Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Let there be snark.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

T R E 4 5 O N

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

I really should read my own blog.

People are complicated. Love is not.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Infrastructure week. at last.

“More of this”, i said to the dog.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Eh, that’s media spin. biden’s health is fine and he’s doing a good job.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

Consistently wrong since 2002

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Trump Crime Cartel / Spill, Bitches

Spill, Bitches

by | 112 Comments

This post is in: 

This is going to be fun:

The New York attorney general can question Donald J. Trump and two of his adult children under oath as part of a civil inquiry into his business practices, a judge ruled on Thursday, rejecting the former president’s effort to block the interviews.

The inquiry by the attorney general, Letitia James, and a parallel criminal investigation led by the Manhattan district attorney are examining whether Mr. Trump improperly inflated the value of his assets to receive favorable loans.

Lawyers for the Trump family had sought to prohibit Ms. James, a Democrat, from interviewing Mr. Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump. They had argued that she was politically biased against Mr. Trump and was inappropriately using her civil inquiry to aid the district attorney’s criminal investigation, which she is also participating in.

But the judge, Arthur F. Engoron, wrote that “this argument completely misses the mark.”

He ruled in favor of Ms. James’s lawyers, who had asked that the former president and the two adult children be interviewed in the next three weeks. The order also requires that the former president provide the attorney general with documents she sought in her subpoena.

“Today, justice prevailed,” Ms. James said in a statement, adding, “No one is above the law.” The Trump Organization did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Get them all under oath.

Reader Interactions

112Comments

  1. 1.

    UncleEbeneezer

    But I’ve been assured that Garland is the only person who can do anything to hold Trump accountable…

  5. 5.

    Damien

    @Baud: I vaguely recall something about the fifth in this case doing something something where it wouldn’t really help them, but I genuinely cannot remember the specifics

  9. 9.

    Mike in NC

    Shithead Senior will just deny even knowing Shithead Junior: “He brought coffee a couple times”.

  10. 10.

    Baud

    @Patricia Kayden:

    Probably a lot, but the resolution on this case is bipartisan.  Not sure what Paul is doing. Maybe just grandstanding or playing to the antiwar crowd, or perhaps he’s the designated front for Russia on this.  The possibilities are endless.

  11. 11.

    Pragmatic Idealist

    @Damien: In a civil case taking the 5th can be construed as evidence of guilt. In a criminal case it is supposed to be ignored.

  12. 12.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Baud:

    You may think "So what? Donald, ivanka, & jr. will just take the 5th 500 times" in their now required depositions in NY, but keep this in mind: in a civil case, which this is, taking the 5th CAN be "used against you" (adverse inference). This is a HUGE win. Act like a winner.— Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote) February 17, 2022

  13. 13.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Damien: According to an article at Wonkette:

    If they don’t want to give information that might harm their criminal case, they can plead the Fifth Amendment — but a fact finder is entitled to take the negative inference from this failure to testify, at least in the civil context.

    eta: and I see I am late to the game.

  14. 14.

    Sebastian

    @Baud:

    I’ve heard the problem with taking the Fifth is that in civil proceedings that is an admission of guilt lol

    So he loses by default ??

  17. 17.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Sebastian: I don’t think it is an admission of guilt necessarily, but the jury can consider it that way depending on the other evidence.  Whereas in a criminal case the jury is prevented from even considering it as such.

  19. 19.

    scav

    Moving from Swim to Spill posts in swift succession.  Both with an underlying theme of Sinking.  This day is clearly brought to us by the letter S.

  23. 23.

    germy

    “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

    Republican Senator Josh Hawley just blocked the confirmation of two Department of Defense nominees with bipartisan support –

    Then, when asked to explain himself, Senator Hawley walked out of the Senate chamber. pic.twitter.com/K7mxr2YyU6

    — Senate Democrats (@SenateDems) February 17, 2022

  26. 26.

    Roger Moore

    @Damien:

    I vaguely recall something about the fifth in this case doing something something where it wouldn’t really help them, but I genuinely cannot remember the specifics

    Basically, taking the 5th because of your criminal worries doesn’t help you with your civil problems.  In a civil case, the jury can be instructed to make an adverse inference when somebody refuses to answer questions, i.e. the jury can assume they refused to answer because the honest answer would hurt them.  Basically, they’re put in a no win situation.  If they answer questions honestly, it might hurt their criminal case.  If they answer them dishonestly, they might get in trouble if there’s any documentary evidence that contradicts them.  If they refuse to answer at all, it may cost them the civil case.

