Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Belize]

Hey look who got arrested

https://www.baynews9.com/fl/tampa/ap...raising-scheme

It's surprising how someone who makes so much money scamming others can look so homeless.

Seriously, Bannon needs a bath.

[Breccia]

I always thought that Bannon was the smart guy in the Trump admin but if this is proven true he is just as stupid as everybody else.

Well, hold on. I don't offer this praise easily, but let's look at the facts: Bannon supported the Conmander In Chief and pushed Trump's policies as hard as they would go. He ran Trump's campaign. And he saw Trump give out pardons and effective pardons to other deplorables. Wouldn't it technically be intelligent to look at this and say "Man, this is a really good time to sneak in a few extra dollars, like everyone else in the White House, while I'm protected on high"?

Let's face it, Trump pardoning Bannon wouldn't even crack his top 100 craziest things done. Is anyone here not expecting a pardonstorm on Trump's last days?

[Milchshake]

Ah story is just breaking.
Guessing that Bannon's Europe project was a bit more expensive and that every little bit helped.

I always thought that Bannon was the smart guy in the Trump admin but if this is proven true he is just as stupid as everybody else.
I mean come on going for fundraising fraud doesn't seem to hard if you consider that Trump has gotten away with it. Sure Trump's charity got closed down etc. etc. but nobody got arrested.

Who wants to play Bingo for GOP Grifters?

• Build the Wall PAC that Steve Bannon was just arrested for - chairman
• Kris Kobach - the general counsel
• Erik Prince - advisory board member
• former CO congressman Tom Tancredo - advisory board member
• Sheriff Dave Clarke - advisory board member
• former pitcher Curt Schilling - advisory board member

GOP is the new Mafia

[Ripster42]

Hey look who got arrested

https://www.baynews9.com/fl/tampa/ap...raising-scheme

This administration is a clown show. Also on the advisory board: eric prince. Weird how that guy keeps showing up around felonies all the time, has been referred to DoJ for prosecution by both chambers of the legislature, and still has no charges.

[Breccia]

Let's add to the list of college woes. UConn caught some students holding a non-sanctioned party with no masks or social distancing.

The students have been thrown off campus.

"Oh, how many of them tested positive?"

I mean, it just happened, so in theory zero. That's not the point. UConn is proving they're not fucking around with this.

- - - Updated - - -

We have more information about the Trump subpoena thing.

A federal judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit from President Trump that sought to block Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance's subpoena for his financial records.

The Supreme Court ruled last month that presidents are not immune from investigation, denying Trump the sweeping grant of presidential power he had asked for. The court gave Vance the right to access records from Trump's financial institutions as part of a criminal investigation, but sent the case back down to the lower courts so that Trump's lawyers could continue to fight the subpoena.

In a disclosure earlier this month, the DA's office suggested for the first time that it's investigating Trump and his company for "alleged bank and insurance fraud."

The filing pointed to media reports about "possibly extensive and protracted criminal conduct at the Trump Organization" to support Vance's argument about the legitimacy of the subpoena, which Trump's lawyers had argued was over-broad and issued in bad faith.

Previously, Vance was only thought to be investigating hush money payments that Trump made to women he allegedly had affairs with through his former personal attorney Michael Cohen.

U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero, who had previously rebuked Trump's claims of "absolute immunity" in a ruling prior to the Supreme Court case, again skewered the case argued by the president's lawyers as "perilous to the rule of law."

"They declared that under their theory of temporary absolute immunity, even if the President (presumably any president) while in office were to shoot a person in the middle of New York’s Fifth Avenue, he or she would be shielded from law enforcement investigations and judicial proceedings of any kind, federal or state, until the expiration of the President’s term," Marrero wrote.

"As this Court suggested in its earlier ruling in this litigation, that notion, applied as so robustly proclaimed by the President’s advocates, is as unprecedented and far-reaching as it is perilous to the rule of law and other bedrock constitutional principles on which this country was founded and by which it continues to be governed."

Trump's lawyers will appeal the ruling, according to Bloomberg.

Basically, the case isn't over, but Trump's claims of absolute immunity have been absolutely rejected. It also needs to be said NYState is going after pre-President Trump anyhow. Trump is going to have to find a way to block the subpoena on the merits of the case. Considering his history, the crimes he's accused of, and the testimony of an informed expert witness, I don't think that's going to be easy.

[kaid]

Ah story is just breaking.
Guessing that Bannon's Europe project was a bit more expensive and that every little bit helped.

I always thought that Bannon was the smart guy in the Trump admin but if this is proven true he is just as stupid as everybody else.
I mean come on going for fundraising fraud doesn't seem to hard if you consider that Trump has gotten away with it. Sure Trump's charity got closed down etc. etc. but nobody got arrested.

From the sounds of it he was straight up embezzling so that should be pretty open and shut.

