Trump will issue pardons for the convicted rioters who smashed window, assaulted Capitol police and rampaged through the Capitol building. Republicans used to be tough law and order supporters. But, these rioters had on MAGA caps, so whatever they did was just fine.
Donald Trump has said January 6, 2021 was a day of love. Never mind that approximately 140 Capitol police were injured. Seven people died in connection to the riots. No love there.
He will go on a firing spree, and both the FBI and the DOJ will suffer. Good people, who do their job, will leave. He will pack government, not with people who can get things done, but who can weaken the agencies that they run.
Donald Trump believes he is above the law. And the same goes for all his supporters, so long as they were MAGA hats.
I tried to make these summaries as short as possible. For each case, there is massive political commentary on both sides. For each of these cases, I have listed the relevant links at the end of this posting.
My conclusion is that in each case, the guilt or innocence of Donald Trump, must be decided in a courtroom, not on social media. The outcome of the two federal criminal cases should not be decided because Donald Trump won the presidential election and could install a partisan Attorney General to shield him from being accountable for his illegal actions.
FEDERAL CRIMINAL CASES
Classified Documents Case: Status, Dismissed but under appeal by the Department of Justice
On June 13, 2023, Donald Trump plead not guilty to all 37 counts. His defense team filed many pre-trial motions. Judge Aileen Cannon postponed the start of the trial from May 2024 to July 2024, then on July 15, 2024 dismissed the case completely, ruling that the appointment of Special Counsel, Jack Smith, was a violation of the US Constitution. The dismissal of the case is being appealed.
On September 6, 2023, again citing the Presidential Records Act, Trump told radio host Hugh Hewitt: “I’m allowed to do whatever I want.”
On September 14, 2023, Trump was interviewed by Megyn Kelly for SiriusXM. He said: “I’m allowed to take these documents, classified or not classified. And frankly, when I have them, they become unclassified. People think you have to go through a ritual. You don’t — at least in my opinion, you don’t.”
Many fact checking websites have disputed Trump’s claims. CNN fact checked the claim that he has the right to all documents under the Presidential Records Act. Contrary to Trump’s claim, the classified document belong to the National Archives. An excellent summary of seven false claims by Trump is summarized in the link below:
A ruling by the Appellate Court will happen after the election. It may occur before inauguration day, but this doesn’t really matter, as there will be many motions after the court rules, to take us pass January 20, 2025.
If Trump is elected, he has the power to have the case against him dismissed and abolish the Special Counsel, Jack Smith. If Kamala Harris is elected, I believe she will respect the Special Counsel obligation to bring this case to trial, and show no favoritism. The same goes for the January 6 Election Interference case.
January 6 Election Obstruction Case, Active and in pre-trial motions
It looked for a while the court trial is case would start before the election. This all changed with a 6-3 decision by the US Supreme Court that Trump in July 2024, providing partial immunity to Trump for official actions.
They further complicated the case. Both Trump’s lawyers and the Special Counsel will submit briefs related to the immunity issue. Trump’s lawyers have until November 7 to submit their brief. Ultimately no matter how Judge Chutkan rules, the decision will be appealed and likely end up in the Supreme Court in 2025.
Of course, if Trump is elected, he will be make sure the case is dismissed.
MUNICIPAL and STATE CASES
If re-elected, Trump can not get these cases dismissed.
Hush Money Case: Status, awaiting sentencing
Donald Trump was convicted in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels near the end of the 2016 presidential campaign. This was the unanimous decision by a jury. Attorneys for Trump have the conviction be dismissed based on the Supreme Court’s ruling on Presidential Immunity case.
Judge Merchan will rule on November 14, on the immunity issue. I suspect Trump will lose this case. He will sentence Trump on November 26. I feel Judge Merchan made the right decision to delay the sentencing until after the election. Trump’s legal team always appeals any decision, and the case will not end on November 26. If fact, Trump has the legal right to appeal the conviction, after sentencing. I believe the sentence will be stayed (postponed) pending the results of the appeals.
Prosecutor Alvin Bragg did not object to the Trump’s request, and simply responded that he would accept the judge’s decision. This was again, absolutely right, as he did not want to make this case appear as a partisan case against a presidential candidate.
Trump addressed his sentencing hearing being postponed during his speech at the Fraternal Order of Police in Charlotte, North Carolina. he argued that it was postponed because people realized “there was no case,” leaning into his typical attack lines calling the case against him a “witch hunt.”
Merchan said the delay should help “avoid any appearance — however unwarranted — that the proceeding has been affected by or seeks to affect the approaching Presidential election in which the Defendant is a candidate.” This is obviously contrary to what Trump told the police organization.
Georgia RICO Election Interference Case, Active and under appeal
A grand jury indicted Trump and 18 other defendants on August 14, 2023. The discovery that the prosecuting attorney Fani Willis was having an affair with the lead attorney, Nathan Wade, lead to hearings and ultimately a decision by the Judge McAfee that either Nathan Wade or Fani Willis should be removed from the case. Attorney Wade resigned, however Trump’s lawyers are now appealing this decision, and would like Fani Willis to resign. If the appeal is successful, the case could be dismissed. Oral arguments in this appeal have been scheduled for December 5, 2024.
A second complicating issue is the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity. Certain evidence may be excluded based on their ruling. This may result in more appeals and delays.
Four defendants have pleaded guilty. This leaves 14 defendants including Trump, to stand trial. The trial can be televised. I assume that since this is a criminal trial, Trump’s presence will be required.
Summary
Only one of the four criminal cases has gone to trial. The delays caused by pre-trial motion worked.
Soon after the election, I predict that the appellate court will reverse Judge Cannon’s dismissal of the Classified Documents case. Judge Cannon did not rule on several pre-trial motions.
