Meanwhile, at the White House: @PressSec says President Biden is not focused on his predecessor’s arraignment today & says they will not be commenting specifically on the case. Asked about ongoing security preps in New York, KJP said: “all I can say is… we are prepared.” pic.twitter.com/WzHMGe9Rvw
— Monica Alba (@albamonica) April 4, 2023
President Biden doesn’t drink, but I bet he’s got some of his favorite ice cream in the WH freezer for tonight!
I ain’t no hypocrite, so: It’s truly an outrage that TFG was allowed to skate for this long; it’s a sad day for our battered nation when a considerable portion of its inhabitants shriek and gibber in his defense; and there’s a long road between today’s events and seeing this human blot permanently removed from our politics. But — for those of us who believe in democracy, it’s still a good day!
"These are felony crimes in New York state, no matter who you are."
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg spoke about the 34 felony counts against Donald Trump during a press conference shortly after his arraignment Tuesday.https://t.co/H9AFRvV7sN pic.twitter.com/f1FJTvzq8R
— The Associated Press (@AP) April 4, 2023
Donald Trump is now under arrest in New York City ahead of his arraignment in court https://t.co/VmtYuyNFJ1 pic.twitter.com/kfOmkD6vpu
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) April 4, 2023
You can be absolutely sure Trump will have HATED, HATED that. Guess when you’re under arrest court staff don’t hold doors open for you https://t.co/7SOgBKxEvH
— Jon Sopel (@jonsopel) April 4, 2023
Honestly, that is the most in character believable episode in all of this :-) https://t.co/1G8BSZjuMK
— @StevenStrauss on post.news and mastodon.social (@Steven_Strauss) April 4, 2023
trump got hit with 34 felony charges in Manhattan, invoking the funniest local rule in America. for more information, Google "Trump Rule 34."
— rev. howard arson (@revhowardarson) April 4, 2023
Happy #TrumpArraignment Day! Today his infamous “Lock Her Up” chant officially becomes “Lock Him Up” as we finally hold the powerful accountable! pic.twitter.com/Cr6k8JGZ3J
— Brittany 💙🇺🇦💛 Never Forget 1/6 ♥️ (@BrittanyinTexas) April 4, 2023
Elizabelle
This first Arraignment Day was satisfactory.
Moar of them, please. A whole lot moar.
laura
I hope he shit his pants today.
mali muso
It was a beautiful day. May it be the first of many.
Baud
Arraignment Day is the new Infrastructure Week.
Brachiator
So far, to use one of Trump’s favorite phrases, a Perfect Indictment.
Eunicecycle
I think we need different names for the different Arraignment Days, like different versions of Covid. Like today is Arraignment Alpha, next will be Arraignment Beta, etc. Using our Greek alphabet knowledge!
HumboldtBlue
University of Wisconsin Eau Claire
lot of precincts in Madison are headed for >75% of November 22 turnout
I look forward to Georgia and the DOJ because I remain skeptical Trump will face anything more than a fine in the NYC case. But let’s all enjoy indictment day and cap it off with a Sixers win over the Bucks.
hueyplong
@laura: Technically, he shits his pants every day.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
I’ve been calling TFG’s legal troubles the Death of a Thousand Paper Cuts. So this is Paper Cut #1.
West of the Rockies
@laura:
Wetly and loudly.
Elizabelle
@HumboldtBlue: Excellent news.
The Supremes overturning Roe woke up a lot of voters who take voting for granted. Good to see heavy turnout today.
Beyond being able to take anything for granted. The Ukrainians do not, and too many in this country were complacent.
rikyrah
I love that last tweet. I know that they all talked to one another today..LOL
Ken
@Eunicecycle: The Greek alphabet only has 24 letters. That may not be enough.
Also, agreed that the attempt to weasel out of paying the hush money is quintessential Trump. Wouldn’t it be funny if that tipped the outcome somehow, like the jurors deciding that showed a criminal frame of mind? “We don’t care about the election, but they were conspiring to cheat her….”
West of the Rockies
@HumboldtBlue:
The Emerald Triangle is far from Philly. How does a CA lad become so fond of the Sixers?
