In an obvious political move, Manhattan NY District Attorney, Alvin Bragg has succeeded in getting a grand jury to indict former president Trump on what are supposedly 34 counts of something. The indictment seems related to the Stormy Daniels case where a porn actress, represented by felon lawyer Avenatti, succeeded in extorting $130,000 from Trump during the election season. Her only evidence was a photo taken at a public golf tournament. Trump, of course, denied the accusation. He is a well known germaphobe who does not even shake hands with people. That he would have sex with such a likely STD source is ridiculous but in the midst of a campaign he paid her off with a Non-disclosure agreement which, she of course violated.
Great hilarity is, of course, widely seen in the leftist media, like the LA Times. At least they do admit the concerns of many.
The larger share — the “maybe Trumpers,” as Ayres calls them, make up 55%-60% of the party. “They’re exactly the kind of people who will want to know if this is a credible case or a trumped up vendetta by a liberal New York, Democratic prosecutor who is out to get Trump,” Ayres said.
No kidding. Nancy Pelosi has weighed in with what she thinks the law is. She thinks he has to “prove his innocence.”
Alan Dershowitz disagrees.
Dershowitz said on the Sean Hannity program on Fox News that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is playing with fire.
[W]hen you’re a democratic elected prosecutor who ran on the campaign pledge of getting Trump and you’re going to indict, forget about the former president, the man who may become the future president if he beats the incumbent who is the head of your political party. Prosecutor, you’d better have the strongest case imaginable, not a case that depends on stitching together two inapplicable statutes and using Michael Cohen.
Powerline blog also has a different opinion.
While politics has always been a scrappy arena, former President Donald Trump has radicalized Democrats and brought them to a level of derangement that few could have imagined. The full-court press to ruin Trump began the moment he descended the golden escalator to announce his candidacy in June 2015 and continues to this day.
It started with the Russiagate hoax, which was manufactured by Hillary Clinton’s campaign and carried out by the top ranks of the FBI and DOJ. The FBI falsified information on a FISA court warrant application in order to spy on Trump’s campaign, pushed the debunked Steele dossier as fact knowing full well that its sourcing was bogus, and openly boasted about trying to stop Trump from becoming president.
Now what ?
The Wall Street Journal agrees this is making history.
President Bill Clinton in 1998 was impeached by the House of Representatives for perjury and obstruction of justice related to his attempted coverup of his relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. The Senate voted against conviction, but the threat of criminal charges persisted until the final hours of Mr. Clinton’s presidency, when he struck a deal with independent counsel Robert Ray. The prosecutor agreed not to pursue a grand jury indictment after Mr. Clinton admitted to giving false testimony under oath, surrendered his law license for five years and accepted a $25,000 fine.
Clinton committed perjury as well as sexual misconduct in the Oval Office, of all places.
When compared with practices in other countries, Mr. Trump’s prosecution is less unusual, even among liberal democracies. In the last decade alone, sitting or former heads of state in France, Italy, Israel, Brazil and South Korea have been charged with crimes including illegal campaign financing, bribery and tax fraud.
The Israel prosecution is the closest comparison to Trump’s. It has been pushed by Netanyahu’s enemies on the left.
Here is an analysis of that case.
The corruption charges facing him, meanwhile, are problematic. It does look as if he and his wife have been living extravagantly, and they look grasping and a bit unethical in accepting expensive gifts, such as copious amounts of rare cigars and fine champagne, from people they call “friends” but who could be seen as supplicants.
I claim no expertise in Israeli law concerning gift limits, but judging from most coverage I’ve read, the gifts in themselves seem at worst a minor violation. The major allegation against Netanyahu would have to be that the gifts were accepted as a bribe for specific official action. If the gifts weren’t just an extravagance, but actually changed Israeli government policy, that would amount to a crime under the laws of most republics.
What is chilling about the charges against Netanyahu, though, is that the alleged “bribery” involved no change in policy at all. Instead, he is alleged to have influenced media outlets friendly to him to also be friendly to those who provided the gifts.
