I'm anxiously awaiting two things: a final verdict... and will Judge Merchan do something about the obvious gag order violations: "Making or directing others to make public statements..." The politicians who showed up on the taxpayer dime to support a criminal, all wearing their red ties, to disparage the judge and his daughter should be held accountable. I just cant imagine despising anyone as much as I despise tRump.
Those surrogates issuing Trump-edited denunciations on his behalf are people who at the very least want to benefit in the event of a Trump victory in November, and in several cases will want to be pardoned for any involvement in January 6th. If (as I fervently hope) Trump loses in November his other trials WILL go forward and he very likely WILL be found guilty. At some point, the other participants who have heretofore escaped with their Congressional careers intact can expect to be subpoenaed and indicted. I am surprised that Jordan, Greene, Comer, Gosar, and Johnson weren't sitting in the courtroom as well.
"I am surprised that Jordan, Greene, Comer, Gosar, and Johnson weren't sitting in the courtroom as well." Millions of law-abiding, pro-democracy Americans are just as surprised. I'm outraged that 3+ years later they are roaming free and spreading more lies to help MAGA and destroy our democracy.
Sadly, I think millions more America aren't surprised b/c the sheer horror of the dismantling of the rule of law by the GOP and Trump isn't being reported by most regular news sources, and certainly not accurately (hello, NYT).
And so many people, including pro-democracy activists I know, are overwhelmed w/ news and are barely following politics. It feels like many news sources (hello, NYT and NPR) are hedging their bets and obeying in advance, just in case tfg wins.
I think action (postcards, LTEs, etc), gardening, and chocolate help me, but oh my the anger, sadness, and helplessness is still there. Plus total mystification as to why so many people don't seem to care about the threats to our freedoms.
I'm sorry that happened to you Marge. Perhaps you could put a sign on the damage, stating, "This was done by a Republican". I would do that, but then, I drive a rusty, 15 year old Chevy pickup.
My take on the closed eyes is that it is a tactic to disassociate himself from the situation, his narcissism causess him to perk up when his posts are being read or footage of himself is shown, taking the stand would put him in a participating position and he's too big a coward for that. Hoping for justice to prevail.
It may be that we need a new pathological term for someone who can't help themselves either from stealing or from falling asleep on the spot. Narcoklepsy.
Here's a new one I learned today, only applies to the pathological lying, but I liked the ‘myth' part since their big lie claims were just that, a myth of their own making.
I’m going to list-out the reasons why I think that President Joseph R Biden Jr will resoundingly win re-election this coming November:
1) President Joe Biden is an American Patriot and a True Leader. On the other side, there's Trump, a proven liar, a proven fraud, a con and a grifter, a sexual predator, a serial defamer, a tax cheat, a scumbag of the highest order, a traitor who is referred to as Putin's Puppet, a fascist, a person who says neo-Nazi's are "fine people." REAL Americans won't vote for Liar, Fraud, Con, soon-to-be convicted Criminal Trump.
2) Nikki Haley won 22% of the vote in the very recent Indiana Republican Primary. Nikki Haley DROPPED OUT OF THE RACE over two months ago! The vote total Haley got is proof that 1/5th of Republican voters KNOW that Liar, Fraud, Con Trump is a disaster, America's Disgrace. Come election time, these Republican voters will either vote for Biden or will not vote at all.
3) Trump's tax cuts for the wealthy - coupled with Trump's arrogance and incompetence at the outset of the Covid Pandemic and during the pandemic - caused the inflation our country experienced. The problem was inherited by President Biden. Biden, through passage of measures to resuscitate our economy, and, with that, the rebuilding of our economy (including significant job growth), our country is working its way out of the hole that Trump got us in. Biden's accomplishments are what you expect from a LEADER. Come election time, the majority of voters will realize that Biden is the obvious choice for President for the next four years
4) Although our country's youth does not like military conflict, Israel did not start the HAMAS/Israel war. Israel has every right to rid the Planet of disgusting HAMAS. (Every single one of them.) It is admirable that President Biden pledged his full support of Israel's right to exist and to defend itself from terrorists. Come November, our country's youth will realize that Biden is the clear choice for President.
5) As to Palestinian-Americans (and I am friends with and have worked with Palestinian-Americans), come November, they will have a very clear choice - - they can either choose to support President Biden's re-election or they can choose to support for President an absolute sc umbag (Trump) who will try everything he can to DEPORT them. (Remember very clearly ex-President Trump's efforts to ban Muslims from coming into America.)