JPL
@HumboldtBlue: When do polls close?
rikyrah
@Baud:
May we get many of them. :)
HumboldtBlue
Jimmy Kimmel: When all your dads end up in jail.
HumboldtBlue
@West of the Rockies:
I’m a Philly native. I first moved to Cali mid-80s and lived here for the vast bulk of that time — either in Dago, LA or Humboldt — since.
@JPL:
8 pm their time
Roger Moore
As was pointed out on one of the previous threads, the thing about “if we can delay it past the election, it doesn’t matter if it gets out” is extremely important in proving why Trump paid Daniels off. If he didn’t care if it came out after the election, that’s strong evidence he was mostly interested in influencing the election with the payout. That means hiding the payments was a campaign finance violation, which would be the underlying crime Trump was trying to hide by falsifying his business records.
Elizabelle
@Roger Moore: That is going to resonate with a jury.
JPL
@HumboldtBlue: Thanks. The results might be past my bedtime, but I do hope Kelly goes down in flames.
Wyatt Salamanca
It’s also truly an outrage that tens of millions of Americans can’t seem to remember how badly Trump fucked up in responding to Covid which led to roughly 500,000 deaths.
RandomMonster
“A Perfect Indication”
bbleh
Was interested to hear that the “other” crime (“in furtherance of”) is a NY state crime and Bragg isn’t trying to work using a Federal crime. What it means exactly to “promote a candidacy by unlawful means” I have no idea, but concealing hush-money payments in violation of campaign finance rules seems like a reasonable candidate to me.
But far more importantly, he was indicted, technically arrested, processed, and arraigned. He went through the mill (okay the bunny slopes, but still). I can’t imagine there aren’t countries in the world where people would fight a war for there to be that kind of public accountability.
smith
@Ken: As I understand it, it could tip the outcome. Trump and his lawyers will argue that the hush money had nothing to do with the election — it was all about keeping the information from Melania. This plan to stiff (heh!) Stormy after the election makes it quite clear that Melania didn’t figure into it at all. The money was spent in furtherance of his campaign. This, as I understand it, makes it a reportable campaign expense which has to be accounted for. Instead, they disguised it as a business expense, which also has tax fraud implications.
IANAL, but I’m sure those here who are will let me know if I got it wrong.
MisterForkbeard
For the love of God, do not do this.
The Kropenhagen Interpretation
No, they think that’s a job heckuva job, Brownie.
Ten Bears
I agree (rarely) with MSNBC: you really shouldn’t Google “Trump Rule 34.”
I did …
different-church-lady
@smith:
Now there’s a position of public perception strength!
Gvg
You know, I thought he was nuts to run for President. I knew he was crooked in his real estate dealings from watching and listening to decades of news, and I didn’t used to pay that much attention to that sort of thing. It’s just he has always been in the news some since I was a kid….7 bankruptcies did make an impression on me. A bad impression. Anyway, I thought he was nuts because of how much attention everyone in the world pays to the US President and how they examine every financial document they can find and make a big deal about every negative story. I was sure he was going to get exposed and he did it to himself. Well I did not know you could cover up that much by being able to generate that much crap to flood the zone, but in the end, it looks like the earliest financial crookedness is going to be the first to be proven.
Even if he dies before we convict him of everything, historians and hobbyists are never going to stop digging though. It will all come out eventually. Problem is his personality cult may generate so much dumb conspiracy stuff, it can be hard to tell what’s real. Like JFK if John himself had also been a fool.
He could have been safer staying out of the spotlight.
Cmorenc
The Georgia indictments, should they come, are far more consequential. My suspicion about the NY case is Trump will only get convicted of the lesser-included misdemeanors, bc his lawyers will be able to throw just-enough squid-ink to induce reasonable doubt in the jury as to the election-influence intent element, even though the connection seems obvious to us here at BJ.
OTOH squid ink will be much harder to throw at Trump’s attempts to corrupt the 2020 Ga election, bc it’s right there in his recorded conversation with the Ga Secretary of State.
