So what's next for Trump?

[Keith&Co.]

So, Eric Trump has been critical of Biden spending time outside of the White House.

Trump literally spent more than a year of his 4-year presidency sluffing off, but leave that aside.

I suddenly wonder what Trump did to dismiss Eric's suggestions?

I have heard that when Ivanka offered political opinions, he dismissively said, "Sweetheart, you sell handbags."
I imagine that if Don Junior offered political advice, "Junior, you sell real estate."
But if he turned to Eric, what was there? "Eric, you... Um..."
What?
"You make Junior look smart?"
"You block a draft from the window?"
Or would it more be "How did you get in here again!?"

 

[ZiprHead]

LOL!

Why can't right-wingers get decent IT people?

I strongly suspect you get what you pay for. And it seems a LOT of the conservatives i know think the IT department is basically the guy at the arcade who sweeps and cleans the pinball machines, with benefits.

More trouble for the site.

Trump's Social Media Platform Could Already Face Legal Issues, After Allegedly Ripping Off Code

However, it would appear that Trump’s new site is not only unoriginal in concept but also in code. As originally reported by Vice News, Truth Social seems to have lifted its digital DNA directly from Mastodon, the open-source alternative social network known for its focus on user privacy and autonomy.

Similarities in the code were first spotted by early users of the platform, who noted front-end similarities between it and Mastodon. One user even took a screenshot of the HTML of Trump’s new site which shows explicit mention of Mastodon in the code. Mastodon subsequently had fun with this, tweeting out a reference to Trump’s apparent familiarity with their platform:

---

Mastodon leases its software under something called an AGPLv3 license, which basically stipulates that users can use its code so long as they acknowledge where it came from and make the copied or modified code available for public inspection. However, in its own terms of service, Truth Social claims that “all source code” from its software is proprietary, essentially failing to mention that it lifted it from somewhere else.

Speaking with Vice, Mastodon founder Eugen Rochko said that Truth Social’s platform appeared to be “absolutely” based on Mastodon’s code and that it would “indicate a license violation.” Rochko subsequently told Talking Points Memo that his team would lawyer up to consider the potential breach of terms.

“I do intend to seek legal counsel on the situation,” he told the outlet. “Compliance with our AGPLv3 license is very important to me, as that is the sole basis upon which I and other developers are willing to give away years of work for free,” he added.

Typical of the Trump org.

 

[Keith&Co.]

Typical of the Trump org.

Yeah, they do this copying shit ALL THE TIME. They lifted copyrighted photos for their ads, copied Obama's inauguration cake, used music without permission (and apparently without reading the actual lyrics). Copy copy copy....
What the fuck? They can't even crime creatively.

 

[jab]

Not so fast. Sounds like a Donald and Melania wedding photo.

don and a hooker photo?

 

[lpetrich]

The 13 biggest hoaxes in America, according to Donald Trump - The Washington Post

Not sure where to post it, but I find it fun.

13. The “No Collusion” finding of the Mueller Report.
12. Impeachment Hoax #2.
11. Impeachment Hoax #1.
10. Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine.
9. Russia, Russia, Russia.
8. 2020 Presidential Election Scam.
7. Global Warming Hoax.
6 through 1. [Unclear]

Trump’s delineation of the biggest hoaxes stops here. In his statement, he declared that global warming was the “7th biggest hoax” and that the six others in this list “follow closely behind.” So that means there are six unidentified hoaxes that precede it, ones that I guess we should be sufficiently familiar with to impute them ourselves.

Or maybe Trump just phrased the whole thing clunkily, opening the door for a snarky analysis of his assertions by someone who likes to think he’s more of a scalpel-word-user than a boulder one.

 

[Keith&Co.]

6 through 1. [Unclear] Trump’s delineation of the biggest hoaxes stops here.

You know, when i saw the headline, i was amazed Trump could follow through on 12 talking points. Never mind...

Maybe at #7 we start getting into hoaxes that do not boil down to "Me! Me! Me!" and he sees no reason to recall them?

 

[lpetrich]

Article about one of Trump's greatest enablers: How Mitch McConnell, one of Washington's longtime GOP power players, succumbed to the preeminence of Trump - The Washington Post - "How one of Washington’s longtime Republican power players succumbed to the preeminence of the 45th president"

Safely huddled with Democratic leaders as they watched video of police battling Trump supporters in the Capitol, McConnell reacted with anger and revulsion, according to Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), who was also in the secure location.

