Impeachment, Take Two (and Other Trump News)

[Missy]

Difficult to become president in 2024 if he's in jail.

Depends, campaigns have been run from prison before, although it wasn't successful. Also the case I know of was that of a political prisoner and not an actual criminal, Socialism being the 'enemy' in America and all.

[Missy]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9mNGWyL8xw

This fellow seems ot think the party is about to split.

For myself, I think we'll really know in two years. There has been a good number of reports of Conservative Moderates fleeing the Republican party. What matters really is whether those peoplr are ultimately more afraid of real unappollagetic fascism or mythical extreme socialism. In two years we'll see the Republicans either gain or lose seats and I will know whether or not I'll start taking another serious look at the Canadian Governments requirements for asylum.

[Chaeronea]

My head is going to explode.

Moscow Mitch the Morally Midgetous Murder Muppet has made a statement in which he unequivocally blames Trump for the riot...and yet he voted to acquit...


I just can't.

None of the US Presidents which have face impeachment have ever been convicted. The Republicans don't want to have the first President to do so be one of them, as it's a legacy which would stay with the party for a long time.

Of course, they're still trying to court the votes of Trumps minions so they have even less incentive to find him guilty. I wonder if they would have voted differently if a few of them had been murdered by the mob on January 6th....

Nah.

[gaggedLouise]

My head is going to explode.

Moscow Mitch the Morally Midgetous Murder Muppet has made a statement in which he unequivocally blames Trump for the riot...and yet he voted to acquit...


I just can't.

Mitch is a tactician to the hilt. but at least I think it's good that he squarely identified Trump as the prime mover behind the attack, both morally and legally liable and responsible. He is leaving open doors for ordinary courts of law to charge Trump and his followers with sedition and insurrection - and by doing so, he's making it clear that he doesn't want to see Trump running for the GOP in four years time.

[The Lovely Tsaritsa]

Mitch is a tactician to the hilt. but at least I think it's good that he squarely identified Trump as the prime mover behind the attack, both morally and legally liable and responsible. He is leaving open doors for ordinary courts of law to charge Trump and his followers with sedition and insurrection - and by doing so, he's making it clear that he doesn't want to see Trump running for the GOP in four years time.

He is still disgusting.

[gaggedLouise]

He is still disgusting.

Agree, but it's not very hard to see his reasons for this maneuvering.

[Haibane]

It is interesting (in a cold technical sense) to see a master tactician keep manoeuvring and leaving himself options open as all the time the space he is in gets ever tighter and tighter. Eventually there will no longer be two routes open to him and he will have to choose.

[TheGlyphstone]

My best guess is that he's hoping the horse will learn to sing. If someone else solves the problem for him (for example, New York State landing a tax evasion charge or twenty), he's in the clear, and he has 4 years in which it could happen.

[Oniya]

Considering the general health of all involved, I'm betting on the other outcomes.  I'd love to see a singing horse, though.

[Saria]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9mNGWyL8xw

This fellow seems ot think the party is about to split.

Rats. Sinking ship.

[Oniya]

And now, over to the courts.

The list of Trump's upcoming legal battles (with the best lawyers he can get, of course.)

2 battles in Georgia over his calls asking the Secretary of State there to 'find more votes' for him.
A criminal investigation into his business dealings in New York (currently awaiting a decision about subpoenaing his taxes for the last eight years).
A civil investigation, also in New York into whether he inflated his assets to secure favorable loans and insurance arrangements - could be upgraded to criminal.
D.C.'s Attorney General is looking into charges related to the Jan 6 coup attempt.
2 defamation lawsuits, brought by women who also have sexual assault claims against Trump.
Palm Beach is looking into a breach of contract regarding his use of Mar A Lago as a full-time residence.

[Missy]

Rats. Sinking ship.

If they didn't have the spine to convict him on something so obvious? Most assuredly.

Yet if this fellow is right and they move leftaways from, well you know, being one 45 degree angle hand sign in the air away from being out and out fascists, then overall it's for the better.

[Saria]

If they didn't have the spine to convict him on something so obvious? Most assuredly.

Yet if this fellow is right and they move leftaways from, well you know, being one 45 degree angle hand sign in the air away from being out and out fascists, then overall it's for the better.

I disagree. I don’t see how going from being “far-right out-loud fascists” to being “right-of-centre crypto fascists” is any kind of improvement.

This is the point I keep trying to hammer home: Trump was not the problem. Trump was a very ostentatious symptom of the problem… but not the problem. Now that’s gone (-ish), the problem hasn’t gone away. All that’s gone away is the screaming klaxon signalling to even people who refused to listen that there is a problem.

Everyone who identifies as a Republican today—February 14, 2021—is doing so despite the fact that Republicans have now organized TWO (2) violent riots to stifle democracy (one for each of the last two Republican presidents, both losers of the popular vote, of course), underhandedly stacked the courts with cronies or blocked legitimate appointments on multiple occasions, organized a brute squad of off-duty cops to terrorize and intimidate minority voters (google “ballot security task force”), attempted to coerce officials into election fraud (most recently Raffensperger), engaged in voter suppression and gerrymandering again and again up and down the electoral map so bad that even their own crony judges had to call them on it, and on and on and on. And when called upon to show the bare minimum of integrity in punishing the most egregious of sins—literally, straight-up calls for violence—they won’t even do that.

These people are not spineless. Don’t fall into that trap. They are not merely opportunistic weasels riding on the coattails of the “real fascists”. They are the real fascists. They always have been. Undermining the will of the people, and the law, has been their mission all along, and their mission will not change just because Trump is gone. They are enemies of democracy. They are just much better at Trump at hiding it.

Now you’re telling me they’re re-branding as “slightly less outwardly menacing”? And you find that comforting?

