My Thoughts On Calls By Beltway Elites To Pardon trump

So now that the indictments are starting to pile up, the Who's Who among the "centrist" (actually conservative) punditry in Washington are calling on President Biden to "become the statesman" and offer donald trump a blanket pardon for all sins "in order to unite the nation."

There are so many things wrong with that Beltway opinion it took me forty-two minutes to puke my guts out. I'm better now, still angry about it though...

The first thing wrong with Marc Thiessen and Danielle Plekta's proposal is that trump himself would never accept a pardon. Even he would recognize the pitfalls that would put him in. Above all, he loses the Fifth Amendment protection from self-incrimination on anything that pardon covered. If that covers his tax evasion stunts, that can block him from every business scam he knows to pull off. trump himself may remain protected but everyone who worked for him - could work for him - is screwed. It would cut himself off from every lackey he needs. It also opens him to Civil lawsuits on everything considered under the pardon. He will be stuck in courtrooms until the end of his days.

(There's a reason trump never issued a blanket pardon to the January 6th rioters and even his congressional allies who begged for them: They would have been compelled to testify on him as the DOJ/Special Counsel Smith's office went after trump for inciting it)

The next reason trump would never accept a pardon is that accepting such a thing would be an admission he did something criminal. It would go against his years-long screaming about "WITCH HUNTS" that fuels his "I'm the victim" narrative. He and his MAGA followers could pretend otherwise, but the mainstream media and millions of other Americans - not to mention the world - will never let trump live it down.

Somewhere in the back of trump's mind will be the thought that someone like Joe Biden can use that pardon to exact concessions from trump. Ever the mob boss, trump thinks in terms of "kompromat" all the time (one of the big reasons why trump held onto valued classified documents against foreign powers). Even if Biden takes the high road as Thiessen and Plekta suggest and issue a blanket pardon with no conditions, it will gnaw at trump that he will somehow owe Biden on this and trump's pride will make him reject that pardon.

But those are not the reasons why the Beltway pundits pushing for a pardon are wrong on this.

Above all, these pundits are wrong to claim that a pardon will "unite the nation" and let us "move on."

There are at least 81 million Americans - the number who voted for Biden - who will never accept trump escaping the justice of a courtroom and conviction. All they will see is a system of justice that punishes the lower rungs of the nation - the poor, the ones who can't afford lawyers, the low-ranking members of the military or civic administration who broke espionage and obstruction laws committing fewer crimes than trump has - while the power elites give themselves "Get Out of Jail Free" cards in order to continue their criminal acts down the road.

There will be at least 74 million Americans - the number who voted for trump - who will celebrate and crow that "their" boy donald trump "outwitted" the libruls who "hunted" trump as though winning cheap political points were the objective instead of upholding the Constitution and our belief in justice for all. Their behavior - already bullying and offensive towards those they hate - will get worse with the idea that as long as their Patron Saint trump is untouchable they can do whatever they like.

There will be no peace if trump is pardoned. There also will be no peace if trump is convicted in a court of law, there are no illusions about that, but at least there will be justice done.

No, the only real reason why the Beltway media is eager for Biden to issue trump a pardon is that it gets themselves - the blowhards, the opinionated, the often-wrong - off the hook for wasting 40 years of everyone's time on a Reagan Era Fantasy of (Conservative) Prosperity and Happiness that was never real.

These "Pardon trump" pundits are the same ones who went after the Clintons - especially Hillary - for slights and misdeeds without mercy or reason, they're the same ones who attacked Obama for any perceived flaw. These are the same pundits who gave Bush the Elder a pass when he issued pardons to everyone convicted or facing investigation into Iran-Contra. These are the same pundits who failed to go after Bush the Lesser for covering up the Plame Scandal by getting Scooter Libby commuted to time served, and told Liberals to "let it go" when they screamed about investigating Bush and Cheney for their lies that led to an unwinnable occupation of Iraq and a torture regime - that Thiessen himself cheers on - that blemished our global prestige.

Lemme ask you this, Mr. Thiessen: If Hillary Clinton had been charged and convicted on her secret server and her emails back in 2017-18, would you be calling on then-President trump to pardon her for the good of the nation?

What's happening here is that the Beltway talking heads, having built up their careers pushing a "Both Sides" narrative that equated Republican corruption to Democratic corruption, are running out of excuses for their lazy work. If they could point out the flaws and follies of Democratic elected officials, they did so in the desire to downplay or negate the sins committed by their Republican counterparts.

But they can't do that with trump's pending criminal charges on espionage, obstruction, and (hopefully soon) incitement to insurrection. There are no equivalents among the Democrats that make trump disappear from the judicial media coverage, there is no story out there to distract the Right-leaning media elites from the reality that their conservatism is clearly more corrupt than liberalism.

trump himself is trying to get the media to carry the stories about Bill Clinton keeping his memoir audiotapes in his socks drawer (which was investigated and the DOJ determined no laws were broken), and doing his damnedest to indict Joe Biden for having his Senatorial papers stored in a car garage (ignoring the reality that congressional paperwork follows different federal laws and guidelines). The wingnut pundits would love to spread those stories in the court of public opinion, but they are going to go nowhere in a real-life court of law where trump's crimes will attract attention across every corner of the globe.

So, I would say "HELL NO" to any attempt by Biden to pardon trump. President Biden, you will not be doing this nation or the world any favors by letting donald trump off the hook for the crimes he's committed.

You will only let the useless talking heads in our national media off the hook for being wrong for so long.

Indictment Day In Miami, Again the Question: Will There Be Violence?

Back in March, when the New York Manhattan's District Attorney's Office was set to indict donald trump at the state level, I wrote Will There Be Violence? as trump was signaling to his MAGA followers to show up at the courthouse to start a ruckus.

It was clear trump wanted the same disruption as he had gotten on January 6th, but with better results (reminder about the adage "insanity is repeating the same mistake and expecting different results"). 

When those indictments came, the protest turnout was by all accounts meager: There were more reporters than Proud Boys. No violence took place, no officers of the court were intimidated, and people went back in line to wait for the new Super Mario movie at the cinemas.

Today, there's a new indictment drama playing out, this time in Miami FL, with higher stakes as trump is facing federal indictments on major felonies like Obstruction and Espionage.

trump and his MAGA allies spent the weekend since last Thursday's reveal making the same noises made back in March, calling on protestors to show up in big numbers and with the implied threats that violence will happen. So again, we're playing a repeat: Will there be violence from trump's Far Right base?

It would be nice to say "It'll be as quiet as Manhattan," except there are different factors at play for Miami.

Above all, there's a stronger, more organized conservative (and pro-trump) faction in South Florida, due to the high number of anti-Castro Cuban-Americans who view anything to the left of Ronald Reagan as Communism.

There's the history: Miami is where the Brooks Brothers Riot took place in 2000, successfully disrupting the recount efforts in Dade County to where it virtually guaranteed Bush the Lesser would win the contested state. Even though that riot - of Far Right men in business suits led by Roger Stone - clearly interfered with election officials in violation of federal and state laws, no one was ever held accountable for that, and so there's that baseline of thinking "we can get away with this."

Also remember the mad pipe bomber of 2018? Turned out to be a South Florida trumpian supporter with anger management issues. And across much of Florida itself (oh Gods, trust me on this), you'll have hundreds of angry MAGA guys (and gals) just like him.

To counter-argue, there's the fact that - just like the swift indictment announcement in New York - there hasn't been a lot of time to plan and organize for the MAGA protestors to get an idea of how they'll react once they get to the Miami courthouse. On the flip side of that, ever since January 6th local and federal law enforcement are taking the threats of MAGA violence more serious and are likely to ramp up security around downtown Miami to prevent another riot (it helps that trump and his handlers are in no position to interfere with security like they did ahead of January 6).

