The hush money indictment

[cycomiko]

Two words: Banana republic.

Twenty-two words: Was it a banana republic when Michael Cohen was convicted and did time for three of the same crimes that Trump committed?

Would Trump have been convicted if he decided not to run for POTUS again?
Hint: No, he would not have.

people get convicted for this sort of thing all the time. are you saying that because he's running for POTUS that he's above the law?

trump wants to imagine that he's some type of gangster but is too stupid to realize that a real gangster lays low and keeps his mouth shut. running for office is just a con for trump and when a criminal starts talking big and drawing attention to themselves they get caught.

 

[Shadowy Man]

Two words: Banana republic.

Twenty-two words: Was it a banana republic when Michael Cohen was convicted and did time for three of the same crimes that Trump committed?

Would Trump have been convicted if he decided not to run for POTUS again?
Hint: No, he would not have.

I didn’t know you were on the jury, who saw all the facts and heard all the arguments. Sorry for doubting you.

 

[barbos]

Two words: Banana republic.

Twenty-two words: Was it a banana republic when Michael Cohen was convicted and did time for three of the same crimes that Trump committed?

Would Trump have been convicted if he decided not to run for POTUS again?
Hint: No, he would not have.

I didn’t know you were on the jury, who saw all the facts and heard all the arguments. Sorry for doubting you.

There would not have been any jury if trump simply dropped out of the race. No jury ->no conviction.

 

[Shadowy Man]

Two words: Banana republic.

Twenty-two words: Was it a banana republic when Michael Cohen was convicted and did time for three of the same crimes that Trump committed?

Would Trump have been convicted if he decided not to run for POTUS again?
Hint: No, he would not have.

I didn’t know you were on the jury, who saw all the facts and heard all the arguments. Sorry for doubting you.

There would not have been any jury if trump simply dropped out of the race. No jury ->no conviction.

Back up your statement with facts and logical argument.

Your logic seems backwards to me. A big reason is because he is being prosecuted to the other way around. He sees being President as a way out of being held accountable for his crimes.

I would rather have seen him convicted for stealing government documents and conspiring to hide them and obstructing justice. Of all the crimes he has committed that’s one of the most serious, but as evidenced by the conviction the NY DA clearly had a winning case against him for this crime.

 

[Jarhyn]

Two words: Banana republic.

Twenty-two words: Was it a banana republic when Michael Cohen was convicted and did time for three of the same crimes that Trump committed?

Would Trump have been convicted if he decided not to run for POTUS again?
Hint: No, he would not have.

YES! He would be under investigation for his horrific handling of classified documents too.

In the US, we actually go after people who commit crimes when they commit crimes, generally.

I understand how this would be confusing to someone who lives where the only reason for government intervention is political oppression, but the US works differently than that.

 

[southernhybrid]

Two words: Banana republic.

Twenty-two words: Was it a banana republic when Michael Cohen was convicted and did time for three of the same crimes that Trump committed?

Would Trump have been convicted if he decided not to run for POTUS again?
Hint: No, he would not have.

YES! He would be under investigation for his horrific handling of classified documents too.

In the US, we actually go after people who commit crimes when they commit crimes, generally.

I understand how this would be confusing to someone who lives where the only reason for government intervention is political oppression, but the US works differently than that.

At least for now. There's no telling what the future holds if Trump and his Congressional cultists win in November, especially considering the corrupt partisanship of SCOTUS.

 

[Copernicus]

Republicans are extremely worried about weaponization of the government, particularly the courts, by radical Democrats. They even have a Congressional committee devoted to investigating the issue. It seems that there may be evidence that the Democrats have been using the courts for their own political ends. It is in that spirit that Speaker Johnson has called on the Supreme Court to intervene and overturn convicted criminal Donald Trump's recent conviction.

Johnson urges Supreme Court to "step in" on Trump verdict​

 

[Toni]

Two words: Banana republic.

Twenty-two words: Was it a banana republic when Michael Cohen was convicted and did time for three of the same crimes that Trump committed?

Would Trump have been convicted if he decided not to run for POTUS again?
Hint: No, he would not have.

Why do you think that?

I mean, in a way, you are correct: If Trump had not been running for re-election, he might not have been so determined to conceal his encounter there with Stormy Daniels that he committed fraud to conceal the fact that he was paying hush money in order to influence an election—to be re-elected.

