I know this question is naive but here goes anyway: how/why has Trump been able to avoid arrest? Seriously…I truly want to understand how a person gets away with so much for so long. He’s like an eel…no offense to the eel.
I know this question is naive but here goes anyway: how/why has Trump been able to avoid arrest? Seriously…I truly want to understand how a person gets away with so much for so long. He’s like an eel…no offense to the eel.
Trump is one example of what is truly amiss with America. A hardened and successful criminal for all of his adult life with documented crimes (not renting any of his rental properties to black people, a federal crime, not paying taxes in NY or in the US, 6 bankruptcies, and more).
There are two main reasons Trump is not in jail:
1. He is rich.
2. He is white.
In America, if you are rich and you are white, it has been, since the founding of our country, totally OK to do whatever you want, including, enslaving an entire people, whipping someone to death, slandering people, selling a person's offspring for money, paying no federal tax for years, and attempting to overthrow a legitimate election.
The free pass, for rich white men, is one of the very fundamental flaws in the American fabric.
Look up any statistic on any prison. The vast, vast majority of residents are black and latino.
Why? Because blacks and latino's are more criminal than whites?
Very wealthy criminals buy the best accountants and lawyers to cover their tracks and manipulate the system. With Georgia TFG couldn’t restrain himself and made the call never suspecting a Republican official would record the call. He didn’t have his fixer enabler Michael Cohen to do the dirty work. Can Houdini slip from the handcuffs of a Fulton County indictment?
I profoundly hope not. I hope he is indicted, tried, and convicted. After Napoleon was such an awful problem for France, he was exiled to Elba. I wish tfg could be exiled to some remote place with no internet or cell service. His defense is always, “They’re picking on me. It’s not fair.” That excuse is not acceptable for a 12 yr. old boy. Why should tRump get away it? His base needs to understand that he despises them and just uses them.
Interesting comment. Trump brings to my mind an old (original) Star Trek episode. The planet explored in that episode kept having impossible, illogical events happening the the landing team. Final conclusion? The planet was inhabited by an immature, narcissistic “god-lette”. This (essentially) spoiled brat had been exiled there by adult “gods” for punishment and hopefully reform. Apparently they were unsuccessful! Sound familiar?
Frankly, reform is unattainable. Just as "bipartisanship" is with Republicans & here we go again with the attempt to actually pass something that resembles maybe not control of guns maybe, possibly, a few little minor concessions from the Rs. I'm sorry, for being so pessimistic, but how many years has it already been since there were ANY concessions from them? The entire Charlie Brown/Lucy scenario keeps playing over & over.
NOPE! Nowhere that there are living & breathing animals. Ever notice how uninterested the entire DJT family is with living animals? The only interaction with other species is killing them. Not sure where he could be "put" that would mean safety for others (humans or other species)!
That’s right, but his base (the GOP) are paying the freight on his legal woes.
For Trump and his family it’s a grift that’s how they make there living and they are great at it. His base is the mark Gym Gordon and the rest are just along for the money
Elba was far too close to the mainland and within sight of the island of Napoleon's birth. A very expensive mistake. Saint Helena, in the middle of the South Atlantic was the final choice.
The main thing is to make the world safe for its inhabitants by whatever means it takes to remove this man, his henchmen and his would-be successors-in-crime, from circulation.
At least he could then spend the rest of his days content in the knowledge that, like Napoleon, he is seen as a uniquely important menace and is being treated accordingly. Thus, vanity will be satisfied.
Peter, You came up with an elegant solution, at least in your words. Can you imagine Trump thinking as you do? Give it 5 seconds. Next question, where will he hold his rallies?
1. Thinking? Is that what you call the processes that take place under that skull? No, those are soothing thoughts that jailers can feed him, along with images from rallies and from Mar a Lago...
2. Cfr. Loree Byers
Having said that, prayers for him and for all like him. Don't let's give in to hatred for the man however much horror we may feel for his words and deeds.
To hate him and those whose minds he has poisoned is to join with them in drinking his filth and delusions. That is how evil comes to stain the innocent, and if we attend to the lessons of history, it will be plain that these stains, these mind poisons, remain ingrained in human communities for centuries... for millennia.
Laws are written in language that allows learned attorneys to reverse the intent of the law on its face by parsing the language into pretzel ( Hence Steely Dan) logic
Juries become inexpert linguistic interpreters, ( not of their own choosing) in attempts to arrive at the truth
Seth Wouldn’t it be ironic if Trump, accustomed to liar and lawyer up, were brought to justice by a Fulton County district attorney. Reminds me of Al Capone, whose murderous career was ended by a tax fraud conviction.
And she is not cowed by him or his family. Neither is Letitia James, NY State’s AG, (another Black woman) who’s going after him in a civil suit for tax fraud.
Let's hope that they both prevail. He is a vile criminal, with absolutely no redeeming qualities. The tide needs to turn on all of these betrayers - at least those who can be reached in the American courts.
Some Republicans, most notably, Tom Cotton, are trying to introduce legislation that would end fair representation by an attorney even when you can't personally afford one. That sure fits into the system these rich white guys are working to strengthen.
He's actually more intentionally evil. He looks for the evil angle in whatever he does. McConnell will play with evil, but it isn't his go-to first choice, as it is for The Guy Who Should Have Been Fragged In Iraq.
If Fani Willis's special grand jury does not recommend empaneling a grand jury that can find grounds to indict TFG, it will not be due to Willis being corrupt. She is a diligent, intelligent lioness, and she calmly strategizes ensnaring criminals. Unlike TFG, even if he's tried and convicted of attempting to overturn Georgia's 2020 presidential election, Willis will not recommend the death penalty, as TFG would have liked to do with Hillary. In this case, cronyism and wealth will not dictate the outcome.
Oh, that would make me so happy! After all the criticism of Merrick Garland's apparent lack of attention of TFG's criminal behavior, it's heartening to see that his critics were apparently misguided, and the thought that the criminal might face consequences would be sublime.
I would add, another protective factor is that he's male. It's no accident that Martha Stewart ended up in jail, while so many rich white men who committed much worse crimes skated prosecution.
Pat The Pope clearly granted Biden the right to communion despite his view on abolition. One of America’s conservative bishops has ignored the Pope in his diatribe against Pelosi. Meanwhile, numerous American dioceses have declared bankruptcy because of the massive legal payments for the long-hidden charges of church folks doing unthinkable things to boys.
It seems to me that the only ‘soul’ in the Catholic Church that is sacrosanct is filet of sole. Now the Southern Baptist Church is unraveling over exposure of church scandals.
New Mexico ended up with more than her share of pedophile priests because problem priests were sent to the Servants of the Paraclete retreat in the Jemez Mountains by dioceses from all over the country. Once pronounced “cured”, they were sent to parishes throughout New Mexico instead of back to their original states. The Archdiocese of Santa Fe has declared bankruptcy and is forced to sell off church property.
Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, had the same problem. We were in the Allentown Diocese when I was growing up and it's where the "bad" priests went for punishment.
Agreed. My point is that there's a mixed message going on and that men seem to get a pass when women don't.
And, if the Pope can be likened to the legislative branch, the Bishop of San Francisco can be likened to SCOTUS. Biden gets a pass on the Federal level; Pelosi gets sanctioned at the state level.
The priest in San Francisco that refused Pelosi communion was passed over by the Pope for a promotion he'd been hoping for. The Pope elevated someone else. Touché...
Biden goes to a Catholic church in DC with a different priest, and I seem to remember the Pope expressly did not allow communion to be withheld from Biden.
Hi Bruce, I think what the Pope said was intended for all the U.S. Bishops...as in, "don`t weaponize or politicize the Eucharist." If I remember correctly, it was a Bishop/ or priest in Connecticut that was threatening to withold communion but the DC Archbishop Wilton Gregory said Pres.. Biden could receive anytime in DC! Pelosi is a devout Catholic, as is Biden. At a time when the US Bishops could be standing strong for the real human issues and crises of our world they are doing this political s#*t ( sorry Jesus!!).
Thanks for clarifying with more specifics I was fuzzy on. I remember the Pope's statement and couldn't understand how this priest in SF could get away with denying Pelosi communion. The priest in SF is extremely conservative, apparently, but I'm glad the Pope passed over him with promotions of others. Pelosi has visited the Pope at the Vatican, so I can't see why he hasn't come down harder on the priest in SF.
Not only did the Pope promote someone else, he promoted the Archbishop of San Diego, a prominent liberal who was JUNIOR to the Archbishop of San Francisco.
Hhi Marlene, Yes, he is one of the "gang" of USBishops who are anti- Francis and also politically in bed with the ultra right wing, in all its forms. There are a few progressive Bishops ( recent made Cardinal one of them) who are trying to find ways to lessen the gap between these guys and less partisan Bishops-- but the U.S. Conference of Bishops, at this moment, is as divided as our country. It is so discouraging and so counterproductive!!! At a time when the church is trying to keep "butts on the pews" these guys are trying to throw out some of their most publically loyal practitioners!!! They are also being "backed" by ultra conservative, big money Catholics--a situation not unlike the strangle hold lobbyists have on our Congresspersons and probably intimately connected to certain conservative political agendae.
Oh yes, Carol, I am fully aware of that information. The Vatican has been in bed with the Pro-Rape Party for many many years. Evidenced by all of the boys and girls who were violated at a very young age by a priest. Quite frankly, priests and nuns who swear to a lifetime of celibacy, is very unnatural. Deprives these sick people of the pleasures of having a “normal” relationship. Those who believe in the Catholic faith should really demand their leaders lighten up. I bet they would gain more of a following unlike what we are seeing today, which is people leaving in droves.
I'm confused. Pope Francis asked the bishops not to make Eucharist a political tool. "In November, the bishops approved a new document that fell short of denying the Eucharist to pro-abortion politicians." So how can the archbishop deny Speaker Pelosi communion?
