A Recap

It's hard to keep track of it all. Here's a short, partial recap of the last coupla weeks.

Yasmin Khan

• Where's Melania?
• No Ted Cruz endorsement
• He got mixed up on his dates again
• New-ish audio on his efforts to fuck with voting in Detroit 
• Trump has already been found liable/guilty in the NYC Fraud case
• Trump has already been found liable/guilty in the E Jean Carroll case
• The only decisions pending are about how much he'll have to pay

Today's Brian

Trump's lawyers took a beating today. And you can hear it pretty plainly when Judge Pan tries to cut thru the total Gish Gallop of this Sauer guy by reminding him - a coupla times - that she asked him a Yes-or-No question.

Nobody rides for free.

    

Brian Tyler Cohen

Not A Parody

This is no parody. It's fan-produced content, but Trump posted it on his social media platform.

It's what he knows some of the hardcore rubes will swallow whole, and then ask for more.

The next time somebody asks why I'm atheist - it's pretty simple: "God made Trump"

Absolute My Dyin' Ass

Trump's horseshit argument that POTUS enjoys total immunity from all criminal action against him for anything he did while in office is Peak Daddy State.

...The goal is to dictate reality to us.

THE RULES:

1. Every accusation is a confession.

2. Every boast is an admission of inadequacy, or an attempt to claim credit for something they had practically nothing to do with.

2a. What sounds like boasting ("I could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and not lose any votes") is intended to soft-peddle some horrific thing they've done - or intend to do, in which case, the "boast" is instructive as to what the devotees will be expected to embrace.

These MAGA idiots are fully conditioned, and they're telling us straight out, "The king can do no wrong".

But things continue to shift against Trump and his MAGA loons.

The action against him in Colorado was led by Republicans. And now, this newer thing is being led by some pretty bright lights in the GOP.

Revisiting

'Tis the season to review.

Jimmy Kimmel from this last March.

SCOTUS Here We Come

Now all we have to do is figure the over/under

for how much Clarence Thomas 

is gonna make outa this.

Aging Like Vintage Milk

After touting stock market, Trump claims record high under Biden only makes “rich people richer”

The Dow Jones hit a record high despite Trump's prediction that the economy would collapse under Biden

Donald Trump, who predicted in a 2020 debate that stock markets would crash under President Joe Biden, griped Sunday that stock markets reaching record highs were just making "rich people richer." The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose to a record high last week, hitting 37,000 and surpassing the previous record set in 2022. The former president often patted himself on the back for a bustling stock market during his time in office between 2017 and 2021.

"The stock market is making rich people richer," Trump said, per Reuters, to a crowd of supporters in Reno, Nevada, in an effort to put an anti-Biden, populist spin on the new record stock market value. "Biden's inflation catastrophe is demolishing your savings and ravaging your dreams," the GOP nomination frontrunner added, changing the subject to high prices — a hallmark of Biden's term thus far — to take a jab at his likely opponent in the 2024 contest. Despite a recent increase in wages, a decrease in inflation and low unemployment, Trump went on: "We are a nation whose economy is collapsing into a cesspool."

Biden mocked Trump last week for his incorrect prediction in a campaign video shared on X/Twitter flaunting the record stock market high, CNBC reports. “Good one, Donald,” Biden tweeted. The video replayed a clip of Trump declaring, "If Biden wins, you’re gonna have a stock market collapse the likes of which you’ve never had," before rolling soundbites of news anchors lauding the stock market's recent upsurge. “Uh, let’s just talk for a moment about the stock market. Boom,” says Larry Kudlow, Trump's former top economic aide, in an included snippet from his Fox Business show.

Good one, Donald. pic.twitter.com/XNtiU4bqSF

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) December 15, 2023

But It Won't Stick - Prob'ly

When Romney did basically the same thing in 2012, it kinda stuck - partly because Romney had a tiny smidgen of honor, so he tried to spin it.

Trump will likely keep doing what he always does - ie: "I was joking". But it's just as likely he'll also go with another of his usual things where he simply denies it, declaiming it as "fake" or "it's a deep fake" or whatever his Daddy State instinct tells him he should do.

Daddy State Awareness Guide

4. They change the meaning of words to suit their needs.

a) if it's false but it works in my favor, then it's true

b) if it's true but it works against me, then it's false

5. They change the historical record.

“you didn’t see what you saw"

"what happened isn’t what happened"

“you didn't hear me say what you heard me say”

Under The Radar

Having pled guilty in the fake electors scheme in Georgia, Ken Chesebro is apparently on tour, hitting all the hot venues, even though it's not been a big news item.

