Donald Trump Private Citizen

DIY-HP-LED

Well-Known Member
Did you not once say when he was voted out you were not going to post about him anymore? Could have sworn you said that lol.
Joe made American politics boring again, it's getting as bad as Canadian politics! Here the GG being a bitch and getting fired is the most excitement. I haven't had too much to say about American policy since Joe became POTUS, no point in second guessing experts. The doing of the Donald interests me as does the undoing of the republican party and the self screwing his hardcore base just gave themselves by sacking the capital is amusing too.

All in all it seems to be working out ok, the democrats have the presidency and the congress, Trump's hardcore base is literally on the run and perhaps some GOP congress people might be expelled. The aftermath continues to be interesting as will the continuing struggle, this is not over, but the good guys are off to a flying start.

MGBA Make Government Boring Again, should be Joe's slogan, boring government is good government, it should not be a struggle for survival.
 

DIY-HP-LED

Well-Known Member
Will Trump go down as the worst president in history?

Donald Trump is no longer president. But while his term is over, the analysis of where he will rank among our best and worst presidents is just starting. In this latest episode of The Point, CNN’s Chris Cillizza explains where Trump will fall in history.
 

DIY-HP-LED

Well-Known Member
Trump leaves office facing mounting debt, devalued assets and scarcity of willing lenders

One of the consequences of the chaos of the U.S. Capitol, is a distancing of banks and other business from former President Trump. He now faces a delicate and difficult situation with his businesses, debt and taxes.
 

Budley Doright

Well-Known Member
Joe made American politics boring again, it's getting as bad as Canadian politics! Here the GG being a bitch and getting fired is the most excitement. I haven't had too much to say about American policy since Joe became POTUS, no point in second guessing experts. The doing of the Donald interests me as does the undoing of the republican party and the self screwing his hardcore base just gave themselves by sacking the capital is amusing too.

All in all it seems to be working out ok, the democrats have the presidency and the congress, Trump's hardcore base is literally on the run and perhaps some GOP congress people might be expelled. The aftermath continues to be interesting as will the continuing struggle, this is not over, but the good guys are off to a flying start.

MGBA Make Government Boring Again, should be Joe's slogan, boring government is good government, it should not be a struggle for survival.
That would be a no, your not stopping then lol
 

Fogdog

Well-Known Member
Will Trump go down as the worst president in history?

Donald Trump is no longer president. But while his term is over, the analysis of where he will rank among our best and worst presidents is just starting. In this latest episode of The Point, CNN’s Chris Cillizza explains where Trump will fall in history.
If Trump sees this (I think he will, he has even more time on his hands now), it will drive the super alpha narcissist into a rage. I hope he strokes out.
 

DIY-HP-LED

Well-Known Member
NY Times/WAPO Report Trump Recruits Top DOJ Official to Corruptly Overturn Georgia Election Result

The Washington Post and the New York Times reported that Trump planned to oust Acting Attorney General Rosen so he could install a DOJ Official named Jeffrey Clark as AG so Clark could help him corruptly overturn the Georgia election results.

What are the next steps to address a situation where a president of the United States recruited a top DOJ Official to participate in a criminal conspiracy to corruptly overturn election results? Clark should be subpoenaed by both Congress and a grand jury empaneled to investigate Trump's attempts to steal the election. When Clark inevitably invokes either executive privilege or his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination, here is how how issues will play out.
 

DIY-HP-LED

Well-Known Member
The Legal Minefields That May Await Trump Post-Presidency

NYU Law Professor Melissa Murray joins Mehdi Hasan to spell out the legality of Trump's pardons in light of reporting that his allies are collecting fees to advocate for clemency for wealthy felons, and the criminal investigations that may be around the corner for the president.
 

DIY-HP-LED

Well-Known Member
George Conway hands Biden's DOJ a roadmap to make sure Trump ends up in jail | Salon.com

George Conway hands Biden's DOJ a roadmap to make sure Trump ends up in jail
Conway notes that future Attorney General Merrick Garland must appoint a special counsel — or two

On Friday night, writing for The Washington Post, conservative attorney George Conway laid out the way forward to investigate former President Donald Trump for his criminal conduct in office now that he is a private citizen — and prosecute him where appropriate.