[Paranoid Android]

Who wants to play Bingo for GOP Grifters?

• Build the Wall PAC that Steve Bannon was just arrested for - chairman
• Kris Kobach - the general counsel
• Erik Prince - advisory board member
• former CO congressman Tom Tancredo - advisory board member
• Sheriff Dave Clarke - advisory board member
• former pitcher Curt Schilling - advisory board member

GOP is the new Mafia

It's easy money!! I'm telling you when you preach that much fear and hate into people they will give you their money for free.

I'm not even the person who claims Democrats are angels, but the conman know that these Republicans are easy marks. Again, if I give Trump any credit he saw an easy con and ran for office on preaching hate, bigotry and racism. He won and he will line his pockets from tax payers and all the donations he get.

We all know the wall is the dumbest effin concept to help stop people crossing illegally. Yet, if he can con some schmuck out of his life saving saying this 1 foot of wall will keep some person, who likely is being employed by a job you don't want or the truth that it is on the employers who choose to hire people illegally instead of paying a decent wage to an American. This is the greatest Con of the all. Convincing enough rube Americans that it people who have no influence at all that they are the ones taking the jobs. Not the rich or politicians sending jobs over seas or automation.

[Levelfive]

It's easy money!! I'm telling you when you preach that much fear and hate into people they will give you their money for free.

I'm not even the person who claims Democrats are angels, but the conman know that these Republicans are easy marks. Again, if I give Trump any credit he saw an easy con and ran for office on preaching hate, bigotry and racism. He won and he will line his pockets from tax payers and all the donations he get.

We all know the wall is the dumbest effin concept to help stop people crossing illegally. Yet, if he can con some schmuck out of his life saving saying this 1 foot of wall will keep some person, who likely is being employed by a job you don't want or the truth that it is on the employers who choose to hire people illegally instead of paying a decent wage to an American. This is the greatest Con of the all. Convincing enough rube Americans that it people who have no influence at all that they are the ones taking the jobs. Not the rich or politicians sending jobs over seas or automation.

I couldn't agree more. It's from the same FOX / right-wing propaganda machine that convinced unusually credulous voters that it's perfectly reasonable to think scientists, institutions, Democrats, all media besides them, and their own eyes are part of a vast conspiracy of lies in order to believe and explain Donald Trump, who lies the way the rest of us breathe; who convinced them that research scientists in academia had a profit motive for climate change but not scientists who work in a gojillion dollar industry, to maximize energy industry profits; that poor people were cheating the system but not rich people, in order to keep people's focus off of the rich absconding with the nation's treasure; that demonized kids who had survived a school shooting so they could protect the NRA's profits rolling in to all the right people; that BLM and "antifa" are terrorist organizations while it's MAGAts and LE racking up the body counts, in order to protect the status quo and a private prison system that is literally using slave labor; that undocumented immigrants (or brown immigrants of any status) are the problem while people like Donald Trump are all too happy to hire them and exploit their labor, in order to maximize profits; that Democratic programs for the poor are a nefarious political plot to secure their votes--because poor people have all the political power, amirite, particularly in a union-busted, post-Citizens United world--in order to keep Republican rubes who benefit the most from them voting for people who wouldn't spit on them if they were on fire. And on and on and on. And you would think if they thought critically about any of it for 5 seconds, they'd realize they've been getting scammed and fleeced by Republicans for the last 50ish years, but I guess that's hard to process when there's a chance to own the libs.

ETA: https://twitter.com/lasteve423/statu...040830976?s=20

[Felya]

I always thought that Bannon was the smart guy in the Trump admin but if this is proven true he is just as stupid as everybody else.

He ran a gold selling company in WoW, then used the xenophobia of WoW players bitching about Chines gold sellers, as he counted the money... as his literal strategy to get Trump elected. Never forget!!! Fucking gold sellers...

[Levelfive]

He ran a gold selling company in WoW, then used the xenophobia of WoW players bitching about Chines gold sellers, as he counted the money... as his literal strategy to get Trump elected. Never forget!!! Fucking gold sellers...

Didn't he say something like that's how he realized gamers are a particularly activate-able group?

[Breccia]

He ran a gold selling company in WoW

Burn him at the stake.

On topic: those who follow the Federal Reserve note hints that the Fed will, yes, continue stimulating the economy, because the economy still needs it and that's their job.

More liquidity from the Fed could mean more gains for stock and bond prices and further erosion of the dollar.

The Fed has tapered off its quantitative easing bond-buying program and additions to its balance sheet in recent months as credit markets have smoothed and the S&P 500 has risen back to record highs.

But worries about a languishing economy, a lack of action from Congress and rising long-dated bond yields could spur action.

"Noting the increase in uncertainty about the economic outlook over the intermeeting period, several participants suggested that additional accommodation could be required," the minutes noted.

