It’s Day 18 of the trial.
Is it still possible that the prosecution could rest as soon as today? Stay tuned!
Michael Cohen cross continues today!
Best sources of live blogging that I have found. It looks like some of them are only live blogging for the “big” witnesses, but I think the Michael Cohen cross qualifies as a big witness. Stormy Daniels had her Wednesday off last week, and she was able to come back and be even better as she handled the cross from the defense.
Hoping the defense didn’t use their Wednesday to improve their performance from Tuesday! Wondering if they are going to have Bove do the cross, which would not be as good for our side.
Josh Kovensky (TPM) live blogging
Mark Sumner (Daily Kos) live blogging
Tyler McBrien (Lawfare) on twitter
It’s a misty morning here at 100 Centre St for DAY 18 of Trump’s NY criminal trial.
This morning, Cohen is back on the stand.
I’ll be reporting it all alongside @AnnaBower for @lawfare.
Join me, won’t you? 🧵⚖️ pic.twitter.com/Xtur8tfBtd
— Tyler McBrien (@TylerMcBrien) May 16, 2024
Anna Bower (Lawfare) on twitter
Good morning from rainy New York City, where Donald Trump’s criminal trial is set to resume at 9:30 am ET.
On deck today? Trump’s attorney, Todd Blanche, is expected to continue his cross examination of Trump’s former “fixer,” Michael Cohen.
Follow along 👇 ⬇️ 👇 pic.twitter.com/dM1t9R8d7D
— Anna Bower (@AnnaBower) May 16, 2024
Adam Klasfeld on twitter.
Good morning from New York.
The first day of Michael Cohen’s cross-ex began with a reminder that he called Trump’s lead attorney Todd Blanche a “crying little s***.”
Outside the jury’s ear, the judge then scolded Blanche for “making this about yourself.”
Day Two ahead 🧵
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) May 16, 2024
Still loving this awesome image.
But I may need to find a new one for when the defense puts on their case.
Open thread.
Anonymous At Work
If you had asked me yesterday, what could happen with TFG that wasn’t a full blow-out on stage or a stroke, to make Cohen’s day of cross-examination the second biggest story about TFG…I would have never guessed “debates”.
Here’s to hoping that Day 2 is a repeat of Day 1 (Q: “Did you call my client a walking sack of shit?” A: “That sounds like something I would say.”)
Scout211
I enjoyed reading yesterday about that sidebar that Klasfeld highlighted in his tweet above. He chastised Blanche and Blanche tried to defend his line of questioning in cross but the judge told him it doesn’t matter what Cohen said about him, what matters is what Cohen said about the defendant. And also don’t make this about yourself. LOL.
IANAL but Blanche should know better, shouldn’t he?
Attempted Chemistry
“The defense calls President Donald J. Trump.”
Just trying to manifest reality here.
Didn’t I hear him say he couldn’t testify because of the gag order? What a maroon.
Scout211
The goon squad arrives.
ETA. Darn autocorrect made that good squad instead of goon squad.
ETA 2 (CNN)
bbleh
CNN sez, “The line of politicians trailing Trump was so long that it caused a backup into the aisle as court security officers tried to find them all seats.”
So my question is, how many of them are there by (implied) command? Like “Mr Trump says he would very much value a show of support at this stage of his very unfair trial.”
Seems to me that the whole thing is iffy enough that any self-respecting politician (I’m excluding the likes of Boebert and Gaetz here) would want to keep his/her distance, just in case it really implodes
ETA: ok, CNN has published the list, and they’re ALL like Boebert and Gaetz. But I was still a little surprised that Squeaker Johnson showed up.
WaterGirl
@Scout211: Did you mean good, or goon
edit: either you caught your typo and already fixed it, or my eyes are playing tricks on me this morning. hoping for the former!
Scout211
@WaterGirl: Fixed. I caught it, thanks.
WaterGirl
@bbleh: No question at all! This is intended as a power move by Trump. Whether it’s working for him as intended, I really can’t say.
opiejeanne
On Tuesday I watched an ex-prosecutor give notes on what the defense should be using to discredit Michael Cohen, in great detail. It was interesting, but I kept thinking, “why give them any ideas?”
Don’t think Blanche and Trump won’t hear her commentary, just because it’s on MSNBC.
