Tag: Trump crimes

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Crime Donald Trump Elections January 6

Jack Smith Will Reveal ‘Important Evidence’ Today That Lays Out Trump’s Motives For January 6

Later today, Special Counsel Jack Smith is expected to file notice to attorneys for former president Donald Trump of  “any crimes, wrongs, or other bad acts” the Justice Department believes Trump committed in his attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which he lost in an electoral landslide to President Joe Biden.

Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance notes on Substack that the filing — known formally as a 404(b) notice — is meant to show “evidence of a prior crime, for instance, can be offered to prove ‘motive, opportunity [to commit the crime], intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, absence of mistake, or lack of accident.'”

Given what we already know about Smith’s case against Trump, Vance continues, it’s safe to believe that the special counsel is about to reveal “some important evidence” that significantly boosts has case against the ex-president.

Expect him to focus on proving Trump’s state of mind when it comes to election fraud and the absence of a good faith belief that the path he was setting the nation on would not result in the type of obstructive violence we saw on January 6—in other words, it was no mistake. Smith will also have to advise Trump about the permitted purpose he believes he can offer any 404(b) evidence for and the reasoning in support of his view. This, coincidentally, forces Smith (or perhaps gives him the opportunity depending on your point of view), to educate the public a fair bit more about his case.

Trump is also facing federal criminal prosecution for allegedly stealing classified documents from the White House and transporting them to his Mar-a-Lago resort. That case will be heard in a Florida courtroom while the Jan. 6 case it proceeding in Washington, D.C. with U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan presiding. Chutkan has signaled that she intends to start the trial before the 2024 election is held, which could prove politically disastrous for Trump.

Additionally, the former president is being prosecuted for racketeering in Georgia as a result of his attempts to subvert the will of voters in the Peach State. Several co-defendants have already agreed to cooperate with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

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Congress Crime Donald Trump GOP Justice Department

House Republicans Demand Jack Smith Give Them All Trump Indictment Documents – Or Else

Perhaps sensing that the federal criminal case progressing against former president Donald Trump on multiple fronts is closer to becoming a slam dunk for Special Counsel Jack Smith, three members of the House Republican caucus are now demanding that Smith and the Justice Department hand over all of the documents related to Trump’s indictment.

According to Eric Cortellessa of Time Magazine, House Oversight Committee members James Comer (R-KY), Jim Jordan (R-OH), and Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) sent a letter in which they demand “all documents and and communications” between Smith and the DOJ that pertain to Trump or his federal indictments.

The three lawmakers also threatened to use a “compulsory process” if Smith doesn’t comply by Dec. 15.

Specifically, Jordan, Comer, and Luna say they want to know how Smith empaneled grand juries and how he decided what witnesses he would offer immunity in exchange for the testimony. In other words, they want to know everything Smith knows even though they aren’t entitled to such information until after the case has concluded.

What “compulsory process” would be used against Smith? That remains unclear, but it’s safe to say no federal court in the country is going to compel the Justice Department to hand over information related to an ongoing criminal prosecution.

Here’s more from Eric Cortellessa, which he shared on Twitter:

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Crime Donald Trump The Trump Organization

New Recording Proves Trump’s Fraud Defense Is Bulls*it

For two months now, failed one-term, twice-impeached, and multiply-indicted ex-president Donald Trump and his attorneys have repeatedly claimed he had absolutely nothing to do with overvaluing his real estate holdings and that those estimates were made by others.

But that defense has now been utterly destroyed by an audio recording uncovered by Forbes which proves Trump did indeed play a role in committing bank and tax fraud by falsifying values of his properties.

Specifically, there’s a financial statement from Trump in which he tripled the size of his penthouse apartment in Trump Tower.

The audio obtained by Forbes shows that as far back as 2015, Trump was bragging (and lying) about his assets, remarking in an interview:

“This is the entire floor of Trump Tower, just so you understand. This isn’t like, I’ll show you. Now, this wraps all around the building. All around the elevators. And I have three times three. So there’s like 11,000 feet on a floor. So I have three. So 33,000—and I have the roof.”

