Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Spectral]

Violent crime in NY is basically level.

Level relative to when? The most up to date state and city data from NY that I can find is on the state's criminal justice site here. The delta from 2020 to 2021 isn't large (although it is positive), but 2020 saw a huge spike, with state and city murder totals jumping almost 50%. Calling that "level" seems like a poor interpretation of the data - "plateaued" would be more fitting.

[Breccia]

The most up to date state and city data from NY that I can find

Well someone didn't click the link I cited in the post he replied to. And are you really trying to decide which synonym for "flat thing" is the best to use here? Because that just means you're agreeing that Trump lied. Not the own-goal I expected, but whatever.

[Zan15]

https://www.businessinsider.com/mar-...n-notes-2022-9

Trump lawyers claim classified documents seized from Mar-a-Lago may be privileged because they contain handwritten notes



So, if I write my name on my kilo of coke with a note to my lawyer, they can't cease or use the evidence against me because it's attorney client privilege!!!

[Spectral]

Well someone didn't click the link I cited in the post he replied to. And are you really trying to decide which synonym for "flat thing" is the best to use here? Because that just means you're agreeing that Trump lied. Not the own-goal I expected, but whatever.

I clicked it, then decided that I wanted to actually see the data over the past decade than wade through cherrypicked, well ackshually opinion writing.

Factually, New York has a much higher murder rate than when James took her position as AG. I'm not familiar enough with her prosecutorial approach to speak to whether she holds any blame for that, but the murder rate certainly hasn't been "flat", unless you're really going to insist that the relevant delta to look at is 2020 to 2021. No reasonable person could describe the change in murder rate between 2019 (when James took her office) to the present as a success.

[Breccia]

Trump lawyers claim classified documents seized from Mar-a-Lago may be privileged because they contain handwritten notes

Yeah, like we said earlier, this is why a filter or taint team exists. That said, it's still largely irrelevant in this case. He's still not getting them back.

[Edge-]

Factually, New York has a much higher murder rate than when James took her position as AG. I'm not familiar enough with her prosecutorial approach to speak to whether she holds any blame for that, but the murder rate certainly hasn't been "flat", unless you're really going to insist that the relevant delta to look at is 2020 to 2021. No reasonable person could describe the change in murder rate between 2019 (when James took her office) to the present as a success.

An increase that seems to largely mirror the national increase in violent crime. So more likely attributable to changing national trends than anything done at the state level.

And per the link, it shows that the "spike" is more in media coverage of shootings and violent crime than in the crimes themselves. Still well below the numbers from the 80's/90's.

[cubby]

And they're doing that without Weaselberg. Well, not directly, at least. Apparently, NY pointed out that Weaselberg spent year after year inflating Trump's properties' prices because Trump said they weren't bigly enough. So he added several billion dollars of Fake Value. The term for this is "fraud". And Weaselberg has at least plead guilty to it, just didn't say Trump ordered the hit.

I would not be surprised if Trump's violent minions got word to Weaselberg through his lawyer or children that if Weaselberg does turn states evidence against Trump, they'll lash out against Weaselberg's family. So Weaselberg takes one for the "team" and Trump stays clear of that land mine.

NYState is asking for $250 million, which should be easy to mathematically prove is what they owe in taxes. I guess Trump could say "no no, the properties really aren't worth more value, we just lied to our lenders" which...okay yeah, that's suicide. No, they can't do that.

*ahem*

But.

NYState is also seeking an injunction against any Trump leading a business in New York State. Not a shutdown, just Trump has to hand Trump Org to someone who is not Trump.

Because NYState has basically all of Trump's taxes, listings, and loan records, this is almost assuredly an open and shut case. Trump's best move here is to beg for a settlement, which (a) he'd rather die than do, no I'm not exaggerating by much, (b) I don't think it'd be taken without Trump out of the drivers' seat.

Maybe he should just retire. Clearly, being a failed businessman isn't working for him.

While Trump is, by all accounts, a failed businessman, so far he's succeeded in gaining money, fame, followers, and managed to get elected Resident. And it's still not certain he will face the consequences of his actions.

[Breccia]

New York has a much higher murder rate than when James took her position as AG.

I see you're desperately trying to protect Trump. I tell you what, I'll give you an hour to look at violent crime and murders in Florida for the same stretch of time. Hint: they also went up. If you fail to call out Florida's AG by name for letting it get that bad, you've self-identified as a hypocrite.

Also, I see you still haven't actually checked the source I cited. NYC has a lower rate than Florida.

- - - Updated - - -

And it's still not certain he will face the consequences of his actions.

No, but it's not certain that if you fire 100 bullets at a target you'll hit them. I still wouldn't run out in front of your target. Trump is surrounded and his situation is easily the worst he's ever been in. Escaping would be a miracle of Pulp Fiction levels.

[cubby]

No, but it's not certain that if you fire 100 bullets at a target you'll hit them. I still wouldn't run out in front of your target. Trump is surrounded and his situation is easily the worst he's ever been in. Escaping would be a miracle of Pulp Fiction levels.

