"He Wrote All of it Down" - Prosecution has Weisselberg's Handwritten Notes, Spelling Out the Scheme

AlyoshaKaramazov

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday April 25, 2024 · 5:35 AM PDT

2024/04/25 · 05:35

Allen Weisselberg - currently residing at Rikers for perjury Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images

UPDATE: Thursday, Apr 25, 2024 · 8:41:06 PM +00:00 · AlyoshaKaramazov

Bove is bringing up all the other times Pecker and AMI helped celebrities, etc.

They weren’t running for office.

Then he brought up Rahm Emanuel. ALSO, not running for office (he was Obama’s Chief of Staff at the time).

Don’t fall for it, jurors. It’s a shell game. The prosecution will re-direct and sort that all out. And they will push it in their closing arguments.

Michael Cohen’s testimony in the election interference trial of Donald Trump shall be corroborated by a simple bank statement, on which CFO Allan Weisselberg broke down the reimbursement scheme.

The prosecution has that bank statement, as they told the jury in their opening statement on Tuesday.

While Trump’s defense appears to be the infamous “spaghetti on the wall” strategy, where he denies absolutely everything.

Quoting Jay Kuo: “He could deny that he ever had sex with Daniels, argue he paid her off because she was extorting him, maintain there’s nothing wrong with the paperwork and that he wasn’t even aware of what Cohen was doing, and call everyone else a liar.”

But the prosecution has David Pecker, and his description of the ongoing catch-and-kill scheme.

The prosecution also has Dylan Howard, who assisted Pecker with the scheme.

They have Trump’s gatekeeper, Madeleine Westerhout.

They have Hope Hicks, who was in on the negotiations with Daniels.

They have Stormy Daniels who had sex with Trump, and can even describe his “mushroom.”

They have Stormy's lawyer, who accepted the payment from Cohen.

All of whom will corroborate Michael Cohen’s testimony. Making Cohen’s perceived “veracity-problem” much less crucial.

They have a habitually cheap Trump, who doesn’t pay anybody, suddenly OVERPAYING Michael Cohen a lot of money.

They have Cohen mortgaging his own home, to get the money to pay Stormy.

And……….they have the TrumpOrg CFO’s handwritten notes, spelling out the financial details of the entire scheme.

YouTube Video

Hope Hicks will Testify: She Talked w/ prosecutors for hours, and was in on Negotiations w/ Daniels

AlyoshaKaramazov

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday April 23, 2024 · 10:02 AM PDT

2024/04/23 · 10:02

FILE PHOTO: Former White House Communications Director Hope Hicks exits Air Force One behind U.S. President Donald Trump after they arrived at the John Glenn Columbus International Airport in Columbus, Ohio, U.S., August 4, 2018. REUTERS/Leah Millis - RC127BBC6B00/File Photo — Creator: Leah Millis Credit: REUTERS

UPDATE: Saturday, May 4, 2024 · 3:18:13 AM +00:00 · AlyoshaKaramazov

And I have my answer!!! Trump initialized the contact.

Hicks said that Trump then wanted her to get David Pecker's number because he wanted to call him, so she asked Cohen for it. Hicks said that Trump was worried about how Melania would react to the story, so he asked Hicks to make sure no newspapers were delivered to their residence the next morning. She was then asked if Trump was concerned how it would hurt his campaign. Hicks said he was constantly asking her, "How's it playing?" with the public.

She also defied a subpoena…..

But first, Trump’s apparent defense strategy:

…….Trump could go scorched earth. He could deny that he ever had sex with Daniels, argue he paid her off because she was extorting him, maintain there’s nothing wrong with the paperwork and that he wasn’t even aware of what Cohen was doing, and call everyone else a liar.

By all accounts, this is precisely the road he’s taking. Blanche’s opening statement cinches it.

Now, the problems with Trump’s scorched earth defense position (from The Status Kuo):

tinyurl.com/…

There are some big holes in this defensive strategy.

The first is the idea that Cohen would take out a home equity loan and use a shell company to pay off Daniels for something that didn’t happen and that she couldn’t prove. If it never happened, that number would likely be far, far lower or zero.

[...]

Then there is Hope Hicks, who was Trump’s press secretary at the time. As NBC reported earlier this month,

Hicks met with prosecutors for several hours and is expected to be a witness for the state. According to an FBI agent in an earlier criminal case around the same matter, Hicks was involved in the negotiations with Stormy Daniels’s lawyer, Keith Davidson, to prevent Daniels from going public about the sexual encounter with Trump in 2006.

[...]

Negotiations between the Trump campaign and Daniels’s attorney began in earnest in October of 2016 following the infamous Access Hollywood tape that was already destroying Trump’s election chances. Trump believed yet another scandal could end them.

As the FBI affidavit in the Cohen case states,

I have learned that in the days following the Access Hollywood video, Cohen exchanged a series of calls, text messages and emails with Keith Davidson, who was then Clifford’s attorney, David Pecker and Dylan Howard of American Media Inc., the publisher of the National Enquirer, Trump, and Hope Hicks, who was then press secretary for Trump’s presidential campaign.

That’s quite an electronic trail between Cohen and other people, including Davidson, Pecker, Howard and Hicks. Will any of them testify that Trump 1) did in fact have a sexual encounter with Daniels, 2) was trying to cover it up by routing the payoff through Cohen, and 3) cared primarily about how such a story might affect his election chances? The likelihood is high. And these witnesses aren’t so easily impeachable as Cohen and Daniels.