Almost Retired
@Scout211: Yikes, he started with Senators in the gallery and now he has Boebert, Biggs and Gaetz? He’s working his way down the political food chain. Who’s next? Mark Levin and that bankrupt Gateway pundit guy?
TBone
@Scout211: I knew it. I said yesterday that they’d double down on this losing strategery of kissing that putrid, ample backside. The stochastic terrorism will flow freely as they perform stunts in the flaming clown circus. Judge Merchan could prosecute violation of his gag order after trial is over.
Attempted Chemistry
@Almost Retired: Mike Lindell and Alex Jones.
Anonymous At Work
@Scout211: Quick, I need 11 paper bags and access to the light switch.
TBone
@Almost Retired: catturd
oldgold
I suspect the cross will be better today. The defense had a full day to regroup for a second bite of the apple.
Unlike virtually everyone here, I really dislike the flow of the trial being interrupted every Wednesday.
LAO
@oldgold: Not to beat a dead horse but it’s not that I like the Wednesday off disruption of trial, I merely recognize that a midweek day off from trial is the norm in NY county.
ETA: Boy has the trial moved fast, even with the disruptions.
TBone
Perfect soundtrack for what I hear when any/all of these fucking flaming clowns bloviate:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=juYoIIhtj-o
Even better
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Iul3MWV58jg
SiubhanDuinne
@Scout211:
Fixed, in accordance with your autocorrect.
RandomMonster
According to the NBC trial blog, you may get your wish next week:
“Judge Merchan said that the court may need to meet again next Wednesday, due to “holidays and conflicts” that breaks up the schedule.”
TS
Mark Sumner Link
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/5/16/2240993/-Live-coverage-Michael-Cohen-faces-cross-examination-from-Trump-s-legal-team
@WaterGirl:
LAO
@RandomMonster: I expect this is because Judge M expects the jury to be in deliberations next week and it’s better not to have unnecessary disruptions during jury deliberations.
Geminid
@SiubhanDuinne: Bob No-Good is especially eager to show fealty to Trump. He faces a tough primary challenge, and his opponent keeps pounding Good for his endorsement of Ron DeSantis. The primary is June 25th.
O. Felix Culpa
@Scout211:
Impressive rogue’s gallery, for a certain value of impressive.
TBone
A good read if things get quiet/boring today (doubtful as that may be)
https://digbysblog.net/2024/05/16/its-the-loathsomeness-stupid/
Loathsome is a great word.
JoyceH
Yesterday the Trump Emotional Support Animal Republicans came tromping into the courtroom while the trial was in session. Visibly irked the judge and we must hope the jury as well.
Almost Retired
@O. Felix Culpa: Where’s Kristi Noem? She could sacrifice a goat in the parking lot to improve Trump’s chances.
TBone
@Almost Retired: 😆
Anonymous At Work
So far, and other attorneys correct me, it seems like Blanche is trying to impugn the District Attorney’s office by impugning prior staff WITHOUT actually calling the prior staff. So a lot of objections being sustained at Blanche’s expense, in front of the jury (making him look incompetent).
JMG
Many criminal trials hang on the testimony of convicted criminals talking about their misdeeds at the behalf of someone else. Cross-examination that focuses on the witness’s villainy often results in the jury asking itself “so what does that make the guy he was working for?”
TBone
@Anonymous At Work: his credibility went in the shitter when Judge Merchan flushed it while he was still straining.
Mr. Bemused Senior
Animal sacrifices are risky. See Terry Pratchett, Mort.
Gin & Tonic
@Almost Retired: This is Manhattan. There are no “parking lots.”
3Sice
@Scout211:
The Dung Beetle Caucus
LAO
@Gin & Tonic: Generally true, but there’s actually an outdoor lot a block from the courthouse on Centre St.
WaterGirl
@TS: Mark needs to set his alarm a little earlier on trial mornings. :-)
WaterGirl
@Almost Retired: She has already killed all the available goats, so probably not an option.
smith
I don’t know what the defense is hoping to gain by belaboring the point that Cohen hates the Defendant. The prosecution went through the reasons Cohen ended up feeling seduced and abandoned, so to speak, and his resulting animus would, I think, strike most people as both understandable and justified.