The actual size of the penthouse is 11,000 square feet. Trump tripled it.

The Forbes report continues:

In fact, Forbes uncovered the square-footage discrepancy and informed Weisselberg and McConney that the apartment was 10,996 square feet in February of 2017. The Trump Organization nonetheless continued to use the incorrect square footage on a net-worth statement dated mid-March. Forbes then published an article headlined ‘Donald Trump Has Been Lying About The Size Of His Penthouse’ in May 2017. It was only after that story came out—while Donald Trump was in the White House—that the Trump Organization changed its calculation to reflect the true square footage of the apartment.

Having already been found guilty of fraud by New York Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron, the trial has entered the penalty phase, which could result in a massive financial judgement against the former president and the Trump Organization.

New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking at $250 million judgement against Trump and his company. Such a finding, along with accrued interest and penalties, would likely result in the financial collapse of Trump Org. and dissolution of the Trump empire.

 

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Crime Donald Trump

Ari Melber Masterfully Mocks Trump Supporters By Referencing A Line From ‘Scarface’

MSNBC host Ari Melber has an important message for those who still support failed former president Donald Trump despite the fact that he’s been hit with 91 criminal charges and continues to claim he actually won the 2020 election.

HuffPost reports that Melber addressed the ongoing election denialism that’s rampant among many Trumpers on his show Thursday.

Parroting of the former president’s false claims that he won the 2020 election “has actually hurt the party’s ability to listen and get anywhere near competitive,” said Melber, noting GOP losses in Tuesday’s 2023 elections.

“The Republican Party, under Trump’s election denialism, has been lying to itself, and that doesn’t work, which brings us to an iconic and true lesson from ‘Scarface,’” he continued.

Melber then played a clip from “Scarface” in which drug kingpin Tony Montana is warned, “Don’t get high on your own supply.”

That led the host to note:

“You could be dealing, you could be lying, you could be giving in to others, but when you start dealing to yourself, when you and your own team are getting high, losing your sense of reality, losing your sobriety, politically and otherwise, well, well you really played yourself.”

“Trump pushed the party into spending years high on its own supply, demanding it, making it a kind of a litmus test that future candidates running in unrelated elections had to get high on his supply and lie and pretend he didn’t even lose the race he lost.”

Believing lies and conspiracy theories is a losing strategy. If you need proof of that, look no further than the 2020 election, the 2022 midterms, and the massive losses suffered by Republicans on Tuesday in Kentucky, Ohio, and Virginia.

 

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Crime Donald Trump

Michael Cohen: There’s Only One Way To Make Sure Donald Trump Obeys A Gag Order

It’s going to require a lot more than $10,000 fines to keep failed ex- president Donald Trump from violating a court-imposed gag order, according to his former personal attorney and fixer, Michael Cohen.

Cohen was a guest on MSNBC’s “Politics Nation” Saturday, and he said the current gag order is far too lenient.

“Let me be clear about this. This was the most limited gag order that I’ve ever seen. It was so limited it was almost impossible to actually violate it if you’re anyone other than Donald Trump… he can’t help himself.”

Calling Trump a “petulant child,” Cohen explained why fines are not enough to make the former president keep his big mouth shut.

“You tell the child, you can go to the candy store that has 10,000 items. You have a peanut allergy, so you can’t eat peanut M&Ms. That’s all the kid wants, and he’s going to fight you, tooth and nail, until he gets what he wants. He doesn’t care about what the judge says. $10,000? He doesn’t care.”

So what can be done? Here’s Cohen’s suggestion:

“The only thing that’s going to stop him is if they actually say to him, you know what, next time you’re going to stay downstairs in the cell for the entire night. Don’t do it again. Because what the judge said to him, you are not only creating a hassle but what you’re doing is dangerous to my staff. And I won’t allow it.”

Would a single night in lockup be enough to keep Trump quiet? If not, the judge should tell him the next time his punishment will be a month behind bars.