Below is my column at Fox.com on the sentencing of President-Elect Donald Trump. The conviction should be overturned on appeal. However, the most lasting judgment will be against the New York court system itself in allowing this travesty of justice to occur.
Here is the column:
With the sentencing of Donald Trump Friday, the final verdict on the New York criminal trial of the president-elect is in. The verdict is not the one that led to no jail or probation for the incoming president. Acting Justice Juan Merchan has brought down the gavel on the New York legal system as a whole.
Once considered the premier legal system in the country, figures like New York Attorney General Letitia James, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Justices Arthur F. Engoron and Juan Merchan have caused the system to be weaponized for political purposes. Trump will walk away from this trial and into the White House in less than two weeks, but the New York system will walk into infamy after this day.
The case has long been denounced by objective legal observers, including intense Trump critics, as a legal absurdity. Even CNN’s senior legal analyst Elie Honig denounced the case as legally flawed and unprecedented while Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., simply called it total “b—s–t.”
It is a case based on a non-crime. Bragg took a long-dead misdemeanor and zapped it back into life with a novel and unfounded theory. By using federal violations that were never charged, let alone tried, Bragg turned a misdemeanor into dozens of felonies and essentially tried Trump for federal offenses.
Merchan not only allowed those charges to be brought to trial but then added layers of reversible errors in the effort to bag Trump at any cost. For that, he was lionized by the liberal media and many New Yorkers. However, Trump still managed to pull in 3.6 million New York votes, or 42.7%, in the 2024 election. After all of the lawfare and every advantage (including a heavily biased media and a larger war chest), Vice President Kamala Harris lost hundreds of thousands of votes in 2024 in comparison to Joe Biden just four years earlier.
Many polls showed that the public saw the Manhattan criminal case for what it was: raw lawfare targeting a leading political opponent. The election itself felt like the largest verdict in history as citizens rejected the political, legal, and media establishments in one of our nation’s most historic elections.
The New York court system will now have a chance to redeem itself but few are holding their breath. The appellate court has still not ruled on an appeal of Attorney General Lettia James’s equally absurd civil lawsuit against Trump. Despite judges expressing skepticism over Engoron’s use of a law to impose a grotesque $455 million in fines and interest, we are still waiting for a decision.
Most are waiting for this criminal case to escape the vortex of the New York court system. With this appeal, this peddler’s wagon of reversible errors will finally pull up in front of the Supreme Court itself.
With its ruling on Thursday night, the setting for a decision could not be better for Trump. The Supreme Court has again demonstrated that it has shown restraint and independence in these cases. In response to the ruling, Trump struck the perfect note Thursday night and declined to criticize the Court, stating that “This is a long way from finished and I respect the court’s opinion.”
The ultimate penalty on Friday morning from Judge Merchan reflects the lack of seriousness in the case. It was more inflated than the Goodyear blimp, pumped up by hot rage and rhetoric. The sentence was the pinprick that showed the massive void within this case.
The verdict is in. The New York legal system has rendered it against itself.
Jonathan: And now to the raging wildfires in Pacific Palisades, Altadena and other areas. We have always had wildfires. But in the past they could be contained and put put out in relatively short order. Now we are facing 21st century fires made more intense and more far reaching due to climate warming. These wildfires were directly caused by two things: Up to 100 mph winds that drove the fires and the continuing drought that have made southern California a tinder box. No amount of planning could have prepared us for this tsunami. Local resources to fight the fires were simply overwhelmed.
One thing is certain. The climate change induced fires we are experiencing have nothing to do with the liberal politics of the state. But if you listen to DJT he paints a different picture: “Fire is spreading rapidly for 3 days–ZERO CONTAINMENT. Nobody has ever seen such failed numbers before! Gross incompetence by Gavin Newscum and Karen Bass (Mayor of LA)…and Biden’s FEMA has no money [not true]–all wasted on the Green New Scam! LA is a total wipeout!!! [not true] It’s ashes, and Gavin Newscum should resign. This is his fault!!!”.
For DJT it’s all about the blame game. He has no sympathy for the residents of California who voted against him. How different was his response to Hurricane Helene. He didn’t complain about the way Gov. DeSantis handled that devastating hurricane. That’s because the Governor is all the way MAGA and Fl went overwhelmingly for DJT in the election. In contrast Biden provided all the assistance DeSantis requested. Biden didn’t play politics with that disaster.
So DJT is using the wildfires in southern CA to settle political scores. A President is supposed to represent and protect ALL the people–not just those who voted for him. But for this narcissistic fool it’s all about vengeance and retribution. After Jan. 20 can the residents of Pacific Palisades and Altadena expect the same level of resources to clean up and rebuild that Joe Biden has promised. With DJT’s track record I’m not optimistic.
These wildfires were directly caused by two things: 1) Incompetent Democrat governance and 2) Gavin Newscum’s incompetence.
Democrats do NOT get a Get Out of Jail Free card by blaming their own criminal negligence on Climate Change.
You’re finished, Democrat Party. Stick a fork in it.
You are sick.
How do you look in the mirror? Disgusting.
I look in the mirror and say THANK GOD I escaped from the brainwashed/brain dead Democrat Party cult.
Ad Hominem is not argument. If the poster is wrong – correct their errors.
FACTS do not care about your feelings. The world was not designed to conform to your wishes of values.
Some things work, some don’t. You can not force the world to work the way your feelings wish it would.
When fire hydrants do not have water – that is not climate change. When poor government policies prohibited the harvesting of forests to reduce the fuel load, as well as ocasional clear cuts to stop the spread when nature – or power lines start forest fires – that is not climate change.
When the state and municipalities have mismanaged their water supply so that the do not have what they need to fight fires – that is not climate change.