“I thought to myself, 'This could be a transformative moment. He appears to have taken this very seriously,’ ” recalled Durbin, who spent hours that day holed up with the Republican leader.

But when it came time to hold Trump to account, McConnell backed off.

Then when Congress put Trump on trial, MMC bailed him out by rejecting impeachment of him, doing that a second time. He later bailed out Trump yet again by rejecting a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attacks. Here is how Trump repaid him:

Ten months later, Trump is once again dominating the Republican Party, expected to run again in 2024 — and utterly disdainful of the Senate leader who helped save him. Trump dismissed McConnell as a “stupid person” and suggested his favored 2022 Senate candidates should oust McConnell from his leadership post when they get to Washington.

McConnell is not a “real leader” because “he didn’t fight for the presidency,” Trump said in an interview with The Washington Post.

Then "For many of his 36 years in the Senate, Addison Mitchell McConnell III has cultivated an image as a master political and legislative tactician, a consummate insider who knows how to gain power and use it to the fullest." Like blocking Obama's appointment of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, an achievement that he chuckled over in a Fox News interview.

"Yet in the months since the Jan. 6 attack, a different portrait of McConnell has taken shape. At 79, safely reelected last year to a seventh term and in his 16th year as the Senate’s top Republican, McConnell is nonetheless increasingly playing the role of a conflicted and compromised booster of Trump’s interests — not a leader with his own vision."

 

[lpetrich]

Why has MMC gone far right?

“My guess is what happened is the tides changed and he realized there wasn’t support [to convict] in the caucus,” said Trey Grayson, Kentucky’s former secretary of state, whom McConnell once unsuccessfully endorsed in a Senate race against Rand Paul. “Sometimes leaders lead, and sometimes they have to follow some people that are trying to lead. And I guess that’s what happened.”

... He has reversed course on issues ranging from campaign finance to voting rights, moving hard to the right as the Republican Party changed around him. His guiding principle has been power — acquiring it and keeping it — not an ideological adherence to policy, say those who knew him early in his career.

Shamelessly enabling Donald Trump fits right in, even after his great enablee encouraged a lynch mob to come after him and his fellow Congresspeople.

... Midway through Trump’s term, the veteran lawmaker released a new version of his autobiography, which described his rise in the Senate in heroic terms. The book opened with a new glowing foreword penned by Trump, who lavished praise on McConnell as his “ace in the hole” and wrote that he “couldn’t have asked for a better partner.”

Except Trump never actually wrote those words — at least according to the ex-president, who now mocks McConnell’s role in pursuing his agenda. In an interview with The Post, Trump said McConnell actually wrote that foreword and simply used the president’s name on the passage.

Trump said he told McConnell, “Why don’t you write it for me and I’ll put it in, Mitch? Because that’s the way life works.”

McConnell, asked if Trump’s account was accurate, did not dispute it. “I really don’t have anything to add related to him,” McConnell said.

That doesn't seem very surprising. MMC is much better at long-term planning than Trump apparently is, and someone who wrote a whole book could easily write a little bit extra.

In his youth, MMC voted for LBJ rather than Barry Goldwater because BG was opposed to civil-rights legislation.

In the summer of 1968, while working for Marlow Cook’s Senate campaign, the 26-year-old McConnell spent months driving around Kentucky with another volunteer, John Yarmuth. What struck Yarmuth then and now is he didn’t know of any issue that animated McConnell’s thirst for politics other than winning an election.

“He never wanted to change the world. This is all about being, not doing,” Yarmuth said. As a result, he argued, McConnell has been willing to do whatever it took to win favor. While Yarmuth became a Democrat, founded an alt-weekly and later won election to Congress in 2006 to represent Louisville, McConnell moved further to the right along with the party.

“He clearly doesn’t care about being labeled a hypocrite. It just doesn’t bother him. He is brazen about it,” said Yarmuth, who said he rarely interacts anymore with McConnell even though both lawmakers live in the same area. “That’s one of the cynical sides of Mitch. He doesn’t care. If it’s expedient, he’ll do it.”

