let me know .

The chief executive does not take decisive action on his own. He does his homework first and that includes consulting with other company branches and/or employees.

Thus, "the elected chief executive President of the United States" does not "run the government".The Pres does "run" the country within the confines of laws decided on by the legislative branch and interpreted by the Supreme Court. But if you really believe what you have said above, then why are you not being critical of Biden? He made a unilateral decision to make some Americans pay for the dumb debt decisions of other Americans. Why do you seem to be OK with that? Isn't he breaking the rules you laid out above?

Whether the CEO consults with staff or not ;the final call is the CEOs .

Who would you have decide what is classified ;the geek running the national archives ?

I can repeat this all day . It has been confirmed by SCOTUS . The President decided what is and what is not classified . Before Trump left office he made a blanket declassification . The only REAL question is if the docs in question should be given to the National Archives .
As I have previously commented ;that has traditionally been done through negotiations ;not a bum rush gestapo raid of the President's residence.

why are you not being critical of Biden? He made a unilateral decision to make some Americans pay for the dumb debt decisions of other Americans. Why do you seem to be OK with that? Isn't he breaking the rules you laid out above?
Biden is not part of this conversation. Neither is Trump.

Biden is not part of this conversation. Neither is Trump. Title of the thread. "How far will the left go to get rid of Trump ?"

. Title of the thread. "How far will the left go to get rid of Trump ?"
Not the title of the thread, but the conversation side road that tomder and I took.

Not the title of the thread, but the conversation side road that tomder and I took.The entire thread, conversations and all, is about Trump and what the Biden admin is doing to him.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FbHHLhaVEAA9NCy?format=jpg&name=medium

From another site.

A Harley Biker is riding by the zoo in Washington, DC when he sees a little girl leaning into the lion's cage. Suddenly, the lion grabs her by the collar of her jacket and tries to pull her inside to slaughter her, under the eyes of her screaming parents. The biker jumps off his Harley, runs to the cage and hits the lion square on the nose with a powerful punch. Whimpering from the pain the lion jumps back letting go of the girl, and the biker brings the girl to her terrified parents, who thank him endlessly. A reporter has watched the whole event.

The reporter addressing the Harley rider says, “Sir, this was the most gallant and bravest thing I've seen a man do in my whole life.”

The Harley rider replies, “Why, it was nothing, really. The lion was behind bars. I just saw this little kid in danger, and acted as I felt right.”

The reporter says, “Well, I'll make sure this won't go unnoticed. I'm a journalist, you know, and tomorrow's paper will have this story on the front page. So, what do you do for a living, and what political affiliation do you have?”

The biker replies "I'm a U.S. Marine, a Republican and I’m voting for Trump."

The journalist leaves.

The following morning the biker buys the paper to see if it indeed brings news of his actions, and reads, on the front page:
“U.S. MARINE ASSAULTS AFRICAN IMMIGRANT & STEALS HIS LUNCH”
And THAT pretty much sums up the media's approach to the news these days!

it is clear that the DOJ is building a process crime case against Trump . Yesterday they released a picture of documents spread out on the floor of MaL with top secret on them along with a box of framed photos of things like Time Magazine covers (I love that the top framed mag cover is the one with all the other Presidential contenders peering into a window of the Oval Office ).
https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/5c6e92f82400007002a29707.jpeg?cache=Dr4t9wbQZi&ops=scalefit_720_noupscale

Trump haters staring in the window . Now we had Trump haters staring into Melania's shoe closet .

We have gone over this enough times to explain that just because a doc has a top secret designation on it doesn't mean that Trump did not declassify it before he left office.

Also it has been stated ad nauseum that the statutes that the FBI used to justify the gestapo raid are not dependent on classification status . So why release the photo ?

The rumor is that there is no clear violation of any of the statutes. The FBI is attempting to construct an obstruction case .

https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/iTScFkZnR5z4/v0/1200x-1.jpg

So it is safe to assume that this is not how these docs were stored .Instead the FBI staged this photo . Am I mistaken or is that a redacted measuring square on the floor too ?

The circus continues.

So Trump wants a 'special master ' to review the docs seized because some of them are privileged docs that the FBI has no business viewing . The FBI countered that it was not necessary because they have already reviewed all the docs.
Now they say that a special master should not be assigned because there are national security concerns.

So a person designated by a judge cannot view the docs .... but a bus load of FBI agents and their staff can ? Trump's big mistake appears to me to be that after he declassified them he should've released all of them for public viewing .

Hillary Clinton, being interviewed on "The View", opined that 'no one is above the law' while discussing the Trump Mara-a-Lago docs. The chutzpa of the left is sometimes just amazing. No one is above the law??? Well, no one, evidently, other than her.

I think the same, that is, they could try to assassinate Trump in order to prevent him from being elected president again. Those people are capable of anything. I would like to know how it could be prevented in time that they assassinate Trump if they had thought so? I am one of those who support Trump, I have always admired his work and I would not want anything bad to happen to him but I fear for his safety. The left is capable of many things and we must prevent it in time, Trump deserves our full support. How can we help?

Welcome YGR

I am not entertaining the thought of assassination. But I can see a pending Justice Dept arrest that will tie up Trump in legal limbo through 2024 .

Welcome, YGR.

The Trump document case took front and center mostly yesterday (there was also some movement in the Georgia case . The judge dismissed some of the charges because the prosecution never bothered to explain why Trump et al was being charged with the pile on ) .

There was some ;as the compliant press calls it ,testy and combative exchanges between Trump's lawyers and Judge Cannon . That is of course what the Slimes wants to concentrate on.

Judge Denies One of Trump’s Efforts to Derail Documents Case - The New York Times (nytimes.com) (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/14/us/politics/trump-classified-documents-case.html)

They of course are missing the bigger news out of yesterday's hearing .

The Hur handling of Quid's documents has become a big elephant in the room.
Trump's defense repeatedly mentioned 'arbitrary and selective enforcement' .Judge Cannon appeared to agree.

My information is from Real Clear Investigations' Julie Kelly from her X postings .


Cannon hammered the fact no former president or vice president has been charged under Espionage Act for taking and keeping classified records including national defense information--which represents 32 counts against Trump in Jack Smith's indictment.




She asked what day did Trump's violations begin. The prosecution said Jan 20,the day he left office.

There are many things wrong with this .
There is no clear process for former officials to lose of retain their security clearance.
His argument is Trump's clearance automatically expired at the end of this term--which contradicts how former government officials maintained clearances long after their service ended.

Prosecution claimed that there were emails and letters that revoked Trump's . But there is no formal process ..... again an arbitrary decision that happened after the prosecution began

Enforcement of the 'Presidential Records Act ' has always been resolved through negotiations; (sometimes they are contentious ) .
So all that Jack Smith is left with in theory is obstruction charges .
Hard to argue obstruction in a case where no crime was committed.

Kelly predicts that when all is said and done ; Judge Cannon will throw the case out .
That should set the left's hair on fire .

Julie Kelly 🇺🇸 on X: "NEW: From FLA courthouse in Trump's classified documents case with a prediction. Robert Hur report and testimony is the biggest elephant in the room. The term "arbitrary enforcement" used frequently by both the defense and Judge Aileen Cannon. Cannon hammered the fact no former…" / X (twitter.com) (https://twitter.com/julie_kelly2/status/1768308069765701827)

Look forward to seeing your assessment of the judge's ruling in Georgia. Looks to me like he tried to find a middle ground between bashing Willis (as she deserves) and doing nothing.

I don't think it matters . Judge should've said something that is becoming trademark Democrat ....... " she perjured and had clear conflict of interest ..... BUT NO REASONABLE judge would remove her from the get Trump case".

I don't see any way Trump isn't convicted unless there is a change of venue. Hope he doesn't go to jail before the appeals process.

If one of them is guilty when they both told the same lie ;then why isn't both of them subject to the same penalty ? The only reason is that the judge wants Willis' team still on the case .
'

I think it's a matter of judicial courage, or rather a lack of it.

yeah Judge McAfee who was "randomly selected " to preside over the case ;who is the least experienced Fulton County Superior Court Judge ;but was assigned to the most important case in the county history ;once was supervised by Fanni Willis ,was not about to be the one remove her from the case.

I think Trump's team has to hammer over and over again requests for a change of venue. The deck is stacked against him in Fulton County ;and frankly in Georgia's Guv Brian Kemp has been in Trump's name calling cross hairs a number of times .

Donald J. Trump on X: "What a fool Governor @BrianKempGA of Georgia is. Could have been so easy, but now we have to do it the hard way. Demand this clown call a Special Session and open up signature verification, NOW. Otherwise, could be a bad day for two GREAT Senators on January 5th." / X (twitter.com) (https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1338348880182829061?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5 Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1338348880182829061%7Ctwgr% 5Ee680bc51f1a7efedf76ea6a67c0eb36f8d27c163%7Ctwcon %5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fox5atlanta.com%2Fnews%2 Fpresident-trump-calls-gov-brian-kemp-fool-clown-over-election-results)

Trump insults Georgia’s GOP governor — then demands impossible-to-perform election audit - Raw Story (https://www.rawstory.com/2020/11/trump-insults-georgias-gop-governor-then-demands-impossible-to-perform-election-audit/)

Aaron Rupar on X: ""Of course, having her I think might be better than having your existing governor, if you want to know the truth" -- Trump on the relative merits of Stacey Abrams and Brian Kemp https://t.co/KrppCdCHAJ" / X (twitter.com) (https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1441925107476226052?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5 Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1441925107476226052%7Ctwgr% 5E7b76a288c511660dbc70b908c259b104d7ee3bbd%7Ctwcon %5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.yahoo.com%2Ftrump-says-stacey-abrams-might-162523367.html)

It is hard to keep track of all the lawfare

Back in Manhattan NY there are 3 cases ;2 of them civil that could lead to Trump having to divest of real estate assets at bargain basement prices .

The criminal case brought by DA Bragg claims Trump violated campaign finance laws by paying off the non-disclosure agreement he made with Stormy Daniels .(aka "hush money "according to Bragg)

There is a new delay in that case. The Feds ;not happy at all that Bragg is stepping into areas that are Federally enforced ; delayed in producing documents ;and did a late massive document dump of over 100,000 docs after Trump's team made a request for them .

Bragg's office had no choice in agreeing to a delay for the trial that was intended to begin March 25.

Trump wanted 90 days . Bragg agreed to 60.

Re 8th Amendment excessive fines clause

This was Justice Ruth Ginsberg opinion in ' Timbs v Indiana '

The prohibition embodied in the Excessive Fines Clause carries forward protections found in sources from Magna Carta to the English Bill of Rights to state constitutions from the colonial era to the present day ......Protection against excessive fines has been a constant shield throughout Anglo-American history for good reason: Such fines undermine other liberties. They can be used, e.g., to retaliate against or chill the speech of political enemies,”

Protection againstexcessive punitive economic sanctions secured by the Clause is, to repeat, both “fundamental to our scheme of ordered liberty” and “deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition.”

