Donald Trump (a.k.a. Cadet Bone Spurs) decided he’d release a message in honor of Veterans Day 2021, but he should have gone and played golf or hidden in the nearest bunker instead of issuing what turned out to be little more than a self-serving whinefest and a pathetic attempt to remain relevant a year after he lost in a landslide to President Joe Biden.
In the 38 second video, which was posted on Twitter by his spokesperson, Liz Harrington, Trump said he wanted to pay tribute to “all of those incredible people” who “serve so well and so strong and so powerfully.”
And then came the whining:
“We love you, our nation respects you, the world respects you, and we will come back. Our country has gone through a lot. The last period of time has been very, very tough, watching what you had to watch, but our country will be back and will be back stronger than ever. Happy Veterans Day.”
"We love you, our nation respects you, the world respects you, and we will come back.
"Our Country will be back and will be back stronger than ever. Happy Veterans Day." šŗšø pic.twitter.com/lJ5eTtnZjT
It’s important to keep in mind that this is the very same Donald Trump who reportedly said that Americans who fight and die for their country are nothing but “suckers” and “losers.” And yet he he loves them? The only person Trump loves is himself. That’s all a malignant narcissist like him is capable of.
The failed, one-term, twice-impeached former president was immediately hit with furious internet backlash:
āHeās a war hero because he was captured. I like people who werenāt captured.ā Re: John McCain. Quoted verbatim. Utter disrespect. Thanks to all our Vets, even those who were captured.
In a move that could well spell big trouble for failed, one-term former President Donald Trump and those who conspired with him to arrange the rioting which took place at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, it appears that five members of former Vice President Mike Pence’s inner circle are ready to tell what they know to the House Select Committee investigating what transpired on that fateful day earlier this year.
According to CNN, the committee does indeed want to speak with top officials who served as senior advisers to Pence:
Among them is Pence’s former national security adviser, Keith Kellogg, who was subpoenaed by the committee on Tuesday and was with former President Donald Trump most of the day on January 6.
While Kellogg was subpoenaed, most of the other staffers are reportedly eager to provide testimony:
Multiple sources tell CNN that some individuals close to Pence may be willing, either voluntarily or under the guise of a “friendly subpoena,” to provide critical information on how Trump and his allies tried to pressure the former vice president to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
The other former Pence officials who are reportedly willing to talk to the committee include the ex-VP’s chief of staff:
Sources tell CNN the list consists of several people who are close to Pence, including former chief counsel Greg Jacob and former chief of staff Marc Short. Also of potential interest to the committee, according to a source with knowledge, are Pence’s previous chief of staff Nick Ayers, former legislative affairs director Chris Hodgson, political adviser Marty Obst, and former special assistant Zach Bauer.
In addition, former Pence press secretary and Trump communications aide Alyssa Farah, who left the administration in early December 2020, has voluntarily met with Republicans on the House select committee and provided information.
All five of the former Pence staffers are believed to have important details about what took place on the day of the Capitol insurrection, including information regarding what they may have heard or see Trump doing as pro-Trump supporters stormed the Capitol and threatened to kill members of Congress and Pence:
The committee also stated that Kellogg was at the White House on January 6 as the attack unfolded and has “direct information” regarding Trump’s “statements about and reactions to the Capitol insurrection.”
While Kellogg served as Pence’s national security adviser, he is considered a key witness because of his proximity to Trump on January 6. The former president’s then national security adviser, Robert O’Brien, was out of town that day.
Jacob, as chief counsel to Pence, is also a key figure because he “played a critical role in countering efforts to persuade the former vice president not to certify the electoral results.”
That effort, according to committee member Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), is important if the American people are ever to know exactly how close this country came to seeing a coup carried out by a sitting president:
“There was very clearly a plan on the political coup side to mobilize a campaign to get Mike Pence to block certification of the electoral college votes.”
Pence may also wind up being called to testify before the House Select Committee, which would set up an interesting quandary for a man who has tried to distance himself from his former boss but also needs Trump’s base of support if he hopes to run for the White House himself in 2024.
While grand juries meeting in New York have drawn most of the attention of the national media, a move on the horizon in the state of Georgia could wind up presenting the greatest legal threat to failed, one-term former President Donald Trump, according to the New York Times.
The Timesreports that Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis is on the verge of impaneling a special grand jury to investigate Trump on charges of racketeering for his attempts to have the results of the 2020 election in the Peach State overturned:
A special grand jury, which by Georgia statute would include 16 to 23 members, could focus solely on the potential case against Mr. Trump and his allies. Ms. Willis is likely to soon take the step, according to a person with direct knowledge of the deliberations, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the decision is not final. Though such a jury could issue subpoenas, Ms. Willis would need to return to a regular grand jury to seek criminal indictments.