Because that’s what the felony charges reflect: not that he falsified business records ( which he did do) which is normally only a misdemeanor UNLESS done to cover up another crime. Which is why he falsified the records.

Trump Convicted: Here Are The Election And Tax Laws He Was Charged With Breaking

Trump has only been charged with falsification of business records, but jurors would also have to find he did it to cover up an underlying crime.

www.forbes.com

That means the jury must show Trump falsified records to cover a second crime, which prosecutors allege is New York’s election law prohibiting “conspir[ing] to promote or prevent the election of any person to a public office by unlawful means”—since Cohen allegedly paid off Daniels in order to boost Trump’s chances in the 2016 election.

Since that law requires defendants to have influenced an election through “unlawful means,” jurors will also have to determine whether a third crime was committed that made the hush money scheme violate the election law.
In his instructions Wednesday, Judge Juan Merchan gave jurors several choices for that third crime to show “unlawful means.”
The third “unlawful” action could be violating the Federal Election Campaign Act, meaning Cohen’s payment to Daniels was a contribution to Trump’s campaign that exceeded the legal limit—which Cohen already pleaded guilty to.

 

[southernhybrid]

Republicans are extremely worried about weaponization of the government, particularly the courts, by radical Democrats. They even have a Congressional committee devoted to investigating the issue. It seems that there may be evidence that the Democrats have been using the courts for their own political ends. It is in that spirit that Speaker Johnson has called on the Supreme Court to intervene and overturn convicted criminal Donald Trump's recent conviction.

Johnson urges Supreme Court to "step in" on Trump verdict​

Yeah. I mentioned that earlier, as one of the political pundits showed a clip of him saying that. I mentioned it to a friend earlier today and we were both disgusted but sadly, not all that surprised. The cult will do anything to try and undermine what's left of our democracy.

 

[Shadowy Man]

Republicans are extremely worried about weaponization of the government, particularly the courts, by radical Democrats. They even have a Congressional committee devoted to investigating the issue. It seems that there may be evidence that the Democrats have been using the courts for their own political ends. It is in that spirit that Speaker Johnson has called on the Supreme Court to intervene and overturn convicted criminal Donald Trump's recent conviction.

Johnson urges Supreme Court to "step in" on Trump verdict​

So, let's not worry about the legal appeals process our country has and just forego actual law and order because our political ally, who is a criminal, got convicted for his crimes.

At least we don't have to worry about them being the "law and order" party anymore.

 

[Shadowy Man]

Two words: Banana republic.

Twenty-two words: Was it a banana republic when Michael Cohen was convicted and did time for three of the same crimes that Trump committed?

Would Trump have been convicted if he decided not to run for POTUS again?
Hint: No, he would not have.

Why do you think that?

Because it fits his personal political narrative.

 

[Shadowy Man]

Two words: Banana republic.

Twenty-two words: Was it a banana republic when Michael Cohen was convicted and did time for three of the same crimes that Trump committed?

Would Trump have been convicted if he decided not to run for POTUS again?
Hint: No, he would not have.

I didn’t know you were on the jury, who saw all the facts and heard all the arguments. Sorry for doubting you.

There would not have been any jury if trump simply dropped out of the race. No jury ->no conviction.

So, you're not disputing the jury's finding of guilt. You just think that the prosecution of an obviously (now with hindsight) winnable case was politically motivated. He is guilty of a crime but the only reason the DA pursued prosecution of that crime was because Trump chose to run for President? That's your position? Had he not run, the DA should have let the criminal go free?

 

[hurtinbuckaroo]

Two words: Banana republic.

Twenty-two words: Was it a banana republic when Michael Cohen was convicted and did time for three of the same crimes that Trump committed?

Would Trump have been convicted if he decided not to run for POTUS again?
Hint: No, he would not have.

I didn’t know you were on the jury, who saw all the facts and heard all the arguments. Sorry for doubting you.

There would not have been any jury if trump simply dropped out of the race. No jury ->no conviction.

WTF? Jurors wouldn't show up? Everyone would bring a note from Mom saying they couldn't serve?

What are you trying and failing to say here?

 

[Shadowy Man]

Two words: Banana republic.

Twenty-two words: Was it a banana republic when Michael Cohen was convicted and did time for three of the same crimes that Trump committed?

Would Trump have been convicted if he decided not to run for POTUS again?
Hint: No, he would not have.