The Fed's staff also warned "that a more pessimistic projection was no less plausible than the baseline forecast."

Analysts at TD Securities said they "continue to expect the Fed to ease in September."

"The Fed's failure to pre-commit left markets disappointed today, but we don't think easing has been ruled out."

"We believe that forward guidance will be strengthened and QE purchases will occur in the long end."

I have zero problems with a federal program doing their job and helping when required. That's kind of the point. But it does rather punch a massively obese hole in Trump's "the economy is bigly" argument, if the Fed is continuing to bail out the stock market in late August or September.

[Felya]

Didn't he say something like that's how he realized gamers are a particularly activate-able group?

Young, angry, white men... to be specific... but, yes... Basically, he saw an environment in which social norms about xenophobia were broken. His strategy was to recreate barrens chat, as US politics. Check Trump’s twitter or QAnon popularity and tell me it didn’t work...

[Thepersona]

Didn't he say something like that's how he realized gamers are a particularly activate-able group?

I mean, a lot of gamers have depression, unhappy (sexless) lifes, and hidden anger at the world?
That's a hell of a concoction.

- - - Updated - - -

Young, angry, white men... to be specific... but, yes... Basically, he saw an environment in which social norms about xenophobia were broken. His strategy was to recreate barrens chat, as US politics. Check Trump’s twitter or QAnon popularity and tell me it didn’t work...

I'd love to see anal theory, blessed blade of the windseeker in the Qanon circles, tbh

[Levelfive]

I'd love to see anal theory, blessed blade of the windseeker in the Qanon circles, tbh

Dude. Same.

[masterhorus8]

We have more information about the Trump subpoena thing.



Basically, the case isn't over, but Trump's claims of absolute immunity have been absolutely rejected. It also needs to be said NYState is going after pre-President Trump anyhow. Trump is going to have to find a way to block the subpoena on the merits of the case. Considering his history, the crimes he's accused of, and the testimony of an informed expert witness, I don't think that's going to be easy.

Wait, so Trump's lawyers are going to appeal the rejection of their appeal?

[Breccia]

Wait, so Trump's lawyers are going to appeal the rejection of their appeal?

You can't be surprised. They need to stall this as long as they can. It's late August. It's no longer realistic to just deal with the fallout of Trump committing fraud and hoping to change the narrative afterwards. Therefore, their only hope is to take then-candidate Trump's felonies, which again we have a willing expert witness about, and push off their discovery until after the election.

I'm no law expert, note ven close, but I suspect the idea is to push this all the way to the Trump-stacked SCOTUS where judges Trump picked agree that Trump does, in fact, have absolute immunity. Anyone watching SCOTUS for the last month or so know that's a long shot, but each delay is a gift to them. The very real risk here is that NYState prosecutors just happen to find objective evidence that Trump is a serial felon, right around the time Trump extorts information from Ukraine suggesting Hunter Biden might have jaywalked or something, neutering Trump's offensive without simply saying "Um, you put your children in the White House after they failed security checks, you don't get to claim other people give their kids favoritism".

[Edge-]

On the Bannon thing...

MAN TRUMP SURE DOES SEEM TO SURROUND HIMSELF WITH A BUNCH OF FOLKS THAT GET IN TROUBLE FOR BEING CRIMINALS AT SOME POINT, THAT'S REALLY FUCKING WEIRD AND I DON'T KNOW WHY

I will share this one amusing bit of information though - https://twitter.com/margbrennan/stat...45655699918857

From CBS' Pat Milton: Steve Bannon was taken into custody today by US Postal Service agents. He's expected to be arraigned today before a US magistrate. @SDNYnews alleges he had a role in defrauding donors as part of an online crowdfunding campaign known as “We Build the Wall"

USPS saves the day. Again.

[Paranoid Android]

He ran a gold selling company in WoW, then used the xenophobia of WoW players bitching about Chines gold sellers, as he counted the money... as his literal strategy to get Trump elected. Never forget!!! Fucking gold sellers...

Yes! Yes! Yes! I remember posting a article when Bannon became popular. We actually tied MMO-C and politics together!

As you stated below there was a nefarious ( Neferian anyone?) behind him seeing what Wow player are and how focused they can become. Most definitely there was a certain demographic. Sorry Trumpkins it's true.

Then let's also point out the 'at-globalist' Steve Bannon using Chinese labor to farm the gold.

Have I ever mentioned you have been conned Trumpkins?

[Breccia]

In a turn of events that surprises nobody, Trump has already been asked about Bannon's arrest. Trump said he feels badly for the guy -- probably because Bannon likes him so much, just like Trump's support for QAnon -- but knows nothing about the project.

For no reason at all, I will now cite this July 12 article.

President Donald Trump complained via Twitter on Sunday that a privately constructed border wall in Texas was a bad idea and poorly done — not mentioning that his administration has awarded the builder a $1.7 billion contract to build more walls.

