Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[beanman12345]

She is the step sister with the 2 kids. My late full sister is the one with the Trumpsr trooper.
@Breccia

It’s fine, my full sisters diabetes came from pregnancy and got worse with each kid but she kept having them and refused to take care of it. She died about last august but I honestly saw it coming for years now because her refusal to do what she needed to do and eat right.

Half sister started dating a family member of my full sisters husband and they both got into meth, writing was on the wall there too.

Ah, then I rescind my earlier statement about it being deserved, but do hope she quickly changes her mind on getting her kids fully vaxxed asap!

[Fugus]

Ah, then I rescind my earlier statement about it being deserved, but do hope she quickly changes her mind on getting her kids fully vaxxed asap!

She won’t. She isn’t a trumper trooper but like them, she won’t admit she is wrong no matter what, she will just double down over and over again.

Her temper is also of someone who basically idles at a simmering rage.

Outside of the nephews, I typically don’t deal with her much anymore and no one bothers to call her out on anything or point anything out to her anymore because it’s a waste of time.

The step brother and step sister without kids though, they got their heads on right.

[Breccia]

State Dept offers this statement which basically translates as "don't leave the country, you might not get back".

International Travel Challenges During COVID-19 U.S. citizens who choose to travel internationally should be aware that they may face unexpected challenges related to COVID-19 as they attempt to return to the United States or attempt to travel from one overseas location to another. U.S. citizens who do choose to travel internationally should make contingency plans, as they may have to remain in a foreign country longer than originally planned, which will be at their own expense. The Department recommends international travel insurance with coverage for COVID-related trip cancellation and medical benefits. In general, Medicare and Medicaid do not cover overseas medical costs.

There's more, and some useful links to travelers. Now I happen to know people travelling internationally and, yeah, personal anecdote but they said it sucked. Basically it's not worth it unless it's Finland.

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NY trial finds Teva Pharmaceuticals liable for opioid overuse in NY.

"Okay, but why here?"

The lawsuit started in 2019. Also, fighting opioid abuse was something Trump promised to do, and there have been some other results loosely tied to him. I'm just being consistent.

The verdict, which followed a six-month trial that came after a lawsuit by the state, found the opioid manufacturer had played a role in fueling the opioid crisis. A subsequent trial will determine how much Teva will be required to pay.

Teva was the sole defendant left in the lawsuit after the state settled with other drugmakers, including Johnson & Johnson and Allergan, earlier this year.
James filed the lawsuit in 2019 and was the first of its kind to target the entirety of the opioid supply chain, the New York Times notes.

"This is a significant day for New York state," James said in a statement. "But, more importantly, this is a significant day for every family and community torn apart by opioids."

"Teva Pharmaceuticals USA and others misled the American people about the true dangers of opioids," she added.

"While no amount of money will ever compensate for the human suffering, the addiction, or the lives lost due to opioid abuse, we will immediately push to move forward with a trial to determine how much Teva and others will pay."

Medicine creation and distribution is a necessary and valuable service, but knowing you're creating addicts and not caring is criminal. More wrongdoers should be brought to justice.

[Breccia]

Another Trump advisor hands everything over to Jan 6th panel. If you don't know the name Bernard Kerik, it's because it hasn't come up a whole lot. He was brought on pretty much right about the time Trump didn't want to admit he lost the election, which means, yes, just before the murdeorus insurrection. Naturally, he was on the subpoena list.

Kerik isn't claiming he wasn't involved, no no no. He's claiming he made the claims of election fraud because he believed them at the time, and still does. As his lawyer writes:

He believed then, as he does now, that there were significant election improprieties and inconsistencies as well as evidence of possible fraud in the election that must be properly investigated. It is for this reason, that Mr. Kerik very much wants to cooperate with your committee and any investigators who are truly willing to move ahead swiftly and get to the truth.

I suspect, a little at least, Kerik wants to get on the stand and say "WHY U NO FIND FRAUD" and will be disappointed when the hearings aren't televised. I suspect he's also fully aware how sacrificable he is and doesn't want to be arrested.

