Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[CastletonSnob]

Trump received at least $7.8 MILLION from foreign governments when he was President.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...por-rcna132276

[Corvus]

Remember how during the covid crisis that Trump was pushing the use of hydroxychloroquine? Well, a new study put the number of hydroxychloroquine related deaths due to using it at almost 17,000. And you can put most of that on Trump spreading misinformation.

[Edge-]

Remember how during the covid crisis that Trump was pushing the use of hydroxychloroquine? Well, a new study put the number of hydroxychloroquine related deaths due to using it at almost 17,000. And you can put most of that on Trump spreading misinformation.

Funny bit about that.

My brother has a friend who was always a bit of a nutty guy and leaned conservative but was always nice. Still is super nice, but he's gone down the rabbit hole and based on some earlier political discussions with him in general (I had to explain what the White House Press Corps is, who is a part of it, why it exists, and why a POTUS puts out a daily schedule and such...literally super basic shit).

Anyways, not super long ago he was trying to get my brother to do hydroxy and was praising it as a "it's like a cleanse, it cleanse your body right out" and couldn't stop talking it up. Last time he came over he was complaining about how his stomach and digestion a pretty shit now because some apparent minor changes he made in his diet and I couldn't stop myself from quietly wondering how much of those issues may have been a result of stuffing his face with horse dewormer when he didn't even have covid.

[Xyonai]

Trump received at least $7.8 MILLION from foreign governments when he was President.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...por-rcna132276

Honestly the only thing that surprises me about this is how low that estimate seems, considering that it was:

A - From Multiple Sources

B - Over the course of two years, and...

C - Being used to try and curry favor with the fucking President of the United States.

Though this is probably just the money we know about / could be directly traced this way, who knows what the actual amount is.

[Benggaul]

Trump received at least $7.8 MILLION from foreign governments when he was President.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...por-rcna132276

And building off of that:

James Comer searched for China link to Biden — but Oversight found Trump instead

Blah blah accusations blah blah projection.

"And what this report outlines, with a great deal of specificity, are the types of payments that many of these foreign governments were making to his various businesses. The number one country over this two-year period that had participated in or had patronized Trump-associated businesses was China, which of course Donald Trump has been a fierce critic of, particularly as it relates to Hunter Biden, the current president's son."

Trump claimed during the 2020 campaign that Biden scored $1.5 billion from China.

Trump conflated the accusations by saying that Biden "goes on and he allows China to rip us off." He also said, "So the Bidens got rich while America got robbed."

The Republicans in the Oversight Committee have been unable to find such a payment. The amount that they've alleged Biden took from foreign entities through his son has shrunk to about $4,000, which Biden loaned his son so he could buy a 2018 truck. Hunter Biden paid his father back in monthly installments.

The report released Thursday also includes funds from Saudi Arabia, which already has connection to his son-in-law. After Trump left office, Jared Kushner got a $2 billion investment from the country for his hedge fund.

"They were only able to collect that two-year period worth of time because the accounting firm that was working with Donald Trump during that window of time separated from him and no longer was willing to do business with him," said Nobels.

"They felt compelled to hand the information over because they were requested to do so by Congress. The rest of that period of time, House Republicans have not joined with House Democrats in compelling that information to be brought forward. And that was one of the things that we heard members of the House Democratic Oversight Committee be very critical of the chairman of the Oversight Committee, James Comer, for not allowing them to ask for these additional documents to get the full four years of the Trump presidency."

Meanwhile, Nobles said, the House has moved for an impeachment "inquiry" for Biden, claiming that his son was engaged in foreign business activities that benefitted Biden while he was vice president.

"They have not shown vast amounts of millions of dollars worth of payments that were directly given to Joe Biden as a result of his son's business dealings, nor have they shown any evidence that Joe Biden's role as a public official benefitted any of these foreign entities," said Nobles. "This report at least attempts to do that as it relates to Donald Trump."

[Benggaul]

EDIT: Double post and the forum won't let me delete this one. Spits back server errors.

[Breccia]

Trump Wants Prosecutors Held in Contempt in Federal Election Case

So long story short, Trump asked Chutkan to have Smith stand still and do nothing while he pressed his "absolute immunity" defense. Smith did not stand still and do nothing. However, what he did do was
a) ask the judge to have Trump stop blatantly lying in court and in public, and
b) sent him exhibits that would be used in trial, which I believe the prosecution has to do, it's called discovery?

