Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

This blog will pay for itself.

Bark louder, little dog.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

A Senator Walker would be an insult to the state and the nation.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

A Senator Walker would also be an insult to reason, rationality, and decency.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Something to Talk About

Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Something to Talk About

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New York City and New York State join hands. Too early (in the morning) for definitive pronouncements, but this is bound to have ruffled the Trump Crime Cartel family members’ expensive feathers, which is a plus in my books.

Trigger warning: Potentially offensive TFG pics below the fold...


Under a ‘National Security’ subhead, the Washington Post:

… The attorney general’s decision appears to have increased the legal risk that former president Donald Trump faces in New York, where the parallel investigations run by James and Vance had already delved more deeply into Trump’s byzantine finances than any law enforcement authorities ever had.

Previously, the danger posed by James’s investigation seemed to be merely financial — the kind of lawsuit Trump had faced from New York attorneys general before over his Trump University and his charity. Those cost him money but didn’t threaten his liberty.

Now, however, James could also seek criminal penalties. And she appears to be cooperating with Vance’s office, a move that could allow the two wide-ranging investigations to share data…

The notice from James’s office was sent in late April to attorneys for the Trump Organization. It suggested that criminality could apply to actions by current and former company executives and employees if the investigation finds wrongdoing, the person familiar with the matter said.

It was not immediately clear why the two law enforcement agencies are now collaborating years into their previously separate investigations. Partnerships between the two New York law enforcement offices are rare…

The attorney general and district attorney have also teamed up in a state court-level investigation of Stephen K. Bannon, a former adviser to Trump who was indicted in federal court for allegedly defrauding contributors to a private fundraising campaign. Trump pardoned Bannon in the federal case in January, just before his departure from the White House…

Speaking of people whom it is good to see aggravated, who thinks loyalty to Mr. Trump is gonna override Bannon’s self-protective instincts?

… Ms James launched a civil inquiry in March 2019 into claims that Mr Trump had inflated the value of his assets to banks when seeking loans, and understated them to lower his taxes.

Her office has also been seeking documents on four Trump Organization properties in Manhattan, upstate New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr said in court documents last August that his office was investigating alleged “protracted criminal conduct” at the Trump Organization.

Mr Vance’s legal filing cited newspaper articles about purported bank and insurance fraud at the company.

The Manhattan district attorney has also been investigating whether any of Mr Trump’s financial records were doctored to cover up hush-money payments to two women in 2016 who say they had affairs with him.

Mr Vance’s office said in February it had obtained Mr Trump’s tax returns as part of the investigation, after a long legal battle.

Glass half full outlook:

Glass half empty chorus:

Reader Interactions

137Comments

  2. 2.

    Baud

    @satby: 

    Same. But I’m not sour on James yet. Corporate crime takes a long time to investigate, especially when the crimes are old.

  4. 4.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @satby:

    I never managed to see you at the right times yesterday to wish you a happy birthday, but I hope it was a good one!

  8. 8.

    John S.

    Tish James’s office is more often announcing that they’re going after some bad guy than that they’ve just caught some bad guy.

    Hasn’t this person ever watched Law and Order? The lawyers don’t catch the bad guy, the police do. The lawyers prosecute the bad guy and try to get them convicted of a crime.

  11. 11.

    MFA

    Gonna brag abt my son, who went door-to-door for weeks on behalf of the Ed Gainey campaign in the Pittsburgh Dem Primary, going from volunteer to paid staff and bringing energy and enthusiasm to the task for endless hours.

    Despite being outspent by a huge margin, Gainey won–handily–making him likely the next Mayor (As there are no Rs running), and the first to directly reflect the lived concerns for 23% of the city’s population.

    Given the challenger’s underdog status, I was a bit skeptical when my son, a frosh Police-Sci major with a focus on social justice and the intent to enter law/politics, started telling me he though Gainey was going to win–esp. given that the incumbent’s money and institutional support came from outside the city, vs. Gainey’s community support, union support, and larger number of smaller donations; plus the sense he got canvassing was that Gainey would beat the odds. Good instincts; he was absolutely right.