Critical thinking is not “disgusting” – but the consequences of failure to think critically are often immoral.
There has been billions of dollars of damage done by the incompetence of the left.
By delusional ideas of nature, of the environment and of climate.
Fred Ruder wrote: Remember when Alan Dershowitz told the world that having sex in the Oval office with a woman who was past the age of consent was not illegal and not a reason for him to be impeached? Democrats ‘loved’ Dershowitz! Today, he’s said that the articles of impeachment against Trump were not valid. Dems don’t like him any more…why? In both cases, he followed the Constitution in both cases and Jonathan Turley does the same! Someone wrote in, “You are sick.” referring to Turley’s article on the NY legal system. 99% sure it’s a Democrat, sadly.
Your tears nourish me. However, you might consider using your tears to extinguish the fires in your brain. Or not
“A President is supposed to represent and protect ALL the people–not just those who voted for him.”
You mean like this POS —>
“President Biden
@POTUS
I’m announcing that the federal government will cover 100% of the cost of measures to protect lives and property in Southern California for six months.
I’ve told the Governor and officials to spare no expense and do whatever they need to contain the fires and protect families.”
*And the response to POS Biden from the forgotten people suffering in Appalachia —->
“Someone. Anyone. Please explain this to me like I’m a western North Carolina 2nd grader whose hotel voucher expires in 24 hours and my family has to move into our car or a tent in the dead of the mountain winter.”
The people of California are grateful to President Trump for expediting the END to Gavin Newscum’s political career.
We’ve been trying to get rid of him for years.
Thank you, sir.
🚨 Biden mocks complaints that fire hydrants in LA didn’t have enough water, complains about “demagogues.”
“I know you’re getting a bad rap about these fire hydrants don’t have enough water in them. Give me a break.”
“You’re going to have a lot of demagogues out there trying to take advantage of it.”
Just 10 more days of this disaster in the Oval Office.
Trump is a lardass. The border wall was a super big deal in 2016… until he became president. Then he didn’t do dick about it. He said he’d solve the Middle East crisis in a month. Fail. Never came close to it. Never even remotely improved the situation. Said he’d resolve the debt “fast.” Fail. He added $3 trillion before COVID and after another $5 trillion. He outspent Obama’s 8 years in just 4 years. Said he had a health plan “wait till you see it, we’ll be releasing it in 2 weeks.” Fail. He is the biggest do-nothing there is. Now, put a legally questionable scheme in front of him to make money without having to do much? Trump’s your lardass guy.
I keep remembering the Abraham
Accords, a slam dunk for a Nobel Prize for any Democrat. Obama got one for saying sweet things with no accomplishments whatsoever.
Obama got one for being elected while being half black.
“Trump is a lardass.”
He is the same weight and height as Mohamed Ali.
“The border wall was a super big deal in 2016… until he became president. Then he didn’t do dick about it.”
Pelosi shutdown the government to avoid funding the wall, Ultimately Trump found another way and using emergency funds was able to build more than 400miles of wall.
“He said he’d solve the Middle East crisis in a month. Fail. Never came close to it. Never even remotely improved the situation. ”
I do not recall his saying that – and you left wing nuts constantly lie about what Trump actually said or take it out of context.
Regardless, Trump did alot in the mideast – he negotiated the first peace deal since Jimmy carter and the largest ever.
He wound down US fighting in the mideast and severely disempowered Iran which reduced the scale of mideast terrorism/
He also reduced US debendence on mideastern energy which further dimished the likelyhood of mideast conflict.
Biden undid the energy policy and undid the containment of Iran and got the firestorm that one would expect.
Republicans had no interest in healthcare reform.
Here is the 2016 Republican party platform – that is what was promised.
https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/2016-republican-party-platform
Here is the 2024 platform.
https://www.donaldjtrump.com/platform
You conclude without evidence that the winds, which I agree make any fire hotter and much more difficult to extinguish, are caused by climate change. The archeological evidence has shown conclusively that California had the “Santa Ana Winds” for thousands of years if not longer, just as southern France has had the “Mistral” since before humans even existed. So your argument is that “climate change” is making these normal winds faster, right? Okay, how much faster? And can you explain scientifically with controlled experiments or even theoretical analysis exactly how “x” of carbon dioxide added to the air increases these particular winds by “y”? I think when you review the evidence and arguments to date, you will find little support for the commonly held belief that “climate change” causes faster or longer Santa Ana winds.
But let’s assume such evidence can be found. That means that our Democrat leaders, have long believed that California fires were getting worse, right? What does a rational person do with such a belief? Mitigation. You can keep voting blue if you want, but what did Democrats do to mitigate this danger they have been warning us about for years? Perhaps I missed it, but I don’t think Greta or any liberal environmentalist has ever supported clearing those hills about the Palisades of brush and dead trees. In fact, quite the opposite. THAT is a far more likely cause of increased fire intensity than an increase of 100 parts per million in atmospheric carbon dioxide, no?
“[H]ow “x” of carbon dioxide added to the air increases these particular winds by “y”?”
No you’ve done it.
You used scientific causality to spoil a perfectly good lunatic rant. And you hoist the “party of science” on its own petard.
P.S. Very well done. And thanks for injecting intellect into the blog comments.
Dennis McIntyre, the evening news jjust reported investigations into the loss of water pressure in hydrants and hoses, the below-capacity of reservoirs, and the reservoir serving Palisades has been offline and out-of-service for months (for “repairs”)
Listen to this video for a highly plausible explanation as to why residents had no evacuation guidance, saw no fire fighters and there was no water to put out the fires — which are almost certainly not “wildfires” caused by climate change.
It’s called a DEW attack.
Directed Energy Weapons attack.
