Trump on Trial (Trump indicted for a fourth time in Georgia. Expands his record of most indictments by a former president)

[@DCGoldPants]

https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-hush-money-trial-05-03-24/h_3111490124de2212e670cbd776874ddc

From the CNN updated page on this, I wish Merchan had required Trump to stand up and say that either he understood that he could testify or that he still didn't. 

Judge to Trump: Gag order doesn't "prevent you from testifying in any way"

Judge Juan Merchan is beginning court today by clarifying to Donald Trump that he has the "absolute" right to testify if he chooses.

Merchan says he is doing this to clarify the gag order.

"The order restricting extrajudicial statements does not prevent you from testifying in any way," Merchan says. "It does not prohibit you from taking the stand and it does not limit or minimize what you can say."

 

 

 

[Die Hard]

19 minutes ago, @DCGoldPants said:

https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-hush-money-trial-05-03-24/h_3111490124de2212e670cbd776874ddc

From the CNN updated page on this, I wish Merchan had required Trump to stand up and say that either he understood that he could testify or that he still didn't. 

Judge to Trump: Gag order doesn't "prevent you from testifying in any way"

Judge Juan Merchan is beginning court today by clarifying to Donald Trump that he has the "absolute" right to testify if he chooses.

Merchan says he is doing this to clarify the gag order.

"The order restricting extrajudicial statements does not prevent you from testifying in any way," Merchan says. "It does not prohibit you from taking the stand and it does not limit or minimize what you can say."

 

 

 

Judge Merchan: “Mr Trump… please inform the court, are you a dumb dumb or a liar?”

[TradeTheBeal!]

 

[EmirOfShmo]

 

[Bang]

I'd ask "can you IMAGINE having to tell a former president and current candidate for president that a GAG order does not stop him from testifying?
An act that requires him to put his hand on a Bible that doesn't have his ****ing name on it, and is positioned RIGHT SIDE UP so he knows what the **** it is, and SWEAR to tell the truth, the WHOLE truth, and nothing BUT the truth?"

But here we are.

If he does take the stand he might just explode. In a giant flash of Bullsht, he just vanishes, leaving behind nothing but a singed wing of hair and a smell of the rankest ass from the deepest pit of hell there could possibly be.

 

~Bang

[China]

"Losing all credibility": Trump's hush money lawyer the latest to torch his reputation for nothing

 

Going into Donald Trump's Manhattan criminal trial for fraud and election interference regarding "hush money" payments to an adult film actress, the world of legal experts worried that, this time, Trump might mount a strong defense. Unlike many of the lawyers he used in his civil trials, who are widely regarded as MAGA hacks, Trump hired Todd Blanche to beat the 34 felony charges brought by New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Blanche, as the Washington Post reported, "previously worked at the prestigious federal prosecutor’s office in Manhattan," even working alongside Bragg before going to a private law firm. And as Andrew Rice of New York magazine explained, Blanche has long drawn accolades from "the lawyers who know him best" in New York. They say things like, "He’s an extraordinary trial lawyer" and "very good at reading people."

 

Before the trial started in April, Blanche had, in fact, deftly maneuvered in many ways to delay various Trump trials, a strategy likely employed out of a deep understanding that Trump is unlikely to do well once a jury sees evidence of his alleged crimes. But now that he's actually trying a case in the court of Judge Juan Merchan in Manhattan, much of Blanche's defense strategy seems puzzling at best and downright foolish in many cases. Sometimes it's hard not to wonder if he's trying to alienate the judge and jury that hold his client's fate in their hands. 

 

During opening statements, for instance, Blanche kept openly flouting the judicial restrictions. Prosecutors successfully objected more than half a dozen times, which is highly unusual during opening statements — and could turn a jury against the defendant. Meanwhile, Blanche struggles to control Trump, who doesn't just sleep through much of the trial but keeps pulling out his phone, against courtroom rules. Under Blanche's leadership, another defense lawyer, Emil Bove, pretended he had a damning document to present a witness, but it was just a bunch of words that had no bearing on the case. This is a classic Trump trick, as he often uses blank pieces of paper to pretend to have "evidence" he does not have. But in court, it backfired on Blanche's team and the judge called them out in front of the jury. 

 

But it was really the battle over Trump's refusal to obey the judge's gag order that exposed how much Blanche seems unmoored from his past as a respected, professional litigator. Rather than do the smart thing and tell his client to knock it off, Blanche beclowned himself in court, trying to argue that because Trump was quoting a Fox News video instead of using his own words, it didn't count. To compound the bad faith of the argument, it turned out that Trump made up part of the quote. 

