Merged So what's next for Trump?

[T.G.G. Moogly]

The political world holds its breath. Will Republicans choose life or suicide? Has Trump been hypnotized into following Fauci the Antichrist? Who will take over the reins of the QOPAnon Empire? Sean Hannity? Alex Jones? Ghislaine Maxwell?

Good stuff. Who's going to fall on their sword first?

Earlier I noticed a news item about a top Trumpist apologizing. DJT — who was once one of the best scientific researchers on the planet, everybody says so — is now too old to do independent research. (Unexplained is why Trump followed an imposter like Fauci when Carlson and Jones are sharing their research on YouTube.) But maybe that Trumpist fell on his sword: I don't see that news story anymore.

While searching for that news item, I came across a piece by Sarah Suckabee from a few months ago, touting "the Trump vaccine." Does that explain the confusion? Perhaps Trump isn't advocating suicide at all. Is Don Jr. selling a Trump version of the vaccine WITHOUT the microchips? Presumably jabs are available for $189.99 on the same site that sells Don Jr.'s T-shirts.

You should be a syndicated columnist or at least a ghost writing contributor. That's better than Mike Royko ever hoped for.

Trump is ten years older than me so I ought to be able to watch him become meaningless. It will be refreshing.

 

[ZiprHead]

Stephanie Grisham says group of ex-Trump officials to meet next week to discuss how to 'stop' him

Former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said Thursday that more than a dozen of her former Trump administration colleagues plan to meet next week to try and stop former President Donald Trump as he continues to "manipulate people and divide our country."

www.cnn.com

(CNN)Former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said Thursday that more than a dozen of her former Trump administration colleagues plan to meet next week to try and stop former President Donald Trump as he continues to "manipulate people and divide our country."
"Next week, a group of former Trump staff are going to come together, administration officials are going to come together and we're going to talk about how we can formally do some things to try and stop him and also, the extremism, that that kind of violence, rhetoric that has been talked about and continues to divide our country," Grisham told CNN's John Berman and Brianna Keilar in an interview on "New Day."
Grisham, who was also chief of staff to former first lady Melania Trump, declined to reveal who will be joining her in the efforts, but said there would be "about 15" of her former colleagues, including some who worked inside the White House. Some of the officials, she said, were junior to her, while others were senior. A few of the officials had "informal chats," did outreach to others, and conducted "some Zooms, some conference calls," culminating in the partially in-person formal meeting next week, according to Grisham.
Several people involved in the effort who spoke to CNN said the group currently includes between 15 to 20 individuals who served in the Trump administration, but have since soured on the former President, and who believe his indisputable control of the Republican Party is negatively impacting the country.

The cracks in the armor continue to grow.

 

[Keith&Co.]

MightMi be because none of them are employable Post FFvC...

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

The cracks in the armor continue to grow.

Color me skeptical but I'll believe it when I see it, and when I can actually see something change despite hopeful rhetoric.

Joe's speech yesterday was right on the money. I wish he had said that the former president is a dagger in the throat of democracy but he didn't go that far. He should have gone that far. He did an excellent job nevertheless.

 

[Elixir]

Yup a really good speech. Too bad about his delivery. And the 8 months too late thing. FOX news was doing an exposé on George Soros. Not one single MAGA neuron was effected by the fact of a dagger at the throat of democracy.

 

[Elixir]

MightMi be because none of them are employable Post FFvC...

Right.
A real bunch of power players. NOT!

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Yup a really good speech. Too bad about his delivery. And the 8 months too late thing. FOX news was doing an exposé on George Soros. Not one single MAGA neuron was effected by the fact of a dagger at the throat of democracy.

I was listening to a couple MAGAtards yesterday who claimed that Pennsylvania's election was fraudulent because George Soros had installed the electors. I guess when your emotions get the best of you insanity and dumbassery are inevitable.

 

[lpetrich]

New York A.G. to Subpoena Trump to Testify in Fraud Investigation - The New York Times - 2021 Dec 9 - "The move by the attorney general, Letitia James, comes at a critical moment in a criminal inquiry into the former president, who could try to block the demand."