One thing I’d not heard before was the sudden reduction in his bonus by 2/3. That could only feel like a slap on the face, especially after Cohen had put his house on the line to pay off Daniels in time for the election. Cohen would surely have been aware at that time that Pecker was never paid back for the McDougal payoff, so he was taking a real risk by fronting the one to Daniels.
Jackie
@Scout211: Good grief! Too bad the Goon Squad wasn’t forced to sit in the “overflow room!” After Tues’ theatrics, I hope Merchan puts a stop to their outside of the courthouse sideshow! Them speaking on behalf of TIFG is a gag order violation!😡
Scout211
Lisa Rubin NBC analysis:
Anonymous At Work
@smith: Redirect gonna be interesting, if it’s needed. But right now, “You hate TFG so you called him X?” isn’t winning the jury.
Mousebumples
Looks like USSC upheld the CFPB on a 7-2 vote!
Belafon
@JoyceH: Someone said that the deliberately came in late to disrupt the flow of the case.
gene108
@Scout211:
I’ve never seen a former president have such a stranglehold on their party’s Congressional members. It’s another unprecedented distortion of politics by TFG and begins to creep into cult of personality territory (Trump would love to be the center of a cult of personality).
Scout211
IANAL, but that makes sense to me especially due to the fact that Defendant is all about name calling, lying and revenge plots 24/7 and the jury has to know this.
TS
@WaterGirl:
I’m finding the link in the side list of posts, rather than in the top news in the first instance – it’s centre front now, but wasn’t earlier
Scout211
narya
@Anonymous At Work: The thing is, IIUC, Cohen is essentially being used to substantiate the voluminous documentary evidence, rather than the other way around. None of these questions do anything to rebut the Cohen bank statement with Cohen’s and Weisselberg’s notes about repayment on it, and that is the heart of the whole thing. I’m not there, obvs, but this cross isn’t countering the documents.
Harrison Wesley
@Almost Retired: She could stand right outside and tell the press, “Dog? Yes. Goat? Yes. Juror? Not yet. “
The Thin Black Duke
Meanwhile, Boebert won’t even pay for her kid’s lawyer. Priorities, I guess.
O. Felix Culpa
@The Thin Black Duke:
Anybody’s kids can go astray, no matter how well and lovingly raised, but the Boeberts and Palins are exemplars of bad parenting.
Jackie
This is beyond parody! We can most likely depend on Dem House members ridiculing delaying House matters for this GQP debacle!
WaterGirl
@TS: I search for “mark sumner” and it brings up all his recent posts. When I check each morning, his isn’t up yet. I refresh the page when I’m done adding the rest of the links, his post still isn’t up ye
Then I put up the post, invariably have a few things to do once it goes up, and then I come back to the post maybe half an hour later, and he has finally put it up.
How dare he not conform to my schedule for convenience! :-)
montanareddog
@Almost Retired:
Good one! She could also bring an uncastrated billy goat into the courtroom – to
makemask the smell of the defendent.bbleh
@smith: @Scout211: @Anonymous At Work: I think it’s also somewhat telling that the defense is NOT trying to poke holes in Cohen’s FACTUAL testimony. Suggests to me that they’re hoping the jury (1) thinks Cohen’s factual testimony is crucial rather than just confirmatory &/or part of the picture, and the rest of the documentation and testimony is insufficient, AND (2) his motives and history are so suspect that his testimony leaves room for reasonable doubt.
Seems like a bit of a tall order to me, but IANAL
@narya: beat me to it.
smith
@narya: Problem is, with Weisselberg apparently not testifying, Cohen is the only one who can say that the Defendant saw and approved that document. I was under the impression that the Defendant saw invoices when he signed the checks, though, so he was aware they were being recorded as legal expenses.
O. Felix Culpa
@bbleh:
An alternative theory: TFG’s lawyers are incompetent or driven into incompetence by the demands of their demented client.
Gin & Tonic
@LAO: Yeah, I know, but poetic license and all.
bbleh
@O. Felix Culpa: lol I almost put in something about TIFG’s personal dislike of Cohen, but the lawyers could attack both. I don’t think they’re incompetent; I think this suggests they have concluded — reasonably from what I can tell — that the paper trail is too heavy, and trying to attack it would just call more attention to it.
zhena gogolia
I went to that NBC live blog and the first thing was Katy Tur with a defense-sympathetic comment. Not getting out of the boat.
Scout211
IANAL, but I pick door number two.
