Walker88

Who could have possibly known that appointing fake electors and trying to subvert a free and fair elections was against the law?

Goodness. Pretty soon the US might even outlaw Sedition and Insurrection, which are legitimate means of influence a post-election world in trumpistan.

16 minutes ago, Danderman123 said:

 

If you don't understand that Trump constantly lies, then you may have dementia. If you do understand that Trump lies all the time, but you don't care, then there is something else going on with you.

 

And that's what this election is about: sane people vs deluded people.

True that^

trumper vs Reality:

trumper: He's a self-made man and a brilliant businessman

Reality: he inherited $412 million from daddy, received a massive allowance from age 3 until daddy died (of dementia, as did mom, which suggests donny also inherited 2 APOE4 genes), had daddy co-sign all bank loans until daddy died, and even had daddy buy $3.4 million in chips at one of donny's Atlantic City casinos, since donny needed the cash to service a NY loan personally collateralized...plus 6 bankruptcies (which ultimately fall on the US taxpayer) and dozens of failed/shuttered businesses. trump did make money, however, as a Game Show Host.

trumper: trump can declassify with his mind, or the FBI planted the documents, or trump had a right to take them all, or it's a witchhunt, or all of the above

Reality: trump stole highly classified docs and lied about returning them

trumper: donny is the quintessential Alpha Male

Reality: trump is a morbidly obese, whining crybaby candya$$, bone spurs coward whose primary skill is giving false hope to losers who cannot accept personal responsibility for their own failures in life

8 hours ago, G_Money said:

And now you’re scaring me.

 

Thank God you have no influence on how America is run. 
 

But by all means, continue your dreams.  It’s what keeps you going.

 

Actually I’m quite surprised you’re no longer with the CIA seeing how you are tree of knowledge on the forums intel matters.

 

Will you ever come clean and tell us of your termination?

You have an odd obsession.

You also seem to have a view of the agency that could not be farther from reality. And no, I'm not Edward Lee Howard (putin had him pushed down a flight of stairs in his Moscow home when Howard's utility ended), Aldrich Ames nor Jim Nicholson.

There is plenty of open source information out there, which people with the right amount of intellect and personal experience can parse and build a proper picture of things. I understand that it would present a challenge to typical trumpers, who only wait until talking points are provided by Media for Low-lifes, such as what Roger Ailes specifically created to capture those befuddled by media aimed at people above the mean in terms of intellect.  (it's in his leaked Business Plan for Fox)

All of the little old man cult members never answer any of the key questions that are at the core of why trump is under 91 felony indictments. All trumpers have are the words Fox or Newsmax gives them, such as "weaponization" or some fictitious ailment. Though I'm voiding into the wind and the fever swamps of trumpistan and the cult, I'll ask again:

---why would trump steal TS, SCI, SAP, SITK, Codeword, HCS and RD documents, keep them at his wedding planner facility where anyone choosing to pony up $200K can join (such as a case officer in the MSS), and then lie to the FBI about returning them? He cannot "declassify with his mind", and though you don't know the system, ACTUAL declassification requires a paper trail of sign-offs by agency Chiefs plus a final signature by the White House Counsel, none of which exist with what trump stole. Also, even as sitting POTUS, he would not have HCS (Human Clandestine Sources), as he would have no 'need to know'. Clearly trump would have had to specifically ask for them from one of the two lackeys he appointed as DNI (Grenell and Ratcliffe). As for RD, only the DoE can declassify RD docs, not even a POTUS.

---why did trump try to pressure GA SecState Raffensperger to "just find me...11,780 votes" if not to obviate the actual votes of GA citizens?

---Why did trump call his goobers to DC for the pro forma 6 January 2021 certification of the election 50 States had already completed, saying "It'll be WILD!", and why would he hold his Mall rally and tell them to "march to the Capitol" and "fight like hell". Is trump an idiot who could "never have imagined such violence', or was it malice aforethought?

---Why did trump do absolutely nothing for 187 minutes while his goobers were smashing the Capitol doors and windows, injuring 140 police officers, and chanting "Hang Mike Pence!", all of which was being broadcast around the world by numerous media? At a Hearing last week in Congress, the Chief of the DC National Guard said he informed the White House that his men were ready to deploy, but trump refused---and the President is the sole person with authority to deploy them. Why?