Letitia James Seeks to Question Trump Children in Fraud Inquiry - The New York Times - 2022 Jan 3 - "The attorney general, Letitia James, has subpoenaed Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump as part of a civil investigation."

Ms. James’s civil inquiry is focused on whether Mr. Trump fraudulently inflated the value of his assets to secure bank loans while understating them elsewhere to reduce his tax bill.

Her office has subpoenaed a number of documents as part of her scrutiny of many Trump Organization properties, including the Seven Springs estate in Westchester County and the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago.

If her lawyers find evidence of wrongdoing, the office can file a lawsuit. As the inquiry is a civil one, Ms. James cannot file criminal charges.

But Ms. James’s office is also involved in the separate criminal investigation now being led by the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, who was sworn in on Saturday. The previous district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., who had been supervising the investigation for more than three years, left office at the end of the year.

That jumping-valuation scam.

Trump family suffers another legal defeat as they try to hide infamous 'Apprentice' outtakes - Raw Story - Celebrating 17 Years of Independent Journalism

Due to years of corruption in the 1950's, game show laws require that cameras continue rolling even during breaks. The Daily Beast reported that Tuesday U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield ordered MGM studio that the footage must be made available at a secure location for investigators to review.

The case only involves the scams, however. Comedian Tom Arnold said that those tapes show several times when Trump would use racially charged language including the N-word.

"I've seen this compilation tape," Arnold told Jimmy Kimmel in 2018. "If you're on one of these reality shows -- there's compilation tapes of me doing horrible, disgusting things. Of course, I do horrible, disgusting things, but I'm also not running for president. I remember this tape I saw, and I described it exactly. He says the N-word, he calls Eric the R-word. Now they call it the N-word tape. I have friends that worked on that show, and I explained it exactly."

 

[lpetrich]

NY AG Letitia James responds to Ivanka Trump and Don Jr. saying they’ll defy her subpoena - Raw Story - Celebrating 17 Years of Independent Journalism
noting
NY AG James on Twitter: "Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Ivanka Trump are trying to stop my office from interviewing them under oath as part of our investigation into the Trump Organization and Mr. Trump.

Over two years of delay tactics won't stop our investigation because no one is above the law." / Twitter

 

[jab]

Stephanie Grisham says group of ex-Trump officials to meet next week to discuss how to 'stop' him

Former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said Thursday that more than a dozen of her former Trump administration colleagues plan to meet next week to try and stop former President Donald Trump as he continues to "manipulate people and divide our country."

www.cnn.com

(CNN)Former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said Thursday that more than a dozen of her former Trump administration colleagues plan to meet next week to try and stop former President Donald Trump as he continues to "manipulate people and divide our country."
"Next week, a group of former Trump staff are going to come together, administration officials are going to come together and we're going to talk about how we can formally do some things to try and stop him and also, the extremism, that that kind of violence, rhetoric that has been talked about and continues to divide our country," Grisham told CNN's John Berman and Brianna Keilar in an interview on "New Day."
Grisham, who was also chief of staff to former first lady Melania Trump, declined to reveal who will be joining her in the efforts, but said there would be "about 15" of her former colleagues, including some who worked inside the White House. Some of the officials, she said, were junior to her, while others were senior. A few of the officials had "informal chats," did outreach to others, and conducted "some Zooms, some conference calls," culminating in the partially in-person formal meeting next week, according to Grisham.
Several people involved in the effort who spoke to CNN said the group currently includes between 15 to 20 individuals who served in the Trump administration, but have since soured on the former President, and who believe his indisputable control of the Republican Party is negatively impacting the country.

The cracks in the armor continue to grow.

don't count your cracks before the armor's shattered.

 

[lpetrich]

Trump's lawyer brutally mocked for 'insane' court motion that is 'perilously close to gibberish' - Raw Story - Celebrating 17 Years of Independent Journalism
noting
Trump Lawyer Files Batsh*t Motion Asking Federal Judge To Restrain NY Prosecutors As Eric Trump Whines On TV - Above the LawAbove the Law

Last week, Donald Trump filed a lawsuit demanding that a federal judge tell New York State Attorney General Letitia James to stop being so mean to him. Among the many categories of relief sought, most of which amount to “tell that lady to go away and stop investigating me for crimes,” the former president asked for “a preliminary and permanent injunction … requiring Defendant to immediately cease or, at a minimum, appropriately limit all ongoing investigations of Plaintiffs pending resolution of this action.”

