Indictment Watch, Day 3

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This is why I love New York City. NY Attorney General Letitia James hosted a drag queen story hour at a Manhattan LGBTQ center to show that New York supports drag queens. It was advertised as a family friendly event. Proud Boys showed up — I assume from out of town — to protest. They were not supported.

“There was at least one community member that was hit in the face,” the witness, who gave her name as LK, said of the attack.

“It was joyful, there was music, noisemakers, lots of sparkles and a really positive turnout,” added LK, who regularly comes to drag story hours to show support. “There were still protesters showing up and screaming rofanities and obscenities at the families.”

Allegedly the wingnuts hate drag queen story hours for not being morally wholesome. So they protest by showing up and screaming profanities at children. Yes, this does not make sense.

What the Proud Boys didn’t count on was being outnumbered by counterprotesters, who were pissed.

NYPD arrested one protester, I understand. More videos here. See also DRAGGED: Proud Boys get beat up at NYC drag queen story hour.

Speaking of protests — my impression is that there’s as yet more talk than action regarding protests of Trump’s pending indictment. There is a lot of chest thumping and promises to surround Mar-a-Lago so that law enforcement can’t get in to arrest Trump. But I seriously doubt the Manhattan prosecutor is planning to send anyone to Florida to arrest Trump. He will ask Trump to come to NYC and surrender. Trump’s lawyers have said Trump will comply. We’ll see.

I assume New York City authorities can’t arrest anyone in Florida without cooperation from Florida. I’m not sure the righties understand that.

Trump may want another January 6, but I doubt it will come to that. I appreciate I could be wrong. But on January 6 the protesters had a “higher” purpose. But now?

See also Some Trump supporters ambivalent on calls for protests.

Former President Donald Trump’s calls for protests ahead of his anticipated indictment in New York have generated mostly muted reactions from supporters, with even some of his most ardent loyalists dismissing the idea as a waste of time or a law enforcement trap.

The ambivalence raises questions about whether Trump, though a leading Republican contender in the 2024 presidential race who retains a devoted following, still has the power to mobilize far-right supporters the way he did more than two years ago before the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. It also suggests that the hundreds of arrests that followed the Capitol riot, not to mention the convictions and long prison sentences, may have dampened the desire for repeat mass unrest.

The NYPD is really good at crowd control, as I have witnessed with my own tired eyes. If a large number of people show up for unauthorized protests in the streets of Manhattan, they will likely find themselves corralled within a relatively small area and unable to get away. Demonstrators are supposed to get a permit and coordinate with the city so that they don’t cause too much gridlock, and I doubt the MAGAts are planning for that. The cops will likely leave small, peaceful demonstrations alone, permit or no permit, but New Yorkers may not.

I haven’t heard any new news about the Manhattan grand jury today. However, House Republicans appear to be getting ready to investigate D.A. Alvin Bragg.

16 thoughts on “Indictment Watch, Day 3”

  1. "Allegedly the wingnuts hate drag queen story hours for not being morally wholesome"

    So they vote for a credibly accused (arguably admitted) rapist who was screwing a pornstar while his third wife was home with their months old infant! Makes perfect moral sense!

    I posted this earlier: I saw this over at DU yesterday, it's an excellent summary of exactly who and what lil-donnie is, and more importantly every last one of his supporters! Complete with a stunning portrait!

    https://www.democraticunderground.com/100217738451

     

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  2. It's cheering to watch these guys give it up, in the face of mighty NYC. I just see this as one more example of Peak Wingnut. A chunk of the population has woken up. Maximum Wingnuts like DeSantis are going to find themselves electorally marooned in the Sunshine State, with no hope of gaining traction elsewhere.

    Meanwhile, the law is closing in, from multiple directions on Il Trumpi. I suspect his call to supporters to riot at his handing over to the Manhattan DA was more about fundraising than anything else. Politics was the easiest grift ever for him, one that his wannabe clones (Sarah Palin, Boebert and MTG) know full well. 

    The picture that appears in my mind over and over, is that of a sink whose dirty water is draining out, leaving the hard core crumbs and rotted debris behind. Yes there will be occasional gains by this or that legislative body or court, but the tide – and the garbage with it – is going out to sea. Only some big chunks of sink-bottom garbage remain.