Trump will, if elected, get the two federal cases dismissed. I believe this is very wrong. He should stand trial just like any other American. No one is above the law.
CNN headlines: AI helped the feds catch $1 billion of fraud in one year. And it’s just getting started
The US Treasury is getting smarter on catching check frauds. Machine learning (ML) is a subset of AI. The ML algorithms can identify patterns and anomalies that indicate fraudulent behavior, making it possible for businesses to detect and prevent fraud in real time.
Forbes article from 2023, goes into more detail on different approaches. There are many articles on the internet. I selected this one, as it is not promoting one particle system.
Now, here’s the problem. If Trump gets elected, I expect fraud investigations will not have much priority. In fact, he may hate the Treasury Department and the Department of Justice efforts to investigate fraud using machine learning tools to comb through millions of records to find patterns of fraud.
It is because the Trump organization has been convicted of massive business fraud and must pay 464 million dollars (includes accrued interest). The case is now in the Appellate Court, which can reduce the fine. The bail required to proceed with the appeals was reduced.
Trump record of pardons and commutations is definitely towards very wealthy and corrupt business leaders.
In December 2020, Trump commuted the sentence of Philip Esformes who was convicted of a 1.6 billion dollar medicare fraud scheme. Prosecutors described him as the linchpin of the “largest single criminal health care fraud case ever brought against individuals by the Department of Justice.” The served 4 years in prison before Trump freed him.
It is totally hypocritical to claim that eliminating Medicare fraud is a priority, and then pardon those who commit massive fraud.
Philip Esformes was recently arrested on a domestic violence charge.
I am very glad to see people convicted of fraud and obstruction of justice get convicted.
Republicans used to be the law and order party. The law and order candidates in 2024 are Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. No pardons for the wealthy, Democrat and Republican.
It’s deja vu all over again. Yogi Berra, I say this because these were election issues in the past 4 elections. It also was an attempt to steer the debate away from Harris, to criticize Biden’s decisions.
Nord Stream 2
The Harris-Trump debate consisted of some very old recycled falsehoods from Trump, more than 2 years old. Here it is:
“Why does Biden go in and kill the Keystone pipeline and approve the single biggest deal that Russia’s ever made, Nord Stream 2?” Trump said Tuesday night. Harris finally came back with the great one liner, “Well I am not Joe Biden, and I am certainly not Donald Trump.”
I call it the double whammy, because it calls for Harris to defend Biden’s supposed “approval” of Nord Stream 2. There was no approval, because it was Germany’s decision. For now, it isn’t even an issue. No gas is flowing from Russia to Germany. The pipelines were sabotaged in September 2022 and repair is unlikely because Germany will not allow the pipeline to go in service.
Nord Stream 2 is an underwater natural gas pipeline connecting Russia and Germany, which was first planned in 2015. It is 767 miles long. Because the pipeline exports Russian gas to Germany, they must approve the project. The US can make it more difficult to construct the pipeline by sanctioning the companies involved in the construction. But approval or disapproval are not options.
Biden’s approval of Nord Stream 2 is a recycled lie. Trump’s February 2022 speech at the CPAP conference is just one long series of lies, exaggerations and deceptive statements. Of course this is a conservative Republican event that is very eager to embrace his false statements because they sound good. See link at bottom.
“It’s a good thing to get along with people not a bad thing. You can be very tough and get along. You know, I’m the one that ended [Putin’s] pipeline. He said, ‘You’re killing me with the pipeline.’ Nobody else ended his pipeline. Biden came in, he approved it.”
Sorry, This is a baseless lie. It only highlights Trump’s creativity in telling lies with Vladimir Putin, down on his knees to Trump, begging him to approve the pipeline. US sanctions may have slowed construction but they did not stop it. Per Wikipedia: “In December 2020 [while Trump was still President] , the Russian pipelaying ship Akademik Cherskiy continued pipe-laying… The laying of the second line was completed in September 2021.
In May 2021, Biden allowed soften the sanctions. At the time, Germany was very upset with the US sanctions against companies involved in the construction of the pipeline as they saw it as an interference in their foreign policy. Biden attempted to re-direct the sanctions more specifically at Russia’s economy as it became clear that the Nord Stream 2 project was going to be completed no matter what the US wanted.
Biden was looking for some leverage to negotiate with Putin. The real threat was a Russian invasion of Ukraine not Russian gas flowing to Germany. Biden was attempting to solidify European unity to counter Russia’s hostile and aggressive policies. The Ukrainian invasion occurred because of Putin’s underestimation of Ukraine’s willingness to fight, and the US and European support for an independent Ukraine.
Germany will not permit the pipeline be put in service as long as Russia occupies Ukraine. Germany never granted Russia a certification of completion for the Nord Stream pipeline.
The claim by Trump during the debate that Biden terminated the Keystone XL project is correct. He did so on his first day in office, based on environmental concerns. His agenda to rejoin the International Paris Accords and gain further cooperation for reduced CO2 emission would be inconsistent with supporting import of heavy oil from Canada. Per Wikipedia: “As of 2024, oilsands account for 8% of the total of Canadian emissions. Emissions from the oilsands continue to increase, while most other sources are decreasing.
The Keystone pipeline saga is a long one. There are multiple pipeline construction phases. The one that Biden cancelled was the fourth phase called the Keystone XL pipeline. The KXL pipeline would have shorten the route to Texas refineries. Trump tried to hasten the approval permitting process, but legal challenges in Montana succeeded in November 2018, with the judge ruling that the expediated approval violated the Administrative Procedure Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Endangered Species Act.
It is true that the construction of the other phases of the Keystone project were easily approved during the Obama administration. The real issue was whether it was in the US interest to import the heavy crude (the nastiest oil, see NRDC link) which would have serious environmental and ecology impact.