The thing I most want to know though, is this:

WHO initiated this flurry of communications between all these people? I do not doubt that it was Trump to Cohen/Hicks to Davidson/Daniels.

But if, by chance, Stormy contacted them first, then the extortion part of Trump’s crazy defense, might have some legs. However, if it never happened, how does Trump use extortion as part of his defense?

Or am I missing something?

Anyway, let’s Hope Hicks tells the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth when she testifies………

Same goes for everyone else. If Trump is convicted, I want it to be fair and square.

Oh, and then there’s this:

Her resignation came a day after she testified for eight hours before the House Intelligence Committee, telling the panel that in her job, she had occasionally been required to tell white lies but had never lied about anything connected to the investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.

And as far as that “denying everything” strategy?

It goes along with something he said back in 2015:

Moderator Frank Luntz asked Trump whether he has ever asked God for forgiveness for his actions.

“I am not sure I have. I just go on and try to do a better job from there. I don’t think so,” he said. “I think if I do something wrong, I think, I just try and make it right. I don’t bring God into that picture. I don’t.”

Go read Jay Kuo’s entire piece. It’s free, and it’s very enlightening.

Trump Did to E. Jean Carroll Exactly What He Bragged About Doing, in the Access Hollywood Tape

AlyoshaKaramazov

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday April 17, 2024 · 10:50 AM PDT

2024/04/17 · 10:50

This had dawned on me a few months ago, after E. Jean Carroll won her case against Trump.

Now, Trump’s repeated assaults of women has been brought up again for his first criminal trial.

Look…….

A judge in Donald Trump’s hush money trial denied prosecutors' request on Monday that they be permitted to use as evidence allegations of sexual assault against the former president related to the infamous Access Hollywood tape.

Judge Juan Merchan said such allegations amounted to "rumors" that would be prejudicial toward Trump, according to reports from the Manhattan courtroom.

"They are very prejudicial, and at this point, given what we know today, it was just a rumor," Merchan said.

Much like Justice Merchan, I don’t want to subject you to the actual tape (but for different reasons). Merchan excluded the playing of the tape in Trump’s NY trial, because it would prejudice the jury.

He IS allowing a transcript of the video to be shown to the jury by the Prosecution.

“This Court rules that the proper balance lies in allowing the People to elicit testimony about a videotaped interview which surfaced on October 7, 2016, that contained comments of a sexual nature which Defendant feared could hurt his presidential aspirations," Merchan wrote. "However, it is not necessary that the tape itself be introduced into evidence or that it be played for the jury.”

"They are very prejudicial, and at this point, given what we know today, it was just a rumor," Merchan said.

...it was just a rumor…

It isn’t a rumor when a jury has come to a verdict that it has happened.

And I’m sorry but, “prejudicial?” A man that has been adjudicated, not just for sexual assault, but for EXACTLY the kind of sexual assault he talked about in the tape. Remember, Trump said he didn’t insert his mushroom. And E. Jean Carroll said she didn’t know what penetrated, but SOMETHING did.

So even a Justice in the NY court system hasn’t made the connection between what Trump bragged about, and what he was QUITE RECENTLY adjudicated for? TWICE!!!

And yes, I am fully aware that a judge can disallow evidence which is presented for the purpose of showing a propensity to commit an act, but he CAN admit evidence for the objective of demonstrating motive.

But it isn’t f*cking prejudicial, after it’s proven by a jury, in court, that he had already done it.

That tape came out in October, 2016…….

It was recorded in September, 2005

Trump raw-dogged Stormy Daniels in July, 2006.

Barron Trump was 4 months old.

Trump’s assault of E. Jean took place before that.

Trump sexually assaulted E. Jean Carroll in the 90’s.

Trump was describing to Billy Bush what he’d already done. Apparently, dozens of times.

But even prosector Steinglass, while arguing to have the full tape admitted as evidence, didn’t bring this up.

Can someone please tell me what I’m missing?

RUMOR??? WTF?

So, What is Trump's Monday Trial Actually All About? Not hush-money payments

AlyoshaKaramazov

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday April 12, 2024 · 6:52 AM PDT

2024/04/12 · 06:52

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - DECEMBER 06: Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg arrives to the courtroom during the Trump Organization tax fraud trial at the New York Supreme Court on December 06, 2022 in New York City. A jury found the Trump Organization guilty on all counts and convicted the organization of conspiracy, criminal tax fraud, falsifying business records, and filing false tax returns in a scheme to defraud the state. The case is unrelated to the civil case being brought by NY Attorney General Letitia James against the Trump Organization. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images) — File photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images.

STATEMENT OF FACTS — Read this to get a feel for what will actually be talked about in court

Hush-money?

No, paying hush-money to someone under normal circumstances is basically just a business deal. “I don’t want you to reveal this, and I’ll pay you this money not to.” Perfectly legal, in and of itself. Although, “hush-money” may help keep the jury’s attention, for what this trial is actually about……….

Donald John Trump, ex-president and presumed 2024 nominee for president, was indicted a little over a year ago, by a New York grand jury.

Trump is charged in a New York State Supreme Court indictment with 34 counts of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree.

Less sexy, huh?

But the crime isn’t the sex.

The crime isn’t the adultery.

The crime isn’t even the payoff.

The crime is calling the payoff what it wasn’t…………

Oh, you will likely hear some salacious details during testimony (Donald Trump’s greatest worry). Ari Melber thinks DA Alvin Bragg is hoping the sex will help keep the jury’s attention. But the damning evidence was already revealed to congress by Trump’s “fixer” Michael Cohen, on February 27th, 2019.

