Always strive to learn something useful. --Sophocles

Last Friday the sadly (for us) once and future president was ordered back to court in New York, and appeared via a video link from Florida. This occasion was to close the case: this occasion was for Judge Merchan to sentence the convicted felon, who was found guilty of all 34 counts of conspiracy other crimes of paying hush money to Stormy Daniels, porn actress, to try to cover up the affair that he had with her after his current (third) wife gave birth to their son.

The sentence bestowed on the weird guy was unconditional discharge. Basically it means that the conviction was not voided by the judge, but there's no real punishment to be imposed. No jail or confinement, no fine, no probation. Needless to say, the weird guy and his attorneys are still going to file endless appeals to try and get the conviction overturned. However, Judge Merchan did a heck of a job trying to be as scrupulous as possible to ensure a fair and procedurally-accurate trial to reduce the chance of error and an appeal overturning the conviction. It's going to be a big lift to get this trial thrown out.

I'm not sure what this does to his voting or gun ownership rights, also in limbo is his right to possess a liquor license for his properties. He's a convicted felon regardless of no punishment.

Regardless, the weird old guy will still go into the history books as the only president sworn into the highest office in our land as a convicted felon.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-sentenced-hush-money-trial_n_677965efe4b08d06b7289727

Jack Smith has been a busy boy!

Since the Supreme Court made their rather partisan ruling that the President is immune to acts being charged as crimes while he's sitting in office, Smith empaneled a new grand jury, represented all the evidence that he had against the weird former president, excluded specific references to things that could be covered by the SCOTUS shield, and the grand jury returned the same four charges that he had before!

The weird guy is of course complaining that it is election interference, and that it's illegal to file charges so close to the election, etc.

It's hard to say how this will play out, obviously it will not come to trial before the election, but it's guaranteed to make the weird guy sweat some more.

Along with these charges being refiled, Smith is refiling the top secret documents case in the district that encompasses Georgia. I'm sure that will also be carefully edited to remove reference to the weird guy's previous job to avoid the SCOTUS Shield.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czdpq4en1vvo

This is interesting. The shooter only got off eight rounds before a POLICE SNIPER - NOT SECRET SERVICE - got a round off AFTER CHARGING THE SHOOTER! and shot the shooter's rifle! It damaged the rifle and knocked him from his perch. As soon as the shooter regained his perch, the Secret Service sniper shot and killed him.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gl2jqem0eo


It's possible that the weird guy is suffering from PTSD from the attempt on his life, which is hardly surprising. Insiders report he's obsessively watching the seven second clip of him coming within an inch or so of getting killed. He's also severely cut back his barn storming and is tying to arrange for indoor venues instead of outdoor, where he was nearly killed.

The problem with indoor venues, of course, is he's stiffed so many of them without pay, that the good ones won't have him without full payment up front plus full arrears. He owes the City of El Paso, Texas over half a million dollars, and he owes venues across the country. This greatly limits the places he can appear indoors.

If he were smart, he'd be seeing someone about his mental health RIGHT NOW, as it's best addressed ASAP. But as we know, he's not smart, he's clever at manipulating people, and those aren't the same thing. He can't remotely be honest about something like how he's feeling and what he's experiencing with a therapist, so it's likely to get worse.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-keeps-watching-clip-of-himself-being-shot-may-legit-have-ptsd


The City of Palm Beach might close Mar-a-Laugho.

The Secret Service has closed the road leading to the weird guy's residence/country club since the assassination attempt, yet events continue, and say the road will remain closed at least through Election Day. The City is of the opinion that 'if the road is closed, the resort is closed' and may force it completely closed.

If that happens, no more events. Zero cash flow. Zero golfers. Zero sycophants coming in to suck up to the weird guy.

That would hurt more than his ear getting a boo-boo. I would love to hear the screams and see the Jackson Pollack Hamburger/Ketchup installation if that happens when he gets news of it.

https://newrepublic.com/maz/post/184872/trump-mar-a-lago-faces-major-threat-close-down-palm-beach


My opinion. We don't have definitive reports as to what happened with the shooting. The hospital won't release reports due to HIPAA, as well they shouldn't. The campaign won't release reports as to what the doctors did to treat him. The Secret Service report said that he was hit by 'a bullet or fragment of a bullet'. And anything that Ronnie Jackson says is second-hand: he wasn't there and didn't treat the weird guy.