Did Biden’s cancellation of the pipeline hurt the oilsands projects? Not really, as production from Canada’s oilsands continued to grow. There are still the longer route to bring Canadian oil to the US. Railcars can transport the heavy oil. And this is not good for climate change efforts. See links below.
The pipeline construction is 8% complete. TransCanada Corporation (now TC Energy, TRP stock symbol) disbanded efforts to continue the construction after Biden denied the export permit. The company is still doing well with a market cap of 42 billion dollars. The CBS article suggests that Canada production growth may flatten out in 2024, with competition from other sources.
(The long and controversial history of the Keystone XL pipeline stretches back to 2008 when Bush was president)
The German Experience transitioning to Green Energy
Immediately after the debate, Germany took exception to the following:
“You believe in things like, we’re not going to frack, we’re not going to take fossil fuel, we’re not going to do things that are going make this country strong, whether you like it or not,” Trump said Tuesday night, referring to Harris. “Germany tried that, and within one year, they were back to building normal energy plants.”
Their response: “Like it or not: Germany’s energy system is fully operational, with more than 50% renewables,” the ministry wrote. “And we are shutting down — not building — coal & nuclear plants. Coal will be off the grid by 2038 at the latest.”
Harris stated that she supported fracking. The side comment on Germany was just thrown into the mix for effect. They also watch our debate.
Opening up and closing other potential areas for drilling by Biden
Energy policy will continue to be controversial and poorly understood by the electorate, regardless of who wins the 2024 election. Biden surprised climate activists when he approved the massive Willow project (massive in terms of investment required) in the petroleum reserve.
The 2021 ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge) lease sale by Trump, after he lost the election in 2020, was a total disaster. The potential of ANWR is poorly defined, as no wells have been drilled inside the refuge. Chevron drilled an exploratory well just outside of the refuge in 1985. Results have never been disclosed.
Per Wikipedia:
Two small independent companies, Knik Arm Services LLC and Regenerate Alaska Inc, won one tract each. The auction generated $14.4 million, lower than the $1.8 billion estimate from the Congressional Budget Office in 2019, and the auction did not receive bids from any oil and gas companies.[53]
On June 1, 2021, Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland suspended all Trump-era oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge pending a review of how fossil fuel drilling would impact the remote landscape.[10] Indigenous and conservation groups urged Biden to make the suspension permanent. On September 6 2023, the Biden administration cancelled the leases.
The same article notes that Goldman Sachs and other investment banks stated they would not finance investments in ANWR. On September 6, 2023, the Biden administration cancelled the leases.
I doubt that the lease holders really lost because without a major oil company taking over the lease, there would be no exploratory drilling.
Summary
I have corrected the misrepresentations by Trump at the debate concerning the two pipelines, neither of which are operational. So, this is a matter of old and bitter political fights. Canada will produce their heavy oil to the chagrin of climate activists.
The supply of oil is likely to increase from new discoveries offshore Guyana, and from developments in Brazil, US (offshore developments plus fracking) and Canada. Gas prices could definitely go down, as supplies increase.
Our energy policy is too short term focused. Going forward in the long run, will mean transitioning from our dependence on fossil fuels, to renewable fuels, which includes solar and wind energy. We can’t keep building roads, and adding gasoline burning cars. Collaborating with other countries, like China and India, I hope, can lead to cutting global carbon emissions. Global problems require global solutions.
I don’t think there is any hope of a Trump administration addressing these future challenges. The hubris that comes from the MAGA folks, is competitive, and ignores the climate impact.
I am much more hopeful that a Kamala Harris would make real progress in green energy and more efficient use of our resources, for the long term future.
The news reporting is frequently the same on both networks. If there is some big event, like a plane crash, the content on both networks will be pretty much the same.
The difference is in commentary. Fox News supports conservatives, including Donald Trump. CNN supports Kamala Harris but will report on news damaging to her campaign. The difference is apparent on their websites.
Fox Example
Today on the FOX News website is the headline “Melania Trump releases new video with warning to all Americans ahead of a 100 million dollar lawsuit.” This is a teaser headline. The key words are “ahead of.” Trump hasn’t filed a lawsuit.
Seriously, who is he going to sue? The FBI? Filing a frivolous lawsuit can backfire. If search is illegal, then all evidence is thrown out. This is the case law since the 1961 “Mapp” Case by the US Supreme Court. Note, that the three more conservative justices did not want to extend the protection to searches by state and local authorities.
This is a case of more false information on Twitter, but this time, in support of Kamala Harris. There is a second Twitter account which is uncovering all the lies this Twitter account.
Video clips of Trump or JD Vance have been edited to make them deceptive or false. As stated in the CNN article, this was done recently. They cite eight different examples including one where the post infers that Trump was confused on the name of the state of the rally was occurring. It is a complete lie. CNN calls these hacked videos misleading. I would call them a complete lie.
My take
Fox News is more likely to post misleading “news stories” which are really commentary. Fox News headlines of a 100 million dollar lawsuit, which does not exist. And if Trump’s lawyers say they will sue Biden, they are forgetting they just won in the Supreme Court on presidential immunity.
CNN commentary is often biased, but they are doing a better job with fact checking. This includes fact checking pro-Harris twitter posts.
Don’t go to Youtube, Twitter, Facebook or any other social media. It is mostly political entertainment. It is not reliable information.
Trump loves Trump more than anything else. Those who worked in the White House have witnessed this narcissistic personality up close.