17-1091 Timbs v. Indiana (02/20/2019) (supremecourt.gov) (https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/18pdf/17-1091_5536.pdf)

I shared that post on FB. Only those truly infected with TDS would see that judgment as reasonable.

Here is the update on the document case /Mar a Largo

You see the deal is that judge after judge can make rulings against Trump in court.

BUT if Judge Aileen Cannon makes rulings in favor of Trump ;then she is a partisan hack who has no business being on the bench . She was appointed by Trump and is a Trump stooge. Forget the fact that she has made some important rulings against Trump.

Aileen Cannon Removal Calls Grow Over Latest Filing (newsweek.com) (https://www.newsweek.com/aileen-cannon-trump-jury-instructions-presidential-records-act-1880757)


Doesn't matter that in DC Judge Tanya Chutkan is denying one Trump motion after another in an effort to fast tract her preconceived conviction of Trump.

Doesn't matter that in a similar case Special Council Hur has decided that Biden is too mentally unfit to stand trial. a blatant double standard of justice.

The real concern is that Judge Cannon ;presiding over a very complex case; where evidence is of national security concern ;might delay the trial past the November elections .

People not interested in truth will make some strange assessments.

Judge Cannon made another crucial decision against Trump yesterday .


Trump wanted to disclose the identities of government witnesses. Jack Smith wanted the witnesses protected . Judge Cannon agreed with Smith after Smith identified documented threats to judicial officers and law enforcement people related to the case ;in arguments presented to Canon in March.
Here decision reverses one she had made previously .
Could it be that she is feeling the heat from the constant criticism that she is partisan ?

The critique is completely unfounded as her decision demonstrates . While she agreed with Smith ;she also chided him in the ruling


"The Special Counsel had two opportunities to raise these arguments and failed to do so in both instances. The Special Counsel's initial Seal Request failed to offer a governing legal framework or any factual support for the relief sought,"
"Later, in response to the Press Coalition's Motion, the Special Counsel failed to engage with—let alone refute—the Press Coalition's argument that the First Amendment attached to the subject materials."


"And this is to say nothing of the Special Counsel's failure to comply with this District's Local Rules on sealing, which the Court has emphasized repeatedly throughout this proceeding,"





gov.uscourts.flsd.648652.438.0.pdf (courtlistener.com) (https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.648652/gov.uscourts.flsd.648652.438.0.pdf)

This is a fascinating pic. Trump goes to a Chik-Fil-A in Atlanta and speaks to the staff which is, as far as I can see, all black. They received him happily and he plainly had a good time.

49598

Will they turn out and vote for him ? Or will their ballot be given to a harvester to fill out for them and put in a drop box ? ? Georgia claims that harvesting is illegal and does not impact their elections . There is no smoking gun evidence to dispute their claim. But there is more than enough anecdotal evidence to raise the concern. They do promote the use if drop boxes .

Georgia election officials now urging voters to use drop boxes instead of mailing absentee ballots (youtube.com) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN9rLyc35H0)

Meanwhile the show trials begin Monday.

DA Alvin Bragg has no case against Trump . But he will try and convict him anyway.

That is my prediction.

Trump may or may not have had a romp in the hay with Stormy Daniels . Going into the 2016 election Trump had his fixer Michael Cohen make a deal with her. She was to keep her pie hold shut in exchange for $130,000 (one side says hush money the other side says non-disclosure agreement (NDA) )

NDAs are not illegal. I signed one as a condition of employment . Some employees sign them as part of a severance package.

In an effort the disguise the paper trail ,Bragg says Trump also fraudulently disguised the payment as a monthly retainer to Cohen for " legal services " . For each payment check ;invoice and ledger Bragg created a separate charge adding up to 34 counts.

In NY law ;these are misdemeanors that have passed the statute of limitations. So Bragg had to invent felonies.

What Bragg needed was to link this bookkeeping with an intent to commit another crime.

A person is guilty of falsifying business records in the first degree when he commits the crime of falsifying business records in the second degree, and when his intent to defraud includes an intent to commit another crime or to aid or conceal the commission thereof.”

New York Consolidated Laws, Penal Law - PEN § 175.10 | FindLaw (https://codes.findlaw.com/ny/penal-law/pen-sect-175-10/#:~:text=A%20person%20is%20guilty%20of,or%20concea l%20the%20commission%20thereof.)

Even that is beyond the statute . But the presiding judge ;Juan Merchan, decided to give the charge a 1 year extension due to covid .

But what was the crime Trump was allegedly trying to conceal ?
Bragg doesn't really say in the indictments . But he plays fast and loose on legal theory the a few Federal campaign finance laws and tax laws that Trump could have violated .

It doesn't matter a bit that the Feds have already done their investigations and found nothing there . In fact Bragg's predecessor Cyrus Vance Jr investigated and found nothing there .

But Bragg has a jury pool from NYC that is almost guaranteed to find Trump guilty .

Step right up, hurry, hurry
Before the show begins, my friends
Stand in line, get your tickets
I hope you will attend............

So let the sideshow begin
Hurry, hurry, step right on in
Can't afford to pass it by
Guaranteed to make you cry
('Side show' by Blue Magic)

But the presiding judge ;Juan Merchan, decided to give the charge a 1 year extension due to covid .Beyond amazing. I wonder what other "extensions" this judge will cook up in an effort to find Trump guilty.

he has been hitting Trump with gag orders .

What Does the Gag Order Mean in Trump's Hush Money Case? (usnews.com) (https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2024-04-12/what-does-the-gag-order-mean-in-trumps-hush-money-case)

I suspect that won't deter Trump ;and he will test the limits of the order. He really has to as these show trials are a campaign issue.

Back to the document case

Trump has two codefendants; Waltine Nauta and Carlos De Olivera. Nauta's crime was moving boxes around when instructed to do so.

The FBI asked for his cooperation and he gladly did so. What he did not know was that his interview took place 2 weeks after subpoena was issued. (the same ambush they did to Michael Flynn) .The 2 codefendants have asked for their case to be dismissed.


Lawyers for De Oliveira said he had "no clue" what was in the boxes he moved around Mar-a-Lago at Trump's instruction — nor that a grand jury subpoena had been issued for the surveillance-camera footage he's accused of trying to delete — and is therefore not guilty of obstructing justice..............

Nauta's attorneys said he didn't know he was running afoul of the law when he moved boxes "whose contents he was not aware of." They argued that because he wasn't acting "corruptly," as the indictment suggests, or with any inkling that he could be committing a crime, the counts against him should likewise be dismissed.


Trump codefendants vie to have classified documents charges dropped (palmbeachpost.com) (https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/trump/2024/04/12/donald-trump-codefendants-motion-judge-aileen-cannon-to-dissmis-classified-documents-charges-friday/73286543007/)

Judge Cannon may not dismiss the charges even though she should . But she may instead direct the prosecution to give a more detailed breakdown of the charges against them, known as a bill of particulars.


Judge Cannon and Jack Smith continue to feud over issue like Grand Jury Secrecy. The Grand Jury convened in DC . Then Smith changed the case to Florida for his indictment . Then the Grand Jury records were sealed . Issues of witness protection was raised ;which can easily be remedied with name retractions.


Cannon did not appear pleased with the opaqueness of the government’s process for deciding what information it is willing to unseal.
“It’s very ambiguous what is going on in the background and how these permissions are being granted,” she said.

Still no new trial date for Trump’s Florida case - POLITICO (https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/12/still-no-new-trial-date-for-trumps-florida-case-00152079)

A large and corrupt federal government...the great fear of the founding fathers. It's well been said that if they want to get you, then they will. The laws have become so numerous and complicated that the rank and file have no hope of being confident they are not breaking any.

To me, the huge issue in this case — well, there are lots of issues — but one of the really big issues is jury selection. I would say 85 percent of the American public has strong feelings about Donald Trump, and 95 percent of the people who live in Manhattan have strong feelings about Donald Trump, so teasing out those feelings and picking a jury that can be fair is going to be a tremendous challenge.
One of the things that we as journalists think is, Oh, everyone is following this case so closely, that you’ll never get an unbiased jury. But I think we overstate how much people actually follow the news. I’ve covered O.J. Simpson, Martha Stewart, Michael Skakel, Timothy McVeigh, and people are vaguely aware, but they really don’t follow the news as closely as we do. But Trump presents a unique challenge in that regard. It’s one thing to be a famous football star — it’s another thing to be president of the United States.


Jeffrey Toobin Got His Big Break on O.J. Simpson's . He Says Trump’s Trial Will Be a Whole New Kind of Spectacle. - POLITICO (https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/04/11/trump-trial-jeffrey-toobin-cable-news-00151604?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axiossneakpeek&stream=top)


Jury selection . To find an impartial jury in NYC ? Not happening . But you can give it a try. Potential jurors must be willing to share their social media postings. If they post family and vacation pictures ;comments about the eclipse ;and Taylor Swift's concerts ;and stay away from commenting on politics there is a slight chance they don't have a biased opinion. They can watch MSNBC or Fox and allegedly still be unbiased. Each side has 10 preemptory challenges .

Each side has an idea of the profile of their ideal juror.

Bragg will want to seat white collar women who watch MSNBC. Trump will want to seat blue collar men who distrust the deep state.

That's a rather depressing commentary on the state of our judicial system. When a man's guilt or innocence is more dependent on jury selection than on the quantity and quality of evidence arrayed for or against him, then the train has jumped the rails.

The really sad thing is to get an unbiased juror ;you need to seat an air head.

Already half of the 96 potential jurors have been dismissed because they said they could not be impartial

Trump's lawyer argued they don't have enough time to go through all the docs the Feds dumped last month The judge gave them 24 hrs to read them and decide if they wanted to introduce any of them as evidence.

Hearings on gag order violations is April 23 Prosecution says 3 social media postings by Trump violate the order. They want a fine of $1000 each

Trump calls this a political show trial. Been studying up on some of them from the past.
The deep state (Henry VIII ) was upset the Queen (Anne Bolyn ) disrupted his succession plans by not having a son. So charges of adultery were made. A show trial commenced .She was found guilty ;imprisoned in the Tower of London before they offed her head.