6) BOTH President BIDEN and Fraud TRUMP are old. BUT, THERE’S A VERY BIG DIFFERENCE! Trump is a liar, a fraud, a con, a sc umbag, a racist, a fascist, a traitor, a s ex abuser, a serial defamer, a coward, an arrogant imbecile, Putin’s puppet, America’s Presidential Accident & Disgrace….. AND an all-around piece-of-shit. Not to mention (but I will, anyway) an asshole who has been ordered by courts to pay over $500 million for fraud and defamation, an asshole who is facing 91 felony counts, including a racketeering charge. Whether to choose Biden or Trump is NOT A HARD CHOICE!!!!
7) Sc um Trump takes credit for installing Justices on SCOTUS who did away with Roe v. Wade. This action has eroded women's rights! REAL Americans will vote to fully restore and to protect and preserve "a woman's right to make decisions about her healthcare and her family." A substantial majority of women will support the re-election of President Biden.
8) Republicans, especially MAGAt Republicans, are doing everything they can to repress the vote of minorities. Republican gerrymandering is off the charts. For people like me who believe that EVERYONE IS EQUAL, THAT THERE MUST BE EQUAL RIGHTS FOR ALL, there is no question that President Biden deserves our support.
9) The disgusting “company” Trump keeps. Roger Stone (Campaign Advisor): convicted. Rick Gates (Deputy Campaign Chair): convicted. Michael Cohen (Personal Lawyer): convicted. George Papadopoulos (Campaign Advisor): convicted. Paul Manafort (Campaign Chairman): convicted. Mike Flynn (National Security Advisor): convicted. Peter Navarro, (adviser): convicted. Steve Bannon (Campaign chair/advisor): convicted. Rudy Giuliani (Personal Lawyer): disgraced, disbarred, convicted. Jenna Ellis (Former Trump attorney): convicted. Sidney Powell (Former Trump attorney): convicted.
10) Traitor Trump’s best buddy, dictator Vladimir Putin. Putin got his puppet Trump elected in 2016. Putin failed to get his puppet Trump re-elected in 2020. Sc um Trump tried hard to dismantle NATO when he was President. NATO is the organization that stands in the way of Putin’s desire to imitate Sc um Hitler’s attempted takeover of Europe. If Sc um traitor Trump becomes President again, Trump will put the U.S. out of NATO; he will give his buddy Putin the green light to take over Ukraine; he will not stop Putin from expanding Russia to additional countries.
11) Trump is a liar of the highest order…. and a complete fraud. He told the American People he would work without a salary. What he, in fact, did do is grift millions of dollars from the U.S. Treasury. (Add up the money the U.S. Treasury paid to Trump-owned and controlled entities during Trump’s time as President.) Fraud Trump also found a way to scam a $2 Billion payoff from the Saudi’s.
12) Trump is a con of the highest order. He wants everyone to think he’s a success in business, when, in fact, the vast majority of his businesses failed. The only reason why Trump still has money is because of the billions of dollars Putin-directed Russian Mafia and Russian Oligarchs have laundered through Trump’s condo projects.
ALL FACTORS CONSIDERED, I'M EXPECTING THAT PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN, JR WILL RING UP A RESOUNDING - A BLOWOUT - VICTORY and that our American Disgrace, Liar, Fraud, Con, Criminal, Traitor, Scum-of-the-earth will go down in flames.
Comment on Nikki Haley doing so well in primaries after she dropped out of the race: I believe at least a portion of those votes (and maybe even a large portion) are from Republican voters who are so disconnected from from current events that they didn’t know Haley had dropped out. As Republicans, will they support tRump in November? Time will tell.
Comment on Republican supporters in general: I saw an interview with a female Georgia Republican this morning where she stated she supports tRump because she believes he has “a heart of gold”. 🤮🤢
Independent here, but definitely voting Biden. In our state primaries I voted for Nikki Haley in the hopes it would p1$$ trump off. One of the little joys of life!
Joel - your keyboard to the gods’ ears. But…gerrymandering, purging millions of presumed democrats from the voter rolls,hiring armed thugs to challenge voters at the polls, one-sided MSM…..
As in, as I suspect, Trump demanding that in the opening arguments that everything Stormy Daniels said was a lie. Thus challenging her credibility. Which is why she had to testify.
It doesn’t hurt to dream. For that matter, that would also mean that 99% of Republicans should resign due to ethical reasons. They have committed or have been complicit in treason.
There's a story about that somewhere. Sorry, I can't remember where. I think if Trump is found guilty, Blanche will still be applauded for giving the clown a high-end defense. Criminal attorneys consider that a civic duty. If he's found not guilty, he'll be known as the guy who helped the slick eel get away, but he'll be a hero in the Trump community. Which is not a blessing at all, since they all make an art of throwing each other under the bus.