General John Kelly served as Donald Trump’s White House Chief of Staff from 2017 to 2019. Prior to this position, he was the Secretary of Homeland Security. He was easily confirmed, with a vote of 88-11, showing bipartisan support for Kelly. At the time, he was a retired US Marine Corp General, with an outstanding record. A short bio is given in the following Wikipedia link: John F. Kelly . In 2020, Kelly was quoted in an Atlantic article as follows:
“A person that thinks those who defend their country in uniform, or are shot down or seriously wounded in combat, or spend years being tortured as POWs are all ‘suckers’ because ‘there is nothing in it for them,'” Kelly said of Trump. “A person that did not want to be seen in the presence of military amputees because ‘it doesn’t look good for me.’ A person who demonstrated open contempt for a Gold Star family — for all Gold Star families — on TV during the 2016 campaign, and rants that our most precious heroes who gave their lives in America’s defense are ‘losers’ and wouldn’t visit their graves in France.”
During the 2024 Biden-Trump debate, Trump denied making these statements.
Yesterday, another close ally of Trump, Stephanie Grisham, former White House Press Secretary, addressed the Democratic National Convention in support of candidate Kamala Harris. She was in many ways, Trump’s “defender/explainer” typically on Fox News and the conservative online website, Washington Examiner. See her bio from Wikipedia.
Her short presentation at the DNC last night, was from someone who had been in the room when the cameras were not rolling.
Stephanie Grisham, former WH Press Secretary
Selected quotes: “Behind closed doors, Trump mocks his supporters. He calls them basement dwellers.” Obviously, he knew he appealed to naïve or poorly informed voters, who would accept his lies.
“On a hospital visit when people were dying in the ICU, he was mad the cameras were not watching him.”
“He has no empathy, no morals and no fidelity to the truth.”
“Kamala Harris … has my vote.”
Just days prior to Grisham’s few minutes at the podium, Trump really did show his lack of empathy in his comments on the Medal of Honor:
Trump said the civilian award [Medal of Freedom] is “actually much better because everyone [who] gets the Congressional Medal of Honor, they’re soldiers. They’re either in very bad shape because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets, or they’re dead.” Speaking about Miriam Adelson, Trump said: “She gets it, and she’s a healthy, beautiful woman, and they’re rated equal, but she got the Presidential Medal of Freedom.”
Mariam Adelson received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2018. She and her husband were the largest donors of Trump throughout his presidency; they provided the largest donation to his 2016 campaign, his presidential inauguration, his defense fund against the Mueller investigation into Russian interference and the 2020 campaign.
Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), the largest veterans advocacy group in the U.S., criticized the statement on Friday. VFW National Commander Al Lipphardt said: “These asinine comments not only diminish the significance of our nation’s highest award for valor, but also crassly characterized the sacrifices of those who have risked their lives above and beyond the call of duty.”
So, you don’t have to accept John Kelly or Stephie Grisham statements. Trump has already confirmed his lack of empathy. His dishonesty is firmly established as fact checkers are tallying up his lies per minute everytime he speaks at a rally.
Representative Crockett added a bit of levity to the ceremonies, in her comparison of Harris’ and Trump’s resumes, as if the electorate had to decide which one to hire.
Representative Crockett
“Kamala Harris has a resume, Donald Trump has a rap sheet.”
And in 2024, MAGA means “Make attorneys get attorneys” with a long list of Trump’s legal advisors are being disbarred or have been indicted. Steve Bannon (not an attorney) goes on trial in September. And Donald Trump will be sentenced in September after the jury found him guilty in the hush money case. His sentence will likely be suspended pending an appeal.
Trump is not fit to be the next President of the United States. Kamala Harris is.
The following was updated to include more information on each of these cases.
The following link describes seven very important cases, yet to be decided by the Supreme Court. There are at present 21 undecided cases, but these are the important ones. I would expect all cases to be decided by July 12, 2024. I think they can push back the summer adjournment date, to complete the remaining cases.
I’ve used the same titles as in the CNN article, which unless the CNN article is read, can give the wrong impression. This is particularly true in case 3, where one convicted rioter wants a charge of obstructing an official proceeding dropped because the defendant claims it was based on a law that was never intended for this purpose. The result will be chaotic to the courts because many rioters have been charged under this statute and their sentences can be reduced or voided by the appeals court. Donald Trump for his actions, is also charged under this statute.
It would also help in securing presidential pardons for rioters, if the Supreme Court rules in favor of the Fischer case. As a practical matter, these are not people you would rather not release early, but they should not be held if the law is now considered invalid.
3. January 6 rioters seek to shorten sentences (‘Fischer Case’)
4. Guns for domestic abusers
5. Government regulation of Facebook
6. Cleaning up online ‘disinformation’
7. Government regulations threatened (Chevron deference to agency decisions)
Cases 1 and 3 will have a direct impact on the January 6 charges against Trump. The Fischer case could allow rioters of the Capitol to have some of the charges against them dropped by the appeals court. Also, the charges against Trump might be reduced from four to two.
Case 2 is the result of laws banning abortion unless it is a life or death situation with the pregnant woman. This case will examining bans on abortion which prohibit doctors from treating woman, where there is real health consequences if they do not have abortion.
Case 4 centers on state laws which restrict gun ownership because individuals were guilty of crimes of domestic abuse. The interpretation of Second Amendment rights by the Court of gun ownership, was a classic clash between conservatives vs liberals. The case will be interesting as it is a balance between gun ownership rights and public safety, which is a legitimate government responsibility. After the heated bump stock decision, I am certain all liberals will agree the restrictions are constitutional. To win, they must convince two conservatives to vote with them.
Case 5 concerns actions against Facebook for prohibiting misinformation on their platform. State laws which would limit or ban this practice. Facebook routinely refused to allow many myths about Covid-19 and unfounded personal attacks. I think the liberals will support Facebook’s right to refuse to post misinformation. Other postings, like the elections in either the US and Brazil, were rigged, generally receive disclaimers instead of outright deletions.