There are others ;but this one appears to be closest . They want to put him in jail for adultery . A closest comparison to Trump in US may be Bubba. His impeachment was about lying . The prosecutor investigating him ;even with DNA evidence ;determined he should not be charged.

they don't have enough time to go through all the docs the Feds dumped last month The judge gave them 24 hrs to read them and decide if they wanted to introduce any of them as evidence."Your Honor, there is so much of this material that we are struggling to work through it and see how much of it, if any, will be material to our case." "Oh, I see. Well in that case I can do this. I'll give you, ohhh, let's say 24 hours to get that done." "Gee...thanks a lot Your Honor."

meet Trump's jury

A lawyer, a banker and a speech therapist: Meet the 12 jury members of Trump’s hush money trial (nbcnews.com) (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/meet-the-first-7-jury-members-as-trumps-hush-money-trial-progresses-rcna148198)

note there are no Orthodox Jews in the jury. They happen to be one of Trump's biggest bases of support . Is that a coincidence ? No Judge Merchan scheduled the trial days to have Wednesday off and to hold court on Fridays . I was once in a jury pool in the 2nd Federal district in NYC ;and a few times in my county . Fridays were always off days .


Orthodox Jews have their day of rest starting sundown on Fridays . Now technically they could sit on the case on Friday and makes it home before sundown. But the fact remains that there are no Orthodox Jews seated in a jurisdiction where there is a high concentration of Orthodox Jews residing.

The whole process was not smooth. More than half the prospective jurors were bounced immediately when they honestly claimed a bias against Trump.

One potential juror was ousted when her Fakebook postings were pro-Clueless Joe. One was seated even after the judge accused Trump of intimidation against her.

One juror was dismissed after being selected for hiding his past criminal record.One juror was dismissed after being selected when family and friends outed her as an anti-Trumper

bold prediction .


Judge Merchan will agree tomorrow that Trump has and countinues to violate the gag order he imposed . Today Bragg documented cases where he thought Trump defied the order in posts on Truth Social and Trump's daily press statements .
The issue appears to be Trump "reposts " . Trump's lawyer Todd Blanche contends reposts do not violate the order . The judge asked for case law to back that up ;which Blanche could not provide. The argument between Merchan and Blanche got heated . Not a good sign for Trump.

Not sure how he is supposed to run for pres and yet not discuss this case. It might very well be that that's a good part of the strategy behind this.

You know where this trial is headed . The 1st witness is former National Enquirer editor David Pecker . Funny thing about Trump . He inspires his opponents to do the very things they accuse him of doing.

You know about that the government through the media suppressed stories like the Hunter Biden laptop. Now Bragg contents that Trump ;through the National Enquirer suppressed negative stories about him. According to prosecution attorney Matthew Colangelo, Pecker was Trump's "eyes and ears " ;and they used a "catch and kill" strategy to suppress negative stories about Trump.{Colangelo is former DOJ who apparently quit the agency so he could be a lead prosecutor in this case }

Now this was not a crime as Trump's attorney Todd Blanche contended . All Trump was trying to do was protect his family and name. He disputed Colangelo's contention that this constitutes a conspiracy.

What are friends for ? Pecker went above and beyond. He paid $30,000 to buy a story that alleged Trump fathered a child with his housekeeper so the story would not get published .He also suppressed a story of another Trump affair ;this time with former Playboy model Karen McDougal.

Remember when the Dems said what's the big deal about Bubba ..... It's only sex ?

Pecker will continue today where he will detail how he intercepted the Stormy Daniels story. He really is a sleaze. He testified that during the primaries in 2016 ;he fabricated the story that linked Ted Cruz's father to Lee Harvey Oswald .

Just wondering how Trump's attempts to protect his own backside by controlling the flow of news is different in any real way from what you described in another post, except that what is posted below is far worse since it constitutes the use of enormous government power to both lie to the American people and "get" an American citizen.


This group was organized by former Obot Norman Eisen ;and included some names you will recognize ...
Andrew Weissmann, George Conway, Bill Kristol, Norm Eisen, Laurence Tribe, Barbara McQuade, Joyce White Vance, Jennifer Rubin, Mary McCord, Harry Litman, Elliot Williams, Asha Rangappa, Norm Ornstein, Renato Mariotti, Shan Wu, Ryan Goodman, Karen Agnifilo, Jeffrey Toobin ;among others .

Weissman was one of the lawyers working for Inspector Javert Robert Mueller during Russia-gate . Conway is the former husband of Kellyanne who is a frequent Trump hater who has helped E Jean Carrol in her suit against Trump. Kristol is an anti-Trump neo-con. Toobin is a frequent MSNBC contributor who is now best known for masturbating during a Zoom call.

Getting Trump has become a well paid cottage industry. When this prosecution fails there is always the next one.

Andrew McCarthy helped me figure it out. This case is Alvin Bragg's version of 'stop the steal' . (isn't it ironic that Trump is being prosecuted by a guy named Bragg)


Yes, of course, Bragg has indicted Trump for a nonsensical business-records falsification offense — a mere misdemeanor that he has abusively tried to inflate into 34 felonies. But that’s not what he and Democrats are really alleging.

What they want to say, instead, is that Trump stole the 2016 election. Only they can’t do that. After all, that would make them election deniers — just like Trump.

‘Hush money’ is not a crime, and Bragg has no case against Trump (nypost.com) (https://nypost.com/2024/04/22/opinion/hush-money-is-not-a-crime-and-bragg-has-no-case-against-trump/)

So how would former Presidents fared with Smith's standards applied ?

Lincoln suspended habeas corpus . Chief Justice Roger Taney ruled only Congress had that power. Lincoln ignored his decision until the end of the war. Under Smith's standards Lincoln could've been prosecuted after he left office.

Truman seized steel mills during the Korea war. SCOTUS ruled that was in violation of the Constitution. No conspiracy charges were ever made against Truman.

Every President since WWII has taken military action without Congressional authorization. None have been charged .

There have been many cases that support immunity for official acts . The only question really on the table is if Trump's actions were "official acts ".
This is new territory .How the court decides is anyone's guess.

The hatred that exists out there for Trump is something to see. It's similar to what was there for Obama but a good deal more intense. No doubt that much of it is generated by his personality, but the remainder, which is a lot, is difficult to pinpoint. I'm sure some of it has to do with the fact that he derailed the Hillary machine. For that matter, he derailed the liberal/progressive political freight train which was thought to be ready to pull into the station as a permanent exhibit. He also made appointments to SCOTUS that did away (somewhat) with a woman's supposed right to have her unborn baby killed. But even with all of that, it is a little puzzling to me to explain this incredible hatred that exists.

Trump will likely go to jail . Havey Weintein will likely go free.

Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction overturned by New York appeals court: The latest (yahoo.com) (https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/harvey-weinsteins-2020-rape-conviction-overturned-by-new-york-appeals-court-the-latest-143116487.html)

Bragg may regret having David Pecker (what a perfect name for a tabloid publisher ) as his opening witness . Pecker is in the process of destroying Bragg's case .He testified that Trump “had no idea what [he] was talking about” when he asked about reimbursing Michael Cohen for the Stormy payment. He said that the "catch and kill" stategery was concocted by him and Cohen ;not Trump.

Trump's lawyer should also point out that a rag like the 'National Enquirer' ;not fit for bird cage liner ,was the publication uses to 'catch and kill ' a Trump scandal while it was the Sllmes ;Compost , and the rest of the compliant press that was used to 'catch and kill ' the Hunter Biden laptop story .

Judge Merchan slapped Trump with 9 counts of contempt of court . Fines of $1000 each and he threatened Trump with jail time .
He ordered Trump to take down 7 Truth Social Posts and 2 campaign ads .

Meanwhile others in the case like Michael Cohen are under no such restraint .

Unless they can come up with something against Trump that really has some genuine legal traction, this could all very sell serve to enhance his chances of winning.

Time Mag has a hit piece on Trump . They interviewed him and their take is that he plans to be a dictator if elected
(going on sale May 17 but they had to get this out asap)

Every election is billed as a national turning point. This time that rings true. To supporters, the prospect of Trump 2.0, unconstrained and backed by a disciplined movement of true believers, offers revolutionary promise. To much of the rest of the nation and the world, it represents an alarming risk. A second Trump term could bring “the end of our democracy,” says presidential historian Douglas Brinkley, “and the birth of a new kind of authoritarian presidential order.”


Donald Trump on What His Second Term Would Look Like | TIME (https://time.com/6972021/donald-trump-2024-election-interview/)


Hate to break it to them . We have been living in a new kind of authoritarian presidential order since President 'I have a pen and a phone'. It has been rule by executive order since.

Great post, Tom. Thanks for sharing all of this.

Judge Merchan is a partisan hack and he is not afraid to let it be known. 2020 he made token donations to Clueless Joe's campaign; the 'Progressive Turn Out Project' ;and to 'Stop Republicans' just so he could be on record.

That alone should've been a disqualifier. But here he is ,hell bent to convict Trump for a crime that is not spelled out in the indictment.(conspiracy to violate the Federal Election Campaign Act spending limits).5th Amendment......
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury,


And Trump may face jail time for reacting to Michael Cohen's non-stop commentary of the trial on TikTok. Cohen is scheduled to be the star witness for the prosecution at the trial.

Donald 'Von zInPantz' Is Officially in the Hush-Money-Trial Record (businessinsider.com) (https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-von-zinpantz-has-formally-been-entered-into-the-record-2024-5)

But his antics could backfire .


Michael Cohen is cashing in on the Trump trial with TikTok livestreams -- and it could be a problem - ABC News (go.com) (https://abcnews.go.com/US/michael-cohen-cashing-trump-trial-tiktok-livestreams-problem/story?id=109695141&cid=social_twitter_abcn)


I am almost positive that the biased prosecutor ;judge and jury will find Trump guilty . I also believe Trump will eventually get the conviction overturned due to many due process violations .

How a conviction affects the election is unknown.

And what was Cohn's REAL beef with Trump ? From testimony we know that he was enraged that he was not offered a job in the Trump administration.


Davidson, who as the porn star's lawyer at the time helped arrange the payment, testified Cohen was "very despondent and saddened" during a long phone call after Trump won the election. "I thought he was going to kill himself," Davidson said.
Davidson said he recalled Cohen saying: "I can’t believe I’m not going to Washington. I’ve saved that guy’s so many times, you don’t even know."
He said Cohen, as Trump's personal lawyer, had hoped to be appointed attorney general or White House chief of staff.
In recorded phone calls played for the panel of 12 jurors and six alternates on Thursday, Cohen mused about his next steps after Trump’s victory, including whether he should “go rogue” or write a tell-all book.
He eventually did both and emerged as a fierce critic of Trump.


Trump trial hears Michael Cohen was 'despondent' he was denied a government post | Reuters (https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-trial-hears-michael-cohen-was-despondent-he-was-denied-government-post-2024-05-03/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_campaign=Daily-Briefing&utm_term=050324&user_email=3c836956fbef5ae572d6a01a09dfe9727855e3d c2d8cc3d02ca8b5d1d69897f2)

How a conviction affects the election is unknown.I think it will all come down to perceptions. If the general public gets the perception that Trump has been railroaded, then they could very well respond to that with sympathy votes. If they get the impression that he's a scumbag criminal, then it will work against him. I suspect the first option will be the prevailing one.

completely uncharted territory. He can run a campaign from jail .But can he serve from jail ? (“unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office” 25th amendment ) But that would require cooperation from his VEEP and cabinet . Not likely

Trump elected if convicted leaves us with many issues that by themselves are constitutional crisis'

Keith Davidson lawyer for Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal ;both said they had sex with Trump; is apparently a serial extortionist.
During cross examination we learn that he represented women who made the same charges against Charlie Sheen ; and people selling sex tapes of Hulk Hogan and Tia Tequila. Trump attorney Emil Bove asked him if these deals and others required that Davidson understand "getting right up to the line without committing extortion."