This hunger for power led him to reverse himself on several issues. Like going from wanting “complete disclosure of ALL donors, regardless of the size of their contributions” to defending dark-money secrecy. Also once supporting an environmental bill that targeted coal-burning emissions, “I had to choose between cleaner air and the status quo. I chose cleaner air.” and now opposing climate-change legislation as deleterious to his home state's main industry. Also flip-flopping on the Voting Rights Act.

In 2016, he expressed concern that Trump might alienate Hispanics the way that Barry Goldwater alienated blacks. He later left such concerns aside.

After Trump’s win, McConnell realized he and the new president could get much of what they wanted without Democratic support. For example, despite writing in his memoir that “Americans believe that on issues of great importance, one party shouldn’t be allowed to force its will on everyone else,” he pushed through Trump’s tax cuts on a party-line vote.

Seems like he'd dump the filibuster if he found it expedient to do so.

 

[lpetrich]

Though MMC said that Trump was “100 percent within his rights” to bring legal challenges to the election, MMC congratulated Joe Biden on his electoral-college victory on December 15.

McConnell spoke on the phone with Trump to explain his announcement, but the president erupted in anger. Trump insisted he had won, uttered expletives and accused him of disloyalty, and McConnell responded, “You lost the election” and hung up, according to “Peril,” a book by Post journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa. (McConnell, asked in the interview about that account, said, “That pretty well covers it.”)

Three weeks later, the two Democrats won in Georgia, turning McConnell into the minority leader, followed by the Jan. 6 insurrection. McConnell said in the interview that as he watched footage from his secure location of the attack, “I was intent that we got back in session at 8 p.m. in prime time to finish the job, so the American people would know that the insurrection had failed.”

Trump blamed MMC for losing Georgia and MMC blamed Trump for the Jan. 6 attacks.

Even as he voted to acquit Trump, McConnell seemed to ratify the Democratic case that the president had incited the attack. “There’s no question, none, that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day,” McConnell said Feb. 13. But, after insisting the impeachment trial be held after Trump’s term ended, he then argued it was not an option to convict a former president — a rationale rejected by all Democrats and seven Republicans.

He seems to want to have it both ways.

Senator Dick Durbin:

“Now he’s looking at Trump, not in the rearview mirror, but looking through the windshield and realizing he’s going to have to live with this man in the Republican Party for the foreseeable future,” Durbin said.

The maneuver left some longtime backers furious. McConnell’s once-admiring biographer, John David Dyche, has recanted the accolades he once bestowed in his 2009 book, “Republican Leader.”

John David Dyche on Twitter: "Cowardly, cynical, dishonorable, pathetic & wrong. He has been, is & will live in infamy as “Trump’s principal enabler.” Will be a shameful but fitting epitaph. Had to flee his Senate for his life, but now backs off his big talk & bows again before his proto-fascist master Trump." / Twitter

... After McConnell garnered enough Republican support to help Democrats temporarily increase the debt ceiling last month, Trump told Fox News on Oct. 7 that “the Republican Senate needs new leadership. Mitch is not the guy, not the right guy, he’s not doing the job.”

He conceded that MMC is a big fundraising moneybags, and implied that MMC has bought his continuing leadership by financing his colleagues' careers.

 

[lpetrich]

MMC supports black former football player Herschel Walker, Trump's pick for the Republican Georgia Senate nomination to challenge Sen. Rafael Warnock. MMC's former chief of staff and campaign director tweeted about HW:

Josh Holmes on Twitter: "This is about as comprehensive a takedown as I’ve ever read. My lord." / Twitter
noting
Brian Slodysko on Twitter: "NEW: An @AP review of records from @HerschelWalker's business and divorce, many not previously reported, detail accusations that he repeatedly threatened to kill his ex-wife, exaggerated his success and alarmed associates. W/@BillBarrowAP, @JZBleiberg (link)" / Twitter
noting
As Herschel Walker eyes Senate run, a turbulent past emerges

Walker, now 59, has at times been open about his long struggle with mental illness, writing at length in a 2008 book about being diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder, once known as multiple personality disorder. But it’s unclear how he would discuss these events as a candidate.

MMC also says that he won't support Democratic efforts to raise the debt ceiling when the issue comes up again in December.

