Charges

[twocoach]

I wonder if a guilty verdict would do damage at the ballot box.

It obviously should!

But with this candidate in particular, it wouldn’t be the first time some bombshell that would otherwise end anyone else’s political career has little or even reverse effect

It won't hurt him with his cult, I mean, base, which is ~ 40% of the electorate. But it certainly could hurt him with independent voters, which could be huge.

I said this a week or two ago, but relevant again here - I think I misunderstood the possible impact of convictions.

I still don’t think the substance of a conviction (especially on these charges) will change anyone’s mind.

But I have come to think the fact of a conviction will give a modest, but meaningful, portion of Trump voters permission to dump him or simply sit out altogether. That will come with a lot of fake tears, but the result is the result.

I will certainly not add him any votes but it will unquestionably cost him at least some. There are states where 10,000 votes made the difference. It won't cost him millions of votes but it will cost him thousands.

[jfish26]

It won't hurt him with his cult, I mean, base, which is ~ 40% of the electorate. But it certainly could hurt him with independent voters, which could be huge.

I said this a week or two ago, but relevant again here - I think I misunderstood the possible impact of convictions.

I still don’t think the substance of a conviction (especially on these charges) will change anyone’s mind.

But I have come to think the fact of a conviction will give a modest, but meaningful, portion of Trump voters permission to dump him or simply sit out altogether. That will come with a lot of fake tears, but the result is the result.

I will certainly not add him any votes but it will unquestionably cost him at least some. There are states where 10,000 votes made the difference. It won't cost him millions of votes but it will cost him thousands.

I agree. And I think he's hemorrhaging votes from 2020 as-is. I absolutely think that there is cataclysmic internal polling running around on the R side, which is why you're seeing off-type things like Trump openly supporting remote/advance voting.

[Shirley]

Today In: Oh what a tangled web...

This just happened, and includes Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows, Boris Ephsteyn, and Trump as an unindicted co-conspirator.

Nine felony counts.

[KUTradition]

election interference!!

oh, wait…

[jfish26]

One of the better MAGA magic tricks is turning the fact of voluminous (or “unprecedented”) charges into support for the notion that they’re baseless.

[Shirley]

One of the better MAGA magic tricks is turning the fact of voluminous (or “unprecedented”) charges into support for the notion that they’re baseless.

"But, this is unprecedented!"

I'll take Self-Ownage for $500 dollars, Alex.

[jhawks99]

So, Draft Dodgin Donnie assumes the name of unindicted co-conspirator 1.
Again.

[jfish26]

So, Draft Dodgin Donnie assumes the name of unindicted co-conspirator 1.
Again.

At some point, the stacking-up state level charges (more likely to come) - which are not pardonable by Trump even if he wins (which he won't) - are going to result in one or more of the named co-conspirators singing.

[jhawks99]

I have to admit. I don't like him. Have not liked him since the 1st time I saw him on the teevee in the mid 1980s. He was in the process of divorcing his 1st wife and saying some pretty horrible stuff about her on national teevee. I lost all respect for this "man" the first time I heard him open his mouth.

[jfish26]

Seems like this goes here.

https://x.com/clearing_fog/status/17833 ... q_-8Yt1KMA

The [Federal Election Commission], in its entire documented history, has only recorded 252 legal reimbursement payments.

118 of those - almost half - came from Trump committees in the last 15 months.

The first 134 (not Donald’s) amounted to about $550,000.

Trump’s are over $8 million and counting.

[japhy]

I guess going to court is a harsh reality check....

While this falls far short of the punishment he deserves, there was considerable satisfaction to be gained from reports that Donald Trump spent much of the first week of his first criminal trial sitting in silence listening to mean tweets about him read aloud in court. For hours at a time, potential jurors in his New York "hush-money" trial were interviewed to determine whether they could judge the ex-president with an open mind. In the process, both past social media posts and in-the-moment honest opinions were made public. Trump is such a famous narcissist that he literally has a woman who follows him around with a wireless printer to feed him a steady supply of online praise. Hearing what people outside the paid shills have to say was, all reports suggest, very upsetting for the former president. He glowered and eventually tried to leave the courtroom so quickly that he had to be told to sit down by the judge.

The jury is now impaneled, and no longer will be asked to talk about past social media posts calling Trump "dumb as fuck." But, as Monday's trial opening suggested, this trial is set to put Trump's fragile ego through a lengthy battering. It's hard to believe this — considering his ridiculous hair, hideous makeup and comically oversized suits — but by all accounts, Trump seems to actually believe he cuts an impressive figure. He famously spent decades longing to be included in the ranks of Manhattan's social elite, imagining he had a "classiness" they simply failed to perceive. As Elizabeth Spiers of the New York Times wrote last week, "The rich and powerful sometimes invited him to their parties, but behind his back they laughed at his coarse methods and his tacky aesthetic."

Alas, getting elected president allowed Trump to finally swaddle himself in the pomp that allows him to delude himself into believing he has an air of dignified stature. During his time in the White House, of course, he enjoyed the state dinners and other grand ceremonies meant to imbue the office with solemn authority. Granted, Trump's clownishness made all of that seem ridiculous to those looking on, but his attempted stern-faced expressions and chin-up pride suggested that he really believed he was finally being taken for the great man he wished himself to be.

