Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Breccia]

To repeat myself, that's the argument his defense team has to make. The prosecution just wants his claims on the record.

I would love to see this. But I'm not holding my breath. Based purely on the 37 counts, Trump's claims in public might not be introduced as evidence -- they might not be needed, or they might be deemed irrelevant.

I'll be thrilled to be proven wrong. Either Trump confirms on the stand his own admission of guilt, or he confirms on the stand he's a liar. There is no good option for him.

[Paranoid Android]

I am about to drop a story that will Shock you!

That Time Donald Trump Promised "Food for Everyone" at Versailles

A glad-handing Trump was heard to declare, "Food for everyone!"

It turns out no one got anything. Not even a cafecito to-go.

A knowledgeable source assures New Times that Donald Trump's stop at Versailles totaled about ten minutes, leaving no time for anyone to eat anything, much less place an order.

I love this guy!!

[Breccia]

How to say "Trump is a danger to national security" without saying "Trump is ..." oh, wait. They said it.

DOJ seeks protective order to prevent Trump from releasing classified materials amid ongoing investigation

The suggested protective order, which will be reviewed by Judge Bruce Reinhart, would allow Trump to review the 31 documents the DOJ is using in the case only while in the presence of his attorneys.

“Defendants shall only have access to Discovery Materials under the direct supervision of Defense Counsel or a member of Defense Counsel’s staff. Defendants shall not retain copies of Discovery Material. Defendants may take notes regarding Discovery Materials, but such notes shall be stored securely by Defense Counsel,” the DOJ wrote.

It also includes similar language to a protective order agreed to in another Trump case that bars the former president from disclosing evidence in the case. New York state prosecutors made that request as they pursue a 34-count indictment of Trump relating to a hush money scandal.

“The Discovery Materials, along with any information derived therefrom, shall not be disclosed to the public or the news media, or disseminated on any news or social media platform, without prior notice to and consent of the United States or approval of the Court,” the department wrote.

"Surely Cannon will throw that out, being a biased hack MAGA nominee."

She will not, she handed it over to the judge that approved the Mar-a-Lago warrant.

"Oh, shit."

[ringpriest]

https://www.rollingstone.com/politic...in-1234773043/



John Kelly was Trump's hand-picked chief of staff...his third one I believe (maybe second?). Apparently "only the best people" includes people with a "VERY small 'brain'" whatever the quotes are supposed to mean.

Why does he keep hiring such incompetent people if he only hires the best people?

- - - Updated - - -

https://www.citizensforethics.org/re...help-desantis/

'Member when Trump "sent the feds" to help DeSantis in Florida? Or so he claimed?



CREW has the sauce for this. I don't think this result surprises anyone.

Hm. Sounds like Trump is confessing to concealing a grave and likely criminal abuse of office, and that DeSantis may not legitimate be the governor of Florida. There should definitely be a special prosecutor looking into this, and DeSantis should immediately be removed from office. Just to be on the safe side, until the Florida Legislature can get to the bottom of this.

- - - Updated - - -

I am about to drop a story that will Shock you!

That Time Donald Trump Promised "Food for Everyone" at Versailles



I love this guy!!

The sad part is, it really won't matter. Everyone capable of a enough thought to understand that no one actually got anything is already voting against Trump. And the people who are willing to vote for him will hear "free food for everyone" and ignore everything else.

[Breccia]

That along with the chyron calling Biden a wannabe dictator is sick and stupid.

FOX News blamed it on a producer and fired him.

Eh, they're probably telling the truth.

Today was my last day at FOX. It’s been a wild 10 years and it was the best place I’ve ever worked because of the great people I met. But the time has come. I asked them to let me go and they finally did.

-- the fired guy

[Edge-]

FOX News blamed it on a producer and fired him.

Eh, they're probably telling the truth.


-- the fired guy

How many other Tucker Turncoats are there lurking amongst their ranks, eh? Fuckin hilarious.

[Kaleredar]

The sad part is, it really won't matter. Everyone capable of a enough thought to understand that no one actually got anything is already voting against Trump. And the people who are willing to vote for him will hear "free food for everyone" and ignore everything else.

"Listen, what they do and its effect doesn't matter, it's the message they send!"

"Trump doesn't actually need to provide food, he said he wanted to, so that's enough!"