MisterForkbeard
@Gvg: Honestly, if he’d lost in 2016 I don’t think anyone would have gone after him – or at least, it would have been less charges. Him winning and then proceeding to thumb his nose at Justice while literally being in charge of it for 4 years and then inciting an insurrection really was both raising his profile and making a long-term investigation more likely.
Uncle Cholmondeley
Daughters voting in Ashland Co., WI report a line out the door of the community center of folks in line to vote.
Elizabelle
@Cmorenc: I dunno. Seems pretty straightforward to me. Are you of the impression that NYC is full of Trump fans?
I don’t know why you’d want to throw sand at Alvin Bragg today, but you be you.
JPL
@Cmorenc: Hopefully trump takes Rudy and Sydney with him.
Roger Moore
@Elizabelle:
I’m honestly surprised by just how much serving on a jury has changed my perspective on this kind of thing. It’s exactly the kind of thing I paid the most attention to as a juror. It could completely undermine Trump’s credibility if he tries to argue he had some other motive– assuming he chooses to testify at all.
JoyceH
I’ve had a stressful several days. My dog was acting weird and just yesterday evening I discovered a hot spot on her inner thigh. Got her a vet appointment for this afternoon, and just between yesterday evening to today, the spot more than doubled. We’re back home with two types of pills to give her twice a day, and a powder to apply four times a day. And a cone. Poor girl. I’ve ordered a donut collar.
Baud
@JoyceH:
Poor baby. I hope she heals soon.
rikyrah
@Roger Moore:
Put him on the stand? I think not..LOL
rikyrah
@JoyceH:
Hope your fur baby gets better
Roger Moore
@Gvg:
My gut feeling is the personality cult will collapse pretty quickly once Trump is out of the spotlight for long. I don’t think his fans love him as much as they love what he represents, and they will move on to the next shiny object if/when Trump loses their interest.
rikyrah
Are there recall measures for that traitor in North Carolina?
JoyceH
@rikyrah: I heard a commotion from the other end of the house – went to investigate and discovered she’d gone into her crate (which is her Cozy Spot), and then couldn’t turn around! It’s been ages since she’s had a cone and she’s forgotten how to do it.
Roger Moore
@rikyrah:
Remember who’s going to be calling the shots, though. No lawyer would want to put Trump on the stand, but that doesn’t mean he won’t insist.
Urza
Lacking the gag order, perp walk and photo, I still would like the judge to have mandated he not leave New York state. That would eliminate pretty much all rallies.
MomSense
Waiting to watch my DIL perform with the symphony. What a day.
twbrandt
@Roger Moore:
What credibility?
martha
@MomSense: Oh that’s wonderful! So glad you can see her.
karen marie
@laura: I could watch that door slapping closed on him on loop for the rest of my life and die happy.
CaseyL
@rikyrah: Not for a state senator. Some municipalities do, but just for municipal officers.
Does she represent a very Democratic district?
ETA: Charlotte. I think that’s very Democratic. Voters must be pissed.
The Kropenhagen Interpretation
Trump stole it from the White House. It’s in evidence with the classified documents.
Ohio Mom
@MisterForkbeard: Of course I went to straight to Google with your warning and many of the top hits are (ironically) “Don’t google Trump 34.” I chuckled and came back here.
The Kropenhagen Interpretation
@Ohio Mom: I Googled rule 34 sans Trump and I got the picture.
Tom Levenson
@Roger Moore: The one aspect of Trump’s personality I have confidence in is his feral survival instinct.
I very much doubt he will testify.
Mallard Filmore
@bbleh:
Some lawyers on YouTube are saying that if Bragg went for a Federal connection, Trump’s lawyers could claim that only the Feds could work the case. Keeping everything in NY means there won’t be a lengthy court fight about venue.
Chetan Murthy
@Elizabelle: I have to admit, I’m … nonplussed by the charges against TFG. These are the sorts of charges that rich white businessmen skate on routinely … or get a slap on the wrist, with the charges expunged if they behave for a year or two.
But what’s more important, what’s the overriding thing, is that BRAGG FUCKING DID IT. He took his shot. We don’t elect people to stand pat, hold their fire, keep their powder dry. We elect them to act on behalf of the people. And even (as I expect) TFG finds a way to weasel out, Bragg will have taken his shot, and that’s worth something to me.