There's also the paranoia among the MAGA faithful that this will be a trap. trump promised them a revolution on January 6, but instead the Far Right witnessed Congress still approving Biden's election while half of the MAGA protestors ended up in jail (with trump failing to mass-pardon the insurrectionists as they had hoped). There are individuals on social media and reportedly in the Dark Web making open calls to violence, but the overall sense is that in-person rioting is too high risk.

I am wary of the overall situation. I had hoped the January 6 situation wouldn't erupt into violence, and yet it did. I have lived most of my life in Florida and I can get a certain understanding of the goddamned wingnuts who surround me. This is a state on mental edge, dominated by elected Republican leaders who fearmonger at the citizenry daily and with constant displays of Florida Man forms of violence.

I doubt there will be an organized or planned riot, but a chaotic one will be just as dangerous. If trump protestors do show up, they will likely be constrained by a more prepared police/federal presence. But the spillage from contained spaces into the streets of downtown Miami itself will increase the likelihood of assaults towards innocent passers-by or local workers/residents caught in the storm.

If you have no business being in downtown Miami today, DON'T GO. There are perfectly good beaches to visit instead. If you have business in downtown Miami today, call in sick and enjoy the beaches. If you can't avoid being in downtown Miami, stay safe, move in numbers, and keep your heads down.

Crazy Tuesday today. 

trump's Only Defense

Randy lay there like a slug. It was his only defense!
- from A Christmas Story

Twitter was atwitter today when word got out that donald trump - facing criminal indictment in a South Florida courtroom this Tuesday - was struggling to find a local lawyer as required by law to represent him in that courtroom.

NBC News: Trump's arraignment can't go forward unless he finds local counsel — and it's unclear whether he has.

At least one prominent Miami-based defense attorney has turned down Trump.

If Trump doesn't find local counsel, the surrender and first appearance will still happen,…

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) June 12, 2023

He's checking the billboards on way from airport for a good accident lawyer.

— Walter Williams (@WaltTheStalt) June 12, 2023

Jokes about forcing trump to take on a Public Defender - like an alleged billionaire was unable to afford one - quickly filled up the boards. Which did bring up a valid question: ARE there public defenders who can appear in a Florida court who are versed in Espionage Act and Obstruction cases?

The reality of trump's situation is more complex than this. he DOES have lawyers representing him in this federal matter, but none of them are currently licensed to practice in front of this Florida district court. Hence the need to find someone local, and someone versed in these legal matters. The story is that nobody sane - even among a legal market bound to have a number of conservative Cuban-American lawyers with some experience in these matters (due to a lot of Cuban spying, global intrigue, what have you) - wants to touch a client like trump who won't even consider the seriousness of these charges and how he's misrepresenting the mountain of evidence against him. Via Gabriella Ferrigine at Salon:

Trump has been turned down by multiple attorneys, according to The Messenger, and NBC News' Ken Dilanian reported that if the former president cannot find someone by Tuesday, "the arraignment may have to be postponed."

"The surrender and first appearance will happen regardless," he tweeted. 

The Guardian's Hugo Lowell reported that Trump will spend Monday meeting with potential attorneys but is currently expected to be represented by his New York lawyer Todd Blanche and Florida attorney Chris Kise, who was reportedly sidelined last year after urging Trump to calm tensions with Justice Department investigators.

Trump is also represented by Linsdsey Halligan, an inexperienced Florida attorney he hired last year during another stretch when he struggled to find prominent attorneys to represent him.

"No offense to Ms. Halligan but this is an Espionage Act prosecution of a former president," tweeted national security attorney Bradley Moss. "The idea an insurance lawyer will have to take point on this right now is simply unacceptable..."

Trump's struggles come after two of his attorneys in the Mar-a-Lago case, Jim Trusty and John Rowley, resigned from his defense team just hours after the indictment...

The Messenger reported that Trump's legal team has interviewed six Southern Florida law firms thus far but many have passed on the opportunity to work for the ex-president, largely owing to his inflammatory and polarizing nature. 

"The problem is none of us want to work for the guy. He's a nightmare client," a leading federal criminal defense lawyer in the Southern District of Florida told the outlet, also commenting on the ongoing rumors of infighting and deep-seated distrust amongst Trump's legal team...

The "nightmare" client may refer to the facts that A) trump keeps blabbing about the crimes he did as though he was already exonerated, behavior which would drive any defense lawyer crazy; and B) trump can never consider a plea deal - something most of these lawyers would argue in favor if only to keep their client out of jail on a misdemeanor - because his ego won't accept admitting he was guilty in any way. 

Unspoken in the article are reports that trump's been failing to pay his lawyers on time.

Also unspoken in that article is the possibility that this situation is exactly what trump wants.

Ferrigine does note that if trump is unable to find adequate representation in this courtroom, it delays the arraignment process. This falls into a recognizable legal pattern for trump: Delay Delay Delay, something he's done over and over in Civil court proceedings to weasel his way out of paying people what he owed them.

It is a tactic that works in Civil matters: However, it might not work for Criminal cases like this.

Jack Smith is already on record saying he wants a speedy trial, with a legal system in place that can fast-track this to a 70-day start date (placing this in late August 2023!). If Smith gets his way, trump will be seeing the courtroom well before any primary debates even start, and could well be convicted before 2024 even rolls onto the calendar.

trump's inability to find legal counsel is one of the loopholes in the Speedy Trial Act that he could abuse to try and stretch this matter out for a year, and even appeal decisions to prolong the fight over the trial's start as much as possible. trump is likely going to do this because, quite honestly, trump has no other legal defense at all.

The 37-count indictment is replete with evidence of trump caught on tape bragging about the classified documents in his possession. Prosecutors have more evidence of trump intentionally shifting and hiding the boxes whenever the FBI and Justice Department came knocking with subpoenas between 2021 and 2022, knowingly obstructing them. And given the Espionage charges, it's likely the government has proof he's exposed national top secrets to people - and worse, selling or trading those secrets - he shouldn't have. trump's own guard dog former AG Bill Barr said on Fox Not-News this weekend: "If even half of this is true, he's toast."

trump's attempts to twist around the legal definitions of the Presidential Records Act and Espionage Acts will likely fall on deaf ears, even with a deferential judge overseeing the trial. Without any kind of legal standing to offer a jury, trump's only other option is to attack the DOJ and the Special Counsel directly. he's already screaming on social media - WITCH HUNT! - to undermine the legality of the government itself bringing the charges against him. But even that may alienate the courtroom he has to win over: Witness the other recent trials where trump's organization was found guilty, and trump found liable for sexual assault against Carroll. trump used similar attack methods there and the jurors - even with people who voted for him - still ruled against him.

Any jury trial on these charges are a risk for trump. So he's going to use the only defense he knows: Delay everything until it favors himself, preferably to where he's stolen the 2024 elections and lied/bullied/tricked his way back into a White House where he can get a new Attorney General to shut everything down.

The only sane response to any delay tactic is to deny trump the satisfaction. he's supposed to have the money to afford a good lawyer. There ought to be ways for the courts to appoint an attorney - something called a "Panel Attorney" if I'm reading this properly - to handle trump's matters in that courtroom. If that's not applicable, I wonder if Smith's Special Counsel could argue to change venue to a location - like say Washington DC, where lawyers versed on Espionage cases are falling out of the trees - that can resolve trump's need to find an attorney or rely on the ones he already has.