---Bonus: do you consider the terrorists who attacked the Capitol, erected gallows, and were intent on hanging the Vice President "hostages and political prisoners'? How about the Oath Keepers (sic) who had stashed an arsenal in a Motel 6 in Arlington, to be used when trump called them up? Hostages, too?

---Why did trump---according to grand jury testimony by trump's own former staffers---sign off on the illegal Fake Elector Scheme? (It will be adjudicated in Federal Court once trump's delay tactics run their course.)

I know Fox has not provided the cult with talking points that would answer these questions, so perhaps while you're puttering around Pattaya on that red Vespa, you can give it some thought and try to answer. It would be amusing.

Incidentally, it saddens me that people who took an oath to the Constitution forget what they swore to and have become cult members who put a person over country, democracy and rule of law, the founding principles of the nation. Apparently they never understood their oath, and in no way do they deserve the pension they live off. trumper or against trump, it is not a matter of opinion; it is solely about right and wrong and what the US is supposed to be vs what trump hopes to make it.

I become more certain of the evil inherent in trump's cult when nobody ever can answer the questions I posed above. trumpers are cultists and nothing less, and wouldn't know patriotism if Nathan Hale smacked them in the head.

The current FBI Director Wray, in an interview with NBC's Lester Holt, said that he would not open investigations on trump's critics and opponents, as trump claims he plans to do. Absent any evidence of an actual crime, Wray said the men and women of the FBI would not be ordered to do anything just because it was trump's desire.

Recall that trump appointed Wray after firing James Comey, so that's one more former trump official who has turned against trump and his dictates.

Remember during the transition, when trump tried to appoint Jeffrey Clarke (an EPA lawyer) as Acting AG, because Clarke would do trump's bidding and halt the election certification. The entire senior service at DoJ threatened to resign if Clarke took office. The same would happen at many agencies if trump appointed clowns as Chiefs.

trump would have to fire Wray and appoint some incompetent lackey, which would likely result in a mass exodus from the bureau, leaving domestic criminals and any sleeper cells of terrorists free to do whatever they want whenever they want. The US would experience terror attacks, hijackings, and John Gotti would probably rise from the grave.

The bureau and the agency are the two main entities who gather intel on any domestic (FBI) or foreign (agency) threat to the President or any elected official. A mass exodus of skilled and experienced employees would leave trump himself vulnerable.  trump would be putting his life in the hands of clowns like Bannon or Jared or Kash Patel, which is like having a 3rd grade school monitor trying to protect the Principal from an asteroid. Consider how much of an incompetent clown Devin Nunes has been running Truth Social, and now imagine the consequences of incompetence are life and death.

LOL.

58 minutes ago, riclag said:

It doesn’t much matter what the bias BBC says!

Im listening to the 

experts, 

Dershowitz: Awful Prosecution

Turley: Its a embarrassment ,It really brings home something that bothers a lot of Americans, including people don't particularly like Trump, that this is the weaponization of the criminal legal system. It's something we should all be able to condemn.

McCarthy :‘Hush money’ is not a crime, and Bragg has no case against Trump.

 Barr: Former AG Barr rips 'political' Trump hush money case, says 'real threat' to democracy is progressive left.

All claim its political persecution.

 

 

https://www.foxnews.com/live-news/april-22-trump-hush-money-trial-opening-statements

 

https://nypost.com/2024/04/22/opinion/hush-money-is-not-a-crime-and-bragg-has-no-case-against-trump/

 

https://www.foxnews.com/media/former-ag-barr-rips-political-trump-hush-money-case-says-real-threat-democracy-progressive-left
 

The judge wouldn’t even be able to qualify as a juror in his own NY court room. His daughter raised millions.

 

https://nypost.com/2024/03/30/us-news/dem-clients-of-daughter-of-judge-in-trump-trial-raised-90m-off-case/

 

LOL "political persecution"

Perhaps if trump hadn't filed endless motions to stall his Georgia RICO case, his stolen documents case, and his obstruction/insurrection/fake elector case, the hush money trial would have been put on hold and the much more serious criminal charges would be being heard in court now.

I wonder what Epstein's regular Lolita Express passenger Dershowitz, along with Turley and Barr, would say about those. Trying to overthrow democracy and jeopardize national security are hardly trivial matters.

3 hours ago, jerrymahoney said:

Sure there is -- some girl who actual did have sex with Trump told them.