"Trump departed the White House a possible — many would say probable, provable — criminal, one who has left a sordid trail of potential and actual misconduct that remains to be fully investigated," wrote Conway. "A desperate fear of criminal indictment may even explain Trump's willingness to break any number of laws to stay in office despite losing his reelection bid, democracy and the Constitution be damned."

While President Joe Biden is correct to pledge to stay out of prosecutorial decisions surrounding Trump, wrote Conway, the Justice Department should not — and everything from the Russia obstruction of justice, to the Ukraine bribery scheme, to his attacks on the election and incitement of the Capitol riot, should be on the table to prosecute.

One important avenue, wrote Conway, is to follow the lead of New York prosecutors.

"[Manhattan DA Cyrus] Vance is running a state investigation, but if Trump has committed bank or insurance fraud, that would be chargeable as federal offenses as well, including mail or wire fraud," wrote Conway. "So, too, with state tax offenses, given how Trump's federal and state returns would no doubt track one another. Trump apparently had good reason to be concerned about who would fill [Preet] Bharara's old job."

Also important, Conway argued, is for future Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint a special counsel — or, ideally, more than one of them.

"With Trump, there's so much to investigate criminally that one special counsel can't do it all," wrote Conway. "Could you imagine one prosecutor in charge of addressing Trump's finances and taxes, his hush-money payments, obstruction of the Mueller investigation, the Ukraine scandal, and post-election misconduct, for starters? It would be an impossible task for one team. One special counsel's office couldn't do it all, not in any reasonable amount of time, and it's important for prosecutors to finish their work as quickly as possible. Three or four special counsels are needed. Under the regulations, each would be accountable to the attorney general."

You can read more here.
 

DIY-HP-LED

Well-Known Member
Pennsylvania Lawmaker Played Key Role in Trump’s Plot to Oust Acting Attorney General - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Pennsylvania Lawmaker Played Key Role in Trump’s Plot to Oust Acting Attorney General
The congressman’s involvement underlined how far the former president was willing to go to overturn the election, and Democratic lawmakers have begun calling for investigations into those efforts.

Representative Scott Perry first made President Donald J. Trump aware that a relatively obscure Justice Department official was sympathetic to Mr. Trump’s view that the election had been stolen.

Representative Scott Perry first made President Donald J. Trump aware that a relatively obscure Justice Department official was sympathetic to Mr. Trump’s view that the election had been stolen.Credit...Gabriela Bhaskar for The New York Times


WASHINGTON — When Representative Scott Perry joined his colleagues in a monthslong campaign to undermine the results of the presidential election, promoting “Stop the Steal” events and supporting an attempt to overturn millions of legally cast votes, he often took a back seat to higher-profile loyalists in President Donald J. Trump’s orbit.

But Mr. Perry, an outspoken Pennsylvania Republican, played a significant role in the crisis that played out at the top of the Justice Department this month, when Mr. Trump considered firing the acting attorney general and backed down only after top department officials threatened to resign en masse.

It was Mr. Perry, a member of the hard-line Freedom Caucus, who first made Mr. Trump aware that a relatively obscure Justice Department official, Jeffrey Clark, the acting chief of the civil division, was sympathetic to Mr. Trump’s view that the election had been stolen, according to former administration officials who spoke with Mr. Clark and Mr. Trump.

Mr. Perry introduced the president to Mr. Clark, whose openness to conspiracy theories about election fraud presented Mr. Trump with a welcome change from the acting attorney general, Jeffrey A. Rosen, who stood by the results of the election and had repeatedly resisted the president’s efforts to undo them.


Mr. Perry’s previously unreported role, and the quiet discussions between Mr. Trump and Mr. Clark that followed, underlined how much the former president was willing to use the government to subvert the election, turning to more junior and relatively unknown figures for help as ranking Republicans and cabinet members rebuffed him.

Mr. Perry’s involvement is also likely to heighten scrutiny of House Republicans who continue to advance Mr. Trump’s false and thoroughly debunked claims of election fraud, even after President Biden’s inauguration this week and as Congress prepares for an impeachment trial that will examine whether such talk incited the Capitol riot.

It is unclear when Mr. Perry, who represents the Harrisburg area, met Mr. Clark, a Philadelphia native, or how well they knew each another before the introduction to Mr. Trump. Former Trump administration officials said that it was only in late December that Mr. Clark told Mr. Rosen about the introduction brokered by Mr. Perry, who was among the scores of people feeding Mr. Trump false hope that he had won the election.

