Below is my column in the New York Post on the statement by Acting Justice Juan Merchan in the sentencing of President-elect Donald Trump. Merchan’s effort to justify the handing of the case sounded like the second defense argument made in the hearing. It likely changed few minds in the court of public opinion.
Here is the column:
This week, the sentencing of President-Elect Donald Trump saw one of the most impassioned defense arguments given at such a hearing in years . . . from the judge himself. Acting Justice Juan Merchan admitted that the case was “unique and remarkable” but insisted that “once the courtroom doors were closed, the trial itself was no more special, unique, and extraordinary than the other 32 cases in this courthouse.”
If so, that is a chilling indictment of the entire New York court system. Merchan allowed a dead misdemeanor to be resuscitated by allowing Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to effectively prosecute declined federal offenses. He allowed a jury to convict Trump without any agreement, let alone unanimity, on what actually occurred in the case. Merchan ruled that the jury did not have to agree on why Trump committed an alleged offense in describing settlement costs as legal costs. Neither the defendant nor the public will ever know what the jury ultimately found in its verdict.
I once described this case as a legal Frankenstein: “It is the ultimate gravedigger charge, where Bragg unearthed a case from 2016 and, through a series of novel steps, is seeking to bring it back to life…Bragg is combining parts from both state and federal codes.”
Even liberal legal experts have denounced the case and Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) recently called it total “b—s–t.”
Now, Merchan seemed to assure this Frankenstein case that he was just like any other creature of the court. It did not matter that he was stitched together from dead cases and zapped into life through lawfare.
Merchan knows that there is a fair chance this monstrosity will finally die on appeal, and he was making the case for his own conduct. The verdict, however, is likely to last far longer than the Trump verdict. It is a judgment against not just Merchan but the New York legal system, which allowed itself to be weaponized against political opponents.
In the Mary Shelley novel, Frankenstein says “I am thy creature: I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel.”
Trump can now appeal the case as a whole. Prior appeals in the New York court system were unsuccessful, and hopes are low that the system will redeem itself. However, Trump can eventually escape the vortex of the New York court system in search of jurists willing to see beyond the rage and bring reason to this case.
Notably, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass cited Chief Justice John Roberts in his argument before Merchan, noting that Roberts recently chastised those who attack the courts. (Roberts just the night before joined liberal justices and Justice Amy Coney Barrett in refusing to stay the sentencing). Steinglass portrayed Trump as an existential threat to the rule of law.
Roberts, however, is everything that Merchan is not. You can disagree with him, but he has repeatedly ruled against his own preferred outcomes in cases, including rulings against President Trump and his campaign and Administration. For his part, Trump declined to criticize the court and declared that “This is a long way from finished and I respect the court’s opinion.”
Indeed it is. Merchan’s monster will now go on the road and work its way back to the Supreme Court. Outside of New York this freak attraction will likely be viewed as less thrilling than chilling.
The election had the feel of the townspeople coming to the castle in the movie. In this case, however, the townspeople were right about what they saw in the making of a creature that threatened their very existence. Lawfare is that monster. It threatens us all, even those who hate Trump and his supporters. Once released, it spreads panic among the public which can no longer rely on the guarantees of blind and fair justice. That includes businesses who view this case and the equally absurd civil case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James as creating a dangerous and even lawless environment. Many are saying “but for the grace of God go I” in a system that allows for selective prosecution.
In the sentencing proceeding, Merchan was downplaying his hand in creating this Frankenstein. However, the case is the fallen angel of the legal system. While heralded in court by Bragg’s office as the triumph of legal process, it is in fact the rawest and most grotesque form of lawfare. Many will be blamed as the creators of this monster but few will escape that blame, including Merchan himself.
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. He is the author of “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage” (Simon & Schuster, June 18, 2024).
Professor Turley writes, “If so, that is a chilling indictment of the entire New York court system.”
I agree with the Professor, but to be completely fair, it’s not the New York State court system. It’s the Manhattan Star Chamber. The gentle folk in Upstate NY were never on board with this tyranny.
The Leftist-globalist urban centers like NYC, Chicago, LA, and San Francisco went on a killing spree, trying to wipe out conservatism in every county of their respective states. They deliberately created environments contemptuous of their neighboring conservatives and called it “social justice.”
Now those conservatives are fleeing in large numbers (and some liberals, too). The unintended consequence is that blue states are depopulating and red states are increasing their representation–and winning national elections. After the next Census, this shift will become even more pronounced.
The Left will try to flood the zone with migrants, but even that dog won’t hunt anymore–maybe not even in Europe. Runaway immigration–both legal and illegal–greatly helped MAGA to take control of every branch of the federal government.
Now all the Left has is the filibuster, which Leftists previously denounced in their efforts to “Kalifornicate” the whole nation at the federal level. Good luck with that.
Irony… karma… and God’s wrath… it’s all deserved. It is unfortunate that many of my fellow Americans could make such disgraces of themselves, but at least there’s hope for the rest of us.
* good summation and finally mayor Bass is burning it down…you can leave or like the big bad wolf she’ll blow your house down. Abaddon.
Will the modern Democratic party, tranformed under the leadership of Obama, get enough credit for the restoration of this republic without the need for a civil war?
Democrats could have simply maintained a steady strain on the direction Republican party progressives were moving the country, but no, Obama just had to finish it on his watch.
No wonder Trump has a derangement syndrome named after him. Democrats were this close and then 2016 happened. From that point until today, this iteration of Democrats chose to go full totalitarian mode and by edict, implant Harris as the next tyrant.
So unlike our first civil war, these radical Democrats didn’t have the cultural following they thought they had. Actually quite the opposite. So it should be noted that Trump will be inaugurated because he brought the true hideous face of the communists out into the open. And it was their work that slapped the People into reality.
You said Democrats several times but haven’t almost all the witnesses against Trump in the Manhattan trial, the J-6 hearings, and the sexual assault trial been his employees and/or Republicans he hired or appointed? Ignore everything he’s done by blaming Democrats, more of his circle has already gone to jail than all the people associated with Watergate (also Republicans).
In all instances, it’s called lawfare!
There are none so blind. . .
There are none more eager to defend racist Democrats than Uncle Toms…
Old Dog,
You seem particularly triggered today. Is everything okay?
I hate to say it, but he’s right. You seem to be right up there with Whoopi Goldberg and Sunny Hoskins when it comes to supporting the White Masters of Liberal Left. Why don’t you subscribe to this dude.
@Floyd… Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams, etc are absolutely the opposite of enigmainblack and have every single quality that he does not have a shred of.
America needs far more men like these distinguished, successful and brilliant black Americans who rose above Democrat racism (and originally adopting Marxist and racist beliefs in their youth) to become some of the greatest intellectuals and teachers in this country.
Men and women like this of any color or sex are national treasures we are lucky to have.
enigmainblack is not qualified to be allowed to clean their toilets in hope it would lead to some introspection and self-improvement.