Scott Jennings, a former campaign adviser to McConnell, said understanding his former boss, and the relationship with Trump, entails a “psychological study about how what each of these two guys think is the point of politics.”

“Trump’s motivation is personal, maybe to become president again, get revenge of people who wronged him. It’s not ‘did we enact stuff,’ but ‘did we glorify Trump?’ ” Jennings said.

McConnell’s motivation, Jennings said, “is impersonal. It’s only to win back the Senate for the purpose of enacting Republican stuff or blocking Democrat stuff, because without control, we can’t do anything. And if you didn’t do any of those things, then you failed.”

Thus explaining that odd couple: Trump and MMC.

McConnell, in his speech at the anniversary celebration in 2008, never mentioned that he had voted for Johnson or that he had been so angry at Goldwater’s opposition to civil rights legislation.

Instead, he told the audience of congressional leaders and Johnson descendants a lesson he had learned from the man who preceded him as a “master of the Senate.”

“Lyndon B. Johnson knew to amass power,” McConnell said, “and how to use it.”

...
For now, McConnell is focused on doing whatever is necessary to regain Senate control — and his own power.

“You might have noticed I’m no longer the majority leader in setting the agenda in the Senate,” McConnell said. “I hope to be again sometime.”

 

[ZiprHead]

Trump posted this on his website:

Statement by Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the United States of America

The great people of Serbia and Kosovo have overcome tremendous obstacles in their pursuit of economic normalization. The agreements my administration brokered are historic and should not be abandoned, many lives are at stake. The region is too important and the people have waited too long for this work to be cast aside. Today, my Envoy Ambassador Ric Grenell visited the Kosovo-Serbia border to highlight this important agreement. Just like we proved in the Middle East with the Abraham Accords, peace and economic normalization is possible, but it takes a sincere effort and unwavering leadership. Peace is possible, don’t give up—long term prosperity for those two nations is at stake!

Logan Act, anyone?

It was quickly removed.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Trump's media launch is now worth 10 billion bucks and hasn't done anything yet. Didn't I say that Orange Mouth would follow the money?

 

[Keith&Co.]

Next for Donny? Taekwondo, apparently.

Donald Trump awarded 9th Dan Taekwondo black belt, now outranks Chuck Norris

Donald Trump awarded 9th Dan Taekwondo black belt by World Taekwondo Headquarters (Kukkiwon) president Lee Dong-sup, putting the former U.S. President above longtime practitioner Chuck Norris.

www.mmamania.com

The Donald has been recognized as a (honorary) 9th Dan black belt in Taekwondo.
For comparison, Chuck Norris is 'merely' an 8th Dan.
Putin is 9th Dan.

 

[ZiprHead]

Cracks in the armor? A QAnon nutter may finally be getting it.

"Dooming" refers to speaking aloud the realization that the Q BS might be false.

 

[ZiprHead]

A QAnon follower wrote an open letter to Trump complaining that the movement's predictions kept turning out to be false

Donny Warren wrote about his frustration that the arrests of supposed Satan-worshipping elites on certain dates had not materialized.

news.yahoo.com

A QAnon supporter wrote an open letter to Donald Trump expressing frustration that the movement's conspiracy theories kept failing to happen.

Donny Warren's letter, which Insider reviewed, appeared on the Telegram channel of the prominent QAnon adherent Ron Watkins on Sunday. It was first reported by Newsweek.

Followers of the far-right group believe, baselessly, that a "deep state" cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles are embedded in institutions including the Democratic Party and are responsible for nefarious acts. They also believe that Trump was elected as part of a plot to secretly fight that cabal.

In his letter, Warren complained that "Red October" — one of the multiple dates on which leading QAnon proponents promised the alleged cabal members would be rounded up and arrested — had not come to pass.

"At the beginning of October, we were told of a Red October, with rumors of mass arrests across the world," Warren wrote.

"We were given hints by 'Q' experts that November was to be THE month," he wrote. "I told a few of my awake friends that either this would be the best Thanksgiving ever, or the worst. Guess which one it was?"

"Awake" is often used to describe other adherents of the QAnon movement and alludes to "The Great Awakening," an event in January when Trump was supposed to declare martial law and imprison his political enemies, which also did not happen.