  27. 27.

    Mary G

    @Patricia Kayden: I had very little respect for the people of Kentucky based on my one visit to my dad’s family there, but the majority of voters there are really, really bad to keep voting Moscow Mitch and Russian Lover Rand into office year after year have beat out the cousins with the [housekeeper in a red scarf]* who  yelled at me for calling her ma’m.

    * can’t even type the word not even sure I should post this

  28. 28.

    germy

    Another Trump son, Eric Trump, and the Trump Organization’s finance chief Allen Weisselberg, have previously sat for depositions in the civil investigation — and invoked their Fifth Amendment rights hundreds of times when they were questioned by investigators in 2020.

    (Associated Press)

  29. 29.

    mrmoshpotato

    The inquiry by the attorney general, Letitia James, and a parallel criminal investigation led by the Manhattan district attorney are examining whether Mr. Trump the Soviet shitpile mobster conmanbaby crime family improperly inflated the value of his assets to receive favorable loans and if they should have their fucking fecal faces caved in by Lady Justice.

    Added details.

  30. 30.

    germy

    In a statement Tuesday, Trump railed against what he called a “sham investigation of a great company that has done a spectacular job for New York and beyond” and a racially motivated “continuation of a Witch Hunt the likes of which has never been seen in this Country before.”

    “Racially motivated.”

  32. 32.

    JPL

    Jr. is going to give some heated interviews tonight, isn’t he?    It might be best to send out his girlfriend.

  33. 33.

    Roger Moore

    @germy:

    In this case “racially motivated” means Trump thinks he can dismiss anything that comes from a minority because they obviously hate him.  I wonder why they might hate him.

  36. 36.

    mrmoshpotato

    @UncleEbeneezer:

    But I’ve been assured that Garland is the only person who can do anything to hold Trump accountable… 

    It doesn’t matter who bashes their fucking fascist faces in.

  42. 42.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Suzanne: I assume the Soviet shitpile mobster conmanbaby crime family will all scream that their Daddy Vladdy said they have to be treated tremendous bigly.

  47. 47.

    germy

    @Baud:

    “Racist” often becomes “Racially Motivated” after the Associated Press and other outlets check their style sheets.  (I’m assuming here they have style sheets.)

  48. 48.

    Baud

    @germy:

    Weird.  Traditional print publications usually tried to use fewer and smaller words.  Maybe the internet changed that since it does use newsprint.

  50. 50.

    mrmoshpotato

    @germy:

    “Racially motivated.” 

    The poor oppressed traitorous orange Soviet shitpile mobster conmanbabies of this country!

  51. 51.

    Brachiator

    Trump always talks about how he is tough and punches back. Are we finally going to see him squeal like a pig, cry like a baby?

  52. 52.

    Geminid

    @Patricia Kayden: Rand Paul can’t get anything done these days, so he just blocks stuff. Last September 23 the House passed a bill to fund replenishment of Israel’s Iron Dome defenses* something like 420-13. The bill will pass the Senate with at least 80 votes, but Paul is still holding it up. Speaker Pelosi was in Israel yesterday and assured Israeli President Herzog that the bill would go through next month.

    *This was pursuant to the extensive Memorandum of Understanding negotiated between President Obama and Israel in 2016.

  53. 53.

    mrmoshpotato

    @satby:

    the media has been cleaning up his words for a long time. Primarily to make him sound more coherent. 

    Had to sound coherent after all the coke and while sucking Putin’s asshole.

  54. 54.

    Baud

    James Webb Space Telescope has locked onto guide star in crucial milestone

    By Elizabeth Howell published about 7 hours ago

     

    The fine-guidance instrument is key to keeping the space telescope pointed in the right direction.

  57. 57.

    bbleh

    @Brachiator: @mrmoshpotato: No, he will sit with uncomfortable rigidity and fidget and his eyes will shift side-to-side, and he will dissemble and evade and not recall and monotonically repeat lawyerly words he has memorized.  Think fifth-grader in the principal’s office sweating bullets as he tries to cover his ass.

  61. 61.

    Another Scott

    Better to take the Fifth and stonewall the civil case. https://t.co/nVbiVkQyTi

    — Richard M. Nixon (@dick_nixon) February 17, 2022

    I suspect that is the strategery.

    Recall that the Remington gun civil suit settlement for Sandy Hook was just in the news in the yesterday, when the suit was filed in 2014.

    :-(

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  63. 63.

