Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Edge-]

Trump had another subpoena issued to him for more classified documents. It has been confirmed by one of his lawyers.

https://twitter.com/hugolowell/statu...08802184081409

Apparently it was a classified evening briefing folder, in his bedroom, covering up a landline phones light because it kept him up at night.

You're missing the most important part of this -

...adds it was being used to cover a blue light on his landline phone that kept him up at night

Ah yes, treating classified materials with the importance and respect they deserve.

Literally never want to hear another Republican ever say anything about document security ever again given that the party writ-large is still pretending none of this is happening.

[postman1782]

You're missing the most important part of this -



Ah yes, treating classified materials with the importance and respect they deserve.

Literally never want to hear another Republican ever say anything about document security ever again given that the party writ-large is still pretending none of this is happening.

Especially with the laptop they now have. They copied classified documents and gave them to an aide that didn't have classified clearance. Which means everything gets worse. They could definitely be convicted of espionage and disseminating classified documents.

Wasn't Chelsea Manning and Reality Winner convicted for LESS?

[Breccia]

Apparently it was a classified evening briefing folder, in his bedroom, covering up a landline phones light because it kept him up at night.

I honestly don't know what part of this is the least flattering for Trump:
1) he stole another classified document, had it by his bedside, and didn't turn it over until it was subpoena'd
2) that it's another empty folder and the contents are missing
3) that he stole a classified document and used it to block a light
4) self-declared genius still uses a landline

[postman1782]

I honestly don't know what part of this is the least flattering for Trump:
1) he stole another classified document, had it by his bedside, and didn't turn it over until it was subpoena'd
2) that it's another empty folder and the contents are missing
3) that he stole a classified document and used it to block a light
4) self-declared genius still uses a landline

The problem is, I am sure the FBI searched that room, they searched Melania's things and Barron's room, they didn't check their bedroom? If they did, where did he hide them that they didn't find them, and the stuff they found with the laptop?

[Edge-]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...e/11119349002/

A Georgia judge Monday ordered a partial public release of a grand jury's investigative report on former President Donald Trump's attempts to interfere in the 2020 election.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney said three portions of the panel's report will be released Thursday, including a section expressing concerns that some witnesses may have lied under oath, although the names of those witnesses will not be made public.

Oh boy, spicy.

[Breccia]

Judge orders partial release of Atlanta grand jury findings into the bit where Trump tried to extort Georgia to call the election in his favor.

The parts being released are the introduction and conclusion and not so much of the middle, possibly because warning defendants what specific lies they have to invent to protect themselves isn't the judge's job. And the DA was fighting even that. However, one other part being released involves the grand jury apparently being concerned that some of the witnesses lied under oath.

These three portions include the introduction and conclusion to the final report, as well as Section VIII, in which the ‘special purpose grand jury discusses its concern that some witnesses may have lied under oath during their testimony to the grand jury. Because the grand jury does not identify those witnesses, that conclusion may be publicly disclosed at this time.

And you know where I'm going with that. While I admit it's possible Georgia election officials lied about Team Trump applying extortion-level pressure on them, after the recording we heard, I simply do not think that's the case. I think there is enough publicly-available information to defend that side as honest. Plus you'd have to be a very special kind of fucking stupid to get on the stand and make shit up to accuse a public figure of a crime. Why would, for example, Raffensperger make stuff up in this context? Trump lost the state, if Trump didn't call and threaten him and his workers why would he choose to invent a lie that they did? A grand jury is just as much under oath as any other, you go to jail for perjury, it seems like the worst place to lie on the stand when you're not the one being charged with anything.

And, of course, that means that Team Trump lied under oath -- yeah, I know, like you didn't see that coming.

Team Trump is already off and running with this, but until @cubby gets here let me remind everyone this was a grand jury. The targets of the grand jury, the defendants-to-be, get basically nothing here. Trump's on-crack legal team is already happily announcing that, since Trump was never brought to the grand jury, that therefore he's not being indicted. They might be right, but not because of that logic. A grand jury is basically there to tell the DA if there's enough reason to move forward with arrest warrants. The grand jury, for example, could have heard something like this:

"Did Mr. Trump or any of his direct employees contact you, asking you to break the law?"
"Yes, and I taped it, here's the recording."