Yeah, I was thinking when I wrote that comment, that if Blanche does manage to bring in a verdict of innocent (despite everything his buffoonish client from hell can do to hex the defense) then he'll be a MAGA hero. Ugh...who would want THAT on their resume (other than it's a victory for him--but is that all they care about?)
All MAGA victories are short-lived. Very few of those closest to him in his inner circle last long. Stephen Miller is one of the few i can think of. And the perpetually awful Steven Cheung.
The whole celebrity defendant thing SO needs to go away. I don't care if the defendant is the Secretary General of the Known Universe. If they are a criminal - they are a criminal. We all know that, had any of us done one hundredth of what Trump did, we would be in the slammer already. There would have been no upmteen appeals or requests for information or repeated this and that. I think the law should apply to the people of status even more rigorously than to regular citizenship - because status means greater responsibility and greater impact.
In the OJ case, the prosecution made several huge mistakes in presenting the evidence, including asking OJ to put on the black glove that had been found at the scene. Yes! It was the prosecutor, not his defense counsel, who asked OJ to try on the glove.
It's a real thing, I agree. But times were different then: Rodney King's videotaped assault by the LAPD was fresh. I believe racism and police brutality had some effect on the jurors.
Trump thought it was clever to copy the mobster technique of surrounding himself with criminals and liars, so if they ever turned on him he could say “You’re gonna believe these people? They’re criminals and liars!”
He’s also using the domestic abuser’s tactic of goading people into hating him, which he will then call “bias.”
But he’s been subjected to his worst nightmare: a slow, steady focus on him and what he’s done, without his being able to yell “Whatabout …”
So in the end he doesn’t really have an argument. His defenses are:
1. You can’t do this to me because I’m Donald Trump; and
2. You can’t do this to me because it would be a shame if anything happened to you or your daughter.
Unfortunately, these could still work.* And as we’ve seen this week, he has at least several members of Congress willing to sign on to both of these defenses.
*(Like I’ve said before, Trump has been such an openly repulsive pig for so long it could be legitimately difficult to get all the jurors to go back eight years and imagine a time when Trump would pay to bury this story because it would hurt him.)
Considering that NOTHING happens in Trump’s world that Trump doesn’t know about, as the prosecution adeptly pointed out, and considering that it is blatantly obvious that the payoff to Stormy was done to benefit the campaign (and not to prevent Melania’s tears from flowing), as the prosecution adeptly pointed out, and considering the fact that Trump’s own words - regarding the plan and scheming - were captured by a recording (that was played to the jury), as the prosecution adeptly pointed out, if I was a juror, there would be absolutely no doubt, no doubt at all, that Trump is GUILTY of all charges.
There have been times in the past in our country when people who committed murder were acquitted solely because of the prejudice of jurors. What I'm saying is that the jurors full well know that the person on trial did commit the murder, but did not want to convict the murderer because, like them, the murderer was white. In the current case, we have a person (Trump) who was OBVIOUSLY AND BLATANTLY involved in the crimes that were committed, as the prosecution team has, to me, proven beyond ANY reasonable doubt. That said, it only takes one Trump-supporter on the jury to let Trump off the hook even though that juror full well knows that Trump is guilty. Sad time in our country.
As much I would like him to be six feet under, I just don't want him to be turned into a martyr. All is MAGATS and cronies would yell: "See what you have done?! You killed him with your false accusations! You broke his "heart of gold"!!!" (see comment above about one of his supporters saying she votes for him because "he has a heart of gold").
I prefer to see him behind bars in a yellow jumpsuit fading into obscurity.
In the photos from yesterday's hearing, he clearly has the diagonal earlobe crease (Frank's sign) which has been associated with major adverse cardiovascular events and stroke. The deeper and more complex the crease, the higher the risk.
I think Trump is sociopathic and his reptilian heart does not register stress like regular people do—he has no conscience , no shame. He’d only see this all as an obstacle that can be overcome with help from his mob gang. Alito and Thomas are at the ready…
I’ll be surprised if the Defense offers any witnesses, because they really don’t have a credible alternative explanation of what happened and why. So they’ll do what most defense attorneys do when the client is guilty-try to distract and confuse the jury. Sometimes it works, but the prisons are full of people where the tactic didn’t work. Only time will tell.
Can you prove beyond a reasonable doubt the farts came from Trump? Can you prove the “so-called” smelly fart was composed of hydrogen sulfide? Where are your spectrographic analyses?
You have these analyses? Oh!!! Do you have scientific proof of the gas dispersal pattern to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the gas emanated from Trump’s ass? You do?