    Ruckus

    @mrmoshpotato:

    The answer is pay stubs.

    I’m just wondering what the law is for congress folk and senators getting paid by the US and a foreign country that we consider not exactly friends at the same time.

  70. 70.

    lgerard

    Best summation of the investigation via the Daily Beast

    “If he gets away from this, there’s no God and no reason to live,” said Barbara Res, a former construction executive at the Trump Organization.

  71. 71.

    Snarki, child of Loki

    In case the miscreants have a “failure of memory”, the hearings should also be treated as “competency hearings”.

     

    Then toss ’em in the locked dementia ward while we figure that all out.

  75. 75.

    Ken

    @bbleh: monotonically repeat lawyerly words he has memorized

    I thought I saw a quote from one of his lawyers today, saying his fear was that the client wouldn’t take the lawyer’s advice, and would insist on testifying.

    Say, if someone takes the Fifth but demands to testify anyway, which takes precedence?

  76. 76.

    Another Scott

    @Snarki, child of Loki: Heh.  TheDickinsonPress:

    Defense attorneys say there’s nothing unusual about a witness – especially one who’s the subject of an investigation – claiming not to recall key details. If they forgot, they forgot. And if they actually didn’t forget, well, how do you show that someone’s lying about the contents of their own mind?

    “If they say they don’t recall when they actually do recall, that actually is a false statement,” and could carry legal penalties, said Jacob S. Frenkel, a former federal prosecutor who now works in the District of Columbia office of the law firm Dickinson Wright. “The problem is, how do you prove that?”

    In the past, Trump has claimed memory lapses in several cases in which he was been asked to account for his own past statements. Instead of explaining them, Trump said he didn’t remember making them in the first place.

    “You don’t remember saying that you have one of the best memories in the world?” an attorney once asked Trump during a 2015 deposition for a lawsuit against Trump University. The plaintiffs alleged that the university – really a series of real estate seminars – misled its customers into paying thousands of dollars for little benefit.

    “I don’t remember that,” Trump responded. He had made the claim just three weeks earlier, in an interview with NBC News.

    Presumably the prosecutors and state’s attorneys know how to handle such witnesses, and the case does not depend on some grand Perry Mason confession.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  77. 77.

    Roger Moore

    @Ken:

    Say, if someone takes the Fifth but demands to testify anyway, which takes precedence?

    IANAL, but my impression is that taking the 5th in a civil case is something you probably do question by question.  So the lawyer asks you something, and you say you can’t answer because it might incriminate you.  Then they ask something else.  If you decide the second thing is something you can answer, you’re free to do so.  You could even answer the questions from your lawyer fully and plead the 5th when the other side’s lawyer questions you.  It’s just unlikely to endear you to the jury.

  80. 80.

    kindness

    They do have an out though.  They can say ‘I don’t remember.’ or ‘I don’t know.’  I expect those will be the answers to over 90% of the questions they get.

  81. 81.

    Wapiti

    @Mary G: I did 20 years in the Army. We called superiors ‘Sir” or “Ma’am”. Since I got out, I use those words all the time, for everyone. As an old white dude, I do twitch a little when I say “Ma’am” to a young woman, but I’m not going to use “Miss”.

  82. 82.

    BruceFromOhio

    Get them all under oath.

    Waste of time. Will either plead the fifth, or blatantly lie. Each is genetically incapable of telling the truth.

    Bonus round: accuse Hillary Clinton of … something, anything.

  83. 83.

    Leto

    @Wapiti: during my month and half long stay in the hospital following my accident, I called every woman there “ma’am”. Quite a few of them said, “Don’t call me ma’am!” Apparently in Philly “ma’am” is used for “old people”. I subsequently told each one: “I’ve spent twenty years in the military and I’m from the South. I’m going to call you ma’am because it’s a term of respect.” After that quick back and forth, we were all good.

  87. 87.

    hueyplong

    You make them take the Fifth over and over. I once had a witness take the Fifth in response to my question, “What is your middle name?”

  89. 89.

    Kirk Spencer

    @Another Scott: The one time I watched such a situation in court (as a juror), the strategy the attorney took was to just keep asking questions and questions and questions, all relevant (despite objections) and most seeming to be things we the jury thought pretty much anyone would remember.  End result we all thought the guy was lying through his teeth without it being said by the questioning attorney.

    Rather remarkable, actually, as it was the main thing that convinced us which way to vote. “Well obviously that guy was lying, which means the people agreeing with him were lying too, so given that the other side’s story of what happened must be true.” paraphrased.