🤨

[TheVillain]

I disagree. I don’t see how going from being “far-right out-loud fascists” to being “right-of-centre crypto fascists” is any kind of improvement.

This is the point I keep trying to hammer home: Trump was not the problem. Trump was a very ostentatious symptom of the problem… but not the problem. Now that’s gone (-ish), the problem hasn’t gone away. All that’s gone away is the screaming klaxon signalling to even people who refused to listen that there is a problem.

Everyone who identifies as a Republican today—February 14, 2021—is doing so despite the fact that Republicans have now organized TWO (2) violent riots to stifle democracy (one for each of the last two Republican presidents, both losers of the popular vote, of course), underhandedly stacked the courts with cronies or blocked legitimate appointments on multiple occasions, organized a brute squad of off-duty cops to terrorize and intimidate minority voters (google “ballot security task force”), attempted to coerce officials into election fraud (most recently Raffensperger), engaged in voter suppression and gerrymandering again and again up and down the electoral map so bad that even their own crony judges had to call them on it, and on and on and on. And when called upon to show the bare minimum of integrity in punishing the most egregious of sins—literally, straight-up calls for violence—they won’t even do that.

These people are not spineless. Don’t fall into that trap. They are not merely opportunistic weasels riding on the coattails of the “real fascists”. They are the real fascists. They always have been. Undermining the will of the people, and the law, has been their mission all along, and their mission will not change just because Trump is gone. They are enemies of democracy. They are just much better at Trump at hiding it.

Now you’re telling me they’re re-branding as “slightly less outwardly menacing”? And you find that comforting?

🤨

[Lexandria]

He's being sued in civil court for his involvement in the January 6th sedition and insurrection, using a post-civil-war era law.

[Haibane]

Good. If nothing else comes of this the dirty laundry needs to be seen in public and inter-alia it would be great if the so-called evidence of a rigged election was finally exposed as the complete bullshit and lies that it is.

[gaggedLouise]

Trump is now distancing himself from his old legal eagle Rudy Giuliani, probably disgusted with his failure to win in the courts and hand Trump his election victory on a silver platter. ;)

"Dun dun dun...Another one bites the dust."  :D

Former President Donald Trump's longtime personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, is "not currently representing President Trump in any legal matters," senior Trump adviser Jason Miller told CNN on Tuesday.

The former New York City mayor was the face of Trump's failed bid to overturn the presidential election results, but his legal work with the former President dates back years. Miller said in a tweet that Giuliani remained an "ally and a friend" and is not representing Trump only because there are no pending cases in which he's involved.

Trump had signaled frustration with Giuliani last month after he became the first president in US history to be impeached twice. He told his staff to stop paying Giuliani's legal fees, a person familiar with the matter previously told CNN, though aides were not clear if Trump was serious about his instructions.

Now out of office and without the protections that the presidency afforded him, Trump is facing multiple criminal investigations, civil state inquiries and defamation lawsuits by two women accusing him of sexual assault.

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/02/16/politics/rudy-giuliani-donald-trump/index.html

[Oniya]

The court proceeding in the article Lex linked to has them both listed as co-defendants.  So - not distanced enough.   ;D

[gaggedLouise]

The court proceeding in the article Lex linked to has them both listed as co-defendants.  So - not distanced enough.   ;D

"Just as I thought I had worked to put them behind me, they are pulling me back in."

-Michael Corleone in Godfather III :)

And separately (but with powerful symbolsim) one of Trump's hotels and casinos in Atlantic City is set to be blown up in a few hours time, by controlled demolition.  I think that's one of the casinos he drove into bankruptcy, right? :)

You can follow the event live here (the implosion will happen in about 1 to 3 hours from now):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=393eeLurqGw

[Haibane]

What a bizarre press release.

Rudy Giuliani, is "not currently representing President Trump in any legal matters."

and then

Miller said ... Giuliani ... is not representing Trump only because there are no pending cases in which he's involved.

What a lot of total bollocks. If a legal advisor is not currently representing you as there are no outstanding legal matters in which they are involved then why even mention it? I could list every law firm in Lincoln's Inn and say none of them are representing me. It would be true, but it would also be meaningless.

Oh, and by the way, there are outstanding legal matters on Trump's desk right now but since Rudy Colludy is a co-defendant then, yeah... The stench of bullshit from Miller is even stronger.

[gaggedLouise]

The live streaming of the Trump Hotel going down failed, but the building was demolished around five minutes ago. Hope to catch some video of it on Youtube tonight! :)

[Haibane]

Was there ever a person more unfit to be POTUS?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-56118936

National Security Advisor John Bolton told the BBC: "Kim Jong-un, as he had many times in the past, complained about the big joint exercises between South Korea and American forces, which had been going on on the Korean peninsula for about 60 years plus.

"Trump, out of nowhere, said, 'I'm going to cancel the war games [as he called them]. There's no need for them, they're expensive and it will make you happy.' I couldn't believe it.

"[Secretary of State] Pompeo, [Chief of Staff] Kelly and I were sitting there in the room with Trump and we weren't consulted. It came simply from Trump's own mind. It was an unforced error; it was a concession for which we got nothing in return."

[Oniya]

SCOTUS has ruled that Trump can't keep his tax returns from a NY grand jury.

And this is how they got Capone.  (And Leona Helmsley.)

[Haibane]

I wonder if the US IRS is interested in talking to the UK Tax Office? They have a lot of very curious information about the way that money went round and around and around in his funding of his Scottish golf courses. It's extremely ... odd. I wouldn't want to pre-empt any investigation and call it money laundering, but, well, you know. That sort of thing does happen.

[TheVillain]

Word is that even a quick glance tells you he stole or violated the Emoluments Clause to somewhere to the tune of $1.6 Billion. And Jared and Ivanka helped themselves to another $600 million.