Trump on Trial

NoCoPilot wrote:

Claire McCaskill just appeared on Deadline: Whitehouse with Nicolle Wallace, and said with the indictments of the Trump Organization tomorrow his business is done. He will no longer be able to get loans, he will no longer be able to sell overpriced condos based on “his brand,” he will most likely be bankrupted.

She said “He’ll be selling pillows” at the end of this.

He's raised over a billion dollars (with a 'b') from foreign counties with his new social media grift.  You can bet most of that will go into his legal defense fund.

And the SEC is investigating.

Subpoenas to testify are a start, but what I really want to see are indictments.

Wait a minute.  At 3:26 in this video Michael Cohen states:

Michael Cohen wrote:

You may have seen that our process servers managed to get Bill Barr in his shorts with some flip-flops in McLean Virginia where he was vacationing. Came out to get some mail, so we got him and personally served him, and I believe this is just the beginning.  Now, will it be more difficult to get the president?  Of course it will.  He's surrounded by Secret Service, not to mention he's hunkered down at Mar-A-Lago.  But that's okay, we'll go to the court now and we'll ask for what's called "substituted service" and then we'll serve him that way.

Since when does the Secret Service protect former presidents from legal service????

Leticia James is getting closer to deposing various Trumps and Trumpettes in the NY case against the TO. Like his university, like his steaks, like his casinos, like his wine, his real estate business is about to be closed down.

The DOJ and the AGs (NY & GA) have waited too long.

At this point, when the charges are brought, they are so far removed from the events that triggered them that Trump & Co will claim--credibly--that the charges are politically motivated.

NoCoPilot wrote:

We've danced around this issue for over four years, but it's starting to get real.

How many crimes will Trump be charged with?

1. Election interference in Georgia.  Carries a 20-year sentence.  Fulton County DA Fani Willis has hired a successful racketeering prosecutor, and the case seems like a slam-dunk since Trump was caught on tape not once, but TWICE trying to overturn the election results in GA.
   
2. Imperiling Congress.  Eric Swalwell sued Trump for inciting a riot that imperiled his safety.  Experts say the case is strong, using the precedent of the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act.  Another Rep Bennie Thompson filed a similar suit last week, and potentially all 535 members of Congress could do the same (or at least the 271 Democrats).  If the suits weren't consolidated this could potentially drain huge resources from the ex-president's legal team.
   
3. Tax evasion, bank fraud and insurance fraud.  Though so-far tight lipped, we know Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance has gotten Trump's records from Deutschebank, and in that million-plus page datadump are known to be numerous financial crimes. Many of these carry long incarceration penalties used against Mafia bosses.
   
4. More tax evasion, bank fraud and insurance fraud. New York AG Letitia James is investigating two properties under her jurisdiction that appear to have been improperly reported.
   
5. Obstruction of the Russia probe.  Under new AG Merrick Garland, the ten instances of obstruction of justice detailed in the Mueller probe could be (probably will be?) reopened as criminal prosecutions.
   
6. Hooker hush money.  Cyrus Vance's investigation of illegal campaign expenditures used to silence Stephanie Clifford and Karen McDougal continues.
   
7. Incitement to riot.  DCAG Karl Racine is looking into charging Trump with illegal speech for the January 6 rally-riot.  Up to 6 months in prison for this misdemeanor.
   
8. Illegal use of inauguration funds.  Racine's office is also still probing illegal expenditures, profiteering and possible illegal foreign donations to Trump's inauguration in 2017.
   
9. Defamation lawsuits. Trump still faces two lawsuits for defamation of character from E. Jean Carroll and Summer Zervos.
   
10. Inheritance lawsuit.  Trump's niece Mary Trump still has an active lawsuit over his mishandling of her father's estate.
    
11. Possible lawsuits from charged rioters.  Though none have been filed yet, it's been speculated that rioters charged in the January 6 insurrection could sue Trump for his encouragement in their crimes.
    