I guess I have a child's faith that the members of the jury are not idiots, and when they are read the transcript of trump's Access Hollywood tape (it is being entered as evidence), they will know trump is a regular sleazeball and the women are telling the truth.

McDougal had a 10 month affair (she claims) and was escorted regularly into trump's various hotels by "Keith", trump's former bodyguard. If need be, he can be called as a witness, which at worst would repeatedly place McDougal overnight in trump's hotel rooms. The jury is unlikely to think donny must have slept on the couch.

Still, the felony case is based on a payoff made to prevent Stormy from airing her claims, true or not, so the felony charges exist regardless of any affair. All that needs to be proven is that trump authorized the payoffs to keep any claim from surfacing before the election, and he signed off on the accounting fraud.

I thought the defense would choose to admit the affair but claim the payoff was done to protect Melania. If trump denies the affair---as his defense has now done---but the prosecution convinces the jury both affairs took place, then trump loses all credibility, and conviction becomes much more likely that everything was done to influence the election (the felony).

41 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

All very well, but the case depends on whether Trump actually had an affair with Daniels. If they can't prove he did, then it didn't happen and no need for any payoff, no need to disguise any reimbursements. Trump walks, the opposition loses, again.

Your logic, as well as your alternative facts, are wrong.

You probably don't want to know how Stormy and McDougal will "prove" they had an affair with small hands donny. A payment was made, as there is evidence of that, phone recordings, plus book entries and cancelled checks.

Let's take your argument that no affairs took place (unlikely, but for the sake of argument). trump still has to explain why he paid to squelch the story, thereby influencing the election, and then made fake entries in his company's books. Thus, the payment is actually more key than the affair, but if need be, the prosecution will prove the affair in ways trump will not like. There is no way Stormy or McDougal should know what trump's junk looks like, but they may be asked to describe it, and then the prosecution could call trump's 2nd wife Marla Maples and ask her to do the same. Only a current wife is free from testifying against her spouse.

As for "opposition loses, again", this is the first criminal court case, so zero losses so far. In the civil cases, trump is 0 for 3, as in guilty of bank and insurance fraud, guilty of sexually assaulting E Jean Carroll, and guilty of defaming E Jean Carroll.

In his various court filings to try to overturn the election, trump is 1-59, with the 1 a minor technical issue.

The evidential exhibits shown today in the trial are quite entertaining, and yet more proof that EVERYTHING trump says negatively about anyone is projection about his own actions.

Trump got the term “fake news” into the lexicon, yet he was a key participant in the fake stories the National Enquirer (NE) put out in 2016 to defame trump’s opponents, according to Tuesday testimony by Mr Pecker. I guess trump should say “Nobody knows more about fake news than me”.

In one NE cover introduced in court, there was a fake story about Dr Ben Carson supposedly leaving a sponge in the head of a surgery patient, and the cover included a fake photo of the supposed patient, looking as if the kid suffered from Bell's Palsy.

A fake story about Hillary claimed that she introduced the emails into don, jr's account about "I LOVE IT" when he was scheduled for a meeting with a Russian to get dirt on HRC. Fake.

Another is a Daily Double in terms of projection. It is a cover saying "Ted Cruz Shamed by Porn Star". Not only is it fake, but it’s why trump is currently on trial: fear of being shamed by a porn star. As Tevye might have sung...projection....PROJECTION!

Finally, on yesterday's date in history, trump stood at the White House podium and suggested to actual medical authority Dr Birx that Covid might be cured with UV lights inserted into the body and disinfectant injected into people. Looking at that video again is hilarious, as trump is dead serious and acting as if he is some sort of expert, while the actual expert is cringing as he speaks.

Are you better off than you were 4 years ago? No contest, especially if you avoided the disinfectant injection.

A journalist named Vaughn Hillyard posted a Tweet calling out trump's lie about 'thousands turned away' along with a video of the courthouse area that had cars rolling down the street in front of the court, unimpeded by anything. Hillyer noted that in the viewer area across the street from the court, he counted a total of one trump supporter. The video shows ample room for thousands of people, but the total, including cops, was about 3.

(The Tweet and video can be found on X at @VaughnHillyard)

I can help donny out here, however, by stating something about large crowd size that is absolutely, 100% true:

trump drew the largest supporter crowd ever of any ex-President on trial for schtupping a porn star and paying her off to keep quiet.