No more delays for trump. By all evidence, trump has been delaying justice since the 1980s. he is way overdue for accountability before the law.

Let justice be done. Preferably before Halloween so "trump in prison garb" costumes can get sold at those Spirit Halloween shops that crop up in September.

Buh-Bye, Brexit Boris

A grand day for exposing conservative douchebaggery across the globe. Boris Johnson has just straight-up resigned from Parliament (via Rowena Mason at The Guardian): 

Boris Johnson is standing down immediately as a Conservative MP after an investigation into the Partygate scandal found he misled parliament and recommended a lengthy suspension from the House of Commons.

The former prime minister angrily accused the investigation of trying to drive him out, and claimed there was a “witch-hunt under way, to take revenge for Brexit and ultimately to reverse the 2016 referendum result”.

In a bitter 1,000-word statement, he attacked Rishi Sunak’s government, blaming the current prime minister for rising taxes, not being Conservative enough and failing to make the most of Brexit.

Johnson hinted that he may try to make a return to politics, saying he was “very sad to be leaving parliament – at least for now”.

I personally can't see how Boris Badhair returns to politics. He's burned every bridge and goodwill he's ever had including within his own party. He's only quitting now because the suspension he was threatened with - 10 days of it - would have triggered an automatic by-election. He had to know he was going to lose in an election where it was him alone on the platform, and forced to explain how badly he performed as Prime Minister and as a human being.

Blaming Sunak for Brexit's failure is of course a charming way for Boris to deflect how his own screw-ups and obsessions with pushing a harsh No-Deal break from the EU is why Brexit never worked out the way he lied promised it would.

Can't wait to see how Chris Grey blogs about this over the weekend.

But man. trump getting hit with serious federal charges, and now Boris Johnson fleeing in shame from his own party. I wanna get a hat trick here people, let's hit the trifecta. C'MON GOD, HIT PUTIN WITH A LIGHTNING BOLT TONIGHT.

The Stakes for the Rule of Law vs. trump (w/ Update)

MAGA trump voter: My President committed 37 counts of federal criminality!
Every sane person who voted for Hillary and then Biden: In a row?
-- I'm Gen Xer dammit, of course I fucking quote from Clerks

So, the day after the big announcement, more details emerged as the Special Counsel moved to unseal the indictments (because trump just wouldn't shut up about them on social media).

Special Counsel Jack Smith showed up, gave a brief speech about the importance of national security, the seriousness of obstruction and espionage, the right of trump (and fellow defendant Walt Nauta) to presumption of innocence before a court of law, and the need for a speedy trial. (via Emily Olson and Barbara Sprunt at NPR): 

"We have one set of laws in this country and they apply to everyone," Smith said. "Adhering to and applying the laws is what determines the outcome of an investigation. Nothing more, nothing less...

"Today, an indictment was unsealed charging Donald J. Trump with felony violations of our national security laws, as well as participating in a conspiracy to obstruct justice.

"This indictment was voted by a grand jury of citizens in the Southern District of Florida. And I invite everyone to read it in full to understand the scope and the gravity of the crimes charged.

"The men and women of the United States intelligence community and our Armed Forces dedicate their lives to protecting our nation and its people.

"Our laws that protect national defense information are critical to the safety and security of the United States and they must be enforced.

"Violations of those laws put our country at risk.

"Adherence to the rule of law is a bedrock principle of the Department of Justice, and our nation's commitment to the rule of law sets an example for the world...

"It's very important for me to note that the defendants in this case must be presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

"To that end, my office will seek a speedy trial on this matter consistent with the public interest and the rights of the accused. We very much look forward to presenting our case to a jury of citizens in the Southern District of Florida."

The actual indictment count might be 38 - I keep reading different numbers - but 37 is more poetic and I don't wanna lose the quote above, so let's roll with that. ANYway.

Emptywheel takes a moment to document the 31 times trump allegedly withheld documents (all the times he refused to return them to the National Archives), which included the ones he eventually returned in June 2021. Consider 5. June 2020 concerning nuclear capabilities of foreign country (TS/XX/XX/ORCON/NOFORN), or 8. October 4, 2019 military capabilities of foreign country (S/REL TO USA FVY), or 13. Undated document concerning military capabilities of foreign country and United States (TS/SI/TK/NOFORN), or 19. Undated document concerning nuclear weaponry of US (S/FR), or... AAAAAAAAAAaaaaaa.

What's important are the dates of each document and the importance those documents had as classified materials, and you'll spot a lot of those documents involve the military capabilities of foreign nation(s) that could be pretty valuable commodities for the nations opposed to them.

In this, you see how damaging trump's mishandling of these documents are: Our allies' military secrets exposed, or worse exposure of our ability to gain intel on our antagonists. Worst of all, our own nation's military and nuclear secrets, exposed to the world while sitting in trump's Mar-A-Lago ballroom (or in the bathrooms. /headdesk).

Digby over at Hullabaloo has her thoughts:

I just read through it quickly and it’s much, much worse than we thought. He had very sensitive documents including war plans and classified info about America’s nuclear arsenal and showed them to people. He kept them in totally insecure locations, including an unlocked bathroom and a ballroom at Mar-a-Lago. When they asked for them back he moved them around, rummaged through them and tried to get his lawyer to lie about what was in them...

There's a link to the full indictment if you want to read it all. Apparently, by the second page of the document you w-- OH MY FUCKING GOD.

Well okay it probably won't get worse than t--

Did trump AT LEAST keep all these documents in secure parts of Mar-A-Lago?

(blank stare) The White and Gold Ballroom?!?!

Great. Not only could the Chinese guests sneak in and snap photos of all the classified stuff, they could bring their own DJ and dance to Milli Vanilli songs 'til the sun came up.

I shouldn't joke. This is serious business. We are dealing with the reality that a former President of the United States violated his oath of office to "preserve, protect and defend" our nation. We're dealing with - considering the number of classified documents trump released to the wild where any visitor without clearance could access them - one of the largest failures of national security since the likes of Robert Hannsen and Aldrich Ames.

As David A Graham points out at The Atlantic:

But Trump faces his own political complications. Voters have proved fairly willing to forgive politicians’ personal failings, especially in recent decades and especially when it comes to Trump. (The Manhattan case, for example, stems from hush-money payments to an adult-film actor who has claimed a sexual liaison.) But the removal of the documents is an act that stems directly from his role as president, and it implicates the very security of the country. The documents removed are reported to have included detailed information about Iran’s missile program and intelligence programs in China—the sorts of things that are kept under tight wraps in government facilities, but were reportedly stuffed haphazardly in storage areas at Mar-a-Lago...

In Trump’s long career in and out of the courts, he has not yet faced a legal peril this serious, but just how serious it is will not be clear until the charges emerge. Prosecutors could use several laws to bring those charges, with different standards and different penalties.

His defense will face difficulties, including the huge amounts of evidence obtained in the search, as well as a ruling that one of his lawyers had to turn over information that otherwise would have been shielded by attorney-client privilege. Trump will likely try to spin the charges as concerning “process crimes,” as though those are not just crimes, and deflect from the papers themselves. He has also claimed that he declassified all of the papers at the end of his presidency, but he produced no evidence for that, and his lawyers have avoided making the claim in filings. Reports last week said that prosecutors have a recording in which he seems to acknowledge that he cannot show a document to visitors because it is classified. And if he’s charged for refusing to return the documents, their classification status will not matter. (Graham wrote this before the indictment's release, and the charges do point out trump acknowledged he held classified docs AND refused to return them)

The number of charges do not shock me, because this is trump and to me his flagrant abuse of the legal system is limitless (I was hoping for more). I'm also aware these are merely the charges being brought in South Florida: There are pending federal indictments in DC on these classified documents matters as well.