Same as what happened in Lahaina, Maui fire…and tragic fires elsewhere.
This is pure evil we are facing.
If you are ready to see the evil that is our own government, then you will see it.
If you are not ready to see it, then you will not.
And when you see it, you will understand that Donald J. Trump is not the bad guy here.
Those who are trying to destroy Trump are the bad guys.
Trump is a freakin’ American hero.
Whew. Before I read this, I thought maybe leading Democrat officials did not plan or perform adequately their responsibilities to reduce the impact of wildfires as they were foreseen by many people. If climate change has exacerbated the likelihood of devastation like this, then appropriate planning and precautions ought to take that into consideration, right?, rather than spur officials into using climate changes as an excuse. The evils of climate change have been discussed and examined for a long time….
Ignorance is bliss. You are very blissful blaming Trump for all the policies that suck that Progressives like you think work. YOU did this. Enjoy your Progressive downfall, and watch as Trump make America Great Again against your ugly wishes. WHY do you Progressives insist on being so miserable all the time??
Oh, God no ! Climate Change !
Myriads of analysis of this malthusian nonsense has been done and there is no correlation between natural diasasters and alleged global warming. In inflation adjusted terms natural disaster damage is declining
But these fires are NOT natural disasters.
Nor is their increase a 21st century unique experience.
It is not even unique to the US.
Africa had significant problems of desertification allegedly caused by climate change – until it was determined that the environmental policies that prohibited large scale animal migration and burning off old savanah were actually destroying the savanah’s.
We have variations of the same in the US – forest fires rise and their scale increases the less harvesting of the forrests we do, and the better we get at stopping forest fires.
Before europeans showed up jn North America, nature created constant smaller forest fires which prevented large areas of dense dry, forests from going up in massive multistate conflagurations.
The mess we are seeing now – though worse in California, is the consequence of stupid left wing nut environmental management. To the extent that any other factors are involved – that would be stupid infrastucture management and stupid water management. As well as the failure to grasp that the people that you need to fight fires, fight wars, fight crime, are the very same people that you left wing nuts label as “toxic masculinity”. While these people are not all men. They are all the people who rush towards danger, There is a place for creative people of fluid sexuality – Hollywood, Paris, not fighting forest fires.
Of course it is a blame game.
How in the world is it that you think you can thwart future disasters if you are unweilling to correctly assess their causes ?
This is not about settling scores – though it is about how this country procedes forward.
Presidents are supposed to act in the interests of the country not just their voters.
The best interests of California are better governance.
These fires are NOT a natural disaster – they are the man made consequence of ideology trumping rationality.
Should the rest of the country bail California out for its self inflicted stupidity ?
If the rest of us pay to clean up the mess California made, why should we expect California to learn anything and better manage its forests and infrastructure ?
Any assistance to CA should be contingent on correcting the problems that caused this in the first place.
Why is Joe Biden making promises that he will not have the power to deliver on ?
In a few days our demented leader will be back in Delaware permanently, and the WH will no longer be a senior living center.
Joe Biden can not morally or legally make promises that can not be delivered before that.
“climate warming,” “100 mph winds,” “continuing drought”
The climate has warmed about 1 degree C over the last 150 years. Those wind gusts have been part of the historical record for some 5,000 years. That “continuing drought” ended over two years ago.
More importantly, nature is not responsible for political and bureaucratic *incompetence*.
They’ve been caught lying about everything concerning global warming and changing the data and manipulating charts but you still think the AI and climate dot gov is telling you the truth about the degree c of warming at their preferred 150 years number perfectly encapsulating their new industrial carbon lies period.
I submit you are an utter dupe and too stupid to ever realize it.
Democrat true-believers like Dennis are truly pathetic to listen to. They have zero awareness or understanding of what is really happening in the country. NONE. He’s a pathetic dupe and useless idiot being brainwashed, used, and abused by the Democrat party politics. People like Dennis are victims. They just don’t know it…..yet.
Having a corrupt and woke ‘justice’ system should be great for attracting businesses to New York.
Turley makes a humorous case for promoting nonsense. The “train of errors” he refers to, which he fails to specify or elaborate on for his uninformed audience, doesn’t actually exist.
Trump often makes claims without needing to provide evidence, and he expects them to be taken seriously.
Criticizing the New York court system for not yielding the desired results is not proof of its flaws. Turley’s diatribe primarily serves to satisfy the frustrations of Trump’s vengeful supporters, giving them reasons to complain about matters they don’t fully understand.
The Supreme Court is unlikely to take up the appeal any time soon. It may take a year or more, and let’s not forget that the decision will be up to Justice Sotomayor. This will give Turley another opportunity to make excuses instead of delving into the details of the alleged errors made by Judge Merchan.
Turley had ample time to analyze and critique the so-called errors he believes Merchan made, without resorting to disparaging remarks about Merchan or the New York judicial system. He won’t do that because he cannot construct a convincing argument against the evidence and the law. Although he is supposedly a lawyer, he seems only capable of criticism without any substantiated evidence, relying instead on mere suggestions or assumptions.
Trump claimed immunity because he is a president-elect. Turley did not address this issue because he knows that argument is indefensible. There can only be one president at a time; Trump does not assume that role until January 20. Being convicted as a former president does not grant him immunity either. The act of falsifying documents does not qualify as official conduct that falls outside the immunity protections he claims. The Supreme Court has already empowered lower courts to determine what constitutes official presidential conduct or duty. Judge Merchan acted precisely as prescribed by SCOTUS, which is why they are unlikely to hear Trump’s appeal. If they did, the Court would risk undermining its own credibility and any sense of objectivity.
* George, the democrats are the antichrist and no one is much better . The 3rd world is antichrist . The Elmer Gantrys are antichrist blah blah. You lose in a ocean of losers.