    Keep your fingers crossed that Gainey will make headway making “The most livable City” more livable for all.

  17. 17.

    satby

    @MagdaInBlack: Thanks, when is yours?

    @Nicole: thanks!

    in other news, the beautiful long haired orange presumed feral I’ve been feeding now comes up to rub up against my legs for petting. I’m very hopeful of capturing (I think him) soon. And the menagerie at the feeding station has expanded to a possum last night, and he trucked up those stairs like he knew dinner was served. Causing a big leap off the porch by the cat. When the possum left, I put more food out and the cat came back. There’s also a young black panther kitty I want to snare too.

  18. 18.

    Snarki, child of Loki

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    seconding the thanks for trigger warning.

    My trigger-finger is itchy, and my PC screen doesn’t need any more bullet holes.

    Also, about a Trump “perp-walk”, it’s more likely to be a “perp-drag”, but that’s okay also, too.

  20. 20.

    Betty Cracker

    I thought the air felt lighter and the breeze smelled sweeter today for some reason…

    Trump ditches Florida and heads north for the summer

    (CNN) As reliably as seasons change, so does Donald Trump shift his primary residence.

    After establishing Mar-a-Lago, his lavish Palm Beach, Florida, resort, as his post-White House home and office for the last four months, Trump a week ago moved his base operation to his members’ only Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club, where he will reside for the rest of the spring, summer and into early fall, a senior member of the former President’s team confirmed to CNN.

    Good riddance, so-called Florida Man who’s too delicate to endure a summer!

    I don’t hold out any hope that TFG will be held accountable for his many crimes. But if the NY authorities want him, at least he’s in easy reach now.

  21. 21.

    Geminid

    @MFA: Your son and his cohorts did some good work. Ed Gainey beat a two term incumbent, and it wasn’t even close. Down 42%-36%, Mayor Bill Perduto conceded early this morning, and congratulated Gainey.

  29. 29.

    Spanky

    @MFA:  Congratulations to your son! But

    the first to directly reflect the lived concerns for 23% of the city’s population.

    I have no idea what this means.

  30. 30.

    narya

    Also loving the ad-free Juice . . . In other news, trying to scramble to go east, as it may be the case that dad is fading away more quickly than we thought. Hard to tell; mom isn’t sleeping and IS stressing, so her eval of the situation reflects that, too. Bro went by yesterday and seemed reassured, but if I’m working remotely, I can do it from there for a week or two as easily as from here. There’s a doc appt. tomorrow and I will try to either be there virtually or talk to the doc afterward, if mom’s okay w/ that. Once again, despite way too little sleep on my part, the morning run and the gorgeous sunrise helped clear my head. Dad is 90; as he often says, most people his age are dead. If this is the end, I hope it’s quiet, quick, and comfortable. And if it’s not the end, it will still be good to be there with them for a bit.

  32. 32.

    New Deal democrat

    I just want to thank the people working on the site issues. For the first time in months, the main page loads on my iPad without repeatedly crashing.

  34. 34.

    p.a.

    Don’t know much about James, but IIRC Vance has a rep for not really hammering Big Money Boyz.  Of course, tRump is sui generis.

  35. 35.

    Geminid

    @Baud: This “Patience, Grasshopper” stuff is getting old quick. When it comes to trump indictments, “We want Eight, and we won’t wait!”

  38. 38.

    narya

    @satby: thanks. As I said last week to two old friends, I love him, I’d like him around a bit longer if he’s comfortable, but we also don’t have any unfinished business, so his comfort and my mom’s is my first priority.

  47. 47.

    satby

    @Baud: and if he gets indicted, any lawyer worth his fees will ask for a competency evaluation, which TFG will probably fail.

