Categories
Domestic Terrorism Donald Trump Elections

Legal Expert: Trump’s Claim Of Executive Privilege Regarding Capitol Riots Could ‘Easily Backfire’ On Him

Even though he’s been out of office for over seven months now, former President Donald Trump continues to claim that “executive privilege” provides blanket protection for him from any and all investigations being conducted regarding his actions while still president, most notably his actions on January 6, 2020, when he may have helped touch off the insurrection that took place at the U.S. Capitol.

But attorney Teri Kanefield warns in an article she wrote for JustSecurity that any lawsuit Trump might file to claim executive privilege could well “backfire” on him in a way that would leave him even more vulnerable to criminal prosecution.

To begin with Kanefield notes, executive privilege belongs to the sitting president and administration:

“While the law surrounding executive privilege is unclear and hotly contested, it’s generally accepted that the privilege is held by the sitting president — and the Biden Administration has already said it will not assert executive privilege when it comes to at least a subset of matters under the committee’s purview. It’s unlikely, therefore, that such a lawsuit would survive a motion to dismiss — particularly because courts may also simply avoid inserting themselves into executive privilege disputes.”

But perhaps the biggest threat from an executive privilege claim lies in what’s know as the “crime-fraud” exception, which could open up a Pandora’s box of trouble for Trump:

“Such a lawsuit would raise the issue of whether the crime-fraud exception applies to the claim of executive privilege, in the way that exception applies to the attorney-client privilege. This, in turn, could prompt the court to find that the documents sought by the select committee contain evidence of criminal wrongdoing or other illegal conduct on the part of Trump and his associates.

“This possibility is particularly treacherous for Trump because of the prospect of the Department of Justice and White House Counsel weighing in against him on this question of law and fact.”

In other words, if Trump files suit, it could result in him being more likely to face criminal charges from the Justice Department, which is already looking at the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Additionally, it has already been determined that Trump was acting outside his official duties on Jan. 6 and was instead engaged in a campaign event:

“The Stop the Steal rally has already been classified by the Department of Justice as a campaign event, and as such, bears no responsibility to the president’s duties of office. Should the demanded materials contain evidence that Trump or members of his inner circle intended the rioters to disrupt the counting of electoral votes, Trump’s response to the riot also speaks to his intentions in sending his supporters to the Capitol.”

That would make Trump a co-conspirator in crimes committed on that fateful January day at the Capitol. And that means he could be criminally charged as such.

All of this leads Kanefield to conclude:

“Thus, should Trump bring a lawsuit seeking to ‘protect’ executive privilege, the lawsuit could quite easily backfire. Of course, the court may well rest on one of the other long-settled exceptions to executive privilege. But Trump’s lawsuit could also trigger a finding from a court, and perhaps force the Justice Department to take a position too, that the materials sought by the select committee contain evidence of criminal behavior.”

Trump has long been know for wanting to litigate everything, no matter the issue. But in this case, his fondness for using the courts could come back and bite him squarely on the ass. It could also send him to prison as a seditionist.

Categories
Elections GOP Joe Biden

Secret Video Shows GOP Sen. Ron Johnson Admitting Trump Lost In 2020

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) has long been one of failed, one-term former President Donald Trump’s most vocal supporters, refusing to admit that there was no fraud in the 2020 election and declare that President Joe Biden won fair and square.

But behind closed doors, Johnson is singing a much different tune, saying that Trump lost the state of Wisconsin all by himself. Wisconsin was one of the states Biden managed to flip after it went for Trump four years earlier.

 Lauren Windsor posted the video on Twitter. In it, Johnson notes that if tens of thousands of voters hadn’t refused to vote for Trump, he might have won the state:

“Collectively, the state assembly candidates, just Republican state assembly candidates, got [1.661 million] votes. The eight congressional candidates also got [1.661 million], so we obviously counted enough Republican votes. The only reason Trump lost Wisconsin is that 51,000 Republican voters didn’t vote for him.”