The cross appeals to Defendant but will it play with the jury?
Anonymous At Work
@Mousebumples: Also, the alternative ruling would have made Social Security immediately defunct. “Supreme Court rules Social Security is unconstitutional” would have been Day 1 headline. Day 2 headline would have been “Republicans now polling behind literal crotch rot in popularity.”
O. Felix Culpa
@zhena gogolia: I subscribed to TPM so I could read Josh Kovensky’s live blogging. Plus supporting quality non-MSM journalism.
Scout211
@zhena gogolia: Yeah, I saw the Tur byline and ignored the post.
montanareddog
@montanareddog: that should be mask the smell of the defendent, not make. Doh!
smith
I wonder what mileage Blanche is hoping to get by pounding on the “lie” Cohen told by pleading guilty to protect his wife. A lot of people would do that. Not the Defendant, of course, but a lot of normal people.
Scout211
schrodingers_cat
@Scout211: Republican Party is a criminal enterprise masquerading as a political party.
Mousebumples
@Anonymous At Work: or as the right wing /5th Circuit would say – 2 birds, 1 stone! (re if both CFPB and Social Security were deemed unconstitutional)
bbleh
@Scout211: lol I knew this would happen. I’m sure he ORDERED his lawyers to appeal. That gag order evidently has really gotten under his skin. (Or at least under the thick orange makeup.
@smith: I’d guess just to paint him as generally shifty and untrustworthy. He lies, then he lies about the lying, and now he’s lying about who knows what. But I concur a lot of people would sympathize with that one, which arguably undermines their purpose. And in any case, it doesn’t seem to be rattling him much, at least from the descriptions I’m reading.
Another Scott
Meanwhile, in Texas, … TheHill.com:
Gradually, and then suddenly…
Cheers,
Scott.
Anonymous At Work
@Another Scott: Probably missing “Voters disliked the direction that the Lege is taking but fully supported THEIR Lege members.” So typically the case in these articles: people don’t vote for the Legislature as a whole, just for their members. So polling the “Legislature” is pointless.
Honus
@SiubhanDuinne: my congressman, Rep. Goon, needs to be there because he is being challenged from the right in the primary by a nitwit named John McGuire. His campaign is mainly based on the allegation that Goon once contradicted or failed to faithfully obey TFG. According to his billboards McGuire’s qualifications for office are “Father, Navy Seal, Business Owner” I’m interested to see how many of his fellow seals show up to endorse him.
ETA see my neighbor Geminid beat me to it at #22. Although I think he fortunate enough to be in Abigail Spanberger’s Dist. 7
Anonymous At Work
@Mousebumples: 5th Circuit is that rabid. Its numbers are set by law (subject to change but GOP Senators would riot like it was January 6th if a Democratic trifecta tried to touch it). The Supreme Court can have however many (or few) Justices that the President and the Senate want. So, SCOTUS is more sensitive to political fallout, usually.
The Thin Black Duke
@Another Scott: Let’s see how Texans vote next time.
Baud
Justice Thomas of all people writes opinion uphold the CFPB funding.
Alito and Gorsuch prove themselves to be true Republicans.
ETA: now see that it’s been covered
Baud
@Anonymous At Work:
Fixed.
Baud
@Anonymous At Work:
No, both sets of numbers are set by law.
West of the Rockies
@Another Scott:
The article refers to the “booming economy” of Texas. So by RWNJ legislators denying climate, reproductive rights, and gun control, the economy is less booming? I found that a tad confusing.
Baud
@The Thin Black Duke:
Exactly. Dems still support civil rights.
Soprano2
@Mousebumples: That is excellent news! I thought they would eviscerate it.
Another Scott
@The Thin Black Duke: Sure, but things don’t change until they do. And they are changing in Texas.
270towin.com has graphs.
Cruz is worried (playing up his “bipartisan” cred, like in the FAA reauthorization).
We’ll see.
Cheers,
Scott.
TBone
@Baud: softening up us libs for the craptastic decisions to come…”see, we CAN be reasonable but hahahahaha check THIS out!”
catclub
Not loathesome? Loathe
Anonymous At Work
@Baud: Citation for 9 Supremes?