Trump lawyer suggests hush money payment was extortion | Reuters (https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-hush-money-trial-judge-weigh-more-fines-defying-gag-order-2024-05-02/)

In the Hogan case ;Tampa Police investigated him for extortion but he ultimately was not charged.


As for Trump's reason for making a NDA with Stormy Daniels ;his former aide Hope Hicks testified that his concern was not the election. He just did not want Melania to find out about his philandering.



She said Trump did not want his wife Melania to see the story, which also included allegations that he had an affair with former Playboy model Karen McDougal. Trump has denied having sex with either woman.
"He was concerned about how it would be viewed by his wife, and he wanted me to make sure the newspapers weren’t delivered to the residence that morning,” Hicks said.




Former Trump aide Hope Hicks testifies he told her to deny Stormy Daniels affair | Reuters (https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-trial-hears-michael-cohen-was-despondent-he-was-denied-government-post-2024-05-03/#:~:text=%22He%20wanted%20to%20make%20sure,former% 20Playboy%20model%20Karen%20McDougal.)

In the document case ;the prosecution admitted to the judge that they tampered with the evidence . They first claimed that the boxes seized were kept exactly as they were when taken. But now they admit to rearranging the evidence.

“The Government acknowledges that this is inconsistent with what Government counsel previously understood and represented to the Court,”

(page 8 footnote)
Microsoft Word - Response to Woodward motion for extension (5.3.24).docx (justthenews.com) (https://justthenews.com/sites/default/files/2024-05/gov.uscourts.flsd_.648653.522.0.pdf)

Part of Trump's defense will be that the files were stored in chronological order as Trump received them and that WH personnel boxed them to ship to Trump without Trump reviewing the content . So he would not know if there were classified documents among them. His defense will also likely be that the boxes remained untouched since delivery . The prosecution rifling through them harms that argument and constitutes tampering .

Smith's team tries to downplay the significance. It is up to Judge Cannon to decide how critical evidence tampering is in this case. Normally it is a game changer . (except Evita's destruction of evidence ....she got a pass on that )


Prosecutors: Docs in boxes seized from Mar-a-Lago were inadvertently jumbled - POLITICO (https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/03/mar-a-lago-trump-classified-documents-00156124)

Donald Trump Demands Jack Smith Be Arrested After Document Revelation (newsweek.com) (https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-arrest-jack-smith-classified-documents-1897287)

who am I kidding ?13of 18 jurors and alternates get their new from the Slimes .

Where Jurors in Trump Hush-Money Trial Say They Get Their News - The New York Times (nytimes.com) (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/19/nyregion/trump-trial-jury-news.html)

suppose I started a joke by saying a disbarred serial convicted perjurer was called to take an oath to testify truthfully at a trial .............


This week Michael Cohen will be called as the star witness in the Stormy Daniels trial .


Cohen : "this time I really mean it "

3 weeks into the trial and still trying to figure out what crime Trump did.

I still suspect this will all work in Trump's favor. The clown show aspect of the trial will make the dems look awkwardly desperate. Perhaps best of all, it will make Trump's public comments less frequent.

DOJ photo shoot .



https://ecp.yusercontent.com/mail?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstackcdn.com%2Fimage%2Ff etch%2Fw_1260%2Cc_limit%2Cf_auto%2Cq_auto%3Agood%2 Cfl_progressive%3Asteep%2Fhttps%253A%252F%252Fsubs tack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%252Fpublic%252Fimages%252Fc 72b19e0-6336-4792-8ee9-1c30faeb301b_630x547.png&t=1715033773&ymreqid=7d92eb68-9508-33e2-1c52-7f0001013100&sig=Z2p2nHlrObehxZFobBrxIQ--~D
the FBI tampered with evidence to create the infamous photo--and DOJ has lied about it for nearly two years.

Judge Merchan threatened Trump with jail time this morning . He boxed himself in a corner. If Trump violates the gag order again ;he has to jail Trump. If I were Trump I would let Trump Jr do all the talking . But Trump may want to spend some jail time to bolster his persecution strategy.

As previously noted ;former Acting Associate AG Mathew Colangelo quit his DOJ job to become Bragg's lead prosecutor in the Trump Stormy Daniels case. What we now know is that the DNC paid him $12 thousands in 2018 for consulting work. At the time he was employed by the NY AG .Eric Schneiderman as a deputy AG for social justice. He was involved in NYs suit against the Trump Foundation . He has spent the better part of the last decade to getting Trump. The suit came shortly after he got paid by the DNC.

Stormy Daniel's lawyer said that the $130,000 she got was not "hush money" ;that it should be defined as a 'consideration payment '.


Stormy Daniels' Lawyer Claims Donald Trump's $130k Payment Was 'Consideration' Not 'Hush Money' (yahoo.com) (https://www.yahoo.com/news/stormy-daniels-lawyer-claims-donald-224549996.html)


A consideration payment is a legally negotiated agreement.


a vital element in the law of contracts, consideration is a benefit which must be bargained for between the parties, and is the essential reason for a party entering into a contract. Consideration must be of value (at least to the parties), and is exchanged for the performance or promise of performance by the other party (such performance itself is consideration).
Legal Dictionary | Law.com (https://dictionary.law.com/default.aspx?selected=305#:~:text=n.,party%20enter ing%20into%20a%20contract.)


Best moment of the trial was Hope Hicks' testimony. She knee capped Braggs whole case when she said the reason for the payment to Daniels was not about the election. It was about Trump trying to conceal his one -nighter from Melania.
“I think he was just concerned about what her perception of this would be.”

When asked about Michael Cohen she said "He used to like to call himself Mr. Fix-It, but it was only because he first broke it"

Judge Cannon has postponed indefinitely the document case that was scheduled for May 20 .

In the NY trial ;I can't wait for Michael Cohen to explain why Trump should go to jail for advice Cohen gave Trump.

Thanks for the updates. These trials are more likely to injure the credibility of the dems than anything else. It seems obvious that they are all being run by inept attorneys.

The NY trial is the very definition of a show trial . Judge Merchan allowed Stormy Daniels to testify in detail about her alleged one-nighter with Trump ;something that bottom line is irrelevant to the prosecution's case (if we could ever really find out what their case is ) . He then was shocked shocked that such details were presented in his court .

https://i1.sndcdn.com/artworks-000296509803-pmytqn-t500x500.jpg

He then sent the jury out of the room after listening to her . He first berated the prosecution for her testimony and then berated the defense for not objecting vigorously enough. He easily could've stopped her testimony at any time. He scolded the defense when he claimed Trump cursed during her salacious testimony .


After about a half-hour on the stand, she began to unspool intimate details about Mr. Trump, so much so that the judge balked at some of the testimony. He implied it was gratuitously vulgar, and the defense sought a mistrial.


Stormy Daniels Tells Story of Sex With Trump in Hush-Money Trial Testimony - The New York Times (nytimes.com) (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/07/nyregion/trump-trial-stormy-daniels-testimony.html)

Today is the off day (your remember why the judge picked Wednesday instead of Friday as an off day) . Tomorrow cross examination continues. This trial has already wasted a month of time ;time that Trump could've used campaigning ....and we still have not heard from star witness Michael Cohen ;or any actual charges although Colangelo frequently states (with the judge allowing it ) that Trump violated Federal law (so much for presumed innocence) ...........which this court has no business adjudicating .

Trump now has 10 contempt fines against him and the judge threatened jail time . One of the things Merchan warned Trump about was him making statements about the judge's daughter Lauren .

Now why would Trump have anything to say about her ?
Trump called her a 'rabid Trump hater ' . Is she ?

She is the boss ;or has served as President at a company called 'Authentic Campaigns'. They do digital campaign work for mostly Dems and lefty causes ,including Clueless Joe;Kam the Sham ;and Adam Schiffhead (who oversaw Trump's impeachment ) Public records show that his Senate campaign is Authentic's top client this election cycle.

Vendor/Recipient Profile: Authentic Campaigns • OpenSecrets (https://www.opensecrets.org/campaign-expenditures/vendor?vendor=Authentic+Campaigns)


and he fund raises off of the trial

Dem clients of daughter of judge in Trump trial raised $90M off case (nypost.com) (https://nypost.com/2024/03/30/us-news/dem-clients-of-daughter-of-judge-in-trump-trial-raised-90m-off-case/)


Authentic - Our Work (https://authentic.org/case-studies/)

2020 Rising Stars - Campaigns & Elections (campaignsandelections.com) (https://campaignsandelections.com/awards/rising-stars/2020-rising-stars/)
(scroll to see her mini bio)

Last month Trump tried to have the judge disqualified due to this obvious conflict of interest. That motion was denied

2023-08-11-decision-on-motion-to-recuse.pdf (documentcloud.org) (https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/24435263/2023-08-11-decision-on-motion-to-recuse.pdf)




When it was clear that the case would be done in Merchan's court ;the company scrubbed her from the site and removed from LinkedIn .So it is unclear if she is still the boss. But what is obvious is that the Merchan family profits from the trial (maybe 10% for the big guy ???? )

Trump is trying to get around the gag order by reading news accounts from the trial

Trump reads back to media their own trial reporting: 'No smoking gun' | Fox News (https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-reads-back-media-their-own-trial-reporting-no-smoking-gun)

As porn star Stormy Daniels’s testimony unfolds, what has always been obvious becomes even more explicit: The point of this trial is to bruise Donald Trump politically — to humiliate him with a tawdry sexual episode from nearly 20 years ago that is utterly unnecessary to prove the charges in the indictment (even as those charges have been distorted by Alvin Bragg, Manhattan’s elected progressive Democratic district attorney); and to brand Trump a “convicted felon” so that his Democratic opponent, President Biden, can refer to him that way in the run-up to the 2024 election

Stormy Testimony Shows: Trump’s Humiliation Is the Point of Bragg’s Prosecution | National Review (https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/stormy-testimony-shows-trumps-humiliation-is-the-point-of-braggs-prosecution/)

He wants to go to jail But he's right


"It is a really bad feeling to have your Constitutional Right to Free Speech, such a big part of life in our Country, so unfairly taken from you, especially when all of the sleazebags, lowlifes, and grifters that you oppose are allowed to say absolutely anything that they want,"

We are in the age of "anything goes" now.

