Donald Trump: Classic or Dud?

Cheesebro can go fuck himself. He knew exactly what he was doing.

theorizing, in early stages, went even further than previously known, imagining a Jan. 6 that lasted for not hours but days, an intervention by Supreme Court justices that they presumed to be loyal to President Trump, and a vice president who upended his constitutional duties, allowing the U.S. to descend into chaos

Good to have documentary confirmation. There were open speculations about this train of events even before Jan. 6. Most likely they were fueled by leaks coming from people involved in the conspiracy, especially since the reach of the conspiracy by necessity extended to many hundreds of people, not all of whom were all that bright. Such huge conspiracies are impossible to keep secret and coups d'etat are always preceded by insistent rumors of a coming coup.

No matter what the indictments say are the charges brought by the special counsel, the reality was treason.

I think his own attorneys are clearly not happy with him, per this first story in the overall series:

Attorneys for Chesebro downplayed his involvement to TPM, casting him as a lover of legal theory who lacked both the influence and understanding to impact the Trump campaign’s plans. “If you meet him and ask one straightforward question you’ll get 12 different ways it could be,” Chesebro attorney Manny Arora said.

"He's a confused legal moron who drives us nuts but he's paying us for now."

Okay what the

It appears that Ken Chesebro had a secret online identity in the runup to Jan. 6.

In emails obtained by TPM, Chesebro told other Trump lawyers to read documents uploaded from a Google Drive account called “Badger Pundit,” and encouraged other attorneys, via email, to support him in various Twitter (now known as X) arguments that an account with the “Badger Pundit” handle was engaging in.

It's interesting to note how Trump's recent comments about NATO countries focus on "you don't pay your bills." He literally used those words. The world's most famous non-bill-payer.

So I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say Donald Trump: dud.

But I might kinda admire the brazenness of that hypocrisy if it came from someone less evil and harmful.

Sounds real fun to be around!

That backup X account remains active, and unlocked. Last August, after Georgia prosecutors charged Chesebro and others in a RICO indictment, thebadger14 complained: “Can’t the DA just drop all the RICO stuff, and focus on the fake electors? Seems like that’s plenty.”

hahahahaa so desperate

I like his early work

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIyixC9NsLI

“The Badger Pundit”

🦡

You know what? We complain a lot about the NY Times' coverage of Trump, and rightly so, but today they published a long and exhaustive guide to all his different court cases. (That's a gift link.) This is just the intro:

Former President Donald J. Trump’s legal problems are coming to a head as a wave of law enforcement scrutiny into his business and political careers culminates in overlapping trials and judicial rulings.

Mr. Trump has been sued by the New York attorney general and criminally indicted in four separate cases: two brought by the special counsel Jack Smith, one by the Manhattan district attorney and the last coming from local prosecutors in Georgia.

The result is a striking split screen as Mr. Trump fights multiple lawsuits and 91 felony charges across four states while seeking to lock up the Republican presidential nomination. His first criminal trial could start as soon as March, in the thick of the campaign.

The trials began last year, not with a criminal case, but with the civil trial led by the New York attorney general, Letitia James, who sued Mr. Trump, his adult sons and their family business, accusing them of fraudulently inflating the former president’s net worth by billions of dollars.

Ms. James, a Democrat, wants to extract a penalty of roughly $370 million, and to oust Mr. Trump from his own company and the wider world of New York real estate. In effect, she could run Mr. Trump out of doing business in the state he once called home.

The criminal cases carry far more serious repercussions for Mr. Trump, who could face years behind bars.

The first indictment came in March 2023, when the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, filed 34 felony charges against Mr. Trump related to what prosecutors described as a scheme to cover up a potential sex scandal and clear his path to the presidency in 2016.

The first federal case came months later, in June, as part of the special counsel’s investigation into Mr. Trump’s handling of classified documents and whether he obstructed the government’s efforts to recover them after he left office.

In that case, Mr. Trump faces 40 criminal counts: 32 related to withholding national defense information, five related to concealing the possession of classified documents, one related to making false statements and two related to an effort to delete security camera footage at Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, where he stored the documents.

The special counsel later filed another case — arguably the most consequential of all Mr. Trump’s legal entanglements — accusing him of conspiring to subvert the results of the 2020 election, which he lost to President Biden.

The fourth and perhaps final indictment of Mr. Trump was brought by the Fulton County district attorney, Fani T. Willis, who accused the former president of orchestrating a “criminal enterprise” to reverse Georgia’s results in the 2020 election. He was charged alongside 18 of his lawyers, advisers and supporters as part of a sweeping racketeering case.

Here is where the notable cases involving the former president stand:

And as for their appeal of the immunity decision to the Supreme Court...uh:

Trump's lawyers argue that putting him on trial now would violate the First Amendment rights of "all American voters," who are entitled to hear what he has to say.

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:rjczpaotvf22sva3wheiwmgk/bafkreia3uo3bczlcg4wt2gr2wlutd3haaeqmgb4dpo3mhfr6djmbxuqav4@jpeg

As you might guess, legal folks on social media are, how you say, bemused.

That is what we call a makeweight.