And for all the details provided in this matter, we're talking about the human element of any criminal prosecution: The jury. It's going to be their job to weigh the state's evidence and listen to trump's arguments about why this is a witch hunt why he shouldn't be found guilty. Even with the legal system's batting averages of oft-times getting at least one Guilty verdict out of a major crimes case, there is no given of victory for the rule of law here. This is trump: his shamelessness can translate into convincing enough jury members to believe his gaslighting (then again, his failures in recent courtroom matters suggest juries can suss out the gaslighting for what it is and convict). trump can easily push for jury nullification in some form, especially a hung jury forcing a mistrial. Everything is at risk.

The greater risk is if trump survives this - and other - felony indictments at the federal and state levels. If he does, he goes into the Republican 2024 primaries vindicating his "success" and ability to thwart those who would stop him. If trump can then win a second term, you can look to how he behaved in pushing out those who were disloyal to him and how he insisted on using the Justice Department to persecute those opposed to him. And then multiply that by 100, because trump will know he can't leave unfinished business like the way it was left in 2020.

trump will shred every intelligence agency he felt complained about his lack of security protocol, he will decimate the Justice Department and fill every opening with lackeys regardless of skill or experience (he will likely fill them with incompetents whose only value is loyalty to him alone). trump will resume his plan of filling the federal benches with judges who will owe him favors (SEE: Aileen Cannon, who is reportedly in line to preside over this case!). trump will gut the federal government across every department and every branch, and he will ensure complete control to where he will never face accountability like this again.

trump is, based on the evidence presented by Smith, a clear and present danger to the national security of the United States. trump is a threat to every allied nation we have, who will immediately close off every shared intel we have with them because they know what he will do with it. trump will turn our nation away from our strongest, most reliable allies we've had over the centuries - France, the UK, NATO, Japan, half of South America, most of Central America and the Caribbean - and align us with corrupt regimes like Russia, who profits from trump's reckless disregard for the Constitution and rule of law.

This is what you're still voting for, Republicans. What the hell. You're doubling down on a business failure and national security risk. You have a chance to choose better - well, sort of - this time. Take it. 

And let justice be done.

Update: It keeps getting worse. There's photographic proof trump stored multiple boxes in the Mar-A-Lago bathrooms.

From the Slate article

Where's the toilet paper?

AND WHY THE FUCK IS THERE A CHANDELIER IN THE BATHROOM??!?!?!!?!?!

IT'S HAPPENING: trump INDICTED ON MAR-A-LAGO CHARGES

IT'S FITZMAS.

NBC News has some of the details:

Former President Donald Trump has been indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with his mishandling of more than 100 classified documents, two sources confirmed to NBC News.

Trump, who first revealed the news earlier Thursday in a post on his Truth Social platform, faces seven counts, according to his lawyer and another source. The charges include false statements and conspiracy to obstruct, two sources said.

A federal grand jury in Florida has been meeting in special counsel Jack Smith's investigation of Trump’s handling of classified documents, according to sources familiar with the investigation.

The Florida grand jury is separate from a panel that was convened in Washington, D.C.

The investigation began last year when the National Archives alerted the FBI that government documents Trump had returned after having been out of office for about a year included 184 that were marked classified. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.

Insert ALL the dancing GIFs here!!!

Okay I'll settle down.

The specific charges may not be known for some time. The courtroom appearance is reportedly scheduled for next Tuesday (CLEAR THE CALENDAR!) in Miami and it'll be a question of how quickly this gets sent to actual trial. I'm hearing stuff on MSNBC about a 'fast track' for major criminal cases, and I'm sure the DOJ wants this done before the 2024 primaries.

This doesn't affect the separate grand jury investigation into trump's role in the January 6th riots, and there's a chance additional charges from the DC grand jury investigating trump's theft/mishandling of classified documents are forthcoming.

MORE DANCING GIFS!

Oh, by the way, remember how the Republicans and the mainstream media screamed bloody murder about all the "criminal acts" of Hillary Clinton to suppress voter turnout for her in 2016? 

How many DOJ investigations into her server? 

How many Congressional inquiries into Benghazi and other things she did as Secretary of State? 

BUT HER EMAILS! 

It's been seven years now: Every allegation aimed at Hillary turned out to be nothingburgers. Not even Durham's trump-ordered investigation into Hillary's 2016 campaign "spying" on trump turned up serious criminal charges or jury convictions. 

Meanwhile, trump himself is so corrupt he's facing his SECOND CRIMINAL INDICTMENT THIS YEAR.

DAMMIT. Why are there NO GIFs of Jennifer Connelly dancing?! /cries

KEEP DANCING, AMERICA. LET'S PARTY.

This May Be for trump, But It's Feeling Like Fitzmas

A lot of you kids may be too young to remember, but back in 2003 there was a serious criminal investigation into political shenanigans that disrupted national security: Reporters outed a noted critic of the Bush administration's Iraqi invasion narrative as being the husband of a CIA covert operative Valerie Plame. Because that revelation exposed ongoing CIA operations - a serious breach of security and forced the shutdown of various overseas operations, if not exposing other operatives to harm - the agency insisted on a special prosecutor to hunt down the leaks, which ended up pointing to Vice President Dick Cheney's office staff that were eagerly promoting our nation's involvement in Iraq. 

The Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald had a solid reputation as as prosecutor, and by all evidence he conducted a thorough investigation. By 2005, many of Bush's (and Cheney's) critics - the ones who opposed the Iraqi invasion, and who questioned the lack of WMDs that were a cause for that invasion - were hoping that Fitzgerald found enough proof that the leakers included Cheney himself (or that they at least did so on Cheney's orders).

Excitement ran high. Those of us waiting - and yes, I was among that throng - began calling the expectant day of charges "Fitzmas" as a mash-up on Fitz's name to Christmas: The Special Counsel as our Santa Claus delivering presents indicting a corrupt administration of their malice and deceit.

So there was a ton of disappointment when Fitzgerald's final report led to only one person getting charged - Scooter Libby, who was found guilty by a jury but then his sentence commuted by Bush to complete the cover-up - and not enough evidence to prove Cheney had any hand in the leak (Karl Rove almost got indicted on charges of lying to investigators, but Fitzgerald decided against it).

Ever since then, there's been this sense of justice denied. That the moment of holding corrupt figures in high office accountable - Dick Cheney then, donald trump now - had passed us by.

The Mueller special counsel investigation into both Russia's involvement in the 2016 elections as well as any trump ties to Russia during that election cycle started and ended in a similar fashion: High expectations that the most obvious thing - trump had known business ties for decades to Russia, half his campaign people had ties to Russia, trump openly begged for Russia to dig up dirt on Hillary - would lead to justice against a strutting con artist. That ended with Mueller proving only half the matter - he uncovered Russian interference in our elections - while AG Barr ended Mueller's work prematurely and issued a heavily redacted report that Barr claimed exonerated trump (which we can't prove because too much of it remains redacted).

Today, we're coping with a series of federal criminal investigations since 2021, of donald trump's involvement with the January 6th insurrection as well as revelations that trump pilfered hundreds of classified documents to Mar-A-Lago. If you've been regularly following this blog, you'll know that I've been waiting - impatiently, as before - for some form of justice to finally indict trump for the things he's done.

(And this is alongside the state-level investigations in Georgia that should issue indictments on trump and his allies for electoral interference and election fraud - maybe even state racketeering - some time in late July)

It's like every other day there are new revelations and reports to the media about how Special Counsel Jack Smith's digging into trump's misdeeds are going, but today a lot of bombshells got dropped that hint to the very big possibility that federal felony indictments on the Mar-A-Lago documents case are happening this weekend.