Oddly enough, he's claiming not to be part of the Willard call despite booking the rooms, a claim I find far less believable than dead/underaged/illegal immigrants voting to any degree that would change the outcome of the election.

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So, does anyone follow Rep. Greene's (R-Geez) Twitter account?

...liar.

Twitter suspended a personal account for Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene after "repeated violations" of the Covid-19 misinformation policy, the company said Sunday.

"We permanently suspended the account you referenced (@mtgreenee) for repeated violations of our COVID-19 misinformation policy," Twitter said in a statement. "We’ve been clear that, per our strike system for this policy, we will permanently suspend accounts for repeated violations of the policy."

Greene, R-Ga., appears to still have access to her professional account, @RepMTG, but Twitter did not say what was tweeted to earn a permanent suspension.

Greene said, in a statement Sunday through her office, that she was suspended for tweeting statistics from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System.

"Twitter is an enemy to America and can’t--"

Um, question! If Twitter is an enemy to America, why did Trump use it so much? Why did Greene use it so much? Because it sounds like, by using Twitter so much, Greene is admitting she is an enemy of the people. And that Trump was. If she really believed that, why didn't she close her account in protest?

"Maybe by flagrantly breaking the rules she was doing just that."

No, by breaking the rules she was getting thrown off. If they hadn't ejected her, she'd still be using the enemy of the people. That argument is invalid.

I'm sure Taylor will come up with more nonsense to discuss

She did!

[cubby]

NY Attorney General subpoena's former president Donald Trump.

[Breccia]

NY Attorney General subpoena's former president Donald Trump.

Well, find me in the Alps. Hey, can Trump plead the Fifth on this one? I'm not sure if this is a civil matter against the business or a criminal one against the Trumps themselves.

EDIT: Also, sorry to double-dip, but Trump had already sued this investigation on the, heh. legally-compelling grounds of BIGLY WITCH HUNT, and claims that it's a politically-motivated attack that violates his Constitutional rights. To the best of my knowledge this hasn't been ruled on yet, but I don't see any realistic way that will succeed. If it did, every criminal when caught should just sue on the grounds of BIGLY WTICH HUNT.

[cubby]

Well, find me in the Alps. Hey, can Trump plead the Fifth on this one? I'm not sure if this is a civil matter against the business or a criminal one against the Trumps themselves.

EDIT: Also, sorry to double-dip, but Trump had already sued this investigation on the, heh. legally-compelling grounds of BIGLY WITCH HUNT, and claims that it's a politically-motivated attack that violates his Constitutional rights. To the best of my knowledge this hasn't been ruled on yet, but I don't see any realistic way that will succeed. If it did, every criminal when caught should just sue on the grounds of BIGLY WTICH HUNT.

He actually can plead the fifth here, which will have a very detrimental effect on the outcome for him. Pleading the 5th in a civil case to avoid criminal implications pretty much tanks your defense and results in a summary judgment. Not always, and the sides have to go through all the motions, but it wouldn't be good for Trump. I do not think Trump will plead the 5th - I think Trump's [unpaid] attorneys will continue their "kitchen sink" defense and try to string it out as long as possible.

The counter suit (trump suing the AG's office) should be gone shortly. I'm sure his attorneys were crying as they filed that suit.

[Breccia]

He actually can plead the fifth here, which will have a very detrimental effect on the outcome for him. Pleading the 5th in a civil case to avoid criminal implications pretty much tanks your defense and results in a summary judgment. Not always, and the sides have to go through all the motions, but it wouldn't be good for Trump. I do not think Trump will plead the 5th - I think Trump's [unpaid] attorneys will continue their "kitchen sink" defense and try to string it out as long as possible.

By the way, cubby knows this but just so we're clear, Trump running for office or holding it won't stop this one. And I can't think of a worse situation for Trump to be in than running in 2024 and having his company shut down, split up, seized or fined for hundreds of millions while trying to hold a rally. It also can't be pardoned by the White House. Wait, can you...can you pardon a building?