If anyone were able to run in front of that target, and not get hit, it would be Trump. He's spent his entire life breaking laws and getting away with little to no consequences. I would like to think that he's finally found his wall (lol), but I'm still only cautiously optimistic about him being indicted, much less facing jail time.

The jury issue is still my biggest concern.

[Breccia]

If anyone were able to run in front of that target, and not get hit, it would be Trump.

Valid. Still, we know even he's scared because he's posting in all-caps again. Have you seen what the rabid fanbase is trying to do, deflecting to the NY AG? It means even they know he's fucked.

[Edge-]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...-b2171717.html

Trump apparently needs an, "Emotional support caddy".

Donald Trump has reportedly tasked an aide with following him around and giving “positive reinforcement” amid an unprecedented assault of criminal and civil investigations into his conduct both as president and private citizen.

The revelation was made by The New York Times’s Maggie Haberman, one of the most well-sourced reporters in Trumpworld. Ms Haberman has remained on the Trump beat since the ex-president left office and set up court in Florida at his Mar-a-Lago resort.

She previously reported that the president was telling supporters at the resort throughout 2021 that he would be “reinstated” as president, while continuing to espouse his false claims about the 2020 election.

That rumour became reality as the former president has now made that very demand repeatedly on his Truth Social platform amid new reports that the FBI (under his watch) warned social media platforms about foreign attempts to spread disinformation during the election season.

“As Trump has been out of office over the last 20 [months], a rotating cast of aides has been tasked with following him around the golf course at the club he's at and giving him positive reinforcement from Twitter and wherever else they find it on the web, per [people] told of the practice,” the Times correspondent tweeted.

[gondrin]

Lindell, on his quest to try and make a copy of everything else that someone else has made and call it My something, cannot find or retain people to sell stuff on his new platform, MyStore. At least he cannot use MySpace, that was already taken and was a precursor to Facebook.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/comp...edcb1283a521c9

Mike Lindell says vendors are bailing on his MyStore platform because they don't want to be associated with an FBI investigation

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell told Insider on Tuesday that four entrepreneurs whose businesses were set to be listed on his MyStore e-commerce platform have pulled out of the plan.

Speaking to Insider, Lindell said that after the FBI seized his phone at a Hardee's drive-thru last week, at least four businesses have told him that they "don't want to deal" with his MyStore platform.

"You know, they don't want to have the connection of the FBI. The FBI scares them," Lindell said of the vendors.

"They don't want to get canceled, you know?" he added.

Lindell did not name the entrepreneurs but said they had "really good" products, adding that he had inked deals with them that have since fallen through. The businessman told Insider that he was also informed over the last week that a "private lender" had rescinded "two to three million dollars" worth of support for one of the four businesses that were angling to sell products on the MyStore platform.

"This money was already earmarked for one of these vendors, one of these entrepreneurs, so that they would have enough products and be listed up on MyStore," Lindell said. "And then they (the lenders) canceled the loan because they found out it was linked to MyStore. It's very sad."

MyStore was started in April 2021 as Lindell's "patriotic" answer to Amazon. The store now lists a gamut of products, including the Lindell-backed MyCoffee, a range of ground coffee with the businessman's face emblazoned on the packaging.

The MyStore pull-out is not the first time Lindell has run into issues with financial institutions and collaborators due to pushing former President Donald Trump's baseless claims of election fraud.

In February, one of Lindell's banks cut ties with him, citing him as a "reputation risk," after he was subpoenaed by the January 6 House select committee for his phone records.

In June, Lindell accused Walmart, MyPillow's biggest distributor, of "canceling" him and pulling his pillows from their stores.

Lindell told Insider last week that the phone seizure was linked to an investigation into Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, a pro-Trump Colorado election official accused of facilitating an election-data leak.

On Tuesday, the businessman filed a lawsuit against the FBI and the Department of Justice for seizing his phone and accused the authorities of violating his constitutional rights.

Represented by a legal team that includes conservative lawyer Alan Dershowitz, Lindell's suit claims the FBI violated his "First, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendment" rights. He is also demanding that his cell phone be returned and that any information obtained from his phone by the FBI or DOJ not be released.

Separately, Lindell told Insider on Tuesday that he had been having trouble accessing his cash and wiring money to his businesses without his phone.

"I can't do money wires," Lindell said, telling Insider that the codes he needed were all on the phone that was seized. "They took the files that were in there, and it really crippled me with work."

[Edge-]

I'm still impressed that he runs his entire business empire off his phone, with no backups or anything else.

[Levelfive]

11th circuit grants DOJ its stay. Link to the full decision that forecloses numerous specious arguments that have been raised in this very thread: https://twitter.com/kyledcheney/stat...gVEDPe54iiakCg

ETA: Even so, the 11th circuit still sucks.