    I take meager satisfaction in the knowledge that his election loss eats him alive, and that eventually his spawn will lose a majority of their ill-gotten loot. Doesn’t balance the scales for his destruction by a long shot, but the assholes who thought he’d be a good person to elect are mostly to blame, he just was what he’s always been.

  48. 48.

    satby

    oh, my gosh, thanks all! I’ll derail the thread thanking everyone. I deeply appreciate all the well wishes.

  49. 49.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Spanky:

    the first to directly reflect the lived concerns for 23% of the city’s population.

    I have no idea what this means.

    Gainey is Pittsburgh’s first Black mayor, and roughly 23% of Pittsburgh’s population is AA.

  50. 50.

    Ken

    @John S.: Hasn’t this person ever watched Law and Order? The lawyers don’t catch the bad guy, the police do. The lawyers prosecute the bad guy and try to get them convicted of a crime.

    On Law and Order, about half the time the lawyers find the police have arrested the wrong person, and do their own additional investigation to find the true criminal. I’m sure that’s just for dramatic purposes and in no way represents the actual proportion.

  52. 52.

    Geminid

    @satby: Author M.D. Russ writing in the political journal Bearing Drift:

    “Did Donald Trump hijack the Republican Party?… No, [he] just answered the casting call.”

  53. 53.

    Ken

    @satby: any lawyer worth his fees will ask for a competency evaluation, which TFG will probably fail.

    The alleged crimes (at least, the ones we know about) were from 2016 and before, so I’d be happy with a legal finding that TFG was mentally incompetent for the entirety of his term and possibly some years prior.

  55. 55.

    Betty Cracker

    @Baud: It’s true that the legal system doesn’t care about our impatience, but maybe it should. I don’t mean just about Trump but white collar criminals in general and public corruption specifically. The fact that so few are ever even charged let alone brought to justice undermines faith in the system and emboldens grifters.

  57. 57.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    ?Playoff: Lakers vs Warriors – tonight at 10 PM Eastern?

  59. 59.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @satby:

    but the assholes who thought he’d be a good person to elect are mostly to blame, he just was what he’s always been.

    I agree. Trump’s always been Trump. I hope he experiences justice. Hard. That said, the maggots that elected him are a real problem. While having agency and therefore responsibility to fix their mess (they never will, of course), the role of rightwing media and rightwing mega-donors in manipulating them should be addressed. I have no solutions for that other than the slow, ponderous workings of the judicial and legislative systems, which were developed in a 3 mph world. Will they work in a Mach 2 world?

  60. 60.

    SFAW

    @Betty Cracker:

    I don’t hold out any hope that TFG will be held accountable for his many crimes. But if the NY authorities want him, at least he’s in easy reach now.

    Meanwhile DeathSantis is having his minions research whether he can prevent TFG’s extradition from New Jersey.

  62. 62.

    SFAW

    @Chief Oshkosh:

    I have no solutions for that other than the slow, ponderous workings of the judicial and legislative system, which were developed in a 3 mph world.

    I have a couple of possible solutions, but they’re probably not 100 percent legal at the moment.

  63. 63.

    Baud

    @Betty Cracker:

    I agree. I hope we do more there.  But I think it’s a long term project.  Those cases are hard to win, and prosecutors don’t Ike to lose.

     

    ETA: We also need to figure out how to punish officers and shareholders without punishing workers.

  67. 67.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Water is wet: ‘They kill the person twice’: police spread falsehoods after using deadly force, analysis finds

    Violent arrests in which the press releases cited medical distress while downplaying or entirely excluding references to use of force have occurred in Hayward, where a man seeking mental health treatment shouted “I can’t breathe” while held on the ground; Antioch, where a man who had called police for help was restrained with his face in the dirt; Sacramento, where a man was shot by a Taser weapon and beaten into a coma, leading to the city’s largest police violence settlement; San Diego, where a man died with a police officer’s knee to his neck; and Alameda, in two separate deaths.