Nobody else has fucking bothered to even try. Nobody.
P.S. And here’s hoping that TFG doesn’t weasel out.
The Kropenhagen Interpretation
The one aspect of his personality I have confidence in is that he doesn’t know when to shut his mouth. I think he will testify.
One of us is right. He will or he will not testify.
JPL
@MomSense: How exciting. I missed that.
karen marie
@JoyceH: I feel your pain! That’s a tough spot. Maybe get a pair of child’s pj’s that you can cut “sanitary areas” out but cover the thigh?
I was lucky with the location in my only experience with a hot spot – a previous spaniel had one on the back of her neck from a traumatic groomer experience (we never went back to that groomer). My current spaniel had an irritation between two toes that she licked to the point it bled. I got a bag of infant socks from a secondhand store. They fit perfectly but I taped them at the ankle so she couldn’t pull them off. Worked like a charm.
Roger Moore
@twbrandt:
The jury is going to be picked from people who are (or at least say they are) able to give Trump the benefit of the doubt. That means they’ll be willing to assume he’s credible when he’s testifying.
Elizabelle
@Roger Moore: I dunno. I suspect TFG paid close attention to the Alex Murdaugh trial. The jurors saying he was not credible.
Suspect the main reason he never initiated a war was seeing W get pilloried for Iraq.
It’s deficient, but TFG does have a learning curve.
JPL
@Tom Levenson: If the case is solid, trump will have a plea deal to avoid prison time. His cult will accept that he had no choice because the judge hated him.
Elizabelle
@The Kropenhagen Interpretation: but in which trial(s)?
Incoming!
Jeffro
I thought this as well and thought – for a while – that he’d drop out somewhere in the primaries, whine about it a lot, and then go on to bash President Hillz for years just like he did President Bamz.
But I think he got carried away with the adulation, the crowds, the cameras focused on him (his empty lectern, even!) 24/7.
And lord knows the GOP couldn’t figure out how to deal with this simpleton, because it isn’t really a political party and hadn’t been for a long time.
Dr. Jakyll and Miss Deride
@Cmorenc: A good lawyer can also throw squid ink over a recorded conversation. It might look clear to us what Trump was up to when he asked Raffensperger to find him exactly the number of votes he’d need to overcome Biden’s margin, but they could argue he picked that number just for illustrative purposes and he actually believed there were far more votes for him than that out there. In fact, I think he said something on those lines elsewhere during that call.
The Kropenhagen Interpretation
@Elizabelle: All of them, Katie.
Sister Golden Bear
@Gvg:
Narcissists never think other people have agency.
bbleh
@The Kropenhagen Interpretation: but until we open the box, he is both testifying and not testifying.
Chetan Murthy
@Elizabelle:
[begin foolish speculation] IIRC, he is always cagey in taped depositions, always careful to not lie and get slammed with perjury. I think he’s actually very good at protecting his ass. The real question is whether he takes the trial seriously: he could be viewing it as part of his campaign to restore the Fourth Reich, and not an actual trial. [/end]
HumboldtBlue
@West of the Rockies:
And they’re playing Boston, not the Bucks.
Roger Moore
@The Kropenhagen Interpretation:
Trump may hate to shut up, but he has been plenty willing to take the 5th repeatedly when his lawyers recommend it. OTOH, he has been plenty willing to make public statements when it’s pretty clear any lawyer worth anything would tell him to shut up. I honestly don’t know what Trump will do.
UncleEbeneezer
@smith: I heard or read someone note, a couple days ago, that McDougal payoff helps disprove Trump’s claim that the Stormy hush money was about protecting Melania’s feelings and that it shows that it was election-related. I can’t remember the details of why though.
The Kropenhagen Interpretation
@bbleh: I suppose we will have to observe.
Sure Lurkalot
@Roger Moore:
How’s he going to lose the spotlight? In the last 24 hours, several “news” outlets had hours of footage of HIS PLANE SITTING ON A TARMAC. The media is stuck to him like Gorilla glue and the trial on this first indictment will not even happen this year.
