#alvin bragg

[reasonsforhope]

It was a really, really good political news day today in the US (4/4/23)

For anyone who hasn't heard, not only did Trump get arrested, but also:

-We found out that the legal case against him in this prosecution (stormy daniels hush money case) is SIGNIFICANTLY stronger than people had speculated. Like, wow do they have receipts.

-In fact, the evidence was so entirely there that the new question on prime time news (well, at least on msnbc lol) is "Hey, why didn't the federal courts prosecute him for this already???)

-Trump FAILED UTTERLY in his attempts to rally mass protests and demands for "death and destruction" if he was arrested. There was no violence at the arrest at all, and as for Trump supporters? They failed to show up in any kind of numbers--reportedly only about a hundred people were protesting the arrest

-We (aka Judge Janet Protasiewicz) WON what is widely considered to be the most consequential election of 2023, a Wisconsin state supreme court election that handed control of the state supreme court to the left

-Because of that election win, it is now extremely likely that abortion will be legal in Wisconsin, and that Wisconsin won't be able to throw out electors in the 2024 presidential election

-ALSO bc of this, Wisconsin, the most gerrymandered state in the country, will probably get nonpartisan, accurate maps, which COULD FLIP THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES in 2024

-In Chicago, Brandon Johnson, union organizer and former teacher, won the election for mayor, in a decisive win progressives, esp for meaningful criminal justice reform and investment in mental health (whereas the other guy was campaigning on hiring hundreds of new cops and being super tough on crime)

[republicansaredomesticterrorists]

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Dean Obeidallah at The Dean's Report:

Donald Trump’s first of four criminal trials is scheduled to begin Monday in New York. After what is expected to be two to three weeks for jury selection, Trump’s criminal trial—where he is facing 34 felonies--is predicted to take six weeks. That means by mid-June, Donald Trump will be a convicted felon. It’s really that simple. Is there a chance Trump is not convicted? Sure, as a former trial lawyer, I can vouch firsthand that juries can surprise you. But based on the evidence developed in the criminal investigation and disclosed during the pre-trial portion of this case, it is clear that Trump falsified documents to conceal other federal and state crimes. Thus, Trump committed numerous felonies. Everyone knows the core allegation, namely that Trump—via his then lawyer Michael Cohen--paid $130,000 shortly before the 2016 election to stop Stormy Daniels from going public with the tale of her affair with Trump.  Now, if Trump had paid Daniels solely to keep his wife from finding out about his affair, that would be one thing. It wasn’t.  

Trump paid Daniels the money because he feared that if information went public at the time, he would lose the 2016 election. That at the very least made the secret payment a violation of federal election laws—which is one of the felonies Cohen pled guilty to committing in 2018, telling the court he made the payment “in coordination with, and at the direction of,” a presidential candidate who was Trump. This is why Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg has repeatedly stated  the “core” of this case “is not money for sex,” it’s election corruption.  Indeed, the very first line of the Statement of Facts that details the basis for the charges against Trump tells us that, “The defendant DONALD J. TRUMP repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal criminal conduct that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election.”

When you look at the timing of when Trump first hatched this scheme to pay off Daniels, you get why this was all about the campaign.  The charging documents tell us point blank: “About one month before the election, on or about October 7, 2016, news broke that the Defendant had been caught on tape saying to the host of Access Hollywood: “I just start kissing them [women]. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything…Grab ’em by the [genitals]. You can do anything.”   The political firestorm caused by the release of the Access Hollywood tape is why just three days later, Trump—with the help of Cohen and his publisher friend AMI Editor-in-Chief David Pecker-- moved swiftly to pay off Daniels. They heard she was shopping around the story of her affair with Trump. And Trump, former Trump aide Hope Hicks (who the State will be calling as a witness), Cohen and others knew that it would have been devastating for his campaign if voters learned in the midst of the Access Hollywood tape backlash that Trump had an affair with a “porn star” a mere four months after Melania gave birth to their only child. 