I didn’t know you were on the jury, who saw all the facts and heard all the arguments. Sorry for doubting you.

There would not have been any jury if trump simply dropped out of the race. No jury ->no conviction.

WTF? Jurors wouldn't show up? Everyone would bring a note from Mom saying they couldn't serve?

What are you trying and failing to say here?

He's saying that the DA only pursued the charges because Trump is running for President. Many Republicans are saying that too. And I'm sure many people are believe that too. And even if it were true, it wouldn't change the fact that he got convicted on the facts of the case and his poor defense. So, presumably the argument is that the crime was too small for the DA to have wasted time and energy pursuing. He should have let this criminal go and pursued other criminals instead.

 

[ideologyhunter]

Two words: Banana republic.

Twenty-two words: Was it a banana republic when Michael Cohen was convicted and did time for three of the same crimes that Trump committed?

Would Trump have been convicted if he decided not to run for POTUS again?
Hint: No, he would not have.

Oh, great answer. Except that you completely avoided answering the question I posed. And yes, since Trump was an unindicted co-conspirator in Cohen's charging docs, it was unfinished business. So again, Cohen was sent up on, among other charges, specific crimes that the Orange One is now guilty of. He went to PRISON. Trump, hopefully, will pay for his crimes.
And, if our country has any justice system that's still salvageable, he'll pay for his unbelievably treasonous conduct of siccing a mob on Congress and then watching these criminals on their rampage for 187 minutes, doing nothing but sending the Pence tweet that enraged them even further.

 

[Colonel Sanders]

Two words: Banana republic.

Twenty-two words: Was it a banana republic when Michael Cohen was convicted and did time for three of the same crimes that Trump committed?

Would Trump have been convicted if he decided not to run for POTUS again?
Hint: No, he would not have.

YES! He would be under investigation for his horrific handling of classified documents too.

In the US, we actually go after people who commit crimes when they commit crimes, generally.

I understand how this would be confusing to someone who lives where the only reason for government intervention is political oppression, but the US works differently than that.

At least for now. There's no telling what the future holds if Trump and his Congressional cultists win in November, especially considering the corrupt partisanship of SCOTUS.

I disagree that there's no telling what's going to happen.

I think it's fair to speculate that if Trump is allowed into office that within the next 2-3 years we'll be the Christian version of Iran. They'll keep Trump in power until he dies. In the meantime the fundies already have their laws and policies ready to roll out. There will be no on to oppose Trump because he'll be Stupid Putin. All political opposition of any note will be killed, imprisoned, or simply fired and replaced with people who swear fealty to Trump/GOP.

We don't have to reach for an example of this. Saddam Hussein required all who held a government job to be Baath party members. The same thing would happen here.

 

[southernhybrid]

Two words: Banana republic.

Twenty-two words: Was it a banana republic when Michael Cohen was convicted and did time for three of the same crimes that Trump committed?

Would Trump have been convicted if he decided not to run for POTUS again?
Hint: No, he would not have.

YES! He would be under investigation for his horrific handling of classified documents too.

In the US, we actually go after people who commit crimes when they commit crimes, generally.

I understand how this would be confusing to someone who lives where the only reason for government intervention is political oppression, but the US works differently than that.

At least for now. There's no telling what the future holds if Trump and his Congressional cultists win in November, especially considering the corrupt partisanship of SCOTUS.

I disagree that there's no telling what's going to happen.

I think it's fair to speculate that if Trump is allowed into office that within the next 2-3 years we'll be the Christian version of Iran. They'll keep Trump in power until he dies. In the meantime the fundies already have their laws and policies ready to roll out. There will be no on to oppose Trump because he'll be Stupid Putin. All political opposition of any note will be killed, imprisoned, or simply fired and replaced with people who swear fealty to Trump/GOP.

We don't have to reach for an example of this. Saddam Hussein required all who held a government job to be Baath party members. The same thing would happen here.

Maybe. Oddly enough, almost every commenter on the NYTImes site this morning thought that Paul Krugman was going overboard when he mentioned, Trump would ruin our democracy, and if he wins, that might be our last election. I'll try and find the article and gift it here. I don't think we will end up like Iran, but the end of the SCS will be under a much greater threat than it already is. It's been abused since day one, but I really don't expect to be forced to attend a conservative Christians church, wear what the most conservative Christian women wear, and things like that. They will just keep trying to push religion into the public schools, and things like that, but considering that some states are pretty blue, it's even hard to imagine that will be a nationwide thing. Floriduh yes. Georgia, maybe. California, I seriously doubt it. Let's just hope that people get off their butts and "vote blue no matter who".