Old Airborne Dog
If you ain’t black, airborne, what do you have to do with Thomas Sowell? If blacks don’t care about him why do you?
Floyd, are you black? If not it ain’t your business. Being white is your business.
Floyd, You are imagining I have views you’ve never heard me espouse. While I am quite critical of Trump et. al,. you don’t see me defending or supporting the “Liberal Left” or the Democratic Party. You don’t see me attacking them here, because this is where the most hypocrisy is and Democrats have no problem exceeding such a low bar.
As for saying Old Airborne Dog is right, be specific as to which of the names he calls me you agree with, especially given it’s near impossible to be some of these things at the same time, i.e. Uncle Tom, Black Supremacist. You seem to be enabling what he actually does while condemning what I haven’t.
Oh, did I trigger you with those observations, Uncle Tom enigmainblackcom??? Is everything okay in the Black Nationalist Marxist Borg?
Why did you vote for and support Biden after he told you that he didn’t want you black jungle bunnies in the schools where his son Hunter was a student? Most Americans, white or colored, considered that racist back then, just as we find it racist all these years later.
You Democrat Uncle Toms have an excuse for supporting that?
Why did you vote for and support Biden after he said he never met a single decent, clean, well spoken black American in his 40+ years as a Senator among all those black Americans in Washington DC? Not a single one!!! Until he met a fellow race-baiting mulatto, not black, who renounced his life of Rich White Privilege in order to run for office as a po’ l’il black chil’ from da projects.
Most Americans, white or colored, considered that racist back then, just as we find it racist all these years later.
You Democrat Uncle Toms have an excuse for supporting that?
Try harder…
Old Airborne Dog
You said Democrats several times but haven’t almost all the witnesses against Trump in the Manhattan trial, the J-6 hearings, and the sexual assault trial been his employees and/or Republicans he hired or appointed?
Ah! It’s the ol’ “Please Believe Us, Don’t Believe Your Lying Eyes™” from Uncle Tom.
Our resident intersectional black Marxist racist, enigmainblackcom, has helpfully pointed out Merchan not only allowed Bragg to compel Trump’s White House staff to appear as witnesses forced to answer questions as he declared they were not covered by executive privilege just as he had declared Trump did not have any such thing as any kind of presidential immunity.
And then after the SCOTUS immunity Merchan simply decided that there was no immunity issue with what he had allowed from prosecution witnesses to prevent him racing to sentence before inauguration. Merchan did not have to comply with that SCOTUS ruling!
Just as Merchan also decided that while the prosecution could do that, Trump’s defence lawyers would not be allowed to call the former head of the FEC to testify that no FEC crime had been committed.
Democrat Amerika Equal Justice For All™
Well done, enigmainblackcom. It is probably much easier for obsessive Marxists to celebrate police state fascism from the legal theory of Lavarentiy Beria than it is for the average Democrat.
Get a few selfies and screen shots of your very temporary Pyrrhic victory that had a lot to do with the fact you will have Trump as your president for the next four years, rather than your fellow intersectional racist brown Marxist, VP DEI Hire Harris.
Your victory is going to turn to the ashes of defeat in your mouth once Merchan/Bragg have to defend themselves to appellate courts outside the protective New York Democrat Borg.
Old Airborne Dog
You said Democrats several times but haven’t almost all the witnesses against Trump…
They better have been. If they’re going to conduct a political prosecution disguised as equal justice, they would have to find “witnesses” that could be dangled as not- Democrats. And they didn’t fool anyone.
Out of curiosity, is there anyone that could provide credible testimony against Trump you would find acceptable?
Justice will only be done if, in addition to throwing this case out, the likes of Bragg, James, Merchon, etc. are disbarred, if not prosecuted. The question is, will that happen?
Not in today’s New York.
The New York State bar, like many state bars, is totally MIA in monitoring the behavior of its attorneys and judges.
storm the bastille again
When this case is appealed on its many flaws, I hope it is overturned on the threshold issues that it should never have been brought to begin with. Hopefully that would avoid the remedy of a retrial to give the NY court a chance to repair their trial procedures, jury instructions, etc. How/where does Trump start his appeal to get to the adults on Supreme Court as quick as possible?
When you can get a corrupt Judge to re-write and re-create whatever you need to get your enemy convicted, it’s legal nirvana. Juan Merchan will forever hold the title of Whore Judge in Chief for the Democratic party. Pretty catchy title Jonathan.
Do any trump supporters on this site know about Smoot-Hawley?
Just curious.
Yes, I do.
Trump was elected not as an exoneration of his legal misdeeds, but in spite of them. The country was given a choice of him or Harris, and what tipped the balance were these factors:
• Trump better understands global macroeconomics and trade policy (she doesn’t have a clue)
• Trump will pursue diligent law enforcement without any hint of race-ethnicity bias (she will apply reverse-racism)
• Trump will deal directly with foreign adversaries to avoid war (she will only speak through aloof, symbolic gestures)
• Trump will restore effective border controls (she will undermine them at every step)
The voters were 99% looking ahead to the next 4 years, not relitigating the past 8.
This blog has a signal:noise ratio of ~0.0000001. You comment is definitely part of the signal. Thank you.
Your
The most important thing is this man had the means to continue to fight against the corrupt legal system we now have…..what chance will we have?
I used to think that if you have done nothing wrong, then you have nothing to fear from our legal system. Now I believe the system works about as well as the rest of our government, which is dysfunctional!
The Merchan and Bragg cadre of lawfare are getting ready to face a chit storm of legal retribution. America voted, Trump won, the Magnificent Orange Bastid! America is sick of the open corruption, they are thirsting for equal application of the law. They are thirsting for ACCOUNTABILITY!
How much good could have been done for America with the money sent to Ukraine and Israel here at home? How much good could’ve been done for NY with the money spent by the NY AG prosecuting political BS like Trump and Penny instead of protecting the citizens of NY?
You make too much sense.
Democrats are too braindead and brainwashed to understand common sense.
It’s just a House of Cards and its about to fall.
They are irrational, emotional, true believers in whatever the Dear Party Leaders tell them to believe.
It’s an entirely corrupt, sick political party, really. It’ is imploding from the weight of its corruption and lies.
Democrats are mostly sick, twisted, mentally deranged people being manipulated by their political leaders who seek power and control OVER them. Dem political leaders don’t respect their voters. They seek only power. Power ‘over’ you. Authoritarians thru and thru.
“good could have been done for America with the money sent to Ukraine and Israel here at home? “
That is a legitimate question but the fact that you have a double standard where Israel is concerned makes one wonder what prejudices you might have.The US spent money supporting the terrorists, and the enemies of Israel. Why didn’t you include those monies in your comment?
Think about what you are saying. By the way, I think most of the money given to Israel must be spent on US goods which I believe are planes and the like. Israel uses those planes and improves their abilities returning not just money but better military hardware.
In another post I gave a factual history of the British Mandate. Why didn’t you comment? Did you disagree or agree with it. You told me in the past what your overall view was but never mentioned why.