Now that crowd might only have been 1 person, but the record stands until broken. Though not quite as impressive as Cy Young's 511 wins, it is a record unlikely to be broken by anyone other than trump himself.

Somewhere on the order of 85,000 people in the NYC area voted for trump, but it seems they did not answer his clarion call to come show their support. Maybe they've all driven down to DC for his Capitol attack trial, or down to Georgia for his Rico trial, or Florida for his stolen documents trial.

Frankly, the trial should be on TV. Not sure why NY State would prevent the taxpayer from seeing what their tax dollars bought. Watching the trial would also give outsiders more confidence in the verdict, when it comes, and allow the law to control the narrative, rather than trump and his Tweets.

For a good chuckle, one should try to find the leaked Business Plan for Fox, written by Roger Ailes.

Ailes was of the view that lesser intellects were not being well-served by media thought to be too high brow and complicated. He argued that dumbing down news into simple black and white concepts would draw society's lesser lights, perhaps most all of them. Individually they might not represent an attractive demographic for advertisers, but collectively they would be large enough to draw ads.

Murdoch bought into Ailes thinking, and Fox "News for the Rest of You" was born.

Obviously it has the largest market share, because more high brow media splits its audience, while Fox---and now with some competition from OAN and Newsmax---captured its target demographic.

Fox let its success go to its head, however, and seemed to forget that lying can carry consequences. Tucker---now fired---was unveiled as merely a Performance Artist who 'shouldn't be taken seriously' (his lawyer in court). Dominion got $787 million from Fox for spreading lies, and an ongoing $2 billion lawsuit by Smartmatic could hurt Fox even more.

There is absolutely nothing likeable about trump. He was born with a silver golden spoon in his mouth, lied and cheated his way through life, and was never---until now---held accountable for his criminal and immoral behavior. He is a moron but can fool the naive into thinking he's smart; he's a bad businessman, but can fool the low IQ crowd into thinking he is "self-made". He knows nothing about the founding principles of the US, nor the sacrifice many have made in service to the nation, yet if he molests a flag at a CPAC shindig, his goobers think he's a patriot. He calls those who served and died "suckers and losers". He mocks the disabled. He's a racist and misogynist. He claims to be a person of faith, but is the Poster Child for engaging in all of the Seven Deadly Sins and breaking at least 9 of 10 Commandments. I'm not religious, but then I don't pass myself off as a person of faith. That the US Talibangicals buy his schtick says just how stupid they are.

My primary beef with trump is that he is 100% self-centered and couldn't care less about the US. He practices pure projection, meaning everything of which he accuses others is what he regularly does. You want 'weaponization'? We can call this my opinion---so no LINK, but I know it as fact: on 23 January 2017, he sent Jared and Bannon to CIA HQ to find out what the agency was capable of doing in terms of eavesdropping, and how trump could use it to go after US domestic critics. Pompeo was the new DCI at that point, so it was up to the agency lawyers to read the riot act to Bannon and Jared, and report back to trump that what he hoped to do was illegal. Oh, and I bet you think it's 'pure coincidence' that the IRS did aggressive audits of both James Comey and Andrew McCabe in the same year. That is weaponization, and just evidence of more trumpian projection.

Call this opinion, too, but on 21 January 2017 trump tried to avoid a Code Pink protest on PA Ave (middle aged women seem to scare him, as other Code Pink protests sent trump running into the White House bunker), but came out to agency HQ in Langley, first met with SIS officers (where he spoke for 30 minutes solely about how great he wanted everyone to believe he is), and then stood in front of the Memorial Wall in the lobby (where we all have friends memorialized), and told the audience again how great we must believe he is and how he had just had 'the biggest Inauguration ever' (a lie...not even 20% of the crowd at Obama's in 2009). trump had bused in a few loads of new White House staff, had then seated in the first three rows, and had them howl and cheer his every boast. Real agency folks had to sit behind and listen to his silly talk, though a good many said "eff this sh!t" and walked off.

Finally, when trump lost in 2020, he:

1) stole highly classified documents that jeopardize both natsec and the identities of clandestine foreign assets. It had to be assumed everything in those documents was compromised, as his club is open to anyone who can pay the $200K initiation fee, which means hostile foreign intel operatives such as the MSS. He lied about returning what he stole.