"The wall doesn't actually need to 'stop immigrants,' it just sends the message that we don't approve of them!"

"Trump might have profited by funneling government spending into his pocket while president, but he said he wanted to divest himself and that sends a good message that he's a stand up-guy!"

"The GOP says they stand for family values, so it doesn't matter if they support a thrice-divorced politician who cheated on his wife with a prostitute as a matter of public record!"

"The GOP doesn't actually need to apply the christian principles of giving and charity, they mention they love Jesus and represent his will so that means they do!"

Hmmm, seems quite a trend in the GOP and their voter base, doesn't it?

[Breccia]

"Listen, what they do and its effect doesn't matter, it's the message they send!"

That's actually true. Trump sent the following message:

DeSantis Hands Out Beer After Trump Dine-N-Dash

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was spotted on Friday distributing beers alongside his wife Casey DeSantis at a Veterans of Foreign Wars bunker bar in Reno, Nevada. DeSantis is making multiple campaign stops in the state before a Saturday appearance at the Basque Fry Fundraiser.

Trump sent that message.

[gondrin]

FOX News blamed it on a producer and fired him.

Eh, they're probably telling the truth.


-- the fired guy

Speaking of Fox News and Trump, Trump is now referring himself as "The King". Lets see how many of the sycophants out there will start calling him that. I mean, didn't we go to war with Brittain to get away from said thing?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...f0ab14647&ei=7

Trump calls himself 'the King' in rambling attack on Fox News coverage

Reacting to a post on his own Truth Social that claimed Fox News is hurting without him, former president Donald Trump went on a three-post diatribe about the conservative network that culminated with him calling himself the "King."

After linking to a post from the Western Journal that claimed, "Fox News Gets Dethroned from Powerful Position Network Has Held Over 2 Years,” the twice-indicted former president lashed out in multiple directions writing, "Also—Do not broadcast negative ads against Republican and Conservative Candidates by Perverts and Misfits like the Failing Lincoln Project, and others. Roger Ailes never allowed that—And neither should a new and less successful Fox. Big turnoff! MSDNC and Fake News CNN will never allow positive Republican ads or hit pieces on Crooked Joe Biden. Fox must get smart fast before it’s too late. Only 'TRUMP' can save Fox News. It is in freefall!"

Having gotten another attack on the Lincoln Project out of the way, he soldiered on and declared in part, "Long live the King."

"Well, it’s happened, just as I predicted. The Golden Goose that was so beautiful is being slaughtered by Fools," he wrote. "MAGA has left Fox for more promising 'prairies.' Long live the King. The only solution for Fox News is to bring back Trump Allies and MAGA—Backing No Personality Ron DeSanctimonious has been a disaster…."

[Captain N]

Speaking of Fox News and Trump, Trump is now referring himself as "The King". Lets see how many of the sycophants out there will start calling him that. I mean, didn't we go to war with Brittain to get away from said thing?

Maybe he meant that he's like Elvis Presley? Steals music from other artists to promote himself. Oh and then there's that bloated thing where we'll finally find him dead on a toilet?

[gondrin]

Maybe he meant that he's like Elvis Presley? Steals music from other artists to promote himself. Oh and then there's that bloated thing where we'll finally find him dead on a toilet?

Except for women still wanted Elvis even at his worst. LOTS of women. Nobody but the MAGA women want Trump. And even then, that is questionable. I think it is more that he views himself as a king and acts as such.

[Breccia]

Maybe he meant that he's like Elvis Presley?

Thank you, thank you very much for making this joke.

Also, it explains the "God save the Queen" issue.

[gondrin]

Thank you, thank you very much for making this joke.

Also, it explains the "God save the Queen" issue.

While it is bad to say, maybe he'll go out like Elvis was rumored to have. With a burger in the hand while taking a shit on the toilet.

[Breccia]

Ladies and gentlemen, proof that even Repulbicans believe in evolution.

I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters, OK? It's, like, incredible.

-- Donald Trump, Jan 23, 2016

I don’t think Senate Democrats, if you had video of Joe Biden murdering children dressed as the devil under a full moon while singing Pat Benatar, they still wouldn’t vote to convict.

-- Ted Cruz, Wednesday

What a difference seven years make. We've gone from Trump's statement, "I have followers loyal enough to follow me through an actual murder and that is a good thing" to Cruz's "Biden's followers are loyal enough to follow him through an actual murder and that is a bad thing". I would call that change evolution.

