Month: September 2022

Putin’s Pushback: The one-two punch

by Dave

The news media covers the world 24/7. Sure, cable news has been saturated with Hurricane Ian for good reason. The destroyed homes, boats, roads and bridges both in the Florida and Cuba resembles war. But, rescue and recovery efforts are beginning right now.

There’s been some excellent reporting and commentary on the referendums which I call Putin’s one-two punch. Putin is attempting to legitimize the invasion by holding sham referendums as reported by CNBC news:

“The referendums, widely described as a “sham” by the international community, are seen as having created a pretext for Russia to annex the occupied Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions in the south and pro-Russian, separatist “republics” in Luhansk and Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. The regions amount to around 15% of Ukraine’s territory.”

Putin’s one-two punch is designed to legitimize an invasion. From the beginning, Putin claimed Ukraine belonged to Russia. By holding these fake referendums, he will claim that the people of the region have decided to be part of Russia. So, Punch 1, The formal annexation and recognition of new boundaries of Russia that includes these regions. Punch 2: Putin will claim it is being attacked by NATO, as it arms Ukrainian fighters to invade Russia. It is all nonsense, but the lies are consistent.

See CNBC link: Fake referendums in occupied Ukraine set the stage for annexation — and immense danger for Ukraine

Please see the map in this link. The annexation redraws the eastern boundary of Ukraine all the way from Luhansk to Crimea. Of course, what Putin wants in Russia, Putin gets, so the legislature will rapidly approve of annexation. With the 1-2 Punch, the invaders become the victims of invasion. Poor mother Russia.

Nobody outside of Russia is really fooled. But Putin’s threat of introducing nuclear weapons is super-scary. The CNN post, provided below, is excellent, as it calls “Putin’s new land grab” a very dangerous step, in changing Russian borders, to suit Putin. I don’t like Congress to run foreign policy, but in this case I support the Graham-Blumenthal draft resolution, to cut off relations with any country which recognizes the annexed territories.

See CNN link: Putin’s new land grab is dangerous for Ukraine – and the world

Who would support annexation? North Korea, Chechnya and Belarus are likely. Iran? I just don’t think so. Syria – maybe. Just countries whose autocratic leaders have demonized the “Western Powers” as they loot and ruin their own countries.

Putin has done this before, to turn his invading army into simply protecting Russian nationals. Crimea and Chechnya are excellent examples. It is a tactic Hitler used in early stages of World War II, claiming his invading army was actually liberating the neighboring countries from oppressive regimes and protecting German citizens who lived there. So Putin is pulling out a tactic from Hitler’s playbook. Austria was the first country to be annexed by force in 1938, and it took seven years and millions of lives lost for it to regain its sovereignty.

This is far more than I intended to write. I wish I could say how all this ends, but every day, there are immense positives and negatives. I use the metaphor, 1-2 punch from boxing, because it is supposed to knock someone out quickly. Not going to happen in this case. Ukraine’s resistance to the invasion has been phenomenal. All I can say, at this point, no quick end is in sight.

Please read the excellent two articles.

Stay tuned,

Dave

Trump Finance and Documents Lawsuits

by Dave

This is just a quick update.

Finance Civil Lawsuit, September 21, 2022. NY Attorney General Letitia James filed a civil lawsuit against Donald Trump and his three children (Eric, Ivanka and Donald, Jr) alleging a long series of highly inflated estimates of the asset values of properties owned by the Trump Organization. The inflated estimates were used to in general to obtain loans. Other false estimates were provided to insurance companies to show the Trump organization had sufficient asset to guarantee repayment of the loans. The AG explained the basis of the charges at a press conference on September 21, 2022.

The lawsuit is provided below.

NY AG _Financial ComplaintDownload

As many excellent summaries of the civil lawsuit have been posted on the internet, I will not summarize the complaint, except to say it is 222 pages long, with 838 numbered paragraphs. I note the complaint provided below, is user friendly, as one can click on any of the items in the table of contents, and it will go directly to the specific paragraph. Page 213 is the “Prayer for Relief” which is way the Attorney General would like to rule against defendants. This is all up to the courts.

According to Politico:

“James’ suit relies on a special statute for repeat instances of alleged violations of the law, stemming from real estate transactions. She is also filing a criminal referral to federal prosecutors in Manhattan and a separate tax fraud referral to the IRS for the same underlying allegations.”