Case 6 comes from the Biden’s administration policy of advising social media platforms, that their sites contain false information. They are not regulating the content of the platform, yet there are serious free speech issues at play. I believe the liberals on the court will uphold the government’s position.
Case 7 is about the “Chevron doctrine” which gives deference to the judgement of the agency in regards to decisions requiring their expertise. For practical reasons, in determining air and water standards, the ability of agencies to set their own rules is important. You can expect the liberals on the court to want to keep the Chevron doctrine as it is, and conservatives will want to discard it, or make it much more restrictive.
Chevron is one of the most important decisions in U.S. administrative law. It has been cited in thousands of cases since its issuance in 1984.[4] Thirty-nine years later, in May 2023, the Supreme Court granted certiorari to reevaluate Chevron in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, No. 22-451. A decision is expected in the first half of 2024.[5]
The Chevron decision was decided by a 6-0 vote by the Supreme Court. If it is overturned, then the three liberals on the court will likely have a strongly worded dissent, based on Stare Decisis:
Stare Decisis—a Latin term that means “let the decision stand” or “to stand by things decided”—is a foundational concept in the American legal system. To put it simply, stare decisis holds that courts and judges should honor “precedent”—or the decisions, rulings, and opinions from prior cases.
Quite bluntly, Chevron was a practical decision that kept very nuanced challenges to agencies’ decisions out of the realm of the courts. The only change to Chevron is the makeup of the court.
In the next two weeks or so, all these cases will be decided. The court is now six conservatives and three liberals. For liberals to win, they must convince at least two conservatives to join them. There’s a lot of speculation on social media and cable networks on how they might decide. We will know soon enough.
Just after posting that the justice system is being attacked by Donald Trump and others Marjorie Taylor Green, Matt Gaetz, Sean Hannity of Fox News, James Comer, Mike Johnson and others, Hunter Biden got convicted. Yes, when there is hard evidence against the defendant, a jury generally finds the person guilty. That’s exactly what the judge tells them to do, to go on what they heard and saw in the courtroom.
I wanted to note what a marked contrast between Trump and all the hot rhetoric of being “100% innocent” and a completely “rigged show trial” to Hunter’s acceptance of the verdict after he was found guilty. He wasn’t going to trash the prosecutor or the courts.
“In a written statement, Hunter Biden said he was disappointed by the outcome but grateful for the support of family and friends.”
I would say this shows some real class. Trump desperately wanted to get in the spot light, once again identifying Joe Biden as the real criminal:
“Trump’s campaign called the verdict “nothing more than a distraction from the real crimes of the Biden Crime Family.” Trump and his allies have pressed unsubstantiated or debunked allegations that Joe Biden acted while vice president to advance his family members’ foreign business interests.”
Others parroted the same line. See link from Politico.
The “Biden Crime Family,” comes from Rep. James Comer and the absurd impeachment inquiry, which totally fell apart, when their chief accuser was arrested for lying to the FBI.
Bottom line for Democrats and Republicans, DOJ and the FBI does not hand out favors, at least with this administration. No one is above the rule of law.
House Majority leader, Mike Johnson, and Donald Trump are pushing hard the idea that our court system and law enforcement treat Democrats differently than Republicans. The current buzzword is a “two tier system.” This is all a lot of political rhetoric. If Donald Trump had won in court, you would hear a lot of praise for our judicial system. He would be doing a victory lap right now, on how the jury had exonerated him.
Representative Maria Salazar of Miami compared the trial that Donald Trump got with those in communist countries like Cuba where you are guilty until proven innocent. Representative Matt Gaetz was so angry at the FBI, that he suggested shutting it down. But, I didn’t hear any real protest when the FBI executed a search warrant on President Biden’s homes.
I will readily admit that our judicial system is far from perfect. But, rich defendants have a lot better chance of either beating the system, or getting off with light sentences than poor people. The sort of defense that Senator Bob Menendez, Donald Trump, Hunter Biden or Steve Bannon can mount is far more than the average citizen. It is of course, a lot more expensive. Yes, I would like to be in the tier of the very wealthy if accused of a crime. The rich man’s tier is second to none.
It never hurts to bring a big loudspeaker to court. By this, I mean social media or even better cable network stations to court. This is where Trump and most recently Steve Bannon have blasted the judicial system. Bob Menendez and Hunter Biden have also been interviewed multiple times, so they can sort of plead their case to the public.
In Senator Menendez case, it really helps that he is a sitting Senator, as some of the very important evidence against him, will not be presented to the jury, because of Congressional immunity. A sitting president and cabinet officials may not be indicted for civil crimes committed as part of their official duties. A good case of this was a lawsuit launch against Hillary Clinton, as Secretary of State, claiming she had neglected her responsibly in the death of a military serviceman in Libya. The lawsuit never went to court because she had immunity.
So, we have an imperfect law enforcement and judicial system. It has improved immensely over the last 50 years. The integrity of our court system and the safety of law enforcement officers comes above all other considerations, so both Steve Bannon and Donald Trump are wrong to say the courts are attempting to silence them. They have placed restrictions on their public statements. They can not attack, the families of judges or employees of the court. This is exactly what Trump did during the business fraud case.
It is easier for some to get a fair trial. If your English is poor, and need to rely on a public defender, you are at a disadvantage. Your prior arrests and convictions can be introduced into evidence. Also, being male and young should not matter, but it certainly can factor into a jury’s thinking. I don’t think being either Republican or Democrat is a particularly strong factor. The judge in Trump’s trial, reminded the jury to find the defendant guilty or not guilty solely on the evidence presented in the courthouse. A judge has tremendous authority to dismiss a case where the evidence is lacking or severely compromised.
