The Trump Circus Continues
Scene Two of the "Donald Trump Indictment Circus" happened today, and things just keep getting more and more surreal. For instance, on the way from the courthouse to the airport, Trump made a quick campaign stop. You just can't make this stuff up, folks.
I must confess that I'm somewhat at a loss for words today, as I sit waiting to see whether the networks will cover Trump's "indictment party" speech live, when he gets back to his New Jersey golf club. He's not just going to give what he will see as a triumphant speech, he's also holding a fundraiser. Because Trump never misses a chance at grifting his rubes one more time.
It made me all wonder how long it would take before such an event was not treated as breaking news and became so mundane and unnewsworthy that the networks barely covered it at all. Instead of commercial-free hours of watching a pathetically small crowd outside a courthouse (since cameras aren't allowed inside), could Trump eventually instead just get a brief mention on the evening news? "In other news, Donald Trump sat through his twelfth arraignment today, on another 52 felony charges, bringing the total number of crimes he has been charged with up to 479. In the world of sports...."
As I said, it's been a surreal sort of day. And this is only Scene Two of the opening act. Scene Three is scheduled for early August, in Georgia, where Trump is likely going to face charges of election interference for his efforts to overturn the state's 2020 vote. And there may also be a fourth scene, if Trump is also federally indicted for any crimes surrounding the January 6th insurrection attempt or any of his other post-election activities.
It has taken a long time to get here, obviously. If any of these legal processes had happened sooner, Trump might have been found guilty in a court of law before people will get to vote for him again. This doesn't seem likely now. The first case (filed in New York) won't go to trial until spring of next year -- right in the middle of primary season. The case filed today could happen at any time, but the judge controlling it for now has already shown blatant bias towards Trump and could even schedule the trial after next year's November elections. Even if she doesn't, a trial happening before next spring or summer seems unlikely. The Georgia case could move faster, but there's no guarantee of that (and the charges won't even be filed until August). All of this adds up to millions of people voting for or against Trump before they even know if he'll be a convicted criminal before he takes office. Which is indeed pretty surreal.
But then, the whole thing is surreal. Trump, according to the indictment, schemed to keep all sorts of presidential records in boxes so he could riffle through them and pull random ones out to impress his guests. "Hey, look -- isn't this cool?" truly seems to be the only reason Trump fought so hard to keep all this stuff. He told his aide to move over 50 boxes from the storeroom (which must have had hundreds of other boxes of stuff) and conceal them from people searching for classified materials. He kept nuclear secrets, defense information for our country and foreign countries, and even a Pentagon plan of attack against a foreign country. These are not personal papers by any stretch of the imagination, and no matter how many times Trump and his supporters echo the supposedly-magic words: "Presidential Records Act," they will still in no conceivable way be Trump's personal papers. The P.R.A. specifies what can be considered "personal records" and it includes things like personal diaries or journals and campaign materials, but nowhere does it include "highly-classified military plans or analyses" -- and for good reason.
Trump could have given all this stuff back at any time, and we simply would not be where we are today. But he didn't. Because according to him, rules don't apply to Donald Trump. Rules are for other people, not him. This attitude is what led Trump to being indicted today, plain and simple. Because he wanted to show off for his guests.
As happened in his previous arraignment, Trump will likely get a boost in the polls for being charged with national security violations. Today's Republican Party is a personality cult and nothing more. The few voices of sanity and reason in the party are left crying in the wilderness, as everyone else tunes in for another episode of the Trump Circus.
During his campaign stop at a Cuban sandwich restaurant, the crowd broke into a rendition of "Happy Birthday To You," since Trump will turn 77 years old tomorrow. It was perhaps the most surreal thing about the entire day. But at this late date, it seemed about par for Trump's course. "Congratulations on your 37 federal felony indictments!" isn't normally something you'd hear anyone say, but in the surreal world of Donald Trump such things are becoming almost normal.
-- Chris Weigant
Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant
And there’s emoluments and corrupt Javanka and Mueller’s ten counts of obstruction.
I’m watching Trump at Bedminster. As earlier at the restaurant, Trump isn’t smiling. Trump is doing his usualstream of consciousness thing only it’s centered on today’s indictment and a whole bunch of whataboutism. Hillary and other Presidents and so on. The crowd is pretty quiet as there’s not anything new to see and hear here.
CW
Scene Two of the "Donald Trump Indictment Circus" happened today, and things just keep getting more and more surreal.
"Indictment Two" happened before many of us even had the chance to take down the decorations from our "Indictment One" celebrations.
These are not personal papers by any stretch of the imagination, and no matter how many times Trump and his supporters echo the supposedly-magic words: "Presidential Records Act," they will still in no conceivable way be Trump's personal papers.
Exactly right. As of noon on January 20, 2021, the instant President Biden took office, all presidential records of the Trump Administration came into the legal custody of the Archivist of the United States:
*
In point of fact, claiming you had the right to take the documents isn't a defense; it's a confession that you took them. So many shitty Trumpian defenses, none of which hold up in a court of law.