In such a case, any defense by...well, the defense, would be brought up at actual trial. A grand jury isn't really in the position to violate someone's rights because, well, it doesn't do anything directly. Trump's lack of appearance means nothing in this context. Trump's lawyers are continuing to try to win this battle in the court of public opinion, which is stupid, because they're lawyers and should be worried about an actual courtroom.

‘The grand jurors were, of course, able to question the witnesses as well but the process was essentially an investigative tool designed to enable the District Attorney to gather ‘more information about what actually happened in the days following the general election in Fulton County (and elsewhere) so that she could make a more informed decision on whether Georgia law was violated and whether anyone should be charged for doing so. It was - again, entirely appropriately ~ a one-sided exploration. There were no lawyers advocating for any targets of the investigation.

-- the ruling in question

Now, Trump remains a powerful figure in politics, far less so than before but I can understand reluctance in showing up at Mar-a-Lago with handcuffs. For one, you'd have to have a special tiny pair made custom built for him. So yes, it's possible the grand jury didn't hear enough about Trump directly taking part in enough lines that could conclusively be called extortion or threats. But I think members of Team Trump should be very concerned right about now.

Near as I can tell, the following people who testified should be concerned right now:
Michael Flynn
Newt Gingrich
Lindsey Graham in particular
Mark Meadows

I believe at least one of these people knowingly lied about fraud to try to force Georgia's election into turmoil or just giving it to Trump illegally. Graham was the one fighting testifying the hardest, so I think he has the most to be concerned about.

EDIT: @Edge- ninja'd! Damn yooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuu

[Gorsameth]

I think it actually makes a lot of sense for Trumps lawyers to try to win the court of public opinion.

If you can't win in court and you know it, then the only option left is to never get to court. And that is a battle that can only be won by convincing politicians that prosecuting Trump is to great a risk for their re-election, a battle fought in public opinion.

[DarkTZeratul]

"If you have the facts on your side, pound the facts; if you have the law on your side, pound the law; if you have neither the facts nor the law, pound the table."

Trump's lawyers have been doing a lot of table pounding.

[Breccia]

Trump, in the increasingly Real Housewives of Palm Beach kind of way, picks a fight with Rihanna.

*sighs*

UPDATE: Trump is at least claiming he watched the Super Bowl halftime special. Why he would watch someone he hates is beyond me, but...

EPIC FAIL: Rihanna gave, without question, the single worst Halftime Show in Super Bowl history — This after insulting far more than half of our Nation, which is already in serious DECLINE, with her foul and insulting language.

Also, so much for her ‘Stylist!'

"Um, did he not know about Janet Ja--"

He probably wouldn't call that a disaster, no, he was probably really into that.

"Does anyone agree with Trump?"

I mean, the rabid fanbase agrees with everything he says without question. But more generally the reception was positive. Rolling Stone is, admittedly, not Trump's biggest fan, but they do know music better than anyone and they have Rihanna as the 8th best ever.

"Why does Trump put quotes around stylist? This is twice now."

I have no idea.

"And foul language, more than half the nation?"

She painted "Fuck Trump" on a car or something, and Trump still thinks he won the election, therefore, that the majority of the country was insulted. So, this response proves that Trump is either a liar, or insane.

Well, maybe not. Tell you what, I'll give everyone on these forums a fair chance to explain how Rihanna insulted "far more than half our nation". Not offended, insulted, the word "fuck" is offending but it's not insulting unless it's aimed at you. Trump supporters, you know the drill by now, if you don't answer within 24 hours it not only means I get to answer for you, but I also get to call you a coward for refusing to answer.

[gondrin]

So, how important is nicknaming people to Trump? According to him, "A very unimportant subject to me!!!". So, in Trump speak and how it follows the rule of the opposite, it is so important to him that it had to take every waking minute for at least a few days.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...dfe8f603f812c4

'Very unimportant to me!!!' Trump rages at reports that he spent long time thinking of DeSantis nickname

Former President Donald Trump does not want anyone to believe he is obsessed with finding ways to trash prospective 2024 rival Gov. Ron DeSantis.

In a post on Truth Social, the former president lashed out at claims that he spent a long time thinking of a nickname for DeSantis, whom he has labeled "Ron DeSanctimonious."

"All of the Fake News is reporting that I spend large amounts of my time coming up with a good 'nickname' for Ron DeSanctimonious, who is obviously going to give the presidential 'thing' a shot," Trump wrote. "They are all 100% wrong, I don’t even think about it — A very unimportant subject to me!!!"