In other words, something Trump brought on himself by rampant disrespect, and something he did to keep the upcoming March trial on track. After all, if he didn't disclose those exhibits, Team Trump would have demanded a delay until he did and another delay to look at them.

By the way, all of this happened weeks ago. Team Trump did nothing until today.

In a 15-page motion, John F. Lauro, writing for Mr. Trump’s legal team, accused the prosecution of “partisan-driven misconduct” and said they had treated Judge Chutkan’s decision to pause the case as “merely a suggestion meaning less than the paper it is written on.”

Mr. Lauro also asked for a series of potentially severe consequences, starting with an order that would force Mr. Smith and two of his deputies — Thomas P. Windom and Molly Gaston — to come up with answers for why they should not be held in contempt and be made to pay whatever legal fees Mr. Trump may have incurred by dealing with their recent filings and productions.

"What legal bills would Trump have incurred from this?"

Well as I've said, the second part, those exhibits were going to be disclosed anyhow. So, nothing he wouldn't already have had to pay. The first case, I fail to see any reason at all why the prosecution should have to pay because the defendant commits contempt of court and is called out on it.

Team Trump is also asking that all future filings be blocked until they're good and ready.

In other words, Team Trump just admitted, under oath, that they're panicking and desperate. They basically filed that they shouldn't have to do their job in a timely fashion -- the case is not proceding, they're just being given the information they'll need when it does, which was going to happen anyhow. They're asking for sanctions because Smith did his mandatory job, early.

As a reminder, this is the federal case we're talking about here. The one that Trump is hoping to be pardoned for.

[diller]

Those songs have aged really well, honestly.

Unfortunately, but the same goes for the more political stuff from the Reagan era - like Dead Kennedys and MDC, things just never change.

[Corvus]

Honestly the only thing that surprises me about this is how low that estimate seems, considering that it was:

A - From Multiple Sources

B - Over the course of two years, and...

C - Being used to try and curry favor with the fucking President of the United States.

Though this is probably just the money we know about / could be directly traced this way, who knows what the actual amount is.

It'll be more than that as documents relating to about 80% of his business entities have not been handed over.

[Edge-]

https://www.rollingstone.com/politic...ng-1234941542/

A DAY AFTER a gunman killed a sixth grade student and wounded five other people at Perry High School northwest of Des Moines, Donald Trump returned to the state at a campaign event and told residents that they “have to get over it.”

During his speech at Sioux Center, Iowa, the former president gave his thoughts and prayers to the victims and their families, emphasizing that “we’re really with you as much as anybody can be.” After stating the tragedy was “terrible” and “horrible,” Trump insisted: “We have to get over it. We have to move forward. We have to move forward.”

Gosh, can't those kids and communities traumatized in avoidable and preventable school shootings just get over it? It's so inconvenient for the rest of us.

The leader of the Republican party, y'all.

[Corvus]

The supreme court will rule if trump is eligible to stand under the 14th amendment and will expedite the process as well.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-67899435

[Endus]

The supreme court will rule if trump is eligible to stand under the 14th amendment and will expedite the process as well.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-67899435

I'm pretty sure this sets up the endgame. If they rule the Colorado and Maine decisions are valid, other States can comfortably act on that premise without fear of it being overturned. If they do overturn it, why? Legal precedent states that A> the President is an Officer of the United States, and B> Trump himself has admitted he would give aid and comfort (specifically, pardons) to Jan 6 insurrectionists (which makes him an insurrectionist too). Either they have to overthrow A>, which I think is implausible, or it's more likely their overruling will rely on it being beyond the authority of the States, somehow (despite States otherwise being able to run their elections as they choose). And if that's the case, any federal court can adopt the Colorado argument and kick Trump off every ballot, leaving SCOTUS no room for further appeal.

[Breccia]

The supreme court will rule if trump is eligible to stand under the 14th amendment and will expedite the process as well.

The expediting is likely going to make their decision easy: Trump will not be removable, because he has not been convicted of anything.

[minteK917]

The ballot part does not even matter. Watched reading for all the indictments for a week now lol. Then watched someone argue against a right wing lawyer trying all possible arguments to get trump off the hook.

