Apr 8, 2021
Host Reed Galen is joined by Michael Cohen, the former personal attorney to Donald Trump. Galen and Cohen discuss 45’s pending litigation, how ingrained the former president continues to be in the Republican party, and how Trump completely blundered the COVID-19 pandemic. Plus, will Donald Trump run for president in 2024?
For example, when people are not paying what is legally required of them it means that someone else is not getting help recovering from their drug addictions, so instead they turn to crime. It means that the roads and bridges are not safe. It means that kids do not have access to preschool. Because the rich are not paying the taxes they owe and otherwise hiding income, it means that they are a de facto criminal class. The 1 percent are literally becoming wealthier and more powerful from criminal behavior. They use their influence to change the laws so that they pay fewer taxes, and this includes underfunding the IRS.
Source: Legal scholar Jennifer Taub on Trump as a symptom of America’s massive inequality | Salon.com
Source: The World According to Trump
Ted Boutrous, a constitutional law expert, told CNN, “The 1st Amendment provides strong protections for statements of opinion, but what Dominion is pointing to is the fact that Ms. Powell was declaring that she had evidence of this fraud and this election malfeasance and she was declaring that as a matter of fact. The 1st Amendment doesn’t protect knowingly false statements of fact.”
How Sidney Powell ‘Clowned’ Right-wing Media and Led Them down a Dark Rabbit Hole — Ending in Legal Peril | The Smirking Chimp
Trump appeared entirely convinced that the insurrection was mostly peaceful and fun-loving, only briefly clarifying to Fox News host Laura Ingraham that the rioters who breached the building “shouldn’t have done it.” He railed against law enforcement for “persecuting” the rioters, arguing that “some of them went in and they’re, they’re hugging and kissing the police and the guards.”
Trump tries to defend Capitol rioters on Fox News, gets shut down by Laura Ingraham | Salon.com
After almost six years of diving, we may have finally found the bottom of the barrel.
Sidney Powell’s Legal Defense Exposes the Rot at the Core of Trumpism | The Smirking Chimp
A key member of the legal team that sought to steal the 2020 election for Donald Trump is defending herself against a billion-dollar defamation lawsuit by arguing that “no reasonable person” could have mistaken her wild claims about election fraud last November as statements of fact.
Pro-Trump lawyer says ‘no reasonable person’ would believe her election lies | US news | The Guardian
With the new conspiracy indictment, prosecutors have now brought charges against a total of 13 people identified in court papers as members of the Proud Boys.
Four Proud Boys Indicted For Conspiracy In Capitol Attack | Crooks and Liars
The sheer numerical immensity of Trump’s explosive crimes, from those once much covered to those now mentioned only in passing, still staggers. The latest is this nitroglycerin of a story, which, it seems to me — have I been out of touch? — somehow barely made it into the passingly mentioned file.
Will Trump Ever See the World Through Iron Bars? | The Smirking Chimp
Time to see Trump as a normal politician: grubby, grasping, corrupt and banal | Salon.com
Trump didn’t drain the swamp. He filled it up and fleeced it. This is what ordinary, corrupt, greedy politicians do. They come up with ways to use the business of politics to fill their own pockets. Trump was never a good businessman. He wasn’t a good politician either. He was always just a cheap crook like the rest of them.
Time to see Trump as a normal politician: grubby, grasping, corrupt and banal | Salon.com
Were I Trump’s Lawyer For The Day, I’d advise him to purchase a first-class ticket to Botswana or Brunei, neither of which has an extradition treaty with the United States. Because things are getting pretty ugly for him in New York.
The Prosecutors Cometh | The Smirking Chimp
An adviser to former President Donald Trump has hinted at his return to social media in a new podcast, describing the alleged comeback in the most Trumpian of ways, saying: “It will be a tectonic plate shift in the world of social media, because anything that he touches is going to be big.”
Trump plans ‘tectonic plate shift’ return to social media despite being blocked by almost every site | The Independent
Now that Donald Trump has emerged as the front-runner for the Republican nomination in 2024, it is worth asking what he achieved for the political Right during his term in office and whether this record of achievement, in itself, would justify the support he has received.