The similarity to Trump’s case is that the legal issues are murky but the opposition is determined to drive him from office. That link is to 2019 so the campaign did not work but Natanyahu is trying to reform the corrupt Israeli courts and the left has taken to the streets in protest.
In both cases the left is using the legal system to try to destroy a political rival. The recent incident at Stanford Law School shows that the left is in firm control of law schools. In time, not so long, the legal system will be controlled by the left.
If the Democrats can get a conviction, The United States will have died.
The Democrats will be able to do whatever they want, to whoever they want.
There are people in the Democratic Party, what would be quite comfortable with Camps, for those that disagree with them.
If the present regime could defeat Trump via the usual means there would have been no reason to impeach him twice and no reason to indict him now.
But it cannot. My take is that vast swarms of people in the US have long since given up on politics, because no matter who they vote for it never actually fixes anything or diverts the country off the glidepath to oblivion. Trump brought millions of them back into politics, which terrified the regime right to the core.
I expect if Trump surrenders himself to the NY “justice” system he’ll end up murdered- and the regime will just fumble about and claim it was all an unfortunate mistake, somehow, that he ended up dead.
In any case, I find it grimly hilarious that the same people who have been metaphorically ****ing on the concept of the rule of law for my entire life seem to believe that a yet another baseless legal attack will cause his supporters to abandon him.
It won’t, but what other option do they have? They usual suspects of the geee ohh peee are widely despised, with Mitch McConnell being especially unpopular. The chosen antidote to Trump- the governor of Florida- is polling poorly against him, despite doing a good job as governor as well as getting endless puffery from the conservative establishment.
Interesting times, etc.
Trump will walk into the courthouse next week, walk back out an hour or so later, get on his jet and fly back to Florida. I wonder if he’ll order extra prints of his mug shot. His first strategy question is whether his team wants to work the “speedy trial” laws to try to get Bragg into court unprepared or to stretch all the free publicity out into the primaries. They done throwed him in the briar patch.
Bragg hasn’t been in office long, but even for a Soros D.A., he’s racked up an imposing record of incompetence. I have to wonder just who thought this was a good idea for the Democrats.
Rather strange that an individual who was subsequently “elected” president also has a publicly-available video of himself as Vice President boasting about using his control over the People’s money to get a foreign prosecutor fired, to save his son from a corruption investigation. But that is OK! No concerns that the Republicrats might — you know — impeach him!
On the other hand, a former President can be charged with an offense so trivial & convoluted that even lawyers cannot understand it.
But there is no need to worry. Collapse is coming, and those who are on top now will pay the price for their disregard of the national good.
It wouldn’t surprise me if the feds try separating Trump from his Secret Service entourage. It further wouldn’t surprise if they “accidentally” dropped him in gen pop at Riker’s. Y’know, the watch chief’s handwriting is pretty bad, hard to read, wink, wink.
I would not be surprised to see Trump “accidentally” given the Epstein treatment. He is an existential threat to the incompetents running this regime.
I more than halfway expect that the “system” will make a “mistake” and that something terminal will happen to President Trump. I do not trust the secret service, because they ultimately work for the regime. It that should happen, the Social Contract is gone with all that implies.
Subotai Bahadur
Half of me thinks Trump would be wise to flee the country. The other half hopes that he will make a circus out of the legal proceedings, to his political benefit. I guess we’ll see.
Regardless the weakness of the “case” against Trump, conviction by partisan jurors should there be a trial seems as likely as not. He cannot possibly get a fair trial, which is one of many reasons why such a prosecution is a bad idea. But of course the entire case is an abuse of power.
Watching the PBS News Hour tonight, a couple of commenters asserted that conservative criticisms of Soros prosecutors such as the fellow in NY are anti-Semitic dog-whistles, because Soros is Jewish. They think we’re all idiots.