Even after leaving the White House, Trump went to great lengths to keep himself in this elevated atmosphere. Unfortunately, he gets a lot of help keeping up the illusion of majesty. The presence of Secret Service protection allows him to travel with pricey black-car entourages at the taxpayers' expense. He also sees a steady stream of Republican politicians visit Mar-a-Lago, allowing Trump to play the part of a king greeting supplicants who kiss the ring.

While the outcome of the trial remains weeks away, the process of being a criminal defendant has already stripped Trump of most of the trappings he uses to prop up his delusions of nobility. He has to sit still and do what he's told, which he whines about ad nauseam when outside of court. He keeps reportedly falling asleep and believable rumors suggest that his personal odor is difficult to bear.

[Shirley]

[KUTradition]

David Pecker is the colorectal cancer of journalism.

[japhy]

Et tu Blanche?

A lawyer for former President Donald Trump insisted at a contempt hearing Thursday that his client's comments on jurors and witnesses do not run afoul of a gag order, even as he conceded that the Republican candidate is not merely responding to attacks but actively seeking out opportunities to spout off on his trial.

Prosecutors accuse Trump of violating the gag order in his Manhattan criminal case an additional four times, citing his praise of David Pecker, former publisher of the National Enquirer, as a "nice guy" and his attack on jurors as being "95 percent Democrats" rapidly picked from "a purely Democrat area." Following a hearing last month, Trump also exited the courtroom, where he's being tried on charges of falsifying business records to cover up hush payments, and approached reporters to share an attack on Michael Cohen, his former fixer. "When are they going to look at all the lies Cohen did in the last trial," Trump said.

Judge Juan Merchan, who fined the former president $9,000 earlier in the week for previous violations -- and raised the prospect of jail time for future offenses -- said Thursday that Trump had gone out of his way to attack a witness.

"It was your client who went down to that holding area and stood in front of the press and started to speak." Merchan told Trump attorney Todd Blanche. "He went to the press. He didn't need to go in that direction."

"I agree with that," Blanche responded, drawing what The New York Times described as a "large laugh in the overflow room."

Trump did not appear to enjoy that particular exchange. After his lawyer agreed with the judge, "Trump shot around and glared at his own lawyer in disbelief, his mouth hanging open," ABC News reported. "He then turned back around to face forward, repeatedly shaking his head no."

[japhy]

Von ShitzinPantz....and so the Rubes are wearing diapers now?

Maybe Von ShitzinPatnz will pull down his drawers at the next rally and show them his poopy diaper?

Just when you thought the lead up to the 2024 US election couldn’t get any stranger, Donald Trump supporters have started turning up to rallies wearing diapers.

Why are they doing this, exactly?

It's all due to social media posts from key witness and former attorney Michael Cohen which were shown in court.

Trump’s criminal trial began last month, where he is facing 34 felony charges related to claims he falsified business records to hide “hush money” payments made to the former adult star Stormy Daniels.

The posts from Cohen, which were posted in April, show him taunting Trump and calling him the nickname "Von ShitzInPantz".

One of the strangest moments of the trial so far saw Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche read out posts from Cohen to the court.

Speaking to Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, Blanche complained that while Trump was forced to keep silent about witnesses and jurors, his opponents could as “anything they want”.

Since this bizarre turn of events, Trump’s supporters seem to have embraced the nickname in an unexpected way, turning up to rallies wearing diapers and shirts with the slogan “real men wear diapers” written upon them.

Since then, "real men wear diapers" has been trending on Twitter/X, and it's sparked a big reaction.

[TDub]

real men wear diapers? that's gotta be some sort of parody account right?

[Shirley]

real men wear diapers? that's gotta be some sort of parody account right?

That the Republican party would elevate such a thoroughly flawed piece of shit like Trump to be its leader should be a "parody", but sadly it isn't. Instead, he's exposed them for the vacuous group of opportunistic, moral-less grifters totally lacking governing principles they are, which is actually a gift to the American people, if they're not too clueless to see it.

[Shirley]

Hope Hicks called to testify.

(Hope would steam the wrinkles out of Donald's clothes while he was wearing them...)

This could be good.

[Shirley]

Good, it's time for the leader of the failed coup attempt to be treated like any other criminal defendant would be:

Marc E. Elias
@marceelias
BREAKING: Trump held in contempt for tenth time.

Court warns "Defendant is hereby put on notice that if appropriate and warranted, future violations of its lawful orders will be punishable by incarceration."

[jfish26]

Good, it's time for the leader of the failed coup attempt to be treated like any other criminal defendant would be:

Marc E. Elias
@marceelias
BREAKING: Trump held in contempt for tenth time.

Court warns "Defendant is hereby put on notice that if appropriate and warranted, future violations of its lawful orders will be punishable by incarceration."

I mean, at some point you now have to DO it. Although I also would have appetite for Judge Merchan requiring his lawyers to approve each and every social media post he makes.