,,,
Trump’s lawyer Alina Habba has now managed to docket a motion for preliminary injunction, and, friends, for sheer batshittery, this one rivals her letter to the Pulitzer Committee demanding that it retract prizes for the New York Times and Washington Post OR ELSE.

Trump vs. James
Trump Threatens Lawsuit If Pulitzer Committee Won't Retract Prizes For NYT And Post - Above the LawAbove the Law
From the brief,

As outlined in Plaintiffs’ Complaint, the defendant, Letitia James (“Defendant”), has displayed a shocking irreverence for her prosecutorial ethics and has routinely exploited her position to malign the former president by turning an unfounded investigation into a public spectacle. In doing so, she has exposed the vindictive and self-serving nature of her actions – she is not serving any legitimate law enforcement interests but is merely seizing on an opportunity to harass, threaten, and retaliate against Trump, his family and his associates.

...
Defendant’s conduct—abusing her investigatory power to silence a political opponent—not only constitutes viewpoint discrimination, but it also falls squarely within the type of retaliatory conduct that is prohibited under the First Amendment.

As if investigating Trump's family business violates the Constitution.

This doesn't make much sense:

Further, Defendant utilized the subpoenas in a perverted manner to obtain a collateral objective. First, Defendant sought to obtain a collateral detriment to Plaintiffs inasmuch as she sought to compel Trump to discontinue his political career by launching unfounded attacks against him and his business.

A Trumpie complaining about "the pompous, self-aggrandizing nature of her statements" ???

 

[ZiprHead]

Unpaid hotel bill could drag Trump Organization back into DC lawsuit, report says

‘It should never have been sent to the PIC. That’s misuse of funding,’ says government witness Stephanie Winston Wolkoff

ca.news.yahoo.com

An unpaid hotel bill could drag Donald Trump’s company back into a major lawsuit over his inauguration expenses, a news report says.

According to the lawsuit, brought by the attorney general of Washington, DC, the 2017 inauguration booked $49,358 worth of rooms at the Loews Madison Hotel. But when the hotel asked the Trump Organization to pay the bill, the company allegedly refused.

A debt collection agency then took up the task of recovering the money, and began pressuring the Trump Org to pay up. In response, the company reportedly arranged for the Presidential Inaugural Committee – a tax-exempt charity – to pay the bill instead. The DC lawsuit says this was inappropriate.

“It was their friends. It should never have been sent to the PIC. That’s misuse of funding,” Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, the government’s lead witness in the case, told The Daily Beast. “The Trump Organization being involved in any way and getting the PIC to pay any sort of balance anywhere on their behalf – it just doesn’t seem legitimate.”

Ms Wolkoff, who was once a close adviser to Melania Trump, coordinated many of the 2017 inaugural events. According to the Beast, she fell out with the Trumps after they scapegoated her for the controversial expenses, in her view. (In 2020, Ms Wolkoff wrote an unflattering book about the First Lady, titled Melania and Me.)

Pretty much everything you would expect from Trump....

- Skipping out on bills? Check
- Engaging in shady financing to pass costs on? Check.
- Playing the "Blame game"? Check.

 

[Keith&Co.]

Unpaid hotel bill could drag Trump Organization back into DC lawsuit, report says

‘It should never have been sent to the PIC. That’s misuse of funding,’ says government witness Stephanie Winston Wolkoff

ca.news.yahoo.com

An unpaid hotel bill could drag Donald Trump’s company back into a major lawsuit over his inauguration expenses, a news report says.

According to the lawsuit, brought by the attorney general of Washington, DC, the 2017 inauguration booked $49,358 worth of rooms at the Loews Madison Hotel. But when the hotel asked the Trump Organization to pay the bill, the company allegedly refused.

A debt collection agency then took up the task of recovering the money, and began pressuring the Trump Org to pay up. In response, the company reportedly arranged for the Presidential Inaugural Committee – a tax-exempt charity – to pay the bill instead. The DC lawsuit says this was inappropriate.

