even just a few days ago I heard a practising lawyer on a legal podcast saying it was unlikely that true believer Trump cultists like Powell and Cheesebro would flip.
― vodkaitamin effrtvescent (calzino), Friday, 20 October 2023 16:44 (six months ago) link
I'm sure Lindell will continue holding the line
― Dwigt Rortugal (Eric H.), Friday, 20 October 2023 16:46 (six months ago) link
this does feel like something of a moment
― J Edgar Noothgrush (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Friday, 20 October 2023 16:47 (six months ago) link
10/20/23: MAGA has fallen
― Beyond Goo and Evol (President Keyes), Friday, 20 October 2023 16:53 (six months ago) link
pour one out for the cheesbro
― the new drip king (DJP), Friday, 20 October 2023 16:54 (six months ago) link
et tu chesebro
― lag∞n, Friday, 20 October 2023 16:56 (six months ago) link
more like chesemelt amirite
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Friday, 20 October 2023 17:00 (six months ago) link
No bro of mine
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Friday, 20 October 2023 17:03 (six months ago) link
grate expectations
― vodkaitamin effrtvescent (calzino), Friday, 20 October 2023 17:06 (six months ago) link
none of these people were going to do 20 years for trump.
― scott seward, Friday, 20 October 2023 17:06 (six months ago) link
is it true that biden already has more followers on truth social than trump? because if true that is pretty funny. crowd size and all. sorry if talked about already.
― scott seward, Friday, 20 October 2023 17:08 (six months ago) link
The Biden campaign has more than the Trump campaign: https://www.axios.com/2023/10/18/biden-truth-social-followers-trump
― Dwigt Rortugal (Eric H.), Friday, 20 October 2023 17:09 (six months ago) link
gotta think truth social isnt too long for this world
― lag∞n, Friday, 20 October 2023 17:10 (six months ago) link
yeah a bit misleading because Trump doesn't really have a "campaign" like Biden does, I'm sure Trump the person has more Truth Social followers than anybody
― frogbs, Friday, 20 October 2023 17:13 (six months ago) link
6.4M compared to the two campaigns' collective 45K
― Dwigt Rortugal (Eric H.), Friday, 20 October 2023 17:17 (six months ago) link
dt is a campaign unto himself
― lag∞n, Friday, 20 October 2023 17:18 (six months ago) link
I can only assume anyone who signs up for Truth Social automatically gets subscribed to Trump, MySpace Tom style
― Dwigt Rortugal (Eric H.), Friday, 20 October 2023 17:18 (six months ago) link
xp He is large, he contains multitudes
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Friday, 20 October 2023 17:18 (six months ago) link
Looks like a similarish arrangement to Powell, except he's pleading guilty to a felony, ergo I'm sure he's got a lot more stuff to spill:
Chesebro pleaded guilty to 1 felony count of conspiracy to commit filing false documents. He will be ordered to serve 5 yrs probation, pay $5,000 in restitution, complete 100 hrs of community service, write a letter of apology to citizens of GA, and testify truthfully at trial. — Sam Gringlas, WABE
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 20 October 2023 17:21 (six months ago) link
after previously just having a sketchy concept (well, clueless tbh) of what a RICO case is and how it works from watching The Sopranos and other US crime movies and stuff. This has been very educational for me.
― vodkaitamin effrtvescent (calzino), Friday, 20 October 2023 17:22 (six months ago) link
It has been mentioned previously, but just to reiterate, RICO statutes in the state of Georgia are very broad, covering many types of crimes that do not fall under RICO at the federal level. This has led prosecutors, including Fani Willis, to pursue RICO charges in some fairly unconventional cases, and has at times raised ethics questions concerning those cases. Doesn't mean that's an issue for this particular case, but it is context to keep in mind.
― Muad'Doob (Moodles), Friday, 20 October 2023 17:35 (six months ago) link
A little more under the radar since Trump wasn't charged there directly but per WaPo:
Also this week, a Michigan prosecutor told a judge she had reached a cooperation agreement with one of the 16 Republicans who had signed official-looking paperwork falsely claiming Trump had won that state.The judge on Thursday dismissed the charges against Trump elector James Renner, but neither side made public the terms of the prosecution’s deal with him.Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel (D) in July charged Renner and 15 others with eight felony counts each, including forgery and conspiracy to commit forgery. The prosecution of the others is ongoing.
The judge on Thursday dismissed the charges against Trump elector James Renner, but neither side made public the terms of the prosecution’s deal with him.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel (D) in July charged Renner and 15 others with eight felony counts each, including forgery and conspiracy to commit forgery. The prosecution of the others is ongoing.
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 20 October 2023 17:46 (six months ago) link
xp
I don't like the idea of RICO being used against groups of ordinary citizens with no connection to power because making something a conspiracy seems to dispense with some of the ordinary legal protections defendants would have. But idgaf about this one!
― vodkaitamin effrtvescent (calzino), Friday, 20 October 2023 17:52 (six months ago) link
Protestors of the planned law enforcement training center in Atlanta have been charged under the RICO statute.
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Friday, 20 October 2023 17:54 (six months ago) link
Sixty one of them, to be precise.
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Friday, 20 October 2023 17:55 (six months ago) link
Some them for run of the mill activism. Once you define something as a criminal enterprise then anyone who does anything to help it is a co-conspirator.
― Beyond Goo and Evol (President Keyes), Friday, 20 October 2023 17:57 (six months ago) link
Yeah, it's like the government deciding you are a "terrorist."