With the backing of Trump supporters, Tommy Fisher built a 3-mile border fence along the Rio Grande, calling it the “Lamborghini” of fences. But just months after completion of his showcase piece directly on the banks of the river, there are signs of erosion along and under the fence that threatens its stability and could cause it to topple into the river if not fixed, experts told ProPublica and The Texas Tribune.

“I disagreed with doing this very small (tiny) section of wall, in a tricky area, by a private group which raised money by ads. It was only done to make me look bad, and perhsps it now doesn’t even work. Should have been built like rest of Wall, 500 plus miles,” Trump tweeted with a typo in reaction to the news organizations’ report about the wall.

Trump’s tweet, however, is belied by actions his administration has taken to support the wall’s builder.

The administration gave Fisher the billion-dollar contract in May to build additional stretches of the wall in Arizona, despite a lawsuit around the South Texas project and an ongoing audit by the Pentagon’s inspector general of a previous border wall contract that is looking into possible “inappropriate influence.”

On Sunday, the congressman who called for the audit responded to the president’s tweet.

"The President isn’t telling the truth again. The Administration has awarded huge contracts to the same company, which is under Federal investigation, that built this fence,” Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., wrote in an email. “His Administration has also entertained outsourcing to private firms to get more mileage done before the election at the expense of proper oversight. There is no reason for construction to continue during a pandemic."

The Army Corps of Engineers has said Fisher won the federal contract to build a segment of the border fence in Arizona because it was the lowest bid.

U.S. Attorney Ryan Patrick of the Southern District of Texas called the private wall a “vanity project’ and a “scam.”

His office sued Fisher Sand and Gravel, its subsidiaries, and We Build the Wall on behalf of the International Boundary and Water Commission, to stop it from building the fence until it submitted a detailed engineering study to determine its impact on the flow of the Rio Grande and nearby properties. The commission is a binational body that regulates development in the floodplain between the U.S. and Mexico to ensure boundary treaties aren’t violated.

Wait a minute, that can't be right! Trump said he didn't know anything about the project, but he spoke up about it -- negatively in fact -- July 12.

Well Trump supporters, you have 24 hours to explain this gap. Did Trump know about the project, as he said July 12, or not, as he said today? Did he forget about it, part of his biggest campaign promise -- the ones people cosplayed as -- in a month and change? Please explain how Trump can say he knew about the project enough to disagree with it (and cite their revenue source) July 12, but now knows nothing about it. Pehaps if you make an honest attempt at this, I might even deem you a genuine enough poster to answer one of your challenges, even retroactively. If not, once again, I get to answer for you, and you admit your cowardice by refusing to answer.

That's the best you're going to get. Maybe this would be easier if you hadn't packed an objectively lying loser.

Here's Trump describing Steve Bannon as something akin to a coffee boy

United-Ninja'd!

[Levelfive]

Welp: https://www.nationalreview.com/news/...trumps-pardon/

"The Susan B. Anthony Museum and House has rejected President Donald Trump’s pardon, arguing that the move would go against the late women’s suffrage leader’s wishes.

“On news of a presidential pardon for Susan B. Anthony on August 18, 2020: Objection! Mr. President, Susan B. Anthony must decline your offer of a pardon today!” the museum tweeted.

Trump pardoned Anthony, who was arrested and charged in 1872 for voting illegally as a woman, on Tuesday, the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote.

The museum said Anthony thought her trial was “the greatest outrage History ever witnessed” as she was not allowed to speak in her own defense, because she was a woman, and also because the judge dismissed the jury in her case before pronouncing her guilty and ordering her to pay a fine.

The museum tweeted, “She was outraged to be denied a trial by jury. She proclaimed, ‘I shall never pay a dollar of your unjust penalty.’”

“To pay would have been to validate the proceedings. To pardon Susan B. Anthony does the same,” it continued.

Some elected officials and historians echoed the museum’s criticisms and have called on Trump to rescind his pardon.

New York Lt. governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, said Anthony was “guilty of nothing” during a press conference outside the museum on Tuesday.

“I was deeply troubled to learn that Trump went ahead and treated her like a criminal,” Hochul said. “She was proud of her arrest to draw attention to the cause for women’s rights, and never paid her fine. Let her Rest in Peace.”

The Democratic mayor of Rochester, where the museum is based, also said that the pardon would go against Anthony’s wishes and called on Trump to take back his action.

The museum proposed instead, ““if one wants to honor Susan B. Anthony today, a clear stance against any form of voter suppression would be welcome.”

“Support for the Equal Rights Amendment would be well received,” it continued. “Advocacy for human rights for all would be splendid.”

“Anthony was also a strong proponent of sex education, fair labor practices, excellent public education, equal pay for equal work, and elimination of all forms of discrimination,” the museum said."