In fact, Trump has given nicknames to every one of his major political opponents over the years, including "Little" Marco Rubio, "Lying" Ted Cruz, "Crooked" Hillary Clinton and "Sleepy" Joe Biden.

READ MORE: Marjorie Taylor Greene: People think aliens are invading and it's Joe Biden's fault

Trump has been ratcheting up attacks on DeSantis in the last couple of weeks, even going so far as to raise questions about whether the Florida governor is a "groomer" in Truth Social posts.

DeSantis, for his part, hit back at Trump's efforts to falsely smear him as a sexual predator.

"I spend my time delivering results for the people of Florida and fighting against Joe Biden," the Florida governor said last week when asked about Trump's attacks by reporters. "That's how I spend my time. I don't spend my time trying to smear other Republicans."

[Edge-]

So, how important is nicknaming people to Trump? According to him, "A very unimportant subject to me!!!". So, in Trump speak and how it follows the rule of the opposite, it is so important to him that it had to take every waking minute for at least a few days.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...dfe8f603f812c4

Try as he might, he'll never top his nickname for Nancy Pelosi, or as he calls her, "Nancy".

[Breccia]

I know, right? I frequently use the social media company I own to make lengthy posts IN ALL CAPS to tell people how unimportant a subject is to me.

Also the best part was the part you quoted by accident.

Marjorie Taylor Greene: People think aliens are invading and it's Joe Biden's fault

Naturally, this level of behavior is clearly crazy and it would be beneath me to make fun of someone who's clearly in poor mental health.

Just kidding. The only thing beneath me is Graham's wife. Here's the article:

Writing on Twitter, Greene sought to tamp down rumors on the internet about extraterrestrials attacking America through spy balloons that the United States Department of Defense has recently been shooting down from the sky.

"People are scared, upset, and are believing crazy things being said on the internet about the 3 objects shot down by our military," Greene wrote. "There are not aliens and no evidence of them."

Greene then turned her ire toward the Biden administration for not calming people's fears by releasing more information on the downed flying objects.

Quick note, I already cited how, yes, the WH press sec did, in fact, specifically and directly refute those rumors that it seems MTG admits her voters have. So all she did was self-own today.

I especially like how MTG said there was a lack of transparency from the WH about aliens from outer space. Like, if I call her out because of the lack of transparency about the pink Gundam suit in her backyard, is that fair? There's no Gundam suit in her backyard, but she hasn't mentioned it, is that really lack of transparency?

Among other things, Greene has questioned whether multiple mass shootings in the United States were orchestrated by the government as part of a "false flag" operation, and she has also questioned whether terrorists really flew planes into the Pentagon in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

So Greene has 100% willingly adopted conspiracy theories. She gets less than zero fucks given that her followers are doing the same to a level that's embarrassing her. "Oh my goodness, how did all these dogs get into my open and publicly listed dog grooming shop?" said the dog groomer, "Why would all these dogs come here? It makes no sense! Thanks, Obama!"

[Edge-]

But...have they ruled out Jewish space lasers?

[Breccia]

But...have they ruled out Jewish space lasers?

Yes, the shape was octagonal.

I do have more about the grand jury report.

At a hearing last month, a coalition of news organizations asked the judge to make the report public, as the jurors had recommended. But Ms. Willis sought to keep the special grand jury’s findings secret, at least ahead of her charging decisions, saying during the hearing that she was “mindful of protecting future defendants’ rights.

Judge McBurney said in his ruling that the nature of the special grand jury process allowed for only “very limited due process” for “those who might now be named as indictment-worthy in the final report.” Because of that, he said, the report’s charging recommendations “are for the District Attorney’s eyes only — for now.”

Thomas M. Clyde, a lawyer for the news organizations, including The New York Times, declined to comment on the ruling. Ms. Willis, in a statement on Monday, said: “I believe Judge McBurney’s order is legally sound and consistent with my request.”

So the DA is asking to keep the names of who's about to be indicted quiet for now, and the news was asking for the whole report. Yeah I'm going to side with the DA on this one, I think. I'm assuming the press wants some kind of record if, hypothetically, the grand jury says "you should totally indict these people" and the DA just doesn't do that. I think the extensiveness of the special grand jury suggests that won't be the case here.