The wonderful press. Let’s watch on TV Trump slur to the cameras that the chemist and the physicist are Trump haters and part of the biggest witch hunt in the entire history of humanity.
What is “reasonable doubt”? What IS the meaning of the word IS?
The lyon speaks but we do not understand him and the ghost of Wittgenstein weeps.
I don't think the defense has anything. Dumpy, micromanager that he is, is insistent that he never, ever slept with Stormy Daniels, and he wants his lawyers to follow his instructions to the letter. They try to follow his commands even if it makes them look silly. So I think all they've got is "President Dumpy didn't have sex with Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen is a felon and a proven lawyer." It'll be interesting to see what they come up with.
If Trump is convicted of the felonies, I'm looking forward to the debates between Trump and President Biden. Biden should then go after Trump for his immorality, the fact he is a convicted felon, and facing felony criminal trials in three other jurisdictions. Take the gloves off Joe!
Someone aptly pointed out elsewhere that Trump isn't trying to argue that he is innocent, he's trying to argue that he should be able to commit crimes.
Do you think Trump's attorneys ever advised him that it would be better (and cheaper) to plead guilty at the outset and throw himself on the mercy of the court? I go back and forth on this .... whether his attorneys were ever brave enough to even suggest to Trump that he's guilty. He clearly is and would have probably garnered a lesser, plea-bargained penalty had he pled guilty right away. I imagine it would have faded from the public mind quicker, too. Trump's malignant narcissism, his inability to admit he's less than perfect, works against him time and time again. At least I hope so. I'm crossing my fingers for an honest jury.
Oh boy, I hate to say this but: I think the poor cross by Todd Blanche was intentional. Why? Well he's a former prosecutor, and not an experienced defense attorney. So he does a terrible job with his cross of Cohen. THEN he gets a whole sh** load of good legal advice from the talking heads on MSNBC and other media outlets. (full disclosure: I like most of these talking heads, most of the time) But people like Andrew Weissmann are dishing out free legal advice. saying things like "I don't understand why Blanche didn't do... (insert expert legal defense tactic). And I bet he'll get more good legal advice in the news today! AND he has a day "off" to take note and practice before court tomorrow! In this day and age of instant news and commentary, I think this a good strategy if you're not an experienced defense attorney.
I hope that continues to be true. I just remember the Stormy Daniels cross, the defense lawyer was much better on Thursday than on Tuesday; not that it mattered much.
Can’t wait. Then again I’ve been waiting since 2016. Well, we all know any guilty verdict is ready to be appealed. They’ve probably already written it up.
It's going to be fascinating to see if Trump's hubris overrides his counsel's advice to not testify. SBF thought he was smarter than the people defending him and we see where that got him.
May someone with money fly a banner near Trump saying to not be a coward & get on the stand.
I'm anxiously awaiting two things: a final verdict... and will Judge Merchan do something about the obvious gag order violations: "Making or directing others to make public statements..." The politicians who showed up on the taxpayer dime to support a criminal, all wearing their red ties, to disparage the judge and his daughter should be held accountable. I just cant imagine despising anyone as much as I despise tRump.
"I just can't imagine despising anyone as much as I despise tRump."
Yes.I think I'll get that on a bumper sticker.
Add this one to your bumper sticker list as well:
"IF YOU DON'T LIKE ABORTIONS, GET A VASECTOMY"
https://youtu.be/v6rc1hbfUiE?si=T5japgBn1y3CJe5U
I’d add to that let’s get the FDA to take Viagra off the market.
In this video Jasmine Crockett gives an excellent reason for doing so.
We definitely need more representatives like her!
Jasmine Crockett is brilliant! Yes, indeed, "we definitely need more representatives like her"! Thank you, Vickie, for sharing this video.
You’re welcome!
The sign I saw a young woman carrying said: "If you don't like abortions, ignore them like you do mass shootings."
Or wear a condom
Those surrogates issuing Trump-edited denunciations on his behalf are people who at the very least want to benefit in the event of a Trump victory in November, and in several cases will want to be pardoned for any involvement in January 6th. If (as I fervently hope) Trump loses in November his other trials WILL go forward and he very likely WILL be found guilty. At some point, the other participants who have heretofore escaped with their Congressional careers intact can expect to be subpoenaed and indicted. I am surprised that Jordan, Greene, Comer, Gosar, and Johnson weren't sitting in the courtroom as well.
"I am surprised that Jordan, Greene, Comer, Gosar, and Johnson weren't sitting in the courtroom as well." Millions of law-abiding, pro-democracy Americans are just as surprised. I'm outraged that 3+ years later they are roaming free and spreading more lies to help MAGA and destroy our democracy.