"For months, I have anticipated each day with excitement knowing that I was watching my president and his crew of Patriots take back our country and our freedom. I am losing that excitement now," Warren said. "This is starting to get very old."

Warren also described the toll that his belief in the conspiracy theory was taking on his family. "They think I am a nut for believing in all this," he said.

The letter was addressed to Trump, his former national security advisor Michael Flynn, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and John F. Kennedy Jr., "if he is alive."

Hundreds of QAnon supporters gathered in Dallas earlier in November in the belief that Kennedy Jr., who died in 1999, would reappear and announce that he wasn't dead.

 

[Patooka]

‘They’re all begging me’: Trump’s 2024 veep tryouts get underway

The question of Trump’s prospective choice of running mate is surfacing with increasing frequency.

www.politico.com

It's unbelievable that people still take this cunt at his word. This is more than sunk cost fallacy, that's a wilful delusion I can understand. Trump's pretty easy to figure out; it's his supporters that fucking baffle me.

 

[lpetrich]

Trump May Self-Publish Memoir to Avoid Obama Advance Humiliation: Exec

A publishing exec thinks Trump could self-publish his presidential memoir because he doesn't want to get a smaller cash advance than Obama

• Donald Trump has yet to sign a deal with a major publisher for his presidential memoir.
• Trump might fear getting a smaller advance than Barack Obama, a publishing executive told Politico.
• As a consequence, Trump could choose to self-publish the memoir, the exec said.

...
Some publishers told The Guardian in June that many major publishing companies have concerns about the likelihood of the former president pushing false and unproven claims — such as his continual assertion that the 2020 election was stolen from him — and the possible ramifications of that.

Instead, Trump has so far released a photo book of his time in the White House, for which he contributed the captions.

Trump insists he’s writing ‘book of all books’ but big publishers unlikely to touch it | Books | The Guardian

Donald Trump has insisted he is writing “the book of all books” – even though major figures in US publishing said on Tuesday that no big house is likely to touch a memoir by the 45th president because it might stoke “a staff uprising” and it would be “too hard to get a book that was factually accurate”.

When Trump left the White House in January, the Washington Post said he made 30,573 false or misleading claims while in power. The comments by publishing insiders were reported by Politico.

Barack and Michelle Obama's books:

• 1995: Dreams from My Father
• 2006: The Audacity of Hope
• 2010: Of Thee I Sing
• 2018: Becoming (by Michelle; the rest by Barack)
• 2020: A Promised Land

The 2020 book is the first part of his Presidential memoirs.

The memoir, remaining focused on Obama's political life, begins with his early life, details his first campaigns, and stretches through most of his first term as president.[8] The book concludes with the events surrounding the killing of Osama bin Laden in May 2011,[12][13] ending with a meeting between Obama and the Navy SEALs who conducted the raid.[8] While the book remains focused on politics, the first 200 pages of the book, approximately, are devoted to Obama's life and career up through his time in Chicago.[14]

So BO may be working on a memoir for the rest of his Presidency.

 

[lpetrich]

 List of autobiographies by presidents of the United States
 List of memoirs by first ladies of the United States

• Martin Van Buren
• James Buchanan
• - Julia Dent Grant
• Theodore Roosevelt
• - Helen Herron Taft
• - Edith Wilson
• Calvin Coolidge
• - Eleanor Roosevelt
• Harry Truman
• Dwight Eisenhower
• Lyndon B Johnson, Lady Bird Johnson
• Richard Nixon
• Gerald Ford, Betty Ford
• Jimmy Carter, Rosalynn Carter
• Ronald Reagan, Nancy Reagan
• George Bush I, Barbara Bush
• Bill Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton
• George Bush II, Laura Bush
• Barack Obama, Michelle Obama

So every President since Harry Truman has written his memoirs.

 

[Keith&Co.]

Trump May Self-Publish Memoir to Avoid Obama Advance Humiliation: Exec

A publishing exec thinks Trump could self-publish his presidential memoir because he doesn't want to get a smaller cash advance than Obama

Maybe if he paints his advance black, it'll look bigger?

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Cracks in the armor? A QAnon nutter may finally be getting it.
View attachment 36220
"Dooming" refers to speaking aloud the realization that the Q BS might be false.

They won't give a dime more because they are upset liberals and Democrats aren't in military camps in Cuba.