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  3. I'm not sure if Democrats should not bring this up – from the second term of the Bush Administration: I'm quoting from a Time article.

    "One of the fired prosecutors, David Iglesias of New Mexico, testified that he felt "leaned on" by Sen. Pete Domenici over a case he was pursuing. Iglesias said the New Mexico Republican and former mentor hung up on him after learning Iglesias would not seek indictments in a criminal investigation of Democrats before the 2006 election. "He said, 'Are these going to be filed before November?'" Iglesias recalled. "I said I didn't think so… to which he replied, 'I'm very sorry to hear that.' And then the line went dead. "I had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach," Iglesias testified. "Six weeks later I got the call that I had to move on." The ousted prosecutor also said that Heather Wilson, a Republican House member from New Mexico, had called him about the same issue."

    https://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1597085,00.html

    I seem to recall that Madow dug into this and accumulated a lot of evidence that all these (Or most) were asked to open political indictments of Democrats before the election which they were expected to drop after the election. They are screaming about dirty politics by the Democrats when there is NO evidence that the prosecution(s) are political. There's also no history of Democrats doing what the Republicans are accusing the prosecutors of – but there damn well is history of the GOP doing it and manipulating it from the halls of Congress!

    I strongly suspect that Trump demanded DOJ persecute his enemies. Seems like soe former Cheif of Staff for Trump reported it directly. Can the Senate open up an inquiry of Trump's actions and ask if this is the pot calling the kettle black? There is a huge difference between what the prosecutors (NY, GA, and DOJ) are doing and the federal DOJ prosecutors under Bush – the current investigations of Trump are grounded in evidence of criminal activity and WILL go to trial. A conviction (or acquittal) will be the decision of a jury. 

    It does not look like a Tuesday arrest is on the schedule. When I look on what DID happen after Trump's fake announcement about Tuesday is that Congress reacted like Paplov's puppies, right on cue. Which makes me think Trump's announcement was a ploy to get Congress to make threats to Bragg before a decision is announced. It may work – Bragg did not want to proceed with the criminal tax fraud based on distorted valuations case that was all tied up and ready to go. One of the prosecutors who quit over Braggs decision to shelve the case released a book this month which made Bragg look like a wimp. So he threw together a prosecution to defend against the book. Trump is barking loud and Bragg may fold. Georgia is trying to pass a law to allow the state to fire Willis. So who knows if that will proceed. 

    If Trump gets both GA and NY cases to go away, Trump will be even more desperate to win the White House as the only way to prevent federal trials. Desperate people make serious mistakes. Trump lawyers are under fire – some looking at jail time. When they start to flip on Trump, he's toast. Civil trials this year are gonna drag Trump through the open sewer of Trump's bad actions. There's a civil financial trial and a rape trial plus civil suits over J6 – all proceeding. Fox viewers may not know about it ever, but the Dominion trial is gonna put a spotlight on the Big Lie.

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  4. I assume New York City authorities can’t arrest anyone in Florida without cooperation from Florida. I’m not sure the righties understand that.

    You're right – a NY cop of any sort has no authority to act in Florida, without Florida's involvement. I believe that most states will gladly arrest an indicted suspect while an extradition hearing is held, but there's no point in forcing an extradition hearing, there aren't any grounds for Florida to reject extradition if Trump is indicted in NY.

    Trump is in a doubly-safe situation – he's famous, and wealthy, and has a legal team already involved, so, it's assumed that he will surrender himself peacefully.  Plus, he's under Secret Service protection; I don't know if they have a protocol in place for "if your charge is arrested or indicted" but this won't be the first time a bodyguard service had to deal with the situation.

    (I am also loath to admit it, but the Secret Service is the one reason I can't deny that Trump might need to be under home detention. I just hope the judge restricts him to a reasonable size – "home detention" = "the entire grounds of MAL" is far from the punishment Republicans demand for *real* criminals, like those who try to vote legally, but find they were disallowed, in spite of getting a voter registration card.)

    • Mar-A-Lago does NOT have a golf course so restricting him to Mar-A-Lago would distress The Donald.  That may be the best we can hope for – pitiful as that is.