“Innocent until proven guilty,” is told to every jury. It is true that criminals are often found innocent, because the evidence was mishandled or is conflicting. When the Supreme Court ruled that every defendant was entitled to an attorney, President Nixon strongly criticized this decision as a tough law and order philosophy. Miranda rights are being cut back, by the Supreme Court. See link at end.
Where the evidence is strong, it essentially overrides all of the prejudices. What really convinced the jury of Trump’s guilt was likely the documentary evidence. His trial was mostly what is in emails bank deposit statements and signed checks.
Society has a certain urgency to lock up violent offenders, particularly if they just arrived from our southern border. I am very glad that for DNA evidence, which can be used to exonerate and well as convict someone. There are a number of cable network shows, which highlight people who have been incarcerated on weak evidence. Everyone convicted of a crime has the right to an appeal. This is another safety check, helping to ensure equal justice.
I am reminded of a cartoon of a judge telling a defendant, “Crime does not pay, at least at your level.” Crime is apparently profitable. Steve Bannon, just 24 days before he has to go to prison, is plugging his podcast station and claiming to be the victim of partisan persecution and a violation of his free speech rights. He’ll be back in court in September on fraud charges, accused of pocketing the money for the private charity of “Build the Wall” which by the way, built nothing.
Donald Trump, claiming to be a victim of (let’s count) Manhattan DA, E. Jean Carrol (defamation victim), judge Engoron (business fraud) and the special prosecutor, Jack Smith, and of course, the DOJ, FBI and Joe Biden, raked in 52 million dollars following his guilty verdict in the the hush money case. I have to include Michael Cohen made 4.4 million dollars on his book and public appearances, after his conviction. Of course, Hunter Biden also wrote a book, which likely is selling quite well.
What ultimately matters, is the hard evidence against the accused. No expensive defense team can win, when the testimony collaborated with documents or other evidence points to guilty.
The Supreme Court will not “intervene.” It isn’t the way the system works. Supreme Court only hears cases from the lower courts. The trial court will finish their job on July 11, 2024 with the sentencing of Donald Trump. I believe his sentence will be stayed, meaning it will be put on hold until after all appeals have been exhausted.
After sentencing, Donald Trump, will likely submit an appeal, which the appellate court must hear. He can ask that this appeal be expediated. I don’t think he will ask the case be expediated. Losing his appeal doesn’t really help his campaign.
I think Trump likes the attention. No gag order stops Trump from blaming the Biden administration for the trial and verdict. This is totally baseless. No gag order at present stops Trump from claiming that the Department of Justice and FBI are out-of-control. His latest claim is that FBI agents were “locked and loaded” to assassinate him when they entered Mar-a-Lago on August 8, 2022. Note that the Director of the FBI is Christopher Wray, appointed by Donald Trump, but generally at hearings gets the most criticism from Republicans.
It is very rare that the Supreme Court expediates a decision. In December 2023, the Special Counsel Jack Smith sought to expediate the issue of presidential immunity, by having the Supreme Court hear the case before the appeals court had ruled. Donald Trump, fearing that he might lose in the Supreme Court argued that the Appellate Court should first complete its review.
The Supreme Court is powerful. It uses this power cautiously. It can overturn verdicts, if the trial has violated the rights of defendants. If for example, Donald Trump, were forced to testify, then a Constitutional issue would be evident. Judge Merchan let the jury know that Donald Trump had the right not to testify, and the jury could not use this fact in their deliberations.
Our legal system is not in tatters. Our FBI and Department of Justice are very actively enforcing the law, in partnership with the States and local authorities. I want them to continue to investigate all areas of criminal activities, including financial and election law crimes.
There has been a lot of speculation on the sentencing. It will occur on July 11, and no one really knows. What most commentators suggest, is that the sentence will be “stayed” (put on hold) until after all appeals are exhausted, which is well after the November elections. So, unlike TV dramas, the defendant is not hauled away in handcuffs and sent to prison.
Similarly, no one really knows what Trump’s lawyers will put in the appeal, but I believe it will contain a long list of “reversible” errors. An excellent article on this is posted below from Politico. The manner in which misdemeanor crimes can become a felony charge, as provided in Judge Merchan’s instructions, is likely to be issue #1 for the Appellate Court to review.
The Politico article then goes on with issues #2 to #5. Issue #2 is Stormy Daniels testimony of the sordid details of her encounter with Trump in his bedroom. This was a violation of Judge Merchan’s order, and the defense argued for a mistrial, when after her testimony. There are likely other issues related to evidence presented during the trial. Anything defense objection which Merchan denied is ripe for review.
Issue #3 is the limitations place on one of Trump’s potential witnesses, Bradley Smith, an expert in election finance law. The judge ruled that Smith could not testify whether Trump had violated the election finance laws. The defense then decided not to call Smith.
Issues #4 and #5 are ones that will make Trump happy. It’s not that he can actually win on these issues but have them identified in an appeal gives them some appearance of credibility. Issue #4 is evidence that the Judge Merchan was conflicted, and should have recused himself. Issue #5 is that there should have been a change of venue, as this case involved federal election law, so it should never have been tried in the Manhattan courthouse.
Somewhere in the appeal, the name of Attorney Michael Colangelo might be slipped in, just for the conspiracy angle (a connection with DOJ). He was a senior DOJ attorney, very familiar with Trump’s finances, who was hired to by DA Alvin Bragg in help in the case against Trump. There has no connection between DOJ and the Manhattan office on this case.
The Appellate Court will not only be looking at violations of the law, but also at the admissibility of evidence used to convict him.
I believe the appeal will not be submitted until mid August, and it will be a prime opportunity for Trump to be blasting away at the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the “Biden apparatus” in an attempt to stop him. I believe the appeal will begin with issues 4 and 5, that the trial should never had taken place (change of venue) and Merchan should never had been the judge. Trump’s team can load up the appeal with many issues that are frivolous, for political reasons.