After I asked you the question I realized I had an article open that said Criminal charges can't be filed in civil investigations, but the Trump Organization could face a lawsuit from James' office if it finds evidence of wrongdoing. So, there's that.

And I'm pretty sure you can't plead the 5th to avoid being subpoena'd in the first place.

"Mr. Trump, you refused to testify while required to do so, you are now in contempt."
"No I'm not."
"That's not...I don't even...look, if you just shut up and get led away now, I'll let you share a cell with Ivanka."
"Deal."

The counter suit (trump suing the AG's office) should be gone shortly. I'm sure his attorneys were crying as they filed that suit.

We've been over this before, and don't take this professionally, but I hope the lawyers who filed that suit are at risk for some kind of consequences. This buffoonery should hurt them. Now I say that safely in the zone of "anyone working for Trump is at risk of not being paid because Trump is a dick to his employees", also known as Penal Code 45. But it wouldn't bother me in the slightest if they lost clients over this or were sanctioned, held in contempt or fined. "You can't investigate my business for violations or crimes because you're a Democrat" is an excuse that 100% must die. Painfully.

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Yeah. Here’s a Newsweek article with some “highlights” of Pence’s “scientific” views.

"Smoking doesn't kill"

(sighs)

Like, the one time I tried to defend the guy. Should have puff puff passed on that one.

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So @cubby clearly posted the main course, but I have a few side dishes.

1) Sen. Paul announces he's leaving YouTube, which is what I would say, shortly before I was banned too for routine COVID misinformation. "You can't fire me! I quit! Now if you'll excuse me I have a public pool to swim in while infected."

2) Multiple sources suggest Ivanka and Don Jr. are refusing the subpoenas. Please, both of you, do this. I am sure there are hundreds, nay, thousands of African-Americans who would like to discuss your father's views on race with you while you wait it out in a jail cell.

3) The narrative many Trump cultists try to use on, say, George Floyd who turned out to have a criminal past, is about to bite them hard. So did Ashli Babbitt, the "peaceful loving tourist" who was shot and killed in the murderous insurrection, has a criminal violent past. Specifically, when the wife of the husband she was having an affair with called her out on it, Babbitt rammed her car and challenged her to a fight. Yes, Babbitt was the other woman. I guess we know why an adulterer would follow Trump, at least.

4) Two ex-National Archives personell gave an interview and said Trump is fighting having his records turned over because he's trying to avoid prison time. Not embarrassment. Not a censure. Prison time.

5) Bla bla bla Florida bla bla bla COVID bla bla bla new record bla bla bla muh freedum.

6) Nunes' resignation is now formalized. He's going to run Trump's social media platform in the 37 seconds it lasts before it's trolled into submission and Trump loses interest.

7) Rep. Greene has found who to blame for her ban from Twitter: brown people. But she only knows the two, Harris and Omar, so she said they should be suspended for siding with rioters. After...herself trying to free the murderous insurrectionists. Self-own confirmed.

And after the main course and side dishes, the dessert.

8) Ted Cruz.

"...is that the joke?"

Yes.

But he also tweeted.

Blue-state Dems are power-drunk authoritarian kill-joys. Washington State: NO DANCING ALLOWED!!! Any rational & free citizen: Piss off.

"Whoa, Washington state banned dancing?"

Nope. Cruz can't read. It was Western Australia. Cruz deleted the tweet, but the internet never forgets, and his damage control failed instantly because he forgot things spin the other way there.

[Edge-]

Nope. Cruz can't read. It was Western Australia. Cruz deleted the tweet, but the internet never forgets, and his damage control failed instantly because he forgot things spin the other way there.

Isn't this like...the third time Cruz has mistaken Australia for the US? Do we need to mandate remedial world geography for lawmakers? Or at least US geography if world geography is too hard?

[Breccia]

Isn't this like...the third time Cruz has mistaken Australia for the US?

Ugh, you're going to make me look this up, aren't you? Cancun a guy get some rest? Fine.