Indeed, the statement of facts tells us this was all about the campaign: “The evidence shows that both the Defendant and his campaign staff were concerned that the tape would harm his viability as a candidate and reduce his standing with female voters in particular.” That is why Daniels was approached on October 10, 2016, with a deal to “prevent disclosure of the damaging information in the final weeks before the presidential election.”  Under the agreement, Daniels was paid $130,000. But here is where the crimes come in. As the pleadings explain, Trump “did not want to make the $130,000 payment himself” so he asked Cohen to come up with a way to do that. “After discussing various payment options,” Cohen agreed he would make the payment and Trump would pay him back. It all worked as planned, Daniels never told America about the affair and Trump won the election.

Then, “shortly after being elected President, the Defendant arranged to reimburse” Cohen for the payoff he made to Daniels on Trump’s behalf. The plan they came up was that Cohen would be paid monthly for “legal fees” until the amount he advanced was repaid. In reality, as the pleadings note, “At no point did Lawyer A [Cohen] have a retainer agreement with the Defendant or the Trump Organization.”   Yet Cohen still submitted monthly invoices to Trump’s company for legal services. Some were paid by Trump’s company while nine of the reimbursement checks to Cohen for fabricated legal services came from Trump’s personal bank account and Trump “signed each of the checks personally.” And as alleged, “The Defendant caused his entities’ business records to be falsified to disguise his and others’ criminal conduct.”

Dean Obeidallah wrote in his Dean's Report Substack that Donald Trump will likely have the words "convicted felon" attached to his name by sometime in June or early July should the jury find him guilty in the Manhattan election interference case. Most of America wants to see charges levied against him.

[liberalsarecool]

Jim Jordan is a mediocre white guy in over his head, yet protected by white bias and patriarchy.

He can be as dumb as long as he wants. It's a shameless Republican super-power.

[mysharona1987]

Trump allegedly having a secret love child is honestly one of least surprising things to come out of this:

[2bpoliticallycurious]

We can only hope that this will be the first of many indictments.

It is time that we as a nation hold this corrupt man responsible for his many crimes.

This is the least of his many offenses, but hopefully this first indictment breaks through the fear and inertia (especially in the DOJ) that has up until now led many Americans to fear that wealthy, powerful people like Trump are above the law.

[saywhat-politics]

Fani Willis got doxxed by Russia

Alvin Bragg got bomb threats from Russia

2016 election was hacked by Russia

Mar-a-Lago was infiltrated by spies from Russia

Trump is funded by laundered money from Russia

But sure tell us more about how “Russia collusion was just a hoax” 😒

[dontmean2bepoliticalbut]

[batboyblog]

link

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Marjorie Taylor Greene had to leave the Trump arraignment rally after she was drowned out by counter-protesters.

During her chaotic arrival in New York on Tuesday, there appeared to be more members of the media than protesters present.

Ms. Greene was joined by the New York Young Republicans – a group with ties to embattled congressman George Santos, who also made a brief appearance at the rally before departing after being mobbed by the media. Ms. Greene was also met by counterprotesters holding their own “emergency noise demo” to drown out her “hate speech”.

The New York Young Republicans at one point responded with a USA-chant.

As clashes between pro- and anti-Trump demonstrators took place, the NYPD tried to separate the groups. Both camps were separated with NYPD barricades and community affairs officers between them.

Ms. Greene took aim at New York Mayor Eric Adams, saying that “you send your henchmen down here to commit assault against people by making loud noises”.

Per Ben Collins of NBC News, the reason it was difficult to hear Ms. Greene may have been because a Trump supporter handed out whistles. He was apparently unaware that Ms. Greene was attending.

Ms. Greene urged Americans to “take a stand” during her brief speech, large parts of which were drowned out by the sounds of counter-protesters.

She claimed that the government has been “weaponized” against Americans, adding: “I’m here to protest and use my voice and take a stand. Every American should take a stand. This is what happens in communist countries – not the United States of America. We have to take a stand against the injustice, the corruption, and the communist Democrats.”