See Link: Trump, company and family members sued by New York AG over alleged fraud scheme

The legal pundits have indicated that it may be more than a year before this goes to trial. With so many alleged violations, if this is a trial by jury, it will be a brutal ordeal for jurors. And the criminal investigations will continue, and these can result in jail sentences for Donald Trump and gang.

In the meantime, I wonder if anyone would loan money to Trump?

The Mar-a-Lago Documents case

The Appellate Court moved at lightening speed to allow DOJ access to 100 classified documents. It is likely that Trump’s lawyer will ask the full panel of the Appellate Court to review the decision and stay the decision of the 3-judge panel while under appeal. I think this will happen quickly.

Stay tuned,

Dave

Trump Investigations

by Dave

Just as I completed my list, a couple additional Congressional investigations appear to be starting. Congress can investigate wrong doing, but they can’t prosecute people. They can refer potential criminal actions to the Justice Department for further investigation and determination if a crime has been committed.

The list below does not include the deleted text messages from Secret Service agent’s cell phones on January 6. It does not include a pressure campaign by the Justice Department to go after Trump’s enemies including John Kerry. The allegation is very serious, as the Department of Justice has to be non-partisan in its investigations.

The list is compiled based on several websites. I particularly like a website called grid.news which seems to keep up with events. See link: Trump investigation tracker. To keep this as brief as possible, I have included only a few details and the most recent news on the cases. Please refer to the above link for more information.

Right now the Mar-a-Lago Documents case is getting the most air time. Soon, media attention will focus on the January 6 House Committee investigation, which seems to have many subplots.

Mar-a-Lago Documents case (Criminal). The DOJ has informed the court that one of the possible Special Masters proposed by Trump’s lawyers is acceptable to the DOJ. DOJ asks that only non-classified document be examined. Other issues on the scope and payment of the Special Master remain.

Trump’s tax returns to be submitted to House Ways and Means Committee (Fact Finding). Trump lost in Appellate Court on August 18, 2022 and asked for a review by full court. If this fails, Trump indicated that he will seek a review by the US Supreme Court, In my opinion, the Supreme Court will not take up this case.

NY Attorney General and Manhattan DA Office, Trump’s organization business fraud (Criminal/Civil). This case began as a civil lawsuit, but now criminal charges are likely are likely as well. The matter could go to trial in October. The matter was brought by Attorney General Leititia James and has withstood challenges from Donald Trump.

On May 18, 2021, the NY Attorney General’s spokesperson stated:

“We have informed the Trump Organization that our investigation into the organization is no longer purely civil in nature. We are now actively investigating the Trump Organizations in a criminal capacity, along with the Manhattan DA.” So it does sound like two trials, one for civil violations and another for criminal ones. This case is “People v Trump org.”

This is the case which compelled Trump to answer questions, and after losing the appeal, Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment rights 440 times in August 2022:

Trump took Fifth Amendment more than 440 times in refusing to answer New York attorney general’s questions

The case “People v Trump Organization” will hopefully be heard in Court sometime later this year.

Georgia Election Interference Case (Criminal). For those who relish Donald Trump to spend time locked up, this could be the case. Hopefully, the evidence will put Trump at the center of the “Stop the Steal” movement and include the recorded phone call of Trump pressing Georgia officials to find 11,000 votes.

See link: 5 things to know about the special grand jury investigating former President Trump and his allies

January 6 House Committee (Investigative, fact finding). Public hearings to resume in September. Committee can not charge Trump or anyone else with crimes. But, the evidence so far presented is pretty damning that Trump encourage the violence on the Capital, and was very slow to take any action to prevent injury and loss of life to the Capital police.

I am hoping that more attention is put on the massive fund raising rallies Trump organized, to encourage his followers to take action to reject the election results. The submission of “fake electors” is likely to be part of the hearings, but I think the DOJ probe is already covered as a criminal matter.

January 6 Department of Justice Jan 6 investigation (Criminal). AG Merrick Garland has kept a tight lid on this investigation. “We do not comment on ongoing investigations” is often repeated by the Attorney General in response to questions and it is really for good reasons, as he builds a case against those who broke the law. Everything ultimately will be out in the open once charges are brought.

The very latest news is that over 30 subpoena have been issued by the Grand Jury investigating January 6 activities. The CBS report states: “The Justice Department is examining how money was raised and spent on alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election; efforts to submit fake “alternate” electors to Congress from states lost by Trump; and the “Stop The Steal” rally held at the Ellipse, adjacent to White House grounds, on Jan. 6, just before the Capitol riot.”