A paper trail exists. Michael Cohen kept the documents. Likely because he had seen that Donald Trump’s loyalty was only ever a one-way street. And he revealed them to the congressional record on live TV.

Here is a copy of one of the checks that Michael Cohen received and held on to (just in case) which will be entered into evidence in this trial:

That check was entered into Trump’s books to Michael D. Cohen ESQ, as a payment for “legal services.” What this check actually was, was a reimbursement to Michael Cohen for paying porn actress Stormy Daniels (AKA Stephanie Clifford) to keep quiet about sex she had engaged in with Donald Trump, over a decade before.

But it wasn’t only checks. It was false entries of invoices and vouchers as well.

The 34 felony counts are for entering these checks into Trump Org’s financial records, as something that they were not (we will talk about that “felony” part later).

Paying off porn actresses is apparently not a valid “legal service” in the state of New York.

I say “apparently,” because this is one of the things DA Bragg will have to prove to the jury in the following weeks.

But falsifying business records in the state of New York is just a misdemeanor.

Normally, it is.

But has anything done by Donald Trump EVER been “normal?”

HE. CHEATS. AT. GOLF.

From the indictment:

THE GRAND JURY OF THE COUNTY OF NEW YORK, by this indictment, accuses the defendant of the crime of FALSIFYING BUSINESS RECORDS IN THE FIRST DEGREE, in violation of Penal Law §175.10, committed as follows:

The defendant, in the County of New York and elsewhere, on or about February 14, 2017, with intent to defraud and intent to commit another crime and aid and conceal the commission thereof, made and caused a false entry in the business records of an enterprise, to wit, an invoice from Michael Cohen dated February 14, 2017, marked as a record of the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, and kept and maintained by the Trump Organization.

That part: ”...and intent to commit another crime….” is what jacks these charges up into felony territory.

And what is that “other crime?”

In order to secure felony convictions, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office must convince a 12-person jury that Trump falsified the records in order to commit or conceal another crime. In this case, Bragg argues Trump was trying to conceal a federal campaign finance law violation by falsely recording his reimbursements to Cohen as payments for legal services. The federal violation was a limit-exceeding contribution to Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, as the payment was allegedly designed to keep Daniels' story from hurting the then-Republican nominee's election prospects. Bragg also alleges Trump was trying to conceal a plan to violate New York tax and election laws.

But DA Bragg does NOT have to prove to the jury that this other crime was even committed. Just that Trump committed the crimes he is charged with “to commit or conceal another crime.” Trump has NOT been indicted for any federal or state campaign finance law violation(s).

This is a quirk in NY State law. A “quirk” that was investigated fully by legal analysts a year ago, and since. And though some analysts then insisted that this would open a quagmire of legal challenges (including through the US Supreme Court), so far very little of that has happened.

Yes, AFAIK, none of those esoteric challenges has yet been brought up to this court. Nor to the Supreme Court. And if you don’t want your client to experience an actual trial, you would do everything in your power to keep that from happening. Before it can happen.

So, unless Trump tries to involve SCOTUS last minute before Monday morning, they got nothin’.

Just for clarification, Trump’s lawyers on this case are not idiots. Yes, former prosecutor Todd Blanche humiliates himself regularly by filing ridiculous motions. Quite obviously at Trump’s demand. Nearly all of which have been denied. The following one, being the most egregious:

Merchan grew impatient, pressing Trump lawyer Todd Blanche to cite even a single legal precedent for his argument.

When the lawyer couldn’t, the judge laid into him, saying: “You’re literally accusing the Manhattan DA’s office and the people assigned to this case of engaging in prosecutorial misconduct and of trying to make me complicit in it. And you don’t have a single cite to support that position.”

But beginning April 15th, you will see seasoned trial lawyers doing their utmost to present enough reasonable doubt to the jury, to get Trump acquitted of these charges.

I will write a separate diary, should the conviction happen, about the probability (possibility) of prison time for Trump.

Until then…………

HAPPY TRIAL, EVERYONE!!!!

The full indictment

ANNOUNCEMENT OF CHARGES

STATEMENT OF FACTS — Read this to get a feel for what will actually be talked about in court

Ari tells all

YouTube Video

Strasbourg: Pensioners WIN Climate Lawsuit Based on Violation of Their Human Rights

AlyoshaKaramazov

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday April 09, 2024 · 1:10 PM PDT

2024/04/09 · 13:10

Screenshot2024-04-09at4.09.56PM.jpg — Rosmarie Wyder-Walti and Anne Mahrer from Senior Women for Climate Protection

HUGE!

The ruling is binding and can trickle down to influence the law in 46 countries in Europe including the UK.

European court rules human rights violated by climate inaction

^{By Georgina Rannard, BBC climate reporter}

.

A group of older Swiss women have won the first ever climate case victory in the European Court of Human Rights.

The women, mostly in their 70s, said that their age and gender made them particularly vulnerable to the effects of heatwaves linked to climate change.

The court said Switzerland's efforts to meet its emission reduction targets had been woefully inadequate.

It is the first time the powerful court has ruled on global warming.

Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg joined activists celebrating at the court in Strasbourg on Tuesday.

"We still can't really believe it. We keep asking our lawyers, 'is that right?' Rosemarie Wydler-Walti, one of the leaders of the Swiss women, told Reuters news agency. "And they tell us it's the most you could have had. The biggest victory possible."