“It was their friends. It should never have been sent to the PIC. That’s misuse of funding,” Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, the government’s lead witness in the case, told The Daily Beast. “The Trump Organization being involved in any way and getting the PIC to pay any sort of balance anywhere on their behalf – it just doesn’t seem legitimate.”

Ms Wolkoff, who was once a close adviser to Melania Trump, coordinated many of the 2017 inaugural events. According to the Beast, she fell out with the Trumps after they scapegoated her for the controversial expenses, in her view. (In 2020, Ms Wolkoff wrote an unflattering book about the First Lady, titled Melania and Me.)

Pretty much everything you would expect from Trump....

- Skipping out on bills? Check
- Engaging in shady financing to pass costs on? Check.
- Playing the "Blame game"? Check.

Have they claimed not to actually know her?





...yet?

 

[lpetrich]

NY AG James on Twitter: "We are taking legal action ..." / Twitter

We are taking legal action to force Donald Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., and Ivanka Trump to comply with our investigation into the Trump Organization’s financial dealings.

No one in this country can pick and choose if and how the law applies to them.

We have uncovered significant evidence indicating that the Trump Organization used fraudulent and misleading asset valuations on multiple properties to obtain economic benefits, including loans, insurance coverage, and tax deductions for years.

Donald Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., and Ivanka Trump have all been closely involved in the transactions in question, so we won’t tolerate their attempts to evade testifying in this investigation.

We will not be deterred in our efforts to continue this investigation, uncover the facts, and pursue justice, no matter how many roadblocks Mr. Trump and his family throw in our way.

No one is above the law.

N.Y. Attorney General Outlines Pattern of Possible Fraud at Trump Business - The New York Times - "The attorney general, Letitia James, released new details of her investigation as she argued for the need to question Donald J. Trump and two of his children under oath."

The article links to a copy of LJ's 115-page filing.

Ms. James’s filing argued that the company misstated the value of the properties to lenders, insurers and the Internal Revenue Service. Many of the statements, the filing argued, were “generally inflated as part of a pattern to suggest that Mr. Trump’s net worth was higher than it otherwise would have appeared.”

Ms. James highlighted details of how she said the company inflated the valuations: $150,000 initiation fees into Mr. Trump’s golf club in Westchester that it never collected; mansions that had not yet been built on one of his private estates; and 20,000 square feet in his Trump Tower triplex that did not exist.

More jumping valuations.

 

[ZiprHead]

Donald Trump May Have 'Falsely and Fraudulently' Valued Assets, and Eric Trump Took the Fifth to More Than 500 Questions: New York AG

In explosive court documents released just before midnight, James alleged that the 45th president's company inflated the size of his Trump Tower triplex by nearly three times or tax benefits, did not assign a value to the Trump brand, and may have used "fraudulent or misleading" asset valuations...

lawandcrime.com

Former President Donald Trump may have “falsely and fraudulently” valued multiple assets, and his family has adopted a tactic of delaying and ducking testimony—when they’re not pleading the Fifth, New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) claimed late on Tuesday evening.

In explosive court documents released just before midnight, James alleged that the 45th president’s company inflated the size of his Trump Tower triplex by nearly three times or tax benefits, did not assign a value to the Trump brand, and may have used “fraudulent or misleading” asset valuations on six properties to obtain economic benefits.

Trump and his children Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump have tried to quash their subpoenas for what they call “an unprecedented and unconstitutional maneuver” for their documents and testimony. According to the attorney general’s latest petition, Eric Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination to more than 500 questions over six hours during his pre-2020 election deposition.

“For more than two years, the Trump Organization has used delay tactics and litigation in an attempt to thwart a legitimate investigation into its financial dealings,” James wrote in a statement. “Thus far in our investigation, we have uncovered significant evidence that suggests Donald J. Trump and the Trump Organization falsely and fraudulently valued multiple assets and misrepresented those values to financial institutions for economic benefit. The Trumps must comply with our lawful subpoenas for documents and testimony because no one in this country can pick and choose if and how the law applies to them. We will not be deterred in our efforts to continue this investigation and ensure that no one is above the law.”