She continued: “They’re taking our legal code, twisting it, manipulating it, and perverting it into something it was never meant to be. Donald J Trump is innocent, this is election interference. DA Alvin Bragg is nothing but a George Soros-funded tool. He is a tool for the Democrats to try to hijack the 2024 presidential election. This is a travesty!”

Ms. Greene soon left the rally and appeared on RSBN, saying that Mr. Trump “is joining some of the most incredible people in history being arrested today. Nelson Mandela was arrested, served time in prison. Jesus! Jesus was arrested and murdered”.

She was slammed by New York congressman Jamaal Bowman, who told her to “go back to your district. What are you doing here? You’re here for politics, you’re here because you want to be VP ... you’re here for your own nonsense”.

[reasonsforhope]

"A New York grand jury has indicted Donald Trump on allegations linked to a business records investigation related to a "hush money" payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Trump is the first former president in U.S. history to face criminal charges. His attorney Susan Necheles confirmed the indictment. No other details have been released yet.

The specific charge or charges have not yet been made public, and one Trump attorney told CBS News his legal team is "still waiting to learn" details of the indictment.

Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg's office said in a statement that it had contacted Trump's attorney "to coordinate his surrender to the Manhattan D.A.'s office for arraignment on a Supreme Court indictment, which remains under seal," and more guidance would be provided "when the arraignment date is selected." ...

The case stems from a payment made just days before Trump was elected president in 2016. His former attorney, Michael Cohen, arranged a $130,000 wire transfer to Daniels to buy her silence about an alleged affair...

The indictment comes as Trump faces other potential criminal cases. In Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis is mulling charges in an investigation into alleged efforts by Trump and more than a dozen of his allies to undermine [Georgia]'s results in the 2020 election, which he lost to President Joe Biden. A special purpose grand jury conducted a six-month probe last year and delivered a report with its findings to Willis in January. The majority of that report was ordered sealed, at least until charging decisions are made.

In Washington, D.C., special counsel Jack Smith is overseeing two Justice Department investigations into alleged efforts to interfere with the lawful transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election, and Trump's handling of sensitive government documents [note: specifically top secret, classified documents] found at his Mar-a-Lago home and possible obstruction of efforts to retrieve them."

-via CBS News, 3/30/23

TRUMP'S BEEN INDICTED

And by the way he is going to have to surrender himself to the Manhattan DA's office...

Where he will be arrested, fingerprinted, and have his mug shot taken.

(Obviously/sadly he's going to be released instead of held in jail until trial, but STILL)

-via BBC News, 3/30/23

[odinsblog]

It’s not fair. All I wanted to see today is Trump getting arrested.

That and maybe Mitch McConnell dropping dead.

And Putin.

And Elon Musk.

And Rupert Murdoch.

And the one Koch brother who is still alive.

And all the conservatives on the Supreme Court.

Damn, y’all. That’s all I wanted to see today.

[happytxcowman]

[liberalsarecool]

Real patriots. 🇺🇸⚖️

[grits-galraisedinthesouth]

Barack Obama is Scum

If they did all of this to stop DJT from seeking a 2nd term, you can't tell me they didn't steal the 2020 election. If Biden & Kamala had actually won the 2020 election fair and square Obama would have no reason to keep the American people from voting for DJT. Why are they so afraid to let us exercise our constitutional rights to pick our own representatives?

I noticed a pattern during Trump's White House years. Anytime the Deep State would implement an attack on DJT or the Trump Administration the Obama's were conveniently out of the country. Notice they traveled to Australia for Trump's indictment. Coincidence?

If you haven't seen Jesse Waters Tuesday 4-4-2023 show I highly recommend you watch it. He discloses the smoking gun connection bw Biden, Obama and their political prosecution of Donald Trump. Let me warn you that you will either be infuriated, depressed, ill or all three. This Deep State plot against the Trump family and the American people should have these people tried for treason. I'm so angry right now that I can hardly type.