  6. FYI:  My comment from yesterday never appeared, maha.

    Twit filtered again, I surmise…

    DAMN YOU, YOU FILTERER OF TWITS!!!

    What do you have against us?!?

    • Obviously, Elon Musk had his engineers change the twit filter, because Maha was *clearly* not reading his tweets. Oh, sure, you say, "this is a WordPress blog site, not Twitter!"

      You forget: Elon Musk is a Republican – that things are literally, and factually, impossible doesn't matter to such folks.

      No, wait… if Musk had tried to filter C.u.n.d.gulag, he would have stuck his foot into an elephant's ass while doing so. (That's  like stepping in dung, except a lot more so – plus, elephants might not notice something tiny like a foot in the rectum, and might not feel any urgency to evacuate it..).

      Oh, dear, I hope the thought of EM hanging upside down, with his foot stuck in an elephants hind end, isn't too distressing to people.

       

  7. Tuesday came and went with no arrest or even an announcement of an indictment. Is it possible Trump lied?  To what end? The US House is conducting (or threatening to) a witch hunt of the DA, Alvin Bragg. It was Trump's announcement that triggered the House to act, though I don't rule out a few calls to Kevin. But Trump provided the "Oh My God!" moment which was the excuse. 

    Suppose (which means I'm guessing) Trump did contact "My Kevin" to demand the House try to intimidate Bragg into reversing course. Tactically, it will be much harder to force the DA to back down AFTER charges are filed. My guess is that Trump wanted the House to act now – before an indictment. The announcement of an impending arrest was a ruse. 

    I read that Trump is planning a rally on Saturday at Waco. The last stand of some twisted cultists with guns at Waco will play well to Trump's cult. Trump's lawyers probably see this as high-risk. Anything Trump says may be introduced as evidence. If it's a call for violence against Bragg, it will hurt Trump with a jury for the existing case or generate totally different charges. 

    I'm not sure but I read that the NY Grand Jury heard testimony on Monday, does not meet on Tuesday and MAY begin deliberations on Wednesday. Sorta makes an arrest on Tuesday somewhat unlikely. I'm not an expert on Grand Jury processes in NY but a decision tomorrow leading to an announcement on the same day seems unlikely. I'd be amazed (assuming the reporting is accurate) if anything was made public before Friday, and that would be moving at warp speed. Trump's lawyers would probably be notified first so Trump could make arrangements to visit the NY courthouse, be processed, and get out. 

    If I was Bragg, I'd strategize whether a decision before or a decision after the Waco rally would best serve getting a conviction. (And Bragg has Cohen as an expert on Trump.) Do you want to trigger Trump just before Waco to get Trump to maybe openly call for violence in NYC against the state prosecutor? 

  8. Read that TFG's statement about being indicted Tuesday was a trial balloon to see the turnout. It's plausible. Just wondering how the the rather low turnout is being taken in by him.

     

    Also, regarding extradiction: 18 U.S. Code § 3182 – Fugitives from State or Territory to State, District, or Territory 

    Whenever the executive authority of any State or Territory demands any person as a fugitive from justice, of the executive authority of any State, District, or Territory to which such person has fled, and produces a copy of an indictment found or an affidavit made before a magistrate of any State or Territory, charging the person demanded with having committed treason, felony, or other crime, certified as authentic by the governor or chief magistrate of the State or Territory from whence the person so charged has fled, the executive authority of the State, District, or Territory to which such person has fled shall cause him to be arrested and secured, and notify the executive authority making such demand, or the agent of such authority appointed to receive the fugitive, and shall cause the fugitive to be delivered to such agent when he shall appear. If no such agent appears within thirty days from the time of the arrest, the prisoner may be discharged.

    But, yeah, I'm  sure the expectation is he will turn himself in. Will he? Sounds like a good opportunity to play his victim card for the media who will be present.

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    • If Trump plays games after he is charged, it seems like bail might be denied when he IS arrested. 

    • Playing unfairly persecuted victims is certainly what the right does best.  I've read that he likes the idea of being handcuffed for a perp walk, I say go all the way with that; taser, choke hold, throw him to the ground, kneel on his neck.  I'd tune in for that reality show.

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      • Yeah, give him a cavity search also. That ought to fill him with delight. And if not delight, then at least wonder.

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