Catch me up, please!
This post is in: Open Threads, Politics, Trump Indictments
This post is in: Open Threads, Politics, Trump Indictments
I had hoped Mark Summer at Daily Kos would be live blogging again – he did a terrific job for the first two days. Summer is not up with live coverage yet, but it looks like someone else at Daily Kos is stepping up until Mark Summer gets going.
Here’s the Washington Post live blog of the trial.
Anyone else have a good source for live blogging this?
The dismissal of a juror Thursday morning underscored the difficult balancing act New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan faces in trying to keep the jury pool’s identities secret.
Merchan had said before trial that potential jurors’ names would not be publicly disclosed. Prosecutors and defense attorneys could have the names, he said, but could not share them. Instead, jurors would be identified publicly by numbers.
As far as juror identities go, I can’t figure out why they are sharing so much information about the jurors, and now it looks like potential jurors are dropping fast, with 2 of the 7 from yesterday already dismissed today.
I wonder – could the state just go with a bench trial if it’s determined that a jury is just not possible because of potential theats? NO!
Open thread.
This post is in: Open Threads, Politics, Trump Indictments
The calm before the storm.
That’s how the last couple of days have felt like to me. In spite of the Arizona ruling. In spite of Donnie’s repeated attempt to halt the trial that starts on Monday.
I am reminded of the few days before US troops marched into Baghdad. I thought it was a huge mistake, and I felt a terrible sense of dread. That’s how I feel about Ukraine with every day that passes without a bill to support Ukraine. Now, as then, I had no control over what happened; I could only wait to see how it would play out.
Maybe it’s just me. Is anyone else feeling that way?
Trump knows how serious the NY criminal election influence case is
He’s panicking
I laid out the stakes in my book #TryingTrump 👉 https://t.co/K2Ph50eiMd
& I discussed @CNN @thelauracoates pic.twitter.com/18fviECFZx
— Norm Eisen (#TryingTrump out now!) (@NormEisen) April 11, 2024
This is a good summary from Joyce Vance.
“Trump looks increasingly desperate to keep this case from going to trial…but what’s seems clear over the last few days is that the courts are on to what’s going on.”
— @JoyceWhiteVance on the ways Trump could try and delay the NY hush money trial https://t.co/4IWj517vxW pic.twitter.com/wo55pOxZUf
— Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) April 10, 2024
What Freedom Will You Lose Next?
NEW AD: Millions of women lost their freedoms because of Donald Trump.
If Trump gets back in power, what freedom will you lose next? pic.twitter.com/F8g37Yiwhd
— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) April 11, 2024
Totally loving the irreverence of the Biden campaign:
— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) April 11, 2024
Sorry to be all over the map. Strange times.
Open thread.
This post is in: Open Threads, Politics, Trump Indictments
Not being a big city person, I never thought I would say this. But I 💕 New York!
Letitia James isn’t letting Trump off the hook that easily. By ensuring the financial stability of the company behind his $175M bond, she’s essentially saying, “No funny business on our watch!” It’s like she’s playing chess while Trump’s stuck playing checkers. Checkmate, indeed.…
— My reflections and Introspections (@Nto79549105) April 4, 2024
Letitia James isn’t letting Trump off the hook that easily. By ensuring the financial stability of the company behind his $175M bond, she’s essentially saying, “No funny business on our watch!” It’s like she’s playing chess while Trump’s stuck playing checkers. Checkmate, indeed.…
Will Donnie understand, some day, what it means to be held accountable? Hoping the answer is yes!
Open thread.
Something I Never Thought I’d Say: I Love New York (Open Thread)Post + Comments (166)
by Betty Cracker| 199 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads, Trump Crime Cartel, Trump Indictments
We talked about this a little in the overnight thread, but it deserves its own post: DOJ prosecutor Jack Smith submitted a filing last night that indicates he’s had enough of Judge Aileen Cannon’s foot-dragging bullshit. Here’s a PDF of the filing. An excerpt of TPM’s analysis below:
In a new filing that bluntly confronts U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, Special Counsel Jack Smith takes a new tone of incredulousness and disdain for her mishandling of the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case.
The issue at hand is her failure to have yet ruled on Donald Trump’s motion to dismiss based on his inane, unprecedented, and counterfactual reading of the Presidential Records Act. Instead of rejecting the argument out of hand, Cannon not only is entertaining it but ordered the two sides to propose jury instructions based on two different deeply flawed interpretations of the PRA…
Smith ripped her interpretations of the PRA: “both of the Court’s scenarios are fundamentally flawed and any jury instructions that reflect those scenarios would be error.” He said her “legal premise is wrong” and her requested jury instructions “would distort the trial.”
