Trump Court Report: Fake News and Supreme Deference
It has been an extraordinary week in the legal journey of the former president of the United States. In a Manhattan Courtroom Donald Trump struggles to stay awake while using his other hours of the day figuratively waving his middle finger and literally crossing the line on a judicial gag order.
At his trial for fraud*, the man who all but coined the term ‘fake news’ was behind a scheme to hide his own misdeeds and put misinformation into the minds of every American who stood in a supermarket checkout line. (*See how easy it is not to call the case a “hush money” trial?)
In the nation’s capital, Supreme Court Justices -nurtured and placed by an ideological syndicate favoring authoritarian rule- appear to have given the ex-president two ways out of the consequences of his attempts to stay in power following an electoral loss.
Because the New York trial concerns acts taken prior to his taking the oath of office, whatever comes out of the highest court will have no impact on the outcome, since ‘presidential immunity’ won’t apply. It’s a state trial, which avoids the possibility of a post-conviction pardon should Donald Trump win.
Despite the musings of the commentariat about the Manhattan DA’s “weak case,” everybody should understand the importance of proving the 34 instances of felonious actions allegedly made by the 2016 GOP candidate.
This case may well be the only instance of Donald J Trump fucking around and finding out (there are consequences).
The government’s first witness, former National Enquirer editor David Pecker, has testified in granular detail of editorial decisions made to disparage Trump’s political opponents and bury damning information about the candidate.
From the New York Times
Days before Donald Trump became president in early 2017, a handful of advisers, officials and allies descended on his office at Trump Tower: the FBI director, a future secretary of state, his soon-to-be chief of staff — and the publisher of The National Enquirer.
The publisher, David Pecker, may have seemed out of place, but he had just performed an indispensable and confidential service to the Trump campaign: He had paid off a Playboy model, Karen McDougal, who said she had an affair with Trump, and a doorman who had heard that Trump had fathered a child out of wedlock. The future president, triumphant, thanked Pecker for his service.
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There will be at minimum another month of testimony from witnesses expected to affirm the prosecution’s case.
I should note that the indictments naming the president in Georgia for election interference also remain a viable threat. Charges against Trump-linked fake electoral delegates in Arizona and Michigan will also remain on the public’s radar.
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Things were seemingly going better for the ex-president as arguments centered on presidential immunity took place before the Supreme Court. Team Trump has argued that, regardless of their criminality, actions taken by the resident are immune from prosecution.
Some of the commentary from the bench was unsettling at best. Supreme Court justices who have seen forgiving student loans, mandating vaccines, and regulating climate change as a slippery slope toward tyranny sounded uncertain on questions of whether a president could execute citizens or stage a coup without being prosecuted.
Federal attorneys are insisting that no one is above the law. Conservative justices seemed more interested about consequences for future presidents than accepting a key concept necessary to continuing democracy.
There is general agreement that the Supreme Court won’t rule that presidents have unlimited immunity, if for no other reason such a decision would also cover current President Joe Biden, who could, theoretically cancel the November elections or appoint another five justices to the high court.
The victory for Team Trump will most likely be a determination that private acts by a president are not immune from prosecution, and that a lower court will be tasked with sorting what’s private and what’s official. Some charges against the former president could be dropped, depending on that sorting.
This sort of ruling will put the timeline for trials past the general election and make room for (theoretically) President Trump to pardon himself or call off prosecutions in progress. Delay is a cornerstone of his legal strategy, so it will count as a win.
As former Associate White House Counsel Ian Bassin noted:
Frog in boiling water alert:
Who could have imagined 8 years ago that in the Trump era the Supreme Court would be considering whether a president should be above the law for assassinating opponents or ordering a military coup and that *at least* four justices might agree.
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Friday’s Other Stories of Note
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Even before her recent indictment, Bobb’s hiring raised some eyebrows. Charlie Dent, a former Republican congressman from Pennsylvania, blasted the RNC hiring Bobb as a “further indication of how the RNC has not only become an arm of the Trump campaign, but an outlet for the most extreme elements of the election denial movement.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) reacted to the news saying, “Putting Christina Bobb in charge of election integrity is like putting Donald Trump in charge of integrity.”
The Arizona indictment charged 17 other individuals alongside Bobb, including former top Trump aides like former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, attorneys Rudy Giuliani, Jenna Ellis, John Eastman, and top campaign adviser Boris Epshteyn. The indictment also charged the 11 fake electors that Trump and his allies set up to replace the legitimately elected Biden electors on Jan. 6th – had Vice President Mike Pence followed the plan and thrown out the swing states’ electors to be replaced by the fake electors. Trump was not charged in the indictment, but was listed as a co-conspirator.
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Members of Congress launch investigation into Frontwave Credit Union’s treatment of young Marines, following KPBS reporting via (self patting on the back) KPBS
KPBS’s investigation revealed how Marine Corps recruits — upwards of 15,000 every year — are systematically enrolled in Frontwave when they come through boot camp in San Diego. The credit union then sets up checking accounts to receive the recruits’ direct deposits.
Marines make up the majority of Frontwave’s members, and the credit union relies on overdraft fees as a key source of income. In 2022, the company collected about $8 million in overdraft penalties, according to data collected by the state
Members of Congress called Frontwave’s overdraft practices “unconscionable” and urged the company to change its fee policies. The lawmakers expressed concern about the harm excessive overdraft fees can cause service members — some of whom enter boot camp at 17-years-old and may be away from home for the first time.
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House GOP manufactures new fight after Biden impeachment fails via Joan McCarter at Daily Kos
House Republicans’ attempt to impeach President Joe Biden has fizzled out. But the two members tasked with the job, Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan and Oversight Chair James Comer, needing to atone for their failure, have picked another fight: threatening to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt over the Department of Justice’s refusal to provide the audio recordings of Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur in the classified documents probe.