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Friday, 20 October 2023 17:58 (six months ago) link
i fucking hate trump. his hair looks fucking ridiculous in that courtroom. who goes to court with their hair like that?
i loved when jimmy kimmel said the other night that you are so used to trump being a scumbag that you forget what a dick he is!
― scott seward, Friday, 20 October 2023 17:59 (six months ago) link
sorry. just needed a good old-fashioned FUCK TRUMP. i'm good now.
Biden campaign should buy truth social and use it to deprogram his cult.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 20 October 2023 17:59 (six months ago) link
I have no doubt there will be some abhorrent use of RICO. Tbh my interest in this one is mainly just for entertainment. I just need the distraction from how depressing everything else is.
― vodkaitamin effrtvescent (calzino), Friday, 20 October 2023 18:00 (six months ago) link
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra),
curtain call for this, very good
― that's when I reach for my copy of Revolver (WmC), Friday, 20 October 2023 19:02 (six months ago) link
otm
― close encounters of the third knid (darraghmac), Friday, 20 October 2023 20:58 (six months ago) link
Without commenting on this particular situation, FYI there are civil claims under RICO statutes too. Civil RICO claims can be brought by the government or by private citizens. There is no prison time in civil RICO claims.
So not every instance of a RICO case will mean someone's in jeopardy of going to prison.
― felicity, Friday, 20 October 2023 21:24 (six months ago) link
Well I guess anyone in a courtroom is in jeopardy of going to jail if they behave badly enough. I just mean prison not a remedy under civil RICO.
― felicity, Friday, 20 October 2023 21:26 (six months ago) link
BREAKING: Attorney JENNA ELLIS is taking a plea deal in Fulton County. She's pleading guilty to one count of aiding and abetting false statements and writings— Tamar Hallerman (@TamarHallerman) October 24, 2023
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 24 October 2023 13:46 (six months ago) link
For those the can't or won't read Twitter (fair!), she goes on to post:
The terms: 5 years probation$5000 restitution to the Georgia Secretary of State’s officeFirst offender status100 hours community serviceApology letterTestify truthfullyNo communication with co-defendants, witnesses and mediaAdditional recorded statements to prosecutors
And as someone else posts:
Nice little reminder that as these various co-defendants plead guilty they're all implicating Trump in different prongs of the larger RICO conspiracy.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 24 October 2023 13:48 (six months ago) link
the fact that the sentences are so lenient has to be pretty appealing to the rest
― lag∞n, Tuesday, 24 October 2023 13:50 (six months ago) link
https://t4.ftcdn.net/jpg/00/72/03/89/240_F_72038944_pdmoHuXTyDyxrgqOtshAJvMAEoKa7OBm.jpg
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 24 October 2023 13:56 (six months ago) link
hate to be this guy but what are the chances none of this is gonna matter because of a hung jury?
― frogbs, Tuesday, 24 October 2023 13:57 (six months ago) link
A well-hung jury
― real warm grandpa (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 24 October 2023 14:15 (six months ago) link
Carrot/stick, etc.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 24 October 2023 14:19 (six months ago) link
who knows, but I will enjoy laughing when dipshit whines that his "deal" wasn't as lenient as everyone else's
― Maxmillion D. Boosted (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 24 October 2023 14:24 (six months ago) link
The Art of the Squeal
― Large, Complex, Detailed but Irrefutable POST (Dan Peterson), Tuesday, 24 October 2023 14:27 (six months ago) link
I swear I misread "Testify truthfully" and "Testify tearfully"
― Look closely, that is all. (doo dah), Tuesday, 24 October 2023 14:30 (six months ago) link
so they started off last month with a shortlist of 900 potential jurors. I was thinking how many of these can be jury candidates who are genuinely impartial and unopinionated on this case - there will be some recusals and perhaps some dishonesty. I imagine the screening process for such a big case will be putting these mofos under a microscope, the FBI probably already have everything they've ever posted!
― vodkaitamin effrtvescent (calzino), Tuesday, 24 October 2023 14:30 (six months ago) link
What exactly is the point of a jury system where the jurors are hand-picked by the legal teams? Hardly a cross-section of 'peers'. Maybe they should use all 900 and let them fight it out in a vast jury room a la A Matter of Life and Death.
― I must be the unluckiest man alive (Matt #2), Tuesday, 24 October 2023 14:34 (six months ago) link
As I understand it, it's not that they are hand-picked, per se, but that lawyers have a certain number of "vetoes," and have to do so strategically. (Lawyers, is this right?) Like, lawyers can't just say "no" to every juror, forever, especially when everyone knows the defendant and their alleged crimes.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 24 October 2023 14:41 (six months ago) link
makes me think of the OJ case. which infamously returned the wrong verdict
― frogbs, Tuesday, 24 October 2023 14:50 (six months ago) link
I like how this guy is starting to increasingly rely on 'look over there!' responses, per WaPo:
Steve Sadow, lead counsel for Trump in the Georgia case, pointed to the prosecution’s willingness to dismiss Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations charges, commonly known as RICO, as evidence of what he indicated was Willis’s true strategy.“For the fourth time, Fani Willis and her prosecution team have dismissed the RICO charge in return for a plea to probation,” he said. “What that shows is this so-called RICO case is nothing more than a bargaining chip for DA Willis. Moreover, this plea was to a completely separate charge, not a part of the original indictment, which doesn’t even mention President Trump.”
“For the fourth time, Fani Willis and her prosecution team have dismissed the RICO charge in return for a plea to probation,” he said. “What that shows is this so-called RICO case is nothing more than a bargaining chip for DA Willis. Moreover, this plea was to a completely separate charge, not a part of the original indictment, which doesn’t even mention President Trump.”
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 24 October 2023 15:10 (six months ago) link