Impeachment, Take Two (and Other Trump News)

[Sara Nilsson]

Oh I want a video of the Trumps handing over the cash and the clerks.. VERY.. carefully counting each bill to make sure.

I would die a happy woman then.

[Laughing Hyena]

Making bail; $200,000

Getting a muzzle order on a narcissist? Priceless.

[Oniya]

I'm looking forward to the sudden lack of commentary coming out of Truth Social.  Or the revocation of that bond because he can't keep his gorram mouth shut.

(Yeah, what Hyena said.)

[Beorning]

So... what's your bet, guys? Will he be able to keep himself from mouthing off? Or will he be testing the judge's patience?

[Beguile's Mistress]

His aides may be able to rein him but if he feels challenged he might make the mistake that will have him sanctioned.

[Keelan]

Figured more related to here than 'What's in the News':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HS3xBETMYCM&ab_channel=CBSChicago

[Laughing Hyena]

Well I dunno why some had to be this dumb but Trump just brings the worst out in people. Now RAN OAN FOX and Newsmax can go "both sides" the death threats.

[TheGlyphstone]

Didn't the guy threatening to kill Biden get shot by the cops? At least she's alive to be charged.

[Oniya]

It's probably bad that my first thought was 'I don't think Barron has actually done anything.'  Threatening major public figures is usually a Bad Thing^TM, no matter who they are.

[TheGlyphstone]

That is kinda weird now that you mention it. If you're going to threaten to kill one of Trump's sons, why pick the youngest and most obscure? You think Eric or Junior would be higher up in the target list.

[Keelan]

Didn't the guy threatening to kill Biden get shot by the cops? At least she's alive to be charged.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAJzI_iFlB8&ab_channel=CBSMornings

[gaggedLouise]

There is no doubt that Hunter Biden is an Achilles heel for his father in some ways, but the attention and moral outrage these accusations are getting seem completely outsized, for several reasons:

1. So, Hunter Biden is facing dual charges of having lied to a firearms dealer and keeping it under wraps that he had a drug addictions problem when he bought a gun five years ago, and the maximum prison time for these two charges is ten years in jail each - plus a third charge of having possessed the weapon while suffering from drug addiction - maxiumu term five years. This kind of lying must be something that happens a couple thousand times a week in the US when people are buying or trading firearms, not to mention how many junkies and smalltime crooks are buying firearms by mail order or in states where there are no background checks at all. Did Hunter DO anything criminal or violent with the gun?

2. Jared and Ivanka Trump made hundreds of millions of dollars from private business deals that depended on their jobs as "advisors" in the Trump White House and their access to Donald Trump. But that doesn't seem to get 5% of the media attnetion lavished on Hunter Biden.

3. If the Hunter laptop had been a rare manuscript with unusual content said to have come down from some famous writer or scienties, and offered to a university library, then most libraries would have been careful about accepting it, because the chain of provenience - where does it come from? who had it in their hands? how do we know the content is genuine and hasn't been tampered with or forged? - is hopelessly damaged.  It's like accepting a "rare and shocking autobiographical testimony recording" about Mick Jagger that has passed through the hands of Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell.  :P THere is no certainty at all about what or how much of the material "found" on that hard drive would be genuine and undoctored, much of it seems highly problematic. What we do know is that Rudy Giuliani and Steve Bannon were custodians of the suppoed original laptop for a long time... ::)

4. The impeachment against Joe Biden that's been launched in the House of Representatives looks like just another attempt to inject the infamous and spurious Hunter Laptop into the election campaigns all over again and make it more talked about in the news than it was back in 2020 - for the obvious purpose of pulling attention away from the trials of Donald Trump. And unless there are some really fat game-changers in the material the GOP want to present, the whole thing is going to collapse when it reaches the Senate.

[GloomCookie]

Gonna play devil's advocate here and throw out a possible (albiet flimsy, even to me) provocation in that the impeachment might also be so that Biden can't simply pardon Hunter for the crimes. The same accusation was leveled against Trump, that given half a chance he'd pardon himself to avoid prosecution.

But that's just a theory. A game theory. No, bad Cookie *Swats with newspaper*

[TheGlyphstone]

I'll admit I don't follow. How would impeachment proceedings stop Joe Biden from pardoning Hunter? I sincerely doubt that anyone GOP-wise cares about Hunter's crimes except as a way to weaken and embarrass Joe, and while I can believe MTG is delusional enough to think impeachment would succeed, no one else in the GOP does.

[Regina Minx]

I'll admit I don't follow. How would impeachment proceedings stop Joe Biden from pardoning Hunter?

They wouldn't.

[Beguile's Mistress]

The schoolyard bullies need to strut and beat their chests to try to distract us from Trump and his minions.  You'll notice they aren't making much noise about their cronies going to prison.  They are hoping that Trump will be elected and pardon all the January 6ers.

[Vekseid]

Biden could have pardoned his son a long time ago. And could at any point while he is in office. No honest person is going to claim the possibility of a pardon has anything to do with it.

That said as the 5th circuit has already ruled Hunter's crime unconstitutional it isn't certain it would make a difference.

[Oniya]

That said as the 5th circuit has already ruled Hunter's crime unconstitutional it isn't certain it would make a difference.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'unconstitutional' in this sentence?

In any event, unlike former-president DARVO, Biden seems to be allowing the justice system to simply chug along with regards to his son, which is all anyone should ask for.  Parental responsibility for a child's actions only goes so far.

[Regina Minx]

I'm not sure what you mean by 'unconstitutional' in this sentence?

In any event, unlike former-president DARVO, Biden seems to be allowing the justice system to simply chug along with regards to his son, which is all anyone should ask for.  Parental responsibility for a child's actions only goes so far.

Biden was charged with violating 18 U.S. Code § 922(g)(3), which makes it illegal for anyone who is an “unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance” to possess or transport a firearm. The statute has frequently been challenged in court. District courts in Texas and Oklahoma and at the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned charges for marijuana users who possessed firearms, because the courts found the statute is unconstitutional.

[Oniya]

Ah - the law he was charged with violating.  Yes, I can see a defense attorney making some hash out of that case.  (Or a prosecutor saying 'So... we're not going to embarrass ourselves pursuing this...')

[Oniya]

Meanwhile, Trump admitted on Meet the Press that it was his decision to try to overturn the 2020 election.

[Oniya]

The judge in the Trump Org fraud case has issued a partial summary judgement.  Legal document here


Short version:  Yes, it is fraudulent to declare different values for your properties/businesses depending on whether you're looking for a loan or a tax break.
Longer version

Several of Trump's business licenses have been suspended in the state of New York, as a result of this ruling, making it nearly impossible for him to conduct business in the state.

[Chulanowa]

Short version:  Yes, it is fraudulent to declare different values for your properties/businesses depending on whether you're looking for a loan or a tax break.
Longer version

Holy shit you don't say!

XD

"I know that it sounds fraud-y, but that doesn't mean it IS fraud, right? Right?"

[Oniya]

I suppose I should check to see if the predicted all-caps, incoherent tirade has been reported.  I imagine his rationale will be something more along the lines of 'Fake news! Witch hunt! Biased judge!'

Also, two more lawsuits have sought to use the 14th amendment to remove Trump from the ballot of specific states:

Michigan and Minnesota

Previous suits include cases in New Mexico, Virginia. and Utah