Trump: Set to declare 2024 presidential bid tonight; will indictments follow soon?

[Neil Frarey]

Biden is on the better drugs today at his rally. It may be because he likely has a teleprompter and doesn't have to remember what to think. If he was like this last night everyone would be saying that he is the clear winner of the debate and Barrack Obama wouldn't be having an intervention today.

Even so, Gavin Newsom was at that 'debate' ... he is the surrogate for the Biden campaign.

[Vlad Drkulec]

'Babbling' and 'hoarse': Biden's debate performance sends Democrats into a panic

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/202...nic-rcna157279



https://x.com/i/status/1806562716607225867



...

Biden is on the better drugs today at his rally. It may be because he likely has a teleprompter and doesn't have to remember what to think. If he was like this last night everyone would be saying that he is the clear winner of the debate and Barrack Obama wouldn't be having an intervention today.

[Neil Frarey]

'Babbling' and 'hoarse': Biden's debate performance sends Democrats into a panic

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/202...nic-rcna157279



https://x.com/i/status/1806562716607225867



...

[Bob Armstrong]

Civil Court Case # 1 (Of 2) - New York – Falsifying Corporate Docs # 2 (For Personal Gain)



1. Trial

Alleged: Civil Fraud (Falsifying Corporate Documents # 2) - in order to get "ill-gotten gains," Trump issued false financial statements and false business records to inflate the value of his assets.Trump had fraudulently done this to obtain favourable loans and other benefits.

Prosecutor: New York attorney general, Letitia James

Criminal Court Conviction: Judge Arthur F. Engoron - convicted Trump personally of civil fraud: levied a financial penalty and other punishments - Trump personally to pay $ 454 million in disgorgement for "ill-gotten gains." Interest on the penalty is running. He also barred Trump from running businesses in New York for three years.

2. The Appeal

- filed Monday, March 18,2024


A. The Posting of a Bond to Appeal

Appeal Court Ruling: Trump must show financial viability - stay will be granted on collection on the paying of the $464 million judgment IF Trump posts a security bond

Appeals Court Preliminary Ruling (Mon., 24/3/25): On Trump request: Bond amount is lowered from $ 554 million to $175 million.

Bond Filed (24/4/1)

$175 million bond - surety company, Knight Specialty Insurance Company (KSIC) - posted on Trump's behalf - allowed Trump to fend off a possible seizure of his properties or other assets following the $464 million judgment (including interest)

Bond Additional Terms (By Parties' Settlement)

The defense agreed to the conditions proposed by the attorney general, granting Knight Insurance Group exclusive control of the $175 million, while submitting to the jurisdiction of the New York state court and promising not to move the money into mutual funds or engage in any other financial maneuverings.

So the bond is now considered solid and sufficient; the appeal can move forward.

B. Appeal Briefs

- to be submitted in early July.

C. Appeal Hearing

- the appeal itself is expected to take several months.

Update 24/6/20

Trump Application that Trial Judge remove himself from the case – 24/6/20 – reason: In May 2024, the state started a judicial conduct investigation into Judge Engoron. Trump had learned that expert real estate lawyer, Adam Leitman Bailey, had had discussions about the case with Engoron weeks before the judge’s multi-million penalty ruling.

Bob A

[Bob Armstrong]

Trump's Legal Problems - Criminal Case # 3 (Of 4) – Falsifying Corp. Docs # 1 (Hush Money)



Prosecutor: Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, under New York Attorney General, Letitia James. Senior Counsel to the DA is Matthew Colangelo, with Ms. Susan Hoffinger.

Manhattan Criminal Court Charge: Falsifying corporate documents # 1

34 counts of falsification of New York business records in an attempt to cover up hush-money payments to Stephanie A. Gregory Clifford, known professionally as Stormy Daniels, an American pornographic film actress, director and former stripper. Stephanie claims she had an extramarital affair with Trump, which he vehemently denies.
Mr. Bragg further accuses Mr. Trump of trying to hide “damaging information and unlawful activity from American voters before and after the 2016 election". Public disclosure of this could have derailed Trump's stunning victory in the 2016 presidential election.

Note: Mr. Bragg seeks a "felony" conviction for what would normally be a "misdemeanor". He argues that the intent to commit or conceal another crime (By making the illegal hush money payment), including breaking “state and federal election laws,” raises the charge to a felony, punishable by up to four years in prison, under New York law.

Interim Motions & Decisions (prior to trial): See Post # 231 (24/4/12)

Start of Trial (Mon. 24/4/15) - Trial Judge Juan Manuel Merchan

This is the first criminal prosecution and conviction of a former American president. It may be the only one of the 4 current criminal cases against Trump where the trial gets started in 2024.

