Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Valdhammer]

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/07/djt-...ler-rally.html

I'm as confused as you are, but apparently Donald's shitty stock gained 11% today off the back of...Leon showing up to a rally?

Not that there is any lack of examples, but this really highlights how fundamentally bullshit stocks and how fundamentally irrational traders are, and is why I continue to laugh that one of the big names in stock trading is a guy who gets paid real money to go on TV and for years hit buttons and pull levers to make cartoon sound effects while frequently screaming at the top of his lungs. A respected member of the financial community.

I think it’s influenced by the fact that it’s October and Republicans realize that Trump cannot lose if they want to remain relevant. Elon discarding all pretense and using the @america profile to promote Trump after showing up at his rally is a part of this no holds barred effort. They’re going all out and that apparent confidence is making people think it’s a good time to buy because if he wins it WILL go up.

[Edge-]

I think it’s influenced by the fact that it’s October and Republicans realize that Trump cannot lose if they want to remain relevant. Elon discarding all pretense and using the @america profile to promote Trump after showing up at his rally is a part of this no holds barred effort. They’re going all out and that apparent confidence is making people think it’s a good time to buy because if he wins it WILL go up.

But like the fundamentals don't exist - they don't report key metrics, they lose money hand over fist each quarter while having basically no revenue to speak of, with the last quarterly report showing $16M in losses against barely $800K in revenue for the quarter. That's not a typo, they didn't even make a million dollars in a quarter.

This would be, generously, a penny stock. 23 & Me arguably has a brighter future than Trump Media does.

They have no plan and the company is run by a former lawmaker with zero social media, technology, or really business experience at all, rofl. Dude just comes from a family with a farm who hire a lot of undocumented folks to work on their farm.

[Valdhammer]

But like the fundamentals don't exist - they don't report key metrics, they lose money hand over fist each quarter while having basically no revenue to speak of, with the last quarterly report showing $16M in losses against barely $800K in revenue for the quarter. That's not a typo, they didn't even make a million dollars in a quarter.

This would be, generously, a penny stock. 23 & Me arguably has a brighter future than Trump Media does.

They have no plan and the company is run by a former lawmaker with zero social media, technology, or really business experience at all, rofl. Dude just comes from a family with a farm who hire a lot of undocumented folks to work on their farm.

I agree with you and that’s why you won’t find this stock in any managed 401K plan or other prudential investment portfolios. But speculative investors will trade it like they do other meme stocks and digital assets. It’s not about long term value backed by fundamentals for them.

[Poopymonster]

But like the fundamentals don't exist - they don't report key metrics, they lose money hand over fist each quarter while having basically no revenue to speak of, with the last quarterly report showing $16M in losses against barely $800K in revenue for the quarter. That's not a typo, they didn't even make a million dollars in a quarter.

This would be, generously, a penny stock. 23 & Me arguably has a brighter future than Trump Media does.

They have no plan and the company is run by a former lawmaker with zero social media, technology, or really business experience at all, rofl. Dude just comes from a family with a farm who hire a lot of undocumented folks to work on their farm.

Once it gets out of "utter shite" and up to only "really shitty" that's when the sell off happens.

[Flarelaine]

In some good news at least, it might not actually happen as the requirements seem to be illegal in Oklahoma.

How come buying Bibles for schools with government money is not itself a violation?

[Gorsameth]

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/07/djt-...ler-rally.html

I'm as confused as you are, but apparently Donald's shitty stock gained 11% today off the back of...Leon showing up to a rally?

Not that there is any lack of examples, but this really highlights how fundamentally bullshit stocks and how fundamentally irrational traders are, and is why I continue to laugh that one of the big names in stock trading is a guy who gets paid real money to go on TV and for years hit buttons and pull levers to make cartoon sound effects while frequently screaming at the top of his lungs. A respected member of the financial community.

Feels like the simple explanation is money laundering. Because no remotely half competent stock trader will ever buy a stock that 100% has no value.

[Surfd]

Didn't their Chief Financial Officer just resign like a day or two ago?

[Elegiac]

How come buying Bibles for schools with government money is not itself a violation?

Because the Constitution does not and has never mattered to Christians beyond its utility as a systemic weapon, and the law is presently whatever a Christofascist judiciary says it is.

[Endus]

How come buying Bibles for schools with government money is not itself a violation?

It's worse than this, even.