The irksome pest will be in the spotlight until he flees or croaks and I wish he’d get on with it.
JPL
@UncleEbeneezer: trump said after the election they could avoid paying the rest of the hush money.
gene108
@The Kropenhagen Interpretation:
Trump will scream in ALL CAPS on Truth Social and whenever he returns to Twitter.
Once he has to be under oath, he’ll shut up.
Trump’s sued and been sued thousands of times, if acted dumbly at depositions or trials, he’d have run afoul of the legal system more than he did*
*ETA: Trump University fraud settlement, and Trump Charities pop to mind as times he lost.
Ohio Mom
Another thing I just googled is how many times Trump has found himself in a courtroom over his lifetime. According to Wikipedia, “Of the 3,500 suits, Trump or one of his companies were plaintiffs in 1,900; defendants in 1,450; and bankruptcy, third party, or other in 150.”
I am going to assume this is his first time in criminal court. Still, the man knows his way around a courtroom, even if his underlings took care of most of the cases.
Jeffro
@bbleh: LOL
Geminid
@Dr. Jakyll and Miss Deride: A friend who hates Trump and carefully went over the transcript of the Raffensberger call, and the one to the Georgia election official, thought that Trump skated close to the edge of criminality, but maybe not over. He attributed this to Trump’s cunning as a career criminal.
I don’t know myself; I have not looked at those conversations in detail, or the law either.
Bill Arnold
Re the door thing, this person says it is common practice in NY courts:
Roger Moore
@Sure Lurkalot:
Since I was replying to someone who was thinking about how he’ll be treated by history, I was thinking of after he’s dead. That’s not the only way he could lose the spotlight, though. A substantial prison sentence would keep him out of the spotlight for long enough for someone else to take control of the party. If he somehow manages to lose the nomination, he’ll disappear pretty quickly.
Brachiator
@Roger Moore:
Trump talks trash all the time, especially at his rallies.
But he never tells the same story under oath and has been in court enough times to know when he should shut up.
MisterForkbeard
@Roger Moore: Part of what Trump represents is belligerent strength.
If he’s out of the picture (not being seen as belligerent) or loses a court case with big penalties, he’s pretty fucked. I think he gets some mileage out of losing the case, but not enough to offset the ‘weakness’. If he WINS the case, he’ll probably be pretty happy and the cult will continue
OGLiberal
Don’t know if anybody highlighted this yet how about this asshole?
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article273956915.html
Elizabelle
@Chetan Murthy: I am going to be happy that TFG was (briefly) under arrest, and is in the maws of the criminal justice system. More of this!
UncleEbeneezer
@JPL: It wasn’t that though. When news came out that McDougal had testified, someone noted that this suggested hush money was about the election not Melania. Sorry, I’m still a bit loopy on pain meds from surgery, so I can’t remember where, lol
Sister Golden Bear
OK, this is a Not A Good Day thing, but fucking Florida Republicans have introduced a late amendment to SB 1438 that would create a criminal ban on pride events throughout the state of Florida if anyone present is dressed in drag.
The original bill would already would ban live performances of musicals like Rocky Horror Picture Show and Hair. It would probably applies to trans people merely dressing their gender, depending on how DeSatan defines “lewd — which means it definitely will.
Florida the meth lab of
democracyfascism.Also, in the UK, the Equality and Human Rights Commission proposed recommended legal changes that would strip trans people of their rights. It’s breathtakingly cynical. I don’t have the energy to channel my inner Tony Jay about this. Other to say that there’s a reason trans people refer to England as TERF Island, transphobia has been shockingly mainstreamed even more than in the States.
Frankensteinbeck
@Elizabelle:
I’m pretty sure it was because he ordered a commando raid at the beginning of his term, because obviously if the black guy could do it Trump could do it better. It went badly wrong, there was a big stink, and Trump spent years too scared to order any real military action in case he looked bad again. When he got enough courage to try again, it was assassinating that Iranian guy, and he still got dragged publicly instead of praised for his manliness.
Redshift
@bbleh:
I thought I had heard a week or two ago that New York has campaign finance laws that are easier to prove and have more teeth than the federal ones. Yet another point where the internet armchair lawyers were all sure about something that wasn’t true.