 

"You're losing all credibility with the court," Merchan exasperatedly explained. 

 

Blanche's bad choices in trial largely seem driven by a need to placate his famously narcissistic client, who believes belligerence and lies are a superior strategy to more well-regarded tactics like being diplomatic, showing respect, and staying within the facts. Trump is even reportedly insisting that Blanche stick to the ridiculous story that a sexual encounter with Stormy Daniels never happened, a claim so preposterous it could make the jury assume everything else the defense says is a lie. 

 

Despite sacrificing so much of his reputation to defend Trump, however, Blanche is reportedly learning the same lesson everyone who backs Trump learns: He rewards loyalty by spitting in your face. As the New York Times reported Tuesday, Trump has been complaining constantly about Blanche behind closed doors. He whines that Blanche "has not been following his instructions closely, and has been insufficiently aggressive." Trump wants Blanche to "attack witnesses, attack what the former president sees as a hostile jury pool, and attack the judge."

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Cooked Crack]

 

Low energy Don. Sad!

[TheGreatBuzz]

 

 

 

[EmirOfShmo]

 

 

[Simmsy]

On 5/3/2024 at 5:02 PM, China said:

Despite sacrificing so much of his reputation to defend Trump, however, Blanche is reportedly learning the same lesson everyone who backs Trump learns: He rewards loyalty by spitting in your face. As the New York Times reported Tuesday, Trump has been complaining constantly about Blanche behind closed doors. He whines that Blanche "has not been following his instructions closely, and has been insufficiently aggressive." Trump wants Blanche to "attack witnesses, attack what the former president sees as a hostile jury pool, and attack the judge."

 

Click on the link for the full article

 

When Trump loses this trial he will make all of his attorneys act overly aggressive. Its going to be amazing!

[EmirOfShmo]

 

[TheGreatBuzz]

 

 

 

[Renegade7]

On 5/3/2024 at 4:38 PM, Bang said:

If he does take the stand he might just explode. In a giant flash of Bullsht, he just vanishes, leaving behind nothing but a singed wing of hair and a smell of the rankest ass from the deepest pit of hell there could possibly be.

 

~Bang

 

Don't threaten me.with a good time...

[Cooked Crack]

Trump is a habitual line stepper. Merchan should stop threatening and lock him up.

[TheGreatBuzz]

 

 

 

[Larry]

46 minutes ago, Cooked Crack said:

Trump is a habitual line stepper. Merchan should stop threatening and lock him up.

 

Remember a joke about a mule trainer who started his lesson by taking a 2x4, like a baseball bat, and breaking it over the mule's head. 

 

"First, you have to get his attention."

 

[BringMetheHeadofBruceAllen]

1 hour ago, Cooked Crack said:

Trump is a habitual line stepper. Merchan should stop threatening and lock him up.

 

I fear this will just make Trump even more popular than he already is...his sycophants believe every word he says is the truth anyway, but now undecided folks are going to start to think Trump is getting shafted by the justice system. You should see the ridiculous chatter on Fox articles...that everything the judges do is illegal, Holder was found to be in contempt of Congress but was never penalized...it doesn't matter what the TRUTH is, these people BELIEVE their own truth and we are heading for more violence on Election Day.

 

Trump has already said if the election is fair he will abide by the results. Why didn't TIME ask him 'what are your standards for a fair election...when there were 11 investigations into the last election and they found little if any fraud.'

 

CNN and WAPO just keep fact-checking Trump and pointing out his lies, which is fine...but this isn't going to convince anyone who is already in the bag for Trump. Doubt they even read or watch anything that criticizes Trump to begin with.

 

Starting to look like Nazi Germany...all those Germans who knew about the camps only denied knowing about them because they lost the war. If they had won the war, there would have been the sound of crickets.

 

Now we have VP candidate Tim Scott actively saying the 2020 election was rigged, and this guy has a good chance to be the next VP...

 

No one ever asks Trump for his 'proof' that the last election was stolen. He doesn't have any proof and will just pivot to another topic like he always does...but faith in our electoral system has been thoroughly undermined just by Trump's words.

[AlvinWaltonIsMyBoy]

Don’t agree with the narrative that Trump gets stronger if he goes to jail. 
 

Throw his ass in prison. 

[@DCGoldPants]

the same objection from Don's lawyers when something is submitted into evidence.... overruled. 

 

If you're on the jury and truly neutral watching this unfold, how does that look? I'd be annoyed as **** as them by now. 

[Bang]

There is no "undecided voter" anymore.

That person is defined as an "idiot" if they truly cannot see the differences and the danger Trump and the GOP represent.

