In her post-presidential life, Melania Trump has pursued what she could not get in the White House: a sense of privacy. She is emitting that Marion Davies vibe, as satirist Andy Borowitz writes in the NewYorker.
PALM BEACH (The Borowitz Report /s)—Shortly after a Georgia grand jury indicted Donald J. Trump for trying to overturn the 2020 election, Melania Trump expressed concern that her husband’s mounting court dates could make him unavailable to attend “any divorce proceedings that might come up.”
Stressing that she was speaking “totally hypothetically,” Mrs. Trump said that the former President’s blizzard of court appearances would present scheduling challenges “if someone wanted to divorce him.”
“I know that stealing documents, falsifying business records, and subverting democracy are serious matters, but should prosecuting him mean—and, again, I’m just spitballing here—that someone should have to be married to him a day longer than she can stand?” she asked. “There’s a human cost to this.”
www.newyorker.com/...
for $1.6 million she can afford to be Melania's former friend
Stephanie Winston Wolkoff appeared as a guest on the Lights On with Jessica Denson podcast, to react to what was at the time, former President Donald Trump’s looming indictment for January 6th and election interference.
Wolkoff was an unpaid advisor to the First Lady but later resigned in 2018 when their relationship soured. She would go on to write a book, Melania & Me which included direct quotes from the First Lady which she obtained by secretly recording their conversations.
Reacting to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s indictment of Trump for January 6th, Wolkoff said, “Accountability means everything, and justice means everything. And we’re finally seeing that happen.”
“We now are seeing all of these indictments come down and we are hearing the truth, the facts, and they are from other people, other voice recordings, other text messages, other signals, and it’s nothing that’s transparent in Trump world. Everything that needs to be, that should be, finally is in the hands of Jack Smith,” she said.
Denson discussed the case against the former president for the mishandling of classified documents and asked about the possibility of Melania being called to be a witness in the case.
“I think Melania Trump was subpoenaed several times in different investigations. Whether or not she complied with them and what she actually handed over is going to be, I think, a shock to all of us,” Wolkoff said.
www.mediaite.com/…
Much of her White House experience was marked by what people close to her described as disappointment and betrayal from friends, aides and even members of the Trump family. At times, her relationships with Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s daughter and son-in-law, were strained, according to former aides. Since then, her former press secretary, Ms. Grisham, and a former aide and friend, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, have written tell-all books depicting her as icy and disengaged from the role.
Those experiences pushed Mrs. Trump to retreat even further from the public, say people familiar with the family.
www.nytimes.com/...
My opinion is that the biggest threat to democracy right now is how people get their information. And that people don't see the difference between speculation, opinions, and facts.
In a click-driven media environment, facts get lost.
Provably false statements get repeated.
2/
Adding:
All through 2021 and 2022, the pundits were saying "The DOJ is doing it WRONG. The DOJ should be doing it THIS WAY."
I remember because I argued with it.
Now it switched to "the DOJ did nothing for a year."
There is no concern about facts.
3/
On Mastodon, someone said, "Good luck getting the foot soldiers to admit in court that they were influenced by Trump."
Many did.
But instead of reporting facts like that, pundits went on TV and said, "Garland is doing it WRONG."
It isn't news. It's something else.
4/
Someone just told me that on MSNBC last night was talking about how Merrick Garland wasted time.
The NEWS is that there was an indictment. There is a lot in that to explain. I am getting really good questions on Mastodon.
But facts are boring. Who wants to listen to those?
5/
Here is how it SHOULD have been done.
Reporting in 2021 and 2022: The DOJ is going after the footsoldiers. Notice how many are admitting that they were fooled by Trump. This will make it easier later to get Trump.
Instead . . .
6/
. . . we had former prosecutors saying, "Garland is doing it wrong. I would have done it differently."
The fact to glean from this is: "This prosecutor would have done it differently."
Instead, people think that "Garland is doing it wrong" is a fact.
Nope. It's opinion.
7/
It's the opinion of someone who wasn't given the job, probably would never be considered for the job, and is asked to go on TV and talk (because he or she presents well).
The person has nothing to talk about because the DOJ is keeping everything under wraps.
8/
So the person struts and says "Look at my brightly colored feathers. I am much smarter than Garland."
Because there is time to fill.
The problem (as stated by Timothy Snyder): When news becomes entertainment, what matters is who tells the best story.
9/
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