All things related to Donald Trump's ever-growing legal woes

ABC said he was holding a bunch of random pamphlets but nothing specific, pretty sure he just grabbed some paper to get the fire going.

Yea, pretty sure he's dead.

Indications are that it's this guy (not confirmed)

https://www.newsweek.com/max-azzrello-donald-trump-trial-fire-instagram-post-1892374

Seems neither a maga, leftwing, pal etc.. but just a rando whack job.

Huh, weird.

Meanwhile, Judge Merchan is sick of Trump's stalling tactics and has decided opening statements begin Monday.

Apparently Trump's lawyers have been filing individual motions for each and every decision made by the judge, in an attempt to stall the trial and exhaust the prosecution. Bad move, really - it achieves nothing and just pisses off the judge.

Trump also failed with his emergency appeal to change venues, which was shut down by an appeals court.

I think Trump is saying he wants to testify during the trial, so keep some popcorn on hand. I doubt his lawyers will let him talk, but in the off-chance he does, it'll be fun to watch him accidentally admit to the crime and repeatedly perjure himself.

Stephen A waking up!! Never thought I'd see it lol

Donald Trump needs to wake up. He keeps falling asleep.

Latest rumour is that when drowsy don falls asleep in court he also shits his diaper.

Monday will be a horrible week for Donald Trump, despite starting his criminal trial, he still has the whole $175M bond issue looking like it'll fall apart.

The bonding company only has $138M in equity to cover the $175M bond. They claim Trump has a Schwab account with $175M of cash or cash equivalents which sounds dubious like he's leveraging his yo-yoing DJT stock with. This likely won't satisfy the surety bond requirements and DA James is requesting Trump be given 1 more week to secure the $175M bond, which if he can't secure means James will be able to raid his assets to cover the near half a billion dollar judgement. No way the judge will allow this bond to stand, it'd be like using IOUs as surety bonds.

He has to sweat this all at a time he should be 100% committed to his criminal trial, and if he has to spend every waking minute outside of trial frantically trying to scrounge uo $175M, he's going to be falling asleep in court and shitting his pants all week (again).

Of course, frantically trying to scrounge up the bond while in the midst of a criminal trial will be made even harder if his ass gets thrown into Rikers for his repeated violations of the gag order and using social media to attack the jurors and witnesses. He'll have a hearing for that next Tuesday. Most likely he'll just be warned again, maybe fined. I'd like to see Trump get equal justice and face the same consequences anybody else would get, and have his ass thrown in jail for the remainder of the trial. This would be a bad time to give Trump the idea he can flirt with the limits of the leeway the judge gives him, like he always does.

Even from a prison cell the Donald will be a much better President than sleepy Joe.

I'm very gratified he's having a bad time.

He's already been a worse president or do you like failing economies?

What are you talking about? Has your bloodline failed or something?

• Judge clarifies: Yes, Trump was found to have raped E. Jean Carroll - The Washington Post
• Trump will have the worst jobs record in modern U.S. history - The Washington Post
• Trump's GDP Growth Was the Worst Since the Great Depression - Bloomberg
• Presidents Day survey: Trump ranked last by historians, Biden 14th (axios.com)

Facts show otherwise. No shot that being a literal rapist and having the worst economy in modern history is better than Biden.

Biden vs. Trump on the economy: And the winner is … (yahoo.com)

"So a head-to-head comparison favors Biden for the next 10 months and if stocks do well he could beat Trump there also, for a 5-2 edge in our seven metrics."

Biden: U.S. economy world's best; Trump claims 'cesspool.' Data is clear (cnbc.com)

Meanwhile, U.S. gross domestic product grew 2.5% in 2023, significantly outpacing that of other developed economies, according to a January report from the International Monetary Fund. The IMF projected that the U.S. will hold that lead in 2024, though it expects the rate to come down to 2.1%.

“The U.S. economy is leading the way for the global economy. It’s driving the global economic train,” Moody’s chief economist Mark Zandi told CNBC.

But Zandi said that even adjusting for the calculation discrepancies, the U.S. still looks good on the inflation front.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/20/presidents-ranking-trump-biden-list

But i'm a creep. I'm a winrar. Wuddahellamdoing here?

Facts. Something you seem to ignore.

@shadyacshuns: that's drowsy Don to you.

So this trial is now properly underway.

Trump's defence is that (a) he claims his minions handled everything, and he just signed the cheques without knowing what they are, and (b) it's not illegal to sign non-disclosure agreements with porn stars, even if it was done to influence the election.

I also laughed at this part: "He’s also a man, he’s a husband, he’s a father, he’s a person who’s just like you and just like me.”