A recording of Trump’s phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (in which Trump asked Raffensperger to āfind 11,780 votesā) is one of the most compelling pieces of evidence against the former president and proves that Trump’s intent was to ignore the will of Georgia voters so that he could be declared the victor, setting up a pattern that could then be repeated in other states such as Arizona and Pennsylvania, which also went for President Joe Biden.
Willis has already said that she may well prosecute Trump for racketeering:
Ms. Willis has said a racketeering charge is on the table. Such cases are often associated with prosecutions of mob bosses, using the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, known as RICO, and Georgia has its own state version of the law.
āI always tell people when they hear the word racketeering, they think of āThe Godfather,āā Ms. Willis said earlier this year, explaining that the concept could also extend to otherwise lawful organizations that are used to break the law. āIf you have various overt acts for an illegal purpose, I think you can ā you may ā get there.ā
One of her best-known prosecutions came in 2014 when, as an assistant district attorney, she helped lead a racketeering case against a group of educators involved in a cheating scandal in the Atlanta public schools.
Since there is physical evidence in the form of tapes and recordings of Trump and others inside the administration and his inner circle, Willis would appear to have a slam-dunk case against the former president, who has already admitted his voice is indeed on the recording with Georgia’s secretary of state. Other efforts made by the ex-president’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, also point to a larger conspiracy which strengthens Willis’ hand if she goes after Trump on racketeering charges. Such charges also carry enhanced sentences for those convicted under the statute.
For now, Manhattan will continue to explore Trump’s business and finances, but in the end it may well be a black woman in Atlanta who winds up bringing down the nefarious Mr. Trump. How’s that for irony?
Even though he has told former members of his administration not to obey subpoenas they receive from the House Select Committee on the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection or talk to investigators with the 1/6 committee, many are doing exactly that, according to Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA)
Schiff, Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and a member of the 1/6 committee, was a guest on “The Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell” recently, and he made it clear that many former Trump White House officials are talking without even being subpoenaed:
“They do include people from the former administration. They include people in the private sector. They include people are experts in some of the ā for example, the social media issues that weāre investigating. So they run the gamut.
“But I think what has been encouraging to us is because weāve had the cooperation of people in the public and private sector we know what to ask for. And we know when we demand the production of documents, and weāre not getting the full truth that we can hold those parties accountable.”
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) confirms that members of the Trump administration are cooperating with the 1/6 Committee without a subpoena. Schiff said on #TheLastWord "They do include people from the former administration. They include people in the private sector." pic.twitter.com/UewAM8upiM
The House Select Committee will also be deposing former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark today, according to The Hill:
Clark, who was subpoenaed by the committee in October, was set to appear before the committee last week, but got a brief delay after splitting with his attorney. A source familiar confirmed that Clark will sit for a closed door deposition with investigators from the special House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Clark, the former acting Civil Division assistant attorney general, won Trumpās favor after being introduced to the president by Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), another staunch defender of Trumpās efforts in the days after he lost the election.
Clearly, former administration officials aren’t the least bit cowed by Trump’s demands that they remain silent and buck the inquiries of the Jan. 6 committee. That doesn’t bode well for the failed, one-term former president, and it also suggests that the committee will soon have enough evidence to make criminal referrals against Trump and top advisers such as former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. Hopefully the DOJ will charge all of the guilty parties.
A second long-term grand jury has just been seated in Manhattan, according to the Washington Post, and the legal investigation of failed, one-term former President Donald Trump and his company, the Trump Organization, has expanded yet again.
The new grand jury, empaneled by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., will meet for three days a week over the next six months:
It was expected to hear evidence on Thursday, meeting in Manhattanās Surrogateās Court ā usually a forum for disputes over the estates of the deceased ā because the criminal court buildings are jammed with a rush of post-pandemic trials.
One person familiar with the matter said the second grand jury was expected to examine how former president Donald Trumpās company valued its assets.
The first grand jury investigated possible tax fraud by members of the Trump Organization, which resulted in the indictment of Allen Weisselberg, the chief financial officer of Trump Organization who allegedly hid compensation from the IRS that was paid to them by the ex-president.
Trump and his company are also under investigation by New York Attorney General Letitia James:
James (D) said in a court filing last year that her office was investigating Trumpās valuations of three properties: his Los Angeles golf course, a Manhattan office building and an estate in suburban New York called Seven Springs.
Jamesās filing said she was interested in a āconservation easementā that Trump obtained on the Seven Springs property in 2015 ā giving him tax benefits in exchange for renouncing his right to build houses on part of the estate. Trump boosted the value of that tax break by estimating that the land would have brought him $21 million if heād sold it.
The Trumps have repeatedly whined that they are being targeted by the legal system for political reasons, with Trump Org. Executive Vice President Eric Trump saying:
āThis type of targeting and harassment violates every ethical guideline of a prosecutor. Itās wrong.”