1) On Oct 2021 he said Australian's vaccine mandate was tyranny, after siding 100% with the fatass who personally stoked a murderous insurrection because he lost the election fairly. Australia politely pointed out how many Texans had died of COVID. It was nearly 70,000 at the time.

2) In Jan 2016 he claimed that Australian rape cases went up after Australia's gun laws took effect. Big surprise, that's a lie.

...that's all I can find in the last few years. So, "mistaken" not so much, "struck out like a sobbing little bitch" yes.

[unfilteredJW]

Ugh, you're going to make me look this up, aren't you? Cancun a guy get some rest? Fine.

1) On Oct 2021 he said Australian's vaccine mandate was tyranny, after siding 100% with the fatass who personally stoked a murderous insurrection because he lost the election fairly. Australia politely pointed out how many Texans had died of COVID. It was nearly 70,000 at the time.

2) In Jan 2016 he claimed that Australian rape cases went up after Australia's gun laws took effect. Big surprise, that's a lie.

...that's all I can find in the last few years. So, "mistaken" not so much, "struck out like a sobbing little bitch" yes.

Malicious liar is also on the table.

[s_bushido]

Honestly, I think the worst part about that laughable Cruz mistake is that he's retweeting a conspiracy crank like Paul Joseph Watson in the first place. But then again...conspiracy crankery has become the bread and butter of the GOP, so maybe I shouldn't be surprised.

[Breccia]

Run and hide, Abbott. Texas Lt. Gov tests positive.

Texas Lt. Gov. Danica Patrick (NASCAR) recently tested positive for...

Wait, that doesn't look right. Hold on...ah.

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) recently tested positive for COVID-19 and is isolating at home.

Patrick's campaign announced on Monday that he experienced mild symptoms last week and tested positive for the virus. Though he has since tested negative, he is still isolating in his home in Houston, a press release from his campaign said.

“His symptoms were mild and no one else in the household was infected. He continues working from home and will return to a public schedule by the end of the week,” Allen Blakemore, Patrick's campaign senior advisor, said in the release.

[Edge-]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...7a6_story.html

It's still endorsement season.

"But elections aren't until later this year."

Yeah, but not US elections. Trump is still promoting his authoritarian buddy Viktor Orban at Hungary.

[cubby]

4) Two ex-National Archives personell gave an interview and said Trump is fighting having his records turned over because he's trying to avoid prison time. Not embarrassment. Not a censure. Prison time.

This is VERY interesting - two former National Archive Directors saying that Trump might face jail time if his records get released.

[cubby]

I love that Cheney is on an absolute warpath for Trump.

It's fantastic. Liz Cheney, while a previous horror show of a human being, is shining strong in her Second Life and former GQP member.

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Also, found this article interesting… yet scary:

The US could be under a rightwing dictatorship by 2030, a Canadian political science professor has warned, urging his country to protect itself against the “collapse of American democracy”.

“We mustn’t dismiss these possibilities just because they seem ludicrous or too horrible to imagine,” Thomas Homer-Dixon, founding director of the Cascade Institute at Royal Roads University in British Columbia, wrote in the Globe and Mail.

“In 2014, the suggestion that Donald Trump would become president would also have struck nearly everyone as absurd. But today we live in a world where the absurd regularly becomes real and the horrible commonplace.”

Homer-Dixon’s message was blunt: “By 2025, American democracy could collapse, causing extreme domestic political instability, including widespread civil violence. By 2030, if not sooner, the country could be governed by a rightwing dictatorship.”

The author cited eventualities centered on a Trump return to the White House in 2024, possibly including Republican-held state legislatures refusing to accept a Democratic win.

Trump, he warned, “will have only two objectives, vindication and vengeance” of the lie that his 2020 defeat by Joe Biden was the result of electoral fraud.

A “scholar of violent conflict” for more than four decades, Homer-Dixon said Canada must take heed of the “unfolding crisis”.