Sadly, I think millions more America aren't surprised b/c the sheer horror of the dismantling of the rule of law by the GOP and Trump isn't being reported by most regular news sources, and certainly not accurately (hello, NYT).
But I fervently hope you are right.
And so many people, including pro-democracy activists I know, are overwhelmed w/ news and are barely following politics. It feels like many news sources (hello, NYT and NPR) are hedging their bets and obeying in advance, just in case tfg wins.
I know I often feel overwhelmed...mostly by anger, sadness and helplessness over all of this.
I think action (postcards, LTEs, etc), gardening, and chocolate help me, but oh my the anger, sadness, and helplessness is still there. Plus total mystification as to why so many people don't seem to care about the threats to our freedoms.
Mine is, “I hate that I hate, but DAMN, I hate this asshole.”
Daniel - My bumper stickers from the Orange Administration say “Resist” and “Facts Matter.” And someone keyed my car.
I'm sorry that happened to you Marge. Perhaps you could put a sign on the damage, stating, "This was done by a Republican". I would do that, but then, I drive a rusty, 15 year old Chevy pickup.
My take on the closed eyes is that it is a tactic to disassociate himself from the situation, his narcissism causess him to perk up when his posts are being read or footage of himself is shown, taking the stand would put him in a participating position and he's too big a coward for that. Hoping for justice to prevail.
It may be that we need a new pathological term for someone who can't help themselves either from stealing or from falling asleep on the spot. Narcoklepsy.
Here's a new one I learned today, only applies to the pathological lying, but I liked the ‘myth' part since their big lie claims were just that, a myth of their own making.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mythomania
He's already a mythogynist.....
Trump did not sleep. He was in meditative communication with the god of unreasonable doubt.
😂😂😂
😂
I see it as infantile behavior along the lines of “na-na-na, I can’t see you?”
Hoping the jury finds it just as offensive as the evidence was impressive! May justice prevail. Vote 💙
💙💙💙❣️❣️❣️
Excellent point...I hadn't thought about that aspect.
I’m going to list-out the reasons why I think that President Joseph R Biden Jr will resoundingly win re-election this coming November:
1) President Joe Biden is an American Patriot and a True Leader. On the other side, there's Trump, a proven liar, a proven fraud, a con and a grifter, a sexual predator, a serial defamer, a tax cheat, a scumbag of the highest order, a traitor who is referred to as Putin's Puppet, a fascist, a person who says neo-Nazi's are "fine people." REAL Americans won't vote for Liar, Fraud, Con, soon-to-be convicted Criminal Trump.
2) Nikki Haley won 22% of the vote in the very recent Indiana Republican Primary. Nikki Haley DROPPED OUT OF THE RACE over two months ago! The vote total Haley got is proof that 1/5th of Republican voters KNOW that Liar, Fraud, Con Trump is a disaster, America's Disgrace. Come election time, these Republican voters will either vote for Biden or will not vote at all.
3) Trump's tax cuts for the wealthy - coupled with Trump's arrogance and incompetence at the outset of the Covid Pandemic and during the pandemic - caused the inflation our country experienced. The problem was inherited by President Biden. Biden, through passage of measures to resuscitate our economy, and, with that, the rebuilding of our economy (including significant job growth), our country is working its way out of the hole that Trump got us in. Biden's accomplishments are what you expect from a LEADER. Come election time, the majority of voters will realize that Biden is the obvious choice for President for the next four years
4) Although our country's youth does not like military conflict, Israel did not start the HAMAS/Israel war. Israel has every right to rid the Planet of disgusting HAMAS. (Every single one of them.) It is admirable that President Biden pledged his full support of Israel's right to exist and to defend itself from terrorists. Come November, our country's youth will realize that Biden is the clear choice for President.
5) As to Palestinian-Americans (and I am friends with and have worked with Palestinian-Americans), come November, they will have a very clear choice - - they can either choose to support President Biden's re-election or they can choose to support for President an absolute sc umbag (Trump) who will try everything he can to DEPORT them. (Remember very clearly ex-President Trump's efforts to ban Muslims from coming into America.)
6) BOTH President BIDEN and Fraud TRUMP are old. BUT, THERE’S A VERY BIG DIFFERENCE! Trump is a liar, a fraud, a con, a sc umbag, a racist, a fascist, a traitor, a s ex abuser, a serial defamer, a coward, an arrogant imbecile, Putin’s puppet, America’s Presidential Accident & Disgrace….. AND an all-around piece-of-shit. Not to mention (but I will, anyway) an asshole who has been ordered by courts to pay over $500 million for fraud and defamation, an asshole who is facing 91 felony counts, including a racketeering charge. Whether to choose Biden or Trump is NOT A HARD CHOICE!!!!