But it is highly unlikely that Mr. Trump would have known Mr. Clark otherwise. Department officials were startled to learn that the president had called Mr. Clark directly on multiple occasions and that the two had met in person without alerting Mr. Rosen, those officials said. Justice Department policy stipulates that the president initially communicates with the attorney general or the deputy attorney general on all matters, and then a lower-level official if authorized.

As the date for Congress to affirm Mr. Biden’s victory neared, Mr. Perry and Mr. Clark discussed a plan to have the Justice Department send a letter to Georgia state lawmakers informing them of an investigation into voter fraud that could invalidate the state’s Electoral College results. Former officials who were briefed on the plan said that the department’s dozens of voter fraud investigations nationwide had not turned up enough instances of fraud to alter the outcome of the election.

Mr. Perry and Mr. Clark also discussed the plan with Mr. Trump, setting off a chain of events that nearly led to the ouster of Mr. Rosen, who had refused to send the letter.

After The New York Times disclosed the details of the scheme on Friday, the political fallout was swift. Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois and the incoming chairman of the Judiciary Committee, told the Justice Department in a letter on Saturday that he would investigate efforts by Mr. Trump and Mr. Clark to use the agency “to further Trump’s efforts to subvert the results of the 2020 presidential election.”

Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader, said that it was “unconscionable that a Trump Justice Department leader would conspire to subvert the people’s will.” He called on the department’s inspector general, Michael E. Horowitz, to investigate “this attempted sedition.”

Mr. Horowitz has already opened an investigation into whether Trump administration officials improperly pressured Byung J. Pak, who abruptly resigned this month as the U.S. attorney in Atlanta after being pressed to take actions related to the election, according to a person briefed on the inquiry. Mr. Durbin is investigating that matter as well.
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DIY-HP-LED

Well-Known Member
I think Donald has one more surprise, pocket pardons for him, his associates and family. You'll only know when they federally indict them, then suddenly they will wave them around in court. It won't help with the state charges though, but Donald has never had a prerogative that he didn't abuse and he wrote one for himself for sure. Aside from being impeachable, inciting an insurrection is criminal too, and if the republicans give him another pass on impeachment for it, the courts won't. Let him try to cover his ass with a self pardon over that charge!
 

DIY-HP-LED

Well-Known Member
They should call his family and associates as witnesses during the impeachment trial and ask them if they have accepted or been offered a pardon, get it out of the way and not let them spring it after the trial. Or perhaps the FBI could take care of it with interviews.
 

DIY-HP-LED

Well-Known Member
What Do House Impeachment Managers Have Planned for Trump’s Trial? | The Mehdi Hasan Show

Rep. David Cicilline joins Mehdi Hasan to discuss how he anticipates Fmr. President Donald Trump's second impeachment trial will go.
 

DIY-HP-LED

Well-Known Member
Senate Impeach Trial: The Sequel. Here's Why All of the "Jurors" Have Disqualifying Conflicts

The first Senate impeachment of Donal Trump was anything but a trial: no witnesses, no documents, no evidence, no testimony. Indeed, half of the Senators refused to hold Trump accountable for crimes and abuses he committed in plain sight.

But if Senate Impeachment Trial part one was an embarrassment, just wait until Senate Impeachment Trial: The Sequel. Every single senator - the jurors - has a disqualifying conflict, as they are either witnesses, victims or possible instigators/perpetrators themselves.

In my 30 years as a federal prosecutor I participated in jury selection hundreds of times. The first rule of jury selection is that each juror must be able to decide a case fairly and impartially, with absolutely no stake in the result. Now obviously, an impeachment trial is a political proceeding, not a criminal trial. But to suggest that senators who are witnesses to the insurrection, victims of the insurrection or enablers of the insurrection, can sit as fair jurors is pure folly.

In short, accountability and justice can not be achieved in a Senate Impeachment "trial." Accountability - justice - can only be achieved in a criminal trial.
 

DIY-HP-LED

Well-Known Member
Michael Cohen Thinks Donald Trump Issued Secret Pardons for Himself, His Children and Giuliani (newsweek.com)

Michael Cohen Thinks Donald Trump Issued Secret Pardons for Himself, His Children and Giuliani

Former Donald Trump lawyer Michael Cohen on Sunday expressed his belief that the ex-president had issued pardons for himself, his children and Rudy Giuliani before leaving office.