I think a fragment of a bullet grazed his ear. Had it been a real bullet on a hypersonic ballistic path, he wouldn't have had a minor little boo-boo that left his ear looking perfect a week or so later. The shock wave might have left him deaf in that ear.

He got lucky. And he's still an idiot.

According to the Judge's order, which is likely to be overturned on the inevitable appeal, ""The Court is convinced that Special Counsel’s Smith’s prosecution of this action breaches two structural cornerstones of our constitutional scheme—the role of Congress in the appointment of constitutional officers, and the role of Congress in authorizing expenditures by law."

Few legal scholars support her line of reasoning, and few supported her appointment to this particular circuit court. But it does serve to guarantee that this trial will not take place before the November election. And if the election goes in favor of the Democrats, it is a certainty that the charges will be refiled, this time hopefully a competent judge will be drawn.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz5rpdrxevro

In 2021, a certain felon's son in law received $2,000,000,000 from the Saudi Public Investment Fund. From the article, "A panel that screens investments for the Saudi sovereign wealth fund warned against investing with Kushner, given his inexperience in finance, but the full board, led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, overruled the panel, The New York Times reported in 2022."

The investigation is being led by perhaps my favorite Senator, Ron Wyden (D) of Oregon. Again, from the article: "A panel that screens investments for the Saudi sovereign wealth fund warned against investing with Kushner, given his inexperience in finance, but the full board, led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, overruled the panel, The New York Times reported in 2022.

...

“The Saudi PIF’s decision to invest $2 billion in Affinity so soon after Kushner’s departure from the Trump White House raises concerns that the investment was a reward for official actions Kushner took to benefit the Saudi government, including preventing accountability for the Saudi government ordering the brutal murder of journalist and American citizen Jamal Khashoggi,” Wyden wrote.

Wyden’s letter asked Affinity Partners for details about its seeding investments, the investments made by the firm, as well as the fees it has received, and the amount Kushner has been paid. The company did not immediately respond to requests for comment made through its website.

Wyden’s letter represents an escalation of Democratic scrutiny of Kushner’s business activities, which have been controversial from the start. Even House Oversight Committee chair James Comer (R-Ky.), an aggressive defender of Donald Trump, said last year that he thought Kushner “crossed the line of ethics” with his Saudi deal.

Comer has overseen Republicans’ impeachment inquiry against Joe Biden, which has largely focused on business deals by the president’s son. Republicans have said he improperly traded on his father’s former position as vice president during the Obama administration."

The bit about 'business practices being controversial from the start' is partly in reference to Jared's dad going to prison for said practices, and getting pardoned by Trump. Of course, a presidential pardon doesn't erase a conviction, just gets your butt out of the pokey. I have little reason to believe that said business practices have greatly changed, especially considering how his F-I-L's haven't: he still owes the City of El Paso for protective services during the 2020 campaign, possibly from the 2016 campaign!

It's amusing that Comer would say Kushner 'crossed the line' with him so rabidly pursuing Biden and coming up with absolutely nothing after all this time. The Dems in the House can't do anything since they're not the majority party there, but Wyden can in the Senate!

Anyone want to lay some odds that a certain felon is going to start squawking about his S-I-L being persecuted by those Crooked Dems?

Man, I'd love it if they found enough evidence that a prosecution became viable and Jared found himself a felon. I don't think you can hold a securities license with that conviction, not sure about a real estate license.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jared-kushner-affinity-partners-saudi-arabia_n_6669906ce4b01bc0ceedf831

A long article that reveals how pretty much every aspect of The Apprentice was managed to overcome the shortcomings of Their Star: his inability to remember lines or contestant names, his misogyny, his racism, etc.

The producer had to sign a nasty NDA in 2004 with stiff penalties, it just expired.

https://slate.com/culture/2024/05/donald-trump-news-2024-trial-verdict-apprentice.html

Seems like I had previously heard this and forgotten about it.

Apparently he had a concealed weapons permit in New York, not sure if it was city or state, and owned an HK 45 and a Smith & Wesson 38. So those will have to be surrendered or otherwise disposed of or accounted for if they haven't been disposed of already.

Now we know that he can't get away with shooting someone dead on 5th Avenue. At least for now.

A former president was convicted on all 34 charges after 7.5 hours of deliberation by the jury.