Smith all but threatened to take Cannon up on appeal, urging her to rule promptly and not wait until a jury has been seated and thereby deprive the government of the opportunity to appeal. At this point, Smith would prefer an adverse ruling to no ruling at all: “Whatever the Court decides, it must resolve these crucial threshold legal questions promptly. The failure to do so would improperly jeopardize the Government’s right to a fair trial.”
I’m not a lawyer, but Cannon’s delay on the PRA-based motion to dismiss and demand for juror instructions seems like putting the cart before the horse. Since she’s moving with the blazing speed of a three-legged turtle, Cannon hasn’t even set a trial date, so jury instructions aren’t urgent. But by delaying the ruling, she deprives Smith of the opportunity to ask appeals court judges to explain how the PRA works to her.
Maybe it’s a risky move on Smith’s part, challenging Cannon like that — he all but called her a dumb poopy-head. But I don’t think he had any choice.
Open thread.
This post is in: Open Threads, Politics, Trump Indictments
Trump needs a new hat this time around. Instead of MAGA, the new acronym should be BID – Burn It Down.
This is the guy whose attorneys suggest the same timeframe for two different cases, thus creating a conflict, and then plays the victim and calls for delay of both trials because of the conflict. This is the guy who baits Judge Engoron, repeatedly, in order. to throw him off his game and get him to do something that can be used on appeal. And then plays the victim because the judge is mean because Trump was found guilt
This week, he’s the guy who attacks Judge Merchan’s daughter, trying to create an impossible situation, then plays the victim because he’s running for president. There’s nothing about running for president that requires you to be able to attack judges, juries, prosecutors, family members.
This is one giant game of chicken, and it’s time for Trump to crash and burn.
The only way Trump will stop this shit is if his bail is revoked. And of course, he thinks he wants that, too, because he gets to play the victim.
To normal people, someone playing the victim is both unattractive and unappealing. What is wrong with these people who look at Trump and think he’s strong?
Just a few sentences in, I have changed my mind. Forgot Burn in Down. Let’s go with Always The Victim. ATV.
It seems that the judges are ready to say “I’ve seen enough”. Judge Merchan’s ruling on Monday.
One day following the issuance of said Order, Defendant made several extrajudicial statements attacking a family membcr of this court. Contrary to the position Defcndant took in his opposition to the People’s February 22,2024 motion for an order restricting extrajudicial statements, i.e. that his statements “plainly constitute core political speech on matters of great public concern and criticism of major public figures,” Defendant’s opposition to 2/22i24, pgs. 8-9, this pattern of attacking family members of presiding jurists and attorneys assigned to his cases serves no legitimate purpose. It merely injects fear in those assigned or called to participate in the proceedings, that not only they, but tbeir family members as well, are “fair game” for Defendant’s vitriol.
Thc conventional ‘David vs. (Goliath’ roles are no longer in play as demonstrated bv the singular power Defendant’s words have on countless others. Threats to the integrity of the judicial proceedings are no longer limited to the swaying of minds but on the willingness of individuals, both private and public, to perform their lawful duty before this Court. This is evidenced by the People’s representation that “multiple potential witnesses have already expressed grave concerns about their own safety and that of their family members should they appear as witnesses against defendant.” People’s 3/28/24 * Letter.
It is no longer just a mere possibility or a reasonable likelihood that there exists a thread to thc integrity of the judicial proceedings. ‘I’he threat is verv real. Admonitions are not enough, nor is reliance on self-restraint. The average observer, must now, after hearing l)efendant’s recent attacks, draw the conclusion that if they bccome involvcd in thcse proceedings, cvcn tangentially, they should worry not only for themselves, but for their loved ones as well. Such concerns will undoubtedly interfere with the fair administration of justice and constitutes a direct attack on the Rule of Law itself. Again, all citizens, called upon to participate in these proceedings, whether as a juror, a witness, or in some othet capacity, must now concern themselves not only with their own personal safety, but with the safety and the potential for personal attacks upon their loved ones. ‘I’hat reality cannot be overstated.
The Washington Post article (gift link) documents his many threats to judges, and also his repeated attempts to force judges to recuse themselves from the case. If you’re female, you can’t oversee any case that impacts women. If you’re Latino, you can’t oversee a Trump case because he wants to build the wall at the border. He’s the most disgusting, racist, evil person – and the biggest threat to our way of life.
Legal experts and judges are voicing alarm about Trump’s comments on judges, cases and defendants prosecuted in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, whom the former president has sought to glorify as “hostages.”
“The theme for Trump since the start of all of this has been there are two different games: one is political and one is courtroom and he’s constantly playing one rather than the other,” said Kenneth White, a former federal prosecutor in California who specializes in free speech issues. “It’s all part of a strategy which is sort of delegitimizing the entire system, delegitimizing the court system, and any judge who purports to rule on him.”
