The Manhattan grand jury didn’t meet yesterday and is not meeting today, and nobody is saying why. Well, some of the right-wing sites say it’s because District Attorney Bragg was accused of “withholding evidence.” but their “evidence” of this is that Robert J. Costello, the Trump lawyer who testified a couple of days ago, said that Michael Cohen was lying. Um, this is not “withholding evidence.” And who’s to say it wasn’t Costello who was lying?
Everybody knows that Michael Cohen is something of a hinky witness. I am assuming Alvin Bragg understands this better than I do, and that his case doesn’t depend entirely on Michael Cohen, and that whatever Michael Cohen said has been checked and corroborated. If it turns out that isn’t true, then we can all dump on Alvin Bragg. But nobody really knows what evidence the grand jury has seen, except for the grand jurors and Alvin Bragg and his team.
And nobody knows when they’ll vote on an indictment.
Meanwhile, the big crowds of Trump supporters standing up for their guy have not exactly materialized anywhere.
Some of the MAGAts are waiting for more instruction.
Distrustful that protests might be “traps” set by federal law enforcement and without a fixed date or event to rally around, the vast majority of pro-Trump online groups seemed to waver between apathy and confusion, showing very little appetite for organized action. “He’s not infallible and protest is very vague,” one person wrote in a popular MAGA Telegram group. “And what exactly does “Protest, Protest!!!” mean?” another person asked in a different group. “I’m not trying to be a jerk but you’d think he could give slightly more explicit instructions if he really wanted the tens of millions of people who support him to do something effective.”
I wondered that myself when so much of the initial chatter from the Right was about surrounding Mar-a-Lago to keep anyone from going in to arrest Trump. Initial reports were that Trump intends to voluntarily show up in Manhattan for his arraignment. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if he changes his mind, however. I’ll come back to this.
Also,
A review of more than two dozen popular pro-Trump Telegram channels, online forums, and social media groups also suggests that many supporters feel betrayed by what they see as the former President’s abandonment of those who rallied for him on Jan. 6, 2021.
“Why would I protest for a man that left the [Jan. 6 protesters] high and dry?” one user posted in a pro-Trump Telegram group. “Trump did nothing to help them after they stuck [their] neck out for him.”
“Has he called for protests about these poor guys? No. But he’s calling for us to protest about his arrest,” another person wrote. “It doesn’t sit right with me.” Another user agreed: “He’s right. Trump betrayed the J6 patriots. How can anybody still support [him]?”
There are reports that Trump wants to do a public “perp walk” in handcuffs. I am skeptical of this. There are also reports that he doesn’t want to be seen in handcuffs. I doubt anyone intends to handcuff him. There are reports that he is fundraising on the indictment threat.
The right-wing message boards want Trump to fight the indictment.
As the days go by and anticipation builds for this turning point in American history, pro-Trump commentators and far-right message boards are increasingly urging Trump to put up a fight.
“While I can’t claim to know how President Trump would respond in this situation, I know what I would do if I were in Trump’s position,” far-right radio host Stew Peters told The Daily Beast, “and it wouldn’t include voluntary surrender to bogus ‘authorities’ from New York.”
If he chooses to take a stand at Mar-a-Lago, that means Alvin Bragg will have to ask Florida to extradict Trump, meaning Ron DeSantis will get involved. And I am not predicting what DeSantis might do. He might approve the extradition, he might sit on it a while, he might deny it. Anything is possible. And it’s possible that if this looming indictment drama drags on much longer, Trump might change his mind about cooperating.
As I understand it, his lawyers are probably begging him to surrender voluntarily if he wants to actually beat the rap. If there are any holes in Alvin Bragg’s case, it’s going to be harder for Trump to exploit those holes if he tried to avoid arrest.
"Trump betrayed the J6 patriots. How can anybody still support [him]?”
"How could the bully who famously lies, cheats and exploits everyone, cheat ME? I'm dangerously close to getting a clue."
Best case is Trump flees to Moscow and lives out a sad exile devoid of the attention he craves, like other traitors.
"How could the bully who famously lies, cheats and exploits everyone, cheat ME? I'm dangerously close to getting a clue." LOL!
Can't you just see tRUMP's MAGAt followers sitting by an antique RCA gramaphone's sound-horn like the dog in the old ad, with the line underneath reading, "Their Master's Voice"?
JAAAAAAAAAAAAZOOS!!!
