Trump

[gaggedLouise]

By the way, the best thing about any Trump tweet is the comments, both from his rabid supporters and from people who are calling his bluff. The photoshopped pic of a duct tape gagged Trump, loking surprised, with the caption "How to Stop Fake News", and the "Hillary Card - EXPIRED", a bit down that thread, are just hilarious. :D

[Oniya]

This week, the Boston Globe, New York Times, and hundreds of other newspapers across the country published opinion pieces regarding Trump's constant refrain that the press is 'the enemy'.  The Boston Globe even received a bomb threat hours after Trump tweeted about their editorial.  (Trump tweeted in the morning, the threat was phoned in by noon.)

The US Senate - while not mentioning Trump by name - has passed a declaration asserting that

(1) the Senate—
   (A)  affirms  that  the  press  is  not  the  enemy of the people;
   (B)  reaffirms  the  vital  and  indispensable role  that  the  free  press  serves  to  inform  the electorate,  uncover  the  truth,  act  as  a  check  on the  inherent  power  of  the  government,  further national  discourse  and  debate,  and  otherwise advance  the  most  basic  and  cherished  democratic   norms   and   freedoms   of   the   United  States; and
   (C)  condemns  the  attacks  on  the  institution  of  the  free  press  and  views  efforts  to  systematically   undermine   the   credibility   of   the  press  as  an  attack  on  the  democratic  institutions of the United States; and
(2)  it  is  the  sense  of  the  Senate  that  it  is  the sworn responsibility of all who serve the United States  by  taking  the  oath  to  support  and  defend  the Constitution  of  the  United  States  to  uphold,  cherish, and  protect  the  entire  Constitution, including the freedom of the press.

The resolution passed in a unanimous voice vote.

[gaggedLouise]

In a soon deleted tweet, Trump claimed that Aretha Franklin "worked for me on several occasions". No one has been able to dig up any occasion when the Queen of Soul was on his payroll or stood on the same stage as him - she may possibly have performed a few times at a Trump hotel or casino, but that doesn't make her someone who put in effort for him specifically. The whole thing is a glaring example of Trump's childish need to insert himself into all sorts of news to make them highlight him.

https://twitter.com/sharongelman/status/1030140146254012416

[Oniya]

Sometimes, the words will out...

Oh Donny boy, the voters now are rising
From ashes where, you'd thought, all hope had died
Thy petty jibes and hatefilled rants despising
'Tis you, 'tis you must go and we must bide
But hark ye to the drumbeat towards November
When freedom rings and tyrants should despair
'Tis then we speak in chorus - so remember
We'll kick you out, right on your derriere.

[gaggedLouise]

Sometimes, the words will out...

Oh Donny boy, the voters now are rising
From ashes where, you'd thought, all hope had died
Thy petty jibes and hatefilled rants despising
'Tis you, 'tis you must go and we must bide
But hark ye to the drumbeat towards November
When freedom rings and tyrants should despair
'Tis then we speak in chorus - so remember
We'll kick you out, right on your derriere.

*applauds Oniya's muse* Oh the day when someone finally gets to tell Trump with force and conviction: "Donny, you are fired!" :D

[gaggedLouise]

Pentagon postpones the staging of a massive military parade through Washington DC that Trump had demanded. Originally it was meant for Veterans Day this November, the centenary of the end of the First World War., but they're now looking at next year.

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/08/16/politics/military-parade-postponed/index.html

One of the problems could be that roads and streets around Washington won't carry any serious numbers of tanks (I have this piece of information from Oniya, who used to have studies of the capacity of roads and bridges in DC and Virginia for heavy traffic as part of her job) :)

[Oniya]

Eh - no, not studies as part of my job.  I did, however live in the DC area, and drove many of those streets on a regular basis going to and from WRAMC and NNMC (fixing computers - nothing earth-shattering).

[gaggedLouise]

Ah, apologies -I'll still trust your assessment of those road networks and roadbeds though! :)

[Oniya]

Drove them for around a decade.  Once the snow melted, the rubber traffic cones bloomed and the asphalt harvest began.

[Lustful Bride]

Trump Admin has decided to screw military families over financially. At this point im not surprised.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/the-trump-administration-is-dismantling-financial-protections-for-the-military/ar-BBLUFYs?ocid=spartanntp

[gaggedLouise]

White House special legal counsel Don McGahn famously blocked Trump's attempt last year to fire Mueller. Now it turns out that he is cooperating with Mueller's investigation and has given them 30 hours of interview time over the last nine months, about critical aspects of the Trump Cmapaign - and presumably on what went on behind the scenes (McGahn was Trump's campaign counsel and head of his busy legal team during the 2016 campaign).