138 attacks on judges and family members!
A Washington Post analysis of Trump’s social media posts since the start of his campaign in late 2022 showed that he has gone after judges or their family members by name 138 times. The weeks of March 24 and March 17, respectively, included the second- and fourth-highest number of posts attacking judges overall. Trump criticized judges most frequently during the week of Jan. 7, with 14 individual attacks, nearly all targeted at Engoron.
Trump’s attacks also come amid growing concerns about the safety of federal judges. You think?
Trump’s attacks also come amid growing concerns about the safety of federal judges. A Reuters analysis found that threats against federal judges have more than doubled since late 2020, when Trump significantly increased his criticism of the judiciary.
Time for Trump to be the big loser in his game of chicken. Lock him up.
Trump Has Gone Way Too Far, and He Needs to be StoppedPost + Comments (234)
by WaterGirl| 80 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads, Politics, Trump Indictments
If you were asked to paint a picture of Trump in a single sentence, it seems like this would be a pretty good one.
Antichrist update: He’s selling Bibles during Holy Week to cover his bills while manipulating the stock market with a pump and dump IPO and attacking the daughter of a judge with a story he fabricated.
— Jack E. Smith ⚖️ (@7Veritas4) March 29, 2024
Is this too many words for a tombstone (when the time comes)? I think the only change we’d need to make would be to change “he’s selling” to “he sold”.
He’s selling Bibles during Holy Week to cover his bills while manipulating the stock market with a pump and dump IPO and attacking the daughter of a judge with a story he fabricated.
Feel free to submit your own one-sentence summary in the comments.
How long can community notes last on twitter if they are going to disrupt things by pointing out the truth?
Nancy Mace getting absolutely crushed by community notes 🤣 pic.twitter.com/b6xVdrk92I
— Wu Tang is for the Children (@WUTangKids) March 28, 2024
This is the only line I’ve seen from Biden’s Big Event last night, but I already know it’s my favorite.
.@JoeBiden at the NY fundraiser:
Harry Truman said if you want a friend in Washington, get a dog. I got one and it bit a secret service agent.
— Nandita Bose (@nanditab1) March 29, 2024
.
Senior Judge Reggie Walton: “We do these jobs because we’re committed to the rule of law & we believe in the rule of law & the rule of law can only function effectively when we have judges who are prepared to carry out their duties without the threat of potential physical harm.” pic.twitter.com/V1GC7LVD2g
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) March 29, 2024
CNN interview with Judge Reggie Walton.
(Media-ite) interview excerpts
Collins asked senior United States district Judge Reggie Walton why he decided to speak out.
“I think it’s important that, as judges, we speak out and say things in reference to things that conceivably are going to impact on the process, because if we don’t have a viable court system that’s able to function efficiently, then we have tyranny,” Walton said. “And I don’t think that would be good for the future of our country or the future of democracy in our country.”
COLLINS: What do you make of how the judge here, Judge Juan Merchan, didn’t include himself or his family in the gag order?
JUDGE WALTON: Yeah, I understand why he wouldn’t do that. I mean, again, I think we cannot make ourselves a part of the case. I mean, obviously, we are a part of the case because we’re presiding over the proceeding, but we can’t make the case and the issue about us. And that can be very difficult, but it comes with the territory.
COLLINS: You’re someone who has always been really straightforward in your assessment of the former president. If you read your comments when you’re sentencing people, when you’re in these cases, you once referred to him as a “charlatan” at the sentencing of a January 6 defendant. I know you’ve gotten a lot of those cases before you. You’ve said that you don’t think he cares about democracy, only power. That you once seemed to suggest you didn’t, you weren’t sure he’d accept defeat if he lost in this election. Do you still feel that way tonight?
JUDGE WALTON: I’d rather not comment on that. I mean, I’ve made those, you know, the comments I made in the context of the sentences I imposed because I’m hoping that what I say to the individuals who I’m sentencing will resonate with them and cause them to rethink the activity that they engaged in that brought them before the court, and hopefully deter them from engaging in further conduct of that nature in the future.
COLLINS: Have you been on the receiving end of more threats since you’ve had the January 6 defendants in your court?
JUDGE WALTON: Yes, I’ve had more threats than what used to be the case. Yes, I have received a greater number of threats as a result of that incident and the fact that cases arising out of that incident have appeared before me. I mean, it was rare. I’ve been a judge for over 40 years, and this is a new phenomenon. I’m not saying that it didn’t happen before, but it was very rare that I would ever receive any type of a threat, regardless of what type of cases I was handling. And unfortunately, that is no longer the case. I know the marshals service has seen a significant increase in the number of threats against judges, and I think, obviously, that’s very, very, very concerning.
Open thread.