I agree, but that's not the point I was trying to make.
It's kind of like federal vs. state here in the US. The feds - AKA Pope Francis - gave President Biden a "pass," but the state authority - AKA Bishop Salvatore - refuses to allow communion for Speaker Pelosi.
I have no idea what happens when either walks up the aisle for communion and the priest says, "Body of Christ."
I just know that President Biden is a man and Speaker Pelosi is a woman and it just seems wrong to me that their treatment is different.
I agree that it's wrong that their treatment is different. And one can find many many examples of this inequity in the church of my childhood. It just seems that in this particular situation it was more a question of geography (who is in charge in CA vs DE) and I wondered how an archbishop could defy both the pope and the council of bishops. Sigh...
Chaplain The Catholic Church on abortion seems akin to the Democratic Party on almost everything. Whatever the boss man says, there are many mice who munch their own cheese. Progressives, moderates, and coal-crunching Munchin.
And, not having money isn't always necessary, since many white men with not much money are given a pass for egregious crimes and behaviors a lot of the rest of us would end up being outcasts or in prison for. A good example is those young men who have raped women but are given a slap on the wrist because a criminal record would "stain their futures".
Dave Martha, as a woman, was treated differently than a man. However, Martha (who looks great at 80) dug her own hole because of arrogance. She professionally had knowledge of stock shenanigans. She had the opportunity to say mea culpa, I was unaware, and would have gotten a slap on the wrist. Instead, she told the prosecutor to stuff it and insisted on a trial.
Net net: Martha was treated differently than some male stock manipulators. But Martha’s arrogance sent her to the slammer.
Mitch McConnell and the extreme politicization of our Court system. I always check the Party of a presiding Judge in important court cases.
Here is an article from 2020. “McConnell reaches milestone on judges by filling final Circuit Court vacancy. “When we depart this chamber today, there will not be a single Circuit Court vacancy anywhere in the nation for the first time in at least 40 years,” McConnell said. McConnell took over the Senate in January 2015 and held votes on just two Circuit Court judges during Obama's last two years in office. And McConnell has made confirming judges central to his tenure as majority leader. By Leigh Ann Caldwell and Sahil Kapur
Also
“McConnell was exposed to the machinations of judicial appointments early in his career, when he worked for Marlow Cook, a U.S. senator from Kentucky who sat on the Senate Judiciary Committee. During his time as a staffer for Cook, McConnell saw two of President Richard Nixon’s Supreme Court nominees rejected.
“It was in those years that McConnell really came to understand the importance, the centrality of judicial nominations in our political system, both the Supreme Court nominations and also … federal lower-court nominations,” Alec MacGillis, a ProPublica reporter and author of The Cynic: The Political Education of Mitch McConnell, told FRONTLINE in 2019.
And McConnell's coup of his lifetime was in stacking the Supreme Court. Then to our extreme detriment it appears as if Garland is living in some sort of ivory tower way up in the clouds where lady justice still prevails.
I loathe McConnell and mute him every time he makes one of his asinine pronouncements. He has ruined the court system and the Supreme Court is nothing now, but a majority of Federalist Society judges who continue to undermine everything that we have worked so long to achieve. As for Garland, I think he runs a very tight ship and that there is much more going on than the public knows at the moment.
Same here. I think McConnell has done more to destroy democracy in this country than any one individual, even the Big Orange Menace. Everything McConnell does and says is done with ulterior motives. He's a slimy bastard.
Case in point...delay action...keep kicking that can down the road...wait till it all subsides and blows over...tout a couple of ineffective actions without addressing the MAIN one...
When the heart button doesn’t turn red, refresh your page and it should then show it’s red. If not, just click on it again, and it should turn red. You may have to scroll a little to find it.
Thanks, Mimi but I am on my mobile and there is no “refresh” button that I know of. I just keep going in and out to keep up. Wish Substack would work on this issue. Seems like I only experience it on HRC’s page. 🙄
On my PC if I click on the "heart" button and then just wait, sometimes several minutes, and it will eventually register. It just takes it some time sometimes. I usually don't have any trouble on my phone, but I tend to not read LFAA on it because of the spacing it uses for comments.
You should thus be very surprised then, to learn that most of the decisions in the past year against the Trumpers in the investigations have been made by Trump-appointed judges. And overall, more Trump-appointees have ruled against than for, though the Trump appointees in the Appeals Courts have about a 50-50 record.
I have noticed that as well. However, it is that other 50% that rule according to Party lines that is causing problems. The sheer number of McConnell appointed persons in the Judiciary is staggering. While people were distracted McConnell set out to control the 3rd Branch of Government.
I always think of a couple of my ex-high school classmates who live in Florida. I don't know if they donate....one of them is stinking rich and the other lives in Naples and plays bridge all the time. I was having an email conversation with the latter for a while and I could never get her to stop the political talk. What I did discern with her was rabid hate for Obama which was probably racial. When she started using all caps to answer me, while ignoring the facts I had given her, it was time to stop. This person is also intelligent, but she has become a true believer. My take is that they love being able to use the system and have little, if any, integrity.
She and I went to school together and at that time she was regarded as an excellent student. So it's book learning in her example. And she runs some kind of computer company.
‘No Vacancies’ for Blacks: How Donald Trump Got His Start, and Was First Accused of Bias (Excerpts from The New York Times) Gifted link to article below.
'It was late 1963 — just months before President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the landmark Civil Rights Act — and the tall, mustachioed Fred Trump was approaching the apex of his building career. He was about to complete the jewel in the crown of his middle-class housing empire: seven 23-story towers, called Trump Village, spread across nearly 40 acres in Coney Island.'
'He was also grooming his heir. His son Donald, 17, would soon enroll at Fordham University in the Bronx, living at his parents’ home in Queens and spending much of his free time touring construction sites in his father’s Cadillac, driven by a black chauffeur.'
“His father was his idol,” Mr. Leibowitz recalled. “Anytime he would come into the building, Donald would be by his side.”
' the next decade, as Donald J. Trump assumed an increasingly prominent role in the business, the company’s practice of turning away potential black tenants was painstakingly documented by activists and organizations that viewed equal housing as the next frontier in the civil rights struggle.'
'The Justice Department undertook its own investigation and, in 1973, sued Trump Management for discriminating against blacks. Both Fred Trump, the company’s chairman, and Donald Trump, its president, were named as defendants. It was front-page news, and for Donald, amounted to his debut in the public eye.'
“Absolutely ridiculous,” he was quoted as saying of the government’s allegations.
'Looking back, Mr. Trump’s response to the lawsuit can be seen as presaging his handling of subsequent challenges, in business and in politics. Rather than quietly trying to settle — as another New York developer had done a couple of years earlier — he turned the lawsuit into a protracted battle, complete with angry denials, character assassination, charges that the government was trying to force him to rent to “welfare recipients” and a $100 million countersuit accusing the Justice Department of defamation.'
'When it was over, Mr. Trump declared victory, emphasizing that the consent decree he ultimately signed did not include an admission of guilt.'
'But an investigation by The New York Times — drawing on decades-old files from the New York City Commission on Human Rights, internal Justice Department records, court documents and interviews with tenants, civil rights activists and prosecutors — uncovered a long history of racial bias at his family’s properties, in New York and beyond.'
'Looking back, Mr. Trump’s response to the lawsuit can be seen as presaging his handling of subsequent challenges, in business and in politics. Rather than quietly trying to settle — as another New York developer had done a couple of years earlier — he turned the lawsuit into a protracted battle, complete with angry denials, character assassination, charges that the government was trying to force him to rent to “welfare recipients” and a $100 million countersuit accusing the Justice Department of defamation.'
And that is how he has "skated" - most of his crimes before becoming president weren't big enough to justify that kind of fight, and if the evidence wasn't so overhwelming it could get through the Baffle Them With Bullshit defense, the prosecutors took a pass.
For reasons known only to themselves, the national media has legitimized a con man, someone whose statements don't get the same scrutiny that any one on the left faces daily.
Also, none of his crimes were "big enough" to go after him, plus there was enough "wiggle room" that prosecutors could see him getting a "not guilty" from the jury. Believe it or not, he was always a "small timer" among the Big Crooks. Plus he has demonstrated before he became president and since that he will fight every inch of the way, delay delay delay. A really combative small timer isn't worth the effort in the grand scheme of things.
Of course, that allowed him to graduate to the Biggest of the Big Time Crooks.
TC is the SYNTHESIZER. Spurred by MIke S.'s comment on how Trump became a 'hardened and successful criminal'; a NY Times article, providing background about how father and son trumped the courts, TC took the bits and pieces and made them whole. The SYNTHESIZER knew which pieces to pick up and how they fit together, bringing Trump's success as a 'hardened criminal' to a climax. This series of exchanges read like a master class in synthesizing. The subject. could not have been better chosen. Thanks to Mike S. for that.
I'm sure white adds to his voter-base appeal and his slipperiness, but it's a far below the rich/politically connected reason. I mean, how many people-of-color of similar wealth have been indicted or arrested for, well, anything? Sure, being non-white means you have to have a bit more money to be invulnerable, but that's partly because race is used so effectively in drawing attention away from the stupendous wealth of this country and the way it has concentrated, and with whom.
White-collar crimes are notoriously hard to prosecute because, for the most part, they aren't B&W. It generally has to be something so blatant that a jury can't not convict. Trump and his dad were persecuted for a civil rights violation. The linked Washington Post article describes the suit in very interesting detail. It is not against the law to go bankrupt. It isn't even against the law to cheat your vendors, make them settle for $0.10 on the dollar. Luckily the Georgia case is about a black letter that makes attempting to interfere with an election a felony with a potential for jail. However, I do not expect Trump to ever be behind bars as that would place his Secret Service detail in peril. My hope is that he's sentenced to home confinement in his New York "castle" and cannot play golf or schmooze with the guests of his properties. I assure you that's Trump's idea of Hell.