You know what the Donald says about people that plead the fifth.

 

[ZiprHead]

More on the case...

New York AG says Donald Trump's company misled banks, tax officials

The New York attorney general's office late Tuesday told a court its investigators have uncovered evidence that former U.S. President Donald Trump's company used 'fraudulent or misleading' asset valuations to get loans and tax benefits.

www.ctvnews.ca

The Trump Organization, James' office said, overstated the value of land donations made in New York and California on paperwork submitted to the IRS to justify several million dollars in tax deductions.
...
In the court papers, James' office said evidence shows that Trump's company:
- Listed his Seven Springs estate...as being worth $291 million, based on the dubious assumption that it could reap $161 million from building nine luxury homes.
- Added a "brand premium"...to the value of some properties because they carried the Trump name, despite financial statements explicitly stating they didn't incorporate brand value.
- Inflated the value of a suburban New York golf club by millions of dollars by counting fees for memberships that weren't sold....
- Valued a...condominium tower...based on proceeds it could reap from unsold units, even though many...were likely to sell for less because they were covered by rent stabilization laws.
- Valued an apartment...rented to Ivanka Trump at as high as $25 million, even though she had an option to buy it for $8.5 million.
- Said ...its stake in an office building...was worth $525 million to $602 million -- between two to three times the estimate reached by appraisers

 

[lpetrich]

Donald Trump May Have 'Falsely and Fraudulently' Valued Assets, and Eric Trump Took the Fifth to More Than 500 Questions: New York AG

In explosive court documents released just before midnight, James alleged that the 45th president's company inflated the size of his Trump Tower triplex by nearly three times or tax benefits, did not assign a value to the Trump brand, and may have used "fraudulent or misleading" asset valuations...

lawandcrime.com

According to the attorney general’s latest petition, Eric Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination to more than 500 questions over six hours during his pre-2020 election deposition.

You know what the Donald says about people that plead the fifth.

Did Trump Say 'If You're Innocent, Why Are You Taking the 5th Amendment?' | Snopes.com

He indeed said that about Hillary Clinton. “So there are five people taking the Fifth Amendment. Like you see on the mob, right? You see the mob takes the Fifth. If you’re innocent why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?”
But

Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment right during a divorce deposition in 1990 to avoid answering nearly a hundred questions.

...
In 1998, after former President Bill Clinton was impeached for lying under oath about an affair, Trump suggested that Clinton would have been better off if he had taken the Fifth Amendment. But in 2014, after a number of women came forward accusing comedian Bill Cosby of rape and sexual assault, Trump tweeted some free advice, saying that if Cosby was innocent, he shouldn’t remain silent because it makes him look guilty.

Trump wrote: “I am no fan of Bill Cosby but never-the-less some free advice — if you are innocent, do not remain silent. You look guilty as hell!”

 

[AdamWho]

Trump is going to have endless legal and criminal battles for the next few years.

The crazies will get bored of him and the GOP will dump him... or maybe one of his true believers will punish him for losing the faith.

 

[lpetrich]

Eric Trump brutally mocked after taking the Fifth 500 times - Raw Story - Celebrating 17 Years of Independent Journalism

The news of Eric Trump's repeated silence prompted immediate mockery from commenters on social media — some of whom referred to former President Donald Trump's longstanding assertion that only people who have some sort of criminal behavior to hide ever assert their constitutional rights in criminal investigations.

Like
The Hoarse Whisperer on Twitter: "So, Eric showed up for his deposition and kept his mouth shut. Now he has to hope Ivanka and Jr. don’t sell him out. And Ivanka is just like her daddy: an amoral narcissist who would absolutely throw her brother under the bus." / Twitter

 

[Keith&Co.]

Now he has to hope Ivanka and Jr. don’t sell him out.

HOPE? He never has understood the 5th. It only covers you incriminating you. Eric can't use the 5th because his answers might incriminate Daddy. That's not what it's for.
Ivanka will certainly answer questions that incrimiante Eric. Junior. MAYBE Daddy. Certainly Melania. Possibly Kushner.