"Has Pat Benetar seen this?"

Pretty sure she has.

[gondrin]

Ladies and gentlemen, proof that even Repulbicans believe in evolution.


-- Donald Trump, Jan 23, 2016


-- Ted Cruz, Wednesday

What a difference seven years make. We've gone from Trump's statement, "I have followers loyal enough to follow me through an actual murder and that is a good thing" to Cruz's "Biden's followers are loyal enough to follow him through an actual murder and that is a bad thing". I would call that change evolution.

"Has Pat Benetar seen this?"

Pretty sure she has.

You know, if he would have said "While singing, That's Amore by Dean Martin", I would have been more impressed by it.

But Ted Cruz shows he knows as much about music as anything else, not a lot.

[Paranoid Android]

BREAKING: Retired Major League Baseball pitcher Curt Schilling goes on a dangerous rant live on FOX News, declares that “somebody is gonna have to pull a trigger” to stop the Justice Department’s federal case against Trump for violating the Espionage Act.

For people out there, These people are not enough to use clever word play. "Pull the Trigger" is not a metaphor for "we have to stop the DOJ corruption". No, its a call to violence.


For non baseball players, Schilling is ex baseball player and yes crazy as his words.

[draynay]

Ugh doesn't Fox put enough insane people on the air without having to give time to that lunatic?

[Captain N]

Ugh doesn't Fox put enough insane people on the air without having to give time to that lunatic?

It's Fox catering to their viewers. Crazies trying to rile up even more crazies. To be honest I'm awaiting the day that someone sues Fox and succeeds for their part in promoting domestic terrorism with these call to arms.

[Breccia]

Once again, it has not been a good day to be Donald Trump.

1) Trusty no longer represents Trump.

"You already posted that, didn't you?"

It's about the CNN case this time. Remember how Trump sued CNN for five hundred million dollars for defaming him? Specifically, CNN called Trump's big lie the...Big Lie, and Trump said "CNN is comparing me to Hitler" and CNN was like "no, you were copying Hitler, we just pointed it out"?

No? Nobody? Whatever. Anyhow, Trusty's off the case.

The lawyer, Jim Trusty, said in a court filing that his request to withdraw from the $475 million civil suit “is based upon irreconcilable differences” with Trump.

“Counsel can no longer effectively and properly represent Plaintiff,” Trusty wrote in the filing in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Neither Trusty nor lawyers for CNN immediately responded to requests for comment on Trusty’s move to withdraw as Trump’s counsel.

Lindsey Halligan, Trump’s remaining attorney in the defamation case, referred CNBC to the former president’s spokesman Steven Cheung, who said the defamation suit is “entering a new phase as more irrefutable facts are revealed.”

I look forward to hearing what those irrefutable facts are, that are so irrefutable and so facts, that Trusty fled the case rather than stick around and take his cut. I mean, if they're so irrefutable and so facts, it'd be easy money, right?

It'll be an interesting case, as by now we all know the rules of defamation, and "CNN used the term Big Lie about me and Hiterl used the term Big Lie therefore CNN was saying I was Hitler" doesn't, at first glance, sound like CNN making an objectively false statement. And with the number of derogatory nicknames Trump comes up with, for which he's never been sued, it seems like a long shot at best when CNN is doing about the same.

2) The GOP civil war is ongoing and Pence is desperately trying not to be shot by either side. Literally, in one side's case. But he's still taking swings at Trump.

Donald Trump has been 'walking away' from conservative principles

Look, in 2016, Donald Trump promised to govern as a conservative. But he makes no such promise today. Not only has he been walking away from a clear commitment to the right to life, but, look, we have a national debt the size of our nation’s economy.

Donald Trump’s position on the national debt is identical to Joe Biden’s. And to me the Republican Party has to be the party of growth and fiscal responsibility and reform.

That might be the first Republican who openly admitted Trump blew up the deficit -- the opposite of what he promised, of course.

Pence, like most Republicans, is still saying the indictment(s) of Trump for his many crimes is wrong. He even wants to fire Wray for...(checks notes)...Americans losing faith in the criminal justice system, because Pence told them to. But once again, someone who intentionally worked for Trump, then basically quit because Trump was a horrible person, is reminding everyone that Trump is a horrible person.