Find something else to do besides making shallow posts.
Obama decided to use Republicans to do his dirty work. It’s like a frame job.
STRAIGHT to the TRASH bin!
George, many attorneys licensed in New York State followed the case closely and are familiar with the “reversible errors” of which Professor Turley speaks. The court’s ruling will be appealed to New York’s Appellate Division, First Department not SCOTUS. As a member of the New York bar, I find many aspects of the case to be appalling and a waste of taxpayer dollars.
From one honest lawyer to another I say thanks Catherine! Anyone that doesn’t see the egregious reversible errors in this case either doesn’t want to see them, is ill equipped to understand them or is just a lying partisan hack. Or all three.
George the “train of errors” has been discussed in great detail. There is no need to rehash the dozen’s of errors on the part of Merchan and Enmoron.
Ultimate the appelate corts will sort that out – though unfortnately they will not speak to ALL the errors, they will pick a single error as the basis for reversing.
As to “the audience – that is america, and they have already decided. Merchan’s nonsense yesterday is just evidence that democrats have no yet got the message and that tere must be consequences.
“Trump often makes claims without needing to provide evidence, and he expects them to be taken seriously.”
Project much ?
“Criticizing the New York court system for not yielding the desired results is not proof of its flaws.”
The criticism of the NYS system is BECAUSE it fixated on getting the desired results – NOT the law.
Regardless the details have been addressed ad nauseam.
” Turley’s diatribe primarily serves to satisfy the frustrations of Trump’s vengeful supporters, giving them reasons to complain about matters they don’t fully understand.”
Pretty easy to understand – left wing nuts think that catagorizing payments to a lawyer for legal services a “legal expense” is fraud.
That is the core to this case. That is lawless. If NYS can not follow the law – then there must be consequences – if you think that is vengence that is your problem.
Just as in CA where poor governance has lead to disatser, if we are to expect learning and improvement there must be consequences.
We expect Bondi and Kash to punish those in government who engaged in lawless conduct over the past 8 years to face the appropriate consequences. No more, no less.
What is it that you think the consequences should be for lying under oath ? for spying on Americans without foundation or warrant ? for unconstitutionally censoring americans ?
For incredibly expansive and hypocritical stretchs of the law to target – not just Trump, but catholics, pro-life protestors, and parents of school students.
There must be consequences or this will happen again.
We do not allow murders and rapists off with a warning.
“The Supreme Court is unlikely to take up the appeal any time soon. It may take a year or more”
That is up to them.
“let’s not forget that the decision will be up to Justice Sotomayor.”
No, she is just the first level of this decision, any 4 justices can decide to here the case.
I would further not that Sotomayor was obviously part of the 9-0 14th amendment majority and the 9-0 presidential immunity majority.
Merchan violated the immunity decision – which she signed onto.
“Turley had ample time to analyze and critique the so-called errors he believes Merchan made”
Been done a thousand times over. The biggest problem competent lawyers have analysing this case is that there are so many egregious errors it is impossible to cover them all in one sitting.
The most likely grounds for a quick reversal is the immunity decision. The issue is crystal clear, and Merchan refusal to wait a few weeks for SCOTUS to rule before proceeding full speed ahead recklessly is in an of itself damning.
I would hope that the courts will throw this out on Substance – there is no actual crime alleged. But courts nearly always throw things out on procedural errors before they look at substance. And rarely even consider the lack of substance if there is a serious procedural error – and there are many.
“without resorting to disparaging remarks about Merchan or the New York judicial system.”
Judges and the courts are NOT immune to criticism – those of you on the left do that all the time.
Turley has been far kinder to Merchan and NYS than left wing nuts have been to Kavanaugh, or Thomas or Cannon as an example.
The difference between disarging remarks about Enmoron and Merchan, and Kaplan and those of the left – NYS and its judges and prosecutors stepped far outside the rule of law.
“He won’t do that because he cannot construct a convincing argument against the evidence and the law.”
Been done over and over.
The supreme court barred any testimony of official acts of the president and established that even the unofficial acts of the president are presumed to be immune.
Merchan arrogantly went forward without waiting for that decision, allowed evidence that should not have been permitted.
“Although he is supposedly a lawyer, he seems only capable of criticism without any substantiated evidence, relying instead on mere suggestions or assumptions.”
I would think there are atleast 50 articles by Turley on this case since its inception. We are way past suggestions and assumptions.
There is no requirement for Turley to repeat facts law and arguments over and over to overcome your pedantry.
“Trump claimed immunity because he is a president-elect.”
That is ONE claim in the presentence appeal. That was an interesting and novel argument. SCOTUS could have taken it up. But they did not.
It is ot even close to the immunity argument that was raised repeatedly before, Which SCOTUS has already decided – official acts of presidents are immune, unofficial acts are presumptively immune. Merchan did not wait for this oppinion ruled at odds with it, allowed evidence in that is not permitted and no longer has the means to fix it.
‘
“Turley did not address this issue because he knows that argument is indefensible.”
No it is new and novel. While there are other pundits that thought it had merit, none of the appeals courts decided to hear it on an emergency basis.
I would note that they did NOT rule against the argument. They ruled that Trump had not been sentenced so any appeal was premature.
That is what most of us expected.
“There can only be one president at a time;”
Not related. Trump did NOT claim to be president yet. You could atleast get the arguments correct.
“Being convicted as a former president does not grant him immunity either. ”
No the conviction is null and void because evidence of official and unofficial acts while he was president are not admisible.
If the courts follow the SCOTUS immunity decision which is fresh, this will be dismissed rapidly.