This guy is the smoking gun: Matt Colangelo. When Bragg couldn't find a way to as Dershowitz wrote "Get Trump" Obama transferred his ACTIVIST Matt Colangelo from DC to Manhattan, NY where they created a job for him to Get Trump. Colangelo is responsible for shutting down the Trump Foundation because the board didn't have "official" meetings (Trump & his kids), sending the 70 + year old accountant to Riker's Island, and today the ultimate harassment: putting "handcuffs" on a former President of the United States, Donald J. Trump.

From the Manhattan DA site:

"Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., today announced the appointment of Matthew Colangelo as new Senior Counsel to the District Attorney. Colangelo, who most recently served as a senior official at the U.S. Department of Justice, will focus on the Office’s cases, policies, and strategies in housing and tenant protection and labor and worker protection, as well as the Office’s most sensitive and high-profile white-collar investigations."

These videos are incomplete.

Check out Jesse Watters Primetime on Fox Nation. https://nation.foxnews.com/jesse-watters-primetime

April 3rd A victimless crime

[tomorrowusa]

The Donald Trump hush money trial starts today in NYC.

Jury selection is the first order of business. In normal trials that may take a day or two. With Trump's legal foot-dragging, that could go into weeks.

There had been some doubts about Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's approach to this case. There is some new ground here. But Slate's Mark Joseph Stern, an attorney who initially had some reservations about the prosecution, is now "fully onboard" with it.

Over the past year, though, I have realized that my initial doubts about Bragg’s indictment were misplaced. It now seems clear that Trump’s New York trial, slated to begin this week, will be the former president’s only criminal trial before the November election. The other three strong indictments against him in other jurisdictions have unfortunately been delayed by a corrupt judge, a foot-dragging Supreme Court, and a district attorney’s questionable conduct in an already complex case. This, combined with Bragg’s excellent pretrial briefing, has substantially strengthened the case for this prosecution. It is important to American democracy that Trump be forced to defend at least some of his alleged criminal conduct before a jury of his peers in advance of Election Day. [ ... ] Shortly before the 2020 election, Trump wanted to kill a story about his alleged affair with Stormy Daniels, an adult film actress. So he allegedly directed his longtime fixer Michael Cohen to pay off Daniels, through a shell company, for her silence. Afterward, Trump funneled $420,000 to Cohen in installments. But he allegedly concealed the payments by listing them as legal expenses for a retainer that did not exist. Last year, I was uncertain whether this scheme, while sordid, rose to the level of a felony offense. I am now convinced that, if proved that he took these actions, it surely does. The falsification of business records is, by itself, a misdemeanor under New York law, but it’s a felony when it’s done with the “intent to commit another crime or to aid or conceal the commission thereof.” In his indictment, Bragg claims that Trump lied about the payments with the intent to violate election law, which is what elevates the crime to a felony. Initially, I was suspicious of this theory; what election law, exactly, was the former president attempting to violate? The district attorney’s initial statement of facts was hazy on this crucial point, raising the possibility that he couldn’t tie the underlying fraud to a state or federal statute. Turns out he could. Bragg has argued, convincingly, that the former president intended to violate at least two election laws—one state, one federal. First, Bragg asserted that Trump and Cohen ran afoul of the Federal Election Campaign Act by making unlawful campaign contributions (in the form of a payoff) at the direction of a candidate (that is, Trump).

As a criminal defendant, Trump has to be in court for the trial. And except for holidays, court will be in session four days a week.

So Trump will be in Lower Manhattan quite a bit for the next couple of months. The New York County (Manhattan) Courthouse is at 100 Centre Street. And he owns a major property at 40 Wall Street (modestly called The Trump Building) where he might occasionally be seen. Google Maps puts the walking distance between the two locations at 0.8 miles (1.28 km). So if you're tempted to exercise your First Amendment right to express your opinions to Trump...