You almost can't blame tRUMP for fleecing these rubes!!!
Why oh why couldn't I have been born a grifter?!?!?
There are reports that Trump wants to do a public “perp walk” in handcuffs.
Brilliant!!! He knows the handcuffs will slide off his tiny hands, freeing up his muscled torso to deliver knockout blows to his opressors and running off to New Jersey. The spectacle will bring his slow and somewhat stupid followers to call it the "miracle of Manhattan" and reverse their skepticism and return to the fold, leaving the door open to his return to power and a day of reckoning for the libs, Dems, wokes (?), Jews, Ukranians, brown people, shithole countries and of course, Hunter Biden.
I couldn't resist doing one more tiny hands joke. I'll go now.
“He’s not infallible and protest is very vague,” one person wrote…
"Vague" is the objective and the problem. Trump can't say, "Bring your guns." or "Burn down Harlem." That will get quoted back to a jury if he does. Trump waffled for eighteen months by my count on whether or not he supported the J6 insurrectionists. IMO, someone showed Trump the numbers – he can't win the EC in 2024. The election in 2024 is the occasion, the excuse, for the next insurrection.
There's a considerable number of fascists in this country with guns who would go up against… the mythical deep-state pedophiles. They don't want to spend years in prison with the J6 gang. It looks to me like Roger Stone organized the violent gange on J6. After J6, there will be a lot closer scrutiny of communications with the leaders of the Oath Keepers and the other gangs. They may be monitoring Stone. Who visits Mir-A-Lago may be getting reported by the USSS there for Trump's protection. (I'm not sure Trump can select his 'detail', the group of agents from USSS assigned to provide protection.)
From where I sit, Trump can't overtly call for riots and he'll find it hard to organize violent groups in secret. No one has looked at DeSantos' position. He could block extradition – or try. (Not sure how that would play with a federal warrant.) I think DeSantos' entire strategy to bring Trump down with voters and sell himself as Trumpier than Trump without the legal baggage depends on getting the Donald in court in trials where evidence and witnesses will be presented. If DeSantis protects Trump successfully, he just flushed his shot at the WH down the toilet.
So that's gonna be interesting. Unless DeSantis comes up with a plan to throw Trump under the bus without being implicated, I think DeSantis will honor an extradition request, BUT it looks to me like Trump's lawyers are willing and eager to respond to charges and report for fingerprinting. I have been thru the federal grinder. My mobility – my freedom to travel was restricted for over two years after the flight. If Trump is not FULLY cooperative, his movement can legitimately be seriously curtailed by a judge BEFORE there's a conviction.
Once somebody gets charged, the court has the power to set guarantees that the defendant will show up when the court asks him to appear. Bail is one way but the state can ask for home detention and/or a GPS ankle bracelet. (I wore one for a year.) The judge considers different factors in setting the amount of bail and the restrictions. If Trump gives NY a ration of sh#t, the judge may "reasonably" set some strict limits. Defying those limits can (and will) get Trump restricted to jail – judges don't fool around.
The pundits who are suggesting that Trump can prevail by defying the legal system, including giving the judge the middle finger no nothing about the legal system.
I'm hoping for a surprise announcement of Trump's indictment. So it feels more like Christmas morning.
I'm a lot more interested in what's going on in his mind. Ari Melber had a woman on who worked for Trump org, and the conversation was enlightening. Trump really thinks he can beat this, he revels in the challenge. Long ago, I read an article that drew the parallel between Trump and Houdini. I see Trump, like Harry, in locks and chains, about to be thrown in the ocean. He's laughing and energized by the spectacle, because he's certain he can beat it.
I also saw a clip of Trump's attorney who is representing him in Georgia. He seriously looks like a clownish magician, almost a Batman villain, with a superpower that gives him the ability to look straight at you and tell you what to think. A magician, who's supremely confident he can get those hicks in Georgia to bend his way. A jury has to be unanimous, right?
I agree "protest!" is vague, "celebrate!" however – I understand that quite clearly.
If I was Bragg, I'd wait a few more days! Let lil-donnie and the tabloids sweat!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0FWxzwPcC0
DeSantis can't stop extradition. Delay it, maybe, but 18 U.S. Code § 3182 specifically states: "…shall cause the fugitive to be delivered to such agent when he shall appear."
I wish they would hurry up, my Champagne is nearing its best if used by date.