It's funny that they're trying to present Trump as some honest family man when his wife isn't there, he hasn't really denied paying hush money to the porn star to cover up his adultery, and the judge has agreed to accept evidence from the case that established he was a rapist.

It's also funny that they're trying to establish him as being just a regular person, when he was born into America's ruling class, he pretends to have half a billion dollars on hand, and the regular laws and rules clearly don't apply to him.

OMFG, I heard Trump's lawyer's opening statement read on the news and I was thinking it sounds like Trump wrote it himself on his phone on the shitter and his lawyers is reading it verbatim. He's so screwed if he's overriding his own lawyer.

So am I correct in saying that everyone involved in Donnie's conspiracy is happy to testify against him?

That leaves him in a terrible position. No wonder he keeps repeatedly trying to piss off the judge and intimidate the jury.

Biden was a pretty good president save for foreign policies. Surprisingly good on domestic issues.

Trump was bad on domestic issues, had disasterous consequences on foreign issues, but his worst aspect might have been the precedent he set. He has strongly cultivated the anti-intellectualism we seen since 2016. Trump is regarded as one of the worst US presidents for a reason.

So Donald posted a lot of things overnight, including this:

"Judge Merchan should be immediately removed, and the Appellate Courts have to take over. That also applies to Corrupt Judge Engoron, who knew I did nothing wrong, and still fraudulently fined me $500 Million Dollars while having no knowledge of Valuation, Finance, or in any way what he was doing. Same with Judge Kaplan, who allowed a woman, who I have never met (celebrity photo line does not count!), and know nothing about, to get a lawless judgment of $90 Million Dollars. New York Justice is in shambles, and only the Appellate Courts can save it."

This is interesting for a few reasons:

(1) Donald is making a last ditch effort to win the court of public opinion, because he's losing in the actual courts. The real courts rejected his arguments and found him guilty/liable. It's much easier to lie on your own social media platform than it is to lie to a judge and a prosecutor.

(2) Donald is further defaming Carroll and is posting in contempt of Menchan. Dumb dumb dumb.

(3) Donald noticeably isn't attacking Judge Canon, even though she is also presiding over one of his criminal cases. Gosh, I wonder why he's so friendly towards this one judge...

In related news, seven of Donald's co-conspirators got indicted in Arizona for their attempts to subvert the 2020 election, including Rudi Guiliani, Mark Meadows, and Boris Epshteyn.

It's a good start, and more names will follow. Although it's wild that the US took this long to take action against an attempted coup.

Trump has a speed addiction? News to me.

Normally, rich people don't have to go to jail, because money. If Trump actually gets what he deserves for his crimes, that's awesome. Hope it's a turning point for the US.

It appears the Trump team is celebrating despite expecting to lose the scotus case. They already achieved their goal of pushing back the trial date past the election when the scotus said no to Jack Smith's request to expedite and yes to Trump's request several months later. They fully expect to lose their argument, but that doesn't matter.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trump-celebrating-supreme-court-immunity-heist-1235009838/

Even when he loses he will still act as if he won.

Oh wait, he already did that.

@DEVILinIRON: technically I think it's suggested he was on Provigil, a name brand version of Modafinil, which is a neural stimulant and cognitive enhancer with similar effects as amphetamines, but not an amphetamine.

This came out as part of that long questionable list of drugs going through the White House pharmacy with no accountability of who they were for. But I've no doubt Trump was on them after he's numerous times he's accused Biden of the same thing (psychological projection).

Boy, it may be AI generated but gosh darn does it really captures the national moment perfectly.

Was going to quote, but there are so many good ones in there.

There is only one problem Trump did not commit a crime. Here is the real problem Democrats only live for the momet not he future. Do they not think that when they are out of power that Repiblicans will not do the same to them as they are doing to Trump trying Demoract political leaders in court when no crime has been commited. By the way Blinken should be charged with election infterference for his role in the election interfreience in the 2020 election.

You're right. He didn't comment "a" crime. He committed multiple crimes.

...huh?

They should do tests on MAGA people. They must have something in common that makes them throw all logic and common sense out the window. Maybe they could be helped.

soo republicans see it was wrong yet promise to do the same? so they're admitting they would do things they know are wrong when in power?

It's setting a new bar

A new low

A new precedent

I don't think it's a secret that once a side decides to win by such means the other side will respond in kind.

JimB is right here

So Trump is above the law? A King of sorts? The evidence is extreme, why should the case not be tried?

How did you come to this determination?

Why bullshit in front of journalists, he should testify in court! Or is he too chicken?

The Republicans are finally learning, do unto others as they do unto you.