Back to Georgia . An Appeals court has agreed to hear Trump's disqualification of Fani Willis Judge Scott McAfee ;who made the original ruling will hear the appeal on March 15 .

The judge said either Wade or Willis had to go . Wade went .

Georgia Appeals Court to Hear Trump’s Bid to Disqualify Fani Willis in Election Case - The New York Times (nytimes.com) (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/08/us/trump-fani-willis-appeals-court.html)

This comes at the same time that the state Senate is investigating Willis for using taxpayer $$ to schtup Nathan Wade ;who had been hired to lead the case against Trump .

Willis ;as arrogant as ever ,has refused to testify saying she doesn't think the Senate has the power . Accountability doesn't appear to be one of her strengths .


“First of all, I don’t even think they have the authority to subpoena me, but they need to learn the law,” Willis said Monday (https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/05/06/fani-willis-donald-trump-case-were-not-running-any-trials/). “I will not appear to anything that is unlawful, and I have not broken the law in any way. I’m sorry folks get pissed off that everybody gets treated evenly.”
After her remarks, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones (https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/04/11/lt-gov-burt-jones-being-investigated-by-state-prosecutor/) - a likely candidate for governor in Georgia’s wide-open 2026 gubernatorial race - said on X (formerly known as Twitter), “If subpoenaed by the Committee, she will be required to appear or she will be in violation of Georgia law. This is what treating everybody evenly looks like, even if DA Willis doesn’t like being held accountable.”


Fani Willis calls Senate committee 'unlawful' | Lt. Gov. says she must comply with subpoena (atlantanewsfirst.com) (https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/05/07/fani-willis-must-comply-with-senate-subpoena-or-else-lieutenant-governor/)

I believe the document case will end with Judge Cannon dismissing the charges with prejudice (Trump could not be charged again)

The prosecution tampered with evidence and perjured themselves in filing . That should make it a slam dunk .

Jack Smith has one hand left to play. He can ask the 11th Circus Court to review the judge's decisions and perhaps recuse her from the case. He could argue that she is delaying scheduling because she is biased .

That is a 'hail mary' move at this point that may have worked earlier in the process.

It would be difficult to prove she is biased and ridiculous to say it when compared to the obvious conflicts of interest that Judge Merchan has in the Stormy Daniels case.


The left complains about Judge Cannon delaying the case. I would like to remind them that she wanted to appoint a "special master " to review the evidence. The 11th Circus shut that down .

Special master: Appeals court halts review of Trump documents seized at Mar-a-Lago | CNN Politics (https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/01/politics/mar-a-lago-special-master/index.html)

A review of the evidence is the very thing that is causing a delay .

and that brings us to the DC trial related to January 6

That trial is unlikely to be heard before the election due to SCOTUS considering the immunity question.

SCOTUS may dismiss the trial or send it back to the Circus court for reconsideration.

What the left REALLY wants is for this case to impact the general election. They would not need a verdict as much as the airing of the evidence that Smith gathered and presented to the grand jury ,so the public could hear it.

But what new evidence could that be that the public did not hear during the Kangaroo court impeachment ? Could Judge Chutkan hold a hearing without a defense cross exam like the impeachment show trial ? And what would it serve ? The public is well aware of the issues surrounding the Jan 6 riot.

Yet another case being run in a completely inept fashion by a prosecutor who is not up to the challenge. But he has a ways to go to catch up to Fani Willis.

NY State Commission on Judicial Conduct is investigating the conduct of the goofy Judge Engoron (rhymes with moron) who fined Trump $454 million in a civil case where there were no victims .

Attorney Adam Leitman Bailey ;a NY real estate lawyer; met the judge and had an ex parte conversation with the judge about the case. ( this violates basic rules of court procedures that both parties must be present at any argument before a judge) .

This conversation may have violated NY ruled governing judge's conduct. A judge can “obtain the advice of a disinterested expert,” as long as the parties are told ahead of time and are given the chance to respond

PART 100. Judicial Conduct | NYCOURTS.GOV (https://ww2.nycourts.gov/rules/chiefadmin/100.shtml)


"I actually had the ability to speak to him three weeks ago," Bailey said, during an on-camera interview with NBC New York on Feb. 16, the day the judge's decision was due. "I saw him in the corner [at the courthouse] and I told my client, 'I need to go.' And I walked over and we started talking … I wanted him to know what I think and why…I really want him to get it right."


Attorney says he gave Trump trial judge unsolicited advice during civil fraud case – NBC New York (https://www.nbcnewyork.com/investigations/new-york-lawyer-tried-advise-judge-trump-trial-civil-fraud/5395676/)



Bailey has admitted he doesn’t support Trump and said he’s sued the real estate mogul in the past.
He is not connected to any of the cases currently surrounding the ex-president, but has given multiple interviews offering legal commentary (https://nypost.com/2024/02/16/us-news/heres-what-trumps-355m-fraud-ruling-means-for-his-company-real-estate-empire-and-wallet/)to various media outlets in the wake of Engoron’s decision.
As for Bailey’s connection to the judge, he has been on cases before Engoron “hundreds of times,” he told NBC.
In a second interview with NBC, Bailey doubled down on his story about chatting with Engoron — but seemed to hedge by claiming the two didn’t specifically mention the Trump case and were merely talking generally about the law.
“We didn’t even mention the word Donald Trump,” Bailey claimed to the outlet, according to an article published Wednesday.
“Well, obviously we weren’t talking about the Mets,” he added, seemingly implying he believed Engoron knew what they were referring to.
Bailey maintained neither of them broke any rules.


NYC lawyer sparks probe into Trump judge over unsolicited advice on trial (nypost.com) (https://nypost.com/2024/05/09/us-news/nyc-lawyer-sparks-probe-into-trump-judge-over-unsolicited-advice-on-trial/)

A brilliant op-ed by Kimberly Strassel at WSJ summarizes the cases against Trump and where they stand . Here are the last 3 paragraphs.


Little, in short, is going as planned. The lawfare strategy from the start: pile on Mr. Trump in a way that ensured Republicans would rally for his nomination, then use legal proceedings to crush his ability to campaign, drain his resources, and make him too toxic (or isolated in prison) to win a general election. He won the nomination, but the effort against him is flailing, courtesy of an echo chamber of anti-Trump prosecutors and journalists who continue to indulge the fantasy that every court, judge, jury and timeline exists to dance to their partisan fervor.

These own goals are striking. Mr. Smith wouldn’t be facing delays if he’d acknowledged up front the important constitutional question of presidential immunity, or if he’d sought an indictment for obstruction of justice and forgone charging Mr. Trump with improperly handling classified documents, which gets into legally complicated territory. The federal charges might carry more weight with the public had Mr. Bragg refrained from bringing a flimsy case that makes the whole effort look wildly partisan. And Ms. Willis’s romantic escapades have turned her legal overreach into a reality-TV joke.

Democrats faced a critical choice last year: Try to win an election by confronting the real problem of a weak and old president presiding over unpopular far-left policies, or try to rig an outcome by embracing a lawfare stratagem. They chose the latter. Perhaps a court will still convict Mr. Trump of something, although that could play either way with the electorate. Lawfare as politics is a very risky business.


Trump and the Lawfare Implosion of 2024 - WSJ (https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-lawfare-implosion-of-2024-donald-trump-indictments-election-87e99955?mod=opinion_lead_pos10)

This was quite an observation and one that I had not considered. It does seem to be falling apart. I wonder what we'll see next when the thoroughly dishonest dems start to panic.

"Little, in short, is going as planned. The lawfare strategy from the start: pile on Mr. Trump in a way that ensured Republicans would rally for his nomination, then use legal proceedings to crush his ability to campaign, drain his resources, and make him too toxic (or isolated in prison) to win a general election."

It might very well be that the great tragedy in all of this is the idea that we can reverse course as a nation by putting someone else in the White House. That is likely to be somewhat true, but it will not reverse the moral rot which is consuming us. That would take a general turning back to God.

This would be comical if not so pathetic . After allowing Michael Cohen to comment and fund raise on social media for a month ;and finding Trump in contempt for responding ; Judge Merchan warned Cohen to pipe down on the eve of his testimony at the trial.


Judge Juan Merchan on Friday issued a warning to Michael Cohen ahead of his planned testimony next week in former President Trump's criminal hush money trial (https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/timeline-manhattan-district-attorney-case-donald-trump/story?id=98389444), telling prosecutors to ask him to stop talking about the case after Trump's team brought up his continued out-of-court statements following ABC News' exclusive reporting."I would direct the people to communicate to Mr. Cohen that the judge is asking him to refrain from making any more statements about this case," Merchan said. "That comes from the bench and you are communicating that on behalf of the bench."......

On Wednesday night, days before he is slated to take the stand, Cohen went live on TikTok wearing a shirt that depicted Donald Trump wearing an orange jumpsuit, in handcuffs, and behind bars, according to video of the stream reviewed by ABC News. The shirt is merchandise for Cohen's show called the "Mea Culpa Podcast," and are sold for $32, which he has been selling since 2022.

Judge warns Michael Cohen to stop talking about Trump hush money case (msn.com) (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/judge-warns-michael-cohen-to-stop-talking-about-trump-hush-money-case/ar-BB1mcKWT?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=d4aa82c8dd734be0823da371fa5d9d10&ei=10)

Great commentary summary of the Trump trials in Newsweek




It is a presidential election year and a leading candidate for president of the United States, who also happens to be a former president of the United States, is currently a criminal defendant chained to a dingy courtroom four days of the week -- time that he should be spending interacting with voters out on the campaign trail.

That's terrible. But it's only the beginning.

The daughter of the presiding judge is a professional political operative for the presidential candidate's opposition party, and the candidate himself is subject to an over-inclusive and unconstitutional gag order. The George Soros-funded district attorney, who campaigned on a platform of prosecuting that candidate, only pressed charges after his own left-wing predecessor opted not to do so due to the frivolous nature of the charges. One of the Soros-funded DA's subordinates curiously joined his team, just in time to prosecute the candidate, from a high-ranking perch in the Department of Justice that is headed by the candidate's chief political rival.

And this week, the candidate was subjected to tawdry and salacious testimony from a discredited former porn star, who spoke openly in court about how she "blacked out" during their alleged 2006 sexual encounter. Due to the sprawling gag order, the candidate was not -- and is not -- legally permitted to defend his honor and contest her lurid, legally irrelevant claims.

Welcome to our American banana republic.

The Making of a Banana Republic | Opinion (newsweek.com) (https://www.newsweek.com/making-banana-republic-opinion-1899111)

How's that plan working out Dems ? Here was Trump's rally in bluest of blue state NJ yesterday

Nearly 100,000 people pack Wildwood beach for Donald Trump rally - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F91KVmN4rf4&t=18s)

Meanwhile Clueless Joe was met by protesters as he barnstormed the left coast fund raising with elites with money.