7) Sc um Trump takes credit for installing Justices on SCOTUS who did away with Roe v. Wade. This action has eroded women's rights! REAL Americans will vote to fully restore and to protect and preserve "a woman's right to make decisions about her healthcare and her family." A substantial majority of women will support the re-election of President Biden.
8) Republicans, especially MAGAt Republicans, are doing everything they can to repress the vote of minorities. Republican gerrymandering is off the charts. For people like me who believe that EVERYONE IS EQUAL, THAT THERE MUST BE EQUAL RIGHTS FOR ALL, there is no question that President Biden deserves our support.
9) The disgusting “company” Trump keeps. Roger Stone (Campaign Advisor): convicted. Rick Gates (Deputy Campaign Chair): convicted. Michael Cohen (Personal Lawyer): convicted. George Papadopoulos (Campaign Advisor): convicted. Paul Manafort (Campaign Chairman): convicted. Mike Flynn (National Security Advisor): convicted. Peter Navarro, (adviser): convicted. Steve Bannon (Campaign chair/advisor): convicted. Rudy Giuliani (Personal Lawyer): disgraced, disbarred, convicted. Jenna Ellis (Former Trump attorney): convicted. Sidney Powell (Former Trump attorney): convicted.
10) Traitor Trump’s best buddy, dictator Vladimir Putin. Putin got his puppet Trump elected in 2016. Putin failed to get his puppet Trump re-elected in 2020. Sc um Trump tried hard to dismantle NATO when he was President. NATO is the organization that stands in the way of Putin’s desire to imitate Sc um Hitler’s attempted takeover of Europe. If Sc um traitor Trump becomes President again, Trump will put the U.S. out of NATO; he will give his buddy Putin the green light to take over Ukraine; he will not stop Putin from expanding Russia to additional countries.
11) Trump is a liar of the highest order…. and a complete fraud. He told the American People he would work without a salary. What he, in fact, did do is grift millions of dollars from the U.S. Treasury. (Add up the money the U.S. Treasury paid to Trump-owned and controlled entities during Trump’s time as President.) Fraud Trump also found a way to scam a $2 Billion payoff from the Saudi’s.
12) Trump is a con of the highest order. He wants everyone to think he’s a success in business, when, in fact, the vast majority of his businesses failed. The only reason why Trump still has money is because of the billions of dollars Putin-directed Russian Mafia and Russian Oligarchs have laundered through Trump’s condo projects.
ALL FACTORS CONSIDERED, I'M EXPECTING THAT PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN, JR WILL RING UP A RESOUNDING - A BLOWOUT - VICTORY and that our American Disgrace, Liar, Fraud, Con, Criminal, Traitor, Scum-of-the-earth will go down in flames.
Comment on Nikki Haley doing so well in primaries after she dropped out of the race: I believe at least a portion of those votes (and maybe even a large portion) are from Republican voters who are so disconnected from from current events that they didn’t know Haley had dropped out. As Republicans, will they support tRump in November? Time will tell.
Comment on Republican supporters in general: I saw an interview with a female Georgia Republican this morning where she stated she supports tRump because she believes he has “a heart of gold”. 🤮🤢
Well, in a sense, gold is a stone.
Independent here, but definitely voting Biden. In our state primaries I voted for Nikki Haley in the hopes it would p1$$ trump off. One of the little joys of life!
Yes! We can do this for Biden and blue candidates! 💪🏼💙
Joel - your keyboard to the gods’ ears. But…gerrymandering, purging millions of presumed democrats from the voter rolls,hiring armed thugs to challenge voters at the polls, one-sided MSM…..
Unreasonable doubt is why OJ was not convicted of murder. It's a real thing, particularly where celebrity defendants are involved.
It could also be argued that OJ had much better lawyers.
Trump has had a few good lawyers, but he doesn’t let them do their job. He micromanages everything, in this case to his own detriment. Thank goodness.
As in, as I suspect, Trump demanding that in the opening arguments that everything Stormy Daniels said was a lie. Thus challenging her credibility. Which is why she had to testify.
(sorry BJTS, I wrote my comment before I read yours! Oops)
I think Trump’s lawyers are only as good as Trump allows them to be. Their hands are essentially tied.
Well, golly gee, they could resign and tell the court they can't do their jobs in accordance with legal ethics and rules. As if that would happen. Ha!
It doesn’t hurt to dream. For that matter, that would also mean that 99% of Republicans should resign due to ethical reasons. They have committed or have been complicit in treason.
Blanche is supposed to be pretty well respected in legal quarters. Also a turncoat (former Dem). He must have gotten a big retainer.
