Donald Trump: Classic or Dud?

Hey, buddy, want to COMMIT SOME CRIMES together? I’m going to show you some stuff that’s COMPLETELY ILLEGAL.

lol

Special Counsel Jack Smith's indictment against former President Trump includes photos of documents boxes stored in various places at Mar-a-Lago. pic.twitter.com/Mz5zJvJjCM

— Arden Farhi (@ArdenFarhi) June 9, 2023

on a stage and next to a toilet bowl

Well, sure, you need something to read while you're on the can.

"Donald Trump had illegally kept documents concerning U.S. nuclear programs and its potential vulnerabilities to military attack, the 49-page indictment showed."

seems significant that these docs were not just some crank's theory about how to invade iran.

Smith's remarks to be streamed here (and elsewhere I'm sure)

https://www.justice.gov/live

One of a zillion problems for Trump here is that the absolute true believer conspiracy nuts aside, all of the actions described and/or caught on tape align perfectly with the Trump we all know so well. Like, you know exactly what the little self-satisfied smirk on his face was when he was saying these things, and everything described is entirely in character. Even the stuff that seems sort of generically unbelievable — "Nobody would do that!" — becomes completely believable in the context of it being Trump.

Nauta seems like he's fucked and there is no way he is going to go down and not say, "Trump told me to do this."

I could totally see Waltine taking however much heat is needed for Dear Leader.

I hope that Jack Smith has a voice to go with his grand inquisitor looks.

as strong and supple as Mueller's.

I cannot even fathom what kind of legal defense they're gonna try here

I cannot even fathom what kind of legal defense they're gonna try here

It may well involve a white Bronco.

do you know who his parents are?

Good morning!

Straightforward enough statement from Smith, about all I'd expect.

The legal defense will be " I am innocent, Jack Smith is a pedophile, when you are famous they just let you do it, fake news, Benghazi, Biden, Hunter."

I cannot even fathom what kind of legal defense they're gonna try here

― frogbs, Friday, June 9, 2023 3:04 PM (seven minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

delay

whatever his defense is, i assume it will involve a comedic blundering into another wholly unnecessary but predictable crime.

Nauta seems like he's fucked and there is no way he is going to go down and not say, "Trump told me to do this."

as trump used to tell the families of dead troops, 'he knew what he signed up for'

I mean look the Stormy Daniels stuff is, J6 I think would be kind of hard to prosecute for, Georgia could even be a slap on the wrist given the friendly judges he's sure to get, but this here feels like the one thing even Trump may not be able to get away with, and it's such an open and shut case too

The responses from loyalists seem to be primarily (1) it's not a crime, as President he could and did declassify all this stuff; (2) the transcript of the tapes is inaccurate, taken out of context, misleading, etc.; and (3) even if it was a crime, Hillary and Joe did so much worse.

I think I read somewhere that the nature of the crime and the DOJ means that delay tactics aren't as effective as they are in a traditional criminal trial. This was in the New Yorker earlier today:

This case is going to have severe timing issues. The Trump people will want to drag it out to put off any punishment and because they hope he can be President again before any punishment comes. And the government may want this to wrap up before the campaign heats up. I have heard people say that federal prosecutions are harder to delay. Is that accurate?

Yes, federal prosecutions are harder to delay. The federal rules are a little more pro-government when it comes to the timing of proceedings than is true in most state courts. But there are two wild cards. The first is the judge. The judge still has a fair amount of say over the scheduling and calendaring of pretrial matters. Wild card No. 2 is how complex the pretrial proceedings are. And, again, that is something the government will have a fair amount of control over based on how it chooses to charge the case. Are the charges going to invite a ton of pretrial wrangling over expert witnesses and CIPA and the spectre of graymail? If you are the government and timing is a priority to you, that too will shape some of your decision-making to try to reduce the possibility of time-consuming, contentious pretrial fights.

Whole interview is pretty good at laying out the nuts, bolts and potential bullshit: https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/the-legal-dynamics-of-trumps-second-indictment

on the other hand this guy did fire the FBI director who was investigating him and publicly said exactly why he was doing it and nothing happened so who knows what's gonna happen here

beautiful mind, paper boxes, can't lose

So, what stands out to me is the number of Espionage Act charges: 31! I was expecting 10-15 or so, but 31 shows that DOJ will be pursuing a VERY aggressive strategy in this case. That has some strengths, and some drawbacks. Here's what it tells me, in no particular order.

— Secrets and Laws (@secretsandlaws) June 9, 2023

xxpost what do you mean nothing happened? The Greatest Witch Hunt in History happened.

chotiner interview good as usual, but i think it was done before we knew who the judge is (which is not good news)

Hard to imagine there’s a lawyer on Earth who can get him to stop posting at this point. pic.twitter.com/npBOWtGp2q

— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) June 9, 2023

Who is he talking to with these Truth Social assplosions?

"His lawyers house in Boston" what

lol did Biden move his boxes AFTER being asked to return specific classified documents? I don't think so.

7. Nauta is f'd. Unless he's hoping Cannon or a Trump election will save him, I'd start plea talks real quick if I were him.

— Secrets and Laws (@secretsandlaws) June 9, 2023

Doesn’t seem great when your indictment repeatedly quotes your own lawyers

Also, he should stay away from hospital windows and Saudi Embassies.

xp to self

Ain’t no wriggling outta THIS jam.

And Boris Johnson's just resigned as an MP so it's been aa bad day for lying narcissistic scumbags all round.

"If they knew, this would be a felony," said the former President, waving around an original Constitution from the Smithsonian and speaking directly into a recorder. "But they'll never know. They'll never know because I'm too smart."

— Sen. Lemon Gogurt (I - Podcastia) (@Ugarles) June 9, 2023

Am aware of many political types today citing some TV dialogue about not taking notes on a criminal conspiracy. Gratified, yet we wrote our Baltimore players as at least half-smart, and not the easiest prey for common vanities and insecurities. Trump is a pompous, fatuous fool.

— David Simon (@AoDespair) June 9, 2023

If your defense in doing crimes is "everybody does bunches of crimes," you are losing.

When I got pulled over for speeding, the police were strangely not swayed by an argument that ran "other people were speeding just as much, if not more."

🐦[Hard to imagine there’s a lawyer on Earth who can get him to stop posting at this point. pic.twitter.com/npBOWtGp2q🕸
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) June 9, 2023🕸]🐦

i’m still loling at joe biden having documents all over his garage floor

Between this and Baby Gronk everything has felt like an I Think You Should Leave sketch lately

which we know because Biden usually leaves his garage door open, like a bad HOA member

Using some missile defense specs to wipe off his hands after changing his oil in the Corvette.

I hear he drag races for nuke specs

I think we’ll find that a bunch of people are jailed for looking at the classified documents (i.e. espionage) while Asshole receives a stern rebuke and a five figure fine.

can we not

this is a day of joy