Jeffro
Side note: I keep seeing that nice, ALL CAPS headline, “trump indicted on 34 felony counts” and I think of the phrase, “prepping the battlefield”.
This case, then
the GA interference case, then
the false electors case, then
the Espionage Act case.
Nothing’s certain but the GOP’s about to have a bad rest-of-the-decade, methinks. Oh yeah, trump too…
Jeffro
@Elizabelle:
@Frankensteinbeck:
still terrifying that this utterly corrupt moron had the authority to send the whole of the U.S. Armed Forces into a war, ever.
Redshift
@Frankensteinbeck: Maybe, but his ghostwriter for his book, if I recall correctly, thought not getting involved in wars was one of the few actual beliefs he had. Probably just because it could make trouble for him personally and would require actual work, but still.
Sister Golden Bear
@HumboldtBlue:
Saving this for Young Jared’s indictment. “Hello Dad, I’m in Jail” — Was Not Was.
Sister Golden Bear
@Ten Bears: What is seen, cannot be unseen.
jackmac
@Baud:
Unlike Infrastructure Week, Arraignment Day actually delivered!
JPL
@UncleEbeneezer: Since he wanted to stop the payments after the election, it had nothing to do with Melania. He would have wanted to keep the payments to hide it from Melania.
Odie Hugh Manatee
@JoyceH:
Best wishes for your pupper and you in dealing with this!
Bill Arnold
@Roger Moore:
Does that mean that people who are aware that the Washington Post has a public database of 30573 lies that Trump told during his 4-year presidency will not be allowed to serve on the jury?
(That would be a fun question to ask during jury selection. :-) )
schrodingers_cat
What is the new goal post for the “he will never be indicted” crew?
bbleh
Aw well POOP! WaPo says “no mug shot was taken.”
“DISAPPOINTED!!”
japa21
@schrodingers_cat:
It will be moved thusly:
1. He will never be indicted of anything really serious.
2. Okay, but he’ll never be found guilty
3. Okay, but he’ll never see a day in jail.
4. Okay, but he won’t be executed.
Thus, justice will never really occur, and it will all be Merrick Garland’s fault.
Roger Moore
@Frankensteinbeck:
What’s ironic about Trump is that his desire to project strength is really a weakness. By focusing on what other people think about his actions rather than having some kind of concrete goal he’s trying to achieve, he makes himself subject to the whims of the people he’s trying to impress.
SiubhanDuinne
@Tom Levenson:
@The Kropenhagen Interpretation:
Schrödinger’s Defendant?
Redshift
Favorite joke from Colbert last night mocking the concern trolls:
Roger Moore
@japa21:
There may also be a “it happened too late, and justice delayed is justice denied” step in there.
Jeffro
@schrodingers_cat: I used to think it was, “When you’re charged by a
Democratblack guyNew Yorkerfor ‘process crimes‘NDAsconsensual stuffand you are awhitemaleRepublicannon-Demonrat” you have no one qualified to charge you, and since you’re in the in-group, it couldn’t happen and if it did, it didn’t count.So clearly it didn’t count, right?
Which is the discussion trumpov is having inside his own head right now, actually. LOL
lgerard
After trump gets convicted of a felony I wonder if Meatball Ron will lift a pudgy finger to restore his right to vote.
hueyplong
@lgerard: Probably not, because Trump won’t vote for DeSantis.
They’re all kind of transactional.
Elizabelle
@Redshift: I did love that.
And the audience was no fan of Trump. Colbert films in NYC.
Roger Moore
@lgerard:
IIRC, DeSantis doesn’t have to lift a finger. The law already grants felons who have served their sentences the right to vote, provided they pay all the fines, fees, etc. they’re assessed. They just refuse to provide any help figuring out what, if anything, people owe, so they’ll always be uncertain if they’re really in the clear. Fortunately for Trump, he’s being charged in another state, so he won’t have any money to pay in Florida, and I’m willing to bet New York will provide him with a nice, itemized bill of everything he owes.