“A terrible storm is coming from the south, and Canada is woefully unprepared. Over the past year we’ve turned our attention inward, distracted by the challenges of Covid-19, reconciliation and the accelerating effects of climate change.

“But now we must focus on the urgent problem of what to do about the likely unraveling of democracy in the United States. We need to start by fully recognising the magnitude of the danger. If Mr Trump is re-elected, even under the more optimistic scenarios the economic and political risks to our country will be innumerable.”

Homer-Dixon said he even saw a scenario in which a new Trump administration, having effectively nullified internal opposition, deliberately damaged its northern neighbor.

“Under the less-optimistic scenarios, the risks to our country in their cumulative effect could easily be existential, far greater than any in our federation’s history. What happens, for instance, if high-profile political refugees fleeing persecution arrive in our country and the US regime demands them back. Do we comply?”

Trump, he said, “and a host of acolytes and wannabes such as Fox [News]’s Tucker Carlson and Georgia representative Marjorie Taylor Greene”, had transformed the Republican party “into a near-fascist personality cult that’s a perfect instrument for wrecking democracy”.

Worse, he said, Trump “may be just a warm-up act”.

“Returning to office, he’ll be the wrecking ball that demolishes democracy but the process will produce a political and social shambles,” Homer-Dixon said.

“Still, through targeted harassment and dismissal, he’ll be able to thin the ranks of his movement’s opponents within the state, the bureaucrats, officials and technocrats who oversee the non-partisan functioning of core institutions and abide by the rule of law.

“Then the stage will be set for a more managerially competent ruler, after Mr Trump, to bring order to the chaos he’s created.”

US could be under rightwing dictator by 2030, Canadian professor warns

The GQP will almost certainly be taking the House and high probability of taking the Senate in this election off season. With those vehicles they can "investigate" all kinds or horror-show level Q-Non Conspiracy Theories. Moreover, they will have the power to impeach Biden and Harris (and many others), and will continue to erode voter rights. Trump winning in 2024 isn't out of the question (even if jailed) and if that does happen, it's the ballgame here.

[postman1782]

NY Attorney General subpoena's former president Donald Trump.

Don't forget Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr. https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/03/polit...ena/index.html

[Breccia]

Florida Man charged with filing $4.2 million in COVID relief and getting $2 million of it, all fraudulently. He bought a Ferrari.

If convicted of all counts and sentences applied consecutively, he faces 132 years in prison.

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Elizabeth Holmes did something good after all.

UPDATE: Elizabeth Holmes found guilty on some counts.

Elizabeth Holmes, the former CEO and founder of failed blood testing startup Theranos, was found guilty on four charges of defrauding investors, capping off the stunning downfall of a former tech icon.

She was found not guilty on three additional charges concerning defrauding patients and one charge of conspiracy to defraud patients. The jury returned no verdict on three of the charges concerning defrauding investors, and Judge Edward Davila, who is presiding over the case, is expected to declare a mistrial on those charges.

The charges Holmes was found guilty of include one count of conspiracy to defraud investors, as well as three wire fraud counts tied to specific investors. Holmes faces up to 20 years in prison as well as a fine of $250,000 plus restitution for each count.

Holmes' case marked a rare criminal fraud trial of a Silicon Valley entrepreneur. Jurors were tasked with determining whether Holmes was a well-meaning founder who made mistakes as she built her startup, as her defense posited, or whether she intentionally deceived investors and patients in order to help herself and her company succeed, as federal prosecutors alleged.

While Holmes was the one on trial, the outcome of her case could serve as a cautionary tale for others in Silicon Valley.

"This is a verdict that should matter not just to Silicon Valley but to the people who celebrate it, invest in it and use its products," said Margaret O'Mara, a historian of the tech industry and professor at the University of Washington. "She was made possible by a Valley business culture that celebrated and encouraged very young, marginally experienced people."

We've seen Holmes come up before, for exampe with regard to Mattis and Theranos' contracts, and of course when we found out about the hundreds of millions of fraud, plus what Rasulis said. By the way, she was caught April 2018, arrested July 2018, and Theranos dissolved Sept 2018.