    “To me, ‘medical distress’ means someone is having an asthma attack and we can get them help,” said Anne Gattenby, whose brother Shelby died after Alameda police shot him five times with a stun gun and restrained him on his stomach in 2018. Police initially said he had gone into “distress for unknown reasons”. “It’s wrong to steal somebody’s loved one and then put them through the wringer and use this language to cover your ass so it doesn’t make you seem like the bad guy. It’s not OK.”

    Last month, the Alameda police department pinned Mario Gonzalez to the ground for five minutes until he lost consciousness and died. The first press release described a “medical emergency”.

    ………………………………..

    Armour, the USC professor, said he did not expect police departments would change their public relations, even in the face of scrutiny.

    “We cannot compel them to make unflattering descriptions of their conduct or interactions that turn lethal,” he said, noting that police continued to use the vague and widely criticized phrase “officer-involved shooting” when they killed civilians. “It’s human nature for them to describe events in the way that shines the most favorable light on the officers.”

    The lesson for journalists was that they should no longer be “stenographers” for police, Armour said.

    Nold said reporters should not only approach police statements with general skepticism but start from the assumption that police willfully mislead the public: “The press release is the city’s first line of civil and criminal defense.”

    Even when journalists correct the record as they continue to report on a case, initial falsehoods can continue to spread online and in some cases be exploited to discredit victims. Some Fox News commentators have continued to falsely suggest George Floyd died because of drugs or other factors.

    Spokespeople for most of the police departments featured in this story declined to comment or did not respond to inquiries.

  68. 68.

    SFAW

    @Baud:

    Baud! 20XX! supports legalization.

    I’m a little surprised to hear your support for “mass deportation of anti-American asshole morons and Rethugs (yeah, redundant) to Dumbfuckistan,” but I’ll gladly take it. Would you also be onboard with removing their franchise (in case deportation is impractical)?

  69. 69.

    stinger

    @satby:

    I had ice cream

    I had ice cream yesterday too! Almost as if I had known it was your birthday!

    Belated best wishes and Happy 66, spring chicken! When I eat ice cream today, I’ll raise a spoon to you!

  70. 70.

    Ken

    @SFAW: DeathSantis is having his minions research whether he can prevent TFG’s extradition from New Jersey.

    Maybe they do something with whatever legal principle Wyoming is applying to sue other states for not buying enough coal. I think Nebraska was also looking at suing states with a “meatless Monday” program.

    Though I should admit, I’m in favor of Wyoming’s lawsuits, and hope that many more states jump on the bandwagon. If we fill their docket with original-jurisdiction cases which they must take, the Supreme Court won’t have time for any meddling.

  71. 71.

    hueyplong

    Agree that yesterday’s statement in NY probably relates to Trump’s accounting henchman.  He can tell Trump they’re bluffing and that he’s holding firm, but what are the chances that trump feels comforted by that?

    We’re impatient. Trump is suffering.  And I’m here for each second of it.

  72. 72.

    debbie

    @Ken:

    Don’t leave out Texas suing other states because it didn’t like how they conducted their elections.

  74. 74.

    SFAW

    @Ken:

    If WY succeeds, can MA, NY, and CA sue the Red states for electing traitors and quislings to the House and Senate. I mean, isn’t there a section of the Constitution which prevents anti-American officials from serving, and moron voters from electing them?

    Maybe that can be included in the Baud 20XX! platform.

  76. 76.

    Ken

    @SFAW: Success doesn’t matter, at least not for my “cram the docket” strategy.  In fact since I anticipate most of the lawsuits will be between pairs of blue states — say, Massachusetts and Rhode Island re-litigating every inch of their border, one inch per filing — by definition half of them will lose their cases.

  77. 77.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @John S.:

    Yup. Kinda hard for the prosecutors to do their magic using their own stretched investigators when the regular cops decide to ignore criminal conduct.