The superintendent doesn't just want to buy like 50,000 Bibles for secular schools (which is a gross violation of everyone's religious freedoms), he set expectations for the version of the Bible he was willing to buy such that one Christian supplier couldn't find a single edition out of about 2,900 that hit his requirements. The only one that does? The Trump Bible.

This isn't just a Constitutional violation of religious freedoms, it's a way to funnel millions of school board budget directly to Donald Trump's bank account in ways that get around basically all political donation restrictions. It's money laundering.

[Flarelaine]

It's worse than this, even.

The superintendent doesn't just want to buy like 50,000 Bibles for secular schools (which is a gross violation of everyone's religious freedoms), he set expectations for the version of the Bible he was willing to buy such that one Christian supplier couldn't find a single edition out of about 2,900 that hit his requirements. The only one that does? The Trump Bible.

Yeah, I've read the news myself. I understood the grift. But I think worrying about what kind of Bibles he buys with taxpayer money is missing the core problem.

[Breccia]

I think worrying about what kind of Bibles he buys with taxpayer money is missing the core problem.

We are allowed to worry about both. It's like being concerned that teachers are required to carry pistols, then being concerned when teachers are required to carry a specific assault rifle...sorry, "long-barreled large-magazine rapid-fire semi-automatic rifle originally developed for wartime"...made by a specific factory with a government contract. One is bad, one is just that much worse.

[Endus]

We are allowed to worry about both. It's like being concerned that teachers are required to carry pistols, then being concerned when teachers are required to carry a specific assault rifle...sorry, "long-barreled large-magazine rapid-fire semi-automatic rifle originally developed for wartime"...made by a specific factory with a government contract. One is bad, one is just that much worse.

Right. Violating constitutional freedoms to indoctrinate children into a particular religion against their and their parents' will is "bad". But doing so with the goal of simultaneously feeding millions of school board money to a rapist bigot who's running for political office is significantly worse. It's not that the money laundering is "worse" than the indoctrination and violation of religious freedoms, it's that the intent behind this particular effort is not primarily the indoctrination, it's the money laundering. Or they'd be using any Bible, not the Trump Bible specifically.

It's kind of like how rape is a "less bad" crime than murder. But raping someone to death is significantly worse than either crime by itself, right? Debating which aspect is worst is kind of missing the point of the combo deal.

[Breccia]

Speaking of combo meals, something was keeping Trump up late at night.

The the GREAT people of North Carolina are being stood up by Harris and Biden, who are giving almost all of the FEMA money to Illegal Migrants in what is now considered to be the WORST rescue operation in the history of the U.S. On top of that, Billions of Dollars is going to foreign countries!

NORTH CAROLINA HAS BEEN VIRTUALLY ABANDONED BY KAMALA!!! DROP HER LIKE SHE DROPPED YOU - VOTE FOR PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP. MAGA2024!

That's a 3AM posting, right there.

"Yes, but surely his post was based on sound reasoning and objective evidence. Where is Harris?"

Funny story, even FOX News had to admit that Harris was in North Carolina the day before. As per usual...wait, actually, hold on, I think I already did this?

Actually, let's throw this to the audience. @Roneth and @tehdang can you back anything Trump said in a way that holds up better than "refuted by NYTimes citing actual federal law"?

Well one of them hasn't been here since the 4th, so I'll let that slide, but tehdang posted yesterday...sooooooo...

(no dissent noted, therefore, conspiracy theorist)

I gave you three days. This is on you.

"Surely Trump was just tired from watching Harris be on 60 Minutes. You know how he gets when he does nothing but watch TV."

Funny story: 60 Minutes didn't lead with Harris. They led with Trump.

"But he wasn't on."

Exactly.

“60 Minutes” on Monday opened with a detailed account from correspondent Scott Pelley on the lead-up to Trump bailing on the show’s customary interview with presidential candidates before the election.

“It’s been a tradition for more than half a century that the major-party candidates for president sit down with ‘60 Minutes’ in October,” Pelley explained.

Trump’s campaign agreed to record an interview last Thursday at the GOP nominee’s Mar-a-Lago home and there were also discussions about joining Trump during his return over the weekend to Butler, Pennsylvania, where in July there was an attempt on his life, said Pelley.

But “a week ago, Trump backed out,” Pelley recalled. “The campaign offered shifting explanations. First, it complained that we would fact-check the interview. We fact-check every story.”

“Later, Trump said he needed an apology for his interview in 2020,” Pelley continued, referencing the “60 Minutes” sit-down with Lesley Stahl where Trump bristled over a line of questioning and ended up walking out.