Shitty Defenses in a Court of Law
Repetitive but factual:
* "If they can do this to me; they can do it to you." Accurate but a much better translation is: "No one is above the law." If you steal nuclear secrets, you bet your ass they can do it to you. Except there really is a two-tier system of justice. If you or I actually did steal nuclear secrets, we probably wouldn't get 18 days -- forget about 18 months -- wherein we could return them and "no harm, no foul." After they searched and recovered nuclear secrets from your residence and every property you owned (not just one), your ass would be jailed until your trial and not allowed to be released "OR" -- on your Own Recognizance.
* If we stole nuclear secrets and refused to return them for 18 months, and our defense is "but Hillary," "but Joe Biden," or "but Mike Pence," it is like telling the entire world we ain't got no defense and are up Shit Creek without a paddle... or an effing clue.
* If you stole nuclear secrets and your defense is to whine about the sitting president having his political opponent indicted, that is also a shitty defense... particularly and especially when you were recently a sitting president who demanded his AG indict his political opponent. Are there no Republicans who remember the fact that Donald Trump demanded his AG arrest Joe Biden (and not for the first time)?
Donald Trump Calls for AG Barr to Indict Joe Biden With 26 Days Until Election
It's also an incredibly equally stupid defense when you keep claiming your opponent is helping you by having you indicted. I mean, pick a lane. You saying it helps you and then whining it hurts you is schizophrenic as well as quantifiably ignorant.
* If you stole nuclear secrets and are claiming "I would have returned them if I only had time" after months and months of shit-tons of time, you're not a victim but an effing comedian.
* If you stole nuclear secrets and your defense is some bullshit story about declassifying the nuclear secrets beforehand by just thinking about it, it's not only asinine on its face, it's also side-splitting comedy. There is no "Jedi mind trick" method of declassification, and no amount of ridiculous claims by Trump that he declassified the nuclear secrets changes the fact he had unlawful possession of them and refused to return them. And say you were Trump and one of the last things you did just hours before leaving the office of the presidency was to actually declassify documents related to "Operation Crossfire Hurricane" ... how stupid do you think it would sound to claim that "Jedi mind trick" declassification method (not a method) when you obviously knew the proper procedure? Rhetorical question.
So then, Trump has apparently chosen to lie and delay and hope he is elected to the presidency where he (wrongly) believes he could then pardon himself... as if the Supreme Court will declare that is somehow constitutional. I don't think so. Why do I believe without question they would declare the power to pardon himself is unconstitutional? Simple:
Because even a stupid judge can grasp the concept/fact that if the Supreme Court granted the POTUS the power to pardon himself, any sitting president could simply order the execution of certain undesirable justices on the Supreme Court and then simply pardon himself and appoint their replacements. None of this is rocket science.
So keep lying and confessing, Donald. Everything you say can be used against you in a court of law. Your only chance at a pardon will have to come from another Republican president, and I would wager there would be millions and millions more Americans who would vote for anybody else besides a Republican candidate just to ensure that you cannot be pardoned.
So if America wants to see Trump punished for his crimes, you must vote for a Democrat. :)
So if America wants to see Trump punished for his crimes, you must vote for a Democrat. :)
That right there is the essential conclusion.
Of course, talking up the demerits in the overall of the Republican cult of economic failure wouldn't hurt the cause, either.
Kick [2]
Nice summary
Kick
Just for clarification, I'm curious about exactly how you (or anybody concerned,lawyers, judges, whatever) define "nuclear secrets"??
Does anybody really think Trump, who I feel certain flunked high-school physics, is hoarding scientific information about how to make do-it-yourself atomic bombs???
The man is so phuqueing dumb he thinks China pays the import taxes he levied, and we're worried about him possessing "nuclear secrets"?????
C. R. Stucki
5
Just for clarification, I'm curious about exactly how you (or anybody concerned,lawyers, judges, whatever) define "nuclear secrets"??
The nuclear capabilities of the United States and what we've gathered about the nuclear potentiality of foreign nations... and all that this entails.
Does anybody really think Trump, who I feel certain flunked high-school physics, is hoarding scientific information about how to make do-it-yourself atomic bombs???
An individual DIY atomic bomb? An individual could not produce an atomic bomb without access to plutonium and enriched uranium.
If you seriously believe that's what is meant by "nuclear secrets," I will "do you a solid" and explain how your time would be much better spent by questioning your own level of intelligence versus anyone else's, including Trump.
The man is so phuqueing dumb he thinks China pays the import taxes he levied, and we're worried about him possessing "nuclear secrets"?????
I will do you another "solid" now and hereby inform you that if you're somebody making light of the damage that could occur by any individual with access to hundreds of America's most Top-Secret documents including nuclear secrets and war plans, that is the living embodiment and very definition of (your words) "phuqueing dumb."
Would you like "war plans" explained to you now? :)
Elizabeth Miller
3
That right there is the essential conclusion.
What could it hurt if Democrats made it clear to every voter in America that electing any Republican is a pardon for Trump?
No one is above the law: Hold Trump accountable. Vote Democratic.
Of course, talking up the demerits in the overall of the Republican cult of economic failure wouldn't hurt the cause, either.
Yep. Great idea. What could it hurt?