Exclusive:

Pro-Trump lawyer Kenneth Chesebro cooperating in multiple state probes into 2020 fake electors plot

The pro-Trump lawyer who helped devise the 2020 fake electors plot and already pleaded guilty to the conspiracy in Georgia is now cooperating with Michigan and Wisconsin state investigators in hopes of avoiding more criminal charges, multiple sources told CNN.

In a dramatic turnaround from 2020 – when the lawyer, Kenneth Chesebro, was at the center of efforts by former President Donald Trump to subvert the Electoral College and overturn his defeat – Chesebro is now helping investigators in at least four states who are looking into the scheme.

Chesebro’s cooperation in Wisconsin is the first indication the state attorney general’s office has launched its own investigation into the false slates of pro-Trump electors. Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul, a Democrat, has not publicly announced that an investigation is underway.

Chesebro also recently testified to a grand jury in Nevada, where indictments against six fake electors were announced Wednesday by state prosecutors. Additionally, Chesebro has been in contact with prosecutors in Arizona, where he plans to sit for an interview as part of that state’s ongoing investigation into fake electors.

CNN has previously identified Chesebro as an unindicted co-conspirator in special counsel Jack Smith’s federal indictment against Trump, where the former president is charged with organizing the fake electors scheme “to disenfranchise millions of voters” and unlawfully remain in power. There is no indication Chesebro is cooperating in the federal probe, or that Smith has ruled out charges against him.

The Trump campaign targeted seven states with the scheme in 2020. Charges have been filed against fake electors in Georgia, Michigan and Nevada. Investigations are underway in Arizona, New Mexico and now, apparently, Wisconsin. The seventh state in the plot was Pennsylvania.

The Michigan inquiry, led by state Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, was the first in the nation to produce criminal charges. It now appears that the scope of Nessel’s investigation may be broader than previously known, and is looking at other figures with ties to the scheme beyond the fake electors themselves.

The Michigan attorney general’s office confirmed to CNN in an email this week that their investigation is still active.

The Wisconsin attorney general’s office declined to comment, as did Chesebro’s lawyer.

Chesebro has entered into what’s known as proffer agreements in several states, which gives him some protection from prosecution, according to multiple sources. His cooperation with investigators in Michigan and Wisconsin has not been previously reported.

But cooperating with state prosecutors does not guarantee Chesebro will avoid criminal charges in one or all of the ongoing investigations, the sources cautioned.

Another pro-Trump lawyer in Michigan

Nessel’s ongoing investigation has already produced charges against the 16 fake electors in Michigan. One agreed to cooperate in exchange for his case being dropped. The rest pleaded not guilty, and there are key hearings this month in their bid to toss the case.

Sources told CNN that Nessel has scrutinized another pro-Trump lawyer, Ian Northon, who was in contact with top Trump allies after the 2020 election and accompanied the fake electors when they tried to enter the Michigan statehouse.

In charging documents against the Michigan fake electors, prosecutors highlighted how Northon tried to persuade a state trooper to let them into the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing – but they were rebuffed. This was a key part of the plan that Chesebro and others devised: Federal law and Michigan statutes require the electors to meet in the statehouse, and Chesebro hoped the pro-Trump slate would hew to the law as closely as possible.

An attorney for Northon did not comment for this story.

After the 2020 election, Northon participated in conference calls with then-Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman where they discussed how to contest the results, according to Northon’s testimony to the House select committee that investigated the January 6, 2021, insurrection.

Northon also had a phone call with Sidney Powell, a right-wing attorney and conspiracy theorist who has pleaded guilty in the Georgia election subversion case. She asked him to join a lawsuit she was filing in Michigan about nullifying the election – he declined and filed a separate suit contesting the results. The meritless cases went nowhere.

According to his congressional testimony, Northon had no ties to Chesebro, except that a colleague forwarded to him one of Chesebro’s memos about the Electoral College after the 2020 election. Northon also said he learned from a pro-Trump state legislator that the fake electors would be meeting in Lansing.

“I was as disappointed, I think, as anybody to see what happened on January 6 at the Capitol,” Northon told the House committee in 2022. “My efforts in representing these private clients were to get people to follow the law, not to encourage people to break it.”

Oops

Alina Habba was SO sure about this.