“The act of falsifying documents does not qualify as official conduct that falls outside the immunity protections he claims. ”
Please READ the SCOTUS immunity decision – Official acts while president have a absolute immunity. ALL Unofficial acts while president have the presumption of immunity.
“The Supreme Court has already empowered lower courts to determine what constitutes official presidential conduct or duty.”
Within the guidelines set by the immunity decision in pretrial evidentiary hearings.
“Judge Merchan acted precisely as prescribed by SCOTUS”
Nope. There was no evidentiary hearing and plenty of evidence that SCOTUS explicitly said was inadmissible was used at trial.
Had Merchan delayed and held the appropriate hearings, Bragg might have been able to get evidence that Trump signed the checks to Cohen while in the WH in.
But he would have had to do so without the testimony of any official WH staff.
It is quite easy to tell how badly Merchan erred by considering what Jack Smith did after the immunity decision.
Smith started over from scratch. He convened a new Grand jury, only presented to them evidence that did not involve presidential acts or require the testimony of government staff executing their official duties, and created an entirely new clean indictment – dropping charges, counts and claims that ran afoul of SCOTUS decisions.
Even in the MAL case – Smith confirmed on the record to Cannon that he was making no claims and presenting no evidence from any time that Trump was president.
Smith EXPLICITLY stated on the record there was no claim that Trump “stole” classified documents, or that he otherwise illegally obtained them.
Smith HAD to state that – or the case would have been dismissed on presidential immunity grounds.
Regardless, the point is that Smith had to restructure both his cases to comply with the Supreme court immunity decision.
Merchan should have delayed the trial a few weeks for the SCOTUS decison (as well as the NYS Appellate Weinstein decision).
The immunity decision require Bragg – like Smith to re-indict using only testimony that was not in violation of presidential immunity.
No Merchan could not easily fix this. Not only is the evidence of WH staff going about their official duties not admissible in court, it is not admissible before the grand jury.
You are paying no attention.
No SCOTUS did not create a giant loophole to allow judges to decide on whim what is and is not subject to immiuntiy.
“which is why they are unlikely to hear Trump’s appeal. ”
Of course they will. The question is how quickly. My GUESS is that Trump will have to work through the normal appellate process – first state and constitutional claims in state courts and then constitutional claims in federal court.
I do not honestly think this makes it to SCOTUS because it will be dismissed by a lower court, and because SCOTUS is not going to hear this on an emergency basis.
“If they did, the Court would risk undermining its own credibility and any sense of objectivity.”
No they will simply reverse and remand for reconsideration citing their immunity decision.
Wow! Thanks for giving George a lesson in clear thinking. The only thing that has saved Trump is the one thing people hate him for — his ego! Most people would have never fought as hard ad Trump has and for many, this is not a character flaw but a plus — for our country. People — even those who voted for Harris — were not sad that she lost, but that that the Dems didn’t win. History will not serve Biden or the Dems well because over these last years we have seen a level of government corruption that we never thought could happen. Now we know, it can, and that is why this column by JT and the comments from those in response are important to the future of our country.
Thanks!
If only it were limited to the terrible “Joe Biden” administration, with its meat puppet being told what to do by the most extreme left-wing cabal ever to exist in this country.
But it is not limited. We also have the corrupt NY judges, the corrupt Georgia legal system, the corrupt and incompetent California officials that have now ruined an entire state which has the best land and weather in the country, the corrupt public officials in Colorado, Maine, and other places that tried to remove Trump from the ballot, the corruption at the center of the DNC that interfered with democracy in the 2016 primaries to make sure Bernie would lose, then in 2024 staged a coup and anointed as queen the worst presidential candidate in 40 years, who then chose the worst vice-presidential running mate in American history. You still have the evil DEI tentacles around corporate and academic institutions, and corrupt legacy media. You still have drag-queen story time for kindergarteners. You still have men pounding the s–t out of women in competitive sports. You have the China spy balloon information sent back to the CCP, the ban on drilling for energy in coastal waters, the trillions in green new scam pork, the environmental degradation wreaked by windmills that could never be cost-effective on their own, tens of billions going to eastern Europe to keep a meat grinder going that has no other purpose than slaughtering an entire generation of young men, a feckless approach to middle-east bullies that placates and enables Iran, an anti-Semitic UN and ICC, and a $36 trillion debt.
There is some hope with Trump coming into office, but it will take a long time to recover from the evil embodied in a long list of items of which the above barely scratches the surface.
The fact that Merchan spoke today with complete seriousness about this OBVIOUS SHAM of a case, shows what a corrupt, brainwashed Democrat dumass he actually is. How frightening to know there are mentally deranged lunatics like Merchan with power over actual citizens. Merchan is a third-world, moral retard. A dangerous dumass full-on idiot.
The fact that Chief Justice John Roberts, and his now fully delegitimized Supreme Court, capitulated to this Banana Republic lawfare clown show is a disgrace and a stench that this court will never overcome. Your credibility is gone, Roberts. Suck on that at your next DC cocktail party.
Amy Coney Barrett has now cemented her reputation as a dumass at the same level of the moral retard Sonia Sotomayor.
Amy Coney Barrett does not appear to be the conservative many on the right believed her to be. She quite frequently sides with the left.
Hear, hear!!!
Same goes for Arthur Engoron.
Hear, hear!!!
Juan Merchan is just one more scumbag lawyer to add to a long list of corrupt New York judges. That’s the story here. Predictably the Left protects Merchan just like they have protected all known heinous, immoral, pro-death activity known in recent American history. Like Democrats lynching blacks for alleged felonies they committed, Democrats will always be true to their white hooded klan cultist nature.