While as President a sitting ( in office ) president has Executive Privilege . He can’t be Arrested and Charged with a Crime. We can only Impeach him. The Republicans wouldn’t vote to do it …….. Twice ! He still has some cases against him as a Business and a Civilian. Which I read there were Repub. donors sending in $ and it was going toward his Legal fees. The Donors think it’s going to Campaign funds. They still don’t believe he’s just a Con in a suit.
The Trump base is a textbook example of Sunk Cost Fallacy. They will never believe, because they are already so emotionally and/or economically invested.
I needed to look up Sunk Cost Fallacy so I’m sharing what I found for others who may be interested. Helps to understand why people stick with that fool.
Thank you for the definition and explanation. I fear I am one of those humans who has made sunk cost fallacy financial decisions. Not political I hope.
Sunk Cost Fallacy: the phenomenon whereby a person is reluctant to abandon a strategy or course of action because they have invested heavily in it, even when it is clear that abandonment would be more beneficial:
Certainly this applies to some of far left here in Salem. They want candidates to check all their boxes. I do hope that they will get behind Kotek for governor. There was an article in the Oregonian yesterday about Betsy Johnson, a long time DINO, and independent candidate for governor as she knew she would never get the D nomination. Turns out that we can now call her Machine Gun Betsy because she does own one....a gun enthusiast and collector. After Sandy Hook, she visited a classroom in Jewel, a very small town in the coast mountains, and answered a question from one of the students by telling them this. Apparently, the kids were stunned. I doubt this will draw many Ds to her, but likely some R gun nuts.
She can say whatever she wants and I bet she read the O article. I am now calling her Machine Gun Betsy. She is a wolf indeed. And with close ties with Timber Unity or whatever they are calling themselves now. I am hoping that she will draw Rs.
Yes, she worries me too. She has enough strikes against her for any D that I know not to vote for her. I bet my independent (formerly R) neighbor doesn't vote for her either. I don't have an assessment of the R candidate. I did read that some were angry with her for not leading a walkout at some point.
Barbara A sunk cost is what has been poured into an investment—whether a new product, a stock, or some nefarious scheme. One then has the opportunity to say—-that money is spent and the venture isn’t worth more risky $$$.
With investments, too often someone says I can’t afford to sell, since the stock cost me $$$$. Often they they hold it as it sinks further. Others take the loss and move on.
McConnell initially abhorred Trump and then made a political deal with the devil. Now he is endeavoring to move away from Trump in an effort to become Senate Majority Leader again. Michael Cohen was deeply invested in Trump and then turned against his one-time boss. For him, Trump became a ‘sunk cost.’
While I agree that this can certainly be explained, in part, by the Sunk Cost Fallacy, there are other reasons that many people are drawn to this kind of leadership. George Lakoff suggests that conservatives and liberals think differently about issues central to who they will choose as their leader. While conservatives tend to be afraid of change and difference, liberals are made much less uncomfortable by those things. And conservatives tend to seek out more authoritarian leaders, usually male, to represent the strong father who promises to solve all their problems and keep them safe. Liberals tend to lean towards leaders who represent the nurturing mother, and base their choices more on who might be kinder. I would be willing to bet that most of the former president's followers (he whose name I dare not speak) come from more traditional backgrounds, with a less emotionally available father but who none-the -less the family deferred to. Those early years tend to shape pretty strongly our preferences for the kind of leaders we want, most of that process being unconscious. Also, a lot of them are or have husbands, brothers, sons, fathers, etc who are similar to that thug who once occupied the WH.
I am troubled by the number of people who ignore death star's complete lack of anything good and his criminal enterprise. They either benefit from this financially or they have some obsession with things like abortion. So they continue to support the party of death. The wealthy can continue to have access to abortion for example and they think their money will save them from what is likely coming with climate change.
Michelle There are many cults and charlatan cultists. Trump played on the fears and biases of many folks. Many evangelical ministers do the same—-overwhelmingly for power and wealth, as they become anti-Christs. I remember reading about ‘Death Stars.’ The worst are those who deliberately prey on others—in prayer.
Yes, death star donny is a master at playing on people's fears and giving them carte blanche to be as awful as they have always wanted to be. I have seen one ex-student fall into a cult and his children paid the price. We have some arrogant hateful pastors here in Salem, in my neighborhood actually, who love the power and getting into everyone's face while failing to even attempt to follow what Jesus taught. One with the help of others of like mind, blasted hatred all summer at the park in downtown Salem and monopolized a lot of that space while doing things that bothered a lot of people. And of course Proud Boys or that type doing "security". I have to say being a religious leader is a golden opportunity for those with nefarious purposes.
Yes, there are the Suits and the rest of us. Sorry guys, I take responsibility for adding to the suit population, but I’m hoping they will be part of the New generation who works alongside us, true gender equality. Have hope on that one.
Marcia A president can claim Executive Privilege. In the case of Nixon, the Supreme Court unanimously denied this to Nixon, because the Watergate tapes related to a crime. President Biden has overruled Trump’s claim of Executive Privilege for the same reason. I don’t know whether Trump could appeal Biden’s decision to the Stench Court. To date he hasn’t.
Dear Keith, I would love to spend a day talking with you. On my part it would be more of the listening. You are so wise and informed. I had know idea why you were saying “ Stench Court “? So I searched . Now I know. Justice Sotomayor said it. I thought it was a done deal on Trump.With that said I believe the Stench Court will protect him. I don’t remember why Nixon wasn’t charged with a crime ? Can’t remember. But I was so mad that he got all the former Presidential Perks right up to the day he died. And I think his wife after that still did. Perhaps maybe not “The Red Phone “ if you remember what they were ? I wonder if TFG has that perk as well ? Thank you.
Marcia If one screws up enough in life and lives long enough, he/she can give the impression of being wise. Look up ‘tontine,’ and perhaps. You’ll understand.
Being on Nixon’s EnemiesList, years later, when i had to make small talk with Julie Nixon Eisenhower, I had some difficulty.
After Nixon resigned to avoid Senate impeachment, he was liable to criminal prosecution. President Ford, to put an end to the Watergate calumny that had convulsed the country, issued a pardon to Nixon for whatever he had done.
At the time, I was furious that Nixon went scot free while his henchmen went to the slammer. Over time I grew to appreciate that Ford did what was necessary for our country, although it probably cost him the 1976 election. Later Ford was awarded a Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for his gutsy pardon.
I believe that the ‘red phone’ was the prez’s phone for major crises, including nuclear. He had a guy with him at all times with the nuclear codes.
Some very close friends of ours, the husband, Chuck Colson was his uncle. Colson went to Prison for just a few months. Maybe I wasn’t making sense about the “ Red Phone “ ? I’m concerned that TFG has access now to what was called the Red Phone. It was for the ‘Former Presidents ‘ ?
MARCIA My understanding is that Tubby Trump has not been accorded security clearance by the Biden administration. If he has this ubiquitous ‘red phone,’ hopefully it has the number of Attorney General Garland, were he to decide to plead guilty to constitutional insurrection.
As for Chuck Colson, I recall he stating how glorious and mystifying it was to be in a president’s aura. It may have been him who was astonished that, as a former private in the Army, he would be saluted by White House Marines. Oh how the mighty have fallen.
When I was off on an emergency mission to eastern Congo in October, 1964, the commanding Marine colonel at the airport refused to provide this civilian K rations as I was going alone into rebel-infiltrated provinces. To break this standoff, I told him to call his commanding officer, the American ambassador, on his private phone at 3:00 a. M. And explain to him why his house guest (me) couldn’t get K rations. (I got them).
Earlier, going to Lodja, I had command over a C130 when it was on the ground. After a hairy first few hours, I could complete one final mission. The ambassador’s housekeeper had abandoned his hotel in Lodja in 1960. He desperately wanted his fancy meat cutter as as memory of pre-independence. Also, his wife was dying of cancer.
The captain of the C 130 was getting nervous about the unsettled situation on the ground—drunken Congolese soldiers. The destroyed UN plane with crew members still aboard. I affirmed that I was in command of the plane on the ground.
The captain seemed apoplectic, when the meat cutter arrived. Darn, he never saluted me.
Marcia I take that as a backhanded salute. I continue to be a warm-hearted pain in the ass. As my wife asks “What do you intend to be, if you ever grow up? Clap if you believe.
Trump was carefully taught by his Fascist father and Roy Cohn, a nasty lawyer who advised Joseph McCarthy's outrageous behaviors, how to leverage laws and to quibble by way of frivolous lawsuits to do just what this case has done. Whenever he is accused of wrongdoing he slaps a counter-lawsuit that keeps the issue in limbo until it fades away, often by attrition. He practices the art of making big stinks that divert attention from the facts. He is such a flim-flam man! There are good honest people who know this, and who are (too) patiently at work on apprehending Trump, but they must have air-tight facts. One grievous reason for his success is that the Republicans use the same justice-obstructing methods to stymie progress. It seems that they may be complicit, thus they too play the game.
Having said all that, it does seem that the chickens are coming home to roost. Little by little Trump is being thwarted. I must say I don't fully understand the delay by the DOJ. In a week or so, the Jan 6th committee will make public their findings on the insurrection. Hopefully, all the actors will be thoroughly exposed.
you missed 'donating to campaigns of judges and District Attorneys'. I just wonder who made donations to the current NY DA in light of his allowing the investigation into Trump to expire? It is a time proven strategy for buying your way out of wrongdoing, by corporations and individuals.
Among the wealthy it does seem to be a learned characteristic. Each generation teaches the next. With the case under consideration, we can see it in three generations.
Had the DOJ brought these villians to a Grand Jury before the Congressional January 6th Committee did its work, the villians would have taken the 5th. The end.