Trump can ask for an expediated appeal – but I don’t think he will. He’s too concern he will lose the appeal before election.
– The Manhattan case Appeals Political Circus
Trump’s supporters will be talking about the “excellent” appeal, and how the quickly and inevitable, a reversal will be, by the court. They will not waste a minute on the details, and just see how fast they can get on Judge Pirro or Sean Hannity’s show on the Fox network. Trey Gowdy and others will lead the charge. Trump’s legal spokesperson, Alina Habba will also join the conspiracy fray, as Biden’s scheme to derail Trump’s candidacy has now been exposed in the appeal (which no one will actually read).
Expected the words “weaponize” and “lawfare” to be used so often, that any significance will be pounded into the ground by political pundits. For example, “Biden is committed to total lawfare. He has politized and weaponized the DOJ and FBI to go after his opponents. We won’t stand for it!” Follow this by “Send your checks to MAGA, PO address … .
This Manhattan DA office will issue a strong reply to the appeal. Commentators on CNN and MSNBC will quickly note the appeal is re-hashing settled disputes, and has a slim or no chance of winning.
Nothing is likely to be resolved by the Appellate Court until the November elections. Even if the Appellate Court did rule, Trump’s team would immediately request a review by a higher court. They could even petition the Supreme Court to take up the case, as a due process challenge.
I predict with Judge Merchan long experience as a judge dealing with cases in finance law, acted solely on the law and evidence in this case, so the jury’s verdict of guilty on all 34 counts will stand.
I have served on a jury twice, one civil and the other criminal. My experience is pretty similar to others. It is a learning experience, because you only get a vague idea of what the defendant is being accused, until it is explained in detail at the very end of the trial.
The instructions are very clear. You must make your decision only based on the evidence presented in court and the law as explained by the judge. This is your job once you are seated as part of the jury. And it is weird, because in life, you make decisions based on your feelings at the time and often times, after talking to friends or family about different options.
In the jury room, you don’t know the people except as you learn from the permissible chatter of where to have lunch and other topics. A lady in the jury was a seamstress, and I asked her questions about curtains for my house.
Inside the jury room, the floor person is selected. In both cases, we did well, as they were good listeners. In the criminal case, we were divided on an important issue. We kept going back to the testimony given by both prosecution and defense witnesses. And slowly we got to a 8 in favor of not guilty and one who just couldn’t decide. That’s exactly when some of us, repeated why we should find the defendant not guilty.
The one hold out in the jury, was a young school teacher, who said she loved teaching, and just wanted to return to her kids. The last thing in the world she wanted to do was to go against the rest of us. She blurted out, “Well if that’s the way you all feel, I can go along with it.” At which point, which I will never forget, a Jamaican man spoke, and said to her, “You have to vote according to your conscious, because if you don’t, you will regret it the rest of your life.” And he was so right. How could this teacher, so focused on “her kids” go back to the classroom, knowing she caved in to the rest of us?
This Jamaican fellow was saying, in essence, a hung jury is fine. And I immediately spoke, saying we were in no hurry. Others chimed in with the same message. We were bound to make our decision based on what the judge instructed us to do. With that in mind, our conscience would be clear.
In the criminal case, we found the defendant guilty on two counts, and not guilty on one count. To this day, I believe we did the right thing, based on the evidence and the law as explained to us by the judge.
In every courtroom in the country, the same oaths are given, and jurors understand the seriousness of their obligation. They can’t discuss the case with anyone. They can’t listen to the news. There most difficult task one day, might have been, teaching school, or getting their car fixed. Now, they have to be in judgement of a total stranger.
I believe Donald Trump received a fair trial. Judge Juan Merchan is a very experienced and respected judge. He read the instructions a second time to the jury, as they requested. It takes a lot to convince 12 members of a jury that he is guilty. Trump has the right to appeal the verdict and this will take months. He can ask for an expediated appeal, if he is confident the verdict can be overturned. I don’t think he will do that. Many experts feel he has very little to base an appeal. He will instead use this verdict to cast himself as the victim of a partisan judicial system.
The verdict on Trump’s hush money trial should be known soon. So what comes next?
The three other criminal cases are still very much alive. A court case can be dismissed by a judge for lack of evidence or other reasons. This has not happened.
The case which appeared to be most likely to go next, is the classified documents case. However, there are a long series of pre-trial motions including the legality of the FBI search which must be resolved first. It is obvious that Trump’s legal team wants to delay this cases as long as possible. Judge Cannon initially set a start date for the case, but then issued an order to “indefinitely delay” the case, pending resolution of the pre-trial motions.
The January 6 federal election obstruction case, also looked like a good successor to the Hush Money case, until the Supreme Court took up the Presidential Immunity and the Fischer cases. A decision in these cases is not expected until close to the end of the term of the Supreme Court in late June or early July. A Supreme Court opinion affirming that the ex-presidents have absolute immune from criminal prosecution will likely end the January 6 and exclude Trump as a defendant in the Georgia case.
The Supreme Court took up the Fischer case in September 2023, and has yet to render a verdict. Trump and many of the January 6 rioters are charged with a statute that they attempted to disrupt an official proceeding. If the Supreme Court rules in favor of Fischer, this will allow many of the rioters in the January 6 violence to have their convictions overturned. It will also allow some of the charges against Trump to be dropped.
The laggard of the 3 cases is definitely the Georgia conspiracy trial. The case came to a halt after it was discovered that the District Attorney Fani Willis had an improper relation with the Nathan Wade, the lead attorney in this case. Judge McAfee decided to let Fani Willis continue to prosecute the case, but without Nathan Wade. His judgement is now being appealed. No trial date has been scheduled, and it is not likely to start before the elections.
