More legal than Iran-Contra

U.S. President Joe Biden is able to skirt congressional opposition to Ukraine aid by donating weapons to Greece with the expectation that Greece will then donate its own surplus equipment to Kyiv, according to a Jan. 30 report published in Forbes.

A U.S. legal authority known as Excess Defense Articles (EDA) allows the president to deem certain weapons systems surplus and transfer them to partner nations at a cheap price or without cost.

[...]

Kathimerini reported that Greek political and military leadership have already agreed to transfer surplus equipment to Ukraine.

  Kyiv Independent

Was that option not available to Ronald Reagan? Or did he want the Contras to have the best, latest arms?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

She was "just asking questions"

But she probably already accomplished what she intended: rile up the base and give them a talking point.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 01:38 pm:  Yep.  Just asking questions.

Look at her footnote.

Remember the pipe bomber who has never been caught?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

I'm dying

Background:

Alina Habba still digging herself deeper

Suddenly, now that she lost the case, she finds it "troublesome" that Judge Kaplan and Roberta Kaplan (no relation) both worked for the same huge law firm in the 90s even though they did not cross paths during that time.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 01/31/2024:

But she probably already accomplished what she intended: rile up the base and give them a talking point.

Democrats need to keep their noses clean

UPDATE 01/31/2024:

Israeli war crimes continue unabated

Smartmatic isn't stopping with Fox

In the wake of the 2020 election, the president of the far-right network One America News sent a potentially explosive email to former Trump campaign lawyer Sidney Powell, with a spreadsheet claiming to contain passwords of employees from the voting technology company Smartmatic, according to court filings.

[...]

OAN has established itself as perhaps the most extreme of the pro-Trump news outlets.

[...]

The little-watched network regularly gives airtime to baseless conspiracy theories that support Trump. The channel even worked closely with Russian operatives on a propaganda-style documentary during Trump’s first impeachment in 2019 over allegations he pressured Ukraine to investigate his political rivals. One of its correspondents, who is also an attorney, even worked with Trump’s legal team to subvert the 2020 election results.

[...]

Lawyers from Smartmatic told a federal judge that the email, and the attached spreadsheet, suggest OAN executives “may have engaged in criminal activities” because they “appear to have violated state and federal laws regarding data privacy.”

[...]

According to court filings, the supposed passwords were shared around the same time that Powell, her associates and other Trump supporters were trying to improperly access voting systems across the country, to prove their false claims of voter fraud.

[...]

The revelations were surfaced by Smartmatic as part of an effort to convince the judge in its case against OAN that the network is withholding key documents in the discovery process.

[...]

Smartmatic has sued OAN, Powell, and other Trump allies and right-wing outlets, seeking billions of dollars in damages for their 2020 election lies. After former President Donald Trump lost the election, they spread baseless claims that election software from Smartmatic and another company flipped millions of votes from Trump to Joe Biden.

[...]

OAN settled a defamation suit in September with former Dominion executive Eric Coomer, whose case revealed how the network worked closely with Powell and others to lie about the election. DirecTV has also dropped the far-right network from its lineup, dealing a significant blow to the outlet, hitting the network’s viewership and revenue.

  CNN

Maybe Smartmatic's lawsuit will put the final nail in OAN's coffin.

The South is one big emergency

The 5th covers Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Texas.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

LOL stock market

I was wondering how Trump was going to take credit for the stock market records that keep happening day after day.  Then he said he hoped the market would crash.  It kept going up, so...

Sad!

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Who is paying Trump's legal damages?

Here's my guess at the order from which he takes the money to pay legal judgments:

1. Trump Organization (generally ill-gotten gains)

2. His duped supporters 

3. Jared's Saudi funding

4. Trump's personal finances 

Is Haley looking to get booted from the GOP?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

This is how to interview a politician

She needs to ask her staff how she voted.  LOL.

This is typically what Republicans do.  Vote against bills, then seek credit for the good done when they pass.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Another state considering the 14th amendment

UPDATE 01/30/2024:

"Criticized by Republicans and tax prep companies"

Good. The current pay to pay racket makes Spaulding look like slackers.

$83 million wasn't enough

I don't think there is a number big enough to shut him up.  I still think he'll get the money to pay damages from MAGA dupes and Jared, who got $2 BILLION from Saudi Arabia because of his relationship to Trump.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 01/30/2024:

Speaking of this rotten SCOTUS...

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Just getting worse

25 historians file amicus brief supporting 14th amendment disqualification

The 25 historians – among them James McPherson of Princeton, the pre-eminent civil war scholar – pointed to 1860s congressional debate.