Trial Opening Statement - Prosecutor

“This is a case about a criminal conspiracy,” Mr. Colangelo told the jury. “The defendant, Donald Trump, orchestrated a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election.”

Mr. Colangelo then began to unfold, step by step, how Mr. Trump and Mr. David Pecker, [National Enquirer former CEO, then good friend of Trump] using the Enquirer, conceived a scheme “to influence the presidential election by concealing negative information” about Mr. Trump with the help of his former personal lawyer [and now current nemesis], Michael Cohen. The prosecutor called him Mr. Trump’s “former fixer.”

The three men met in August 2015 at Trump Tower and cooked up a three-point plan to help Mr. Trump win the 2016 election, the prosecution alleged. The Enquirer would run “headline after headline that extolled the defendant’s virtues,” Mr. Colangelo argued.

Trial Summary

Here are five things we learned during the trial:

1. The head of the National Enquirer described a partnership with Trump aimed at boosting his presidential bid

1. Hope Hicks said Trump was worried about the Stormy Daniels story coming out before the 2016 election.
2. Stormy Daniels described being pressured into sex with Trump
3. A handwritten note described Michael Cohen being reimbursed $130,000
4. Michael Cohen admitted he stole from the Trump Organization.

Closing Argument of Prosecutor: Donald Trump engaged in “a conspiracy and a cover-up”.

Closing Argument of Defense: The star witness, lawyer Michael Cohen, is the “greatest liar of all time”; the jury should render an across-the-board acquittal.

Jury Verdict: Guilty – He did falsify business records as alleged.

Pre-Sentencing Report (Being prepared):

Monday, June 10: Probation Officer had a video interview with Donald Trump.
The officer is preparing a “Sentencing Report” for Trial Judge Marchan.

Expert Sentencing Opinions

- a typical defendant convicted of the charges at hand would be very unlikely to face prison
- however, none of them would speculate about what this would mean for President Trump, since it is in many ways a precedent-setting case.

Update 24/6/21

Gag Order – March 2024 – before the trial started - on application by Bragg, Judge Merchan had issued an order that prohibited Trump from speaking about jurors, witnesses, prosecutors, court staff or members of their family. But It does not bar Trump from speaking about Marchan or Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

Fine - During the trial, Trump was fined $10,000 and held in criminal contempt for violating the gag order 10 times. Merchan also warned that he would have to jail Trump if he continued to do so.

Trumps Appeal of Gag Order – 24/6/18 - The New York Court of Appeals - declined to hear Trump's appeal, dismissing his effort to fight the gag order "without costs" and "upon the ground that no substantial constitutional question is directly involved."

Trump has 30 days to file a motion for leave to appeal. Once he does so, the court will decide whether or not to hear the case again.

Bragg Application to Extend the Gag Order – 24/6/21 – Bragg applied to Judge Juan Merchan to extend major elements of the gag order, citing dozens of death threats that have been made to Bragg and others. Bragg and Merchan are not covered under the gag order. An affidavit provided to the court says that the New York Police Department has logged 56 “actionable threats” against the DA, his family and his staff members since the beginning of April.

https://www.newsweek.com/top-judge-s...0Trial%20Watch

Bob A

[Bob Armstrong]

Very good Peter

[Peter McKillop]

I am sure you will do a great job, as you are an honest person, but Libertarianism will spell doom for many of your liar lawyer colleagues, who will end up paying heavily when they deliberately try to twist the truth...

As the old saw goes: 99% of lawyers give the other 1% a bad name!

[Dilip Panjwani]

Hope I am still able to practice when Libertarianism comes to Ontario......a lawyers' golden era........and always fighting for good........the proper interpretation of the one fits all Natural Law, to myriads of real life, messy, law suits!

I'll come out of inactivity, to make a lot more than I did at the Ontario Community Legal Clinic!

I am sure you will do a great job, as you are an honest person, but Libertarianism will spell doom for many of your liar lawyer colleagues, who will end up paying heavily when they deliberately try to twist the truth...

[Bob Armstrong]

Hope I am still able to practice when Libertarianism comes to Ontario......a lawyers' golden era........and always fighting for good........the proper interpretation of the one fits all Natural Law, to myriads of real life, messy, law suits!

I'll come out of inactivity, to make a lot more than I did at the Ontario Community Legal Clinic!

[Dilip Panjwani]

Dilip says... "if someone really harms you, he will have to adequately compensate you for that...". How long do you think it will take for back-room handshake deals to totally f**k that up?

Any proposed government system that relies on the beneficence of the members of said system is doomed to very quick failure. That is simple human nature.

.