Baud
@TBone:
Yes. There will be plenty of awful decisions at the end of the month.
smith
@The Thin Black Duke: I saw a survey a couple weeks back that showed 80% of reproductive-age women in TX were unaware of the restrictions the anti-abortion laws there place on them. Hopefully, there will be more news about women victimized by these laws, and more women waking up to the danger the laws pose to them. Of course, they still have to make the connection between draconian laws and voting R.
TBone
@catclub:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/loathsome
I don’t make the rules
Baud
@Anonymous At Work:
Seriously?
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/28/1
Another Scott
@West of the Rockies: They (and other groups cited in the article) are playing up the real costs to the Texas GQP’s performative stunts. It shows that real people are realizing that things don’t have to be that way…
We’ll see.
Cheers,
Scott.
Soprano2
@gene108: I listened to “On Point” this morning because they were talking about the races in Arizona. They had a woman named Samara Klar on. She’s a professor in the school of Government and Public Policy at the University of Arizona. She opined that she couldn’t understand why so many Arizona Republicans aren’t appealing to the state’s many more moderate independent voters like John McCain did, to which I commented on FB something like “I understand it, they’re all mimicking their leader TFG because now that’s required to be a Republican candidate. They care more about that than they do appealing to their actual voters. How can you not know this?”
TBone
@Soprano2: 👍
Anonymous At Work
@Baud: Honestly surprised it is on the books. I’d think this was unconstitutional. Still, Democratic trifecta determines size/number of all courts.
Baud
@Anonymous At Work:
If we have enough Dem Senators willing to get rid of the filibuster. I’m not sure we will, even if we have a good November. Angus King alone is an independent who would likely not go along.
Geminid
@Honus: Rep. Ryan Zinke has endorsed McGuire, and I think there is another former SEAL in the Republican caucus who has also.
Freshman Rep. Jen Kiggans also endorsed McGuire. She’s retired Navy. I don’t think either Good or McGuire will lose in November, but Kiggans will have to work hard to be reelected. I hope the rancor in the 5th CD race spills over into the coastal 2nd.
Former Rep. Elaine Luria passed on a rematch with Kiggans, so it will be up to one of the two Demovrats contending in the primary to knock Kiggans out
Another Scott
@Anonymous At Work: ?
The US Code defines how the government does its business. It would be strange if the number of SCOTUS justices weren’t defined there.
To your larger point, being in the US Code rather than the Constitution does mean that it’s possible to change with 218/60( or 50+1)/1/5 (as Mayhew taught us) rather than an Amendment.
Cheers,
Scott.
Anonymous At Work
@Baud: King’s vote will depend on the decision in Trump v. The Law. Right now, the problem is the House and the Narcissistic Duo. Both are retiring.
And the filibuster is dead. Anytime either party has 50+1 votes and the need to kill it, the filibuster will be killed. There’s no defender to the idea that the filibuster is required by Ancient Hoary Tradition or the Constitution.
TBone
Here’s mud in yer eye, Lara
https://newrepublic.com/post/181564/lara-trump-rnc-voting-rights-arizona
Belafon
@West of the Rockies: Yes, the economy is doing well here, because the economy as a whole is. But we lost an electric vehicle company coming here because of Republican policies.
Republicans are setting up a repeat of the end of the oil boom when it took a bit for Texas to recover.
Quinerly
@WaterGirl: it needs to be a baby “mini” goat. Micro and mini goats are now quite popular in my neck of the woods.
(And they are so very cute. JoJo really wants one).
Harrison Wesley
And, unwilling to play second fiddle to the Lone Star State, Sir Puddinghands of the White Boots has just signed into law a truly impressive law denying climate change. It attacks off-shore wind power and uplifts the continuing quest to increase exploration for and more widespread use of fossil fuels. This in a state where the water temperature off Miami hit 100 degrees last year. Wokewokewokewoke quackquackquackquack……..
Belafon
@Baud: IIRC, the only two preventing us from overturning the filibuster were Manchin and Sinema. King was against it originally, but even he said that the way Republicans were refusing to govern required a change.
catclub
@West of the Rockies: Texas is the top state for wind power, but I bet they have more land that could be put to use. Telling the wind power companies to go elsewhere does not seem wise.
catclub
@Harrison Wesley:
Interestingly, Florida has a MUCH more restrictive law limiting offshore – but within sight of the beach – oil wells, than all the other gulf states. I wonder if that has been changed.