Yeah, but will his "big retainer" compensate him for a shattered rep?
There's a story about that somewhere. Sorry, I can't remember where. I think if Trump is found guilty, Blanche will still be applauded for giving the clown a high-end defense. Criminal attorneys consider that a civic duty. If he's found not guilty, he'll be known as the guy who helped the slick eel get away, but he'll be a hero in the Trump community. Which is not a blessing at all, since they all make an art of throwing each other under the bus.
Yeah, I was thinking when I wrote that comment, that if Blanche does manage to bring in a verdict of innocent (despite everything his buffoonish client from hell can do to hex the defense) then he'll be a MAGA hero. Ugh...who would want THAT on their resume (other than it's a victory for him--but is that all they care about?)
All MAGA victories are short-lived. Very few of those closest to him in his inner circle last long. Stephen Miller is one of the few i can think of. And the perpetually awful Steven Cheung.
And remember he moved his family to Florida and then registered as a Republican (he was a registered Democrat).
Big retainer coupled with a BIG ego.
And OJ probably didn't think he was smarter than his lawyers and therefore try to personally micromanage the defense.
The whole celebrity defendant thing SO needs to go away. I don't care if the defendant is the Secretary General of the Known Universe. If they are a criminal - they are a criminal. We all know that, had any of us done one hundredth of what Trump did, we would be in the slammer already. There would have been no upmteen appeals or requests for information or repeated this and that. I think the law should apply to the people of status even more rigorously than to regular citizenship - because status means greater responsibility and greater impact.
In the OJ case, the prosecution made several huge mistakes in presenting the evidence, including asking OJ to put on the black glove that had been found at the scene. Yes! It was the prosecutor, not his defense counsel, who asked OJ to try on the glove.
It's a real thing, I agree. But times were different then: Rodney King's videotaped assault by the LAPD was fresh. I believe racism and police brutality had some effect on the jurors.
Trump thought it was clever to copy the mobster technique of surrounding himself with criminals and liars, so if they ever turned on him he could say “You’re gonna believe these people? They’re criminals and liars!”
He’s also using the domestic abuser’s tactic of goading people into hating him, which he will then call “bias.”
But he’s been subjected to his worst nightmare: a slow, steady focus on him and what he’s done, without his being able to yell “Whatabout …”
So in the end he doesn’t really have an argument. His defenses are:
1. You can’t do this to me because I’m Donald Trump; and
2. You can’t do this to me because it would be a shame if anything happened to you or your daughter.
Unfortunately, these could still work.* And as we’ve seen this week, he has at least several members of Congress willing to sign on to both of these defenses.
*(Like I’ve said before, Trump has been such an openly repulsive pig for so long it could be legitimately difficult to get all the jurors to go back eight years and imagine a time when Trump would pay to bury this story because it would hurt him.)
Considering that NOTHING happens in Trump’s world that Trump doesn’t know about, as the prosecution adeptly pointed out, and considering that it is blatantly obvious that the payoff to Stormy was done to benefit the campaign (and not to prevent Melania’s tears from flowing), as the prosecution adeptly pointed out, and considering the fact that Trump’s own words - regarding the plan and scheming - were captured by a recording (that was played to the jury), as the prosecution adeptly pointed out, if I was a juror, there would be absolutely no doubt, no doubt at all, that Trump is GUILTY of all charges.
They’re hoping for one juror hold out. Not sure they’ll get it, though.
There have been times in the past in our country when people who committed murder were acquitted solely because of the prejudice of jurors. What I'm saying is that the jurors full well know that the person on trial did commit the murder, but did not want to convict the murderer because, like them, the murderer was white. In the current case, we have a person (Trump) who was OBVIOUSLY AND BLATANTLY involved in the crimes that were committed, as the prosecution team has, to me, proven beyond ANY reasonable doubt. That said, it only takes one Trump-supporter on the jury to let Trump off the hook even though that juror full well knows that Trump is guilty. Sad time in our country.
THE BEST OUTCOME OF THIS TRIAL WOULD NOT BE A GUILTY VERDICT.
THE BEST OUTCOME OF THIS TRIAL WOULD BE CRIMINAL SCUM DONALD TRUMP SUFFERING A MASSIVE HEART ATTACK AS THE GUILTY VERDICT IS BEING READ.
My dream is that he chokes to death while eating a corndog on the toilet.
As much I would like him to be six feet under, I just don't want him to be turned into a martyr. All is MAGATS and cronies would yell: "See what you have done?! You killed him with your false accusations! You broke his "heart of gold"!!!" (see comment above about one of his supporters saying she votes for him because "he has a heart of gold").