Or, more accurately, bullshit.

oh to have it dismissed properly as frivolous without briefings or nuthin. it won't

Now this is some hilarious news, RNC putting itself up for highway robbery

NEWS: a major Trump shakeup at the RNC. Trump will endorse Michael Whatley to succeed Ronna McDaniel as RNC Chair and Lara Trump for RNC co-chair. Chris LaCivita will be RNC COO, and will maintain his role as a senior adviser on the Trump campaign. https://t.co/zJfAgSsBov

— Alex Isenstadt (@politicoalex) February 13, 2024

yay bye Ronna McDonna

Rhonda McRomney Daniel-san

Ronna Ronna Ronna Ronna

Batman

Ronna Ronna Bo Bonna ...

Awwww... what a big softie

In a Valentine’s Day fundraising message, Donald Trump sought to demonstrate the depth of his love for Melania Trump, his third wife, by referring to his lengthy list of criminal charges.

Under the headline “This is a Valentine’s Day letter from Donald J Trump”, the message sent out on Wednesday began: “Dear Melania. I love you!”

It then took its unexpected turn.

“Even after every single indictment, arrest and witch hunt, you never left my side. You’ve always supported me through everything. I wouldn’t be the man I am today without your guidance, kindness and warmth. You will always mean the world to me, Melania! From your husband with love, Donald J Trump.”

Recipients who clicked on one of three big red invitations to “send your love” were directed to a page offering the chance to send a “personalised message” to Melania – and to donate to Trump’s campaign amounts ranging from $20.24 to $3,300 or “other”

ABG: Always Be Grifting

Proud of this guy

a ruling in the NY fraud case is coming on Friday, so that should be another major chunk of change extracted from him

Putting that mildly. (It's important to remember that Trump will obviously appeal that, but if so he has to put up all the money in stated damages first -- ALL of it, plus interest. And if Engoron judges the way NYAG is asking for, that's $400 million right there.)

If I were Trump I would have sold expensive Valentine's Day cards with my "Donald J. Trump" signature pre-printed on it. Maybe with "Dear Melania" pre-printed, too, that would have been funny.

But I guess that's why I'm not President.

I just threw up in my mouth a little.

^ Me, every day since 11/8/16.

me, every night due to acid reflux

For all the masochists on here, Fani Willis disqualification hearing live stream

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqG_Nsc2ktA

I have no idea what the latest is on that. seems like a ridiculously stupid self own but idk

so is the consensus that if she is disqualified, the case is dead? sounds incredibly idiotic

The issue as I understand it is that if she is disqualified, her whole team has to step down, and then it's up to the discretion of the AG as to whether they want to proceed with the case.

how the hell are you working on a case you know is going to be under a microscope and have anything that seems even close to inappropriate going on? wtf?

Just one lucky break for ol' Teflon Donnie after another.

Probably because there ought to be no grey area over whether it's a conflict of interest or it isn't. I would trust her to know better than the co-defendant I'd never even heard of before this came up but idk either.

i wouldn't panic about it

https://www.ajc.com/politics/ethics-experts-back-up-fulton-da-in-trump-conflict-of-interest-dispute/5FUWN72MKVH55GF3BTHKDETCBY/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ajcnews_tw

“Disqualifying conflicts,” the group wrote, “occur when a prosecutor’s previous representation of a defendant gives the prosecutor forbidden access to confidential information about the defendant or a conflict otherwise directly impacts fairness and due process owed a defendant.”

“That kind of conflict is not at issue here,” they said.

unfortunately that group is not going to make a decision on this issue

but they all wrote an amicus brief supporting the DA to stay on in the case, and judges are usually hesistant to throw out cases for such non events

I once knew a guy who got drunk and drove his car into a tree. He was going to be in serious trouble. But he did so in a jurisdiction that subsequently ceased to exist, so there were exactly no consequences. He later became a lawyer and is now a judge.

(Long boring story, it was a tiny town where the police chief was also the mayor, and the city government consisted of him and his brother. They were both arrested for some kind of corruption, and the town just kind of dissolved back into its surrounding county.)

But anyway, sorry, even if the prosecutor is a reckless and/or bad person, you are still not supposed to do crimes. Usually you are still in trouble.

It's a highly politicized case and there are lots of powerful people in GA that would like to see it go away. I'm not saying that it 100% won't happen if Willis is disqualified, but it certainly puts it at risk of never going forward.

I don't really get why this is a crime, they are both on the same side and it doesn't seem they did anything sketchy? just kinda looks bad

Meanwhile, the Stormy Daniels criminal trial is going to proceed on March 25

xp

yeah, it's not really clear, but I guess we'll see what happens in this hearing. I don't think disqualification is dependent on there being a crime though.

If the GA case gets buried, that kinda becomes a pretty easy rallying point for '24 there, no?

But anyway, sorry, even if the prosecutor is a reckless and/or bad person, you are still not supposed to do crimes. Usually you are still in trouble.

Would love to hear more about these crimes you think the prosecutor did

i don't think that is what that says

oh you are right

apologies Ye Mad Puffin

carry on

It's cool, waterfall, that was ambiguously worded. I just meant that Trump should still be held accountable even if Willis acted improperly. Which I don't think, but in any case, it's irrelevant to what Trump did/didn't do.