“Senator Reverdy Johnson of Maryland, a Democratic opponent of the 14th amendment, challenged sponsors as to why section three omitted the president. Republican Lot Morrill of Maine … replied, ‘Let me call the senator’s attention to the words “or hold any office civil or military under the United States”.’ Johnson admitted his error; no other senator questioned whether section three covered the president.”

The historians also cited Andrew Johnson, in 1868 the first president impeached, referring to himself as “chief executive officer”.

  Guardian

It's a ridiculous argument that the president is immune because he's not an officer of the US, but I wouldn't put anything ridiculous past this Supreme Court.

Pointing out that section 3 of the 14th amendment is self-executing, and that “no former Confederate instantly disqualified from holding office under section three was disqualified by an act of Congress”, the historians also noted that Jefferson Davis, the Confederate president, cited his own disqualification as reason an indictment for treason should be quashed.

“Contemporary information provides direct evidence of the enduring reach of the 14th amendment,” the historians wrote. “Congress … chose to make disqualification permanent through a constitutional amendment.

“Republican senator Peter Van Winkle of West Virginia said, ‘This is to go into our constitution and to stand to govern future insurrection as well as the present.’ To this end, the Amnesty Acts of 1872 and 1898 did not pardon future insurrectionists.”

So the rotten SCOTUS also has the path of saying Trump did not incite or commit insurrection, which would directly contradict the Colorado courts.

The historians also said “adverse consequences followed” amnesty, many ex-Confederates winning office and “participat[ing] in the imposition of racial discrimination in the south that vitiated the intent of the 14th and 15th amendments to protect the civil and political rights of the formerly enslaved people.”

The historians concluded: “The court should take cognisance that section three of the 14th amendment covers the present, is forward-looking, and requires no additional acts of Congress for implementation.”

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 11:05 am:

UPDATE 06:00 pm:

It's Sunday

Would this be Ronny Jackson?

Lucky for Ronny the House is controlled by Republicans.  Might not be in 2025 though.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

And it shows

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 02/17/2024:

Well, she's still his lawyer.

Excerpt:

In his ruling, Judge Engoron noted that the only error the defendants conceded during the trial was the tripling of the size of the Trump Tower penthouse.

The judge also listed previous cases in which the Trump Organization had been found liable of fraud, arguing the more there is "evidence of defendants' ongoing propensity to engage in fraud", the more need there is to impose harsher penalties.

"This is not [the] defendants' first rodeo," Judge Engoron noted.

Throughout the trial, Mr Trump made unsubstantiated and derogatory statements about the attorney-general, claiming she was corrupt and racist.

He also attacked the judge and his clerk, resulting in the imposition of a gag order, which he subsequently violated.

Former New York federal prosecutor Mitchell Epner described the legal tactic Mr Trump's attorneys adopted as being a "scorched earth defence".

He argued the use of that strategy had backfired.

"To attack the court and the attorney-general in personal terms at every opportunity," likely gave rise to the court imposing the harshest possible financial penalties, Mr Epner said.

[...]

"Justice Engoron made it clear that he was not impressed by Donald Trump's attacks, that he takes those attacks as evidence that Donald Trump is highly likely to repeat all of the misconduct that he's already found."

  ABC

Elise Stefanik's about face

And now, on cue from Donald Trump, she's calling those people who were convicted and are serving prison sentences "hostages".

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Emergency border deal

President Joe Biden on Friday urged Congress to pass a bipartisan bill to address the immigration crisis at the nation’s southern border, saying he would shut down the border the day the bill became law.

“What’s been negotiated would — if passed into law — be the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure the border we’ve ever had in our country,” Biden said in a statement. “It would give me, as President, a new emergency authority to shut down the border when it becomes overwhelmed. And if given that authority, I would use it the day I sign the bill into law.”
  Politico

Guess who opposes this? That's right: Trump and MAGA House Republicans. They don't want to fix the border problem. They want to campaign on it.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 02/07/2024:

Meanwhile in Fox News troubles

Recall that Fox agreed to settle with Dominion voting machines company to the tune of $787.5 million in that defamation suit April last year to avoid a possible jury verdict awarding them the $1.6 billion Dominion was asking for.  

Some post-award analyses

To have a meritorious appeal, you have to preserve a reversible error at the trial level. This is why you hire competent counsel. You need someone who actually knows the rules of evidence and procedure.

Alina Habba had no clue what was occurring throughout the trial. She not only failed to preserve any remote grounds for appeal, like a moron, she repeatedly and unintentionally waived them over and over.

For example, she kept saying "no objection" as exhibits were entered into evidence.

[...]

There's no appeal here. And because people have asked me in the past, no, there is no such thing as an incompetent counsel defense in civil cases. That's for criminal matters.

  Brian Manookian

Yeah, they don't like losers.