  90. 90.

    hueyplong

    @Baud: I took his depo on death row in South Carolina. So the “Wayne” kind of struck a chord.

    He was sort of beyond giving a shit how ridiculous his answers were.

  91. 91.

    MomSense

    @JPL:

    If I cared about him I would be very concerned about his substance abuse and mental health.  Some of the recent videos I’ve seen were shocking.

  92. 92.

    mrmoshpotato

    @germy: Awwww, how cute, Sidney Shitstain. Hopefully the case gets thrown in the shredder, and Verizon goes “Here’s all of it!”

  93. 93.

    JPL

    @MomSense:  I wonder if anyone really cares about him.

     

    BTW      trump has released an angry rant about how he is being persecuted for providing for grandchildren.   At least that’s what I think he said.   Oh Cyrus Vance didn’t even go after him.

  94. 94.

    Skepticat

    Why would anyone expect being under oath to lead to these notorious, blatant, unapologetic liars suddenly telling the truth about anything at all?

  95. 95.

    David Bell

    Whatever happened to all the allegations that Trump was tied up with the Russian mafia? Remember Felix Sater, and all that? Trump was doing business with crooked dudes in Belarus and Turkey and the Philippines. How come nothing ever came of that? He’s inflating the value of his buildings? Ok. I get that it’s fraud — but is it really fraud when everybody in the world knows you’re full of shit? I mean, who actually ever relied on ANYTHING Trump has ever said, ever? I’ve been reading about how Trump’s on the verge of going down for five years — and nothing ever seems to happen. I get why impeachment never happened — it’s political. But shouldn’t the criminal justice system have caught up with this obviously mobbed-up criminal by now? For years, I’ve been telling my right-wing “friends” that, if they ever really had any real evidence on Hillary Clinton, she’d be in prison by now. But … is that true? Do the people at the top just continue to get away with everything — even when they do it in broad daylight, on tv? I mean — Jennifer Rubin has been writing breathlessly for five years at the Washington Post that Trump is on the verge of being taken down — and I just stopped reading a couple years ago. I’ll believe it when I see it.

  96. 96.

    Geminid

    @JPL: We won’t know if Cyrus Vance did or did not go after Trump until the grand jury Vance convened last year finishes it’s work. Vance’s office had to fight for a long time to get Trump’s tax records. If Trump is indicted, the new Manhattan DA will get the credit, but he may have built on Vance’s work.

    Fun fact: Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s first job out of law school was serving as Assistant District Attorney for Manhattan County. Her boss was Henry Morganthau Jr.

  97. 97.

    Sebastian

    @dmsilev:

    It was! The dirty Messican!

    The one thing I am waiting for is when the Orange Oompa Loompa gets squeezed and spills ALL the dirty laundry he has on Mitch, the Mercers, Pootie, everyone.

    We need to keep the fucker alive and the tape running!

  98. 98.

    Sebastian

    @David Bell:

    Ah see, my young friend, you are missing a vital piece of the puzzle.

    Yes, you can inflate prices as much as you want as long as your buyer is A-OK with it, there is nothing anyone can do about it. But for the money laundering to work you also have to tell the tax guys the same story.

    Donnie the Shyster of course didn’t.

  100. 100.

    Geminid

    @Geminid: Another frustratingly slow criminal investigation is that of Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz. The key witness, Joel Greenburg, pleaded guilty to multiple felony counts last summer. Last October his sentencing was delayed until next month. Since then another of Gaetz’s wingmen has entered a guilty plea on state charge, and is apparently cooperating with federal prosecutors in the Gaetz investigation. There are also reports that a certain young woman has appeared before grand jury.

    But now Greenberg’s sentencing has been postponed until again, until May! Hopefully we will learn then whether the prosecutors have been screwing around, or wrapping Gaetz up so tight on so many felony counts that the best lawyers his wealthy father can buy can’t get him off.

  101. 101.

    David Bell

    @Sebastian: I get it, but do you think he’s going to go down for it? I mean, Trump has obviously been a criminal for years. Do you think the news is really tightening? Believe me, I hope so. Honestly, accountability for Trump was my number one issue in the 2020 election.

  102. 102.

    Another Scott

    @Sebastian:

    Yes, you can inflate prices as much as you want as long as your buyer is A-OK with it, there is nothing anyone can do about it.