Uncle Cosmo
With Orangecandyass as God-Emperor of Dung.
TBone
PSA: award-winning Sidney Poitier & Burt Lancaster movie about Equal Protection on TCM tomorrow night 8pm
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separate_but_Equal_(film)
p.a.
Did Campground Clarence’s opinion contain a Trojan Horse to allow a future, “better” challenge do more widespread damage?
Miss Bianca
@Mousebumples: so, without downloading a bunch of docs onto my phone, can anyone of you enlightened coves remind me what the CFPB is?
TBone
@Miss Bianca: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, care of Liz Warren
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Miss Bianca: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The thing Elizabeth Warren advocated for.
Scout211
Interesting, from Lisa Rubin, NBC:
wjca
Suppose the number of Circuits got increased. (The 9th Circuit, for one, is way too big.) As part of that, perhaps some of the rabidly reactionary circuits could be split up. Leaving the opportunity to create two, more moderate Circuits. Don’t know how feasible that would be, but interesting to contemplate.
Scout211
Because of the holiday coming up, the judge suggested that court would be in session next Wednesday. Many of the jurors said they could not be there so no court next Wednesday.
ETA: typos
rikyrah
Tim Wise (@timjacobwise) posted at 2:42 PM on Wed, May 15, 2024:
Rich white guys say the election isn’t really a big deal for them, and think that’s a flex, rather than a tell. Assholes
Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Maher Agree Trump Win Won’t Affect Them https://t.co/3V9oSHuPut via @thedailybeast
(https://x.com/timjacobwise/status/1790830204329288111?t=2LcPbYh87t6yKu7nwFOYXg&s=03)
Almost Retired
@Scout211: Ah, but MSNBC has former Trump impeachment attorney Robert Ray on the panel to tell the other legal analysts that they are wrong and the cross has been devastating. You can trust him.
Harrison Wesley
@catclub: Native Floridians can answer that better than I can, but I think that all elected Republicans along the Gulf Coast are aware of how their voters would react to a nice big oil spill washing up on the beaches where they live.
O. Felix Culpa
@Scout211:
So, as previously discussed, TFG’s lawyers are either incompetent or incompetently directed by their demented client. I’m inclined to go with the latter, but por que no los dos?
Miss Bianca
@TBone:
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Ah, thanks, That’s what I thought, but wasn’t sure.
rikyrah
Decoding Fox News (@DecodingFoxNews) posted at 4:05 PM on Wed, May 15, 2024:
Eric Shawn, a journalist with the legitimate news team at Fox, plainly explains that Michael Cohen’s testimony tied Donald J. Trump directly to the alleged illegal scheme to falsify business records and hide his affair with Stormy Daniels. https://t.co/Pgar8Go8IB
(https://x.com/DecodingFoxNews/status/1790850895690805542?t=1eO7n8vSpR_0CmNcYWNiyg&s=03)
rikyrah
Ricky Davila (@TheRickyDavila) posted at 9:19 PM on Wed, May 15, 2024:
Of course Mitt Romney would say that if he had the power to pardon that he’d immediately issue one for the orange traitor, I wouldn’t expect anything less from the wishy washy flip flopper who begged him for a job. He never fails to show us what he really is.
(https://x.com/TheRickyDavila/status/1790930028148219984?t=OIsmxouVEknJa-wqeyq3yw&s=03)
O. Felix Culpa
@rikyrah: The sad thing is, they’re probably right. Rich white male privilege tends to retain its privileges. (Which doesn’t mean that these guys aren’t assholes.)
rikyrah
Jennifer Truth Over Phony Balance Rubin![]()
![]()
(@JRubinBlogger) posted at 11:27 AM on Wed, May 15, 2024:
The topic of Trump’s emotional and mental health should not be ignored. When responsible media outlets do not consult experts on the topic, display portions of his blather to illustrate his incoherence or put his abnormal conduct in context, they wind up normalizing him. That…
(https://x.com/JRubinBlogger/status/1790781020905652257?t=HC-bVkGaqNsbfCdqis0pmA&s=03)
rikyrah
Phuck Outta Here
Mediaite (@Mediaite) posted at 6:21 AM on Thu, May 16, 2024:
Mitt Romney Says Biden Should Have ‘Immediately Pardoned’ Trump https://t.co/zeW58OpZzx
(https://x.com/Mediaite/status/1791066460933984324?t=tmtaZCti6b8HG8eHjXZ5Bg&s=03)
wjca
Here’s hoping that, if it has changed, someone starts drilling right in front of Mar a Lago. Which would really get TIFG’s
knickersdaiper in a twist — he went to such lengths, in the UK, to protect views from his golf course IIRC.O. Felix Culpa
@rikyrah: Rich white male privilege
inactionshowing its full ass again, as per #120.Edited.