But in the end, we all knew that Donald Trump is a f•cking coward... pic.twitter.com/IN1re3caZ0

— SmackeyCracks 🇺🇸 (@SmackeyCracks) December 11, 2023

Trump says he won’t testify again at his New York fraud trial. He says he has nothing more to say

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump said Sunday he has decided against testifying for a second time at his New York civil fraud trial, posting on social media a day before his scheduled appearance that he “very successfully & conclusively” testified last month and saw no need to do so again.

The former president, the leading contender for the 2024 Republican nomination, had been expected to return to the witness stand Monday as a coda to his defense against New York Attorney General Letitia James ' lawsuit.

James, a Democrat, alleges Trump inflated his wealth on financial statements used in securing loans and making deals. The case threatens Trump’s real estate empire and cuts to the heart of his image as a successful businessman.

“I will not be testifying on Monday,” Trump wrote in an all-capital-letters, multipart statement on his Truth Social platform less than 20 hours before he was to take the witness stand.

Dirtbag Donald

From October:

Jake Tapper outlines the problem, and identifies the threat.

Is It A Sign?

For the record, my crystal ball has been in the shop since forever.

Seems like the Bat Shit Caucus and Wingnut Media get wackier and more apocalyptic-sounding every day.

I get the feeling it's because they know - and Trump knows - they're losing badly and Trump is almost literally 9 or 10 months away from at least one long stretch at The Grey Stone Hotel.

Today's WTF

The judge in Denver found that Trump did indeed engage in an insurrection, but somehow, she opines that doesn't disqualify him under the 14th amendment.

A face that will live in infamy

WTF, lady!?!

I think I kinda get it. Sometimes, the courts are saying "You guys in the legislature have to fix this shit so we can help you", but goddamn - this sounds like such a fucking cop out.

Donald Trump can appear on Colorado’s 2024 Republican presidential primary ballot, judge rules

Similar lawsuits have been filed in other parts of the country, none of which have been successful

Donald Trump incited an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, but he can still appear on the Republican presidential primary ballot in Colorado next year, a Denver District Court judge ruled Friday in a case that could have national consequences.

Judge Sarah B. Wallace’s 102-page ruling comes in a lawsuit filed by a liberal political nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. It argued that Trump’s role in the deadly Jan. 6 riot disqualifies him from running for president under the 14th Amendment and that he shouldn’t be allowed to appear on Colorado’s presidential primary ballot.

Section 3 of the amendment bars “officers of the Unites States” who took an “oath … to support the Constitution of the United States” and then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof” from holding federal or state office again.

Wallace found that while Trump “incited an insurrection … and therefore ‘engaged’ in an insurrection,” the 14th Amendment “does not apply to Trump” because he is not an “officer” of the United States.

“Part of the court’s decision is its reluctance to embrace an interpretation which would disqualify a presidential candidate without a clear, unmistakable indication that such is the intent of Section Three,” she wrote.

Sorry not sorry, but saying Trump isn't "an officer of the government" may be true now - on Nov 17, 2023 - but on Jan6 he was President Of The United Fucking States. So your whole premise is total fucking bullshit.

Wallace’s ruling came after she heard five days of testimony, including from police officers who were at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, two congressmen and constitutional experts.

While Trump is unlikely to win the general election in Colorado in 2024 if he is the GOP nominee — he lost to President Joe Biden, a Democrat, by 13 percentage points in the state in 2020 — the ballot-access case could still have major consequences on the national stage.

The nonprofit that brought the lawsuit, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, which doesn’t disclose its donors, is likely to appeal the ruling. The Colorado GOP, which fought the lawsuit, said it expects Wallace’s finding to be challenged.

Legal experts believe the questions of whether Trump should be allowed to run for president again will eventually land before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Similar lawsuits have been filed in other parts of the country, none of which have been successful.

On Tuesday, Michigan Court of Claims Judge James Redford said deciding whether an event constituted “a rebellion or insurrection and whether or not someone participated in it” are questions best left to Congress and not “one single judicial officer.” A judge, he wrote, “cannot in any manner or form possibly embody the represented qualities of every citizen of the nation — as does the House of Representatives and the Senate.”

Last week, Minnesota’s Supreme Court rejected another effort to block Trump from appearing on Minnesota’s GOP primary ballot next year.

The Colorado lawsuit was brought on behalf of a group of Republican and unaffiliated voters. The defendant was Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat whose office took a neutral stance on the case.

“The court determined that Donald Trump is eligible to be placed on the Colorado ballot in the March presidential primary,” Griswold said in a written statement on Friday. “This decision may be appealed. As secretary of state, I will always ensure that every voter can make their voice heard in free and fair elections.”