A more formal report at the Guardian from Hugo Lowell:

Federal prosecutors formally informed Donald Trump’s lawyers last week that the former US president is a target of the criminal investigation examining his retention of national security materials at his Mar-a-Lago resort and obstruction of justice, according to two people briefed on the matter.

The move dramatically raises the stakes for Trump as the investigation appears to near its conclusion after taking evidence before a grand jury in Washington and a previously unknown grand jury in Florida that was impaneled last month.

Trump’s lawyers were sent a “target letter” days before they met on Monday with the special counsel Jack Smith leading the Mar-a-Lago documents case and the senior career official in the deputy attorney general’s office and argued that prosecutors should not indict the former president in the matter...

On Wednesday, former Trump spokesperson Taylor Budowich testified before the Florida grand jury and was asked in part about a statement that Trump drafted in early 2022 that said he had given “everything” back after he returned 15 boxes of materials to the National Archives.

The statement was never issued, Budowich is understood to have confirmed. Several aides to Trump were against releasing the statement because they were not confident that the assertion was accurate, a person close to the former president said.

What charges might emanate from the Florida grand jury remains unclear.

But prosecutors would most probably prefer to bring charges in Washington, where the judges at the US district court are more familiar with handling national security cases – though Florida also has a robust national security section – and the jury pool skews more Democratic.

The impaneling of grand juries has to do with where prosecutors believe a crime was committed. And the most straightforward reason for the Florida grand jury is that prosecutors have developed evidence of criminal activity at Mar-a-Lago, which is in the southern district of Florida.

In this investigation, prosecutors considering charges against Trump for retaining national security material may have concluded from the evidence that he was still president when classified documents were moved to Mar-a-Lago, meaning his “unlawful possession” only started in Florida...

Andrew Feinberg over at the Independent (may be paywalled) is reporting the grand jury is voting this week on the indictments:

The Department of Justice is preparing to ask a Washington, DC grand jury to indict former president Donald Trump for violating the Espionage Act and for obstruction of justice as soon as Thursday, adding further weight to the legal baggage facing Trump as he campaigns for his party’s nomination in next year’s presidential election.

The Independent has learned that prosecutors are ready to ask grand jurors to approve an indictment against Trump for violating a portion of the US criminal code known as Section 793, which prohibits “gathering, transmitting or losing” any “information respecting the national defense”...

It is understood that prosecutors intend to ask grand jurors to vote on the indictment on Thursday, but that vote could be delayed as much as a week until the next meeting of the grand jury to allow for a complete presentation of evidence, or to allow investigators to gather more evidence for presentation if necessary...

A separate grand jury that is meeting in Florida has also been hearing evidence in the documents investigation. That grand jury was empaneled in part to overcome legal issues posed by the fact that some of the crimes allegedly committed by Mr Trump took place in that jurisdiction, not in Washington. Under federal law, prosecutors must bring charges against federal defendants in the jurisdiction where the crimes took place.

Even if grand jurors vote to return an indictment against the ex-president this week, it is likely that those charges would remain sealed until both the Washington and Florida grand juries complete their work.

Feinberg added that that Mark Meadows - who was serving as trump's last Chief of Staff during the final days of his administration, and who was clearly in the room when a lot of things happened - has already testified to both federal grand juries and has accepted a plea deal to testify in exchange for lesser charges.

MORE: It is understood that Mr Trump's last White House chief of staff, @MarkMeadows, has agreed to plead guilty to several lesser federal crimes in exchange for his testimony under a limited grant of immunity. https://t.co/7ZMm60nhxf

— Andrew Feinberg (@AndrewFeinberg) June 7, 2023

It may take a few more days for all of this to play out. 

HOWEVER.

(Insert GIF of Happy Snoopy Dance)

I'm as giddy as a schoolboy.

And so, in honor of the Fitzmas that's finally arriving - better late than never - a quick little ditty sung to the tune of "It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas" (lyrics by Michael Buble):

It's beginning to look a lot like Fitzmas
As Smith's grand juries go
Trump is looking at five to ten with indictments closing in
Obstruction and espionage don't you know

It's beginning to look a lot like Fitzmas
Classified docs on the floor
But the prettiest sight to see is Donald Trump that will be
Behind his own prison door

And while we're at at, Justice Department, will you PLEASE release the full unredacted Mueller Report?

Ahhhh, this could be an enjoyable weekend for me, personally.

And yes. I know the Proud Boy types might start street riots if this happens, but damn trump and his decades of avoiding his sins. Let justice be done.

D-Day Anniversary, But Thinking of Ukraine

On this day, we remember the Allied troops - American, Canadian, British, French, other free nations who were there - who landed on the Normandy beaches to begin the Western counter-offensive against the Nazi horde.

Those landings were 79 years ago, but they remain fresh in our memories. The realization of the horrors of war, the sacrifices made, the honors gained and lives lost. 

They remain fresh because those struggles are repeating in Europe today, as Ukraine is now the battlefront against a Russian horde seeking to rebuild an empire under Putin at the expense of European stability.

We're thinking about D-Day as a great counter-offensive, reclaiming what the allies lost in 1940 when the German blitz overwhelmed the British and French armies to where the UK retreated at Dunkirk and the French government collapsed into Vichy appeasement. Ukraine now has to stage their counter-offensives after holding back the Russian blitz of 2022 that failed to reach Kyiv and collapsed against an earlier counterstrike in Kharkiv last September.

Everybody's been expecting the counter-offensive - especially the Russians - because Ukraine can't afford to stay on the defensive, and because the Russian attempts at offensives have sputtered at places like Kherson and Bakhmut. With Ukrainian forces receiving more armor and ammo and aid from NATO and US agreements - up to a level where they can fight back but not to where it would drive Putin to go nuclear - there has been this awaiting as the winter conditions - mud, mud, and too much mud, several of the things that hampered Russia's big invasion in February 2022 - gave way to better summer weather.

Well, it's June now. And there are signs that something has started up: Ukrainian hackers have been hitting Russia TV and media with deep-fakes to enrage/confuse the Russian citizenry, there's been front-line reports of tank battles, and there are ongoing strikes in the Belgorod region of Russian by pro-Ukrainian Russians who turned against Putin (by using Russians, Ukraine can plausibly deny they are invading Russia so that Putin can't escalate against them).

The biggest current news is how a key dam - which provided electricity and water to a nearby nuclear reactor (!) - was destroyed in the past 24 hours, as an apparent attempt by Russia to flood the river to delay/stall any Ukrainian crossings.

It is still too early to speculate, as Ukrainians are obviously keeping their lips zipped to prevent any tip-offs to Russians of where the serious fighting will start.

But it's coming soon. The hope is that it'll be similar to last Kharkiv: a stunning breakout against demoralized Russian soldiers lacking enough armor or ammo to fight back, that could clear major Ukrainian gains towards Crimea or Mariupol (two obvious objectives that if retaken would break Russia in ways Putin can't lie about or fix).

However, Russia's been preparing this long winter: They've dug anti-tank trenches, mined most of the battlefronts, and had held back on resources even as they expended men and weapons in Bakhmut to claim a propaganda victory (which they might not have won).

This won't be an easy fight for Ukraine. Wars never are.

But Eisenhower said it best in 1944 when he extorted Allied troops to victory:

Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force!

You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hope and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.

Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely.

But this is the year 1944! Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats, in open battle, man-to-man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our Home Fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men. The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to Victory!

I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full Victory!

Good luck! And let us beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.