Pres. Biden met by protesters outside Bay Area fundraising events (youtube.com) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuyNElEz0mg&t=41s)

While Trump was holding a massive campaign event at the beach ,that was attended by no less than 80,000 supporters; after being forced to sit through a show trial all week; Clueless Joe ;after being chased out of the west coast ,went to Rehoboth Beach for more rest and relaxation . Those 3 day work weeks are grueling for Joe .

Trump rally Wildwood 2024: Campaign stop comes to Jersey shore, drawing nearly 100,000 people to the beaches - ABC7 New York (abc7ny.com) (https://abc7ny.com/post/donald-trump-wildwood-nj-2024-rally-new-jersey-tickets/14801435/)

President Biden traveling to Rehoboth Beach Mother's Day weekend | News | wrde.com (https://www.wrde.com/news/president-biden-traveling-to-rehoboth-beach-mothers-day-weekend/article_75e16ece-0f2f-11ef-afc0-fb68a5fd9b2c.html)

I have no comment on Cohen's lies at this time. I am waiting for cross examination.
Trump got clever . He can't comment on the proceedings because he doesn't want to go to jail for contempt . He brought surrogates to the court to do it for him.
Senator J D Vance , NY Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, Alabama AG Steve Marshall and Iowa AG Brenna Bird were all in attendance yesterday .

JD Vance, Ohio Senator and VP contender, joins Trump at hush money trial (usatoday.com) (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/05/13/jd-vance-trump-hush-money-trial/73669626007/)

Today Vivek Ramaswamy will be there .
Trump is successfully managing to turn pre-and post trial appearances as campaign events.

Vivek Ramaswamy to join Trump at his trial on Tuesday - Washington Examiner (https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/3002735/vivek-ramaswamy-to-join-trump-at-his-trial-on-tuesday/)


Campaign ads are expensive. The compliant press ;including MSNBC ;have given Trump free coverage for weeks.

According to Miranda Divine of the NY Post he is raking in free press.

His monologues, carried live by most TV networks and amplified online, have delivered his campaign an average of $260 million in earned (a k a free) digital media each day, according to a report by the Meltwater media monitoring agency, which estimates the equivalent cost of placing advertisements.
The first day of the Trump trial, April 15, delivered a whopping $440 million equivalent. The average weekly earned media during the trial has been $1.2 billion per week.


Dems pin Trump in NYC courtroom and he just turns it into his own personal campaign stage (nypost.com) (https://nypost.com/2024/05/12/opinion/dems-pin-trump-in-nyc-courtroom-and-he-just-turns-it-into-his-own-personal-campaign-stage/)

As PT Barnum said ;"no publicity is bad publicity "

The Cohen cross-exam should be a sight to behold.

Wondering if this will be discussed

NY Dem Rep Dan Goldman coached and prepped Cohen for his testimony .

Besides the obvious question of propriety of an elected Rep coaching a witness for a trial against a Presidential candidate from a different party ;it turns out that Goldman is a client of Lauren Merchan (daughter of Judge Merchan ) and her firm 'Authentic '

see client list
Authentic - Our Work (https://authentic.org/case-studies/)

(1) johnny maga on X: "Rep. Goldman says he met with Michael Cohen “a number of times to prepare him” Why is a Democrat Congressman preparing Michael Cohen? https://t.co/jT3kBf97oY" / X (twitter.com) (https://twitter.com/_johnnymaga/status/1790348509918474525)

Conflicts of interest not considered .

So far from accounts I have read ; Cohen can't deny that he is a POS so he admits it openly in court .



Trump attorney Todd Blanche is going through some of the insults Michael Cohen has said against Trump. Blanche asks if Cohen, speaking on his podcast, called Trump a "boorish cartoon misogynist."
"Sounds like something I would say," Cohen says.
Blanche then asks if Cohen has called Trump a "Cheeto-dusted cartoon villain."
"That also sounds like something that I said," Cohen says.


Live updates: Michael Cohen testifies in Donald Trump's hush money trial (cnn.com) (https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-hush-money-trial-05-14-24/index.html)

Not sure how effective this line of cross will be when considering the " impartiality" of the jury. Hoping for some more probing cross Thursday

OK, Tom. I'm sitting here in amazement. I have just learned that congressional districts are apportioned based on total population, legal AND illegals. If we look looked at citizens only, it would result in a gain of about 20 House seats for repubs. I find that to be astonishing. Is that your understanding for this thing???

Speaker Mike Johnson's statement in front of the court about the Trump trial here .

Campaign 2024: Speaker Johnson News Conference at Trump Hush Money Trial in New York | C-SPAN.org (https://www.c-span.org/video/?535637-1/speaker-johnson-news-conference-trump-hush-money-trial-york)


I suspect the next time a clown like MTG tries to oust him ;the Dems will be less likely to come to his rescue.

Here's a good one ,former Federal prosecutor Eric Lisann is making the case that Trump could be held in contempt of court for having surrogates speak in his behalf .

I kid you not .

The charge is that Trump wrote notes during deliberations and then passed them on to GOP supporters who used the notes in their post trial statements .

(1) Eric Lisann on X: "Direct evidence of contempt: Journalist Andrew Rice tells Alex Wagner that he, literally, saw over Trump's shoulder that Trump was editing remarks (such as attacking Merchan's daughter) that his declared surrogates for the day (Donalds. Ramaswamy, Burgum) later parroted. So he" / X (twitter.com) (https://twitter.com/EricLisann/status/1790566131981316428)

Tom, wondering what your view is on Biden agreeing to debate Trump. Is it an indication of the desperation in the Biden campaign, or do they believe they have a genuine chance to come off looking good?

I answered the debate question on a new posting .

One thing about telling the truth is that you only have to remember one story. A liar has to remember which lie is the most current . Michael Cohen has demonstrated that he lied and then lied again and again.

My best take from what I have read about the cross examination is that Cohen was obsessed with Trump. He saw loyalty to Trump as his meal ticket. The jury has heard enough evidence of this to have reasonable doubt.

He was already working with a tabloid to squash negative press about one alleged Trump tryst . When he saw that Stormy Daniels was going to go public ;he acted .

He may very well have approached Trump who most likely told him to deal with it . I do NOT believe that Trump told him to take out a home equity loan to cover up the NDA .

When Trump was informed that the NDA had been done and that Trump had to sign off on checks to Cohen for reimbursements I'm sure that he did not think twice about it . Cohen was his fixer and Trump did not get into the nuts and bolts about how it was done. He was a big time businessman running a business empire and running for President at the same time. He had lawyers and accountants and thousands of staffers to deal with the minutia When his accountant gave him a check ;he asked a few basic questions and then signed.

Cohen thought he was showing loyalty to Trump and expected a return. It is clear his ambitions were to become either AG or perhaps Chief of Staff at the White House. Like Chris Christie ;when he did not get what he wanted ,he felt betrayed .


He also thought that Trump had his back when he told his initial lies to prosecutors; Congress ;judges ;and just about anyone else who would listen. He probably thought that if he got into a bind then a Presidential pardon was coming his way.

When that did not happen ,he decided to cash in by becoming a celebrity anti-Trump informant . He created a new set of lies and parlayed them into a book and talking head gigs .

It sorta reminds me of 'Stan' by Eminem ;a song about an obsessed fan who does not think he is getting his due recognition. In the song ,Stan apparently commits suicide . In Cohen's case ;he dealt with the rejection by going on the attack.

Robert Costello is a sleaze bag lawyer who advised Cohen and claims he was a back channel between Trump and Cohen when Cohen was under investigation. He gave testimony yesterday to the House Committee on Weaponization of Politics .


(https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=newssearch&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjiw8Cl_JGGAxXvIEQIHcegB4EQxfQBKAB6BAgbE AE&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsweek.com%2Fmichael-cohens-legal-adviser-accused-jury-tampering-1901028&usg=AOvVaw2VbrUYvJFIhgff-Az9TD2f&opi=89978449)
"I advised him that the SDNY thought he had committed crimes and that he might have evidence they could use for a prosecution of President Trump," Costello testified Wednesday. "I explained to Cohen how he was not the target of the investigation but was a bump in the road and that the U.S. Attorney’s Office would run over him if it led them to Donald Trump."
Costello testified that he explained to Cohen that if he had "truthful information that would implicate Donald Trump, I could get him out his legal trouble by the end of the week — if he cooperated against Donald Trump."
"I emphasized that any information Cohen could give would have to be truthful, otherwise it was useless," Costello testified, saying he did this "numerous times" during their first meeting.


Each time, Cohen said to me, ‘I swear to God, Bob, I don’t have anything on Donald Trump,’" Costello recalled Cohen saying. "Cohen must have said this at least ten times because I kept coming back to it from different approaches."
During the conversation, Costello said, Cohen told him he would do "whatever" he had to do to not spend even one day in prison.
Costello then referred back to a conversation he had on the phone with Cohen days earlier, saying Cohen indicated he was "seriously contemplating jumping off" the roof of the New York City Regency Hotel because he "couldn’t handle the pressure of the upcoming criminal case."
Costello said he pressed Cohen to reconsider.
"Isn’t it easier to cooperate against Donald Trump if you have truthful information, than it is to kill yourself?" he asked.


Michael Cohen once swore Trump wasn't involved in Stormy Daniels payment, his ex-attorney testifies | Fox News (https://www.foxnews.com/politics/michael-cohen-said-trump-had-nothing-stormy-daniels-hush-money-payment-his-ex-attorney-testifies)


Here is his written testimony .


Here is some audio of the hearing (must listen)

What Michael Cohen Told Me That's 'Contrary' To His Testimony At Hush Money Trial: Ex-Legal Advisor - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cty5qis5TF0)
Costello Testimony.pdf (house.gov) (https://judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/Costello%20Testimony.pdf?_gl=1*lkjfqw*_ga*ODUxODE2 NDI2LjE3MDE1MjAxMzI.*_ga_1818ZEQW81*MTcxNTg1NjI3NC 4xLjAuMTcxNTg1NjI3NC4wLjAuMA..)


“In the Trump case, they are seeking a conviction by any means necessary,” “They do not care if it is overturned on appeal because that will likely not happen until after the election. In the meantime, they will have effectively interfered with the 2024 presidential election and perhaps influenced some voters because of an ill-gotten conviction.”

The prosecution's contention (I guess since charges are still not clear even though prosecution is going to rest it's case soon) is that Trump orchestrated a conspiracy to hide bribing Stormy Danial's to keep quite about her allegation that she and Trump did the nasty ; using campaign funds in violation of Federal law(which a local DA has no business charging ).



“This was a planned, long-running conspiracy to influence the 2016 election, to help Donald Trump get elected through illegal expenditures to silence people who had something bad to say about his behavior,” prosecutor Matthew Colangelo said. “It was election fraud, pure and simple.”