In the early hours of Wednesday morning, Trump granted pardons to 73 individuals and commuted the sentences of an additional 70, including Steve Bannon and rapper Kodak Black. But his list did not include preemptive pardons for himself, his family or Giuliani.

Cohen told MSNBC host Alex Witt that he started to ponder why the former president didn't issue pardons for himself, his children or Giuliani after "knowing Donald Trump for well over a decade."

"I started thinking to myself it doesn't really make sense because it's not like Donald Trump, so what am I missing?" he said.

Cohen concluded that Trump could have already pardoned himself, his children and Giuliani in secret, in what he referred to as "pocket pardons."

"I kind of think I figured it out," he said. "I think Donald Trump actually has given himself the pardon. I think he also has pocket pardons for his children and for Rudy and it's already stashed somewhere that, if and when they do get indicted and that there's a criminal conviction, federal criminal conviction brought against him, that he already has the pardons in hand."

Cohen explained that he did some research over the weekend into "whether or not the Constitution requires that pardons be disclosed to the American people and to the press."

"I couldn't find anything that said that it does, and that to me is more in line with what George Conway is trying to say about how Donald Trump doesn't care about the law, how he will skirt the law, how he will do anything to benefit himself, and that includes even, you know, doing something like this with a pocket pardon," he added.

Newsweek reached out to Trump representatives for comment.

In 2018, Trump claimed that he had the "absolute right" to issue a self-pardon.
 

DIY-HP-LED

Well-Known Member
‘Here is Cyrus Vance’s moment’: Donald Trump’s new legal nemesis | Financial Times (ft.com)

‘Here is Cyrus Vance’s moment’: Donald Trump’s new legal nemesis The New York prosecutor is at the helm of a criminal probe that could have dire consequences for the former president and his family

Among the many challenges facing Donald Trump in his post-presidential life — from reviving a sputtering business empire to fending off impeachment and restoring lustre to his brand — the most grave may be Cyrus Vance.

Mr Vance, the Manhattan district attorney, is pursuing what is the only known criminal investigation into Mr Trump and The Trump Organization. The probe began in 2018 in response to reports that the president’s former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, had arranged hush money payments for two women who claimed to have had extramarital affairs with Mr Trump. Cohen subsequently pleaded guilty to criminal charges stemming from the pay-offs.

Mr Vance’s investigation has since broadened. According to recent court filings, the DA is now exploring possible banking, tax and insurance-related fraud committed by The Trump Organization. One possibility under examination is whether Mr Trump inflated the value of his properties for some purposes — say, securing a bank loan or insurance — while minimising them when it came to paying taxes. When Cohen testified before Congress in 2019, he accused the president of doing so routinely.

Mr Vance's office recently subpoenaed the towns of Bedford and North Castle in Westchester County for tax assessments and other documents related to an estate known as Seven Springs, which Mr Trump bought in 1995 with the intention of developing.

The Trump Organization declined to comment — although the president has regularly dismissed the legal proceedings against him as a partisan “witch-hunt”.

For Mr Trump and his three adult children, who have held various roles in the family real estate business, the consequences of criminal charges could be dire — especially at a time when The Trump Organization is struggling on multiple fronts.

The financial disclosure forms Mr Trump filed before leaving office showed revenues fell by more than a third last year compared with 2019, as the coronavirus pandemic has devastated luxury retail, hotel and office properties around the world.

At the same time, widespread revulsion at Mr Trump’s role in stoking a failed insurrection at the Capitol on January 6 has prompted many businesses to cut ties with him, including Deutsche Bank, his longtime lender, and the Professional Golfers’ Association of America, which had been planning to hold its 2022 championship at one of his clubs.

For Mr Vance, filing criminal charges against a former president — something that is unprecedented in American history — is also rife with risk. “If he indicts Donald Trump, he better get him,” says one New York political adviser. For better or worse, it will almost certainly define Mr Vance’s legacy.

“I’m positive whatever decision he makes, there will be people that will publicly disagree with him,” says Daniel R Alonso, a lawyer at Buckley in New York, who once served as Mr Vance’s top deputy.

“Some people will criticise him if he charges Trump — viciously. And other people will criticise him if he doesn’t charge Trump — viciously. That’s just the nature of that job, as we’ve seen over the past 10 years. His job isn’t to please people but to do what he thinks is right.”

Mr Alonso believes that an inconsistency between reported financial figures was “a reason to investigate” but “not a reason to slap cuffs on somebody”.
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