To the troops and citizenry of Ukraine. This speech is also meant for you in 2023, with Russians as the Nazis and NATO - all of Europe - having full confidence in your courage, devotion, and skill.

Good luck, truly. Come home as best you can, in victory and at peace.

Weekend at donnie's II: Electric Waterloo

Today's "What The Hell Happened THIS Time" combines the craziness of Florida with the criminality of trump. You're not gonna believe this story about how the IT computer server room at trump's Mar-A-Lago got wiped out (via By Katelyn Polantz, Jeremy Herb, and Kaitlan Collins at CNN):

An employee at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence drained the resort’s swimming pool last October and ended up flooding a room where computer servers containing surveillance video logs were kept, sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

(blank stare)

(facepalm)

(headdesk)

While it’s unclear if the room was intentionally flooded or if it happened by mistake, the incident occurred amid a series of events that federal prosecutors found suspicious.

YA THINK?!

My first response when I read the report was "WHO THE FUCK PUTS A COMPUTER SERVER ROOM ANYWHERE NEAR A BODY OF WATER?" and my second response was "WHO THE FUCK REROUTES THE WATER HOSES INTO A COMPUTER SERVER ROOM?"

Okay, considering that I've heard there's a basement or underground part of Mar-A-Lago - which still doesn't make sense to me considering IT'S RIGHT THERE ON THE ATLANTIC OCEAN JUST WAITING TO SINK WITH THE NEXT HURRICANE - who the bloody hell IN SOUTH FLORIDA would put that kind of equipment BELOW GROUND where such water-borne accidents could cause serious damage?

In all my time working in libraries in Florida, in buildings that have multiple floors, we've always put the server equipment on the upper floors to avoid any kind of flooding damage in the first place. If it was a single-story library, the server closet was always furthest from the water main/bathroom pipes as we could afford.

I am seriously questioning the architectural layout of any trump-owned facility. I want to see the goddamn floor plans to see just how close the server room was to the goddamn pool.

At least one witness has been asked by prosecutors about the flooded server room as part of the federal investigation into Trump’s handling of classified documents, according to one of the sources.

The incident, which has not been previously reported, came roughly two months after the FBI retrieved hundreds of classified documents from the Florida residence and as prosecutors obtained surveillance footage to track how White House records were moved around the resort. Prosecutors have been examining any effort to obstruct the Justice Department’s investigation after Trump received a subpoena in May 2022 for classified documents.

Prosecutors have heard testimony that the IT equipment in the room was not damaged in the flood, according to one source.

Yet the flooded room as well as conversations and actions by Trump’s employees while the criminal investigation bore down on the club has caught the attention of prosecutors. The circumstances may factor into a possible obstruction conspiracy case, multiple sources tell CNN, as investigators try to determine whether the events of last year around Mar-a-Lago indicate that Trump or a small group of people working for him, took steps to try to interfere with the Justice Department’s evidence-gathering.

"The Dog Ate My Video Surveillance" excuse isn't going to help you, trump.

In the meantime, trump keeps pretending that Bernie is still alive, uh trump keeps screaming on social media that he's innocent of any wrong-doing.

I hope the indictments come this week and I hope the charges are so serious the judge refuses to grant you bail. Bastard.

Tiananmen Square in 2023

Tiananmen Square in 1989

From Reuters (Jessie Pang and Ben Blanchard):

Hong Kong police searched and detained scores of people on Sunday, four arrested for "seditious" intent, as authorities tightened security for the 34th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.

Restrictions in Hong Kong have stifled what were once the biggest vigils marking the bloody crackdown by Chinese troops on pro-democracy demonstrators, leaving cities like Taipei, London, New York and Berlin to keep alive the memory on the June 4 anniversary...

Hong Kong activists say such police action is part of a broad campaign by China to crush dissent in the city that was promised continued freedoms for 50 years under a "one country, two systems" formula when former colonial power Britain handed it back in 1997.

Security is significantly tighter across Hong Kong this year, with up to 6,000 police deployed, including riot and anti-terrorism officers, according to local media.

Senior officials have warned people to abide by the law, but have refused to clarify if such commemoration activities are illegal under a national security law China imposed on Hong Kong in 2020 after mass pro-democracy protests...

Despite the warnings in Hong Kong, some individuals including some book shop owners, have been quietly marking June 4.

Jailed Hong Kong activist Chow Hang-tung, one of the leaders of a group called The Alliance, which used to organise Hong Kong's annual June 4 vigils before it was disbanded in 2021, said on Facebook she would hold a 34-hour hunger strike.

In mainland China, any mention of the Tiananmen Square crackdown - where troops opened fire on pro-democracy protesters, killing hundreds if not thousands, according to rights groups - is taboo and the subject is heavily censored.

China is, by the by, an absolute mess (Article is from Bloomberg but it's firewalled, so you get Yahoo! instead):

Hegang, a city with nearly a million people near the Russian border, had debt of more than double its fiscal income when it hit the headlines almost 18 months ago. It was the first time a city administration had taken official emergency steps since the State Council unveiled rules in 2016 on how local governments, from counties to provinces, should deal with debt risks.

Hegang’s residents are now feeling the brunt of the fiscal clampdown. During a recent visit to the city, locals complained about a lack of indoor heating in freezing winter temperatures, and taxi drivers said they were being slapped with more traffic fines. Public school teachers worried about rumored job cuts, and street cleaners endured two-month delays to their salaries...

Hegang represents just the tip of the iceberg of a local government debt problem that’s making investors increasingly nervous and that threatens to be a drag on the world’s second-largest economy for years to come. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. estimates China’s total government debt is about $23 trillion, a figure that includes the hidden borrowing of thousands of financing companies set up by provinces and cities.

While the chance of a municipal default in China is relatively low given Beijing’s implicit guarantee on the debt, the bigger worry is that local governments will have to make painful spending cuts or divert money away from growth-boosting projects to continue repaying their debt. At stake for Xi is his ambition of doubling income levels by 2035 while reducing the gap between rich and poor, which is key for social stability as he seeks to rule the Communist Party for potentially the next decade or more.

“Many cities will become like Hegang in a few years’ time,” said Houze Song, an economist at US think tank MacroPolo, noting that China’s aging and shrinking population means many cities don’t have the workforce to sustain faster economic growth and tax revenue.

“The central government may be able to keep things stable in the short term by asking banks to roll over local governments’ debt,” Song said. Without loan extensions, he added, “the reality is that over two thirds of the localities won’t be able to repay their debt on time.”

There had been a massive construction boom going on across China in the past two decades, as though the central government was using all of that to overcharge their economic numbers to look better than they were. Stories abound about entire cities built without residents and massive construction projects that sit unused because there was no actual demand for them. Most of these "ghost towns" look to be owned as commodities rather than residences, creating the kind of economic bubble that led to the 2007-08 housing market crash that created the Great Recession.

If China is heading down that path, how soon will their investments and financial stability collapse to where it affects their manufacturing and exporting? At what point does the economic disparity between the vast poor and the elite (party leadership) rich become another protest?

How soon before Tank Man's children rise up, Xi? 

The Braggadocio of a Con Artist Moron (w/ Update)

I don't know when or who originated the phrase "LORDY THERE ARE TAPES" but by now it's clearly referring to donald trump and his ongoing cons where he's caught on audio or film bragging about the crimes he's pulling (via Digby quoting from CNN): 

Federal prosecutors have obtained an audio recording of a summer 2021 meeting in which former President Donald Trump acknowledges he held onto a classified Pentagon document about a potential attack on Iran, multiple sources told CNN, undercutting his argument that he declassified everything.