The person shooting the video then asks Johnson if he believes Biden won the state “fair and square,” to which the senator replies:

“Well, look at the totals. It’s certainly plausible, there’s nothing obviously skewed about the results. There isn’t!”

There was nothing “skewed” about the results in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina or Wisconsin, as Trump and his apologists have asserted ever since the final vote totals were certified.

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the 2020 election overwhelmingly. They won it in both the popular and electoral vote, and it wasn’t close.

It’s interesting that Ron Johnson has no problem telling the truth behind closed doors but won’t do so publicly. More proof that Republicans have no spine and remain terrified of the man who tried his best to destroy this country for his own glorification.

Categories
Coronavirus Donald Trump Fox News WTF?!

Trump Tells Fox Business Host He Did A ‘Great Job’ Of Controlling COVID

Engaging in a massive rewrite of recent history, failed, one-term, twice-impeached former President Donald Trump said Tuesday morning during an interview with Fox Business host Stuart Varney that he and his administration had done a “great job” controlling the spread of the COVID-19 virus and “saved millions” of lives with their actions.

Varney began the interview by noting that states such as Florida are seeing a massive increase in hospitalizations and death after they removed safety precautions such as mask mandates. To that, Trump responded:

“We’ve got to open up. We’ve got to open up our country. Our country is artificially induced if you look at the money that’s being poured into our country through different things including the Fed, including deals that are being made in Congress where they have the majority so they’re able to pass things like that fake infrastructure deal.”

Of course, the country has been opened up for some time now. The last time it was fully shut down was when Trump was still in the White House.

Trump also claimed that “states that have been very open or more open have done better than the ones that are closed in terms of COVID itself.”

That’s not even a little bit true, with CNN reporting:

“As Covid-19 cases surge across the US, particularly among unvaccinated Americans, hospitals have been pushed to their limits treating the influx of patients — and five states are nearly out of ICU beds.

“Alabama, Georgia, Texas, Florida and Arkansas have less than 10% left of their ICU bed capacity, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services.

And of course the failed ex-president couldn’t resist patting himself on the back, telling Varney:

“We did a great job on COVID, including the fact that I got a vaccine in less than nine months, which would have taken five years. But we did a great job.

“Without me, you wouldn’t have [the vaccine] for five years and you would have had millions of people throughout the world dead. You would have lost millions and millions of people.”

Fact-check: When Trump left office back in January, over 400,000 Americans had died as a result of the coronavirus. If that’s what he considers a “great job,” then clearly his brain has turned to mush.

Also, if Trump did such a wonderful job with COVID, why did the majority of voters vote against him? He was a failure and no matter how he tries to spin the facts, he’ll go down in history as one of the worst presidents in U.S. history.

Here’s the video of Trump’s interview with Varney:

Categories
Coronavirus U.S. Senate

Jake Tapper Shreds Rand Paul For Urging People To Use A Drug Meant For Cattle

Supposedly, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is a doctor. An ophthalmologist, to be exact. And yet we can’t exactly verify that because Paul only has the accreditation of an agency that he created because he refused to submit his credentials for accreditation by an independent board.

But even if Paul is indeed a doctor, he’s certainly been providing some very questionable medical advice lately, suggesting that ivermectin, a drug used to deworm cattle, may have benefits for combating COVID-19.

Keep in mind Sen. Paul has no scientific evidence that ivermectin is beneficial when it comes to battling coronavirus, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says the drug should not be taken by humans under any circumstances:

“Ivermectin is not authorized or approved by FDA for prevention or treatment of COVID-19. The National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines Panel has also determined that there are currently insufficient data to recommend ivermectin for treatment of COVID-19. ClinicalTrials.gov has listings of ongoing clinical trials that might provide more information about these hypothesized uses in the future.

“Adverse effects associated with ivermectin misuse and overdose are increasing, as shown by a rise in calls to poison control centers reporting overdoses and more people experiencing adverse effects.”