Honestly, I did not expect a sweep, I was expecting some of the charges to fail. But he badly hampered his defense, then really messed up with slandering the judge repeatedly in addition to directly disrespecting the jury by not standing when they came in. He didn't do much to try to present himself as a likable, respectable person.

It's possible that this was the tactic all along, to accept this as a loss and tie it up for eternity on appeal. Regardless, his status as a convicted felon is now cemented.

There is one thing that would wipe away the convictions, though: if he dies before appeals are exhausted. That's what happened to the head of Enron.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/donald-trump-found-guilty-hush-money-trial-1235029425/

ETA: He was convicted of falsifying business records, i.e. trying to conceal/structure the payments to Stormy Daniels to hide them from discovery. The issue of him having had sex with Stormy was completely irrelevant. Just like his second trial re E. Jean Carrol, he had already been found guilty of slandering her, the defense in both cases were arguing the wrong points.

Normally under NY State Law, falsifying business records is a misdemeanor, but if it was "done to “commit another crime or to aid or conceal” another crime — in this case, violations of election laws", then it becomes a Class E felony, potentially punishable by prison time of 1-4 years.

The likelihood of this being the sentence is not high, more probable of a fine and probation, but it's still a felony conviction. Which means, as I recall, he cannot vote in Florida until after the probation is over and the fines are paid.

This is fascinating!

The 12th Amendment specifies how electors are supposed to cast their ballots. And one stipulation is they cannot vote for a President AND Veep from their same state!

Trump and Rubio are both residents of Florida...

Now, when Bush and Cheney announced, they had both been residents of Texas. Cheney changed his residency to Wyoming, where he'd spent a lot of years and represented them in Congress. No problem there. In this case, I can't see The Trumpster moving back to NYC.

Rubio could resign from the Senate, but he's only two years into his third term. He could move back to Las Vegas where he spent some time in his childhood, but again, he's the elected senator from FLORIDA, not NEVADA. "Little Marco", as a certain orange shitgibbon likes to call him, seems eager for the position of Veep, and is rumored to be on the short list.

Here's how a possible election could turn out, from the article:

"So let’s say the Trump-Rubio 2024 ticket wins somewhere between 270 and 300 electoral votes (which is entirely plausible; Trump won 304 in 2016 and Biden won 306 in 2020). Trump would become president, but if Rubio is denied 30 electoral votes, the vice-presidency would be determined by a vote in the Senate (as also provided by the 12th Amendment). Senators would get to choose between the top two electoral-vote winners, i.e., the Democratic and Republican vice-presidential nominees. If the Senate is still controlled by Democrats at that point, you could have Donald Trump taking the oath of office on January 20, 2025, alongside his vice-president, Kamala Harris. The mind reels."

Wouldn't that be the greatest! Prez Trump and Veep Harris?! His red face as his BP soars would be such a wonderful compliment to his orange hair!

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/trump-rubio-2024-ticket-could-spark-a-constitutional-crisis.html

Ah, such a lovely news night last night was! Arizona did two good things in one day - unbelievable! They started the repeal of the Civil War-era abortion law, and the Attorney General indicted eighteen people for the false elector scam that the Trump campaign tried to run, including: Rudi Giuliani and Mark Meadows, Kelli Ward, the former chairwoman of the Arizona Republican Party, and her husband Michael Ward, two serving state lawmakers - Anthony Kern and Jake Hoffman.

The charges include conspiracy, fraud, and forgery. From the article: "The 11 people who had been nominated to be Arizona’s Republican electors met in Phoenix on Dec. 14, 2020, to sign a certificate saying they were “duly elected and qualified” electors and claiming that Trump carried the state. A one-minute video of the signing ceremony was posted on social media by the Arizona Republican Party at the time. The document was later sent to Congress and the National Archives, where it was ignored."

The funny thing was that while Governor Ducey was signing the document finalizing the count, his phone rang with a Hail To The Chief ringtone - it was Trump. Ducey hit Ignore and finished his task.

An unnamed former American President has yet to be revealed. And it's rumored that a former aid to a former American President is singing like a bird to avoid being charged.

Florida, New York, Washington DC, Georgia, and now Arizona!

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68893365

This Huffington Post article goes into details of other states that have prosecuted people for the same crime of invalid electors.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/arizona-grand-jury-fake-electors-trump_n_662994a0e4b005d7bf0c72a6