The recording indicates Trump understood he retained classified material after leaving the White House, according to multiple sources familiar with the investigation. On the recording, Trump’s comments suggest he would like to share the information but he’s aware of limitations on his ability post-presidency to declassify records, two of the sources said...

As Digby notes:

I guess this recording is seen as proof that Trump’s daft insistence that he declassified everything in his mind is bogus because he told these people that it was classified and he couldn’t share it. Needless to say, Trump would just say that he was lying about the document still being classified in order to protect the country but it doesn’t look good.

As I was writing this blog post, it turned out that David A. Graham at The Atlantic also titled his article "LORDY THERE ARE TAPES" and this is where I found out it was James Comey who originated the phrase when Congress questioned him about trump firing him back in 2017. So that little mystery solved, while Graham spells out how troubling this is for trump:

In the ongoing classified-documents scandal, though, the tapes seem to exist. CNN and The New York Times report that Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is investigating Trump’s removal of secret records to Mar-a-Lago, has obtained a recording in which the former president discussed his possession of a sensitive document. According to the outlets, Trump indicates that he knows it’s classified and is aware he cannot share it.

The content of the tape is important for any prosecution of Trump, which would have to prove he knew that what he was doing was wrong. But the circumstances of the recording are also revealing about how Trump operates, and the way he seems to understand bad press as a graver threat than criminal prosecution...

I would argue otherwise, but let's give Graham his points:

Given that mishandling of classified materials by former officials is apparently common, Smith appears to also be focusing on whether Trump attempted to hide the documents from the federal government once they were requested and then subpoenaed. Reports indicate that Trump had boxes moved to hide them and lied to his attorneys about the material, and an aide allegedly inquired about how long surveillance video was maintained. (Lordy, maybe there are lots of tapes.)

Aside from the egregious violation of the Stringer Bell rule—or perhaps just the Richard Nixon rule—that recording evidence of one’s own criminality represents, the tape would demonstrate yet again Trump’s reckless disregard for the law. Consider the circumstances for the recording. In July 2021, two writers working with former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows on his autobiography interviewed Trump at his Bedminster, New Jersey, club. Meadows was not present...

Trump was, as usual, in a score-settling mood. A recent New Yorker report had claimed that in the final days of his administration, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley had taken steps to prevent Trump from ordering a strike on Iran. The story was opaque on its sourcing, but it narrated events from Milley’s own perspective. Trump, who likes to portray himself as a dovish, isolationist opponent of warmongering generals, was furious. At the meeting with the two writers, Trump brandished a report that he claimed was Milley’s plan for an assault on Iran, and said that the general had repeatedly urged him to mount an attack...

But Trump was reluctant to show the memoir writers the actual document, according to the reports, because he knew it was still classified and they did not have security clearances. He may not have always been so fastidious. Smith is reportedly also investigating whether Trump showed several visitors a classified map.

The recording that Smith has obtained was reportedly made not by the writers but by Margo Martin, a Trump aide who “​​routinely taped the interviews he gave for books being written about him that year,” according to the Times. The former president was apparently worried about being misrepresented or misquoted...

Because Lord knows a liar on the scale of trump himself hates to get misquoted. It is interesting to note that trump is claiming the classified documents absolve him of any warmongering towards Iran, but then refuses to let others confirm what was in those documents. trump is either lying about the contents of those docs, or was honestly exposing classified materials to people who didn't have proper clearance. Either way, he's fucked.

(As a side note, one of the reasons there were recorders in the Oval Office was because Kennedy and LBJ both wanted verbal evidence of the things the CIA and other agencies were telling them, because there had been a breakdown of trust after the Bay of Pigs. Also, for their memoirs. Nixon ironically had the system removed when he stepped into office in 1969 but re-installed it later for those reasons. I digress.)  

This is Graham's view of trump's actions:

To summarize: Trump’s fear of damaging press—whether in the Milley reports or the Meadows book—was so much greater than his fear of criminal accountability that he ended up making an incriminating recording that could be a key piece of his own prosecution.

This is where I disagree. trump wasn't and isn't afraid of bad press. In his mind, all press is good, because it gets him the attention he craves, and he bulldozes through every terrifying report of his damaging behavior without a care. Look at how he handled the Access Hollywood revelations, look at how he ignores every red flag thrown up about his terrible business record, look at how he mocks anyone who questions what he does.

donald trump did what he did because he was convinced - remains convinced, even as criminal investigations tighten around him like chains - he was and still is above the law. As a celebrity, as a business CEO billionaire (although that is questionable), as the President of the United States Loser of the Popular Vote Twice. 

This is why he screams on social media about "WITCH HUNTS" that are honest criminal investigations into the federal and state laws he's violated. This is why he excuses away every bullying phone conversation he has with other people to lie or cheat for him as "perfect in every way." This is why he whines like a five-year-old about how everyone else is "unfair" to him whenever he's held accountable.

This is why donald trump brags about breaking laws, because he believes nobody can force him to answer for the crimes he's done.

And why not think like that? After all, there's been reports since the 1980s about trump pulling unethical if not illegal stunts with his business plans and property holdings. At any time over the decades, the legal authorities - the FBI, the IRS, the state attorneys, the Manhattan DA's office, the SEC, anybody - could have dug into the allegations of money laundering and tax evasion that were out there. But none of them did. They were too busy going after Martha Stewart, who went to jail for less than anything trump's ever done.

All these years of getting away with his fraudulent schemes - the failed casinos, the sham university, the products with TRUMP stamped over them that few people really bought - gave trump the delusion he was untouchable. And given his needs - to be adored (not loved), to be feared, to be worshipped - this always leads trump to happily and openly brag about what he's done. Everybody else can be guilty, but not him: trump deems himself perfect in every way.

This is why trump's defense in the Carroll sexual assault trial failed: His own deposition had him claiming that what he did was allowed, that celebrities - that men of power like himself - had the privilege to do whatever they - meaning himself - liked.

trump couldn't let go of all those Presidential records he had because he knew they gave him power, that they were symbols of his office. This is why he keeps claiming "those documents are MINE" as though they were personal belongings instead of government documents. It's why trump held onto classified materials he knew were still classified, because he could show them off to others and brag while doing so.

One of the things to ALWAYS remember about trump, more than his sins of lying, his wrath, his lust, his greed: trump's PRIDE must always dictate that he pose himself as greater than he is. trump must always brag about things - not only lie about things that never happen, but crow about the things that did - in order to make himself look good. Always.

Just remember the full Biblical warning about Pride: Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

trump is all about the haughty and the pride. Here comes his fall.

Update 6/2: The media now reports that trump's own lawyers - required by that warrant to turn over such things - cannot find the classified documents that trump bragged about having. This means one of three things.

1) trump never really had a military plan by Gen. Milley to attack Iran, and he was just lying to the witnesses in order to impress them. This is actually the easiest thing for trump, because all this means is he lied - again! - to a mainstream media that has always forgiven his gaslighting.

2) trump still has those documents secured somewhere his lawyers were barred from searching, meaning he is openly defying a warrant to hand over such materials. His lawyers will be in trouble, even trump could be in trouble before Special Counsel Smith even drops indictments on him. One possible response will be the courts issuing Smith's team a blanket warrant to search EVERY property where trump could be hiding that document - and any others that the National Archives are certain haven't been recovered.

3) trump gave up those documents to someone else. This is the nightmare scenario: trump may have sold those documents to a third party - say, a foreign nation that has a vested interest in what the U.S. may do to Iran - to profit himself at the expense of U.S. intelligence services. It doesn't even matter if trump gave those plans to an allied nation: any information from those docs could be parsed for evidence of how our intel agencies acquired their intel, exposing field agents and reliable sources to potential harm if our "allies" don't like the idea of people among them working for us. THIS is straight-up espionage, the level of crime we haven't seen since Aldrich Ames and Robert Hanssen. 