There are two grand juries hearing evidence from prosecutors. These proceedings are supposed to be secret. So, I suggest it is best to wait for actual indictments at this point. It may be next year before this happens.

Trump’s associates keep on being charged and in some cases, convicted. The former White House Chief Strategist, Steve Bannon was found guilty of refusing to comply with a Congressional subpoena and his conviction is under appeal. Bannon will be back in state court, after being charged with defrauding his contributors in the “Build the Wall” fund, which funneled money to himself. Stay tuned for coming attractions. Trump’s pardon let the federal charges be dropped, but it was refiled as a state fraud case.

Bannon’s spin is the big THEY are trying to shut him up, which now is getting a bit tiring. The idea of Bannon as being a leader against the Washington elites, becomes a bit more absurd when he is arrested on billionaire Guo Wengui yacht in 2020, who has his own series of legal problems. Bannon is an elite spin doctor, always looking to cash in.

CNN Steve Bannon pleads not guilty to NY state charges of money laundering, conspiracy and fraud related to border wall effort

Pete Navarro will be in court in November for refusing to comply with a January 6 congressional subpoena.

Lots of other lawsuits out there, including the Dominion Voting Systems defamation case, whose primary target is not Lou Dobbs, or Sidney Powell, but Fox News. There could be an out of court settlement. After all, it is all about money. Dominion wants 1.6 billion dollars for damage to their reputation.

CNN also tracks investigations against Trump and his organization, and also includes five individual lawsuits, ranging from Mary Trump to the Capital Police Officers. See CNN link.

I guess that’s enough. You can Google Rudy Giuliani John Eastman, Mark Meadows, and a long list of people who worked with Trump. They all have legal problems. So Trump’s lawyers need lawyers.

Trump’s counter attack fails

“A good offense is the best defense” is a good adage, but it hasn’t been particularly successful in Trump’s case. The court recently threw out his lawsuit, (Trump v Clinton) in which was a “shotgun attack” on all the baseless grievances stemming from the Russian investigation. Yes, Trump’s lawyers plan to appeal.

See Link: Trump Suit Against Hillary Clinton Dismissed as ‘Manifesto’

I believe the lawsuit as motivated by (1) Trump’s PAC has lots of money to spend on lawyers and (2) It would be the storyline for another video to be distributed by radical right wing conspiracy theorists, of which there seems to be plenty.

On May 22, 2022, Trump’s lawsuit attempting to stop the Attorney General of New York from investigating his taxes was dismissed. AG Leititia James issued the following statement:

“Time and time again, the courts have made clear that Donald J. Trump’s baseless legal challenges cannot stop our lawful investigation into his and the Trump Organization’s financial dealings,” said Attorney General James. “No one in this country can pick and choose how the law applies to them, and Donald Trump is no exception. As we have said all along, we will continue this investigation undeterred.”

Trump lost again in court on September 12, 2022, in an effort to delay the start of the trial against the Trump organization. Note, this is a criminal trial against the corporation, not Donald Trump. Per Reuters posting, “The Trump Organization, which manages golf clubs, hotels and other real estate around the world, has pleaded not guilty and faces possible fines and other penalties if convicted.”

The trial is scheduled to begin October 24, 2022. It isn’t what Trump wants before the mid-term elections.

_____

Lots can happen until then. All these lawyers need to be paid, so look forward to more “Save America” rallies, which are fund raisers for Donald Trump and friends, not political candidates. Even Mitch McConnell is complaining that Trump’s PAC does little to contribute to his selected candidates.

The more indictments are brought against Trump and his corporation, we will see more push back from Trump supporters. Conspiracies are elastic beasts, the number of evil conspirators continue to expand. to include more government officials who are doing their job. First, Trump told his followers that election results were rigged and he won by a landslide. So, he had to kick out Attorney Bill Barr, who told him it was bullshit. And, as more investigations occurred, the THEY (enemies of the people) now include President Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland, Department of Justice, legal system in general, FBI, etc, etc.

I guess, the very best comment came from Trevor Noah, on how active Donald Trump must be, to be involved in so many crimes in so many different areas. When does he find time to golf, organize political rallies, or even just eat and sleep?

Stay tuned,

Dave