Decades of slithering using the corporate shield, corporate bankruptcies with full discharge Plans, fall guys, cut outs, misdirection, Gaslighting, "send lawyers & money", prey on vunerables with a need & fill it, pay, pay & pay when nailed & get full releases, secrecy agreements with a breach remedy & NDA's as taught & funded by KKK father in the Eastern borough of New York, among other tactics.
Ahhh, NDAs. A true red flag for wrongdoing. For it to be an enforceable contract, doesn't there need to be 'consideration' for the vict- oops, the signer?
Public policy in the jurisdiction may hold NDA's UNENFORCEABLE particulary if the unseemly "Disclosure" is a Crime or that pesky problem: la verdad ... the truth. But, WAIT .. use it anyway just to create the Fog of War ... I mean Wreck Litigation. See for example, Trump Campaign "Outreach" Director, Jessica Denson successful court victory getting a ruling holding Trump's "Campaign NDA's" were "too vague" meaning NOT enforceable. Ditto for Trunp's "indemnity" BS. Courts will NOT enforce indemnity for Trump's sole negligence.
Because he is rich, white, male, and has proven that he knows how to be the biggest and the best cheater, fraudster, and criminal! America loves a wily viper!
I call this the class clown syndrome where a portion of the class loves the disruption while the rest want to get down to business. One of my great greats in elementary school just won the class clown award. Sigh.
True but so did Martha Stewart. That didn't keep her out of federal prison. There's no one thing but his history of being able to exact revenge by any means has to play a role.
I guess in the end he can thank Roy Cohn for teaching him how to circumvent the justice system. There has to be a limit to his luck.
Carol, for a long time Trump has made a safe place for himself [by hook or crook] by surrounding himself with people that are crooked or downright evil. He has stacked many courts in his favor, and has physiologically controlled a large portion of citizens in the US by his lies, and cozying up to, and saying what "white supremacist" and other hate groups want to hear, and it even goes further/deeper than this.
I have a different theory, I feel like every crime Trump's committed leads to other kettles of crimes - which lead to yet other kettles of crimes. Maybe this is what is taking Garland so long, where do you stop investigating, draw the line and just indict with the evidence you have?
At some point, bald-faced lying and gaming the system became acceptable political tactics in this country. I can think of several trends that may in combination have led to this. Life has become much more complex. Improved communication has brought the world beyond our insular communities ever closer. Religious practice has declined. Educational standards have declined. Smart criminals like Roy Cohn realized that strategic dishonesty could win. Honesty has not been able to keep pace with the wiles of determined and well-funded crooks. The wealth disparity has become obscene, and big money wags the government. Trump, a wannabe big crook, has been used as a pawn by bigger crooks. (My working theory, constantly tweaking.)
Maybe we've just caught up with other parts of the world, where corruption in government is the norm? Or maybe a lot of this was hidden, until these present day thugs became more brazen.
There are as many explanations as there are people, but know he has lost many times in court. To be arrested you have to be convicted of a crime that's on the books. He's guilty of many crimes against humanity, but when he breaks or bends the law, the punishment is usually pecuniary. Has he broken the law? Probably. Could he shoot someone on 5th Avenue and get away with it? Not if there were eye witnesses and it wasn't in self defense.
He is no more a citizen than you or me, he is not above the law but he is good at skirting around the edges, again something he learned from his dad and Roy Cohn.
All questions are naive, the very nature of a question is to fill a void in your knowledge. I'm super naive but not as much as I was yesterday.
No, an arrest or indictment *precedes* conviction for a crime. Trump has never been arrested or indicted, and to our knowledge has never been the target of an investigation. There are a lot of very knowledgeable, independent legal analysts who consider that to be extraordinary considering Trump's record.
This question is not naive at all. It's one of the greatest questions surrounding the Trump saga. I do not believe it can be answered with the standard arguments about rich people escaping the sanctions of law. I suspect it's much bigger than that.
This story begins with Trump's deepening ties to the NYC mob dating back 30 to 40 years and continues with:
- Trump's attraction to the FBI (and the mob) as an informant (this two-way role is not uncommon)
- the Russian mob's violent acquisition of the NY mob "franchise" in the 1990s,
- Trump deepening involvement with Russian sources of funding, legal or not,
- the merging of the Russian mob and Russian government during the 1990s, and Putin's rise to power by the early 2000s,
- the virtual certainty that Trump would have been privy to a great deal of information--gossip, rumor, speculation and fact--about the FBI dealings with the Russian mob,
- the likelihood that some of that information would be compromising to the FBI, and whether true or not, could be extremely damaging to the FBI (see the story of Whitey Bulger and apply some factor to it, which turns exponential when Trump becomes president)
- ask yourself why would Trump be so confident of his impunity that one of his first acts as president was an attempt to bribe--or extort--an FBI director to end an investigation that was likely to lead to him,
- a former FBI director was chosen as special counsel to investigate Trump, found insufficient evidence to name him as a co-conspirator (much less recommend prosecution), chose not to render judgment on the national security aspects of the case, and delivered epic-fail testimony to Congress about the investigation.
- As president, Trump acts as if he believes he is untouchable by the law and as if Putin has kompromat on him.
There are more elements to this story, but it boils down to Trump becoming immune to prosecution because of how damaging the information he has is to the FBI as an institution (and perhaps to senior FBI and DOJ officials). If this is the case, Trump and his family members will never face prosecution.
It certainly makes the case, and by quoting Mueller's circumlocution before Congress, Greg raises the question about Mueller that many others refuse to do, presumably because of his sterling reputation. My guess is that Mueller was straight but was dedicated to preserving the FBI as an institution crucial to the nation's interest.
I see two threads missing from Greg's account. One is the intersection of so many of the FBI actors around the Trump investigation with those who investigated or prosecuted mafioso in NY and Boston from the 1980s (Giuliani, whose name is not mentioned in in this account, among them). If Greg's is onto something here, as I believe he is, some of them could have their reputations ruined by Trump's revelations.
The second is the intersection of so many top WH and DOJ officials involved in the investigation of President Trump with membership in the Federalist Society, which of course had its wildest dream realized in Trump's judicial appointments.
I know this question is naive but here goes anyway: how/why has Trump been able to avoid arrest? Seriously…I truly want to understand how a person gets away with so much for so long. He’s like an eel…no offense to the eel.
Carol,
Trump is one example of what is truly amiss with America. A hardened and successful criminal for all of his adult life with documented crimes (not renting any of his rental properties to black people, a federal crime, not paying taxes in NY or in the US, 6 bankruptcies, and more).
There are two main reasons Trump is not in jail:
1. He is rich.
2. He is white.
In America, if you are rich and you are white, it has been, since the founding of our country, totally OK to do whatever you want, including, enslaving an entire people, whipping someone to death, slandering people, selling a person's offspring for money, paying no federal tax for years, and attempting to overthrow a legitimate election.
The free pass, for rich white men, is one of the very fundamental flaws in the American fabric.
Look up any statistic on any prison. The vast, vast majority of residents are black and latino.
Why? Because blacks and latino's are more criminal than whites?
Not hardly.
Very wealthy criminals buy the best accountants and lawyers to cover their tracks and manipulate the system. With Georgia TFG couldn’t restrain himself and made the call never suspecting a Republican official would record the call. He didn’t have his fixer enabler Michael Cohen to do the dirty work. Can Houdini slip from the handcuffs of a Fulton County indictment?
I profoundly hope not. I hope he is indicted, tried, and convicted. After Napoleon was such an awful problem for France, he was exiled to Elba. I wish tfg could be exiled to some remote place with no internet or cell service. His defense is always, “They’re picking on me. It’s not fair.” That excuse is not acceptable for a 12 yr. old boy. Why should tRump get away it? His base needs to understand that he despises them and just uses them.
Interesting comment. Trump brings to my mind an old (original) Star Trek episode. The planet explored in that episode kept having impossible, illogical events happening the the landing team. Final conclusion? The planet was inhabited by an immature, narcissistic “god-lette”. This (essentially) spoiled brat had been exiled there by adult “gods” for punishment and hopefully reform. Apparently they were unsuccessful! Sound familiar?
Frankly, reform is unattainable. Just as "bipartisanship" is with Republicans & here we go again with the attempt to actually pass something that resembles maybe not control of guns maybe, possibly, a few little minor concessions from the Rs. I'm sorry, for being so pessimistic, but how many years has it already been since there were ANY concessions from them? The entire Charlie Brown/Lucy scenario keeps playing over & over.
I agree, Jenn. I compare his behavior to a grade school child who whines "Not fair!!" when he loses at pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey at a birthday party.
Or loses at golf when he cheats!
Exactly!
I vote for wherever Komodo dragons live!
NOPE! Nowhere that there are living & breathing animals. Ever notice how uninterested the entire DJT family is with living animals? The only interaction with other species is killing them. Not sure where he could be "put" that would mean safety for others (humans or other species)!
❤️
Poor dragons! Really?
That’s right, but his base (the GOP) are paying the freight on his legal woes.
For Trump and his family it’s a grift that’s how they make there living and they are great at it. His base is the mark Gym Gordon and the rest are just along for the money
Jordan is not a mark, he's a co- conspirator.
Guantanamo without internet.
Elba was far too close to the mainland and within sight of the island of Napoleon's birth. A very expensive mistake. Saint Helena, in the middle of the South Atlantic was the final choice.
The main thing is to make the world safe for its inhabitants by whatever means it takes to remove this man, his henchmen and his would-be successors-in-crime, from circulation.
At least he could then spend the rest of his days content in the knowledge that, like Napoleon, he is seen as a uniquely important menace and is being treated accordingly. Thus, vanity will be satisfied.
Peter, You came up with an elegant solution, at least in your words. Can you imagine Trump thinking as you do? Give it 5 seconds. Next question, where will he hold his rallies?
Answers:
1. Thinking? Is that what you call the processes that take place under that skull? No, those are soothing thoughts that jailers can feed him, along with images from rallies and from Mar a Lago...