“Trump has said his opponent doesn’t do interviews because she can’t handle them. He had previously declined another debate with Harris so tonight may have been the largest audience for the candidates from now until Election Day,” said Pelley.

“Both campaigns understood this special would go ahead if either candidate backed out,” Pelley concluded, cutting to Bill Whitaker’s interview with Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris.

And naturally, not being a complete idiot, Harris joined in.

In Harris’ interview, the vice president called out Trump’s decision not to take part. “If he is not gonna give your viewers the ability to have a meaningful, thoughtful conversation, question and answer with you, then watch his rallies,” she said.

“You’re gonna hear conversations that are about himself and all of his personal grievances,” Harris added. “And what you will not hear is anything about you, the listener. You will not hear about how he is gonna try to bring the country together, find common ground.”

I'd challenge our Trump-supporting honest, genuine posters to cite specific things Trump said at rallies, quoting them verbatim, to challenge that. I'd challenge them, knowing full well they could. Trump does sometimes talk about policy. But at this point, I'm just going to report them as conspiracy theorists, which by refusing to dissent with Trump they automatically are. They have lost every option to be taken seriously I have given them. Dozens. Hundreds? And now they're refusing to comment, which tracks exactly with their fat orange god refusing to debate or give interviews but instead to lie nonstop to shrinking rally sizes.

But it's not just Trump's courage, convictions, or honesty which are below zero. Forbes recently released the results of an investigation which said

One of Donald Trump’s prized properties, the landmark building 40 Wall Street, is 63 stories high but now appears to be underwater. The remaining 35 years on Trump’s leasehold in the Financial District tower is worth about $116 million. That’s $2 million less than the estimated $118 million Trump owes on his mortgage, according to an analysis of loan documents, real-estate records, financial disclosures and appraisals.

The building is simply not earning enough money to cover the loan: 40 Wall Street’s annual net operating income has dropped from about $20.7 million in 2018 to $12.8 million last year, as the building’s occupancy rate plummeted from 94.3% in early 2018 to 73.9% in June, thanks in part to the distressed post-pandemic commercial real estate market.

Not as impactful as if it had been Mar-a-Lago or Trump Tower, but still, anyone claiming Trump is a great businessman is doing so out of willful ignorance.

Trump is a liar, a failure, and a fraud. Not even the people voting for him are willing to defend him anymore.

[Gorsameth]

I dislike the line about Trump not finding common ground and bringing the country together.
The people voting Trump don't care about common ground. They want 'you' to get off their ground.

Rather hammer home the fact he doesn't care about the voter, only himself

[Edge-]

https://apnews.com/article/oklahoma-...36913783c4fe7b

Oklahoma has amended its request for 55,000 Bibles to be placed in public schools that initially matched a version of the holy book endorsed by former President Donald Trump.

The request was amended Monday and no longer requires the Bibles to include U.S. historical documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution — requirements that match the “God Bless the USA Bible” that Trump endorsed this year and that are several times more expensive than similar Bibles that don’t include the U.S. documents.

Oh no, people noticed the transparent grift!

- - - Updated - - -

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...estigation-fbi

The Trump administration protected Brett Kavanaugh from facing a full FBI investigation in the wake of serious allegations that he sexually assaulted two women – once in high school and once in college – during his controversial 2018 Senate confirmation to become a supreme court justice, according to a new report.

An investigation led by the Democratic senator Sheldon Whitehouse also found that both the Trump White House and the FBI “misled the public and the Senate” about the scope of the investigation it did conduct into the sexual assault allegations by falsely claiming that the FBI had conducted its investigation thoroughly and “by the book”.

Kavanaugh’s confirmation by the Senate seemed to be in doubt after Christine Blasey Ford, a professor at Palo Alto University, alleged he had sexually assaulted her while the two were in high school. A classmate at Yale, named Deborah Ramirez, alleged in a report published by the New Yorker that Kavanaugh had exposed himself at a drunken dormitory party. Kavanaugh denied both allegations.

The Senate judiciary committee agreed after Ford publicly testified about her allegations that the FBI conduct a supplemental background check to examine those allegations before the full Senate voted on his nomination.

In the aftermath of Kavanaugh’s ultimate confirmation by the Senate, in a 50-48 vote, Whitehouse and his staff set out on a six-year investigation to try to find answers about how the FBI conducted its investigation.

The investigation was hampered, Whitehouse said, by executive branch delays, reluctance to answer even basic questions, and often incomplete answers.