Mr. Trump can pay the $83.3 million to the court, which will hold the money while the appeal is pending. This is what he did last year when a jury ordered him to pay Ms. Carroll $5.5 million in a related case.

Or, Mr. Trump can try to secure a bond, which will save him from having to pay the full amount up front.

A bond might require him to pay a deposit and offer collateral, and would come with interest and fees. It would also require Mr. Trump to find a financial institution willing to lend him a large sum of money at a time when he is in significant legal jeopardy.

[...]

Mr. Trump has tapped his political action committee’s coffers to pay for his own legal fees and other expenses stemming from his criminal indictments and civil trials.

Yet $83.3 million eclipses the amount in his political accounts. The verdict on Friday will require Mr. Trump to reach into his own pocket.

Still, if the verdict survives Mr. Trump’s appeals, Ms. Carroll should eventually be paid.

[...]

He has enough cash to cover the verdict in various accounts, a person close to him said. In recent years, Mr. Trump has unloaded several assets, including his Washington hotel, which sold for $375 million.

Yet the verdict on Friday is not the only payout upcoming for Mr. Trump. The New York attorney general is seeking a $370 million penalty from the former president and his family business as part of a civil fraud trial that wrapped up this month.

The judge in that case is expected to issue a decision in the coming weeks.

  NYT

Couldn't happen to a more deserving person.

Or his attorney.  Jesus Christ, this woman.

UPDATE 01/27/2024:

How'd that go for you, beautiful?

P.S.  I expect Jared might come across with Trump's dollar damages.  After all, it's because of Trump that he got $2 BILLION from the Saudis.

UPDATE 

I don't think there is a number big enough to shut him up.  I still think he'll get the money to pay damages from MAGA dupes and Jared, who got $2 BILLION from Saudi Arabia because of his relationship to Trump.

UPDATE 01/28/2024:

I don't think there is a number big enough to shut him up.  I still think he'll get the money to pay damages from MAGA dupes and Jared, who got $2 BILLION from Saudi Arabia because of his relationship to Trump.

Oh my

And while we're on the subject...

The court-appointed monitor overseeing Donald Trump's businesses told a judge on Friday that the former president's financial information has contained "incomplete" or "inconsistent" disclosures containing "errors."

"I have identified certain deficiencies in the financial information that I have reviewed, including disclosures that are either incomplete, present results inconsistently, and/or contain errors," former federal judge Barbara Jones, tasked with scrutinizing the former president's business empire, wrote in a 12-page letter.

  The Messenger

That's Judge Engoron, who is clearly not a fan.

Last September, Engoron issued a ruling dissolving Trump's New York business empire for "persistent" fraud.

[...]

"Absent steps to address the items above, my observations suggest misstatements and errors may continue to occur, which could result in incorrect or inaccurate reporting of financial information to third parties," [Jones wrote].

[...]

"In addition, while I am to receive advance notice of restructuring or sales, my appointment does not require or permit advanced approval of the Trump Organization's preparation or submission of financial information to third parties," the letter states. "Thus, I am not in a position to conclude whether fraudulent activity occurred."

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Trump at closing arguments as it happened

His instructions were that Trump's guilt was already decided in a previous trial and they are not to try to relitigate that question.

I would have loved it if someone had pulled out this photo right then:

Really?  Five hours?  MAGAts are still learning about what he said several days later.  I'd give it five days at least.

(Inner City Press says Trump posts on Truth Social are taking place while he's here in the courtroom.  I'm guessing he's got one of his lackeys posting shit.)

When she sticks to the rules, Habba makes decent points.  She probably should have steered clear of objectional claims that got her in trouble with the judge.  But I guess that depends on the jury.

Well, she's a Trump lawyer.

His two things: "You can be wrecked inside but also have moments of triumph."

Habba tried to dismiss the plaintiff's expert witness' assessment of damage reparations.  She laughed at the expert noting that only Trump's supporters believed him ("Duh!" she snarked) and that reparation of Carroll's reputation could be effected by Joe Rogan and Candace Owens. ("What planet is she living on?") This is Crowley's response:

Say what, Judge?  I hope he clears that up in jury instructions.

"When you're a star, they let you do it."

$7.3M general damages, $11M reputational repair, $65M punitive damages.  Unanimous decision.

It's not going to be enough to stop him.*  And I assume they'll appeal the verdict anyway.

This is in addition to $5 million awarded at the original trial for sexual abuse.  I have a feeling she'll have a hard time collecting any of it.  

Coward.

"And the Republican Party" ???  And...what does Biden have to do with a private citizen's lawsuit?

Pretty much what you'd say to a mob trial jury.**

UPDATE 01/27/2024:

UPDATE 01/29/2024:

*

**