We haven't talked about Theranos for a while.

speaking of Mattis, we have yet another case of a trump Admin member being engaged in flagrant fraud. the difference this time is no ones wants to go after him because we might have a nuclear war otherwise. ah yeah America, so much winning!

But regardless of Trump's ties to Theranos or DeVos losing money, a key take-away is "rich person faces consequences for their illegal actions". $1M is not a huge deal for Holmes I would imagine, but "plus restitution" is. Then there's the 20 years in prison she's facing. I suspect she'll get closer to five because she's rich and white, though. We'll find out eventually. Then, there's the lawsuits damned sure to follow. She might land on her feet, but as a convicted felon with no business, no friends, and no trust, she's effectively done all she's going to do in her life.

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Trump tries to take Greene's Twitter ban to the court of public opinion.

Marjorie Taylor Greene has a huge constituency of honest, patriotic, hard-working people, They don’t deserve what’s happened to them on places like low-life Twitter and Facebook.

Incidentally, I just read the Twitter terms of service just now, and at no point are bans decided by the followers of the offender.

"Did you really read the t--"

Of course not. But it's still not in there. Someone might be, say, an employer of thousands, but when they commit tax or insurance fraud they still get fined and/or go to jail. The fact that they employ people doesn't change that. I can't imagine Twitter has ever made a decision like "Well, he claimed the election was fraudulent and instigated a murderous insurrection, but poor Charlie from West Bakip follows him and he's a good guy, so we'll let it slide the next fifty times, too".

Now, Trump could be trying to get his rabid fanbase to flee conventional social media and come to his platform. And, well, that's capitalism. He has that right. Of course, that implies he's expecting to have something that rivals Twitter and Facebook...let's throw in TikTok too, he doesn't seem to care for them much either...by the 2024 election season. With his money and his record of handling money. I mean, sure, go for it.

[solinari6]

NY Attorney General subpoena's former president Donald Trump.

I saw some lawyers on CNN talking about this last night, and they seemed to think that they Trumps MAY have a case to quash these subpoenas. The Trumps are arguing 2 things:
1)Letitia James is working both the civil and criminal cases, and is leveraging the trumps testimony against them in both cases. Something like, if they plead the fifth in the civil case, it fucks up their criminal case. And if they don't plead the fifth in the civil case, THAT fucks them in the criminal case too. Lawyer claimed this is actually not something that is done very often, and the judge might not look kindly on it.
2)Claiming that these charges are political. Letitia James actually ran for AG saying "Elect me and I will go after the Trumps". So yeah, you can kind of argue that this has a political edge to it. The lawyer guy said it was pretty weird for an AG to promise something like that during an election.

So these subpoenas are not slam dunk cases at all.

[Breccia]

2)Claiming that these charges are political. Letitia James actually ran for AG saying "Elect me and I will go after the Trumps". So yeah, you can kind of argue that this has a political edge to it.

This better not be true. This is going to sound bad, but, if you pull someone over for doing 90MPH in a school zone, they don't get to say "you only pulled me over because I'm XXX" You were doing 90MPH. If the AG can show probable cause, get a grand jury to agree, it shouldn't matter if the AG is a Democrat. It matters that the criminal broke the law.

Trump is free to say "why not arrest others too?" If a middle-aged white rich man drives 90MPH in a school zone, pull his ass over too. But he should not get a walk on crimes for which there is evidence and testimony, just because he's a fascist and the AG isn't.

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An investigation by WaPo finds ten thousand pre-Jan-6 posts on social media advocating overthrowing a "fraudulent" election, sometimes inciting violence.

Facebook has already been forced to respond that it wasn't helping. That's how bad it is.

Trump pushed a narrative that the election was stolen, including in-person a short distance from the Capitol building that day. The responsibility for the violence that occurred on January 6 lies with those who attacked our Capitol and those who encouraged them

-- Facebook via spokesperson

As long as Facebook made/makes changes to prevent this shit from happening again, I'll agree with that.