“In 2018, I pledged to Christine Blasey Ford that I’d keep digging, for however long it took, and not give up or move on from Senate Republicans and the Trump White House’s shameful confirmation process for Justice Kavanaugh,” Whitehouse said.

“This report shows that the supplemental background investigation was a sham, controlled by the Trump White House, to give political cover to Senate Republicans and put Justice Kavanaugh back on the political track to confirmation.”

The findings are significant because at least eight senators cited the FBI’s findings – that “no corroborating evidence” had been found to back up the allegations against Kavanaugh – when they voted to confirm the justice. They include the then majority leader, Mitch McConnell, Shelley Moore Capito, former senator Jeff Flake and Bob Corker, Chuck Grassley and Susan Collins.

In reality, the Whitehouse report claims the FBI’s limited supplemental background investigation involved only a “handful” of interviews of relevant witnesses, and ignored other potential sources, including Kavanaugh himself, Ford, or others who had offered to give the FBI corroborating or otherwise relevant information.

Ford was not interviewed, the report said, even though her attorney repeatedly contacted the FBI directly to request the FBI interview her.

A lawyer for Ramirez provided lists of suggested witnesses to the FBI, including a list of 20 additional witnesses likely to have relevant information who Ramirez suspected could corroborate her account.

In one case, a former classmate of Kavanaugh at Yale named Max Stier sought to come forward to report that he had once witnessed Kavanaugh with his pants down at a drunken party, and that his friends pushed the future justice’s penis into the hands of a female student.

The alleged incident was separate from others that became public during the investigation but bore similarities to the allegations made by Ramirez. Stier notified the Senate and the FBI about his account, according to media reports, but the matter was never investigated by the FBI.

The FBI director, Christopher Wray, was even personally notified by Senator Chris Coons of Delaware about Stier’s account but he was never contacted.

Stier, who runs a non-profit in Washington, has declined to discuss the matter with the Guardian. He is married to Florence Pan, who serves as a circuit judge on the US court of appeals, a post formerly held by the supreme court justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

The FBI also declined to pursue information it received through the agency’s tip line. The tips were forwarded directly to the White House.

Eyy, look at that - the Kavanaugh FBI investigation was a sham and Donald's administration ensured it was a sham.

Kavanaugh is a very likely sexual assaulter, now sitting on the SCOTUS because Republicans have made it clear that they have zero issues with men who sexually assault or rape women. I mean, the leader of their party and current presidential candidate has both bragged about committing sexual assault publicly and been found liable of sexual assault in civil court.

[Breccia]

the Kavanaugh FBI investigation was a sham and Donald's administration ensured it was a sham.

Well, his term won't be renewed.

Oh. Right.

Yeah, when people like Trump say they're not into Project 2025, it's easy to point at this and say "Yes, you clearly are."

[Edge-]

https://www.propublica.org/article/t...ed-devin-nunes

Former President Donald Trump’s media company has forced out executives in recent days after internal allegations that its CEO, former Rep. Devin Nunes, is mismanaging the company, according to interviews and records of communications among former employees.

Several people involved with Trump Media believe the ousters are retaliation following what they describe as an anonymous “whistleblower” complaint regarding Nunes that went to the company’s board of directors.

The chief operating officer and chief product officer have left the company, along with at least two lower-level staffers, according to interviews, social media posts and communications between former staffers reviewed by ProPublica. The company, which runs the social media platform Truth Social, disclosed the departure of the chief operating officer in a securities filing Thursday afternoon.

ProPublica has not seen the whistleblower complaint. But several people with knowledge of the company said the concerns revolve around alleged mismanagement by Nunes. One person said they include allegations of misuse of funds, hiring of foreign contractors and interfering with product development.

Wait...the guy who's never run a company, much less a tech or social media company, might be mismanaging a social media company he was installed to "run"?

In a statement, a spokesperson for Trump Media did not answer specific questions but said that ProPublica’s inquiry to the company “utterly fabricates implications of improper and even illegal conduct that have no basis in reality.”

“This story is the fifth consecutive piece in an increasingly absurd campaign by ProPublica, likely at the behest of political interest groups, to damage TMTG based on false and defamatory allegations and vague innuendo,” the statement said, adding that “TMTG strictly adheres to all laws and applicable regulations.”

Ok, so it absolutely, 100%, definitely happened, whatever it is.