McGahn has provided "detailed accounts about the episodes at the heart of the inquiry into whether President Trump obstructed justice," including providing information that the Mueller team otherwise would not have learned about, the Times reported, citing a dozen current and former White House officials and other individuals briefed on the matter.

How long before Trump has a fit and fires McGahn and Rosenstein for state treason, and then Mueller?  :P

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/08/18/politics/white-house-counsel-mcgahn-trump-mueller/index.html

[gaggedLouise]

Trump compares the Mueller team to Joe McCarthy! This is um, innovative political talk. :)

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1031154974942810114

[Callie Del Noire]

Trump compares the Mueller team to Joe McCarthy! This is um, innovative political talk. :)

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1031154974942810114

This from the man who learned legal maneuvers from Joe McCarthyks right hand hatchetman Roy Coln?

[TheGlyphstone]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/giuliani-says-trump-tower-meeting-was-to-get-clinton-dirt/ar-BBM83VU?ocid=spartanntp

Guiliani admits that the meeting between Trump and a Russian lawyer was expressly to get dirt on Clinton. In the very next sentence, he says this was legit and is not evidence of collusion with Russia.

The Orwellianism on display here is making my brain hurt.

[Oniya]

He literally said 'Truth isn't truth.'  Literally.  Chuck Todd outright told him this is going to become a bad meme.

[gaggedLouise]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/giuliani-says-trump-tower-meeting-was-to-get-clinton-dirt/ar-BBM83VU?ocid=spartanntp

Guiliani admits that the meeting between Trump and a Russian lawyer was expressly to get dirt on Clinton. In the very next sentence, he says this was legit and is not evidence of collusion with Russia.

The Orwellianism on display here is making my brain hurt.

*reads article*

Is Giuliani trying to say that the Americans had originally convened the meeting to get dirt on Hillary Clinton from the Russians, but that already before the meeting started Trump's team had decided they didn't want any incriminating dirt, and that they should turn to some other questions which had nothing to do with the Trump campaign or HRC? :P

[gaggedLouise]

"Truth isn't truth" - that's an instant one for the Quotes to Remember books. :D

[Deamonbane]

Paul Manafort found guilty on 8 charges(of five counts of tax fraud charges, one charge of hiding foreign bank accounts, and two counts of bank fraud), mistrial declared on remaining 10.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/paul-manafort-guilty-8-charges-mistrial-declared-remaining-10-205452870.html

[Oniya]

Michael Cohen simply pleaded guilty.

To, among other things, a number of campaign finance violations (details start at page 19 here).  Anywhere that you see 'Individual-1' in that document, it refers to Donald Trump.

[gaggedLouise]

Paul Manafort found guilty on 8 charges(of five counts of tax fraud charges, one charge of hiding foreign bank accounts, and two counts of bank fraud), mistrial declared on remaining 10.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/paul-manafort-guilty-8-charges-mistrial-declared-remaining-10-205452870.html

Mistrial meaning that the trial on those counts will have to be re-run with a new jury? While presumably Manafort will appeal most of the verdicts here to another court.

[TheGlyphstone]

It means the prosecution has the option of either retrying or dropping the charges. Since Manafort is also booked to stand trial in another district for entirely separate charges, my bet is that they wont seek a new trial on the mistrials.

[Cassandra LeMay]

It means the prosecution has the option of either retrying or dropping the charges. Since Manafort is also booked to stand trial in another district for entirely separate charges, my bet is that they wont seek a new trial on the mistrials.

That. Not to mention that Manaford could end up in jail for decades, based on just what he has been convicted of. A retrial might not be worth the effort. Two more (related) things to consider:

1) If this verdict doesn't convince Manafort to "flip", nothing will. Adding a few more years to his potential sentence by re-trying the hung charges isn't likely to make any difference.

2) This is actually a good outcome for the Mueller investigation. If Manafort had been found not guilty on any charges, or if the jury had returned a hung verdict on all charges, it would have fed the "witchhunt" mill. That he has been convicted on some charges - but not others - speaks of a fair trial. In a normal world this verdict would lay to rest any claims of this being just a politically-motivated process. Then again, the world we live in these days...  ::)

[gaggedLouise]

That. Not to mention that Manaford could end up in jail for decades, based on just what he has been convicted of. A retrial might not be worth the effort. Two more (related) things to consider:

1) If this verdict doesn't convince Manafort to "flip", nothing will. Adding a few more years to his potential sentence by re-trying the hung charges isn't likely to make any difference.