Mr. Meyer
That sounds alot like circular funding of the industrial war complex. America is $36T in debt with cities falling apart, infinite homelessness, drug epidemics, rampant support of sexual dysfunction of our youth, an invasion of 18M+ interlopers, fire disasters, hurricane disasters. America needs to focus on fixing America, let the Rothschilds pick up the tab for Israel snd let all others fend for themselves. Time for the world to stand tall and get off the US teat, we’re broke!
Traveler, I agree with you. We need to alter how we spend the taxpayer’s money. My problem is not with your ideas, but with the double standard you present and might not have. The US spends more on Israel’s enemies than it does on Israel, yet you don’t mention them by name while Israel’s name is prominent in your rhetoric. Of All the Middle Eastern nations, Israel must buy our planes with the money given while it adds improvements. That technology is given to the US military, making it stronger. They are also an ally and a significant source of intelligence.
I’d also like to know what you thought of my prior response explaining why Israel has more of a right to its land than most nations. Jews are indigenous to the land. No one else has the claims to the land that Israel has. You didn’t comment and seem to disagree. I wish you could enlighten me as to where I have gone wrong. I agree with you about how America spends its dollars abroad, so we have considerable agreement.
Proud of your 50 or 100 to 1 murder ratio ?
You sure blew by 20 as I predicted.
BTW your insane neocon jew attack on the commenter for naming the two big expensive wars and wondering why he would do only that is so blatantly obvious as such and you are so pathetically crushed into insanity and bean brained blabbering I am certain you were 100 percent serious.
My condolences you quacked out tard.
“BTW your insane neocon jew attack on the commenter for naming the two big expensive wars”
Shakdi, is your brain so filled with hate that you cannot read the written word? I agree with Traveler’s point regarding the expenditure of taxpayer dollars in general. I said, “Traveler, I agree with you. We need to alter how we spend the taxpayer’s money.” I am concerned about the double standard some people have. I am not talking about your double standard since you are an outright bigoted and ignorant antisemite.
Well it’s over. The Case is cast. On Trump’s 2nd day of his triumphant return to Office, he can issue an Executive Order to send:
Michael Cohen, Michael Avenatti, Stormy Daniels, Juan Merchan, Alvin Bragg and the Lot to the Russian Front in their beloved Ukraine.
Along with a boat load of other War Mongers. Tis a fitting end to this story indeed.
Just the fact you have said this points to how sick trump supporters have become.
What you describe is not even close to legal, is exactly what dictators like Putin, Stalin, Hitler, the list goes on, do.
Is that really what you want? A dictator that kills his opposition?
I have a feeling for many trump supporters the answer is YES. So I ask you. which of your neighbors are you going to kill? The family down the street? Including their 3 year old boy and 7 year old girl? Who will you kill?
Son, a tenant of the U.S Constitution (criminal Law) is taken from the First Testament / the Torah;
It states, Take only an Eye for an Eye.
The aforementioned Culprits in the origins of this case (Michael Cohen, Michael Avenatti, Stormy Daniels, Juan Merchan, Alvin Bragg),
sought to engage in Warfair (Lawfair) in order to subvert the Election processes of the United States (The Constitutional Process) by Legal intervention, thus attempting to eliminate a Candidate (Trump) from the running of Office.
(Sound a lot like Venezuela today)
They are part of the ‘army’ of individuals (Soldiers of the Democratic Party) that participated in this election-subversion. Wherefore. They had choose to engage in the Warfair, Therefore Warfair they shall have. The Eye for an Eye, is sending them to the War Front. They are getting what they asked for.
In other words, you can’t repair our legal system unless you understand how it is supposed to work.
The main area needing reform is reversing the systematic disempowerment of independent-thinking-acting Juries. The elites (Judges, lawyers) have stripped ordinary Americans sitting on Grand Juries and Trial Juries of their traditional roles as common-sense deciders-of-fact and interpreters-of-law.
Jury re-empowerment means bringing an adversarial element back into Grand Jury proceedings, putting an effective check on frivolous prosecution. It means doing away with dozens-of-pages Jury Instructions telling Jurors how to think about a case and the law.
It means depoliticizing the legal system, and restoring belief in the fairness and reliability of Jury verdicts.
Bravo Pbinca
“… The main area needing reform is reversing the systematic disempowerment of independent-thinking-acting Juries. …”
Agreed – What Jury-Pool in the Political-Cases (Like Trump’s) are not bias one-way or another (ret).
it would be/was impossible given the National attention the Media has given the matter(s).
Seriously, maybe only an Amish group would be available.
(As they don’t subscribe to electricity and modern conventional norms – IMO: A plus + in these times)
Re :pbinca @ 9:33 AM
Your point brought up another contention. Is the Media’s influence in Legal Matters subverting the Legal Processes of our Jury System.
Is the Media deciding these Cases The Manhattan District Court(s) sit in the middle of Media-Central (Central Manhattan).
With Push-Media being in the palm of nearly Everybody’s hands, Bias Opinion and Conjecture proliferated by the Media produces ‘preconceptions’. Perhaps more strongly in New York City than elsewhere.
The influences over the cognisance of a Jury maybe overwhelming. In that the basic premise that a ‘Pool’ of Jurors is designed to overcome (The preconceptions gets washed away/lost by the Number of Jury Members).
No fix in sight (for now), let’s hope it doesn’t get worse.
Just for Kicks, please allow me a question: (Supposing you were a Juror) Did Jonathan’s Blog here, influence your Opinion on matters in the Legal realm?
Well I for one am going to use Jonathan Turley’s Blog as an answer to any Jury Voir Dire, Q&A.
“Yes your Honor, I read Jonthan’s Turley’s Blog every day. …” That’ll do it!
The Bailiffs will kick my ass out of the box and onto the street in seconds.
That’s one sure way to get outta Jury Duty.
You see Pbinca,
The Media had an influence over the Manhattan Jury but it did not an effective-influence over the National Election,
They are two very different things. the Jury of a Case and the Jury of a Nation.
The Media has crossed the line, in that it has infected the At-Large Population with conjecture, thus ‘tampering’ with the Jury.
The Media is responsible for it’s ‘Jury Tampering’, in this Case. In fact the Litigants themselves were selling their Stories to the Media in order to illicit a profitable outcome, and the Media in selling their story (Ratings & Profits). So the Media was in fact a co-conspirator in the subversion of the Legal System to influence the outcome of a Trial by Jury and an Election.
Now that President Trump won the National Election, They (Litigants and the Media) have remorse that they ever ventured into their endeavor to do so.
They got Theirs and They got what’s coming to them. They earned the disgrace they so deserve.
Settle down bozo – he is not serious.
If you can’t handle the heat, get out of the Kitchen!
I see you have failed to try the new TDS mRNA based treatment Dumfkbgone, now on sale at all authorized dealers. Now available in California.
I have a feeling that Biden won your support along with millions of other groomers and pedophiles, long before Trump.