The fact that trump campaign tried to use fake fraudulent set of electors in seven states, twice, is enough for a conviction. All the lawyer ended up being able to argue against this is that in a Supreme court appeal, they could decide that the a sitting president is actually above the law. Which would in effect make legal for any sitting president immune to fraud lawsuits for their actions as president.

Cant wait to see what any republican would say when Joe Biden decides he is the winner because he is the sitting president after such a ruling lol.

[s_bushido]

If they do overturn it, why?

Why would you assume they need a consistent reason? They have no accountability. They can do whatever the fuck they want for whatever reason they want. And in this case, they almost certainly don't want to set the precedent that presidents can actually be held accountable for shit by the states.

[Endus]

Why would you assume they need a consistent reason? They have no accountability. They can do whatever the fuck they want for whatever reason they want. And in this case, they almost certainly don't want to set the precedent that presidents can actually be held accountable for shit by the states.

Then Biden can settle this problem by inviting Trump to the White House for a chat and shooting him in the face when he arrives. Or at a presidential debate during the campaign. If the President's immune to criminal prosecution for acts done while President, then there's little reason not to.

[Benggaul]

The expediting is likely going to make their decision easy: Trump will not be removable, because he has not been convicted of anything.

A conviction isn't necessary apparently, at least according to what I've read about how the 14th applies to this case.

Not that it matters. As I've said before, unless he's being removed from GOP or swing states this wouldn't keep him from winning the EC. He doesn't have a chance in hell of winning Colorado and while I'm aware Maine is one of the couple that splits their EC votes it's doubtful he would win more than 1 there, so unless somewhere like Pennsylvania and Arizona starts sniffing around the idea it's more of a symbolic precedent than anything impactful for the 2024 election.

[Breccia]

A conviction isn't necessary apparently, at least according to what I've read about how the 14th applies to this case.

It's still my prediction. SCOTUS and Trump's effectively bribed SCOTUS judge Kavanaugh will use this as an easy excuse, which yes can allow another case after he's convicted, but it starts the whole process over again. And the only thing saving Trump is stalling.

- - - Updated - - -

NYState ups damages asked for from $250 million to $370 million due to their overwhelming case.

[minteK917]

Then Biden can settle this problem by inviting Trump to the White House for a chat and shooting him in the face when he arrives. Or at a presidential debate during the campaign. If the President's immune to criminal prosecution for acts done while President, then there's little reason not to.

Pretty much this, any republican lawyer I saw arguing against his campaign electoral fraud when it comes to fake electors always ends there, in an appeal to the surpreme court, yes they can actually rule and set the precedent that a sitting president is above the law for any actions during their terms, because the only explicit way to remove a sitting president in the constitution is an impeachment. To which Id say okay, but when your supreme court set this new precedent, if Biden simply jails Trump forever just because hes a sitting president, if impeachment fails to remove Biden, you better not cry lol. It would be "legal".

Lets be realistic here, the surpreme court all shot down the election fraud cases Trump sent them, there is no logical reason to believe they will vote in favor to make sitting president immune to every possible criminal investigation or repercution without an impeachment just to save Trump. It just making a precedent where the entire country can crumble at any time due to a single actor. They were able to containt Trump to be a president that did almost nothing because of many restrictions, beside give their party the court seat they wanted. I dont think many politicians are interested in giving the president more power, even most republicans. The party retard voters mabye, not the politicians and supreme court judges. At that point it just remove their own power even if the sitting president could be trump under their party, which obviously trump doesn't give a fuck about.

Can pin a lot of bad things on Republican leadership and their justice picks, but this little foresight into such a ruling there is 0 chances. Thats not playing with fire, thats playing with nukes.

The actual ruling in the surpreme court will be that a sitting president cannot be persecuted for crimes that were done in order to conduct the business of the office of the president, things he does not really carry out himself, for himself or his own benefit without an impeachment. Warcrimes, military stuff in general, breaking general laws in order to do the job the sitting president is obviously immune to since those are crime the nation itself did.

Your own political campaign to be elected to that office is not the job of a sitting president and has no relation to running the executive branch of the united states hence doing election fraud is punishable as any other crimes.

[Lynarii]

I mean, the SCOTUS could literally write in crayon on a post-it note "Trump is immune, Biden is not" and there's nothing that could be done about it. The check against that is supposed to be impeachment, but there's no chance of that happening in the current government.