rikyrah
A leave payment on the nightstand HO
Greg Sargent (@GregTSargent) posted at 5:30 AM on Thu, May 16, 2024: News –> Clarence Thomas still won’t clarify whether he repaid the principal on a $260,000 loan from a rich friend that he used to buy his RV, Sens Wyden and Whitehouse say. If loan was forgiven, they argue, it should have been reported as taxable income: https://t.co/wnxbO5GAH0 (https://x.com/GregTSargent/status/1791053504942907840?t=mYd06qU-fl5cPX12cldjAQ&s=03)
wjca
Critically, it regulates payday lenders (among others). And they really, really hate it. Hence the case.
TBone
Josh Kovensky TPM
rikyrah
uh huh
uh huh
Lindy Li (@lindyli) posted at 8:03 PM on Wed, May 15, 2024:
Never forget that Chris Christie told Trump to attack Biden’s dead son to get him to stutter
Never forget Trump was a Covid biological weapon & risked Biden’s life
Never forget he told his Proud Boy thugs to stand back & stand by
Biden will be debating not a person but a BEAST
(https://x.com/lindyli/status/1790910993528205625?t=3nZNG4AI4sBL0ZEgCUkhJg&s=03)
smith
Moot point, really, since those waterfront properties will be underwater sooner or later, probably sooner. Thanks, climate change! (Which clearly doesn’t exist)
Scout211
@TBone: NBC says Clark is not sitting in the area with all the Trump supporters so that adds some mystery to his appearance. I’m here but not totally here?
Melancholy Jaques
@LAO:
Can you estimate how long this trial would have taken if the defendant were an ordinary, average corrupt businessperson instead of a former president with a huge following in the media?
John S.
Totally off topic, but the documentary that just came out about Christian Nationalism is excellent.
Bad Faith
It includes quite a bit of commentary from Dr. William Barber II, who is excellent as always. I can listen to that man talk for hours.
Jeffro
related: there are now 2 probably unexpected early votes for NoGood’s opponent already banked…I’m trying to get Fro Jr to stop by the polls when he has time. =)
first McGuire mailer showed up in my mailbox yesterday too
as always, just rooting for GOP injuries here in the 5th!
PS: did you see the article about the GOP’s “political tilt-a-whirl” in the WaPo today? LOL
Brachiator
@bbleh:
There is no such thing as a self-respecting Republican politician.
I don’t understand why anyone would expect the GOP leadership to distance themselves from Trump. Speaker Johnson is a true believer.
The Republicans will ride or die with Trump. They are all in.
TBone
@Scout211: he doesn’t rate with Orange Turd because he failed. And was the subject of much mockery and ridicule. Remember “We’ll call you if there’s an oil spill” at J6 Committee? My guess is he wants a Project 2025 reinstatement.
LAO
@Melancholy Jaques: The only big difference I can see in your scenario is that jury selection would have probably only taken 1 day.
TBone
@John S.: posted that yesterday (or meant to?) but no one noticed. Thank you for bringing it up again!
smith
Blanche seems to be really stretching the definition of the word “lie.” Apparently, it includes, “changed your mind,” “considered but decided against,” and “something I imagine you thought at the time.”
It’s the kind of warping of events that GQP demagogues use all the time, and I guess it works with the Goobers, but I bet the noral people on the jury won’t buy it.
Anonymous At Work
@wjca: Less new Circuits and more rebalancing the Circuits based on usage. If California gets as many cases as the 7th Circuit, make California its own Circuit.
Also, more judges and justices PER Circuit. I detest with intensity the phrase “judicial economy” as a reason to bounce cases. Judges use that made-up phrase to cover for lack of political support. Sometimes it also means, “We made complicated tests to protect business interests or rich people with good lawyers, but now applying the tests takes far too long.”