2) This is actually a good outcome for the Mueller investigation. If Manafort had been found not guilty on any charges, or if the jury had returned a hung verdict on all charges, it would have fed the "witchhunt" mill. That he has been convicted on some charges - but not others - speaks of a fair trial. In a normal world this verdict would lay to rest any claims of this being just a politically-motivated process. Then again, the world we live in these days...  ::)

I've seen newspapers estimating the maximum combined jail time if he'd been found guilty on all eighteen counts at 305 years. ;) Of course that was before any verdict was returned, but it shows what kind of league they're in with some of those charges. :)

And yes, being sentenced to jail for a couple of decades (when he's already 69) will be a very strong incentive to think about opening up to Mueller.

[Cassandra LeMay]

I've seen newspapers estimating the maximum combined jail time if he'd been found guilty on all eighteen counts at 305 years. ;) Of course that was before any verdict was returned, but it shows what kind of league they're in with some of those charges. :)

And yes, being sentenced to jail for a couple of decades (when he's already 69) will be a very strong incentive to think about opening up to Mueller.

For what he has been found guilty of the maximum sentence is 80 years, according to CNN, The Atlantic, and a bunch of other sites I've read. Two counts of bank fraud (30 years max on each count), five cases of tax evasion (5 years max each), one count of not declaring a foreign bank account (not sure about that, but I assume 5 years max in this case too). But a sentence in the vicinity of about 7 years total is probably a realistic bet, plus perhaps a hefty fine. If I am not mistaken he will also have to pay the prosecution cost for at least the tax evasion cases, which is certainly not a small sum.

According to the WaPo, Manafort's attorneys asked for 30 day to file a motion for a new trial or to dismiss the verdict. We'll have to wait and see if judge Ellis grants them that much time and when he will schedule a sentencing hearing, but the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia is not known as the "rocket docket" for nothing. We'll find out sooner rather than later.

That said, I have my doubts Manafort will open up to Mueller any time soon. He's probably holding out for a preseidential pardon, and if that doesn't come he still has at least a year to make up his mind - at least in theory. Holding out too long would (imo) be a stupid move, but he hasn't acted all that smart till now, so who knows.

All in all the Cohen guilty plea is probably the more interesting recent development, but I still have to look closely into that. It's too dang hot today to bother about more than one legal case when my brain already feels like it's melting.  ;D

[gaggedLouise]

For what he has been found guilty of the maximum sentence is 80 years, according to CNN, The Atlantic, and a bunch of other sites I've read. Two counts of bank fraud (30 years max on each count), five cases of tax evasion (5 years max each), one count of not declaring a foreign bank account (not sure about that, but I assume 5 years max in this case too). But a sentence in the vicinity of about 7 years total is probably a realistic bet, plus perhaps a hefty fine. If I am not mistaken he will also have to pay the prosecution cost for at least the tax evasion cases, which is certainly not a small sum.

According to the WaPo, Manafort's attorneys asked for 30 day to file a motion for a new trial or to dismiss the verdict. We'll have to wait and see if judge Ellis grants them that much time and when he will schedule a sentencing hearing, but the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia is not known as the "rocket docket" for nothing. We'll find out sooner rather than later.

That said, I have my doubts Manafort will open up to Mueller any time soon. He's probably holding out for a preseidential pardon, and if that doesn't come he still has at least a year to make up his mind - at least in theory. Holding out too long would (imo) be a stupid move, but he hasn't acted all that smart till now, so who knows.

All in all the Cohen guilty plea is probably the more interesting recent development, but I still have to look closely into that. It's too dang hot today to bother about more than one legal case when my brain already feels like it's melting.  ;D

It's too bad they can't handle this kind of thing the way the police and the FBI did when fighting the golden age of gansters. I read an account (supposedly true, and coming from none other than Lucky Luciano himself) of how the FBI managed to catch the infamous mobster Louis Buchalter, known as the boss of Murder, Inc. Buchalter, aka Lepke, had been on the run from both the law and some of his mob contacts for a few years and had gone into hiding, but in the summer of 1939 the New York cops managed to spread the word through underworld contacts to him, that they were willing to offer him a very good plea bargain if he turned himself in, so that other mob figures could be prosecuted. Lepke accepted, without signing any papers, was driven secretly into Manhattan by an associate and dropped off next to a civilian car in which was sitting Tom Dewey, the New York DA. He was introduced to Dewey, entered the car and they shook hands. The car that had brought Lepke turned away.

But as soon as the cop car took off, with its doors locked, and the DA began talking, it became clear that Dewey wasn't aware of any plea bargain: he kept denouncing Lepke for crimes that he had already dellared in the press would send him to prison for five hunded years. Lepke was dismayed, and later said "I wanted to get out of the car as soon as I heard that!" but there was nothing he could do.  :D  Soon after, he would get to meet J Edgar Hoover instead.

In the end, Lepke didn't have to sit off five centuries, he was convicted of personally committing murder (a new charge) and sent to the electric chair instead.  C:)