Also on PBS, the “former prosecutor” they interviewed explained how Trump will be treated when he shows up to be arraigned. He won’t be handcuffed, he will be photographed but the mugshot won’t be made public, etc. About the handcuffing: let’s see. I’m guessing that any mugshots will be leaked, especially if they show Trump without his hairpiece. We shall see.
These people think that by abusing Trump they will keep him out of the election and suppress the concerns of the people who want to vote for him. Good luck with that.
I am so fortunate to be alive. They have to convict him of something, so that he cannot run again, as they think he would win. By doing this they have almost guaranteed his victory.
This is so far beyond shooting yourself in the foot, that laughter is the only kind response.
Humiliation is central to rituals of totalitarian governments – whether the Russian show trials or the Chinese cultural revolution or the pre-Columbian Indians or . . . . It is not central to the rituals of countries built on respect of others, sense of each individual’s innate worth. These are not the values of our people from our nation’s founding.
It is not central to American customs, it seems to me. I really, really don’t like this. And though I voted for him twice, I never respected Trump’s disrespect for his opponents. I really don’t want him to run in part because while he seemed to have assimilated the great values of America in many ways, that one seemed to elude him. Of course, it may be necessary to acknowledge that without his bullying tactics he’d not have gotten the very good things done that he did.
Anyway, I don’t think we have to vote for Trump in the primaries because to do otherwise would be to ratify the insane views and the undemocratic actions of the left. Did most of the others running think that politicizing institutions was a good thing they would want to continue?. Still and all the more they destroy our institutions to get at and destroy personally a president who actually had mainstream priorities.. I ramble – but then what approach can we take to these demons whose goal seems to be to redirect the great pattern – always vulnerable – of that great piece of political theory, our Constitution, defined and so many, but especially the writers of the Declaration gave a glowing transcendent meaning.
What a week. I wish Tom Wolfe was still here to chronicle it, sliding through the week from tragedy to farce. From how our betters have manipulation the murder of children to fit their political agendas, to learning the IRS visited Matt TaibbI on the ray he testified to Congress, to the unprecedented historic step of indicting a former president, a once and future opponent to the incumbent on the flimsiest of charges. You know when Trumps they will dig up his up his corpse for trial in the best fashion of Oliver Cromwell
Wolf would be the ideal . chronicler of this. The biggest personality of the last 40 years is the subject of a historic political hit job by an ambitious DA in the media capital of the world. After years of being pursued by the most.powerful people in the world in a manner.reminiscent of.Captain Ahab the one who finally got him was.a political mediocrity on essentially the accounting of hush money to a porn star..And on such does the have to Hell creak open
However even Wolf wouldn’t dare write what Pelosi tweeted which was.Trump.”had the right to prove his.inmocence” His.editor.would.demand Wolf.remove.it,.too fantastic
And the week isn’t over yet. Still the strong chamce.of.”mostly peaceful protests” during today’s Trans Day of Vengeance
Just remember they are called.”preppers ” and not “respomders” for a reason because if the COVID toilet paper crisis of 2020/taught us anything.is.that by the time.you know you need supplies it’s too late. I love.you guys but if you come to my door looking for food and ammo.I.don’t know.you
Oh and regarding Jonathan’s comment regarding the.PBS News.Hour callimg.anti Soros comments anti-Semitic David Haransyi had a column earlier that day anticipating that calumny https://thefederalist.com/2023/03/31/left-smears-ron-desantis-for-pointing-out-the-truth-about-george-soros/
I heard something interesting on Gutfeld tonight. This whole thing has morphed into “Insiders vs Outsiders”
I think it has galvanized support.
Good point Mike about his unlikelihood of even having sex with her. I’ve often thought within that MeToo” movement while many have had legitimate accusations, I am also sure a few have used it for blackmail. Look at what happens if you are a conservative Supreme Court nominee.
I stuck this up over at Legal Insurrection with a request for comment from a NY State criminal lawyer, but saw no response. I’ll put it up here with the same request.