2. Cfr. Loree Byers
Having said that, prayers for him and for all like him. Don't let's give in to hatred for the man however much horror we may feel for his words and deeds.
To hate him and those whose minds he has poisoned is to join with them in drinking his filth and delusions. That is how evil comes to stain the innocent, and if we attend to the lessons of history, it will be plain that these stains, these mind poisons, remain ingrained in human communities for centuries... for millennia.
❤️
Laws are written in language that allows learned attorneys to reverse the intent of the law on its face by parsing the language into pretzel ( Hence Steely Dan) logic
Juries become inexpert linguistic interpreters, ( not of their own choosing) in attempts to arrive at the truth
“The Truth is not in us”
Seth Wouldn’t it be ironic if Trump, accustomed to liar and lawyer up, were brought to justice by a Fulton County district attorney. Reminds me of Al Capone, whose murderous career was ended by a tax fraud conviction.
And one who’s female AND Black.
Talk about poetic justice!
And she is not cowed by him or his family. Neither is Letitia James, NY State’s AG, (another Black woman) who’s going after him in a civil suit for tax fraud.
Let's hope that they both prevail. He is a vile criminal, with absolutely no redeeming qualities. The tide needs to turn on all of these betrayers - at least those who can be reached in the American courts.
They have so much experience at being strong and resilient. I am not surprised to see them leading us in power to rise up against fascism!
https://www.oprahdaily.com/entertainment/tv-movies/a40011988/the-culture-is-black-women-msnbc-exclusive-clip/
Thanks, I’ll check out this new series. Looks really interesting!
The perfect scheme, in my opinion!
I hope they're looking hard a RICOing tfg and the rest of his rabid litter.
Some Republicans, most notably, Tom Cotton, are trying to introduce legislation that would end fair representation by an attorney even when you can't personally afford one. That sure fits into the system these rich white guys are working to strengthen.
He’s McConnell in a different but in a same colored hoodie
He's actually more intentionally evil. He looks for the evil angle in whatever he does. McConnell will play with evil, but it isn't his go-to first choice, as it is for The Guy Who Should Have Been Fragged In Iraq.
Yes, just add a pencil mustache under his nose and lo and behold…da Füehrer!
is this the recent Supreme Court decision?
If Fani Willis's special grand jury does not recommend empaneling a grand jury that can find grounds to indict TFG, it will not be due to Willis being corrupt. She is a diligent, intelligent lioness, and she calmly strategizes ensnaring criminals. Unlike TFG, even if he's tried and convicted of attempting to overturn Georgia's 2020 presidential election, Willis will not recommend the death penalty, as TFG would have liked to do with Hillary. In this case, cronyism and wealth will not dictate the outcome.
I say, when TFG is tried and convicted, let’s build him his forever home on the southern border out of those BIG BEAUTIFUL WALL sections.
Oh, that would make me so happy! After all the criticism of Merrick Garland's apparent lack of attention of TFG's criminal behavior, it's heartening to see that his critics were apparently misguided, and the thought that the criminal might face consequences would be sublime.
Except for Roy Cohn, Trump hasn't had the "best" lawyers or accountants. His reputation for not paying his bills makes that impossible.
Hopefully not.
I would add, another protective factor is that he's male. It's no accident that Martha Stewart ended up in jail, while so many rich white men who committed much worse crimes skated prosecution.
And that Nancy Pelosi has been refused communion but President Biden has not been refused communion.
Good point. You can't let those women get too uppity! Why they might expect to be treated as equals and allowed to be priests!
Wish I could quadruple ❤️ this. Don’t get me started on the Catholic Church.
I'm with you.
We need a whole separate blog for that.
Pat The Pope clearly granted Biden the right to communion despite his view on abolition. One of America’s conservative bishops has ignored the Pope in his diatribe against Pelosi. Meanwhile, numerous American dioceses have declared bankruptcy because of the massive legal payments for the long-hidden charges of church folks doing unthinkable things to boys.
It seems to me that the only ‘soul’ in the Catholic Church that is sacrosanct is filet of sole. Now the Southern Baptist Church is unraveling over exposure of church scandals.
Holy, holy, and all that jazz.
And this week the Pope promoted the Archbishop of San Diego to Cardinal, very pointedly passing over the Archbishop of San Francisco.
New Mexico ended up with more than her share of pedophile priests because problem priests were sent to the Servants of the Paraclete retreat in the Jemez Mountains by dioceses from all over the country. Once pronounced “cured”, they were sent to parishes throughout New Mexico instead of back to their original states. The Archdiocese of Santa Fe has declared bankruptcy and is forced to sell off church property.
Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, had the same problem. We were in the Allentown Diocese when I was growing up and it's where the "bad" priests went for punishment.
Agreed. My point is that there's a mixed message going on and that men seem to get a pass when women don't.
And, if the Pope can be likened to the legislative branch, the Bishop of San Francisco can be likened to SCOTUS. Biden gets a pass on the Federal level; Pelosi gets sanctioned at the state level.
The priest in San Francisco that refused Pelosi communion was passed over by the Pope for a promotion he'd been hoping for. The Pope elevated someone else. Touché...
Biden goes to a Catholic church in DC with a different priest, and I seem to remember the Pope expressly did not allow communion to be withheld from Biden.
Hi Bruce, I think what the Pope said was intended for all the U.S. Bishops...as in, "don`t weaponize or politicize the Eucharist." If I remember correctly, it was a Bishop/ or priest in Connecticut that was threatening to withold communion but the DC Archbishop Wilton Gregory said Pres.. Biden could receive anytime in DC! Pelosi is a devout Catholic, as is Biden. At a time when the US Bishops could be standing strong for the real human issues and crises of our world they are doing this political s#*t ( sorry Jesus!!).
Thanks for clarifying with more specifics I was fuzzy on. I remember the Pope's statement and couldn't understand how this priest in SF could get away with denying Pelosi communion. The priest in SF is extremely conservative, apparently, but I'm glad the Pope passed over him with promotions of others. Pelosi has visited the Pope at the Vatican, so I can't see why he hasn't come down harder on the priest in SF.
Promoting a guy who is not only junior but liberal was "putting the hammer down" big-time in that bunch.
Not only did the Pope promote someone else, he promoted the Archbishop of San Diego, a prominent liberal who was JUNIOR to the Archbishop of San Francisco.
Can’t ❤️ this but this SF priest is extremely controversial and always has been. Time for him to be set out to pasture.
Hhi Marlene, Yes, he is one of the "gang" of USBishops who are anti- Francis and also politically in bed with the ultra right wing, in all its forms. There are a few progressive Bishops ( recent made Cardinal one of them) who are trying to find ways to lessen the gap between these guys and less partisan Bishops-- but the U.S. Conference of Bishops, at this moment, is as divided as our country. It is so discouraging and so counterproductive!!! At a time when the church is trying to keep "butts on the pews" these guys are trying to throw out some of their most publically loyal practitioners!!! They are also being "backed" by ultra conservative, big money Catholics--a situation not unlike the strangle hold lobbyists have on our Congresspersons and probably intimately connected to certain conservative political agendae.
Oh yes, Carol, I am fully aware of that information. The Vatican has been in bed with the Pro-Rape Party for many many years. Evidenced by all of the boys and girls who were violated at a very young age by a priest. Quite frankly, priests and nuns who swear to a lifetime of celibacy, is very unnatural. Deprives these sick people of the pleasures of having a “normal” relationship. Those who believe in the Catholic faith should really demand their leaders lighten up. I bet they would gain more of a following unlike what we are seeing today, which is people leaving in droves.
Agreed, but that wasn't my point.
I'm confused. Pope Francis asked the bishops not to make Eucharist a political tool. "In November, the bishops approved a new document that fell short of denying the Eucharist to pro-abortion politicians." So how can the archbishop deny Speaker Pelosi communion?
https://www.newsweek.com/pelosi-denied-communion-bishop-pope-eucharist-1708843
I agree, but that's not the point I was trying to make.
It's kind of like federal vs. state here in the US. The feds - AKA Pope Francis - gave President Biden a "pass," but the state authority - AKA Bishop Salvatore - refuses to allow communion for Speaker Pelosi.
I have no idea what happens when either walks up the aisle for communion and the priest says, "Body of Christ."
I just know that President Biden is a man and Speaker Pelosi is a woman and it just seems wrong to me that their treatment is different.
I agree that it's wrong that their treatment is different. And one can find many many examples of this inequity in the church of my childhood. It just seems that in this particular situation it was more a question of geography (who is in charge in CA vs DE) and I wondered how an archbishop could defy both the pope and the council of bishops. Sigh...
Chaplain The Catholic Church on abortion seems akin to the Democratic Party on almost everything. Whatever the boss man says, there are many mice who munch their own cheese. Progressives, moderates, and coal-crunching Munchin.
sorta like states' rights?
That bishop got in trouble for that stance. *shrug* It IS California, you know... ;)
Wasn't he initially refused communion, but that was overridden by (the Pope?)
And, not having money isn't always necessary, since many white men with not much money are given a pass for egregious crimes and behaviors a lot of the rest of us would end up being outcasts or in prison for. A good example is those young men who have raped women but are given a slap on the wrist because a criminal record would "stain their futures".
Key word: S.T.A.I.N. ....
Although many of them come from families with money.
3. He is male.
True on the face of it, Martha Stewart did time.
White but not male.
So... Dave got the point.
????????????
Dave Martha, as a woman, was treated differently than a man. However, Martha (who looks great at 80) dug her own hole because of arrogance. She professionally had knowledge of stock shenanigans. She had the opportunity to say mea culpa, I was unaware, and would have gotten a slap on the wrist. Instead, she told the prosecutor to stuff it and insisted on a trial.
Net net: Martha was treated differently than some male stock manipulators. But Martha’s arrogance sent her to the slammer.
Mitch McConnell and the extreme politicization of our Court system. I always check the Party of a presiding Judge in important court cases.