Melancholy Jaques
@Anonymous At Work:
Or conversely, in the FTFNYT, “Voters in this Ohio diner still love Trump” and an Op-Ed “How Biden’s blunders and refusal to compromise doomed Social Security.”
TBone
@smith: good eye
Jackie
Gaetz is kissing TIFG’s ass:
cmorenc
@Anonymous At Work: Many legislators who push legislation and positions heinously toxic to their constituents are in person, the kind of agreeably friendly, considerate and helpful people in person of the sort you’d be glad to have as your next-door neighbor, if only you didn’t know about their politics. Prime example is the late Jesse Helms, former senator from North Carolina. Finest gentleman in person you ever met if you didn’t know about his heinously racist, regressive politics.
TBone
Josh at TPM
🎶
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SrlhLaNClgw
Jackie
Heh
smith
@cmorenc: I don’t pal around with MAGAs, but people who live among them, or are unfortunate enouh to be related to them, also often describe them as friendly, helpful, pleasant people. They’re just deeply racist, misogynistic, homophobic, etc. In other words, they’re nice people but they are not good people.
TBone
@Jackie: 😆💋
Brachiator
@Scout211:
This is a preview of what we will see from Trump if he wins in November. A Reign of Error.
Almost Retired
Are there something like three hospitals and a fire station on the same block as the courthouse? It’s not as if Los Angeles is a quiet oasis of serene contemplation, but the number of sirens outside the court interrupting the correspondents is astounding.
rikyrah
@wjca:
I am all for this kind of Court Reform. We need at least two more, I’d prefer 4 more Circuits.
TBone
@Jackie: his forehead will arrive before he does. Advance guard 😆
cmorenc
@smith: Yep – i was observing from experience with my relatives – and yep I once did meet jesse helms in person in Raleigh (or i should say more accuratelly, he gregariously met me.) Helms was a successful politician not merely bc of his race-baiting skills.
Eolirin
@Baud: On court expansion, probably not, but he’s on the record as a yes on voting rights legislation and possibly abortion protections, and if the court overturned those, it’s possible he could be persuaded to vote to expand the SCOTUS to fix that.
But we gotta win first.
geg6
@Jackie:
Everyone (see MSM) told me this guy was a real shark of a lawyer and he would take Cohen apart easily.
I’m not seeing it, myself.
WaterGirl
@Quinerly: Does JoJo want one as a buddy, or for dinner? :-)
geg6
@smith:
I am surrounded by those assholes and I’m here to tell you that, if they were nice and helpful people, I have yet to have noticed that. In fact, in my experience they are just the opposite. And this is well before you start talking politics with them.
Omnes Omnibus
@WaterGirl: Yes.
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
@TBone:
I’ve seen that. Richard Kiley as Earl Warren steals the film.
Michael Bersin
@cmorenc:
Bingo.
For near twenty years I’ve had a number of somewhat confrontational internets interactions with a right wingnut politician. Yet, on the occasions when we happen upon each other in person it’s all quite polite.
That is not always the case for others with this particular politician.
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: But I thought friends don’t eat friends for dinner! :-)
edit: I guess that would make for a very short-term friendship.
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
@rikyrah:
Not surprising. The author of “Let Detroit go bankrupt” and “Corporations are people, my friend”, Romney infamously said he would have pardoned bin Laden:
Mittens has always had a political tin ear (and a dancing horse).
Misterpuff
@Attempted Chemistry: Diamond and Silk.
JPL
LAO Is this going as bad as I fear?
LAO
@JPL: I’m not sure. The answer to your question will be clear during summations.
JPL
@LAO: Thanks!
oldgold
To be crossed on Tuesday afternoon, Thursday and Monday, a span of 7 days, is ridiculous.
Next week it looks like the Court will be in session only 2 1/2 days – Monday, Tuesday and Thursday morning.
Try the damn case.
oldgold
Judge Merchan: ” Please be prepared to begin summations [Closing arguments] on Thursday. I will make every effort to get both summations done in one day. If that means working early, working late…”
This is more like it!
LAO
@JPL: I’ve kind of rethought my answer. I don’t think it went that terrible for the prosecution. Cohen is a very flawed witness because he’s a flawed human being, he was always going to be beat up by the defense. I think the State has done a pretty good job of inoculating its case against Cohen’s eventual cross examination.
JPL
@LAO: phew