Trump tried to ‘corrupt’ the 2016 election, hush money prosecutor alleges in opening statement | PBS NewsHour (https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-tried-to-corrupt-the-2016-election-hush-money-prosecutor-alleges-in-opening-statement#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThe%20defendant,%20Dona ld%20Trump,,over%20again,%E2%80%9D%20Colangelo%20s aid.)


Prosecution's star witness Michael Cohen has been front and center all week. He produced a secretly recorded tape that I guess was assumed to be the '
smoking gun' proof of the charge.

LISTEN: Michael Cohen recording of Trump talking Karen McDougal payment (nbcnews.com) (https://www.nbcnews.com/video/listen-michael-cohen-recording-of-trump-talking-karen-mcdougal-payment-210816069576)


But the tape sounds more like an OJ Simpson's glove moment if the defense uses it properly .

It proves instead that Trump was not aware of the details of the payoff . He never mentions it's impact on the campaign . What the tape proves is that Cohen orchestrated the details of the payments .

In fact ;Trump Organization comptroller Jeffrey McConney testified last week that Trump did NOT direct his staff to set up reimbursement payments to Cohen.


"Michael Cohen was a lawyer?" defense attorney Emil Bove asked McConney.
"Sure, yes," McConney said.
"And payments to lawyers by the Trump Organization are legal expenses, right?" asked Bove.
"Yes," said McConney.
"President Trump did not ask you to do any of the things you just described ... correct?" Bove asked.
"He did not," McConney replied.
"And as far as you know, President Trump did not ask anyone to do those things?" Bove continued, before an objection.
"In none of the conversations that you had with Mr. Weisselberg, did he suggest that President Trump had told him to do these things?" Bove asked again.
"Allen never told me that," McConney said.




Trump trial: Stormy Daniels tells (almost) all about alleged sexual encounter with Trump - ABC News (go.com) (https://abcnews.go.com/US/live-updates/trump-hush-money-trial/mcconney-says-trump-didnt-direct-him-to-set-up-repayments-109961198?id=109946276)

And previously Hope Hicks testified that Trump was not concerned about the election. He was more concerned about how the revelation would impact his relationship with Melania.


That is 3 prosecution witnesses who have for all intent discredited the charges against Trump .

If the glove don't fit ..........

Let's assume the prosecution can convince the jury that Trump paid off Stormy Daniels because of the election. Does that prove their case ? No because the payoff was not a crime. They need to also prove that Trump orchestrated a cooking of the books to hide the payments.
I see nothing that says so. Oh the prosecution produced a bunch of business records showing that on the ledger the reimbursements to Cohen were expenses . But even if they were falsely filed as such (which I don't believe to be true) ;they do not show that Trump orchestrated a conspiracy . They would need another star witness to collaborate that Trump directed the so called "conspiracy" .

In testimony Cohen said he met with Trump and Trump comptroller Allen Weisman at Trump tower to plot the conspiracy. You would think the logical choice would be for the prosecution to call Weisman to the stand for collaboration. But they did not . They have said Cohen is their last witness.

Weisman is in Riker's Island serving time for perjury during the bogus Letitia James civil fraud case.

The best witnesses they have are 2 convicted perjurers . And they choose to not use one of them . Why ?

Cohen today during cross examination admitted that he stole at least $30 thousand from Trump

So other than him being a liar and a thief, there is no real reason not to believe his testimony??

If I am the Dems I question Trump's character and judgement based on his circle of business associates . That is really the only thing I get from this case.

What is worse ..... making questionable ledger entries or grand larceny ?

Yesterday Judge Merchan lost his cool and left no doubt that he is biased.
Trump had 2 witnesses in his defense One was a minor clerk who submitted phone ledgers into record. The other was the star witness Robert Costello....a 40 year attorney and former federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York.

Costello had served as Cohen's lawyer / advisor . Lawyer -lawyer confidentiality had been waived . So he has been speaking freely to The House of Reps ;and now as a witness for Trump.



He skewered Cohen . But the real entertainment came when the judge lost his cool over eye gestured Costello was making from the witness chair in reaction to the judge allowing just about every prosecution objection ;while at the same time denying the defense ones.

The judge cleared the court so he could scold Costello . For some reason he forgot the remove Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz from the court . He witnessed what came next .


Losing his cool and showing his thin skin, the judge cleared the courtroom of everyone including the media.

For some reason, I was allowed to stay, and I observed one of the most remarkable wrong-headed biases I have ever seen. The judge actually threatened to strike all of Costello’s testimony if he raised his eyebrows again.
That of course would have been unconstitutional because it would have denied the defendant his Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses and to raise a defense.
It would have punished the defendant for something a witness was accused of doing.
Even if what Costello did was wrong, and it was not, it would be utterly improper and unlawful to strike his testimony — testimony that undercut and contradicted the government’s star witness.

The judge’s threat was absolutely outrageous, unethical, unlawful and petty.
Moreover, his affect while issuing that unconstitutional threat revealed his utter contempt for the defense and anyone who testified for the defendant.
The public should have been able to see the judge in action, but because the case is not being televised, the public has to rely on the biased reporting of partisan journalists.
But the public was even denied the opportunity to hear from journalists who saw the judge in action because he cleared the courtroom.
I am one of the few witnesses to his improper conduct who remained behind to observe his deep failings.




I was inside the court when the judge closed the Trump trial, and what I saw shocked me (nypost.com) (https://nypost.com/2024/05/21/opinion/i-was-inside-the-court-when-the-judge-closed-the-trump-trial-and-what-i-saw-shocked-me/)


The defense rested after the prosecution cross examined Costello today.

The case resumes after Memorial Day with jury instructions and deliberations. That is unless Judge Merchan comes to his senses and dismissed the case because the prosecution did not prove it's case .


Greg Germain ;law professor at Syracuse U agrees the case is absurd.

Case Against Donald Trump Is 'Absurd'—Law Professor (msn.com) (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/case-against-donald-trump-is-absurd-law-professor/ar-BB1mN5mf?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=7971f1cfa30f44b9bfbdea37dea2b747&ei=83)

deleted duplicate post

It is unusual in the extreme for a judge to allow a delay of almost a week from the time a defense rests until closing arguments and jury instructions. The jury is not sequestered . They will be going to family and friends barbeques and parties . There is zero chance they will not be influenced by press reporting and the opinions of the people around them . Most likely it will be suggested to them how unpopular an acquittal will be among the bluest of blue NYC population .

Jury instructions will be important because whatever charge there is comes from the weaving together of misdemeanors that have gone past the statutes of limitations . The judge can tell them what evidence is important to consider .

My prediction has not changed . Trump will be found guilty and will it will be overturned in appeal. The intended damage done. He will be running as a convicted candidate. The unintended consequence is that this could backfire by making Trump a martyr who was convicted in a political show trial .

In Georgia Fanni Willis won her reelection primary . She is defiant as ever. She lashed out at Rep Jim Jordan calling him a clown . He has subpoenaed her over his investigation of her misuse of funds.

Just to reiterate ;Trump can run if convicted . Two candidates have done so in the past ;although this will be the first time a major party candidate runs.

Socialist party Eugene Debs got close to a million votes while in a jail for defying court orders when he led a rail strike.Lyndon LaRouche, was a serial candidate between 1976 and 2004. He was in jail between 1989 to 1994 serving time for a fraud conviction.

Trump has a good chance of getting elected . But since this is not a Federal case....even though the phony charges are related to allegations he violated Federal campaign finance law.....he could not pardon himself

This is all, I think, going to work to his benefit. Any fair-minded person can see how ridiculous it all is. It illustrates the dangers of a large, corrupt government that the founding fathers warned us about.

You and I see it that way. I am not sure about how many fair minded people there are or how many people pay attention to the details .

The judge let one prosecution witnesses after another say without a challenge that he had committed a Federal election crime . All defense objections were over ruled.

Then Trump was denied having a FEC official as a star expert witness explain why Trump did not violate election laws because the judge said he was not being charged with a Federal crime and it was up to the judge to decide what laws he is to be charged with. This is information I had to dig at to get.

Judge limits scope of testimony from Trump's planned expert witness - Live Updates - POLITICO (https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/05/20/trump-hush-money-criminal-trial/judge-limits-trumps-expert-00158857)

Was this fair ? No . I did not hear any reporting on the compliant press about this . It will eventually get him a successful appeal After the election . Don't forget ;to make it to SCOTUS ,an appeal has to go through 2 levels of NY State courts .

Most of the country will just know that Trump was found guilty .

BTW even though she was caught using public funds to wine and dine her paramour ;Willis got 87% of the vote in her primary win.

Next week Judge Merchan will tell the jury to deliberate to determine if Trump committed 34 felonies by committing 34 misdemeanors in an attempt to cover up another crime. What crime was he covering up ? Who knows . We can only speculate because none was identified .
But mustn't the judge send the jury to deliberations with CLEAR instructions about what the underlying crime was ? In a normal sane world the answer would be yes .

But that subject was evidently the focus of discussion between the judge ;prosecution and defense lawyers . Prosecution that " standard application of the law" was enough for the jury to determine if Trump falsified business records (something in itself I don't believe was clearly established ) with the intent of committing another crime or concealing another crime .
Not surprising ,the judge agreed with the prosecution . This will be another issue to decide in appeal .(again NYS has 2 levels of appeals courts before a case can go to SCOTUS ;and then SCOTUS would have to agree to hear an appeal .

The prosecution insinuates that Trump committed Federal Election finance violations . But the Feds reviewed the evidence already and found he did not .
The physical evidence is 11 invoices from Cohen, 11 checks from Trump , and 12 ledger entries.... 34 pieces of paper... 34 charges .

Bradley A. Smith, a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission (FEC), was going to testify why there was nothing there . But the judge limited what he could say making what he could contribute irrelevant . Merchan ruled that Smith could not testify as an expert witness on matters of law, saying he could only offer "general background" on the FEC and "general definitions" of terms such as campaign contribution. Again ;something that would make for a good appeal .

The lady holding the scales has evidently allowed someone to remove the blindfold.

49610

This site sure has been slow to load/respond the past several days.

Judge gave mind bending instructions to the jury with the intent to perform a coup de gras on Trump. The judge said they could disagree on 3 different crimes(violations of tax laws, falsification of business records, or violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act.) Trump is being charged with . And if they were to spilt 4-4-4 on guilty then he would treat it as a unanimous verdict.

Jonathan Turley explains how the instructions were rigged .

A Manhattan canned hunt: The Trump jury is out but is the case in the bag? (thehill.com) (https://thehill.com/opinion/criminal-justice/4691715-a-manhattan-canned-hunt-the-trump-jury-is-out-but-is-the-case-in-the-bag/#:~:text=The%20jurors%20were%20told%20that,conside red%20that%20a%20unanimous%20verdict.)