2) He pressured State officials to change the actual vote, obviating democracy

3) He (allegedly) was intimately involved in the Fake Elector scheme

4) He called his morons to DC for a pro forma certification, and then told them to march to the Capitol and 'fight like hell', an act that resulted in 140 injured police officers and almost resulted in the execution of the Vice President---and all the while he sat on his bloated backside doing nothing but egging it on more with his Tweets. After some of his terrorist mob were caught and convicted, he calls them 'hostages' and 'political prisoners', when they are just scum.

That you support him despite all of this (and lots more) is proof that it is YOU who suffer from TDS.

Tell me, how do you justify his criminality? Oh, and what are his policies (not his silly slogans, but actual policies), that have you climbing up his backside in fawning sycophancy?

Real <deleted> can be seen if you go look in your bathroom mirror.

As usual, trump left the courthouse Tuesday and began lying about security and crowd size, just as he lied about his Inauguration crowd size. There seems to be something about trump and 'size' which makes him prone to wild exaggeration and cover up of reality. Maybe Stormy will clear that up.

Per the Independent (and many other media outlets) this is what trump posted on his Truth (sic) Social:

“Thousands of people were turned away from the Courthouse in Lower Manhattan by steel stanchions and police, literally blocks from the tiny side door from where I enter and leave,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social on Tuesday. “It is an armed camp to keep people away.”

There is zero truth to trump's Tweet, or whatever his lies are called on his TS platform.

According to journalists covering the trial, anybody can walk right past the courthouse steps. There is security present, but plenty of access to the area. It isn't even one block, much less "literally blocks" as trump lied.

Perhaps---and I'm just speculating here---that after sending their kids school lunch money to one of trump's PACs, buying some trump NFTs and Golden Sneakers and an autographed Bible, his cult doesn't have enough for bus fare to get to NYC. trump is going to have to choose: either his goobers come and show support, or they continue to send money to his PACs to pay his legal bills.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-dubiously-claims-thousands-were-231951200.html

2 minutes ago, Danderman123 said:

In their opening statement, the Defense asserted that Trump didn't have sex with Stormy Daniels. If Ms. Daniels is a persuasive witness, the Jury will convict based on just that point.

 

I suspect that we are going to see a defense tactic similar to the Carroll case, over the definition of sex. It's possible that they didn't have full intercourse, and so the Trump fans will repeat their claims that Trump really didn't have sex. And therefore Stormy Daniels is lying.

Maybe the defense will argue trump is so tiny in that regard that 'technically', it would not qualify as sexual intercourse.

That might catch Stormy off guard and she would be forced to agree.

1 hour ago, jerrymahoney said:

That might not be so cut & dry:

 

 Though the crime of falsifying business records is nominally a misdemeanor, the Manhattan district attorney’s office almost always charges it as a felony. Still, the Trump case stands apart. The Times could identify only two other felony cases in Manhattan over the past decade in which defendants were indicted on charges of falsifying business records but no other crime.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/09/magazine/alvin-bragg-donald-trump-trial.html

 

A TV pundit, who may or may not be correct (though he was a DA in NY State), noted that what sets trump apart is that he falsified business records in order to influence an election. That is particular to NY State, which is why the trial is there, and not in Federal Court. Others who falsified business records, even those charged with a felony, were not running for any office.

Sadly, trump's delay delay delay strategy is what made this the first of his indictments to go to trial. The easiest one would have been the classified documents case, as there is absolutely no possible excuse for all of what he stole, and subsequently lied about. That also cost the intel community time, money and assets, as it had to be assumed that all of what trump stole was compromised by hostile actors. Clandestine assets may have had to be ex-filled. Such an assessment of damage is difficult when a few documents are assumed to have been compromised; when it numbers in the hundreds, a major portion of the intel community has to be mobilized, clandestine assets informed, allied who share in liaison relationships informed, etc.

An NSA analyst took a few documents home, claiming it was just to do extra work at home. He is serving 9 years in jail. For what trump stole, the punishment should be a major multiple of that, but his delay tactics will likely prevent that from going to trial until after the election. If he loses in November, or if the Repubs do the smart thing and replace him, he most likely dies in jail.

3 hours ago, Skipalongcassidy said:

For being extremely verbose you sure don't have much of value to say... 