Way back when the news got out that Biden family values were having his teenaged daughter forced to shower with her father.
Now how sick is that! Whose teenaged daughters are showering with, other than your own?
“Is that really what you want? A dictator that kills his opposition?”
That action (which I suspect was proposed tongue-in-cheek) would largely consist of allowing supporters (direct, or by supporting Biden/Harris) of the US involvement in the Ukraine-Russia war apply their advocacy directly to the subject, and reap the fruits of that advocacy first-hand. To the extent that is true, it would much more resemble poetic justice than murder…
“He allowed a jury to convict Trump without any agreement, let alone unanimity, on what actually occurred in the case.”
I don’t believe JT is a dumb person. So his reasoning can only be malicious. “What happened”? Give me a break, it is really pretty simple. trump paid a woman to not talk about the one hour sex romp he had with her ahead of a Presidential election. This was essentially a campaign expense that trump signed off on as a business expense. It is really that simple.
The fact it was not prosecuted as a Federal offense says way more about how we let rich people break the law with impunity than anything else.
For the past several years Musk has been flaunting the law with regards to Security rule violations. He just thumbs his nose and walks away and so far, no foul. If you or I did any of that, we’d be in prison in a heart beat.
Taking classified documents to our home and storing them in the spare bathroom? Everyone on this blog knows that if they did it they would be serving a 5 year prison sentence. trump? nothing.
It is unique because we have never had a person like trump in the office of the Presidency. He has been flouting the law his whole life, why stop when he is President.
JT frequently gives only half the story and neglects pertinent facts. He knows damn well what trump did, he is choosing to be an enabler. I hope for the country it turns out these next 4 years because never before has any President put so many people in charge of major departments whose only, and I do mean ONLY, skill is kissing trumps A$$.
May god have mercy on the United States these next 4 years.
Getting paid or paying for a NDA is a federal offense?
Please stop the NDA’s or the world will never stop burning.
Face it, you stooges lost and the worst part is that you don’t even know whom you work for (hint: pure evil).
You completely ignore why he paid for the NDA. Why did he sign an NDA with a women he had sex with while his wife was taking care of his new born baby? To hide it from the public while he was running for President.
See, simple facts that you just gloss over.
What Trump did (with Stormy) was unsavory, but not illegal. The sex lives of political candidates might be grist for the voters to consider, but not prosecutors (unless the candidate has victimized a person as defined by criminal law). The Stormy affair was consensual.
Yep, exactly what I said. I have no doubt it happens all the time. Pay for sex. no big deal.
Again, that isn’t the point. He used corporate money to pay her for keeping quiet about his romp in the bedroom Why should she be quiet about it? Because ehe was running for President and he didn’t want the voting public to know about it. Turns out people didn’t care so it was money wasted. But at the time he though he couldn’t win if everyone know he had sex with a porn star while his wife was suckling his baby.
That is a campaign expense, he claimed it as a business expense.
Dipsh!t, the money was paid AFTER he was already President. Geeesh!
No one knows what Trump did with Stormy but Trump and Stormy. She has stated she did and she has stated she didn’t. I imagine for someone running for office may weigh a decision to make a payment to her just to avoid the public embarrassment of a Blasey Ford accusation. What has followed is a miscarriage and weaponized judicial. Time to skin some rats.
See, simple facts that you just gloss over
See, parroting Bragg’s police state fascist lies about when and why just aren’t going to work here.
Just as they aren’t going to work for Merchan/Bragg once they’re forced to defend them in an appellate court outside the protective shield of the New York Democrat Borg.
I love it, you support a man that has been found liable for sexually abusing a woman, he has been convicted of felonies with regard to paying someone to keep quiet about a sexual encounter. His business has been found to be fraudulent, his trump U had to pay millions back because it was a fraud. The guy mocks veterans for being first dumb to even join the military, and then really stupid for getting killed in the line of duty. He mocks mentally challenged people. Every statement about anybody includes a little blurb about how great he himself is.
And those that oppose this guy are “pure evil”?
Anybody that does not think trump is a cult is willfully blind.
It would be interesting to see your opinion of Joe Biden if the media focused any of their reporting on everything corrupt Biden has done over his 50 years in politics.
How he let his dogs attack and bite his Secret Service detail over two dozen times before he did something about it is just one small example of what a truly despicable scumbag human being Joe Biden has always been.
The media do not tell you all the negative stuff about Biden’s entire scummy corruption, how he sold out his own country to enrich his own family. Or how truly dysfunctional and scummy his corrupt Biden family of degenerates.
If the media reported on Biden you would NEVER EVER give that man a pass about anything. Biden is a bad person. A bad man. A liar. An entitled politician.
He thinks he is our ruler, not our servant. He’s a truly nasty POS. He’s always been this way. And now he’s even worse. But the media protects him. So your opinion remains manipulated by media lies.
Trump, on the other hand, is a truly good man, good person. And he has always been a good person. But the media cannot let you see this. It’s all flipped. Biden is a bad person. Trump is the good guy. But the media and Democrats will never allow the public to know this truth.
Kamala’s hubby Doug paid off some women who signed NDAs to keep quiet too.
Hubby Dougie had an affair and knocked up his kids’ nanny who was also their teacher. The media buried the story.
Kamala’s hubby is accused of slapping his former girlfriend across her face so hard that she spun around. She came forward to tell her story. There were at least three other credible witnesses since he slapped her in public. The media buried the story.
Kamala has her how history of corruptly abusing her power both as DA and AG.
But the media buried those stories.
Bottom line: You are being lied to so that you hate Trump and vote Democrats no matter who, no matter what.
It’s pathetic really.
Bottom line, if a man slaps a woman so hard that she spins around, and does it in public, you know there are more issues there that the Democrats do not want to come to light.
Once an abuser, always an abuser.
There is not one story of Trump EVER being physically abusive to ANY woman, let alone in public.
Plenty of unreported stories about Joe Biden sniffing, touching, fondling,
and Kamala’s hubby affairs and slapping a woman.
Then there’s the public corruption of both Biden and Harris that the media hides from public scrutiny.
He did not ever sexually abuse anyone and you know it. that woman is a liar, clearly.
Please tell us how you’d feel being convicted on that level of evidence.
You are part of PureEvil. You are. deal with it.
“…and you know it.”
No, I don’t know it, and neither do you. However a jury heard the arguments and came to the conclusion she was more believable than him. Thus he has been found liable for sexual abuse of a woman.
Put the crack pipe down already. You’ll believe anything the lame stream media tells you.
I love it, you support a man that has been found liable for sexually abusing a woman, he has been convicted of felonies
You loved supporting, making excuses for, and voting for a man whose OWN DAUGHTER said he sexually abused her in the shower (incest/rape… or merely child abuse?), and whose former aid came forward with contemporary witnesses to describe how then Senator Biden raped her
You still love supporting, making excuses for, and would have voted again for Biden despite the fact he’s currently on temporary probation after his carefully chosen employee serving as Special Counsel said he would not indict his boss despite finding piles of evidence that he engaged in 40+ years of serial felonies as both a Senator and then VP.