    I’d like some commission to look into the NY FBI field office – a lot of this happened right under their nose.

  79. 79.

    Low Key Swagger

    @OzarkHillbilly: My son just started as a deputy sheriff.  2nd day on the job.  I’ve been in his ear for nine years about this line of work and what it brings, what it asks, and how to balance that out.  I’m nervously watching to see if any of it took.

  81. 81.

    OzarkHillbilly

    A Black Indianapolis homeowner has alleged that appraisers’ valuations of her home more than doubled after she removed items that identified her race and asked a white male friend to attend an appraisal.

    Carlette Duffy and the Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana have filed housing discrimination complaints with the federal government, alleging appraisers violated fair housing laws. The appraisers, the complaints said, purposely used comparable sale prices that were unfair and racially motivated.

    One appraiser named in the complaints denied discrimination played a role, while other people and companies involved in the appraisals did not respond to the Associated Press’ requests for comment.

    Duffy sought to take advantage of lower interest rates last year and refinance the mortgage loan for her home in a historically Black neighborhood just outside downtown Indianapolis, the Indianapolis Star reported.
    More than 90% of Black Americans say they have been racially profiled while shopping
    Read more

    She purchased the house for $100,000 in 2017 and expected it to be valued similar to her sister’s home in the same area, which was appraised at roughly $198,000 in 2019.

    An appraisal conducted by CityWide and Jeffrey Pierce of Pierce Appraisal in spring 2020 valued her home at $125,000. A second appraisal conducted by Freedom Mortgage and Indianapolis-based appraiser Tim Boston, of the Appraisal Network, valued her home at $110,000.

    A third appraisal, which was conducted after Duffy did not declare her race in her application and took down all family photos and African American art in her home, came back at $259,000.

    I am shocked, shocked I tell you.

    “I’m excited, vindicated, relieved, angry, extremely peeved – since I can’t say the other expletives that were running through me at that point in time – destroyed that I had to go through all of that,” Duffy said. “This is real … just being able to prove it is the hard part.”

    Stop beating around the bush Carlette, and tell us how you really feel.

  83. 83.

    Kay

    Not a fan of “statements” by prosecutors, honestly. It reads like a verification of what the reporter already knew, and if that’s the case I suppose they had to do it- they can’t lie in response to a direct specific question – although I would prefer “ongoing, no comment” which probably would have been accepted.

  84. 84.

    Shakti

     

     

     

     

    @Ken: TFG bragged about acing a dementia test, remember?   He’s compos mentis.  He has other mental issues but I’m pretty sure he’s competent to stand trial.  They changed the standard for legal insanity after Hinckley got committed instead of fried for trying to off Reagan.

    Not being compos mentis means he gets locked up indefinitely, which is not something he wants so he won’t  use “failed competency test” to get out of trial. Hinckley’s out but he was locked up for 40 years. Does TFG have that kind of time on earth?

  86. 86.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @SFAW:

    The only thing – and power – that non-RWNJ judges seem to care about wielding anymore is to control the pace and volume of their docket so as to minimize work and maximize free time.

    Only the most tepid and timid non-RWNJs seem to attain that status. We have no asshole liberal firebrands to hold people’s feet to the fire.

  91. 91.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Soprano2:

    Precisely. Senior agents in that office would have been trained by the guys who helped Rudy hammer the Italian mob on behalf of the Russian mob – which also corresponds to Trump’s salad days as an asshole Manhattan developer. Connecting dots would be interesting….

  92. 92.

    Low Key Swagger

    @OzarkHillbilly: That really is the problem.  Field supervision is key, and it’s all too rare.  But he is a college grad, quiet, no drama kind of guy.  Good stock to work with if they bother.

  93. 93.

    Zinsky

    The Trump Organization is a very “target rich” environment, when it comes to white collar criminal wrongdoing.  I’ll bet they find multiple instances of undervaluing assets and overvaluing liabilities for tax purposes and the inverse for loan applications.  Trump is a liar and a cheater and a career conman.