Here is an article from 2020. “McConnell reaches milestone on judges by filling final Circuit Court vacancy. “When we depart this chamber today, there will not be a single Circuit Court vacancy anywhere in the nation for the first time in at least 40 years,” McConnell said. McConnell took over the Senate in January 2015 and held votes on just two Circuit Court judges during Obama's last two years in office. And McConnell has made confirming judges central to his tenure as majority leader. By Leigh Ann Caldwell and Sahil Kapur
Also
“McConnell was exposed to the machinations of judicial appointments early in his career, when he worked for Marlow Cook, a U.S. senator from Kentucky who sat on the Senate Judiciary Committee. During his time as a staffer for Cook, McConnell saw two of President Richard Nixon’s Supreme Court nominees rejected.
“It was in those years that McConnell really came to understand the importance, the centrality of judicial nominations in our political system, both the Supreme Court nominations and also … federal lower-court nominations,” Alec MacGillis, a ProPublica reporter and author of The Cynic: The Political Education of Mitch McConnell, told FRONTLINE in 2019.
And McConnell's coup of his lifetime was in stacking the Supreme Court. Then to our extreme detriment it appears as if Garland is living in some sort of ivory tower way up in the clouds where lady justice still prevails.
I loathe McConnell and mute him every time he makes one of his asinine pronouncements. He has ruined the court system and the Supreme Court is nothing now, but a majority of Federalist Society judges who continue to undermine everything that we have worked so long to achieve. As for Garland, I think he runs a very tight ship and that there is much more going on than the public knows at the moment.
Same here. I think McConnell has done more to destroy democracy in this country than any one individual, even the Big Orange Menace. Everything McConnell does and says is done with ulterior motives. He's a slimy bastard.
Case in point...delay action...keep kicking that can down the road...wait till it all subsides and blows over...tout a couple of ineffective actions without addressing the MAIN one...
https://twitter.com/mkraju/status/1531685943698235393?email=305966b8e78a335d0b5d80ac058692cc51cb7b0b&emaila=a2ef2d482568704f718104bd097a1ccd&emailb=cd37b32ca9df18b298251a2dd117111edc08348b66a4111148c3ba0c3c1cd482&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=06.01.22%20KB%20-%20The%20Hill%20-%20Morning%20Report&utm_term=Morning%20Report
You can practically see the slime dripping off him.
Can’t ❤️ again (sigh) but your last sentence perfectly describes him.
When the heart button doesn’t turn red, refresh your page and it should then show it’s red. If not, just click on it again, and it should turn red. You may have to scroll a little to find it.
Thanks, Mimi but I am on my mobile and there is no “refresh” button that I know of. I just keep going in and out to keep up. Wish Substack would work on this issue. Seems like I only experience it on HRC’s page. 🙄
On my PC if I click on the "heart" button and then just wait, sometimes several minutes, and it will eventually register. It just takes it some time sometimes. I usually don't have any trouble on my phone, but I tend to not read LFAA on it because of the spacing it uses for comments.
Bruce, that does sometimes happen but if I am on it for awhile, the page suddenly “jumps” and I can’t ❤️ anymore. So frustrating…
It happens to me on every Substack page.
Mim
On another hand, there have been a number of tfg-appointed judges who have ruled fairly on cases of particular interest to tfg and Republicans.
I am talking mainly about the Supreme Court here.
You should thus be very surprised then, to learn that most of the decisions in the past year against the Trumpers in the investigations have been made by Trump-appointed judges. And overall, more Trump-appointees have ruled against than for, though the Trump appointees in the Appeals Courts have about a 50-50 record.
I have noticed that as well. However, it is that other 50% that rule according to Party lines that is causing problems. The sheer number of McConnell appointed persons in the Judiciary is staggering. While people were distracted McConnell set out to control the 3rd Branch of Government.
Trust’ at the Supreme Court? The court’s self-destruction continues.
By Jennifer Rubin
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/06/01/supreme-court-investigation-clerks-cellphones/
👌🏼
Say it Mike!!!
Trump is just one example of the fundamental flaw. But, he is an excellent example to be sure Kathleen.
And if he is in fact still rich, it's because the facts about his finances are not yet known.
And he collects more every day from, if not rich, well-off white stupids, some of whom are my neighbors.
I always think of a couple of my ex-high school classmates who live in Florida. I don't know if they donate....one of them is stinking rich and the other lives in Naples and plays bridge all the time. I was having an email conversation with the latter for a while and I could never get her to stop the political talk. What I did discern with her was rabid hate for Obama which was probably racial. When she started using all caps to answer me, while ignoring the facts I had given her, it was time to stop. This person is also intelligent, but she has become a true believer. My take is that they love being able to use the system and have little, if any, integrity.
And the question about your friend and TFG voters and devotees: what is intelligent? We need a new political dictionary.
She and I went to school together and at that time she was regarded as an excellent student. So it's book learning in her example. And she runs some kind of computer company.
It was Donald's debut in the press.
‘No Vacancies’ for Blacks: How Donald Trump Got His Start, and Was First Accused of Bias (Excerpts from The New York Times) Gifted link to article below.
'It was late 1963 — just months before President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the landmark Civil Rights Act — and the tall, mustachioed Fred Trump was approaching the apex of his building career. He was about to complete the jewel in the crown of his middle-class housing empire: seven 23-story towers, called Trump Village, spread across nearly 40 acres in Coney Island.'
'He was also grooming his heir. His son Donald, 17, would soon enroll at Fordham University in the Bronx, living at his parents’ home in Queens and spending much of his free time touring construction sites in his father’s Cadillac, driven by a black chauffeur.'
“His father was his idol,” Mr. Leibowitz recalled. “Anytime he would come into the building, Donald would be by his side.”
' the next decade, as Donald J. Trump assumed an increasingly prominent role in the business, the company’s practice of turning away potential black tenants was painstakingly documented by activists and organizations that viewed equal housing as the next frontier in the civil rights struggle.'
'The Justice Department undertook its own investigation and, in 1973, sued Trump Management for discriminating against blacks. Both Fred Trump, the company’s chairman, and Donald Trump, its president, were named as defendants. It was front-page news, and for Donald, amounted to his debut in the public eye.'
“Absolutely ridiculous,” he was quoted as saying of the government’s allegations.
'Looking back, Mr. Trump’s response to the lawsuit can be seen as presaging his handling of subsequent challenges, in business and in politics. Rather than quietly trying to settle — as another New York developer had done a couple of years earlier — he turned the lawsuit into a protracted battle, complete with angry denials, character assassination, charges that the government was trying to force him to rent to “welfare recipients” and a $100 million countersuit accusing the Justice Department of defamation.'
'When it was over, Mr. Trump declared victory, emphasizing that the consent decree he ultimately signed did not include an admission of guilt.'
'But an investigation by The New York Times — drawing on decades-old files from the New York City Commission on Human Rights, internal Justice Department records, court documents and interviews with tenants, civil rights activists and prosecutors — uncovered a long history of racial bias at his family’s properties, in New York and beyond.'
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/28/us/politics/donald-trump-housing-race.html?unlocked_article_code=AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACEIPuomT1JKd6J17Vw1cRCfTTMQmqxCdw_PIxftm3iaga3DFDmwSiPkORJCH_0bRZKF4INc02T2fSJpdKqIqXLlyyfJEPkpiDhOhqZbCmIgAJ299j7OPaV4M_sCHW6Eko3itZ3OlKex7yfritEqKOzHgXLiPhCEjOApmoMR6Jl-ri2gMx6aWQrNw3tko36sxF9stE2d7ESqKtvbvDhp_PszXLU2Pr1lrBJwKHG3bjtWe6LkfcQpNCFqgTH535Gw07d00K8pAde-kbEZmIJyi9O1XXm94L46pBIkzQZzWl9hptL3Lqx-Kzqmm1t8g_yp9YPfSpiOY6kciRFA&smid=url-share
'Looking back, Mr. Trump’s response to the lawsuit can be seen as presaging his handling of subsequent challenges, in business and in politics. Rather than quietly trying to settle — as another New York developer had done a couple of years earlier — he turned the lawsuit into a protracted battle, complete with angry denials, character assassination, charges that the government was trying to force him to rent to “welfare recipients” and a $100 million countersuit accusing the Justice Department of defamation.'
And that is how he has "skated" - most of his crimes before becoming president weren't big enough to justify that kind of fight, and if the evidence wasn't so overhwelming it could get through the Baffle Them With Bullshit defense, the prosecutors took a pass.
I only have ugly four-letter words for Fred Trump and his offsprings and their offsprings!
For reasons known only to themselves, the national media has legitimized a con man, someone whose statements don't get the same scrutiny that any one on the left faces daily.
The reasons are very well known, he sells papers and generates views. Since that's how the media make money, it was an easy decision.
Also, none of his crimes were "big enough" to go after him, plus there was enough "wiggle room" that prosecutors could see him getting a "not guilty" from the jury. Believe it or not, he was always a "small timer" among the Big Crooks. Plus he has demonstrated before he became president and since that he will fight every inch of the way, delay delay delay. A really combative small timer isn't worth the effort in the grand scheme of things.
Of course, that allowed him to graduate to the Biggest of the Big Time Crooks.
TC is the SYNTHESIZER. Spurred by MIke S.'s comment on how Trump became a 'hardened and successful criminal'; a NY Times article, providing background about how father and son trumped the courts, TC took the bits and pieces and made them whole. The SYNTHESIZER knew which pieces to pick up and how they fit together, bringing Trump's success as a 'hardened criminal' to a climax. This series of exchanges read like a master class in synthesizing. The subject. could not have been better chosen. Thanks to Mike S. for that.