LOL

Maybe that 'accredited degree' isn't quite enough to allow you to fully comprehend?

Certainly I think it's high time you at least gave a shot at producing something of value. Come on, Skippy, show your fastball.

13 hours ago, impulse said:

Read 3 Felonies a Day, then come back and say whether it's a good idea to prosecute your opponents, knowing they can prosecute you next time.

 

In fact, just read the Amazon synopsis of the book, which basically says we all break the laws because they're written so complex that it's impossible not to.

 

Elections have always been like making sausage, with participants pushing the bounds of law and going over the line.  Both sides.

 

Eventually, the Dems are going to have to prosecute all 126 Republican house members who signed the Amicus Brief supporting the Texas vs Pennsylvania filing by Ken Paxton.  Then the hundreds of Repubs from the 17 states that filed their own Amicus Briefs in support. 

 

Maybe some folks think it's a good idea, but I think that's a prelude to chaos, maybe even a Civil War.  At the very least, payback is inevitable,  unless they manage to lock up all their opponents.

The problem for Repub 'payback' is that they have to find actual crimes.

trump makes it so easy, because he engaged in so many criminal activities, that his dance card is currently filled to the brim with court dates.

Now if some Dem steals TS, SCI, SAP, SITK, Codeword, HCS and RD documents, by all means they should be prosecuted. Similarly if a losing Dem candidate calls a State official and pressures him to commit election fraud, by all means prosecute. Plus, if a losing Dem candidate gets involved in a scheme to have fake electors change the actual results of an election, prosecute. Finally, if a Dem losing candidate calls his supporters to DC for a simple election certification, tells them to march to the Capitol and fight like hell, and then sits and watches the unfolding violence on TV while refusing to order the DC National Guard---who informed him they were ready to go---then by all means throw the book at him.

17 hours ago, Thingamabob said:

What has this got to do with the topuc ?

What? Republicans continued dive into illegality, and justifying it because 'winning isn't everything; it's the ONLY thing'.

It's a bit surprising trump's lawyer took this tact:

"Guess what? It's not illegal to try to influence an election; it's called democracy"

That's a softball pitch to the prosecution, who only has to inform the jury of what actually IS illegal, which in NY State is using campaign funds to keep negative information from coming out, in order to influence an election. After that, all the witness testimony falls into place. Making someone accountable for breaking the law and committing a felony is as far from 'weaponization' of justice as can be. It's simply rule of law, the very foundation of the American system.

The defense also tried to portray trump as 'poor little donny; he didn't do anything wrong, and he's such a wonderful, upstanding sort of guy'

Prosecution has permission not to play the Access Hollywood tape, but to introduce the transcript of it into the court record. trump portrays himself as a 'star' who can even 'grab women by the p-word'. Suddenly trump looks like a sleazeball.

Prosecution then will try to show trump lied about involvement in the overall scheme (Pecker is reported ready to testify that the first 'catch and kill' meeting in trump tower had 3 participants: Pecker, Cohen and trump. That makes trump a liar.

Later Cohen will argue that trump was directly involved in the payoff, and Cohen apparently has phone recordings and documents to prove it.

Enter Stormy and McDougal, who will both testify they had affairs/sex with trump, and again trump comes across as a liar. Though trump claims he will take the stand, his lawyer is likely too bright and too knowledgeable of reality to let trump do that.

So the jury will hear testimony that trump was intimately involved in the hush money payoff, that trump lied about knowing about the scheme, and that trump talks like he's in a high school locker room, and that trump dallied with at least two women while his wife was recovering from childbirth.

All of that makes the jury more willing to accept the legal definition of the laws NY State alleges trump broke, and with trump's bad character and lack of integrity laid bare by both the paramours and trump's former fellow participants in the scheme, it doesn't look good for donny.

Another wild card is that trump's lack of discipline is likely to be put to the test as witness after witness calls him a liar and details trump's intimate behavior. Prosecution is likely to try to get under trump's skin and elicit a courtroom explosion by having at least Stormy 'prove' her story by detailing trump's junk.

42 minutes ago, G_Money said:

Does it?

 

 

Very silly comment.

Have you ever heard of Whitewater, the $37 million Repub 'investigation' into a tiny RE deal that resulted in a stained blue dress?

How about the 11 straight hours Hillary endured discussing another Repub expensive wild goose chase referred to as Benghazi?