 

And yet, Sen. Paul had this to say about ivermectin during an interview just last week:

“The hatred for Trump deranged these people so much, they’re unwilling to objectively study it. So someone like me that’s in the middle on it, I can’t tell you because they will not study ivermectin. They will not study hydroxychloroquine without the taint of their hatred for Donald Trump.”

But that’s complete BS. Paul’s hysterics are merely an attempt to curry favor with the extreme right-wing Trump contingency that appears to still have a stranglehold on the Republican Party.

One person who isn’t buying Paul’s crap parade is CNN anchor Jake Tapper, who called the Kentucky senator out on Twitter:

There is no great conspiracy to keep a COVID “cure” from the American public. There are, however, vaccines, masks, and social distancing, all of which have been shown to greatly reduce the spread of the deadly disease. Maybe “Dr.” Paul should be promoting those instead of pushing people to take drugs meant for horses.

 

Categories
Religion Right Wing Morons WTF?!

Right-Wing Pastor: The Left Will ‘Take Your Kids’ And ‘Rape Your Wife’ If Trump Isn’t Reinstated

You’ve probably never heard of Hank Kunneman, a right-wing pastor who bills himself as a “prophet” who predicted Donald Trump would win the 2020 election in a landslide.

When Trump lost to President Joe Biden, according to Right Wing Watch, Kunneman began claiming the election had been stolen from the failed, twice-impeached former president and proclaiming that God will “stand with” those who continue to support the most immoral man to ever be elected to the White House.

On Sunday, Kunneman was in rare form, insisting that “anyone with a brain” can see that Trump was victorious:

“President Trump, it’s clearly evident that he won the election. Anybody with a brain can see on the night of the election he was winning by a clear indication that that’s where the election was going. Why in Hell—it’s not a cuss word, I’m talking about a location and an agenda—why would you stop everything and have a guy who was supposed to be—he’s our pretendant, number 46—[he] gets up and starts announcing that he won when the numbers at that time didn’t reflect it?”

Why did Biden declare victory? That’s when you have to break out a tinfoil hat to even begin to follow the “logic” Kunneman employs:

“They did it because they got nervous because all of their Dominion machines were messing up, they stopped the election. Who does that? OK, get a brain? Do you really think that there’s not an agenda? Get a brain? Why did they try so many times to impeach this guy? Because the devil doesn’t want this man to represent us.”

So the devil is stronger than Kunneman’s god? If so, that’s not much of a deity the religious extremists are worshiping.

Hell is working to make us all blind to the truth, Kunneman continued, almost frothing at the mouth with each word he uttered:

“The bottom line is we need the rightful president in position of power. It has to be settled because here’s what the woke culture wants: They want you to ignore the 2020 election, and they want you to ignore the fact that President Trump really did win by a landslide, and it’s proven, and it’s going to continue to be proven. … Do we just ignore it? That’s what they want you to do. This evil agenda that Hell has, they want you to ignore it.”

The most powerful reason Trump must be reinstated, Kunneman added, is that if he isn’t, Democrats and the left (allied with Satan and Hell) are going to start taking your kids away from you and raping your wife:

“He has to be reinstated Why? Because he legally won, he righteously won. … If you ignore it, then it’s saying that they can get by with anything. What next? They’re already trying to force a vaccination that they don’t even know if it works. What next? Shut your churches down? Take your kids out of your home? Rape your wife? Put you in a concentration camp? Who knows?”

Really? Well, Trump led the effort to get the COVID vaccine made in record time. Does that mean he’s working with the devil?

Oh, and as for taking your kids out of your home and raping your wife, it’s safe to bet Trump would be in favor of that, too. After all, he was accused of raping a 13-year-old girl with Jeffrey Epstein and once admitted that he was sexually attracted to his own daughter, Ivanka, when she was underage.

Also, let’s not forget that 26 women have accused Donald Trump of sexual misconduct, including rape.

Here’s a prophecy for Hank Kunneman: If you support a man as evil as Donald Trump, then you’re not much of a “Christian.” You’re just another con man trying to make a buck in the name of the only god you actually worship: The Almighty Dollar.