In sum, Trump’s legal team has managed to successfully delay the start of the three criminal cases against him. Every motion to dismiss for lack of evidence or other reasons has failed. They are still very active cases.
So, what do all the court reporters and associated pundits do after the verdict is read, and explained about a hundred times on cable news? Go home? Hardly. Senator Bob Menendez and his wife are currently on trial for bribery. See link below:
Also, it is expected to the Supreme Court will rule late in June on both the Fischer case and Presidential Immunity. There’s nothing stopping them from ruling sooner.
Judge Cannon is the assigned judge in the Classified Documents Case. So far, Judge Cannon rulings have not impressed legal experts (putting it mildly). Donald Trump’s strategy is to push the trial out to 2025. Any attempt to schedule it before the elections, and he will be shouting at his rallies that this is election interference. If he can win the election, he will find an Attorney General to dismiss the case.
In June 2023, the New York Times noted her lack of experience in legal trials. They noted she has presided over only 4 very short criminal cases which summed to 14 trial days.
Judge Scheindlin calls Judge Cannon insecure, without the confidence to identify frivolous motions, and deny them from the bench (without scheduling hearings). Ty Cobb who was Trump’s lawyer in the White House, also concurs that she is playing along with Trump’s delay game.
Ty Cobb’s biography is given at the end of this posting. Obviously, to be part of the White House legal counsel, when Donald Trump was facing impeachment, you have to have a great reputation.
Special Counsel Jack Smith has requested from Judge Cannon, a gag order to control wild falsehoods about the FBI’s orders to use deadly force with the intent of assassinating Donald Trump. See link:
She knows if she rules in favor of the prosecutor, Trump will immediately go on the attack, saying that Biden ordered him silent. That just isn’t true. The ruling has to come from Judge Cannon. Trump will not attack Judge Cannon, as he sees her as good for the defense.
It is very hard to delay a ruling as Trump continues to champion the “big lie” that the Mar-a-Lago search was an attempted hit job.
This is an evolving story. No trial date has been set, dozens of pre-trial motions have yet to be ruled on.
It’s Biden Show Trial. That was the latest spin from Alina Habba, Donald Trump’s legal spokesperson, regularly appearing on Fox News stations. The last time I heard her, she was on Sean Hannity’s show, and saying Donald Trump is being hauled into court, on exactly the same charges as in his business fraud case and the defamation case against E. Jean Carroll (two trials). Of course, the charges against Trump was in civil court, and completely different. But in each case, Trump lost and has posted bond for part of the money he owes, while these cases are being appealed.
The criminal case is being prosecuted by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who has avoided making any public statement or even attending the court sessions. I take this as a sign of confidence that he will win this case. The federal government nor the Department of Justice is not involved in this case.
What DA Bragg and his team are doing, is making absolutely sure, the jury can put the pieces together, with the testimony they have heard and the documents submitted into evidence. It is likely to go to the jury next Thursday. The verdict of the jury should be respected, as they listened to all testimony in court.
Sean Hannity, Fox News commentator made a strange comment, that this was Representative Adam Schiff’s show trial. That’s pretty odd- but while we are at inventing conspiracy theories, why not pull in George Soros, Jeff Bezos or Bill Gates.
I found an even more bizarre comment from Representative Maria Salazar (I’m in her district) that this trial is like something that occurs in socialist countries. Her comments:
She proceeded to emphasize in both English and later in Spanish again how Hispanics are the largest and “most important” minority in the country. “This is a political circus that is only seen in Cuba, in Venezuela and Nicaragua,” she said. “It is a shame.” She emphasized the importance of fighting at the ballot box and making sure political persecution doesn’t continue.“ That’s why I’m telling to you Hispanics, wake up! What is happening is Marxism and we came to this country to not have this,” she said.
In autocratic governments, which I include Iran, Russia, China, Cuba and Venezuela, the country’s elites are above the law. In autocracies, the police would never raid the office of Michael Cohen, so both Cohen and Trump would never be charged. They would never search Joe Biden’s home or have a Special Counsel assign to investigate him, while he was president. Rep. Maria Salazar is campaigning on pretty stale anti-communist rhetoric.
In fact, in an autocratic government, the news media can be silenced or is run by the government. In a democracy, everyone is subject to the same laws and has the right to a fair trial. So, DA Alvin Bragg is doing what prosecutors are doing everyday enforcing the law, and not engaging in political persecution. That’s how democracies work.
The political circus continues, more on social media than in the courthouse. The latest one, was that the raid at Trump’s residence in Mar-a-Lago was intended to be an assassination attempt on Trump, because part of the instructions given to FBI agents, is the right to use deadly force. It was quickly dismissed when the standard instructions are read in full, which state that FBI agents may only use deadly force to protect themselves.
Donald Trump has already protested the entire trial, as a way to prevent him from campaigning. Court trials are never convenient to defendants. He will have his supporters already, to once again, denounce the Manhattan attorney’s office, as simply an extension of the federal courts, the Department of Justice, the FBI, and of course Joe Biden. You can pretty much add to the list, Nicolas Maduro and
Usually, defendants’ attorneys claim that the prosecution case will be completely destroyed once they can present the evidence that exonerates their client. The defense did put one witness on the stand, Robert Costello, who really could not refute the charges against Trump. His testimony may have helped rather than hurt the prosecution case, as Costello, was working for Rudy Giuliani, who has his own legal problems.
Most courtroom observers believe the case against Trump is strong. The court will reconvene Tuesday for closing arguments. They can be long, as each side will be very well prepared to summarize the case, with well chosen images of the most compelling evidence. Then, the judge will instruct the jury on the law and what they must decide.
If found guilty, Trump has the right to appeal the decision. Of course he will using campaign donations. And Trump will continue to play the victim of repression or political prosecution.
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