We are looking at a former President Loser of the Popular Vote Twice being charged with some of the highest crimes in the law books.

Anniversary: When Doonesbury Dropped the GUILTY Bomb On The National Discourse

On May 29, 1973, in the midst of the then-ongoing investigations into the Watergate DNC headquarters break-in by Nixon's campaign (and dirty works) handlers, a singular comic strip appeared in the daily newspapers crossing the lines from objective observation to subjective opinion when artist Garry Trudeau focused on John Mitchell - one of the key players in the overall Watergate scandals - and pre-judged the man with the conclusion that he was "GUILTY! GUILTY GUILTY GUILTY!" (Yes, CAPS LOCK was even a thing before the Internet, kiddos)

the strip that defined not just a moment, but 
altered how we perceive political commentary to this day

The Doonesbury comic strip was merely three years young in 1973, having been bought up by a comic strip syndicate as part of an effort to infuse the four-panel humor sections of daily newspapers with younger, more college-oriented (in those days, Boomer generation) artists appealing to similar audiences.

The artwork itself was pretty basic, "fresh out of art school" kind of linear inking, with static bodies and "camera placement" with distance (and no shifting of angles or position) to set the scenes for characters to interact. There was also more dialogue than most strips worked with.

What creator Trudeau brought to the comics readership was a brash willingness to discuss modern-day topics - the political upheaval happening across college campuses in those days, the then-ongoing Vietnam War (which ended in 1972) and its immediate post-war consequences, the growing feminist movement, and the struggles to integrate schools and society as a whole in the wake of the 1960s Civil Rights battles - whereas most strips were mild observations of daily life and struggles of quiet desperation.

There'd been other daily comic strips that delved in politics with as much fervor and impact: Pogo by Walt Kelly, for example, was a "cute animal" strip that discussed issues - even political topics - of the day. Kelly famously attacked the Red Scare baiting of McCarthyism of the 1950s by exposing Joe McCarthy himself as a gaslighting bullying character Simple J. Malarkey (some scenes of Malarkey hunting down several Pogo characters are considered the scariest moments in comic strips history). Modern-day political satirists - Trudeau among them - openly claim Pogo as their inspiration. 

But where Pogo could hide on the "funny pages" by being animal characters playing out allegory and metaphor in a cartoon swamp, Doonesbury is a strip about humans in real-life environments, tackling issues with real-life ramifications, and making commentary directly on people - not a ink-suited representative, but directly named like Mitchell - who could hire lawyers and sue for defamation.

That "Guilty!" strip is the moment when Trudeau crossed a line in journalism ethics - as much as cartoon strips could be considered journalism. After all, the comics page was part of the whole daily newspaper package: Front page news, Local news, Sports, Lifestyles, and Classifieds. (With crossword puzzles and comics stuck in either the Lifestyles or Classifieds. Such was the glory years of print media. I digress)

As Paul Hebert notes on his Reading Doonesbury blog about this strip:

In response to the 1973 strip, a dozen newspapers dropped Doonesbury. The Washington Post – now (in 2017), ironically, Doonesbury’s online home – argued that guilt or innocence should be adjudicated by “the due process of justice [and] not a comic strip artist,” and maintained that it could not “have one standard for the news pages and another for the comics.” Kerry Soper, in Garry Trudeau: Doonesbury and the Aesthetics of Satire, frames the Post’s “discomfort” with the “GUILTY!” strip as a product of the “problematic” fact that Trudeau blurs the line between “comic strip storyteller, journalistic muckraker, and political watchdog...”

It's the ethical dilemma in journalism between being Subjective or Objective when reporting on an event (or a person). Subjective meaning "based on personal opinion" with an emotional or judgmental bias, Objective being more "based on facts and evidence" with an eye towards informing the audience. It's a struggle that is ongoing: Especially with the rise and domination of 24/7 cable news needing to fill all those hours with more Subjective punditry discussing topics at an emotional biased level, as well as social media overwhelming the discourse with Twitter (or YouTube) bites and badly written blog essays (stares at self in the mirror). 

This ethical conflict is what I studied as a Journalism student at University of Florida, even taking a class on Journalism Ethics. Hell, my term paper was on Doonesbury's place in print media, whether it belonged in the daily comics pages or if it belonged in the Op-Ed/Letters to the Editor sections where commentary and subjective essays were permitted. I got an A for that paper, I was very proud of that fact, although I ended up with a B for the class grade (I did poorly on a mid-term exam). It's why I joke semi-seriously that I got a B in Ethics but a D in Reporting, which is how I ended up as a librarian.

The solution a lot of newspapers took was to make that move, taking Doonesbury from the less-partisan comics pages and placing it in the more opinionated Editorial pages, as a compromise whenever facing some of the more boundary-breaking storylines Trudeau illustrated, such as introducing a gay character for the first time in comics, or showing a man and woman in the same bed post-coitus, or any of the political attacks Trudeau aimed at Reagan or conservatives in general. 

Trudeau was an unabashed liberal, and it often showed in his works. However, Trudeau did his homework: On the scales of Subjective vs. Objective, when he skewered a political figure or public celebrity, he did it based on the facts he could uncover through basic research. Although he'd reach into levels we'd consider slander - such as the series of strips he inked pointing out how Frank Sinatra had questionable connections to mobsters - he at least based the attacks on provable facts. It still made for interesting reads.

I grew up as a pre-teen - I was eight or nine years old - reading Doonesbury collected paperbacks in the Young Adult section of the Dunedin Public Library (back when the library occupied a refurbished Publix storefront). I was a bit ahead of my fellow classmates having gotten bored with the juvenile lit (stop killing puppies, you damn juvenile writers!) and preferred the sci-fi and humor novels for the teens where my older brother hung out. It surely disappointed my dad somewhat as part of my left-leaning ideology comes from that exposure, but I still remember Trudeau's work being more of a gentle skewering of ideologies of the 1970s and 1980s. He would attack liberals - more of a chiding out of disappointment - for some of their follies - obsessing over symbolism more than the issues needing work - as much as attacking conservatives for their disdain and self-serving actions.

One thing that Trudeau excelled at was being sympathetic, even empathetic, towards the targets of his criticism. Even at their worst, the harshest Republican characters - especially the real-life figures like both Bush Presidents - received some level of bathos that made them human to readers (even as they didn't appear on-screen except as floating hats, waffles, or air bubbles). Save for donald trump: Even in the 1980s, his excessive greed and narcissism was on full display whenever he appeared in a Doonesbury story arc.

Compare Trudeau's character building to the likes of Bruce Tinsley's Mallard Fillmore, which never rose above caricature and attacked only one side of the political spectrum (liberals) with ire and excessive outrage. That strip essentially devolved into an Author Tract instead of any kind of running commentary. Whereas Trudeau aims for a punchline at the end of every strip, Tinsley often has no punchline, just punches.

Doonesbury itself is rarely in the papers anymore, as much as there are any newspapers still surviving. It's a question of how soon Trudeau will retire for good instead of the extended vacations he's been known to take. It may depend on whenever donald trump ends up physically in jail after all the appeals on his felony convictions are exhausted a few years from now, at which point Trudeau might put up a final Sunday strip of a large banner reading "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED."

We'll see.

In the meantime, Trudeau just keeps rolling with the hits.

from October 22, 2017
History does repeat, first as tragedy and then as farce...