Clueless Joe to hold an Oval office address after Trump verdict.

I think he knows Trump will be found guilty and he will say that he is calling off the June debates because he cannot be on the same stage as a convict .

I guess that would rule out Hunter as well?

It stands to reason that he will do all he can to find some semi-reasonable way of backing out of the debates. I was amazed that he agreed to do them. He stood to lose an awful lot and his chances of coming off looking good were slim at best.

Here it is 50+ pages of jury instructions the judge read to the jury today. They were not allowed to bring the instructions into the deliberation room

People v. DJT Jury Instructions and Charges FINAL 5-23-24.pdf (nycourts.gov) (https://www.nycourts.gov/LegacyPDFS/press/PDFs/People%20v.%20DJT%20Jury%20Instructions%20and%20Ch arges%20FINAL%205-23-24.pdf)

this is insane

Jury deliberated for 5 hrs

His address from the Oval office to comment on a court proceeding of a political opponent that doesn't condemn the whole process just proves the process is completely political.

But that is how Joe roles . The man who campaigned as the anti-Trump in 2020 who would bring dignity back to the office has often mirrored Trump's style.

As President he should've taken a hands off approach to Trump's legal issues. Instead we know that these prosecutors have been frequent visitors of the WH . Instead the President has taken cheap jabs at Trump over his legal issues.

2 recent examples

During the Correspondence dinner he said Trump “had a few tough days lately. You might call it stormy weather”
When he accepted the debate challenge he joked “I heard you’re free on Wednesdays.”

Wednesday he sent surrogate moron Robert DeNiro to stand in front of the court house to say "The fact is, whether he’s acquitted, whether it’s a hung jury, he is guilty—and we all know it.”
So much for the presumption of innocence.
Whatever Joe says from the Oval office after the verdict will convince people what we already know; that the whole process is a political show trial.

Trump is convicted on all counts of running for President . He's guilty !

As you so very well said, "Whatever Joe says from the Oval office after the verdict will convince people what we already know; that the whole process is a political show trial."

49613

By bringing such a dubious criminal case against a former president, the Democrats have now openly criminalized public policy differences. This is a dangerous game. It hardly transfigures Trump into Nelson Mandela, an unwise comparison (https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-compares-himself-to-nelson-mandela-after-filing-for-new-hampshire-primary) Trump likes to invoke himself. Liberals also bristle at a more current analogy with Trump as Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader exiled, imprisoned, and murdered by Russian authorities on phony charges, presumably on orders from Vladimir Putin.

Democrats would say the comparison offends them because Navalny was a heroic figure and Donald Trump is a menace to society. This view is sincerely held, for sure. But I suspect something else makes Democrats uneasy: Deep down many of them know that they’ve weaponized the criminal justice system in a way that is unhealthy for a republic; that they’ve undermined their own plot line about “saving democracy”; and that in their zeal to get Trump, Democratic Party leaders and millions of rank-and-file Democrats alike have all indulged their inner Vladimir Putin.

‘Democratic Principles and the Spirit of Free Institutions’ | RealClearPolitics (https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2024/05/31/democratic_principles_and_the_spirit_of_free_insti tutions_151034.html)

In Georgia an Appeals Court put a temporary halt to Fani Willis' Trump show trial. But it could be bad news for Trump . The delay could end in October ;a bad time for him to be tied up in court.

The delay could end in October ;a bad time for him to be tied up in court.That's quite likely the strategy to begin with.

update Yesterday in a news dump on a Friday evening when the reporters of the compliant press have already hit the bars or are on their way to their summer weekend plans ;Judge Merchan released a bombshell admission.

He said that someone on Fakebook claimed to be a cousin of one of the jurors. That person posted the verdict of the trial the day before it was rendered .


Justice Juan Merchan's letter says that on Friday "the court became aware of a comment" on the court's Facebook page, "now labeled as one week old" from a user named "Michael Anderson".
"My cousin is a juror and says Trump is getting convicted," the post says, according to the judge. "Thank you folks for all your hard work!!!"


Judge flags Facebook post claiming inside access to Trump verdict (bbc.com) (https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clkk4y93ypvo)

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GPgdqMQWAAAzhUc?format=jpg&name=900x900

The problem is that it is likely that the Judge editied the FakeBook posting . Reports are claiming the actual text is
“Thank you for all your hard work against the MAGA crazies.”

Dinesh D'Souza on X: "How telling that Judge Merchan stealth edited the Facebook post to omit, “Thank you for all your hard (work) against the MAGA crazies.” After all, this sentence exposes the whole rationale for the case. It’s not about justice; it’s about getting the leader of the “MAGA crazies” https://t.co/7SZqgFuwMl" / X (https://x.com/DineshDSouza/status/1799220666647867870)

The post has been deleted from Fakebook so I have no way to independently corroborate or if the post itself was an "AI generated "deep fake"</sarc>

Another thing. Trump is convicted . Isn't it time that the gag order on Trump be lifted ?
Michael Cohen continues to say the most disgusting things about Trump and he is not permitted to respond.

Michael Cohen's Tweets Mocking Donald Trump Draw Laughs From Courtroom | HuffPost Latest News (https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cohen-trump-nickname-von-zinpantz_n_6633f048e4b0fc2b9528c8fa)



There is no good reason to legally block Mr. Trump from answering this barrage. If the June 27 presidential debate arrives with no change in the gag order, Mr. Biden would go on stage knowing he could praise the 12 New York jurors, and his opponent might be held in contempt for responding.

Opinion | ‘Donald von S—InPants’ (msn.com) (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/opinion-donald-von-s-inpants/ar-BB1nPLmj)

Rather clearly, the blindfold has slipped off of the lady holding the scales.

Even though the trial is still over ;the gag order Judge Merchan slapped on Trump is still in effect . Trump's appeal went the the NY Court of Appeals ;the highest court in the state . They refused to hear his appeal .

So even though clowns like Cohen still take daily pot shots at Trump ;he cannot respond without risking fine and jail time.

The Slimes is on the attack suggesting that Judge Cannon in the Trump document case is in over her head.

Judge in Trump Documents Case Rejected Suggestions to Step Aside - The New York Times (nytimes.com) (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/20/us/politics/aileen-cannon-trump-classified-documents.html)


Judge in Donald Trump’s documents case rejected suggestions to step aside – The Irish Times (https://www.irishtimes.com/world/us/2024/06/23/judge-in-donald-trumps-documents-case-rejected-suggestions-to-step-aside/)


Without proof they claim she has “scant trial experience” She shows “unusual favor” to Trump ;along with the disclaimer that all the compliant press note ;that Trump appointed here. They claim there is “increasing criticism of how she has gone on to handle the case,” that she shows “hostility to prosecutors,” and her rulings were “shocking legal experts”


“As Judge Cannon’s handling of the case has come under intensifying scrutiny, her critics have suggested that she could be in over her head, in the tank for Mr. Trump—or both.”


You would think she has not ruled against Trump at all in this case. Who are these anonymous "collogues " they mention ? Well the Slimes is not clear . In fact they don't even bother to give an actual quote.
The Slimes couldn't possibly be part of an "orchestrated campaign " against Judge Cannon .... could they ?


Since May 16, 2024, the Clerk of the United States Court of Appeals for theEleventh Circuit has received over 1,000 judicial complaints against Judge Cannon thatraise allegations that are substantially similar to the allegations raised in previouscomplaints. These complaints appear to be part of an orchestrated campaign, asdescribed in Judicial-Conduct Rule 10(b) and the accompanying commentary. TheChief Circuit Judge of the Eleventh Circuit has considered and dismissed four of thoseorchestrated complaints as merits-related and as based on allegations lacking sufficientevidence to raise an inference that misconduct has occurred.Many of the complaints against Judge Cannon request that the Chief CircuitJudge remove her from the classified-documents case and reassign the case to a different judge.

GeneralOrder2024-J.pdf (uscourts.gov) (https://www.ca11.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/courtdocs/clk/GeneralOrder2024-J.pdf)

(11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals Chief Judge William Pryor )

For perspective this court has also reversed some of Judge Cannon's decisions like the appointment of a "special master " to oversee the case.

The Slimes published this on the eve of hearing arguments about Trump's claim that Jack Smith's appointment as special council was unconstitutional .

The timing was clearly a coincidence</sarc> .

Reportedly Smith made the argument to Judge Cannon that he is an inferior office ;not subject to Senate confirmation under the Appointment Clause.

That poses a different problem. If he is an inferior officer then he is subject to supervision of the Justice Dept. But Joe and AG Garland claim Smith acts independently.

It can't be both ways. If he is supervised then this prosecution is clearly political election interference. If not then his appointment was unconstitutional.

There is an additional problem with what Smith contends . The law that would pemit him to be appointed as an inferior officer expired in 1999 .

Independent Counsel Law Expiration and the Appointment of "Special Counsels" - EveryCRSReport.com (https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RL31246.html)

So either way Judge Cannon should conclude the appointment was unconstitutional.

As noted above; the compliant press is preemptively attacking the judge's competence and authority to make the call. Reeks of desperation . But what do I know ?

Tom, you must spend a lot of time putting this material together, and I'm sure you don't do for this site only. Where else do you post?

Almost all of my posting s done between 4 AM to 7 or 8 AM while sucking down a pot of coffee . Digging deeper into the news and writing down my thoughts is just my way of making sense of it all. I would only post in other venues if I were to spend much more time cleaning up basic grammar and organizing it better .

This is the only place I post commentary . I used to do some on Fakebook but it impacted relationships. I used to post on another conservative site but I was attacked too often for being too left .

After the rest of the world wakes up I garden ;hike ;walk the dogs ;work out at the gym ; cook ,and other things retired geezers do for fun.

Facebook is a strange place. They all seem to be more interested in how many base hits the grandson got yesterday as opposed to legitimate threats to freedom.

When I posted anything of substance people seemed to take it personally. So Fakebook I reserve for family and sometimes I go bold enough to paste a bland humorous meme.

For a while I was in a group chat on email with a group of officers and other government types during the GWOT . But that group has dissolved as members pursued other interests or passed away.

Today it is too hot to do outdoor activities . So I am making my award winning gluten free meatballs and sauce.

When I posted anything of substance people seemed to take it personally.I found the same thing to be true here. It is what has led me to conclude that people generally don't like having their beliefs questioned. I ran into fits of anger here that I don't recall ever encountering before.

It's a shame your posts don't get around more. You spend the time to do the research and that makes a lot of difference.

Anything more than what I do would seem to be work. I could set up something like a sub stack ;but there are already real journalists posting there that I sometimes use as a resource .
Substack for bloggers (https://substack.com/for-bloggers)

Judge Merchan partly lifted the gag order on Trump . He can now attack critics like Michael Cohen and the jury . He is not permitted to speak ill of court staff ;Bragg, Merchan and family members (you remember the role of Merchan's daughter in this )