"This is only the beginning of climate litigation," said Ms Thunberg. "This means that we have to fight even more, since this is only the beginning. Because in a climate emergency, everything is at stake."

Swiss women win landmark climate case at Europe top human rights court

By Gloria Dickie, Kate Abnett and Christian Levaux

April 9, 2024 3:58 PM EDT Updated 12 min ago

The European Court of Human Rights ruled in favour of a group of elderly Swiss women on Tuesday who had argued that their government's inadequate efforts

STRASBOURG, France, April 9 (Reuters) - Europe's top human rights court ruled on Tuesday that the Swiss government had violated the human rights of its citizens by failing to do enough to combat climate change, in a decision that will set a precedent for future climate lawsuits.

The European Court of Human Rights's ruling, in favour of the more than 2,000 Swiss women who brought the case, is expected to resonate in court decisions across Europe and beyond, and to embolden more communities to bring climate cases against governments.

But in a sign of the complexities of the growing wave of climate litigation, the court (ECtHR) rejected two other climate-related cases on procedural grounds. One of these was brought by a group of six Portuguese young people against 32 European governments and another by a former mayor of a low-lying French coastal town.

The Swiss women, known as KlimaSeniorinnen and aged over 64, said their government's climate inaction put them at risk of dying during heatwaves. They argued their age and gender made them particularly vulnerable to such climate change impacts.

In her ruling, Court President Siofra O'Leary said the Swiss government had failed to comply with its own targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions and had failed to set a national carbon budget.

"It is clear that future generations are likely to bear an increasingly severe burden of the consequences of present failures and omissions to combat climate change," O'Leary said.

One of KlimaSeniorinnen's leaders, Rosmarie Wydler-Wälti said she was struggling to grasp the full extent of the decision.

"We keep asking our lawyers, 'Is that right?'. And they tell us 'it's the most you could have had. The biggest victory possible'."

YouTube Video

Trump's Bond Collateral - The Copier Next to 60 Boxes of Stolen Documents, & What it Produced?

AlyoshaKaramazov

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday March 23, 2024 · 9:01 AM PDT

2024/03/23 · 09:01

About 30% of Trump's illegal stash. That we know of. With Copier.

Who knows how many of the millions of docs Trump stole, he actually copied. But he had over a year and a half to do it. January, 2021 to August, 2022 when a judge-signed search warrant was executed by the FBI. Still, I don’t remember Jack Smith mentioning the copier.

But it’s right there. Plain as day. Right next to 60 boxes of stolen documents. Documents the FBI seized. That’s not counting the boxes in the bathroom, on the stage, etc.

But what about copies?

Journalists and amateur sleuths were all trying to decide on one reason why Trump stole them.

To sell?
To trade?
Extortion?
Bragging rights? ✓
To keep as mementos? ✓
To release against his political enemies? ✓
Just because he could (a big ‘fuck you’ to the nation who made him, then rejected him)? ✓

✓ — proven true, already

Or, as I’ve always argued, “ALL OF THE ABOVE??”

But beside this point, the one we are interested in right now, is #2

Trading secrets. For a bond, perhaps? So that he can stave off losing everything, if only for a few short months?

The #1 concern on Trump’s mind right now, is not prison. It is not the poor-house.

The #1 concern on Trump’s mind right now, is people all over the world knowing for certain that he is not a billionaire. That he has never been a billionaire. That he will never be a billionaire.

"Donald Trump is not a billionaire. I’m a billionaire. Donald Trump is a clown who lives on credit." — Mark Cuban, 2016;

See my previous diary, if you don’t believe me. Or take NYAG’s word for it.

DONALD J. TRUMP IS NOT A BILLIONAIRE.

It is quite possible that the most valuable thing Trump “possesses,” is copies he made of those classified documents.

Trump doesn’t even own Trump Tower.

He owns one apartment at Trump Tower

He owns the parking garage at Trump Tower

He owns the valet booth at Trump Tower

He owns room-service kitchens at Trump Tower

He owns a restaurant space at Trump Tower

And……..he owns………………..the lobby bathrooms

So, how will he ever raise that bond?

#2?

From one of his bathrooms?

Remember this?

A May 8th, 2021 video shows former-President Donald Trump aides loading boxes similar to those that contained classified documents in the recent FBI Mar-A-Lago raid onto a plane that was headed to his Bedminster property in New Jersey.

And Donald Trump was PERSONALLY there, overseeing this.

A thought that never crossed my mind until now: What if those boxes were COPIES Trump had made of the most important documents to use for reasons #1, #2, #3, and #6 above?

For the first few months after Biden was inaugurated, nobody heard a peep from Trump.

Was this when he was steadfastly, meticulously directing his aides to copy everything he had personally chosen as useful, from the docs he had stolen?

Or, what if those documents being moved, were the originals?

YouTube Video

What better use could Trump have for those stolen docs, then to save Trump’s “empire?”

To save the appearance of even having an “empire?”

And who might be interested in saving Trump’s appearance of an “empire?”

Elon?

Salmon?

Vlad?

I doubt if it’s Warren or Bill or Jeff or Marc or Mark, or Larry………….

I would bet $100 that Trump fought tooth, nail, and gizzard to try to keep his lawyers from claiming in court that he couldn’t come up with that bond.

In fact, it’s burning Trump’s gut do deeply, that just yesterday, Trump negated every argument his lawyers filed, and claimed in a TS post that he had $500mil in cash.