HumboldtBlue
@Sister Golden Bear:
Perfect
Jackie
@Roger Moore: “If he somehow manages to lose the nomination, he’ll disappear pretty quickly.”
That didn’t happen after Biden’s Inauguration… if TFG loses the nomination, he and his MAGAts will be screaming the usual RIGGED and STOLEN.
Jackie
@Redshift: BUT, if TFG somehow gets re-elected he’s ready to bomb Mexico.
Brachiator
Trump is speaking in Florida and just rolling out the bullshit.
Suzanne
Is anyone else watching this utter blather? “This call was more perfect!” What the fuck, he’s such an idiot.
Jeffro
@Suzanne: I’m watching via the Post website, with the sound off but transcription(?) on…all the greatest hits here!
Best wishes, Don! You’re killing the GOP for yet another election cycle (not that you care) and for that, I thank you sincerely.
jackmac
Very fast unofficial count in Chicago with Vallas clinging to a 2,400-vote lead over Johnson with 82 percent counted.
bbleh
@Jeffro: can’t possibly watch because psychotic convulsions would ensue, but concur he’s damaging (most of *) the Republican brand with every word. ETTD.
* not the MTG / Gaetz / Gohmert / Gosar (hey what is it with the G’s?) part of it, but that’s the “new” Republicanism, which GOP Inc. long nurtured and used but can no longer control.
Brachiator
I love how Trump insists that he has a right to negotiate what documents he can sell back to the government.
He is delusional and cannot back down from his megalomania.
And the fawning dopes in the audience in Florida eat it up.
Jeffro
@bbleh: he’s basically admitted to “taking documents, and by taking them, they’re automatically declassified”
And he’s railing against Bragg and mentioning Bragg’s wife.
Among a gazillion other people – relatives of prosecutors and his political enemies – that he’s hoping some MAGA nut job will hurt
Suzanne
@Jeffro: The networks are turning away because he is B O R I N G.
rumpole
That image of him being treated like anyone else has to have inflicted massive narcissistic injury. He’s going to need a lot of rallies to heal that. And the more he talks… the worse it gets. His speech tonight is both bananas and low energy. The more he talks, the less likable he is.
Operation let him speak is in full swing. And he’s now opining on the “box hoax” and what he did AND what he told his lawyers. This is just prosecutorial gold. But one thing that’s coming through this: he’s a shit tier human, but he’s definitely competent to stand trial.
Definitely a good day.
Brachiator
@Jeffro:
Weird attempt at misdirection. The documents don’t become his property just because they have been declassified.
Also, I don’t know how a former president has any control or power over documents, or any ability to declassify anything.
And as always it’s crazy how Trump supporters will try to follow their Dear Leader’s pretzel logic in defending him.
Geminid
@rumpole: I watched a 52 second excerpt of Trump’s speech. He reminded me of Fred Boggs, Humphrey Bogart’s character in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.
bbleh
@Brachiator: IIRC this goes back to the silly idea that the president can declassify something merely by willing it so, rather than the declassification process being followed, and it overlooks the fact that some of the documents (really the information in them) cannot be declassified merely on the president’s order. And of course, it elides both the obstruction issue AND the Espionage Act, which because it predates the classification system by a generation doesn’t mention classification at all.
In other words, typical Trumpian BS, which his cultists will remember and repeat like religious dogma. But I don’t think Jack “Sure That’s His Real Name” Smith is a member of that church.
Tony G
@smith: Yup. The notion that Trump has ever given a damn about Melania — and that she has ever given a damn about him — is ludicrous. It was a business transaction. He got to show off a physically attractive younger woman, and she was hoping for a payout in the near future when he kicked the bucket.
NotMax
@Geminid
More (much more) reminiscent of Captain Queeg.
(And Bogart’s character’s surname is Dobbs, not Boggs.)
Geminid
@NotMax: That’s right. Fred C. Dobbs. Now I remember Tim Holt calling him “Dobbsie.”
Hitchhiker
They’re saying we won in Wisconsin! By like 5 points!
Holy hell, that’s great news.
James E Powell
@Elizabelle:
Staten Island, almost the whole NYPD.
sralloway
@MomSense: So wonderful. Such a great experience.