Tell us what we should find credible in your post?
Your attempts to appear to have some sort of morals and values, and you faithfully apply your personal standards to all, whether Democrat or Republic?
Or your attempts to have credibility repeating lies that Trump mocks veterans and says they’re stupid for getting killed?
This is why you feckless, craven Anonymous Soviet Democrats simply will not post your garbage here with a unique username
Old Airborne Dog
The people have spoken. Once upon a time a person that sexually abused women did not stand a chance at being President, we now elected a man that has sexually abused at least one woman.
We used to say Character matters. We just elected a person, twice, to become president that has made it abundantly clear he only cares about enriching himself.
You are free to argue that him forcing himself on women is not a factor you look for in a President. Fine, but he hid this, or tried to, and he used corporate money to try to keep it quiet without noting this was a campaign finance expenditure, not a business expense.
The facts are really simple, you just don’t like them.
This is a summary of her testimony under oath: https://apnews.com/article/stormy-daniels-donald-trump-trial-takeaways-f34f094124fc7ec455d6a73cbb6eec21
Is Cohen’s testimony on their too? I read Stormy just got voted the WOKE mother of the year award. Credibility is ZERO
Oooohhhh… the AP analysis! Same guys who have yet to apologize for the years they assured you that their inside sources had assured them the Russia Dossier was 100% verified proof that Trump was in a conspiracy with Putin to steal the 2016 election?
Well! You can be confident that they have exactly the same amount of credibility here as you do!
Old Airborne Dog
The people have spoken. Once upon a time a person that sexually abused women did not stand a chance at being President, we now elected a man that has sexually abused at least one woman.
Oh, the clutching of pearls! The cries of anguish! Facts and history are about to bytch slap your Democrat Marxist Useful Idiot ass:
WE KNOW you hope nobody is old enough to remember Blow Job Clinton’s White House, who was elected TWICE by Democrats. That was DECADES before Trump. (never mind JFK, of course).
Despite all the women who came forward to tell how Clinton had raped or sexually abused them when governor of his state, and then women who came forward after he was in the White House, again saying they were raped or sexually abused.
And then Obama and Biden harbored Harvey Weinstein in the White House privileged guest class, an infamous serial pedophile and rapist who their Secret Service close protection teams warned them about.
And then you voted for Biden as vice president, again long before Trump.
You voted for him as VP and then for president, despite the fact his daughter wrote about how Biden sexually abused her in the shower. Despite the fact that a former aid came forward with contemporary witnesses from that day to tell the story of how he raped her.
The facts are really simple, you just don’t like them.
I like the facts above a lot better than I like you Speaking Your Truths and claiming they’re all unquestionable Democrat truths.
This is why you cringe worthy cowardly Democrats will only attempt this Bull Schiff by posting Anonymously
Old Airborne Dog
For a supporter of Biden complaining about someone who isn’t authorized to do so bringing classified documents “home” is a new level of stupid.
Biden, NOT A PRESIDENT, brought documents not only home but also to the Penn Center, a “Think” Tank financially supported by, wait for it…CHINA, seems a tad more egregious than a PRESIDENT having documents in a place secured by the Secret Service.
Did I say I was a supporter of Biden? I don’t believe I said anything about him.
You seem to agree that trump took classified documents home. Protected by the SS? Sure. Again you ignore all the evidence about how trump bragged about the classified documents he had and even showed some to his dinner guests. The SS is not there to prevent trump from being an A hole and show off his booty. They are there to protect his life. The documents were in a place that anybody invited to Mary a logo could see. His bathroom was a reading room filled with classified documents.
Yes, the PRESIDENT took classified documents home. That is like saying the jeweler took jewelry that was given to him to work on home to work on them. Or the doctor took HIPPA protected personal files home with him to go over in his private home.
The president is AUTHORIZED to have these documents, your man Biden (I know you pointed out that you never mentioned him, but pardon us for using common sense to infer that anyone attacking Trump would support his opponent. We also might better know if you support Biden if you had the nads to actually create a name and not go by one of the 20 or so “Anonymous” morons), was a SENATOR when he took papers, had them for decades and kept them in a CCP funded building…AND YET HE WASN’T CHARGED!
He wasn’t President. Perhaps you missed the election of Nov 2020. He was defeated. Which means that on January 21, 2021 trump was not the President.
Did you catch that?
“but pardon us for using common sense to infer that anyone”
Ahhh, and here is the problem with trump supporters, common sense. Sorry to disappoint you but you are incorrect.
Go ahead prosecute Biden. You can’t do it until after Jan 20 according to current DOJ guidelines. But now you have a SC (that most trump supporters applauded) that said a president can break the law and now be prosecuted. So good luck with that.
Which brings me to the point you seem to have missed. The rich and powerful break the law all the time and get away with it. And we just elected a man that seems to have thrown open the gates like nobody before him. I’m all for prosecuting Senators that use inside information for their stock buys/sells. Probably 80% would be guilty here. I’m all for prosecuting a president for letting foreigners access and paying money, Perhaps Biden, certainly trump and his family. Remember the hotel trump owned in DC while he was president?
The President has the ultimate classify/declassify authority. He does not need a minion telling him what he can and cannot do with classified material.
Anonymous TDS sufferer,
My amateur understanding of the original FEC position on the NDA is that an articulable personal or business reason takes it out of the realm of election interference.
No federal crime since he did not use campaign funds to pay for the NDA.
Even the so called mislabeling of the payments doesn’t look wrong to me.
You’re just repeating the lawfare narrative concocted by Marchan, Bragg, and the Biden WH.
My understanding of this is that the DOJ attorney looked at this as it is under federal jurisdiction to prosecute federal election crimes. Merrick Garland’s DOJ declined as the evidence did not warrant further investigation with the results being no crime committed. Bragg usurped his authority to inflate a misdemeanor bookkeeping posting into 36 felonies. To do so it required an underlying crime to make it a felony not a misdemeanor. Bragg, Costelano and Merchan then conspired to create a State level kangaroo court to get Trump in an attempt to discredit his candidacy.
The crimes used to anchor the conspiracy were the federal crimes that the DOJ had reviewed and decided there was no crime. IA layman’s understanding but I think that sums it up. If correct, Merchan et al should be held accountable. Live by the sword die by the sword.
Biden took docs home and stored them in his garage. Nothing happened to him. You need to look at the behavior of the people involved: Trump jokes with Obama at Carter’s funeral, Jill Biden is all smiles with Trump in Europe, Joe Biden is all smiles and coziness with Trump at the White House, and Jill is cold as ice towards Harris.
As far as not prosecuting as a federal offense speaks more to selecting a venue to ensure a successful outcome than validity of charges.
you are making up your own fact; i.e. that it was a campaign expense.
“trump paid a woman to not talk about the one hour sex romp he had”
Which is perfectly legal.
“This was essentially a campaign expense”
Both incorrect and irrelevant.
it was a legal expense regardless.