How many lies can you count? Vunnnn……...Tooo…………...

Get it? He has the cash. But he won’t spend it on the bond. To save his “empire.” That he doesn’t even have. Because he needs that $500mil to spend…………..on……………….his…………...campaign.

Something he never, ever did. Something he never, ever WILL do.

The guy who said in 2015, that he’s different from all the other candidates. Because he won’t be beholden to anyone for anything…….…

Because he’s a billionaire……………….

YouTube Video

Trump allegedly took classified documents on 'nuclear programs' and more: What to know

Prosecutors alleged disclosure could put U.S. national security "at risk."

What was in the documents

According to the indictment, Trump had stored in boxes information "regarding defense and weapons capabilities of both the United States and foreign countries; United States nuclear programs; potential vulnerabilities of the United States and its allies to military attack; and plans for possible retaliation in response to a foreign attack."

"The unauthorized disclosure of these classified documents could put at risk the national security of the United States, foreign relations, the safety of the United States military, and human sources and the continued viability of sensitive intelligence collection methods," the indictment reads.

Trump retained documents from several agencies, prosecutors alleged, including the CIA, Department of Defense, the National Security Agency and the Department of Energy.

The indictment does not reveal exactly what is in the classified documents beyond general descriptions of their content.

Who he shared them with

Prosecutors claimed Trump presented classified information to other people on two occasions.

The indictment presents evidence that Trump shared information about a "plan of attack" against another country to a writer and publisher who visited his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club in July 2021.

"Secret. This is secret information," Trump told them, the indictment said.

Rep. Moskowitz calls Comer/Jordan Impeachment bluffs. In the BEST Way Possible

AlyoshaKaramazov

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday March 21, 2024 · 7:46 AM PDT

2024/03/21 · 07:46

images-2024-03-21T104343.182.jpeg — Florida Representative Jared Moskowitz (FL-23)

The “good” Jared.

From TPM member “southerndem"

Republicans Reject Motion to Impeach Joe Biden (newsweek.com)
House Republicans James Comer and Jim Jordan, who are leading an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden, refused to second a motion made by Representative Jared Moskowitz, a Florida Democrat, to impeach the president.

Moskowitz tried to put the motion on the table for a vote on Wednesday in an effort to call GOP lawmakers’ bluff in what he called a “fake” probe.

Moskowitz, who sits on the Oversight Committee, addressed Comer at a committee hearing relating to the Biden impeachment probe.

“Let’s just do the impeachment,” he said. "Why continue to waste millions of dollars of the taxpayers’ money if we’re going to impeach because you believe you’ve shown he’s committed a high crime or misdemeanor. What are you waiting on?

“By the way, we’ve got Chairman Jordan here also. Why aren’t you guys calling for the vote in your committee? When is it gonna happen?”

Speaking to the American people, Moskowitz said: “They haven’t proven he committed a high crime and misdemeanor. Otherwise, we would call for impeachment.”

Moskowitz then welcomed Jordan to second a motion to impeach Biden.

"I just think we should do it today. Let’s just call for it," Moskowitz said. "I’ll make the motion, Mr. Chairman. I wanna help you out. You can second it, right? Like, make the motion to impeach President Biden, go ahead.

Moskowitz was met with silence from Jordan and Comer.

Moskowitz then said to the public: “They’re never gonna impeach Joe Biden. It’s never gonna happen because they don’t have the evidence. This is a show. It’s all fake.”

Newsweek story

www.newsweek.com/...

James' Bond - NYAG Fires Back: Trump request is unreliable, improper & based on a flawed premise

AlyoshaKaramazov

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday March 20, 2024 · 3:03 PM PDT

2024/03/20 · 15:03

letitiajamesdonaldtrumppardonjusticeteenvoguesocial.jpg — New York State Attorney General Letitia Ann James................and some loser.

New York AG pushes back on Trump's 'extraordinary' request to stay $464M fraud judgment

Trump's lawyers say he is unable to secure a bond for the judgment.

_{By Peter Charalambous and Aaron Katersky}

^{March 20, 2024, 3:00 PM}

New York Attorney General Letitia James is pushing back on Donald Trump's "extraordinary" request for a stay of his $464 million civil fraud judgment, arguing the former president's recent request was unreliable, procedurally improper and based on a flawed premise.

"There is nothing unusual about even billion-dollar judgments being fully bonded on appeal," Senior Assistant Solicitor General Dennis Fan said in a filing this morning. "Defendants object to a possible 'fire sale' if they were to sell assets to generate cash to use as collateral for a bond or as a deposit —but the alternative would be to shift the risk of executing on defendants' illiquid assets to OAG."

[...]

The AG argued that the former president has failed to demonstrate his effort to secure a bond using properties as collateral, suggesting the issue is a product of Trump's doing because his "holdings are not nearly as valuable as defendants claim."

"Defendants supply no documentary evidence that demonstrates precisely what real property they offered to sureties, on what terms that property was offered, or precisely why the sureties were unwilling to accept the assets," the filing said.

"As far as the Court can infer, sureties may have refused to accept defendants' specific holdings as collateral because using Mr. Trump's real estate will generally need 'a property appraisal' ... and his holdings are not nearly as valuable as defendants claim."

In other words, Trump et al expects the judge to rely on his honest and pure veracity, which has obviously been proven as beyond reproach, for many decades. cough::::cough:::::::

From another diary, we can see why Donnie REALLY doesn’t want to divulge any actual financial-facts in his motion.