The NYTimes suggests Giuliani and David Shafer, head of the GA GOP, are both possible targets even though neither testified. Again, that's fair. A grand jury is not about letting defendants put on their best defense, it's about if they get arrested at all. Having them testify in their own defense is not required or even advised.

But:

The central question is whether Mr. Trump himself will face criminal charges. Legal analysts who have followed the case say there are two areas of considerable risk for Mr. Trump.

The first is his direct involvement in recruiting a slate of bogus presidential electors after the 2020 election, even after Georgia’s results were recertified by the state’s Republican leadership. The second are the calls that he made to pressure state officials after the election, including one to Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia secretary of state, in which Mr. Trump said he needed to “find” 11,780 votes.

I still believe Trump could try to explain away that his call to Raffensperger somehow wasn't extortion or a threat. At least enough for one-twelvth of all Americans to buy it.

If Trump's directly involved with the slate of fake electors, that's going to be a massive problem for him. It is not a crime to lie to the American people, but it is a crime to defraud. These fake electors were not selected by any legal process by any state, and everyone involved knew that. Conspiring to overthrow the government to acquire something of value with false information, possibly involving RICO, would get Trump behind bars.

[Poopymonster]

*sighs*

UPDATE: Trump is at least claiming he watched the Super Bowl halftime special. Why he would watch someone he hates is beyond me, but...



"Um, did he not know about Janet Ja--"

He probably wouldn't call that a disaster, no, he was probably really into that.

"Does anyone agree with Trump?"

I mean, the rabid fanbase agrees with everything he says without question. But more generally the reception was positive. Rolling Stone is, admittedly, not Trump's biggest fan, but they do know music better than anyone and they have Rihanna as the 8th best ever.

"Why does Trump put quotes around stylist? This is twice now."

I have no idea.

"And foul language, more than half the nation?"

She painted "Fuck Trump" on a car or something, and Trump still thinks he won the election, therefore, that the majority of the country was insulted. So, this response proves that Trump is either a liar, or insane.

Well, maybe not. Tell you what, I'll give everyone on these forums a fair chance to explain how Rihanna insulted "far more than half our nation". Not offended, insulted, the word "fuck" is offending but it's not insulting unless it's aimed at you. Trump supporters, you know the drill by now, if you don't answer within 24 hours it not only means I get to answer for you, but I also get to call you a coward for refusing to answer.

She should have opened with "Terrorist Trump used my music without asking or paying for it. Donnie, this ones for you."

[Breccia]

She should have opened with "Terrorist Trump used my music without asking or paying for it. Donnie, this ones for you."

Nah, that could be a Tweet or something. Better yet to be the Super Bowl not be about Trump. All he can do is rage on his Chinese Twitter knockoff nobody uses.

[fwc577]

So, what is the deal with Nikki Haley? All I remember of her is she was a part of the Trump circle at one point and was pushed out. Is she a crazy or was she not crazy enough and that's why she got pushed out?

[Breccia]

So, what is the deal with Nikki Haley? All I remember of her is she was a part of the Trump circle at one point and was pushed out. Is she a crazy or was she not crazy enough and that's why she got pushed out?

It was Bolton.

[Cthulhu 2020]

So amid all this Super Bowl shenanigans, Trump has been discussing with his team on what kind of rhetoric to use for his 2024 campaign.

One thing in particular: He not only wants to bring back the death penalty, but wants to reinstate banned forms of executions like firing squads, hanging, mass executions, and even the guillotine (the irony is completely lost on him for that last one).

Apparently he believes that promoting more violent forms of execution as well as having a supremely tough approach to "Crime" would win him a lot of points.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politic...ns-1234679447/

Unfortunately for him, I don't think there's going to be a silver bullet quite like going the xenophobic route while Hillary Clinton is your opponent.

[Edge-]

So amid all this Super Bowl shenanigans, Trump has been discussing with his team on what kind of rhetoric to use for his 2024 campaign.

One thing in particular: He not only wants to bring back the death penalty, but wants to reinstate banned forms of executions like firing squads, hanging, mass executions, and even the guillotine (the irony is completely lost on him for that last one).

Apparently he believes that promoting more violent forms of execution as well as having a supremely tough approach to "Crime" would win him a lot of points.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politic...ns-1234679447/

Unfortunately for him, I don't think there's going to be a silver bullet quite like going the xenophobic route while Hillary Clinton is your opponent.

When's he going to propose dismemberment for theft?