    Donald Trump cheats:

    • On all three of his wives
    • All of his business partners
    • On his taxes
    • On his golf game
    • In the 2016 election
    • in the 2020 election
    • In all of his campaign advertising and fundraising material, in order to fleece his sheeple.

    Also, when is this geriatric serial sexual predator going to face the 18 women who he has sexually assaulted in court?  What is the excuse for not proceeding now with the E. Jean Carroll rape suit against this pig?  If he were a poor Hispanic or black man, he would be doing 25 years to life at Riker’s Island, instead of golfing everyday in sunny Florida.

  94. 94.

    WaterGirl

    @New Deal democrat: Just to be clear, we are not working on issues yet – so all improvements you are seeing are because the ads are turned off.

    Still getting the lay of the land with the ads off to know which issues are ad-related and which are not.

  95. 95.

    jonas

    I thought the AG and SDNY investigations were always criminal in nature. As I understand, the main thing they’re looking at involves the Trump Org pumping the value of their properties when applying for loans and things, and then lowballing them when it came to tax assessments and the like, along with (if Weisselberg’s ex DIL is to be believed) compensating certain employees off the books for stuff like rent and private school tuition — classic white-collar tax-dodging skullduggery that I’m sure many, many firms, not just Trump, engage in routinely. The fact that he seems to have done it for so long, and so brazenly, suggests that it’s probably 1. hard to prosecute and 2. if you do get caught, you usually get a slap on the wrist. As much as we’d all like to see a pasty, unshaven Trump sitting in an orange jumpsuit in a Manhattan courtroom pretending like he can’t remember anything, an equally-likely outcome is that his lawyers negotiate a deal, he pays a fine, and mostly skates.

  97. 97.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Gee, what could go wrong?

    Citizen was launched in New York City in 2017, originally under the name Vigilante. The app works like a “glorified police scanner”, using location data to feed users information about crime in their area. It has since expanded to more than 20 cities including Baltimore, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Detroit.

    Users of Citizen are encouraged, if it is safe, to livestream footage from the aftermath of crimes and fires. The app says it “empowers” users “to protect yourself and the people and places you care about”. It has also partnered with cities including Los Angeles to allow for contact tracing during the pandemic.

    The vigilante crime app Citizen falsely accused a California man of starting a wildfire, offering a $30,000 reward to track him down before retracting the post the next day, in a move that has been condemned by criminal justice experts.

    The app – which gives users local crime information via police scanners and other sources – shared an alert on Saturday about an alleged arsonist behind a large brush fire that broke out in Los Angeles over the weekend.

    The suspect, who is homeless, was briefly detained by officials who ultimately found there was not enough evidence to tie him to the crime, the Los Angeles fire department confirmed to the Guardian. A different suspect has since been arrested.

    But that was not before the falsely accused man had his name and image widely shared. The alert sent by Citizen contained a photo and was seen by more than 861,000 people. It read: “Citizen is offering a $30,000 reward to anyone who provides information that leads to the arrest of the arson suspect.”

    It’s only a matter of time before the next Ahmaud Arbery, and when that happens can Citizen be held responsible?

  98. 98.

    Baud

    @rikyrah:

    If the Democrats have the stones to pull it off — an open question, TBH — it will make Benghazi look like a sewing circle.

    Beghazi was a farce designed to give red meat to the base.  I’m not opposed to Dems going it alone, but comparing Jan. 6 to Beghazi cheapens the effort.

    WhIle I don’t expect this from Rick Wilson, I’d like to see us get away from portraying GOP tactics as “strong” or “ballsy.”  It encourages them and sends the wrong message to our side. If we want to win the culture war, we should stop being attracted to their culture.

  99. 99.

    Wapiti

    @satby: IANAL, but since the case seems to be against Trump Organization, does TFG’s competency matter less? The organization might be on the hook for any penalties. Competency might protect him from jail.