Trump has been threatened by the Prosecution if he testifies. Trump wants to testify. These trials and charges are so much bullshit. The Democrats can't run on their policies so they have to eliminate the competition. Under their policies the US has become a train wreck. This is what happens when you have an incompetent leader and a DEI administration.

Nope. He's not testifying because he will someone screw himself lol.

In a reversal, Donald Trump says he won't testify in his own defense in New York fraud trial (nbcnews.com)

None of them are bullshit and each has a large amount of clear evidence. It's not even questionable.

I would literally be agreeing with you if the evidence wasn't monumental.

Nope,

• Trump's GDP Growth Was the Worst Since the Great Depression - Bloomberg
• Trump will have the worst jobs record in modern U.S. history - The Washington Post
• US econ­o­my ‘envy of the world’: Biden takes on Trump’s big ad­van­tage | Business and Economy News | Al Jazeera
• How US oil production hit a record under Biden despite climate policies (reuters.com)
• FTC votes to ban noncompete agreements | The Hill

• At its two-year anniversary, the bipartisan infrastructure law continues to rebuild all of America | Brookings

Go ban abortion and Rosa Parks books or something lol. That's when you guys aren't doing your usually GOP economic destruction.

@JimB: "Trump has been threatened by the Prosecution if he testifies. Trump wants to testify."

What complete and utter bullshit.

You have no idea how courts work, and so you believe Trump's lies without questioning them.

The prosecution WANTS Trump to testify. The man can barely string a coherent sentence together, and he lies constantly. He'd perjure himself over and over, and probably admit to the crime along the way.

You have to understand why Trump says all of these things to the media, and not in the courtroom. In the media, Trump can't be questioned. He can't be challenged. He can't be presented evidence that proves he is wrong. He can't be punished for lying. He can control the narrative perfectly on camera, so he can invent whatever version of reality he likes.

In the courtroom, Trump is powerless, and his lies and inconsistent statements will be ripped to shreds. For Trump's lawyers, Trump testifying is an absolute fail-state. There's no way to run a successful defence once that happens.

So you'll notice that over and over and over and over, Trump will show bravado online about how strong his case is. Then he'll present terrible arguments in court that often fail on basic civil procedure. Then he'll step out on the courtroom steps and whinge that they wouldn't hear his strong arguments.

It's Trump's way of conning his supporters into ignoring his constant failures. He supporters instantly believe it because they don't have legal backgrounds and don't think critically about what the other side is saying. Those of us with legal backgrounds can immediately see through his tactics.

@JimB: Holy shit, you think the prosecution has threatened Trump to not testify?

It's crazy to think they would try threaten him out of that, that would be a wet dream for the prosecution lol.

Guys, Jim is 80 years old. Give him a break.

They did, they told him that if he testifies they will bring up his other cases which have nothing to do with this trial.

The Democrats have no bounds they won't break to get what they want even if they destroy the legal system in the process which they already did.

Some how you ignore the US train wreck to focus on Trump. You folks act Nero fiddling while Rome burns. Trump already beat you.

Jim, you're arguing with yourself here. I'm going to ignore your rebuttals to yourself for now and simply ask for a link to your claim that the prosecution team threatened Trump so he wouldn't testify.

I just read the court transcripts for 22 April. They discuss this between pages 825 and 832 of the transcript, including about 5 pages from the judge discussing principles of law and fairness.

So I can confidently say the prosecution never threatened Trump.

Instead, here's what was discussed:

The basic idea is that if a witness is going to testify in court, the other party can question their credibility. That can include discussing their past crimes or criminal acts. That's how courts work. Before the jury will hear a witness, they need to be satisfied the witness will tell the truth.

It gets more complicated when the witness is the defendant in a criminal trial. The prosecution IS allowed to bring up past crimes to challenge their credibility, and there are many past cases where this happened.

There is a risk that discussing past crimes might unfairly influence the jury. So to mitigate the risk, the trial judge can set limits on which cases can be raised, how they can be discussed, and how the jury can use them.

So in this trial, the prosecution wanted to discuss 6 cases. Menchan said they could discuss 4 in a limited way, only when challenging Trump's credibility. The other 2 cases can't be discussed at all. Trump's lawyers didn't challenge this decision.

TLDR? It's not a threat. It's the normal functioning of the law. If Trump wants to testify, his credibility will be challenged, and the jury will probably hear that e.g. Trump was found guilty of fraud. That's the risk any defendant takes when testifying.

What train wreck?

The US handled the post covid Recession pretty well compared to most countries. Which is a significant improvement compared to how poorly Trump handled COVID.