Colorado’s presidential primary will be held March 4.

Aaaaaargh!!!

The Wolf Is At The Door

It's not coincidence.

It's not just bluff-n-bluster aimed at keeping a few of the more rabid supporters in line.

He's been kinda subtle about telling us who and what he is for years, but now he's out in the open because he knows the whole thing is slipping away and he has to be much more forceful and direct with it.

Today's Brian

Shut your mouth when you're out in the lobby, and say what you have to say in the courtroom, under oath.

Stop pretending you've had absolutely no agency over what happens in your life.

Take responsibility for your actions, and stop whining about a "rigged system" every time somebody holds you accountable for something you've done wrong.

Buncha whiny-butt pussies.

That Sound You Hear?

... that's the sound of a growing flock of chickens on their way home to roost.

Ex-Trump lawyer Eastman faces potential disbarment as ethics trial winds down

Nov 3 (Reuters) - A California state judge is soon set to rule whether former President Donald Trump's personal lawyer John Eastman should lose his law license, capping a disciplinary trial held over five months.

Judge Yvette Roland on Thursday issued a preliminary finding of culpability against Eastman, who is accused of violating attorney ethics rules when he tried to help Trump undo Joe Biden's win in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Eastman denies wrongdoing.

The trial, which first began in June, was due to wrap up on Friday. Roland's preliminary ruling allows state bar prosecutors to present "aggravating" evidence to support disbarment, a bar spokesperson said. Eastman's unproven voter fraud claims led to harassment of election officials and undermined public trust in election results, bar prosecutors have alleged.

"Our office received lots of threatening and harassing messages in the aftermath of the 2020 election," Sambo (Bo) Dul, a former lawyer for the Arizona Secretary of State's Office, testified on Friday. Dul is now general counsel to Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs.

The culpability finding "marks a major milestone in the state bar’s pursuit of accountability," States United Democracy Center, a nonpartisan policy group that filed a disciplinary complaint against Eastman in 2021, said in a statement.

The case is still not over. Both sides will file written closing arguments by Nov. 22. Roland, who sits on California's State Bar Court, will then have 90 days to issue her ruling, which is appealable.

The California Supreme Court has the final say on all disciplinary matters.

Eastman was separately indicted in August on criminal charges in Fulton County, Georgia, for trying to overthrow the 2020 election there. Eastman, who was charged in the criminal case alongside Trump and additional former lawyers to the ex- president, pleaded not guilty in September.

A former law professor at Chapman University in California, Eastman drafted legal memos suggesting then-Vice President Mike Pence could refuse to accept electoral votes from several swing states when Congress convened to certify the 2020 vote count. Pence rebuffed his arguments, saying he did not have legal authority.

Eastman faces 11 counts of attorney ethics violations, including misleading courts and making false public statements about voter fraud in the 2020 election. His strategy was "completely unsupported by historical precedent or law, and contrary to our values as a nation," state bar prosecutor Duncan Carling said at the start of the disciplinary trial in June.

Eastman has consistently defended his legal theories throughout the trial and argued they were advanced in good faith. He has contended that the allegations of voter fraud put the 2020 election in "uncharted territory."

During the trial he questioned statements made by election officials that there was no voter fraud in the states Biden won. He made unproven election fraud claims at a rally outside the White House on Jan. 6, 2021.

After that rally, Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol and delayed the congressional certification of the election.

Disassociating

A spineless, soul-less chickenshit Republican attempting to un-Trump himself, but doing it by proxy. He praises Pence in order to signal his resurfacing dislike of Trump (and the MAGAbots) in that very Lindsey Graham-ish passive aggressive way.

There is no honor in any of this.

Overheard

Gay people aren't shooting up straight nightclubs.

A black man didn't shoot 9 white people at a prayer meeting.

Latinos aren't shooting up Walmarts filled with WASPy Americans.

Jews aren't shooting up Christians churches.

The shit is coming from one demographic: MAGA Radicalized White Men.

Ari Explains

One of the things that has become a complete bugaboo is the fairly simple fact that when normal people don't know enough about some issue - eg: all this Trump shit - we go in search of good info, knowing "good" info is not all that easy to find, while an awful lot of truly shitty people are willing to put out all kinds of total bullshit that gets internalized by gullible (but honestly trusting) people who've been sucked in because cynically manipulative assholes feel no compunction about amping up the rage in order to cash in on it - either politically or monetarily, or both.

OK - thus endeth the rant.

Let's go to Ari Melber for a pretty good explainer.

Today's Gaslighting

How it started

How it's going