 

[southernhybrid]

Here ya go!

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/30/...e_code=1.wE0.Gmb-.F1ZuF_xJ18LB&smid=url-share

Some of the Americans protesting the war in Gaza have turned on President Biden. They assert that the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel is killing huge numbers of civilians, which is true, and that Biden can stop it, which is more doubtful. But how do they deal with the reality that in a second term Donald Trump would be far more pro-Netanyahu and anti-Palestinian than our current president?

The answer I’ve been hearing is that the goal is to send a message: If Gaza costs Biden the election, Democrats will understand that in the next election they will need to rethink their seemingly reflexive support for Israel’s government and commit as a party to the protection of Palestinian rights.

There are many questions one could ask about this argument, but from a certain perspective, the most important one for American voters may well be: What next election?

There’s a very real possibility that if Trump wins in November it’ll be the last real national election America holds for a very long time. And while there’s room for disagreement here, if you consider that statement to be outrageous hyperbole, you haven’t been paying attention.

If you're not a NYT subscriber, you can read the entire article as I'm "gifting" it.

 

[Elixir]

They'll keep Trump in power until he dies. In the meantime the fundies already have their laws and policies ready to roll out.

Yup. Things look very bleak indeed down that road. It’s almost overwhelmingly sad that things are at this point.

 

[Jarhyn]

Two words: Banana republic.

Twenty-two words: Was it a banana republic when Michael Cohen was convicted and did time for three of the same crimes that Trump committed?

Would Trump have been convicted if he decided not to run for POTUS again?
Hint: No, he would not have.

YES! He would be under investigation for his horrific handling of classified documents too.

In the US, we actually go after people who commit crimes when they commit crimes, generally.

I understand how this would be confusing to someone who lives where the only reason for government intervention is political oppression, but the US works differently than that.

At least for now. There's no telling what the future holds if Trump and his Congressional cultists win in November, especially considering the corrupt partisanship of SCOTUS.

I disagree that there's no telling what's going to happen.

I think it's fair to speculate that if Trump is allowed into office that within the next 2-3 years we'll be the Christian version of Iran. They'll keep Trump in power until he dies. In the meantime the fundies already have their laws and policies ready to roll out. There will be no on to oppose Trump because he'll be Stupid Putin. All political opposition of any note will be killed, imprisoned, or simply fired and replaced with people who swear fealty to Trump/GOP.

We don't have to reach for an example of this. Saddam Hussein required all who held a government job to be Baath party members. The same thing would happen here.

Maybe. Oddly enough, almost every commenter on the NYTImes site this morning thought that Paul Krugman was going overboard when he mentioned, Trump would ruin our democracy, and if he wins, that might be our last election. I'll try and find the article and gift it here. I don't think we will end up like Iran, but the end of the SCS will be under a much greater threat than it already is. It's been abused since day one, but I really don't expect to be forced to attend a conservative Christians church, wear what the most conservative Christian women wear, and things like that. They will just keep trying to push religion into the public schools, and things like that, but considering that some states are pretty blue, it's even hard to imagine that will be a nationwide thing. Floriduh yes. Georgia, maybe. California, I seriously doubt it. Let's just hope that people get off their butts and "vote blue no matter who".

The NYT board wants Trump to win.

I keep saying this and I guess I'll say it again, the NYT is aligned to consistently deliver the most conservative spin they can get away with to a liberal audience to push the Overton window right.

You can only shift the average by attacking the lower end so much. It's only half as effective as pushing both ends at the same time.

That is the role of the NYT in media.

The editorial direction as a manifestation of the will of the board will always be spinning rightward, calling Republicans "Congress" when republicans do something shitty, calling Democrats "Congress" when Democrats do something right, and calling them by name whenever the good/bad is inverted on each.

They will continue to push stories that call Trump's judges "porn judge" or whatever rather than just discussing it without spin (serious WTF?!?), and printing story after story to put Trump's name in the public awareness.

I have consistently seen this bias across any article from the NYT that comes across my feed, and I am entirely unsurprised.

*They will often have some writers get past the editors to hold up a more leftist stance, however this doesn't change the overall trend of leaning right while standing left.