I'm sure white adds to his voter-base appeal and his slipperiness, but it's a far below the rich/politically connected reason. I mean, how many people-of-color of similar wealth have been indicted or arrested for, well, anything? Sure, being non-white means you have to have a bit more money to be invulnerable, but that's partly because race is used so effectively in drawing attention away from the stupendous wealth of this country and the way it has concentrated, and with whom.
3. He is male.
Volodymyr Zelensky is male. Jamie Raskin is male.
Thank you & I am sometimes ashamed that I am white & not necessarily privileged but by birth & location I have been fortunate. Blessings…
Read Woke Racism: How a New Racism has Betrayed America, by John McWhorter. He's a black professor at Columbia.
White-collar crimes are notoriously hard to prosecute because, for the most part, they aren't B&W. It generally has to be something so blatant that a jury can't not convict. Trump and his dad were persecuted for a civil rights violation. The linked Washington Post article describes the suit in very interesting detail. It is not against the law to go bankrupt. It isn't even against the law to cheat your vendors, make them settle for $0.10 on the dollar. Luckily the Georgia case is about a black letter that makes attempting to interfere with an election a felony with a potential for jail. However, I do not expect Trump to ever be behind bars as that would place his Secret Service detail in peril. My hope is that he's sentenced to home confinement in his New York "castle" and cannot play golf or schmooze with the guests of his properties. I assure you that's Trump's idea of Hell.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/inside-the-governments-racial-bias-case-against-donald-trumps-company-and-how-he-fought-it/2016/01/23/fb90163e-bfbe-11e5-bcda-62a36b394160_story.html
Well done Mike.
While as President a sitting ( in office ) president has Executive Privilege . He can’t be Arrested and Charged with a Crime. We can only Impeach him. The Republicans wouldn’t vote to do it …….. Twice ! He still has some cases against him as a Business and a Civilian. Which I read there were Repub. donors sending in $ and it was going toward his Legal fees. The Donors think it’s going to Campaign funds. They still don’t believe he’s just a Con in a suit.
The Trump base is a textbook example of Sunk Cost Fallacy. They will never believe, because they are already so emotionally and/or economically invested.
I needed to look up Sunk Cost Fallacy so I’m sharing what I found for others who may be interested. Helps to understand why people stick with that fool.
https://thedecisionlab.com/biases/the-sunk-cost-fallacy
Pouring money & whatever else into a bottomless well! Kind of like sticking your head into the sand - sort of the same result?
Thank you for the definition and explanation. I fear I am one of those humans who has made sunk cost fallacy financial decisions. Not political I hope.
Ugh! I seem to be the Queen of sunk-cost-fallacy in the financial end. 🤓😏
Awesome site! Thanks.
Thank you! Explains a lot.
Sounds like Progressives
Sunk Cost Fallacy: the phenomenon whereby a person is reluctant to abandon a strategy or course of action because they have invested heavily in it, even when it is clear that abandonment would be more beneficial:
Certainly this applies to some of far left here in Salem. They want candidates to check all their boxes. I do hope that they will get behind Kotek for governor. There was an article in the Oregonian yesterday about Betsy Johnson, a long time DINO, and independent candidate for governor as she knew she would never get the D nomination. Turns out that we can now call her Machine Gun Betsy because she does own one....a gun enthusiast and collector. After Sandy Hook, she visited a classroom in Jewel, a very small town in the coast mountains, and answered a question from one of the students by telling them this. Apparently, the kids were stunned. I doubt this will draw many Ds to her, but likely some R gun nuts.
I read this morning that Johnson is now vowing to push for modest gun control policies. She's a wolf suddenly donning sheep clothing.
She can say whatever she wants and I bet she read the O article. I am now calling her Machine Gun Betsy. She is a wolf indeed. And with close ties with Timber Unity or whatever they are calling themselves now. I am hoping that she will draw Rs.
Let’s hope she splits the GOP vote. Her TV ads might lure away some moderate Dems though. She worries me.
Yes, she worries me too. She has enough strikes against her for any D that I know not to vote for her. I bet my independent (formerly R) neighbor doesn't vote for her either. I don't have an assessment of the R candidate. I did read that some were angry with her for not leading a walkout at some point.
Barbara A sunk cost is what has been poured into an investment—whether a new product, a stock, or some nefarious scheme. One then has the opportunity to say—-that money is spent and the venture isn’t worth more risky $$$.
With investments, too often someone says I can’t afford to sell, since the stock cost me $$$$. Often they they hold it as it sinks further. Others take the loss and move on.
McConnell initially abhorred Trump and then made a political deal with the devil. Now he is endeavoring to move away from Trump in an effort to become Senate Majority Leader again. Michael Cohen was deeply invested in Trump and then turned against his one-time boss. For him, Trump became a ‘sunk cost.’
I understand sunk cost.
While I agree that this can certainly be explained, in part, by the Sunk Cost Fallacy, there are other reasons that many people are drawn to this kind of leadership. George Lakoff suggests that conservatives and liberals think differently about issues central to who they will choose as their leader. While conservatives tend to be afraid of change and difference, liberals are made much less uncomfortable by those things. And conservatives tend to seek out more authoritarian leaders, usually male, to represent the strong father who promises to solve all their problems and keep them safe. Liberals tend to lean towards leaders who represent the nurturing mother, and base their choices more on who might be kinder. I would be willing to bet that most of the former president's followers (he whose name I dare not speak) come from more traditional backgrounds, with a less emotionally available father but who none-the -less the family deferred to. Those early years tend to shape pretty strongly our preferences for the kind of leaders we want, most of that process being unconscious. Also, a lot of them are or have husbands, brothers, sons, fathers, etc who are similar to that thug who once occupied the WH.
Yes! Good point.
Don’t forget that long red tie that connects him to every evil under the sun, including Vlad at Helsinki
I am troubled by the number of people who ignore death star's complete lack of anything good and his criminal enterprise. They either benefit from this financially or they have some obsession with things like abortion. So they continue to support the party of death. The wealthy can continue to have access to abortion for example and they think their money will save them from what is likely coming with climate change.
Particularly the trumpite churches. Dante’s 8th Circle of Hell, Fraud, and 9th, Treachery, are reserved for them.
Michelle There are many cults and charlatan cultists. Trump played on the fears and biases of many folks. Many evangelical ministers do the same—-overwhelmingly for power and wealth, as they become anti-Christs. I remember reading about ‘Death Stars.’ The worst are those who deliberately prey on others—in prayer.
Yes, death star donny is a master at playing on people's fears and giving them carte blanche to be as awful as they have always wanted to be. I have seen one ex-student fall into a cult and his children paid the price. We have some arrogant hateful pastors here in Salem, in my neighborhood actually, who love the power and getting into everyone's face while failing to even attempt to follow what Jesus taught. One with the help of others of like mind, blasted hatred all summer at the park in downtown Salem and monopolized a lot of that space while doing things that bothered a lot of people. And of course Proud Boys or that type doing "security". I have to say being a religious leader is a golden opportunity for those with nefarious purposes.
IMHO, all the best confidence artists wear suits. Madoff? Neil Bush? Rupert Murdoch?
Yes, there are the Suits and the rest of us. Sorry guys, I take responsibility for adding to the suit population, but I’m hoping they will be part of the New generation who works alongside us, true gender equality. Have hope on that one.
Marcia A president can claim Executive Privilege. In the case of Nixon, the Supreme Court unanimously denied this to Nixon, because the Watergate tapes related to a crime. President Biden has overruled Trump’s claim of Executive Privilege for the same reason. I don’t know whether Trump could appeal Biden’s decision to the Stench Court. To date he hasn’t.
Dear Keith, I would love to spend a day talking with you. On my part it would be more of the listening. You are so wise and informed. I had know idea why you were saying “ Stench Court “? So I searched . Now I know. Justice Sotomayor said it. I thought it was a done deal on Trump.With that said I believe the Stench Court will protect him. I don’t remember why Nixon wasn’t charged with a crime ? Can’t remember. But I was so mad that he got all the former Presidential Perks right up to the day he died. And I think his wife after that still did. Perhaps maybe not “The Red Phone “ if you remember what they were ? I wonder if TFG has that perk as well ? Thank you.
Marcia If one screws up enough in life and lives long enough, he/she can give the impression of being wise. Look up ‘tontine,’ and perhaps. You’ll understand.
Being on Nixon’s EnemiesList, years later, when i had to make small talk with Julie Nixon Eisenhower, I had some difficulty.
After Nixon resigned to avoid Senate impeachment, he was liable to criminal prosecution. President Ford, to put an end to the Watergate calumny that had convulsed the country, issued a pardon to Nixon for whatever he had done.
At the time, I was furious that Nixon went scot free while his henchmen went to the slammer. Over time I grew to appreciate that Ford did what was necessary for our country, although it probably cost him the 1976 election. Later Ford was awarded a Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for his gutsy pardon.
I believe that the ‘red phone’ was the prez’s phone for major crises, including nuclear. He had a guy with him at all times with the nuclear codes.
Some very close friends of ours, the husband, Chuck Colson was his uncle. Colson went to Prison for just a few months. Maybe I wasn’t making sense about the “ Red Phone “ ? I’m concerned that TFG has access now to what was called the Red Phone. It was for the ‘Former Presidents ‘ ?
MARCIA My understanding is that Tubby Trump has not been accorded security clearance by the Biden administration. If he has this ubiquitous ‘red phone,’ hopefully it has the number of Attorney General Garland, were he to decide to plead guilty to constitutional insurrection.
As for Chuck Colson, I recall he stating how glorious and mystifying it was to be in a president’s aura. It may have been him who was astonished that, as a former private in the Army, he would be saluted by White House Marines. Oh how the mighty have fallen.
When I was off on an emergency mission to eastern Congo in October, 1964, the commanding Marine colonel at the airport refused to provide this civilian K rations as I was going alone into rebel-infiltrated provinces. To break this standoff, I told him to call his commanding officer, the American ambassador, on his private phone at 3:00 a. M. And explain to him why his house guest (me) couldn’t get K rations. (I got them).