 

There are apathetic voters, lazy dopes who fall back on the old 'they're both the same' mantra to excuse their cowardice, and there are "impulsive voters" who are unpredictable and do stupid things. 

But no one is undecided in enough numbers that i think there is any battle for them.

it may be a matter of seeing how many of these folks Kennedy can siphon away from Biden.

 

~Bang
 

Edited May 6 by Bang

[LadySkinsFan]

1 hour ago, BringMetheHeadofBruceAllen said:

 

I fear this will just make Trump even more popular than he already is...his sycophants believe every word he says is the truth anyway, but now undecided folks are going to start to think Trump is getting shafted by the justice system. You should see the ridiculous chatter on Fox articles...that everything the judges do is illegal, Holder was found to be in contempt of Congress but was never penalized...it doesn't matter what the TRUTH is, these people BELIEVE their own truth and we are heading for more violence on Election Day.

 

Trump has already said if the election is fair he will abide by the results. Why didn't TIME ask him 'what are your standards for a fair election...when there were 11 investigations into the last election and they found little if any fraud.'

 

CNN and WAPO just keep fact-checking Trump and pointing out his lies, which is fine...but this isn't going to convince anyone who is already in the bag for Trump. Doubt they even read or watch anything that criticizes Trump to begin with.

 

Starting to look like Nazi Germany...all those Germans who knew about the camps only denied knowing about them because they lost the war. If they had won the war, there would have been the sound of crickets.

 

Now we have VP candidate Tim Scott actively saying the 2020 election was rigged, and this guy has a good chance to be the next VP...

 

No one ever asks Trump for his 'proof' that the last election was stolen. He doesn't have any proof and will just pivot to another topic like he always does...but faith in our electoral system has been thoroughly undermined just by Trump's words.

 

The only people believing Trump now are his cult minions. The undecideds and independents aren't going to vote for him.

 

Trump will never say that an election is fair, unless he wins. He didn't and hasn't yet said 2020 was fair because he says the election was stolen even though he knows that it wasn't.

 

The only people believing Trump...see first paragraph.

 

If you think that the country is starting to look like Nazi Germany, it's only Trump and his minions who are spouting Nazi propaganda.

 

Trump will only pick Tim Scott is if he thinks doing so will bring him more Black voters. Unlikely on both counts. The White Supremists won't allow it.

 

Trump will never admit he lost in 2020, never.

[Bang]

He could pick Tim Scott, and once he wins, plant some dope on him and get him thrown out. 
Then he could say "hey,, we tried to give 'those people' a chance... '.

 

 

I mean, evil is evil. There isn't any level to which it wouldn't stoop

 

~Bang

[tshile]

I’m reluctant to think him going to jail is a good thing for him in any sense

 

buy to me it doesn’t matter. You follow the law and apply the punishment when and how much, correctly. If it somehow ‘helps’ him the fine - cross that bridge if we get there. 

[Califan007 The Constipated]

Judge: "I'm reluctant to put you in Jail, you're an ex-president and may be our next president. But if you keep being in contempt of the court's gag order, I may have to possible consider maybe doing something like giving you jail time...maybe. Do I make myself clear?"

 

Trump: "Yes, your honor. You made yourself crystal clear. You've made it clear that it doesn't really matter what I do, you'll never do anything other than fine me a grand here and there. Got it."

 

Judge: "That's not what I said."

 

Trump: "Yes it is."

 

Judge: "Do not test me."

 

Trump: "Or what?...You might have to reconsider maybe possibly thinking about how to word your next warning of how you'll possibly have to consider thinking about maybe giving me jail time? Please." (does jerking off action)

 

Judge: "Lawyers, get your client in line..."

 

Lawyers: "Nahhh...we don't think so."

 

 

Edited May 6 by Califan007 The Constipated

[FootballZombie]

2 hours ago, AlvinWaltonIsMyBoy said:

Don’t agree with the narrative that Trump gets stronger if he goes to jail. 
 

Throw his ass in prison. 

 

Even if it did, its a scale of diminishing returns, while the punishment is on the track to grow.

 

 

Even if he can grift off it the first time, it will lose its effectiveness after repeated use, just like everything else hes done.

Meanwhile, the door to jailing him will be opened, and the punishments will grow and the leash he will be on will shorten, leading to further jailing in this an other cases. The first time may be 5 days. Then 2 weeks. Then a month and so on.

 

Then when you get to eventual sentencing for the case proper, the price paid for a former president who has never went to jail is likely different than it is for a president who has been in jail b4.

 

I'll take that.