The FEC had previously determined it was not a campaign expense.
The Federal election law as well as myriads of supreme court decisions – both on election law and related issues prohibits treating an expense as an election expense if it serves multiple purposes. If you can prove beyond any doubt this was an election expense, it would STILL be a a business expense if the revalation would also damage Trump’s brand, and a personal expense if it harmed his relationship with Melania. And the rule is that multipurpose expenses can not be treated as campaign expenses.
BTW this is part of the reason that the FEC rules that Clinton charging the campaign for the legal expenses to procure the Steele dossier was NOT a legitimate election expense.
I would further note than None other than Jack Smith prosecuted Presidential candidate John Edwards specifically FOR charging payments to hide an affair as a campaign expense.
“that trump signed off on as a business expense. It is really that simple.”
But it is clearly not, and in fact that is clearly wrong.
First lest assume that this absolutely undeniably is an election expense.
SCOTUS long ago determined that it is not constitutional to restrict in anyway a candidates contributions to his own campaign.
So it does NOT matter whether this is a campaign expense or not. There is still no violation of campaign finance law.
Nor can there be.
Next if As you claim it was an improper business expense – then there would be a trivial to win tax evasion count – or 34 counts of tax evasion.
But there were not. You can not get it both ways. Either this expense was a legitimate tax deductible business expense – and the whole case dies.
Or it is not – in which case using an obscure statute in a new and novel was was unnecescary – the simple charge would have been tax evasion.
The point is “it is not simple” – or more accurate the only simple treatment of this is exactly the way Trump did – as a tax deductable business legal expense.
Any other catagorization results in conflicts with other case law, supreme court decisions, the constitution, and federal election law.
The SIMPLE conclusion is this was a legal expense.
“The fact it was not prosecuted as a Federal offense says way more about how we let rich people break the law with impunity than anything else.”
States can not prosecute or enforce federal law PERIOD. You can play whatever games you please here. it does not change that.
BTW there was a vague claim that this violated State election law. But that has multiple problems – presidential elections are FEDERAL ELECTIONS,
arguably not subject to state law, Even if they were there is pre-emption by federal election law, and finally, state election law claims are subject to exactly the same constitutional issues as federal election laws – dual purpose expenses are NOT election expenses, and candidates are still allowed to make infinte legal contributions to their own campaigns.
Again the only SIMPLE resolution is this is a legitimate business legal expense.
Finally, the mere fact that every other application is complicated, Frankly the fact that there exists atleast one completely innocent application of the law REQUIRES that you can not convict.
You can not convict people of crimes that it is not possible to KNOW that they committed.
While ignorance of the law is not an excuse – a lack of clarity in the law or the application of the law makes the law unconstitutionally vague.
This is not even a close call – while most people do not understand the legal nuances.
They do understand that NDA’s are legal, that paying for them is a legal expense, and that they do not magically become illegal when there is an election.
The ONLY instance where the payment of “hush money” to by silence for LEGAL conduct would be a violation of the law, would be if it WAS paid for by donations to a political campaign.
Pretty much the OPPOSITE of what Trump was doing.
check mate.
“For the past several years Musk has been flaunting the law with regards to Security rule violations.”
Just rant aimlessly and expect everyone to agree.
“He just thumbs his nose and walks away and so far, no foul. If you or I did any of that, we’d be in prison in a heart beat.”
Given that we have no idea what you claim Musk did, how is it we are supposed to assess that.
Regardless, the only business that Musk has that has any connection to national security is SpaceX – and with respect to that it would be pretty much limited to SpaceX delivering DoD payloads into orbit. SpaceX’s rockets were entirely developed privately – McDonalds does not fall under national security law, just because they provide hamburgers to DoD.
“Taking classified documents to our home and storing them in the spare bathroom? Everyone on this blog knows that if they did it they would be serving a 5 year prison sentence. trump? nothing.”
Actually that is false. Have you ever held a security clearance ? I have.
The standards and punishement are highest for those in the military,
Lower for those in the National Security aparatus,
Lower for others in govenrment
lower for government contractors,
and non existant for private citizens – though you can be convicted of bribery or related crimes as a private citizen when you induce someone with a clearance to provide you with classified material.
I am not aware EVER of a government contractor going to jail for a security violation – absent bribery or inducement.
At the opposite extreme Gen. Petreaus took a number of highly classified documents home and received a 100,000 fine and 2 years probation.
And pretty much everyone knows that Hillary had over 3000 classified documents on her bathroom basement email server and faced ZERO consequences.
As you are not clear – I have no idea what you think Musk did, but unless he is selling DoD documents to the Russians the worst consequence for an actual security violation would be being barred from other government contracts.
“It is unique because we have never had a person like trump in the office of the Presidency.”
How so ? John Adams was wealthier. What is unique about Trump ?
“He has been flouting the law his whole life, why stop when he is President.”
If true – which it is not – how would that be unique ? George correctly points out that Lincoln flouted the law as president.
SCOTUS found lots of his actions unconstitutional – but they waited until after the Civil War to do so.
The same is true of FDR.
LBJ is infamous for massive voter fraud to win his senate seat in TX.
Clinton sexually harrassed, assaulted and raped women, used the AK state police to obstruct, lied under oath.
Need we list the crimes of the Biden crime syndicate ?
Several other presidents were implicated in bribery schemes before and while in office.
While not illegal – Washigton sold private land to the federal government while president.
Even if what you claim were true – which it is not, Trump’s alleged criminal conduct pales compared to that of other presidents.
“JT frequently gives only half the story and neglects pertinent facts.”
Then you could provide the other pertinent facts.
But you have not. Your post is vague naked assertions and purportedly simple legal claims that are neither simple nor legally correct.
“He knows damn well what trump did”
Yes, after the fact he paid his lawyer for an NDA as a legal expense – perfectly leagal.
“he is choosing to be an enabler.”
enabling WHAT ? reading the law narrowly with respect to government powers and broadly with respect to individual liberty as is both required by the constitution and the social contract and the only workable way to have a government ?
“I hope for the country it turns out these next 4 years because never before has any President put so many people in charge of major departments whose only, and I do mean ONLY, skill is kissing trumps A$$.”
Au contrare, there are several defining characteristics of Trump’s appointments.
Most are young – while that does not mean inexperienced, most have as much or more experience than their Biden or Obama admin counterparts.
Most share the same values and principles as Trump. They seek limited government.
Most are NOT tied to the existing inbred political and governmental cadre – a major problem in his first term.
The great danger to the left of Trump’s appointments is that they will follow the Republican platform on their own without any direction from Trump.
Trump could actually be as demented as Joe is, and these appointees would still move forward with what republicans promised the country.
“May god have mercy on the United States these next 4 years.”
God has little to do with it.
What can we expect over the next 4 years ?
A thorough and much needed house cleaning – particularly in the “deep state”
Massive deregulation that likely will exceed that of Carter. Certainly more than Trump’s first term.