  100. 100.

    Amir Khalid

    @Shakti:

    TFG bragged about acing a dementia test, remember? He’s compos mentis.

    He may be technically compos mentis; but his doctor ordering up a cognition test says that someone with a medica degree had concerns about his cognitive ability. And that whole embarrassing “man, woman, person, camera, TV” thing sounded to me like something wasn’t quite right between his ears.

  101. 101.

    Geminid

    @Zinsky: E. Jean Carrol said a couple months ago that she was hoping her lawyers would take trump’s deposition soon, and that she planned to be there. I guess trump’s lawyers are still finding ways to delay the deposition. It’s a civil suit for defamation, because trump called Carroll a liar.

  102. 102.

    TS (the original)

    I hope TFG regrets every day for the rest of his life that he was elected President.

  104. 104.

    jonas

    @Baud: While a 1/6 investigation is necessary simply to uphold the rule of law and hold those responsible accountable, it’s not going to have the same political impact the Benghazi hearings did for the simple reason that there’s no comparable media ecosystem (Fox/AM talk radio/Facebook) on the left to amplify and propagandize the proceedings like the Republicans did with Benghazi. It has nothing to do with “stones” or whatever. Wilson should know this.

  106. 106.

    citizen dave

    @Wapiti: I mostly try to avoid knowing about TFG and his Organization, but this is a good point.  As I’ve been reading the threads here, it’s not just the TFG in jeopardy, but any higher executives (hesitate to call them officers since it’s not a public corporation), right?

    I don’t want to google, but will be interesting when indictments come to see who all gets roped in.  Also I was wondering was TFG the head of the TO from 2017-2021 or what?  I thought his kids were running it, etc.

  107. 107.

    jonas

    @Geminid: ​
      Last year I read that Carrol’s lawyer is one of the best in the business and was planning to go after TFG with hammer and tongs. But yeah, it looks like Trump’s plan — as he has always done — is not to actually respond to the suit, but tie it up in byzantine procedural delays for so long the plaintiffs eventually just give up. I don’t think Carrol will give up, though, and he’s eventually going to have to give a deposition. She supposedly has DNA from the assault, however, so that will be interesting.

  108. 108.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Soprano2: I hope I live long enough to see a film akin to The Black Mass about the FBI’s NYC office. I suspect there’s more than one John Connolly in the pocket of the Brighton Beach mob.

  109. 109.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @Baud:

    ETA: We also need to figure out how to punish officers and shareholders without punishing workers.

    Conversion to employee owned cooperatives.

  110. 110.

    jonas

    @Wapiti: The organization might be on the hook for any penalties.

    It’s a private firm, though, not a public corporation, so Trump’s basically on the hook for everything that happens. I’m sure he’ll start heaving his subordinates under the bus right and left, however, as soon as he thinks he might be in trouble himself. If we’re lucky, that will include his kids.

  111. 111.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @jonas:

    As a lawyer, her suit doesn’t impress me.

    Sorry.

    Decades-old revelations of “Me-Too” allegations from someone who was an adult and prominent when the alleged events went down could and should go nowhere. Carroll had agency and a platform at the time, and allegations gone so stale are not something that law should act on.

  115. 115.

    Kay

    Sahil Kapur
    @sahilkapur
    News —> Republicans are pointedly warning Democrats: If you raise taxes on corporations and upper earners now, we’ll cut them back when we win power

    This the only real issue on the Right. Low taxes for rich people is the one and only real thing they work on. The rest is just grievance culture and whining.
    It isn’t an accident that it’s the only thing Trump and his GOP majority accomplished. They don’t do any work on anything else. The rest is performance and fundraising.

  118. 118.

    hueyplong

    @Kay: And their threat means nothing.  They’ll lower taxes on the super rich when they return to power no matter what Democrats do.  So let them start their hacking from a higher rate.

  119. 119.