And while 40 Wall Street is one of Trump's largest holdings, he doesn't actually own the property. Rather, he owns the “ground lease” to the 72-story building, which requires him to pay rent to the landowners — the obscure but wealthy Hinneberg family of Germany.

Short Summary of what he actually OWNS at these properties:

Trump International Hotel and Tower: the service areas
Trump Tower: Retail and commercial areas, the infamous triplex apartment
40 Wall Street: The ground lease
1290 Ave. of the Americas: 30% interest locked up until 2044
Trump Park Ave.: TFG may own several units
Niketown: the ground lease
Trump Parc & Trump Parc East: TFG may own some units
Trump Plaza: TFG may own some units
Trump World Tower: Owned by the condo association
The Mayfair: TFG never owned it
200 East 69th St. formerly Trump Palace: TFG doesn’t own it
140, 160, 180, 200, 220, 240 Riverside Blvd. formerly Trump Place: TFG Doesn’t Own It
The Dominick Hotel: TFG never owned it
Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point: TFG never owned it

I will add info from a Forbes article. You know Forbes. They’re the magazine that dumped Trump off their Top 400 list. And were instrumental in getting Weisselberg charged with perjury:

YouTube Video

It’s also the magazine Stormy Daniels spanked Trump with…….

What Trump actually owns……..

This is from Forbes magazine.

Trump “Assets”

Total Value: $1.818 billion
Debt Owing: $1.023 billion
Potential Net: $794.6 million

1. Trump Plaza
Total value: $30 million
Debt: $12 million
Creditor: Ladder Capital
Due: July 6, 2024

2. 40 Wall Street
Total value: $205 million
Debt: $121 million
Creditor: Ladder Capital
Due: July 6, 2025

3. Trump International Hotel & Tower
Total value: $10 million
Debt: $6 million
Creditor: Ladder Capital
Due: August 6, 2026

4. 555 California
Total value: $480 million
Debt: $360 million
Mortgage originator: JPMorgan Chase
Due: May 2028

5. 1290 Avenue of the Americas
Total value: $570 million
Debt: $284 million
Mortgage originator: JPMorgan Chase
Due: November 2028

6. Seven Springs
Total value: $30 million
Debt: $5.4 million
Creditor: Bryn Mawr Trust Company
Due: 2029

7. Trump Tower
Total value: $156 million
Debt: $100 million
Creditor: Axos Bank
Due: 2032

8. Trump National Doral
Total value: $291 million
Debt: $125 million
Creditor: Axos Bank
Due: 2032

9. 1125 S. Ocean Blvd
Total value: $46 million
Debt: $10 million
Lender: Professional Bank
Due: 2048

Trump International Hotel and Tower

1 Central Park West

Although it’s a popular target for anti-Trump protests, the Columbus Circle building, which is roughly half hotel rooms and half condos, is owned by General Electric and Ohio’s Galbreath Company, which hired Trump to glitz it up in 1996.

What Trump does own here, according to the New York Times, are the parking garage, the valet booth, room-service kitchens, lobby bathrooms, a restaurant space, and one unit.

In 2019, condo owners demanded the removal of Trump’s large, block-letter name from the façade for dragging down their property values. In a compromise suggested by Donald Trump Jr., the building ended up splitting the façade in two: the left half reads “Trump International Hotel” and the right, “One Central Park West” — both in a serif font that’s slightly smaller and less tacky than before.

Taking a long trip? Audiobooks ✓ Music ✓ - And Maybe Bob Dylan's 'Theme Time Radio Hour'?

AlyoshaKaramazov

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday March 17, 2024 · 7:12 AM PDT

2024/03/17 · 07:12

Back in the late oughts, Bob Dylan decided to do a theme-based old-time-radio-type radio show. It’s commercial-free and after listening to three shows, I had previously heard only one of the songs. I like almost all the songs he plays. Lots of American roots music, blues, old-timey country, big-band, novelty songs, and even some reggae.

And most of the music is made for travelin’.

The show spanned 2006-2009. He chooses a theme, and then plays records based on that theme. With some descriptions, trivia, history, etc. on each song or artist.

Weather, Jail, Dogs, Mothers, Coffee, Divorce……….

He even plays voicemails from Tom Waits, and other assorted goodies.

It’s something you can put on for an hour, and ease your travelin’ troubles.

101 episodes in all.

Some links to where you can listen:

podcasts.apple.com/...

open.spotify.com/…

podbay.fm/…

www.listennotes.com/…

There’s even a 2-cd set of some of the songs he has played: www.amazon.com/…

This is a letter Bob got, where he explains what he’s aiming to do with his show:

“The mail car’s pullin’ into the station now. That means we have to check our email. This email comes from Christine Rydell………she writes ‘Dear Theme Time, here is my question: Do you really pull all the selections from your own personal collection, or is that just a tale-tale?’

“Well you know Christine, these are all my own records. I keep them in various places. I like to hear music wherever I am. I wish I got more letters like this one, though. Sometimes we get a lot of people makin’ requests. I got nothin’ against requests. But sometimes I get the feelin’ that people are just requesting records from their own collections. I never understood that. I mean if you got the record, you don’t need me to play it. One of the things we try to do at Theme Time Radio Hour, is shine the light on folks that don’t get a lot of radio play. We’re not gonna play the songs you hear everywhere else. Maybe once in a while we will, but the point is, if you want to hear your record collection, play your records. And if you wanna hear your collection on the radio, git yourself a radio show………..that’s what I did.