Dramatically improved border security
Further containment of Iran.
And end to the war in Ukraine.
An end to current conflict in the mideast.
Aside from containing Iran, and trying to expand the abraham accords – most of “peace in the mideast” will actually be acheived by Iraels. military victory over Hexzbolla and Hamas.
The destruction of Hezbollah and the disconnection of them from Iranian support will likely radically improve conditions in lebanon. Israel’s new security zone in Syria is specifically to thwart the transfer of weapons from Iran to Hezbollah.
Reardless while the mideast will never be completely peaceful, and there are questions regarding the Kurds, Turkey and ISIS as a result of the fall of syia.
Iran as a foster of terrorism has been radically weakened.
Syria could still be a mess – but it is not our mess.
The exact details of a peace in Ukraine will require negotiation – but there will be peace.
Trump is throwing arround the US economic might like never before, and it is near certain he will get major concessions,
the EU has already agreed to buy even more US LNG. Mexico has already shutdown the southern border,
Inflation is at 2.7% – that is a FED issue not mostly an administration issue, but it must come down.
Economic growth is a certainty – while not the “best ever” a Trump promises, growth should be atleast as good as in his first term.
We are already seeing the signs of that.
Will Trump cut Federal Spending – I hope so. But that is difficult. Nit even if Trump keeps federal spending from rising economic growth will eventually cure the governemnt spending problem.
John, your marshaling of the relevant facts is admirable. Thank you.
Say’s Law: Supply creates its own demand.
Johnny Say gets right to the point.
Once again you are pointing out my basic premise that those in power get away with breaking the law. Thank you.
Don’t make psychiatric diagnosis when you have no basis for them especially when you exhibit delusions of your own.
Another Anonymous Democrat strawman has been erected to hopefully then be defeated in battle: I don’t believe JT is a dumb person. So his reasoning can only be malicious.
The Soviet Democrat Two Standards Of Justice Police State Facism Hypocrisy Theory
“Taking classified documents to our home and storing them in the spare bathroom? Everyone on this blog knows that if they did it they would be serving a 5 year prison sentence. trump? nothing.”
Unless your name is “Biden” of course and you have some of them in an office you share with ChiCom government figures. And others in your garage for your son to share with his Chinese and Russian government customers.
Or your name is “Clinton”, and that information is on illegal and unsecured private servers, cellphones, and tablets, and multiple adversarial nations are intercepting all your communications with the president in real time. Remember that, Anonymous Democrat stooge?
“The fact it was not prosecuted as a Federal offense says way more about how we let rich people break the law with impunity than anything else.”
It says who and what you are that you have never made that argument when Democrats were actually fined by the FEC for those violations, while both the FEC and the SDNY federal prosecutors determined that Trump had committed no FEC violation.
It says who and what you are that you never made this accusation when Obama was fined by the FEC for accepting and hiding money he was given by foreign governments, long before Trump was your excuse.
It says who and what you are that you never made that argument that Clinton was merely fined for FEC violations Just as she wasn’t even fined for six years of tax fraud. Just as she wasn’t indicted for all the espionage felonies and destroying evidence that had been subpoenaed.
JT frequently gives only half the story and neglects pertinent facts.
The good ol’ deflection of your own sins onto those you hope to destroy! We’ve never seen THAT before! And here you are: exposed for turning a blind eye to how Obama, Biden, Clinton et al were never prosecuted for FEC crimes. Nor any of the other laws they have violated long before Trump ran for office.
I don’t believe for one moment that any of you cowardly Anonymous Soviet Democrat police state fascists believe in God while you shill for Lavarentiy Beria style justice.
But still…. bless your little black hearts.
Old Airborne Dog
A political trial invites a political response. Republicans on Congress must impose costs against NewYork state for allowing this disgrace to happen.
I thought it was a missed opportunity by Merchan to do a little compare and contrast between what people normally get for a sentence for an equal crime and the whimper the judge was forced into yesterday.
How’s it feel to get name checked by a babbling fool almost right away in his pathetic ramblings in sentencing yesterday, Turls??? Lol….
Well at least we know every single question directed by the press at Spanky for at least the next year should be prefaced with “…since you’re a convicted felon and inveterate liar why should we trust anything you say???”
Hilarious. And this is your guy, Turls. He name checks you immediately. He’s a con man grifter and so are you.
You guys on the Left are dangerous. Of course, you’ll be squealing like little pigs if the change of government redirects lawfare in your direction.
Let’s hope the new admin resists that temptation. I trust Pam Bondi to approach federal indictments as something blind to political affiliation.
That said, I hope she establishes a new unit within DOJ/FBI that is staffed by professionals vetted for political neutrality/independence to quickly investigate any alleged lawbreaking on the part of officeholders, candidates and campaigns.
Refraining from lawfare is only one part of the solution. The other is deterring political actors from thinking they can break the law and get away with it as a normal tactic of political competition.
Pbinca
I disagree, Bondi should review and revisit Bragg and Merchan’s legal actions to hijack federal law to use it an attempt to interfere in an election. As their collusion is exposed, as it will be they should be prosecuted. Accountability and rat hides, they are both necessary to right the Nation.
If there is evidence that Bragg and Merchan colluded covertly, yes, that is grounds for prosecution. Speculation is not the same as evidence.
The collusion is glaring and should easily be evidenced.
pbinca, I agree with you about hoping Pam Bondi doesn’t go down the lawfare route, but this doesn’t mean that people that broke the law committing lawfare should get a pass just because they are from the opposing party.
Justice demands that those criminally using the law to go after political opponents should be pursued to the gates of he**.
Again, we have specific laws on the books regarding legal procedures, evidence, and such. There is no law defining and criminalizing “lawfare”, a vague, provocative term invented by Alan Dershowitz in the ’60s.
If the law needs refining to deter politically-motivated, evidence-thin prosecutions, let’s amend it.
I would start with Grand Juries, by adding an element of adversarial presentation and interrogation of the prosecution. That is the best way to stop fishing expeditions like Bragg did.
It’s far too early for an OT post here, but this development disturbs me so much that I’m going to do so anyway.
Has a sell-out of Liberty even begun before Donald Trump Is inaugurated?
Tulsi Gabbard Says She Now Supports Controversial Surveillance Law
https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/tulsi-gabbard-says-she-now-supports-controversial-surveillance-law-5789879
“Gabbard had previously criticized Section 702 as enabling the government to ’trample’ upon civil liberties…
Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard from Hawaii, who is President-elect Donald Trump’s intended nominee to serve as director of national intelligence, announced on Jan. 10 that she supports reauthorizing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)—a controversial statute criticized by both progressives and conservatives that she previously opposed.
Section 702 allows U.S. intelligence agencies to collect information en masse from foreign targets through large-scale surveillance programs, which may sometimes collect the non-public data of U.S. citizens and others inside the United States. Ordinarily, to collect such information, the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment requires the government to obtain a warrant against individual targets.”