This is the enemy.

 

[ZiprHead]

David Cay Johnston, investigative journalist and founder of DCReport.org, joins Yasmin Vossoughian to discuss the latest developments in Manhattan DA’s investigation into former President Donald Trump, including what he charges he is likely to face and what the timeline for the indictment could look like.
Dec. 19, 2021

 

[barbos]

ZiprHead, I am not watching it without full transcript.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Donald Trump actually writing something? He doesn't have the attention span let alone the necessary literary skills. But I think he could make serious bucks if he wrote a few hundred words every week on a topic of his choice and had it published verbatim.

 

[lpetrich]

There is a simple solution. He could hire a ghostwriter. That's how he "wrote" all his books that have been published under his name.

 

[lpetrich]

Known Trump Coauthors and Ghostwriters:

Year	Ghost	Book
1987	Tony Schwartz	The Art of the Deal
1990	Charles Leerhsen	Surviving at the Top / The Art of Survival
1997	Kate Bohner	The Art of Survival
2000	Dave Shiflett	The America We Deserve
2004	Meredith McIver	How to Get Rich
2004		The Way to the Top
2004	Meredith McIver	Think like a Billionaire
2005		The Best Golf Advice I Ever Received
2006	Robert Kiyosaki, Meredith McIver	Why We Want You to Be Rich
2006		How to Build a Fortune
2006		The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received
2006	Meredith McIver	Trump 101: The Way to Success
2007	Bill Zanker	Think Big and Kick Ass
2008	Meredith McIver	Never Give Up
2009	Meredith McIver	Think Like a Champion
2011	Wynton Hall, Peter Schweizer, Meredith McIver	Time to Get Tough
2015	Robert Kiyosaki	Midas Touch
2011	Jeffrey Robinson	Trump Tower
2015	David Fisher	Crippled America / Great Again

Ghostwriters and coauthors are known for most of Trump's books. The most prolific of them is  Meredith McIver and she likely wrote the books with no known ghostwriter credit.

She was also a speechwriter for Melania Trump, and she was involved in the plagiarism scandal of the 2016 Republican Convention, where some of MT's speech was discovered to have a remarkable resemblance to some of Michelle Obama's speeches.

 

[Swammerdami]

America is stunned on Christmas Eve as Trump calls for his supporters to commit suicide.

In what seems like a replay of the 1978  Drinking the Kool-Aid incident, Trump suggests that his supporters get "inoculated" with the Covid-19 vaccines, laced with George Soros' poisons and Bill Gates' micro-chips. Perhaps it should be no surprise that Orange Fuhrer would follow in the footsteps of Jim Jones, the earlier Messiah, but why use the enemy's poison for this special one-way trip to Heaven?

Even the QAnon wing of the QAnon-QOP-Qremlin axis doesn't seem on-board for this unusual choice of poisons:

Alleged QAnon ringleader turned Arizona congressional candidate Ron Watkins chimed in after Trump doubled down on his vaccine support ...
Watkins fired back at Trump, calling the vaccines “subscription suicide shots” while telling his loyal QAnon adherents to “choose life” rather than “comply” and get vaccinated.

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?

 

[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?

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

There is a simple solution. He could hire a ghostwriter. That's how he "wrote" all his books that have been published under his name.

Hiring a legit writer removes the comedy. We want the script verbatim and unedited. The orange Fuhrer ought to off these trump wannabees and hit the keyboard in person. He'd sell a lot of copy for just the entertainment value. A real life Archie Bunker.

 

[Keith&Co.]

There is a simple solution. He could hire a ghostwriter. That's how he "wrote" all his books that have been published under his name.

Hiring a legit writer removes the comedy. We want the script verbatim and unedited. The orange Fuhrer ought to off these trump wannabees and hit the keyboard in person. He'd sell a lot of copy for just the entertainment value. A real life Archie Bunker.

So, heires a ghost and dictates a book. Book sells for $1.
But for an additional $48.99, you get the transcript of the dictation sessions.
"Was that when you told them to pay off McDougal and spike her story?"
"Yeah, a'heh, bet she was pissed when she figured it out. Or her lawyer explained it to her. Don't put that in my book."
"Okay. Not your book, no."
_____

 

[Swammerdami]

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.

 

[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.