I’m curious as to how the prosecutor with be getting around the NY statute of limitations (CPL 30 Section 10) which states:
” 1.”ƒA criminal action must be commenced within the period of limitation prescribed in the ensuing subdivisions of this section.
2.”ƒExcept as otherwise provided in subdivision three:
(a)”‚A prosecution for a class A felony, or rape in the first degree as defined in section 130.35 of the penal law, or a crime defined or formerly defined in section 130.50 of the penal law, or aggravated sexual abuse in the first degree as defined in section 130.70 of the penal law, or course of sexual conduct against a child in the first degree as defined in section 130.75 of the penal law may be commenced at any time;
(b)”‚A prosecution for any other felony must be commenced within five years after the commission thereof”¦” (snip)
It goes on with some exceptions including:
“4.”ƒIn calculating the time limitation applicable to commencement of a criminal action, the following periods shall not be included:
(a)”‚Any period following the commission of the offense during which (i) the defendant was continuously outside this state or (ii) the whereabouts of the defendant were continuously unknown and continuously unascertainable by the exercise of reasonable diligence. ”‚However, in no event shall the period of limitation be extended by more than five years beyond the period otherwise applicable under subdivision two.”
In checking with the unbiased, non-partisan (sarcasm) Wikipedia, I find that when acting as President, Trump made 19 different visits to NY during the period of 2017 to 2021, including:
– 2017: 6 trips
– 2018: 4 trips
– 2019: 5 trips
– 2020-21: 4 trips
In addition to NOT being “continuously outside” the state, it also wouldn’t be realistic to state that his whereabouts (the White House in particular were “continuously unknown and continuously unascertainable by the exercise of reasonable diligence.”
Now if the sealed indictment is for something OTHER than the “Stormy Daniels” NDA payment, then it’s possible the statute of limitations clock has a different starting point. Or maybe the prosecutor has some novel theory that the NDA payout is some kind of ongoing crime. But it strikes me that if it isn’t, it is going to be a quickly dismissed on expiry of the statute of limitations.
Any NY State criminal lawyers wanna comment?
No need to worry? Because the folks underneath all the falling debris have nothing to worry about? When a collapse happens, by and large the stuff on top is still on top, it just has less underneath.
This strategy worked on Tom DeLay and Dinesh D’Souza. With a Manhattan jury the conviction of Trump is already in the bag. Unfortunately, and that’s what the DA is counting on.
See also…
Durham, NC DA Mike Nifong’s 2006 pursuit of three white members of the Duke University lacrosse team with a charge of gang-raping a black woman Crystal Mangum. Nifong was trailing in a close DA election race and obviously hoped to get votes by inflaming racial tension in heavily black Durham.
By just one vote, the state bar finally went after Nifong after it was revealed in a public courtroom deposition of the DNA expert Nifong had hired, that the two of them had colluded to hide exculpatory DNA evidence from the defense. (BTW I was in the courtroom and heard the testimony.) Nifong was eventually disbarred and had to spend just a single night in jail.
Had Nifong gotten the three white defendants to an actual trial with a probably mostly black Durham jury, a conviction would have been similarly guaranteed. Nifong, just like this NY DA is now, was counting on jury bias. Just like Nancy Pelosi today, the usual people were screaming that there needed to be a trial so the defendants could prove their innocence.
Eventually the Attorney General of NC took over the investigation and announced that there was never any evidence of the charges being true and declared the defendants INNOCENT of all charges.
Despite a long criminal record the media had tried to paint Mangum as a victimized saint. She subsequently murdered a boyfriend and is now in prison doing life. So much for that narrative.
The fact that Nifong could run amuck with no restraint for as long as he did and was just barely stopped, destroyed any lingering confidence I might have had in the US Justice system.
Jury consultants, judges and trial attorneys treat racial bias by white jurors against black defendants as a major problem, not only when it occurs but also when, for example, a string of no-cause rejections of prospective black jurors makes it appear that prosecutors could be racially biased. However, there are other biases in jury selection that the courts and trial bar tolerate. Racial bias by non-white jurors against white defendants, bias against rich people, and bias against Republican officials who are defendants in majority-Democrat areas – all are tolerated.