The only difference between Juan Merchan and Hunter Biden: a video of him waving a pistol, smoking a pipe full of crack, and butt naked with a prostitute. That we know of
Corruption among judges in New York has been a concern at various points in history. Here are some notable examples:
1. **Judge Joseph A. DeFiore (2000)**: DeFiore, a former New York State Supreme Court Justice, was convicted of accepting bribes in exchange for favorable rulings in civil cases. He was found guilty of conspiracy and bribery, leading to his removal from the bench and a prison sentence.
2. **Judge Robert M. Bell (2000)**: Although primarily associated with corruption in Baltimore, Judge Bell had ties to New York and was implicated in a broader investigation into judicial corruption that affected multiple jurisdictions, including New York. His case highlighted systemic issues within the judiciary.
3. **Judge Gerald Garson (2008)**: A former New York State Supreme Court Justice, Garson was convicted of accepting bribes to fix cases. He was found guilty of multiple counts of bribery and conspiracy, leading to his removal from the bench and a prison sentence.
4. **Judge John A. McGowan (2010)**: McGowan, a former New York City judge, was arrested and charged with accepting bribes to dismiss cases. He was accused of taking money from defendants in exchange for favorable rulings, which led to his conviction and removal from the bench.
5. **Judge Michael J. McMahon (2010)**: A New York judge, McMahon was found guilty of accepting bribes in exchange for favorable rulings in civil cases. His conviction underscored the vulnerabilities in the judicial system that can be exploited for personal gain.
6. **Judge John A. McCarthy (2015)**: McCarthy, a former New York City judge, was accused of misconduct related to his handling of cases and was investigated for accepting gifts and favors from attorneys. Although he was not convicted of corruption, the allegations raised concerns about ethical standards among judges.
These cases illustrate that corruption can occur within the judiciary, undermining public trust in the legal system. Efforts to address and prevent judicial corruption continue to be important in maintaining the integrity of the courts.
Duckduckgo Chat GPT 40-mini
We cannot kick the filthy trash called BIDEN out of the White House soon enough.
Time to welcome in the new filthy trash, Donald Trump.
Trump is planning a rally at a DC arena the day before Inauguration.
Some people are wondering why he would do that rally.
He’s doing it for the people.
The inaugural balls are for the insiders, the wealthy, the establishment players who can afford the tickets.
The rally is for the people — to get to be part of the celebration as well.
Thank you President Trump.
“NEW: FEC reports show Loren Merchan’s Democratic consulting firm raked in at least $7.3 million between the end of May 2024 (after Pres Trump was convicted) and Election Day.
Top clients during that time include Tammy Baldwin, Gretchen Whitmer, John Tester, Cory Booker.” @julie_kelly2
Every lefty in California, who just lost their home, should THANK President Trump for expediting the end to Gavin Newscum’s political career. Until today, Gavin actually believed he would run and had a shot to be the next president of these United States. LOL.
You Californians just lost everything due to Newscum’s shocking INCOMPETENCE and arrogance.
And what is Governor Gavin Newscum doing today? He is whining and complaining to the White House about the criticism being directed AT HIM saying it must be stopped. He’s calling it misinformation and lies. What a pathetic, dangerous, delusional loser.
RECALL NEWSCUM. Run Karen Bass out of office. FIRE THEM BOTH NOW.
They’re desperately trying to excuse themselves for their failure in leadership. Last thing I saw was them trying to say that as the fires burned the electric companies cut power thereby shutting down water pumps. The problem is that every water plant and waste water plant is designed with redundant power supply. Every major plant would have generators to run the pumps and keep lines pressurized. They need to go back to the excuse room!
One thing to consider….
One of the potential criminal charges is 18 U.S. Code § 595 – Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments.
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Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
-=-
I think what should scare Bragg, Smith, James, Merchan, Engoron and others is that due to the serious nature of the charge… they could be jailed w no bail.
Look at the treatment of the Jan 6th participants. That’s the precedence the Dems have created and they should be held to the same standard.
Full combat gear, predawn, FBI raid on their homes, dachas, offices, and safe houses.
* didn’t Merchan say — I am commuting this to an unconditional dismissal?
He dismissed it.
Bzzzt.
Try again.
NY Left Wing/Lawfare/Kangaroo Court. A Third World Court.
Butt hurt, huh.
Not as bad as Stormy apparently!
We have learned from the Trump sentencing that yet another way to practice lawfare (at least in the state of New York) is to simply and routinely allow prosecutors and judges on a whim to arbitrarily upgrade misdemeanors to felonies. Such prosecutors and judges would have us believe that filing false financial records (a misdemeanor) is tantamount to criminally promoting the election of a person to a public office by defrauding voters (a most peculiar New York felony). Never mind that an intent to defraud has a very specific and narrow legal meaning: The intention to deprive someone of money, property, or some other concrete good through deception.
And what of an actual crime that was supposed to have been covered up? We still have not learned that because the jury was not given to deliberate it. If, as we are left to conclude, it was to buy a consensual harlot’s silence about a sordid liaison, an actual crime is still not in focus. Where is a law against paying a willing concubine not to speak with a tabloid? If the financial entry accounting for the payment is itself the crime, then should it not be factually determined exactly who, what, and why is responsible for it?
It is very much welcomed that this debacle is finally over so all but the most disturbed illiberal progressives may now move on with improving their lives.
What that verdict said to me is that Merchan knows he’ll be over-turned on appeal. Therefore, by giving Trump a full-on pass, he won’t have his cooking the books exposed as Trump will just move on with his life.
I hope that you are wrong. I expect that “With this appeal, this peddler’s wagon of reversible errors” will result in, at a minimum, of Marchan being severely reprimanded for conduct unbecoming a judge or better yet being stripped of his law license and barred from practicing for life.