I prefer to see him behind bars in a yellow jumpsuit fading into obscurity.
In the photos from yesterday's hearing, he clearly has the diagonal earlobe crease (Frank's sign) which has been associated with major adverse cardiovascular events and stroke. The deeper and more complex the crease, the higher the risk.
I think Trump is sociopathic and his reptilian heart does not register stress like regular people do—he has no conscience , no shame. He’d only see this all as an obstacle that can be overcome with help from his mob gang. Alito and Thomas are at the ready…
I’ve given up on that. Only the Good die young…
But tRump is not good or young.
Yes. Yes it would, indeed!
I’ll be surprised if the Defense offers any witnesses, because they really don’t have a credible alternative explanation of what happened and why. So they’ll do what most defense attorneys do when the client is guilty-try to distract and confuse the jury. Sometimes it works, but the prisons are full of people where the tactic didn’t work. Only time will tell.
It surely will be very interesting to see what they do!
They also had to smell his fetid rectal emissions.
Can you prove beyond a reasonable doubt the farts came from Trump? Can you prove the “so-called” smelly fart was composed of hydrogen sulfide? Where are your spectrographic analyses?
You have these analyses? Oh!!! Do you have scientific proof of the gas dispersal pattern to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the gas emanated from Trump’s ass? You do?
The wonderful press. Let’s watch on TV Trump slur to the cameras that the chemist and the physicist are Trump haters and part of the biggest witch hunt in the entire history of humanity.
What is “reasonable doubt”? What IS the meaning of the word IS?
The lyon speaks but we do not understand him and the ghost of Wittgenstein weeps.
I don't think the defense has anything. Dumpy, micromanager that he is, is insistent that he never, ever slept with Stormy Daniels, and he wants his lawyers to follow his instructions to the letter. They try to follow his commands even if it makes them look silly. So I think all they've got is "President Dumpy didn't have sex with Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen is a felon and a proven lawyer." It'll be interesting to see what they come up with.
If Trump is convicted of the felonies, I'm looking forward to the debates between Trump and President Biden. Biden should then go after Trump for his immorality, the fact he is a convicted felon, and facing felony criminal trials in three other jurisdictions. Take the gloves off Joe!
Someone aptly pointed out elsewhere that Trump isn't trying to argue that he is innocent, he's trying to argue that he should be able to commit crimes.
Do you think Trump's attorneys ever advised him that it would be better (and cheaper) to plead guilty at the outset and throw himself on the mercy of the court? I go back and forth on this .... whether his attorneys were ever brave enough to even suggest to Trump that he's guilty. He clearly is and would have probably garnered a lesser, plea-bargained penalty had he pled guilty right away. I imagine it would have faded from the public mind quicker, too. Trump's malignant narcissism, his inability to admit he's less than perfect, works against him time and time again. At least I hope so. I'm crossing my fingers for an honest jury.
I doubt it.
I doubt it, because his lawyers are incompetent, paid hacks who follow his directives, no matter how ridiculous they know they are.
Oh boy, I hate to say this but: I think the poor cross by Todd Blanche was intentional. Why? Well he's a former prosecutor, and not an experienced defense attorney. So he does a terrible job with his cross of Cohen. THEN he gets a whole sh** load of good legal advice from the talking heads on MSNBC and other media outlets. (full disclosure: I like most of these talking heads, most of the time) But people like Andrew Weissmann are dishing out free legal advice. saying things like "I don't understand why Blanche didn't do... (insert expert legal defense tactic). And I bet he'll get more good legal advice in the news today! AND he has a day "off" to take note and practice before court tomorrow! In this day and age of instant news and commentary, I think this a good strategy if you're not an experienced defense attorney.
It’s hard to teach someone how to do a good cross. You learn by doing, and he’s no defense attorney.
Could this be a ploy to lay the grounds for a motion of mistrial due to inadequate/incompetent representation?
I hope that continues to be true. I just remember the Stormy Daniels cross, the defense lawyer was much better on Thursday than on Tuesday; not that it mattered much.
Can’t wait. Then again I’ve been waiting since 2016. Well, we all know any guilty verdict is ready to be appealed. They’ve probably already written it up.
Thank you for the great write up, Jay!
It's going to be fascinating to see if Trump's hubris overrides his counsel's advice to not testify. SBF thought he was smarter than the people defending him and we see where that got him.
May someone with money fly a banner near Trump saying to not be a coward & get on the stand.
Ooh, that's good! That really plays to his psychology, his narcissism. I think the taunt of “coward” would be an irresistible lure to his psyche.
Or protesters out there chanting “Since you say you’re innocent, get on the stand and prove it”.