    I know you’re talking about MotU types here, but I’m pretty sure that doesn’t hold in general. E.g. in the late ’90s when we bought our place, prices were just starting to take off after years of being in the doldrums in NoVA. Our agent said the appraiser had to be careful to justify our offer as being reasonable because of the various rules about mortgage loans (at least the ones that might get sold to FannieMae and the like).

    Of course, those ideas were “quaint” in too many transactions just a few years later… :-/

    Thanks.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  103. 103.

    David Bell

    @David Bell:

     

    @Sebastian: I guess I’m just a little dismayed at the timidity of the charges against Trump. He’s also, reportedly, facing some potential criminal liability for violating election laws in Georgia. Election laws???? What about extortion? “You know, I’d really like you to look into the election results for me … and, if you don’t, you could end up going to prison. And, don’t forget, I run the Justice Department.” Isn’t that textbook extortion? But no … election laws. And, now, the lawyer who was sitting in on that particular piece of criminal arm-twisting is sitting on some kind of election integrity commission. I feel like I’m starting to sound like some kind of a conspiracy theorist — but this kind of seems like some serious criminal activity to me. Still … the odds have got to be on Trump walking away scott free. I just don’t get it.

  104. 104.

    eversor

    @David Bell:

    If you have enough money and power you can basically get away with anything as long as you are only punching down.  If you screw with one of your of your peers you might get in trouble.  If you punch up you better not miss.   That is how the justice system and “rule of law” actually works.  It’s a sick joke and it always has been.   Voting won’t fix it either, because the type of credentials it takes to get into office by default means you are part of the crook club no matter your party.

    There’s also a shocking amount of stuff that is legal but you’d need a lot of money to actually do.   And it’s so easy to make something legal that once you hit a certain level the attitude of “I’m going to do it and you figure out why it was legal later” is entirely correct and honest.

    The best examples here are two people.  Madoff.  Everyone knew what was going on and that was criminal but nobody cared until he screwed over his peers.    Then there is Epstein who everyone knew had a pedo island paradise and yet all the most powerful people including the Clintons and the Trumps hung around with.  And Epstein is dead and Maxwell is going to jail but nothing is really happening to anybody else.

    That’s our “rule of law” and that’s always how it’s worked.

    If Trump goes down it won’t because of the law, it won’t be because of justice, it won’t be because of Jan 6.  It will be because someone with more power than him wanted it and we will never know who they (or them) actually was (were).

    And this isn’t just an American thing this is how it works everywhere in the world.

  105. 105.

    wombat probability cloud

    @Baud: What a joy to see the news coming out of this amazing endeavor. It’s the first thing I check every morning (after the coffee and dog walk, that is).

  106. 106.

    Geminid

    @David Bell: You may be conflating two different events here. Trump did not threaten the head of Georgia’s election commission with prison if she did not find the votes, in the phone call the Fulton County DA is investigating.

    But the transcript of that phone call is out there. I believe it was released by Raffensperger, the Georgia Secretary of State, who was in on the call. So it’s easy enough to check. The transcript was reported fairly well when it was released.

  107. 107.

    Bill Arnold

    @Ann Marie:

    “Racially motivated”? I didn’t know orange is a protected category.

    Prosecutor of color vs a member of the Arrogant Billionaire Asshole race. Most, but not all, US specimens of such are white and male. (Fairly (but not completely sure that DJT is not a positive-net-worth billionaire, at least not in US dollars (rubles, sure), but he still insists he is.)

  108. 108.

    Ruckus

    @bbleh:

    Well, if they haven’t done anything wrong, then they shouldn’t be worried, right?

    Which is of course why they are worried shitless.

  109. 109.

    Ruckus

    @Bill Arnold:

    He insisted he to Forbes that he was worth 17 billion not all that long ago. They finally actually checked and listed him as worth 3 1/2 billion. Not quite the same. The best I’ve heard lately was that he’s worth 2 billion, but there was a slight concept of how much he actually currently owes. It may be more than that 2 large. Which would put him at minus something and a not very nice reception waiting for him. Soon. Oh well, couldn’t happen to a nicer guy dick…..

  111. 111.

    Jeffro

    @Ken:if someone takes the Fifth but demands to testify anyway, which takes precedence?

    Especially if they do it in the same sentence.

    Over and over and over.

    LOLOLOLOLOL

  112. 112.

    David Bell

    @Geminid: Trump never directly says anything. The extortion in Georgia was more along the lines of, “nice restaurant you got here; be a shame if it caught on fire.”

Comments are closed.