Today’s law and crime news — Trump filed a plea of not guilty in the Georgia case. But the far more interesting news is out of New York.
Yesterday Attorney General Letitia James asked a judge to find that Trump had fraudulently overvalued his assets. The judge should do this without bothering with the trial thing, James said. I believe that’s called a “summary judgment.” James alleges that Trump had lied about his assets over a period of several years in order to get loans, and the lies overstated his worth by between $812 million and $2.2 billion each year over the course of a decade.
Trump’s lawyers are asking to get the suit dismissed. They say most of these loans happened too long ago to be litigated now. There is, apparently, some precedent for their argument. If the Trump lawyers prevail, James’s case will be severely limited.
But also yesterday Trump’s deposition to James from last April was unsealed. And it’s a doozy. Among other things, Trump claimed to have averted nuclear war with North Korea.
MR. TRUMP: I was very busy. I was — I considered this the most important job in the world, saving millions of lives. I think you would have nuclear holocaust, if I didn’t deal with North Korea. I think you would have a nuclear war, if I weren’t elected. And I think you might have a nuclear war now, if you want to know the truth.
In other words, while he was POTUS he was too busy saving us all from thermonuclear destruction to be bothered with petty details about the value of assets.
The deposition is a terrific window into what kind of witness El Caudillo del Mar-a-Lago is going to be over the next couple of years, and into what his strategy is going to be in the various courtrooms in which he’ll be engaged. He will attempt to turn them all into facsimiles of his rallies. He will bloviate, prevaricate, denounce, distract, and deplore. Judges are going to need a whip and a chair.
Of course, Kim Jung Un still has all the nuclear capabilities he had when Trump became POTUS, and he is planning to expand them. The BBC reported today that North Korea recently fired two short-range ballistic missiles to simulate nuclear strikes on military targets in South Korea. Kim is just as treacherous as he ever was. Trump accomplished nothing. But you knew that.
I understand Trump is continuing to launch social media screeds against “prosecutors, judges, witnesses, the FBI, DOJ, and the justice system broadly.” Will nothing be done?
In other what the bleep news — Justice Clarence Thomas now is saying he had to accept flights on private jets for security reasons after the Dobbs leak. Seriously.
Here’s some housekeeping.
I haven’t heard any more from our friend gulag, and I’m getting worried again. Although he sounded optimistic when I heard from him last week, he must be having a rough time. If anyone wants his email to send a cheer-up note, just say yes in the comments. I believe I have your email addresses.
Also, thanks so much for your response to the recent mini-fundraiser. I received more than enough to fill in the shortfall, so I won’t nag you any more about it. (Although I won’t object to more donations.)
Update: Proud Boy Joe Biggs Sentenced To 17 Years Over Jan. 6 Plot
Yes
Yes, I'd like to send Gulag an email.
Yes. Please & thank you.
Biggs wore an orange prison jumpsuit and black, thick-rimmed glasses as he spoke before Judge Kelly early Thursday afternoon, taking breaks to sob during a brief statement.
Nothing says regret like intermittent sobs. There's always hope for Biggs. Maybe if Trump gets reelected there might be a pardon for Biggs. Who knows many even a presidential medal of freedom. It's not easy being a patriot!
Me too – I'd like to send him a card. Thanks.
"Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) shot down demands that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis be censured or removed her from her position, saying Thursday that the process some members of his party are calling for could be unconstitutional."
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/brian-kemp-fani-willis_n_64f0c220e4b03bdff3ae0643
Trump declared Kemp an enemy and Kemp knows that Trump as POTUS will exact retribution. Kemp also saw what Christie got from Trump after sucking up to the orange windbag. (Knife in the back.)
Just so long as it's Joe Biggs, not Joe Bob Briggs, Drive-in Theater Critic of Dallas, Texas, I'm OK with it.
What is disturbing about Trump talking about nuclear war is that it shows what's on his mind. I think if he becomes president again, there's a real chance he will use nuclear weapons.
We have nothing to fear but Trump himself. But that's too much.
Yes
2 former Proud Boy members sentenced for role in Jan. 6 attacks (msn.com)
Another 2 proud boys met their fate. It does my heart good to see these assholes get their just rewards. The funny thing is that Pezzoli shouted out,Trump Won!, as he was leaving the courtroom on his way to his 10 year stint. I guess it all depends on how he meant that to be understood. In his particular case it seems Trump lulled him into a long prison sentence while Trump still remains free and adored by the unpunished MAGAts. So in that sense Trump really did win. At least for now.
@swami – Pezzoli is going to regret saying "Trump Won!" for the rest of his life, if only for how it instantly dimmed his chances for parole.
I'm tempted to donate a couple of bucks to Pezzola's commissary account so he can get a haircut. I wonder if the federal penitentiary offers classes on personal hygiene and good grooming. I think he might benefit from a course in those subjects. A little polish wouldn't hurt him when it come time for his parole hearing.
Case dismissed over standing (or lack thereof). This was a case asking a federal judge in FL to declare Trump ineligible based on the 14th Amendment.
IDK how the case will play elsewhere but it's possible nobody will have standing until Trump is made the GOP candidate at the GOP convention only months before the election.
Trump Scores Major Victory From Obama-Appointed Judge (msn.com)
Interesting, and a little discouraging. I wonder what the rationale is behind a judge thinking that an American citizen has no standing when just asking that the US Constitution be enforced. Isn't every American harmed when a qualification provision in the Constitution is violated? Is this judge saying that I would not have standing if a 3-year-old tried to get on the ballot in my state?
Oh well, perhaps the better route is for some Secretaries of State simply refuse to put a disqualified person on the ballot and make it clear that any write-in votes for same will not be counted. Then the disqualified person will obviously have standing to take issue with it. Maybe that's the only way to get the courts involved.
One way or another, every secretary of state of every state faces the same problem. The Constitution is quite clear and broad in its 14th amendment that those who even aid or abet an insurrection lose their eligibility to hold public office. We cannot expect, in the current political climate, that any of them need to make this decision on their own. That a judge should duck the case is not unreasonable. No one should have to be that much of a political lightning rod. Still, somehow the question needs to be answered even before even the first primary. How this gets done is the question not if it gets done. Every state may need to agree on a method to decide this fairly and quickly. It is, as I understand, the states' responsibility.
The consequences of doing nothing are huge. Yes, the Senate should have seen this problem coming, and decided this at the impeachment. Well, they did not. Now we have a big problem. Without a determination of eligibility how can we even hope to have a valid general election much less a primary process. We must avoid having this decision made by argumentum ad baculum. We have way too many way too entrenched.
Amazing Blog. It will be really interesting to pull the pleadings from the newer case and see how his attorneys are articulating his situation.
Hoping to start a blog on my newer site at some point.