    Betty Cracker

    @Kay: As Democrats, we should lean into that because it turns out raising taxes on corporations and rich people is really popular! ;-)

  122. 122.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Good news:

    Jake [email protected]
    House GOP Whip Scalise announces Republicans WILL whip GOP Members to vote AGAINST the creation of a bipartisan National Commission to Investigate the January 6th Attack

    The campaign ads write themselves.

  123. 123.

    hueyplong

    @OzarkHillbilly: They don’t even respect their audience enough to bother to conjure an “explanation” for their about-face.

    This should also be of interest to the non-aligned mid-term voter.

  124. 124.

    Geminid

    @jonas: I think Carroll’s lawyer is Robbie Kaplan, who was the successful plaintiff’s attorney in the Winsor v. U.S. case which struck down most of DOMA. Winsor was precurser to Obergefell, which vindicated the right to same-sex marriage.

    Robbie Kaplan is also lead attorney in Simes v.Kessler. The plaintiffs were injured in the deadly car attack at the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally, and are suing the organizers. This lawsuit could be a template for civil action against the organizers of the January 6th insurrection.

  125. 125.

    Mary G

    @satby:

    @MagdaInBlack:

    I also extend belated birthday wishes to you both. I had to spend the early part of yesterday rage gardening outside after some unhappy events, so I missed most of the daytime threads, but I am good today. Getting better sleep helps.

  127. 127.

    Kay

    @Betty Cracker:

    Isn’t that amazing? For so long it was like the third rail for Democrats and now they’re “I will SOAK the rich” :)

    Turns out being fake populists has a down side for Republicans. People expect them to actually do something that is even vaguely “populist”.

  128. 128.

    Jeffro

    @Kay: that’s…that’s their threat?  That’s what they plan to campaign on in 2022 and 2024?  “We’re just going to give rich people even more money when we’re back in power, so you better give rich people more money now (while we’re not in power)”?

    Um

    Good luck with that one, GQP.

  130. 130.

    Mike in NC

    Pretty sure that Fat Bastard chose to name his crime business ‘Trump Organization’ as an homage to the Nazi construction arm ‘Organisation Todt’.

  131. 131.

    Shakti

    @Amir Khalid: True. We, the sane people, all had concerns about his mental ability. However, nobody in the cabinet had enough concerns to 25th amendment the guy, let alone any Republican members of Congress.

    Good luck trying for Trump trying to argue his cabinet and the doctors and his party  thought him compos mentis while he was president but just kidding, he wasn’t?

    Plus what’s the grifting/fundraising advantage of being legally insane?

  132. 132.

    mrmoshpotato

    but this is bound to have ruffled the Trump Crime Cartel family members’ expensive fake, spray-painted-gold, never intend-to-pay-for feathers

    Fixed.

  133. 133.

    Geminid

    @Jeffro: Well, that Lynn Mitchell article about the Afton landslide didn’t really say much. But I looked into some more detailed reporting, and saw that the impacted stretch of U.S. 250 is actually a hundred feet below and 100 yards south of I-64. So it doesn’t look like the engineers will be doing much blasting. It would be fun to watch if they did, though.

  134. 134.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Shakti:

    However, nobody in the cabinet had enough concerns to 25th amendment the guy, let alone any Republican members of Congress. 

    When the grift is that good…

    ?Grift grift grift your boat, steal what’s not nailed down, buy hammers for everyone, and pull up all the nails ?

  136. 136.

    MCA1

    @John S.: Southpaw’s a practicing appellate attorney.  He understands full well how criminal investigations work, and was just making a point about James possibly being a little bit of a self-promotion machine without the results to back it up.

  137. 137.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Amir Khalid: Drive, my arse. How far is the nearest PATH station? Chain his handcuffs to one of the poles & make him ride with a couple of cops and the “little people” all the way into Manhattan.​

    (Meh, on further review, not that close. Drive, then. And may the cops not be that gentle when pushing his head down into the back seat.)

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