Trump effed up the case by not appearing on the stand to defend himself. Why? Trump said it himself, people who take the 5th do so because they’re guilty. When Trump appeals this his core argument that Biden told Bragg to prosecute the case won’t hold water. There’s zero evidence for it. It’s just what liars like Trump and his liar fans want to believe. That doesn’t make it true. Trump will win an appeal ONLY if he can go through the receipts and show they are misapplied. He already tried that. It failed. Unless he comes with new evidence or insights, he won’t win an appeal and the SCOTUS won’t take a case because they rejected the immunity argument already.
Face it… Trump is a sleazy fraudster on the order of Bernie Madoff who now has been aptly labelled a felon.
Ordinarily I don’t debate someone who hides behind the “Anonymous” option but I’ll make an exception in, your case. Not one word you wrote is true.
You sound like a faithful follower of Jesus… judgmental liar.
Seriously? You now slur Christians? This is just a bit too much. Keep it to politics please.
Bzzzt.
Trump not testifying was the smartest thing.
TRASH BIN!
How so ?
The testimony of Daniels was not admissible. It is both irrelevant and prejudicial.
You may want Trump to deny the affair and go after him for perjury. but having sex with Daniels – if you beleive her is not a crime.
getting an NDA from her is not a crime
Paying for that NDA is not a crime.
Paying through Cohen is not a crime.
Calling the payment a legal expense is not a crime.
What is Trump suppose to testify to ? There is no crime here.
Merchan is being paid off. He’ll be set for life financially once his book deal comes through.
Huh?
No books were cooked.
I guess you didn’t follow this case.
Trump wont have to do a thing. I mean post an appeal that will overturn this…
Trump could sue in civil court… Merchan, Bragg and of course the US Government.
But then Bondi… will investigate and would then use the appellate court’s finding plus her own investigation to charge them. 18 USC 241 plus probably a few other counts too.
Trump won’t just move on.
You want lawfare to end?
You hold them accountable.
-G
That’s what I keep saying. You want to drain the swamp you have to nail rat hides to the barn so the other rats figure it out.
Trump has sued in civil court.
How is paying an attorney to execute a nondisclosure agreement and rightly listing the expense as a legal expense “cooking the books”? Using the “legal expenses” label or category does nothing to alter the amount in receipts or expenses of an individual or company. Paying an attorney to settle accusations, etc., and executing an NDA, labeling it as a legal expense is done by the media with their journalists, administrative staff, on & off camera personnel regularly. Why aren’t they prosecuted? Do people think no payments are made to the personal with whom the NDA is executed? This case against Trump was clown show in Biden & Garland’s political Lawfare Circus. And *STILL* nobody know what this “Secondary Underlying Crime” was that resurrected misdemeanors *that exceeded the Statute of Limitations* to the point of being Federal felonies which, btw, Acting STATE Justice Merchan and COUNTY District Attorney Bragg had absolutely NO AUTHORITY to prosecute. Thus, the reason it was a major secret!
Alvin Bragg, his co-conspirators and Merchan with the aid of Joe Biden and AG Garland entered the Communist era of Political Lawfare, and “cooked” the caseload and the legal system against Donald Trump!
Even more important is that I am certain Trump did this at the “cooking up,” and behest, and counsel, and preparation, of one. michael. cohen.
The problem for Trump is that if he raises that as a defense, he would waive privilege, and cohen would be sure to tell some whoppers that Trump would have to defend.
Huh?
Lin, you on drugs or did you not watch the trial?
Trump did nothing wrong.
They were legal expenses.
There was no crime. Trump wanted a former FEC official to testify, but Merchan wouldn’t allow it.
This is actually one of the many reasons Trump will win on appeal.
Simply put. FEC says nothing wrong… then there is no case.
Had Merchan allowed him to testify. Trump’s lawyers would motion for dismissal and Merchan would have had to do just that.
Every Prosecutor and Merchan along w his staff should be disbarred over this.
-G
G-
No, did not watch trial.
Nor do I disagree with what you said. I only add that it is clear to me that Trump was following the advice of Cohen.
You are focusing on NDAs and legal expenses. No problemo. But MY comment was focusing on the “elevated to felony” tactics.
DO you remember that the kicker was the alleged FECA violation that Braggs characterized as motivated to influence the election? My point is that Cohen would have tried to drag down Trump with him, maybe even have recorded Trump making statements about how this would/could affect his election chances. That’s all I am saying.
Yes, to your point, the FEC witness who was denied testimony addresses what you raise (was it Trainor?). But that’s not where my comment was going. No more, no less.
In fact, the more I think of it, I stand by what I said. I did not disagree with you about the NDAs. What I said was, “Even more important” because THAT was the part that set the stage for a felony conviction. Like a house of cards, all of it. thanks
Lin – anything criminal that Cohen and Trump did jointly is not priviledged.
As Cohen’s attorney Costello testified – testimony where Cohen had waived immunity, and Costello testified that Cohen had NOTHING to offer SDNY on trump opr he would have rolled.
JohnB Say: sorry, just finding your response. Yes, John, I am familiar with crime-fraud exception and “at-issue” exceptions. I did not watch the trial, nor did I follow its developments.
Respectfully, I believe your point is off-mark. Of course, Trump owned the privilege, not Cohen-nor was this a criminal trial in which both were co-defendants for collusive crime-fraud.
I see that in this case, it appears that correct in-camera view was invoked, and Special Master Barb Jones determined that tapes recording Trump’s discussions with Cohen WERE indeed privileged—as I had originally expressed the likelihood of in my comment.
However, TRUMP, through counsel, waived the privilege, which I did not know. So your point is moot anyway.