3) This ABC News article talks about how Trump is trying to compare his charges to Clinton/Biden, but there's another case that's a better parallel...with a really unfortunate name.

Clinton and Biden were never charged with the Espionage Act. These people were:

Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Robert Birchum was sentenced earlier this month to three years in prison after pleading guilty to an 793(e) violation, though that was less than half of the 78 months prosecutors sought.

According to court records, Birchum illegally kept top-secret National Security Agency documents on a thumb drive at his home in Tampa, Florida. Prosecutors said his motive for illegally retaining the documents remained unclear, but investigators found more than 300 classified documents at his home, in a storage container parked in his driveway and in his overseas quarters.

Birchum was never found to have given classified documents to anyone, according to court records.

In court filings, federal prosecutors say the average prison sentence for cases similar to Birchum's involving top-secret information is more than four years. (Trump, too, kept top-secret documents with him at his Mar-a-Lago estate, according to his indictment.)

Harold Martin, who worked as a contractor for the NSA, allegedly kept vast amounts of classified information strewn about his Maryland home, in his shed and even in his car. He was sentenced to nine years after pleading guilty to willful retention of 20 classified documents.

As ABC News points out, the Espionage Act is rarely applied except in cases where it's really going to stick.

George Washington University Law School professor and former Justice Department official Stephen Saltzburg told ABC News that the U.S. has a history of carefully prosecuting Espionage Act cases.

"We don't get many of these [Espionage Act] cases," Saltzburg said. "And when we do get cases, it's generally because there's outrageous behavior."

Referring to the Trump indictment, he added: "It is probably as clear a statement of charges I've ever seen."

"Okay, but there's nothing wrong with those names."

Yeah...

In 2018, another former NSA contractor, Reality Winner, was sentenced to more than five years in prison after pleading guilty to a Section 793(e) violation for sending a journalist a classified U.S. intelligence report about Russian interference in the 2016 election. While she was charged with disseminating classified information, Trump has not been.

Trump, almost certainly not contemplating he would one day be charged under the same statute, complained on Twitter at the time that Winner's sentence was for "small potatoes" and claimed Clinton's conduct was worse.

Yeah, that's someone who was caught, tried, and convicted under Trump, that Trump personally knew about. Clinton, of course, was never charged -- by Trump, or anyone else for that matter.

Funny story: Winner's sentence is over and, yes, has been asked about Trump.

This is probably one of the most transparent and straightforward indictments that defines national defense information and gives the public a sense of the itemized description of every document, which is not how this particular law has been used against ordinary citizens. So this might set the new legal standard on how it will be used in the future. Perhaps it could give people like myself who were acting out of moral conscience more leverage under the law.

5) And this last one kind of defies explanation.

So Brian Kilmeade is a FOX News host, went on the air, complained that CNN and MSNBC refused to carry Trump's incoherent, violence-inducing speech after court. Pretty standard stuff, FOX News context of course.

Kilmeade aired the headline "CNN Hosts Go NUCLEAR As Trump Is Found Not Guilty And Refuse To Air His Speech".

I am not making this up. It's still live on his FB. Look for yourself.

"Did CNN even 'go nuclear'? It's pretty hard to 'go nuclear' by not doing anything."

No, but FOX News is fueled by outrage and lies. Kilmeade does say that indictment is not the same as guilty, which is true. It's not the fact that he was caught that made him guilty, it's all those crimes he did. The evidence of the crimes and his public admission isn't helping a whole lot, either.

The final entry I was going to have was this WaPo OP ED titled "Trump’s indictment plus candidacy could endanger democracy and the rule of law" which I clicked on expecting one thing, and turned out to be another. Here's the first line:

America’s institutions have been attacked repeatedly over the past half-dozen years, thanks principally to the conduct and actions of Donald Trump

Yeah, see what I mean? That could just as easily been another "Arresting Trump for all his crimes is an unforgiveable act by Satan and Pat Benetar for some reason" posts. Anyhow, WaPo uses an aggressive paywall and in the end I chucked it.

[Flarelaine]

For non baseball players, Schilling is ex baseball player and yes crazy as his words.

I've always understood that of America's major sports, baseball has the strongest MAGA vibes. Seeing someone Schilling for Trump is no surprise.