12. Corrupt pardons. There is a provision in the law to claw back pardons given corruptly.  It could be invoked in several of Trump's pardons, 85% of which were to benefit himself and his legal problems.
    

https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/12/politics/list-investigations-trump/index.html

Let's not forget:

• Emoluments Clause. Renting rooms in the Trump Hotel to visiting dignitaries, for instance.
  
• Presidential Records Preservation Act. You can't flush the evidence, honey.
  
• Retaliation. Michael Cohen is suing because his home confinement was illegally terminated over his book.
  
• Election fraud. Trump spearheaded the unconstitutional submission of fake electors to the Electoral College.
  
• Seditious conspiracy. Might be the hardest one to prove, but it's also the most consequential.
  

I know you are but what am I?

Trump has a habit of accusing opponents of what he's guilty of, the equivalent of the old schoolhouse taunt.  It's a tactic for defusing the prosecution, but it can also be a very effective "tell."  He apparently KNOWS that Russian collusion in the 2016 election is a capital offense.

So, let's add:

• Colluding with Russia to overthrow the 2016 election (successfully)
  
• Colluding with Russia to overthrow the 2020 election (unsuccessfully)
  

Mazars drops Trump as a client.. Things are getting uncomfortable for the orange clown.

According to reports, the Trump Organization is somewhere between $421 million and $1.3 billion dollars in debt.  In order to continue operating they’ll need to refinance the debt.

In order to refinance the debt they’ll need a bank loan. To get a bank loan they’ll need financial statements.

Tish James won’t need to close down TTO. They’ll have to declare bankruptcy.

Just like every other Trump business.

Trump & the Trumpettes must testify under oath.  Expect a lot of "I don't recall"s and "my accountants handled that" and 5th Amendment claims.

It's all for show.  Tish has the evidence already.

Eric Trump claimed he 5th over 500 times when testifying before Tish in 2020.

The problem for Daddy doing the same, is that he's under indictment not only for the criminal tax evasion, but also for a civil case.  In civil cases there is no 5th.  

Therefore, every time he invokes the 5th in the criminal case, he's admitting guilt in the civil case.

LOL. It's all just a witchhunt, yeah?

richard09 wrote:

This is pretty amusing. Don't know that it will come to pass, of course, but it does sound kind of plausible.

Michael Cohen Reveals When And How Trump Will Flip On His Own Family To Avoid Jail

Sounds like Ivanka is going to beat him to it. What's the old expression, "No honor among thieves"?

Mike Pence's lawyer Greg Jacob wrote:

I have run down every legal trail placed before me to its conclusion, and I respectfully conclude that as a legal framework, it is a results-oriented position that you would never support if attempted by the opposition, and essentially entirely made up," Jacob wrote Eastman. "And thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege."

To which Eastman responds: "The 'siege' is because YOU and your boss did not do what was necessary to allow this to be aired in a public way so the American people can see for themselves what happened."

In his next response, Jacob drops the hammer: "The advice provided has, whether intended or not, functioned as a serpent in the ear of the President of the United States, the most powerful office in the entire world. And here we are."

Jacob went on:

"Respectfully, it was gravely, gravely irresponsible for you to entice the President with an academic theory that had no legal viability, and that you well know we would lose before any judge who heard and decided the case. And if the courts declined to hear it, I suppose it could only be decided in the streets. The knowing amplification of that theory through numerous surrogates, whipping large numbers of people into a frenzy over something with no chance of ever attaining legal force through actual process of law, has led us to where we are."

https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/03/politics/trump-january-6-committee-eastman-email/index.html

Trump's defense is SO, so fucked.

Quote :

Why isn’t Donald Trump in prison?

The answer is simple: People like him rarely end up behind bars.

Sad, but true. That's why we keep having "people like him."

NoCoPilot wrote:

The DOJ and the AGs (NY & GA) have waited too long.

Cyrus Vance Jr. stepped down (or retired) after bringing in a couple of organized crime prosecutors and shepherding the case against Trump almost to completion.  In the end he declined to file charges or issue subpoenas before he left.

His replacement Alvin Bragg has sat on Vance's work for six months now, without doing anything.  The Grand Jury Vance seated expires in nine days.

Lack of actionable evidence?  Not likely.