I note that the is no mention of anything indicating that Gabbard wants changes to Section 702 to safeguard US citizens before re-authorization – if that is the case, it could drastically change my analysis, but I am highly skeptical that TET would have failed to report that. I don’t know if Gabbard is stupid, spineless, or was a neocon plant all along. It also remains to be seen if Trump is on-board with this despicable abandonment of Constitutional principles. If he is not, he should immediately withdraw Gabbard’s name and replace her with someone who has both principles and spine enough to properly represent the interests of a free American people. If he approves of this, it would appear that we have all been had, and are fvcked. I am certain that several self-identified “Conservatives” who frequent this space are going to equivocate over Gabbard’s reversal, and/or slam me for this post. So be it.
In the reauthorization of FISA, the law needs amending to put an element of adversarial challenge in FISA Court hearings. A Citizens Advocate at these hearings would fill this gap. This would be a lawyer who is sworn to the security of the proceeding, but who looks out for the Constitutional rights of any U.S. Citizen who would be touched by the investigation. He/she confronts the FBI as to possible mistakes and misunderstandings in their evidence.
I encourage a Senator to ask Gabbard about adding the Citizens Advocate amendment to FISA.
I Agree. There should be a citizen’s advocate before all FISA proceedings, otherwise it’s just a Star Chamber in waiting for the next victim that the government does not like. An attorney representing the people might have been able to short circuit these investigations right from the start when it was obvious there was little to no substance to the allegations and made them dig out the so called evidence and not just use a fill in the blank form. I think the forms are filed under LAWFARE FISA REQUEST.
1-subject (Victim)
2-reason not sure yet but we don’t like him and we are researching possible crimes
3-Related organizations that may need investigation
A-republicans
B-Catholics
C-school board members
D-pro-life (we’re really tired of dealing with these people)
E-tax protestors (how dare them)
F-Rand Paul
G-Anyone else who is not progressive DNC
Can be signed by any FBI Agent or CIA agent or support staff on this planet.
That Is All
Just get rid of FISA and have DOJ/FBI seek normal warrants.
Well said & spot on.
National security is the constitutional domain of he president. No law beyond funding is necescary for the Executive to spy as egregiously as it wants on nun-US persons.
You would have to change the constitution to stop that.
There are two significant issues.
The first is how are US persons who are caught up in otherwise legitimate and limitless foreign spying to be dealt with.
The 2nd is how does the national security aparatus deal with US persons that are targets for US intelligence investigations.
The norm today is that US persons that show up in warantless foreign surveilance are masked. That only those handling the raw intelligence know the identities of those us persons,
and that those people do not participate in investigations or share that knowledge with those who do.
We have seen far too many instances in which those in government have requested the unmasking of us persons in intelligence products.
That needs to be made far harder.
The separate issue is how are legitimate investigations of US persons to be conducted.
There are TWO aspects of that.
A US person can be a legitimate target of an intelligence operation.
A US person can be a legitimate target of a criminal investigation.
This is where the FISA court comes in.
The national security aparatus surveiling US persons for national security reasons – has less constitutional constraints than those of a criminal investigation.
A warrant should be necescary – hence the FISA court, but the standard for that warrant are lower – an intelligence investigation is not a criminal investigation.
Conversely a criminal investigation should not go through FISA courts, even if national security is a factor.
But there must be serious roadblocks between those involved in national security intelligence gathering – which operates on lower standards. and criminal investigations which require probable cause. Sharing of information between the national security and criminal investigations needs to be near nonexistant.
And sharing information on the identity of US persons invovled in national security investigations needs to be near nonexistant.
Good comments, all. I will reserve judgement for now. I am very concerned because Trump’s naivety in his first term resulted in his relying on necons and Deep Staters such as John Bolton. Judging from his proposed appointees this time, I had seen hopeful indications that he had learned a hard lesson, and was going to successfully avoid similar mistakes. Gabbard’s flop took me completely by surprise. If Trump appoints people not openly associated with the Deep State or neocons, but it turns out that those appointees are puppets of the same forces, the results will be just as bad, or possibly worse. Trump has been given a strong mandate this time around, but at the same time there is a lot of risk: if he fails to deliver because of his own failings, or those of the people in his administration with whom he has surrounded himself, I’m not looking forward to what would follow.
Ultimately, Merchan will not be deemed the monster’s creator, but rather something like the witless lab assistant. Alvin Bragg will be regarded more like the construction engineer charged with building a case from a deck of cards. Merritt Garland is more like the grants administrator making sure all permits are signed and approving the questionable IRB*. Letitia James is something like the Hyena circling the courtroom keeping Merchan and Bragg on task. I think we all know who is the godfather of the Trump case, if not in detail, but clearly in for the trophy.
* An IRB (Institutional Research Board) is a permit for the experimenter working with human subjects to carry out the procedure(s).
No IRB I ever worked with would have ok’d this abomination. Also usually a committee and not one person.
I realize you were just making a humorous point. So not a complaint on my part
Merchan/Brag and Associates reminds me of the Tale of Two Cities, the scene of the Trials of those Accused of everything and Anything, Clown show/Kangaroo Court where everyone is found guilty by the rubber stamp jury and off with the accused head with cheers? NY Courts are now simply a legal Kangaroo court. Same for the DC courts.
For the first time there was a law firm dedicated to lawfare in DC. Many from J6 were arrested and languished without a trial. A public defender for several of the DC cases had an 100% loss rate and made her disdain for Trump supporters clear. Lawfare hurts us all but is most keenly felt by those without the power or means to fight it. It must stop
That is interesting. I don’t suppose that a complaint to the Bar Association would do any good. Sounds like a good case for a properly appointed special prosecutor. Might improve the public’s perception of the law if wrongdoing by attorneys are sanctioned and/or punished.
Judge Merchan has been a useful idiot of a dying system of social illiterates whose reign persists only in enclaves where the rule of law has become the tool of the elitocracy of money and celebrity.
“dying system of social illiterates…, “tool of the elitocracy of money and celebrity”
If I didn’t know better I’d say you are trying out the latest woke thesaurus us with this gobbledygook, or you copied your 22 year old woke college kid course books.
Merchan is hardly a useful idiot. He managed to convict Trump.
There were a lot of judges who sentenced a lot of people under Stalin and Hitler.
So, they weren’t useful idiots too you say?
Stalin and Hitler. Hey pal, what planet do you live on? Planet stupid?
So, not arguing the merit, but the person..
And you call him stupid..
Okay..
But his job was to administer justice and follow the law.
Your view that he sought to convict Trump and succeeded proves the problems with NYC.
It’s not a Qult. Really.
Walter
Did you think that up all by yourself or did GooGoo and Dennis help you?
LA Tofu burgers with smoked goat cheese extra crispy
The call it the McNewsom.
Sreinglass? What was the role of Colangelo, supposedly Biden’s number 3 man at Justice, who left to work at a county prosecutor’s office under Bragg?
The enforcer to make sure everything went as planned. Garland wanted someone from headquarters to keep the plebes on track.