Regardless, as I originally commented, this was a state trial, under state rules of privilege and waiver, which vary. I am not familiar with NY’s, but several states hold that, “[a]n ‘at issue’ waiver, in circumstances where it is recognized, should not be tantamount to a blanket waiver of the entire attorney-client privilege in the case,” see, e.g. 433 Mass. 274 (2001).
THAT was the gist of my original comment, -where vindictive Cohen could reveal tangential or independent A-C communications to further taint a jury’s perceptions if presented WITHOUT prior review by special master to determine if it was included in waived “at-issue” communications. In other words, I was addressing the quicksand of SCOPE. There is the NDA matter-the matter at trial, -and there is Bragg’s FECA matter injected to enhance…
I hope I am making sense, if not, sorry.
Priviledge was already destroeyed.
If Cohen had anything – he would have rolled to avoid jail much earlier.
Cohne has shot hs wad and fell far short.
The reality is that you can’t expect Anglo-Saxon legal reasoning from third-world people. I know that’s not a politically correct statement, but there is no circumstance under which the results of tens of thousands of years of evolution can be changed in a few generations. DEI may be okay for low-level government jobs, but when it comes to judges, the results can be embarrassing as well as damaging to the credibility of the judicial system. Can anyone honestly respect the legal decision making of Fani Willis, Leticia James and Juan Merchaun?
My name is Jose Jemenez’.
Nothing worse than a DEI with a law degree and a position of authority.
(Traveler: I’m just a little too young, but my older sibling used to imitate that nasal quote from Jose Jimenez and my father always burst out laughing. didn;t he wear a helmet or something? I have vague single-frame black and white image in my head, probably from a magazine not tv.) ANyway, thanks for evoking that image.)
He was a hispanic comedian early 60’s during the John Glenn era. He would be in an astronaut costume and they would interview him. He would act really stupid and then when asked if he were scared he would act like it was the first time he ever realized how dangerous it was. Apparently it pissed off all the hispanics and NASA and that was that. We had a record of it and I still remember seeing him on Ed Sullivan and listening to that record. Funny stuff and good times except for Vietnam was starting on fire.
@TIN
You are correct; it’s just that what many don’t realize is that those ‘third world people’ are actually rich, white, modern liberals. Especially the people in question. They are so enamored of their laptops, phones, and vitriol, they can no longer see the forest for the trees, let alone other human beings. Not everyone losing everything in Los Angeles is a celebrity, but that is the only language the modern left speaks – their own elite losing something meaningful to them. 🤷🏻♂️ It is time to reject it altogether, and we are. That we are doing that, in a free country, is driving them even more insane, if such a thing is possible.
As the saying goes: Import the Third World. Become the Third World.
@Tin
I think it goes beyond DEI, to “affirmative action” in education, too. Add that such individuals often harbor general indifference to American history, ideals, or the nation of law they created.
For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light.
We have already repudiated any of this boosheet with November – these people are pathetic, vile, and quite possibly evil (and that is not a word I throw around lightly). They are not well or sane, and I do not know who they are trying to convince anymore. This is the very definition of a triviality, done at *great* cost to taxpayers, and enough is enough. ENOUGH.
That it has been done through our system, involving our highest courts, is something that cannot, and will not be forgiven. R.I.P., modern dem party. Still not too late for the so-called ‘classical liberals’ to dig themselves out, but it’ll take some serious humble pie, and I don’t know if they are capable of that, particularly given what is happening in California. Change or die, dems. We see you very, very clearly, and do not care about any of this one whit. We *already* voted for the ‘convicted felon’. Grow the eff up.
Nobody wants to mention the equally ludicrous Bergdorf cases. There you have the same deranged Costanzian venue with Silicon Valley billionaire lawfare financing taking the place of prosecutors cast in the mold of Roland Freisler.
How about the OJ case? He claimed the entire case against was law fare. Same with Charles Manson.
“There are no extraordinary men…just extraordinary circumstances that ordinary men are forced to deal with.”
– Admiral William Bull Frederick Halsey Jr.
______________________________________________
“Extreme remedies are very appropriate for extreme diseases.”
– Hippocrates
_________________
The singular American failure is the judicial branch, with emphasis on the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court today refused to correct the abject extirpation of law by “lawfare.”
The Supreme Court refused its opportunity to amend a massive chasm in the American system of justice and governance—the corruption and anarchy of antithetical, covetous, and power-hungry communists, juxtaposed with the desire for autonomy, sovereignty, and liberty of once-free constitutional Americans.
It was known and expected that the executive and legislative branches would “overreach,” and it was designed that the judicial branch would remedy those aberrations and place America squarely back on the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
The entire communist American welfare state is antithetical and unconstitutional and must have been struck down from the outset.
The maximal freedom concept of the American Founders will soon be gone with the wind, never to return.
The singular American failure is the judicial branch, with emphasis on the Supreme Court.
George-Halsey commanded his fleet into 2 hurricanes with the loss of several destroyers and hundreds of men. He also left the San Bernardino Strait unguarded risking the loss of the 7th fleet and all its troops and landing ships on the beaches at Leyte. Only the Heroic actions of 3 destroyers and 4 destroyer escorts and some jeep carriers saved the day. Halsey was a fighter but erratic and came closed to being relieved for those actions.
Pertinent, indeed.
Where is, repeat, where is Task Force Thirty Four The world wonders ?
The battle of Samar Straight.
Just after sunrise on 25 October, Rear Admiral Clifton A. F. Sprague’s TG 77.4.3—call sign “Taffy 3”—the northwesterly-most task unit, made up of six small escort carriers, three destroyers, and four destroyer escorts, was stunned to confront four Japanese battleships (among them Yamato with her 18-inch main guns), six heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, and 11 destroyers.
And what did Taffy 3 do ? They relentlessly attacked an overwhelmingly superior force and the Japanese withdrew.