Nunes was named CEO of the company in 2021, with Trump hailing him as “a fighter and a leader” who “will make an excellent CEO.” As a member of Congress, Nunes was known as one of Trump’s staunchest loyalists.

After the internal allegations about Nunes were made at Trump Media, the company enlisted a lawyer to investigate and interview staffers, according to a person with knowledge of the company.

Then, last week, some employees who were interviewed by the lawyer were notified they were being pushed out, the person said. The employees being pushed out include a human relations director and a product designer, along with Chief Operating Officer Andrew Northwall and Chief Product Officer Sandro De Moraes. The person with knowledge of the company said Trump Media asked the employees to sign an agreement pledging not to make public claims of wrongdoing against the company in exchange for severance.

On Thursday afternoon, Northwall posted on Truth Social announcing he had “decided to resign from my role at Trump Media,” adding that he was “incredibly grateful” to Trump and Nunes “for this opportunity.”

Lots of company leadership all "quitting' at once is not a positive sign.

Among Nunes’ moves as CEO, as ProPublica has reported, was inking a large streaming TV deal with several obscure firms, including one controlled by a major political donor. He also traveled to the Balkans over the summer and met with the prime minister of North Macedonia, a trip whose purpose was never publicly explained by the company.

Yep, nothing sketch about that, either.

[Breccia]

Rudy Giuliani’s son says dad gifted him 4 World Series rings sought by Georgia election workers

Imagine how much of a loathsome human being you'd have to be, to not just make a knowingly fake claim that other people rigged the election while you were rigging the election, but to use your own son to get out of the consequences of your actions demanded by a judge and jury of your peers.

Andrew Giuliani, who was unsuccessful in a 2022 Republican bid for New York governor, said in papers filed Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan that his father gave him four World Series rings as a gift in 2018. He added that he and his father agreed that the elder Giuliani would temporarily keep one of the rings to wear around.

Rudy Giuliani received the rings — one for each of the Yankees’ championships in 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000 — during his terms as mayor of New York City in those years. In filings in a failed bankruptcy attempt this year, Rudy Giuliani listed three World Series rings as personal property as part of an estimated $30,000 jewelry collection that also includes expensive watches.

$30,000 total? I looked around at various past auctions, and while I'm no expert as to which World Series was worth more money, the rings selling for $10,000 and up is pretty damn common. Meaning, due to the watches, Giuliani was likely lying about their value. Which is what I would do, if I was either trying to claim I was broke, or giving something away without alerting the IRS.

In an effort to collect on the judgment, Freeman and Moss are now asking a federal judge in New York to award them Rudy Giuliani’s Manhattan apartment, World Series rings and other property. Andrew Giuliani’s new court filings asked that he be allowed to intervene in that case to make his claim on the rings, and a judge approved the request Wednesday.

In his filings, Andrew Giuliani says his father gave him the rings in May 2018 after a 74th birthday celebration for the elder Giuliani in New York.

“He said to me, in substance and in part, ‘I told you when I got these that they would be yours someday, and I want to give them to you now,’” the filings said. “As a child and young adult, I had spent many nights with my father watching Yankees games and bonding over our love for the team, and I was excited about receiving the rings.”

"Doesn't the article say Giuliani listed them as his assets in this year?"

Yes.

"After the supposed gift, in 2018, and therefore not this year?"

Yes.

"And Giuliani, legally trained even if not a lawyer because he was disbarred, did so willingly under oath?"

Yes.

"Why didn't Giuliani's son say something during the bankruptcy? If, you know, his father was telling other people to give away his stuff."

Probably because this claim is horseshit.

"Does Giuliani's son have anything to offer as evidence that would, you know, overrule that Giuliani said they were still his?"

Andrew Giuliani also submitted to the court a photo of him and his wife holding cases containing two of the rings while posing with his father on the night he said he received them as gifts.

"...and?"

That's it.

You know who hasn't had a really good belly-laugh in a while? @cubby who I'm guessing will comment on what appears to my untrained eyes to be a desperate, evidence-less, paper-trail-less plea based on nothing but trying to evade suffering consequences for his actions.

[PhaelixWW]

Now we have Legal Eagle's coverage of the first unsealed brief in the January 6th case.



The supplemental brief was due today, so we may see the judge unseal that one tomorrow, as well.

[Poopymonster]

Now we have Legal Eagle's coverage of the first unsealed brief in the January 6th case.



The supplemental brief was due today, so we may see the judge unseal that one tomorrow, as well.

Devin workin overtime for us, and more is on the horizon.