Not having to rely heavily on the beneficence of anyone is an important aspect of crime detection (which is vital to the success of Libertarianism), and there are ways to detect back-room handshake deals which will need to be rigorously employed to realize the full glory of enforcement of the Natural Law...

[Pargat Perrer]

"Whoever" - Not whoever, Dilip. It was the official twitter account of The New Hampshire Libertarian Party. And they defended their actions; said they looked forward to dancing on the Clintons' graves. It was a cruel action by an official unit of the Libertarian party.

"goodwill" - If I understand your idea of natural law correctly then the goodwill of one human towards another will be needed, for all humans within the applicable political entity. And that's where your system falls down. All of recorded human history says that we will always have vast quantities of people like those who run The New Hampshire Libertarian Party.

Human nature is not something Dilip understands. He really BELIEVES that once a LIbertarian government is in place, no one within that party will be "human" and try to game the system for their own benefit. But the truth, as you so eloquently point out, is that just about ALL of them will be doing that and will bring it all down, probably more quickly than any socialist government collapse in history.

Dilip says... "if someone really harms you, he will have to adequately compensate you for that...". How long do you think it will take for back-room handshake deals to totally f**k that up?

Any proposed government system that relies on the beneficence of the members of said system is doomed to very quick failure. That is simple human nature.

Dilip's parroting of his own line about following Natural Law is more a proposed cult, similar to the Amish but removing the religious aspect, than a legitimate proposal for a governing system.

No Libertarian Party at least in North America makes any reference in their policy statements to Natural Law.

[Dilip Panjwani]

"Whoever" - Not whoever, Dilip. It was the official twitter account of The New Hampshire Libertarian Party. And they defended their actions; said they looked forward to dancing on the Clintons' graves. It was a cruel action by an official unit of the Libertarian party.

"goodwill" - If I understand your idea of natural law correctly then the goodwill of one human towards another will be needed, for all humans within the applicable political entity. And that's where your system falls down. All of recorded human history says that we will always have vast quantities of people like those who run The New Hampshire Libertarian Party.

Goodwill is important, but much more important is that you do not harm others, except in fair competition! And that is where Libertarianism excels over other current governance models...
Those who lose goodwill (which is usually a two-way street), will suffer themselves, but the system will not fall down, so long as Natural Law is enforced, and all have easy access to capital...

[Dilip Panjwani]

I did not make the profit that the pharmaceutical industry makes.......

Otherwise I'd have gotten myself a chess coach a long time ago!

So happens, Dilip, that for the last 15 years of my career, I was a salaried lawyer, making much less than most lawyers........why?

I was the supervisor of a community legal aid clinic, within a multi-service centre. My clinic was free to those who qualified - myself, another lawyer, 3 paralegals and two legal secretaries.......all free for low-income clients. And our system was touted during my initial career there by none other than Roy McMurtry, then AG in the cabinet of Premier Bill Davis.

Bob A (Believes in free legal aid for those who have no ability to pay privately, and who qualify)

Nice to know you do practice what you preach, Bob!

[Peter McKillop]

Peter,
Whoever put up that post mocking John McCain, harmed only themselves by losing the goodwill of those who honored McCain. McCain's family should realize that there is no reason for them to be 'in pain' just because there is someone somewhere who thinks that McCain was worth mocking (nobody is entitled to the whole world loving them, as posters on Chesstalk know very well ! ) What Libertarianism will not provide is wiping away of differences of opinion, but it will provide enforcement of the Natural Law, so that if someone really harms you, he will have to adequately compensate you for that...

"Whoever" - Not whoever, Dilip. It was the official twitter account of The New Hampshire Libertarian Party. And they defended their actions; said they looked forward to dancing on the Clintons' graves. It was a cruel action by an official unit of the Libertarian party.

"goodwill" - If I understand your idea of natural law correctly then the goodwill of one human towards another will be needed, for all humans within the applicable political entity. And that's where your system falls down. All of recorded human history says that we will always have vast quantities of people like those who run The New Hampshire Libertarian Party.

[Bob Armstrong]

I did not make the profit that the pharmaceutical industry makes.......

Otherwise I'd have gotten myself a chess coach a long time ago!

So happens, Dilip, that for the last 15 years of my career, I was a salaried lawyer, making much less than most lawyers........why?

I was the supervisor of a community legal aid clinic, within a multi-service centre. My clinic was free to those who qualified - myself, another lawyer, 3 paralegals and two legal secretaries.......all free for low-income clients. And our system was touted during my initial career there by none other than Roy McMurtry, then AG in the cabinet of Premier Bill Davis.

Bob A (Believes in free legal aid for those who have no ability to pay privately, and who qualify)