[Edge-]

11th circuit grants DOJ its stay. Link to the full decision that forecloses numerous specious arguments that have been raised in this very thread: https://twitter.com/kyledcheney/stat...gVEDPe54iiakCg

ETA: Even so, the 11th circuit still sucks.

TLDR for this seems to be: DoJ can continue using classified documents as part of their criminal investigation. Cannon had previously ruled they could not.

And just for nothing: 2 of the 3 judges that ruled on this are Trump appointees.

[Kaleredar]

TLDR for this seems to be: DoJ can continue using classified documents as part of their criminal investigation. Cannon had previously ruled they could not.

And just for nothing: 2 of the 3 judges that ruled on this are Trump appointees.

Seeing as I'm pretty sure Trump just rubber-stamped whomever the Republicans suggested to him meaning they likely have little to no fealty to Trump or Trumpism, having these judges actually do their jobs and rule in favor of the law (and by consequence, against Trump) is actually the GOP's single best avenue to rid themselves of Trump in the way they can most detach themselves from the process of doing so.

[beanman12345]

11th circuit grants DOJ its stay. Link to the full decision that forecloses numerous specious arguments that have been raised in this very thread: https://twitter.com/kyledcheney/stat...gVEDPe54iiakCg

ETA: Even so, the 11th circuit still sucks.

Man they really take a dump on this privilege argument, lol. Damn.

[Xyonai]

Man they really take a dump on this privilege argument, lol. Damn.

it's almost like that argument was a load of disingenuous smooth brained bullshit lmao.

[Levelfive]

Man they really take a dump on this privilege argument, lol. Damn.

Yes, and took a dump all over Cannon's reasoning generally--pretty gratifying read.

- - - Updated - - -

it's almost like that argument was a load of disingenuous smooth brained bullshit lmao.

Yep!

/10chars

[Breccia]

Lindell, on his quest to try and make a copy of everything else that someone else has made

Oh, man.

DOJ investigating Mike Lindell over potential identity theft

Some days, the jokes write themselves.

The warrant for the search, which was filed by Lindell’s team on Wednesday as part of his lawsuit to the United States District Court in Minnesota, showed that the DOJ is investigating Lindell for identity theft, intentional damage to a protected computer and conspiracy to commit identity theft or intentionally damage a protected computer.

Agents searched for records or information connected to Mesa County election clerk Tina Peters’s alleged scheme to breach voting machines during the 2020 election.

Peters was indicted on state criminal charges in March.

Officials first became aware of the breach after passwords and hard drive copies from Mesa County voting machines were presented at an event hosted by Lindell.

- - - Updated - - -

I haven't read every word of the ruling yet, but I have read this:

On that date, Plaintiff asked for another extension of time and informed the National Archives that, if it declined to grant the
extension, he would make a protective assertion of executive privilege over the documents. Doc. No. 48 at 6. On May 10, the National Archives informed Plaintiff’s representatives that it had decided not to honor Plaintiff’s protective claim of executive privilege, and that it would provide the FBI access to the records as early as May 12, 2022. That letter noted that President Biden had deferred to the National Archives’s determination that executive privilege did not apply. Despite this advance warning, Plaintiff made no effort to block the FBI’s access to the documents at that time.

and

Second, as to the appointment of a special master, the United States contended that (1) appointment of a special master
was the exception, not the rule; (2) a special master was neither necessary nor appropriate to address whether certain documents
were subject to executive privilege because Plaintiff could not assert executive privilege against the Executive Branch; (3) even if
he could, the privilege would yield to the United States’s need to investigate a possible crime and the United States’s compelling interest in sensitive and highly classified documents; (4) appointment of a special master would be inconsistent with equitable principles
given that Plaintiff had not, as required, turned the records over to
Archives in the first instance; and (5) the case did not involve complex or voluminous records, so a privilege filter team was appropriate.

EDIT: and

Third, as to injunctive relief, the United States argued that (1) Plaintiff had waited too long to seek relief, and the Department’s review of the documents, which Plaintiff sought to avoid, had already occurred; (2) Plaintiff was not likely to succeed on the
merits of his claims of executive privilege because he did not have any cognizable claim of executive privilege over the documents;
and (3) the harm to the United States—in the delay in its investigation—far outweighed any injury to Plaintiff because of the risk to
national security.

EDIT EDIT: Jeez. And!

After the district court issued its order, the United States
moved for a partial stay of that order pending appeal as to the limited set of documents (just over one hundred) that were marked as
classified. The United States argued that (1) Plaintiff did not have
a possessory interest in the classified documents (because they belonged to the United States, not to him); (2) such documents could
not possibly contain attorney-client privileged information; and (3)
even if Plaintiff could exert executive privilege over some of the
records, that privilege would be overcome by the United States’s
demonstrated, specific need to review the classified documents to
see if and how much of a risk to national security existed.

This reads a lot like "Trump hadn't asserted privilege yet" as of April 2022. Which means that everyone except one poster was right.