[tomder55]

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)

[jlisenbe]

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.

[tomder55]

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)

[tomder55]

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

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)

[jlisenbe]

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.

[tomder55]

he has been hitting Trump with gag orders .

What Does the Gag Order Mean in Trump's Hush Money Case? (usnews.com)

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.

[tomder55]

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)

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

[jlisenbe]

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.

[tomder55]

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


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.

[jlisenbe]

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.

[tomder55]

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

[tomder55]

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

[tomder55]

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.

[jlisenbe]

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."

[tomder55]

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)

[tomder55]

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

[tomder55]

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.

[jlisenbe]

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.

[tomder55]

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 .

[jlisenbe]

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.