Earlier, going to Lodja, I had command over a C130 when it was on the ground. After a hairy first few hours, I could complete one final mission. The ambassador’s housekeeper had abandoned his hotel in Lodja in 1960. He desperately wanted his fancy meat cutter as as memory of pre-independence. Also, his wife was dying of cancer.
The captain of the C 130 was getting nervous about the unsettled situation on the ground—drunken Congolese soldiers. The destroyed UN plane with crew members still aboard. I affirmed that I was in command of the plane on the ground.
The captain seemed apoplectic, when the meat cutter arrived. Darn, he never saluted me.
😂 👍. You’re a Mess Keith ! Thank you.
Marcia I take that as a backhanded salute. I continue to be a warm-hearted pain in the ass. As my wife asks “What do you intend to be, if you ever grow up? Clap if you believe.
I know exactly what she’s describing. My body says “ I’m 124. My Brain thinks I’m 24!” Such is the Dilemma we share in common.So to we “Mess’s 👏👏👏👏👏👏!
Trump was carefully taught by his Fascist father and Roy Cohn, a nasty lawyer who advised Joseph McCarthy's outrageous behaviors, how to leverage laws and to quibble by way of frivolous lawsuits to do just what this case has done. Whenever he is accused of wrongdoing he slaps a counter-lawsuit that keeps the issue in limbo until it fades away, often by attrition. He practices the art of making big stinks that divert attention from the facts. He is such a flim-flam man! There are good honest people who know this, and who are (too) patiently at work on apprehending Trump, but they must have air-tight facts. One grievous reason for his success is that the Republicans use the same justice-obstructing methods to stymie progress. It seems that they may be complicit, thus they too play the game.
Having said all that, it does seem that the chickens are coming home to roost. Little by little Trump is being thwarted. I must say I don't fully understand the delay by the DOJ. In a week or so, the Jan 6th committee will make public their findings on the insurrection. Hopefully, all the actors will be thoroughly exposed.
you missed 'donating to campaigns of judges and District Attorneys'. I just wonder who made donations to the current NY DA in light of his allowing the investigation into Trump to expire? It is a time proven strategy for buying your way out of wrongdoing, by corporations and individuals.
Thank you, Hope, for your comment. Sometimes, it does take a village to raise a criminal.
Good one! "it takes a village to raise a criminal."
I thank you for this perspective. Indeed, sociopathy runs in families and apparently in political parties. You have to be carefully taught . . .
...and carefully BOUGHT!
Among the wealthy it does seem to be a learned characteristic. Each generation teaches the next. With the case under consideration, we can see it in three generations.
Had the DOJ brought these villians to a Grand Jury before the Congressional January 6th Committee did its work, the villians would have taken the 5th. The end.
Very well said Hope much better than my fit of anger.
Anger is so understandable, Bryan. I've had my moments, too.
Decades of slithering using the corporate shield, corporate bankruptcies with full discharge Plans, fall guys, cut outs, misdirection, Gaslighting, "send lawyers & money", prey on vunerables with a need & fill it, pay, pay & pay when nailed & get full releases, secrecy agreements with a breach remedy & NDA's as taught & funded by KKK father in the Eastern borough of New York, among other tactics.
Not to mention bilking the American taxpayer.
Ahhh, NDAs. A true red flag for wrongdoing. For it to be an enforceable contract, doesn't there need to be 'consideration' for the vict- oops, the signer?
Public policy in the jurisdiction may hold NDA's UNENFORCEABLE particulary if the unseemly "Disclosure" is a Crime or that pesky problem: la verdad ... the truth. But, WAIT .. use it anyway just to create the Fog of War ... I mean Wreck Litigation. See for example, Trump Campaign "Outreach" Director, Jessica Denson successful court victory getting a ruling holding Trump's "Campaign NDA's" were "too vague" meaning NOT enforceable. Ditto for Trunp's "indemnity" BS. Courts will NOT enforce indemnity for Trump's sole negligence.
Slippery as they say, and with money and Rupert’s megaphone, and of course evil to the bone
It's often our money as a result of their bilking the American taxpayer.
Because he is rich, white, male, and has proven that he knows how to be the biggest and the best cheater, fraudster, and criminal! America loves a wily viper!
I call this the class clown syndrome where a portion of the class loves the disruption while the rest want to get down to business. One of my great greats in elementary school just won the class clown award. Sigh.
Privilege.
True but so did Martha Stewart. That didn't keep her out of federal prison. There's no one thing but his history of being able to exact revenge by any means has to play a role.
I guess in the end he can thank Roy Cohn for teaching him how to circumvent the justice system. There has to be a limit to his luck.
Carol, for a long time Trump has made a safe place for himself [by hook or crook] by surrounding himself with people that are crooked or downright evil. He has stacked many courts in his favor, and has physiologically controlled a large portion of citizens in the US by his lies, and cozying up to, and saying what "white supremacist" and other hate groups want to hear, and it even goes further/deeper than this.
And, the eel says he is offended . . . lol
I have a different theory, I feel like every crime Trump's committed leads to other kettles of crimes - which lead to yet other kettles of crimes. Maybe this is what is taking Garland so long, where do you stop investigating, draw the line and just indict with the evidence you have?
The trick he learned from Cohn! Deny, lie, repeat!
Yes, he is an eel, Carol. He's Teflon Don 2.0. Whether or not he will eventually be put behind bars is the true test of our democracy.
At some point, bald-faced lying and gaming the system became acceptable political tactics in this country. I can think of several trends that may in combination have led to this. Life has become much more complex. Improved communication has brought the world beyond our insular communities ever closer. Religious practice has declined. Educational standards have declined. Smart criminals like Roy Cohn realized that strategic dishonesty could win. Honesty has not been able to keep pace with the wiles of determined and well-funded crooks. The wealth disparity has become obscene, and big money wags the government. Trump, a wannabe big crook, has been used as a pawn by bigger crooks. (My working theory, constantly tweaking.)
Maybe we've just caught up with other parts of the world, where corruption in government is the norm? Or maybe a lot of this was hidden, until these present day thugs became more brazen.
There's an article, I think on Salon that explains.
He had a good teacher, Cohen.
He's not Martha Stewart
There are as many explanations as there are people, but know he has lost many times in court. To be arrested you have to be convicted of a crime that's on the books. He's guilty of many crimes against humanity, but when he breaks or bends the law, the punishment is usually pecuniary. Has he broken the law? Probably. Could he shoot someone on 5th Avenue and get away with it? Not if there were eye witnesses and it wasn't in self defense.
He is no more a citizen than you or me, he is not above the law but he is good at skirting around the edges, again something he learned from his dad and Roy Cohn.
All questions are naive, the very nature of a question is to fill a void in your knowledge. I'm super naive but not as much as I was yesterday.
Keep plugging away Carol!
No, an arrest or indictment *precedes* conviction for a crime. Trump has never been arrested or indicted, and to our knowledge has never been the target of an investigation. There are a lot of very knowledgeable, independent legal analysts who consider that to be extraordinary considering Trump's record.
I didn't word that very well. Hoping my lawyer daughter doesn't read it. ;-).
So, you're saying he's not a target of the investigations by the NY AG and NYC DA? Or is it only his company they are going after?
He's been connected to many investigations : https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/12/politics/list-investigations-trump/index.html
I must be more naive than I thought.
I don't think this question is naive. I'm glad you asked and I'm learning from the answers.
This question is not naive at all. It's one of the greatest questions surrounding the Trump saga. I do not believe it can be answered with the standard arguments about rich people escaping the sanctions of law. I suspect it's much bigger than that.
This story begins with Trump's deepening ties to the NYC mob dating back 30 to 40 years and continues with:
- Trump's attraction to the FBI (and the mob) as an informant (this two-way role is not uncommon)
- the Russian mob's violent acquisition of the NY mob "franchise" in the 1990s,
- Trump deepening involvement with Russian sources of funding, legal or not,
- the merging of the Russian mob and Russian government during the 1990s, and Putin's rise to power by the early 2000s,
- the virtual certainty that Trump would have been privy to a great deal of information--gossip, rumor, speculation and fact--about the FBI dealings with the Russian mob,
- the likelihood that some of that information would be compromising to the FBI, and whether true or not, could be extremely damaging to the FBI (see the story of Whitey Bulger and apply some factor to it, which turns exponential when Trump becomes president)
- ask yourself why would Trump be so confident of his impunity that one of his first acts as president was an attempt to bribe--or extort--an FBI director to end an investigation that was likely to lead to him,
- a former FBI director was chosen as special counsel to investigate Trump, found insufficient evidence to name him as a co-conspirator (much less recommend prosecution), chose not to render judgment on the national security aspects of the case, and delivered epic-fail testimony to Congress about the investigation.
- As president, Trump acts as if he believes he is untouchable by the law and as if Putin has kompromat on him.
There are more elements to this story, but it boils down to Trump becoming immune to prosecution because of how damaging the information he has is to the FBI as an institution (and perhaps to senior FBI and DOJ officials). If this is the case, Trump and his family members will never face prosecution.
I had not read this before. Thank you.
It certainly makes the case, and by quoting Mueller's circumlocution before Congress, Greg raises the question about Mueller that many others refuse to do, presumably because of his sterling reputation. My guess is that Mueller was straight but was dedicated to preserving the FBI as an institution crucial to the nation's interest.
I see two threads missing from Greg's account. One is the intersection of so many of the FBI actors around the Trump investigation with those who investigated or prosecuted mafioso in NY and Boston from the 1980s (Giuliani, whose name is not mentioned in in this account, among them). If Greg's is onto something here, as I believe he is, some of them could have their reputations ruined by Trump's revelations.
The second is the intersection of so many top WH and DOJ officials involved in the investigation of President Trump with membership in the Federalist Society, which of course had its wildest dream realized in Trump's judicial appointments.