Here’s a review of the show from a musician and writer, Damon Krukowski:

BOB DYLAN’S THEME TIME RADIO HOUR

By Damon Krukowski

BOB DYLAN KNOWS a lot of songs. His own extensive—and wordy—catalogue aside, the covers he performed live between 1988 and 2000 alone take up nine CDs. This is nothing new—Dylan has been absorbing everyone else’s repertoire since before his 1962 debut album, Bob Dylan, which combined songs and arrangements he had learned from Eric von Schmidt, Dave Van Ronk, and others. In the oral history of the folk revival Baby, Let Me Follow You Down, von Schmidt describes a typical visit from Dylan back in the day: “He wasn’t much interested in playing; he wanted to listen. So I played. . . . It was something, the way he was soaking up material in those days—like a sponge and a half. Later somebody said, ‘Hey, Bob’s put one of your songs on his album.’”

Since May, Dylan has been using his preternatural memory in a new way, as DJ for a show on XM Satellite Radio, Theme Time Radio Hour with Your Host Bob Dylan. Once a week, he draws on his wide and deep knowledge of American pop music for a show based around a theme such as weather, mothers, drinking, baseball, coffee. He introduces and comments on every track he plays, and he frequently quotes a line or two from the lyrics, which makes the fragment suddenly sound like a Dylan song. Is it because of his wry rasp that these words sound like his own? Or maybe we are witnessing the sponge and a half in action: He might well be soaking up new material before our ears, collecting words and phrases and rhymes that will later reappear in his own music.

But on display in the XM show is not just Dylan the magpie who has stolen everyone’s riffs—there’s also Dylan the archivist and even theorist of Americana. This is Dylan as successor to Harry Smith, whose landmark three-volume Anthology of American Folk Music, issued in 1952, helped shape the folk revival, including Dylan’s own early songwriting. In Greil Marcus’s vivid phrase, the anthology projected an “old, weird America” into the Eisenhower years—an America that had all but ceased to exist, in Smith’s own reckoning, by 1932, the cutoff date for the recordings he included.

[….]

Probably the best description of the music on the show comes from Dylan’s memoir, Chronicles, Volume One (2004). Miserable during the New Orleans recording sessions for his 1989 album, Oh Mercy, Dylan consoled himself with the radio, which, he recalls, “filled me with inner peace and serenity and would upend all my frustration.” The music was exactly what Dylan plays on Theme Time Radio Hour: “Mostly early rhythm and blues and rural South gospel music . . . Wynonie Harris, Roy Brown, Ivory Joe Hunter, Little Walter, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Chuck Willis, all the greats. . . . There was a country radio station, too, that came on early, before daylight, that played all the ’50s songs, a lot of Western Swing stuff.” The New Orleans station WWOZ was, Dylan writes, “the kind of station I used to listen to late at night growing up, and it brought me back to the trials of my youth and touched the spirit of it.”

[...]

A musician and writer, Damon Krukowski is co-publisher of Exact Change.

For Weisselberg: Just 5 Months at Rikers. Average for 1st Degree Perjury in NY? 3 to 7 years.

AlyoshaKaramazov

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday March 06, 2024 · 5:58 AM PST

2024/03/06 · 05:58

From a post by Donald Trump on Truth Social

And the worst part? This sentence was recommended by the office headed by Alvin Bragg.

Yes, THAT Alvin Bragg.

The Alvin Bragg who never proceeded with criminal charges for what Letitia James nailed Trump on in civil court.

The guy who will be prosecuting Trump himself, on 34 felony charges, come March 25th.

But for Allen?

5 Months. No fine. No cooperation deal. No expectation of testifying at the upcoming Trump trial.

A finger-wag, and a pat on the head for Allen.

And for Donnie? A chiding comment and a lollipop???

What are the Different Types of Perjury Charges Are There in New York?

New York has three different types of perjury charges you can be found guilty of. If you swear falsely, you will be faced with a third-degree perjury charge. If you swear falsely and give a false statement that is made in a subscribed written instrument for which an oath is required by law, made with the intent to mislead a public servant in the performance of his official functions, and material to the action, proceeding, or matter involved; you will be facing a second-degree perjury charge. If you are found guilty of swearing falsely when a false statement consists of testimony and is material to the action, proceeding, or matter in which it is made, you will be faced with a first-degree perjury charge.

What Are the Penalties and Sentencing For Perjury in New York?

If you are found guilty of a third-degree perjury charge, you will be facing a Class A misdemeanor. You will also be facing up to one year in prison and/or a fine of up to $1,000.
If you are found guilty of a second-degree perjury charge, you will be facing a Class E felony. You are also facing up to four years (and at least one year) in prison and/or a fine of up to $5,000.

If you are guilty of a first-degree perjury charge, you will be facing a Class D felony.

You will be sentenced to between three to seven years in prison. You could also be fined up to $5,000.

But then, Bragg has a history of going VERY light on Weisselberg:

Remember back in January, 2023?

Convicted:

Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, a class C felony, one count

Criminal Tax Fraud in the Third Degree, a class D felony, three counts

Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree; a class E felony, one count

Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree, a class E felony, one count

Criminal Tax Fraud in the Fourth Degree, a class E felony, one count

Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree, a class E felony, four counts

Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree, a class E felony, four counts

Sentenced:

Five months in jail

Five years’ probation

Trump Org ex-CFO Allen Weisselberg to Plead GUILTY to PERJURY

AlyoshaKaramazov

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday March 04, 2024 · 6:16 AM PST

2024/03/04 · 06:16

107176559-1673364189129-gettyimages-1442273088-img_9863_75aeb84f-8d54-4d7f-a655-d3e5233464b6.jpeg — Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images

Some GOOD news, finally………….