More likely the exact opposite.  The fear is of pulling at the threads this investigation has exposed, to wit, Russian organized crime and other countries including the Saudis.  What started as a simple tax evasion / bank fraud investigation has turned into an international corruption web with roots in Congress and politics and exposing the true scope of it would not only guarantee death sentences for the prosecutors, it would bring down the international monetary system.

N.Y. appeals court denies Trump request to pause $10K daily fines

Quote :

At a videoconference on Friday, Engoron expressed skepticism about Trump’s claim he had no more documents to hand over to the AG. The judge cited Trump’s reputation for communicating through Post-it notes.

“I’m surprised that he doesn’t seem to have any documents,” Engoron said at the hearing. “He’s famous, I believe, for Post-its. When he wants something done, he puts a Post-it on something. I don’t think we’ve received any Post-its.”

The House Select January 6 Committee has done a wonderful job Friday and today of laying out how Trump KNEW he lost the election, and continued to push his "stolen election" lies to fundraise.  He may have even thought he had a chance of overturning the election.

Does any of this rise to the level of criminality, though?  If he's self-deluded enough to believe his own bullshit, does that let him off the hook for 'seditious conspiracy'?

Interesting legal question.  Is he too stupid to be a criminal?  Would he be incompetent to stand trial?

When white supremacists gather there are "very fine people on both sides" but when he's being tried for crimes it's a "one-sided witch hunt." I guess it's not fair unless the defenders of democracy are on trial too?

Trump says he will pardon all the insurrectionists if re-elected.

John Eastman, Trump's lawyer which cooked up the fake elector scheme, sought a pardon before January 6 because he knew his scheme to overturn the election was illegal and unconstitutional.

If Trump had subverted the election, or if he gets re-elected, the rule-of-law is over. Trump will use his power to install himself as an untouchable monarch.

During MSNBC's coverage of the Thursday hearings, one of the commentators (I believe it was Lawrence O'Donnell?) got livid and said if Pence had come out in December, and publicly denounced Eastman's plan to throw out the legitimate electors, then none of the rally, none of the Proud Boys, none of the storming of the Capital, none of the constitutional crisis, none of the deaths would have needed to happen. This is true. But In Pence's defense, he had no way of predicting the unprecedented attack on the Capitol. He was still Donald Trump's loyal vice president, and he still had a lame duck month to go before his term was over. Pence is and always was a toady, a spineless invertebrate, a man with no principles or moral code. To expect him to stand up to Trump's imperial ambition is asking too much. He only did so at the last possible moment because he had no other choice at that point.

The 1/6 Commission has managed to put Trump's unfathomable self-centeredness on clear display. If the Justice Department doesn't indict him it'll be lights out for democracy.

Today's hearing concluded with a list of Republican congressmen who sought pardons, because they KNEW their roles in the insurrection were highly illegal.

• Mo Brooks
  
• Louie Gohmert
  
• Matt Gaetz
  
• Andy Biggs
  
• Scott Perry
  
• Jim Jordan
  
• Marjorie Taylor Greene
  

How does one even begin to come back from such an admission of complicity?

WTF is this? Executive Privilege does not protect criminal acts, never has and never will.

Quote :

“Even if your client had been a senior aide to [Trump] during the time period covered by the contemplated testimony, which he was most assuredly not, he is not permitted by law to the type of immunity you suggest that Mr. Trump has requested he assert,” committee chair Bennie Thompson wrote to Bannon’s attorney in October.

Trump to face sworn deposition in New York lawsuit as legal troubles mount

Quote :

Trump and his two eldest children, Ivanka and Donald Jr, were summoned to give sworn depositions after state attorney general, Letitia James, said a three-year civil investigation uncovered evidence that the Trump Organization routinely inflated the value of properties, including office blocks, apartment buildings and golf courses, in order to obtain loans at favorable rates and to claim tax breaks.

Quote :

The process of taking depositions at the state supreme court in Manhattan is expected to continue into next week. It is not immediately clear on which day the former president will be questioned but Trump’s lawyer has indicated that he will invoke his constitutional right against self-incrimination and refuse to answer questions.