As for Hunter, is he a govt official? Did he try to sell his name to developments in India and the UAE as Uday and Qusay Don, Jr and Eric did?

Did any Biden or Clinton go to the Russian Embassy in DC a month before the inauguration of their namesake to "open a secret direct channel to putin", as Jared did?

Did Hunter get $1.2 billion from Qatar to refinance a white elephant in NYC (666 5th Ave) while serving as a Senior Adviser to the President, as Jared did? And why did the sanctions imposed on Qatar 'suddenly' get removed days after the refinancing?

Did Hunter get 37 trademarks approved in China while serving as a Senior Adviser to the President, as Ivanka did?

I must have missed the DoJ going after Jared, Don, Jr, Eric and Ivanka for their influence peddling.

ONLY trump tried to overturn an election. ONLY trump stole highly classified documents (vs the personal notes with some classified info removed by Pence, Biden and Reagan) and then lied about returning them. ONLY trump tried to pressure a State official to commit voter and election fraud. ONLY trump called his goobers to DC to "fight like hell" and "march to the Capitol". Al Gore, who had a legitimate reason to question the SC's decision re Florida, did not do what trump did.

trump absolutely 100% deserves all the indictments coming his way, and if he truly was innocent, he would want to clear his name as quickly as possible, rather than delay in the longshot hope he wins re-election and can pardon himself for a few of his alleged crimes.

10 minutes ago, jerrymahoney said:

And that presumes that Stormy actually ever saw it.

Prosecution can ask both Stormy and Karen McDougal to describe what they claim to have seen. Melania cannot be called to the stand, as far as I know, as she is the current wife, but in a pinch, Marla Maples could be called to corroborate or take exception to, what Stormy and McDougal describe.

No matter, it's not going to be pretty, and is likely to upset trump a lot (though it could be a bonanza for enoki mushroom sales, as trumpers will scoff them up to show their fealty).

It's certainly going to be entertaining watching how the trial unfolds. From comments made by trump's legal team, it suggests the defense is going to change from 'don't even know horseface' to 'yes, he had an affair, but his goal was to keep from embarrassing his wife'.

That, however, would do nothing to change the allegations of altered business records. It seems that if the payoff was done in order to affect the election, that makes it a felony in NY State, but if the defense admits to the affair and wins over the jury that the poor little serial philanderer just didn't want to upset the wife he was cheating on, the business alterations and fraud might be reduced to misdemeanors.

No matter the defense strategy, trump is going to have to sit hours and days on end, listening to witness after witness talk about his affairs and his attempts to cover them up. For a guy who likes to believe he's always in control, this is going to hurt him badly.

The danger for trump if he forces his defense team to still claim the trysts never happened, is that the prosecution then will be able to ask each witness---Stormy and Karen McDougal---to describe exactly what went down, and for bonafides they will likely be asked to describe trump's physical makeup. Because Stormy has already made comments about what she (allegedly) saw, the prosecution can quote her word for word and ask her if she stands by those descriptions under oath. trump definitely wouldn't like the entire world to be reminded of 'mushrooms' and 'well below average'.

21 hours ago, G_Money said:

And why these are charges being made now and not within a timely manner after the supposed allegations?

 

Because Trump is running for President and will most likely win.  No other reasons.

Danderman123 already answered, but I will add that a thorough investigation takes time, and since Bragg entered office and began questioning Michael Cohen, it took time to gather all the documents and recorded phone calls, get a warrant to look at the accounting entries trump and Weisselberg made, etc.

Once the charges were brought, trump filed a host of motions that delayed, as he has been doing in every case for which he has been indicted. Had he not filed all the motions to delay---and perhaps if he knew he was innocent and was intent on proving it---the trials might all be over now, and either trump would have been proven innocent, or he would have been proven guilty.

The voters have a right to know if one candidate is a felon, yet trump files endless motions to delay, hoping he can avoid conviction until after the election. Of course he cannot pardon himself for the hush money trial, as that is a State issue, and neither can he pardon himself for alleged RICO violations in Georgia.

He has now spent $86 million in legal fees, all of which he took from goober donations to his various PACS. The endless motions to delay no doubt have cost him a considerable portion of that sum, though the lawyers must be happy they are getting paid that much, and the goobers who donated to his PACS don't seem to mind getting fleeced by their messiah.