What sad end to a sad man, who worked for a lying-loser for decades.

Felon.

Adjudicated Fraudster.

HEY, Allen became a felon long before Trump will!

Ex-Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg to plead guilty to perjury charges: Sources

The charges resulted from his testimony during Trump's civil fraud trial.

ByAaron Katersky and Katherine Faulders

March 4, 2024, 7:30 AM

Allen Weisselberg, the ex-chief financial officer of former President Donald Trump's family real estate company, will plead guilty Monday to perjury charges that resulted from his testimony during Trump's civil fraud trial, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.

The terms of the plea remain sealed until Weisselberg appears in court Monday.

This will be Weisselberg's second criminal conviction after he pleaded guilty in 2022 to evading taxes on nearly $2 million in off-the-books compensation from the Trump Organization, including an apartment, a luxury car and his grandchildren's school tuition.

As ABC News reported last month, Weisselberg, 75, had been in plea talks with the Manhattan district attorney's office to resolve charges that he lied on the witness stand when he testified in October at the civil trial in which he, Trump, Trump's two adult sons, and another former Trump Organization executive were found liable for fraud.

During his testimony, Weisselberg struggled to explain why Trump's Fifth Avenue Manhattan triplex, which is less than 11,000 square feet in size, was listed on Trump's statements of financial condition as 30,000 square feet.

"It was almost de minimis relative to his net worth, so I didn't really focus on it," Weisselberg said during the trial. "I never even thought about the apartment."

But Forbes magazine published an article following Weisselberg's appearance that accused him of lying under oath and suggested Weisselberg did think about the apartment because he played a key role in trying to convince the magazine the apartment was as big a Trump's financial statements represented.

Weisselberg is not expected to be called as a witness in the criminal trial that starts later this month accusing Trump of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 presidential election. Trump has pleaded not guilty and denied all wrongdoing.

The Manhattan district attorney's office has said in court filings that Weisselberg that advised then-Trump attorney Michael Cohen how to pay off Daniels, and later arranged for Cohen to be paid back in monthly installments.

A Tale of Two Boeberts. Er, Make that Three. No, Four.

AlyoshaKaramazov

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday March 01, 2024 · 4:41 AM PST

2024/03/01 · 04:41

There’s the Boebert who continues to trash the “Biden Crime Family” (while the Trump crime family owes over $550million in disgorgement/defamation fines).

Then there’s the Boebert who is “sticking by her son, who is having a rough time in the limelight.” Ever heard of Tyler Boebert? No, me either.

Then there’s Tyler Boebert……………

Recently charged with 22 counts.

The teen (18) was hit with “four felony counts of criminal possession of ID documents - multiple victims, one felony count of conspiracy to commit a felony, criminal possession of a financial device, first-degree criminal trespass of an automobile with intent to commit a crime, three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and three counts of theft of under $300.

Look, I don’t give a rat’s arse about Lauren Boebert, or her kid.

But I do care about her House seat. And I do care about “christian” hypocrites, who lord it over others, and who do what they accuse others of doing.

Apparently, so did Jesus of Nazareth……..

Matthew 23 — New International Version

A Warning Against Hypocrisy

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: ²“The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. ³So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. ⁴They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

⁵“Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; ⁶they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; ⁷they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.

While Joe Biden will likely have empathy for the Boebert family, there will be none returned to him and his………..

“I love my son Tyler, who has been through some very difficult, public challenges for a young man and the subject of attention that he didn’t ask for,” Lauren Boebert said in a statement issued Wednesday. “It breaks my heart to see my child struggling and in this situation, especially when he has been provided multiple opportunities to get his life on track. I will never give up on him and I will continue to be there for him. As an adult and father, Tyler will take responsibility for his actions and should be held accountable for poor decisions just like any other citizen.” — Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, hypocrite and carpetbagger

So, to reiterate:

According to Lauren Boebert, Hunter Biden is Satan’s Second in Command.

And her son Tyler is “facing very difficult challenges for a young man and the subject of attention (???) he didn’t ask for?”

Oh, and about that “~~Biden~~ Boebert Crime Family”

The Trump loyalist’s ex-husband, Jayson Boebert, was arrested last month for an alleged assault on Tyler. That arrest also followed an incident three days earlier in which Jayson called 911 claiming that he had been repeatedly punched by Lauren Boebert, though authorities cleared her of wrongdoing.

She was granted a restraining order against Jayson earlier this month, a move that he described as a “cruel and unfair” attempt at stopping him from seeing his kids.

The conservative lawmaker was also caught up in another messy headline-generating incident last September relating to her behavior in a Denver theater during a live production of Beetlejuice.

After initially insisting she hadn’t been vaping during the show, she later admitted that she had when security camera footage emerged refuting her initial denials. Apologizing for the contradiction, she noted that she had been having a “challenging personal time” after a “public and difficult divorce.”

Tyler Boebert—who became a father last year, making his mom a 36-year-old grandmother—has also previously been in the public eye. In September 2022, at the age of 17, Tyler flipped his dad’s SUV, injuring Noble D’Amato, a friend who was also in the car at the time. D’Amato later criticized the Boebert family for allegedly downplaying the incident.

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