Trump needs to fight this prosecution in the political arena as well as in the courts, because if the case gets to trial as the Democrats probably wish, he will probably lose. OTOH he may be able to turn the case to his political advantage. Whatever he does, he should probably keep the motor running on his jet.
Reportedly, the in-person hearing for President Trump has been set for … December 4th! Whatever happened to that Constitutional guarantee of a “speedy trial”?
Former UK Prime Minister Harold Wilson once noted that “A week in politics is a long time“. If one pays attention to the gathering economic storm bearing down on the US, December 4th is a very, very long time away. Excellent prospects that the world will have changed beyond recognition by then. The Persecutor (sorry, prosecutor) may not even have a job by then.
The “speedy trial” guarantee was voided by administrative collusion shortly after January 6, 2021. As were most of the guarantees stated in the Constitution since. The unsealing of the so-called charges against Donald Trump today kind of makes it official.
“Trump needs to fight this prosecution in the political arena as well as in the courts, because if the case gets to trial as the Democrats probably wish, he will probably lose. OTOH he may be able to turn the case to his political advantage.”
We are talking about Trump, as if there were the slightest question that he will wave this bloody flag until even his strongest supporters are thoroughly sick of it.
“December 4th!”
If he has competent lawyers, never a given, considering his judgement to date, it will easily drag into the primary season. Especially given the competition to be FIRST! Assuming a conviction, appeals should run well into his third term before there’s the slightest chance of incarceration.
Why shouldn’t Trump wave his bloody flag?
The treatment he has received from the demonrats, the press, and even from the gee ohh preeeee establishment has been astonishingly bad.
A significant part of that last has been how the people he chose for various positions- people very often thrown up by the usual suspects of the republican party- simply refused to follow lawful orders given by him. I note especially the Secretary of State who was fired after getting caught going around the world telling everyone to ignore everything Trump said. Of course Trump had direct involvement in selecting that appointee and yet still got stabbed in the back. Lower down, I’m sure it was much worse, not least because the gop was doing things like throwing resumes of Trump supporters into the trash and replacing them with nevertrump minions of the establishment.
In a sense, this isn’t really about Trump. It’s about the future of the United States. Well duh- but can the present regime actually change course? Can it adjust policies to circumstance? Or will it simply cling bitterly to what may have made sense fifty or more years ago, because the people in charge today simply can’t or won’t grasp the need for change?
I take the despicable treatment of Donald Trump as a sign that it cannot.
The Chicago election and the one in Wisconsin are hard indicators that the left is still in control. We are becoming more and more like South Africa.
“Looking at the frequency of loadshedding (blackouts) over the years, the figures have tripled since 2020. It’s become a way of life,” says Hewson. “A couple of weeks ago, I was travelling from Rosebank to Northcliff and I passed a few traffic lights that were out. I started counting the traffic lights. Out of a total of 26 traffic lights, there was only one that was working. It made me think of the impact on the economy and the supply side factors, but I also just think of the toll that it takes on people and the frustration and challenges it’s causing.”
Hewson notes that in 2020, the portion of total electricity made up of renewables in South Africa was just 10,50%, with 89.50% fossil fuels (according to the CSIR). “Something Trevor Manuel said a number of years ago that out of every crisis comes opportunity. Maybe it’s taken 3 776 hours of loadshedding in 2022 to give the president and ministers the opportunity to really prioritise an increase in allowance for renewable energy, increasing solar and helping to really facilitate the move to greener energy,” he says. “What if our biggest challenge now could become our biggest competitive advantage in five years’ time?”
South Africa was a powerhouse ten years ago. Black rule and green fantasies have ended that. We are headed the same way.
It looks like Trump may have found another great lawyer:
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/courts/donald-trump-arrest-trump-attorney-says-case-will-no-see-jury-trial
Looks like another case of: all mouth, no brains.