Why the political Right wants to see Trump back in the White House
The lies Trump told at CPAC about the election and his record were not new, but his request for supporters to give money to his new political committee was a first.
Self-Proclaimed Billionaire Trump Now Begging Small-Dollar Donors For Money | HuffPost Australia
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The Trump record Let’s examine the Trump record.
Donald Trump is a loser. Why is the Republican Party sticking with him? – NZ Herald
On both the criminal and civil litigation fronts, former President Donald Trump faces a bevy of lawsuits and investigations, with more cases likely to follow. Some are civil suits stemming from his pre-presidential business dealings. Others are defamation claims from women he allegedly assaulted. More still are criminal probes and civil actions that scrutinize his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The Chart below tracks all these cases. It will be continually updated as major legal developments occur.
Litigation Tracker: Pending Criminal and Civil Cases Against Donald Trump
But not everyone supported Mr Trump. A separate question on the poll asked whether Mr Trump should run again in 2024 – getting a mixed result, with 68 per cent saying he should run and 32 per cent opposed or having no opinion.
‘We will win’: Trump hints at 2024 presidential run in first speech
Trump repeated a bunch of other false claims we regularly heard from him as president, on subjects ranging from trade with China to his stance on the war in Iraq. He also offered up some new false claims about President Joe Biden’s early days in office. We are still going through the transcript of Trump’s remarks, but here is an initial breakdown of some of the things he said.
Fact checking Trump’s CPAC speech – CNNPolitics
This is nonsense. Cy Vance looking into Trump’s finances poses no more threat to the average Trump voter than Trump getting ticketed for speeding outside Mar-a-Lago—though you can bet he’d insist that was political persecution too. But careful reasoning has never been essential to Trump’s political identity. Displaced grievance has been, and it will remain so for the rest of his life.
Trump’s Next Line of Defense – The Atlantic
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Trump is the only modern president to refuse to publicly release his tax records. Starting in the 2016 election campaign, and continuing until the end of his presidency, Trump said he could not release them until the Internal Revenue Service was finished auditing them. There was never any rule or law preventing Trump from releasing his own records. Today’s Supreme Court decision does not mean the tax documents will be made public; they can, however, be shown to the grand jury in New York.
Donald Trump decries US Supreme Court ruling on his tax returns – NZ Herald
Donald Trump has urged Republican senators to dump Mitch McConnell as their leader in the Senate following his withering criticism of the former US president after his impeachment trial.
Donald Trump urges US Senate Republicans to dump ‘unsmiling political hack’ Mitch McConnell as leader
A Democratic congressman has accused Donald Trump in a federal lawsuit of inciting the deadly insurrection at the US Capitol and of conspiring with his lawyer and extremist groups to try to prevent the Senate from certifying the results of the presidential election he lost to Joe Biden. The lawsuit from Mississippi’s Representative Bennie Thompson, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, is part of an expected wave of litigation over the January 6 riot and is believed to be the first filed by a member of Congress. It seeks unspecified punitive and compensatory damages.
Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani accused of conspiring to incite riot in new lawsuit
Is this ‘the most innocent man anywhere in the history of the United States’?
Donald Trump: what crimes has the ex-president been accused of?
Prosecutors in New York who have been probing more than $350 million in loans Donald Trump took out on Trump Tower and three other Manhattan properties are honing in on allegations of financial crimes. The years-old criminal investigation has made the former US president vulnerable to prosecution despite being acquitted at his second impeachment trial.
Donald Trump escapes impeachment, but still faces criminal charges
The Senate acquitted Donald Trump, again, on Saturday, but the former president’s legal worries are far from over. As a private citizen, Trump is no longer protected by the Justice Department’s policy against charging a sitting president with federal crimes. And Trump, his family and businesses, also have to worry about investigations in various local jurisdictions and at least one foreign country, lawsuits he used his presidency to dodge, and probes by congressional committees. Here are some highlights:
The Senate Acquitted Trump. His Legal Problems Are Just Starting. – Mother Jones
We can’t look away from this simple set of facts: All the evidence points to the conclusion not just that Trump recklessly whipped up a mob that went on to storm the Capitol, but also that he wanted that mob to succeed in finding and attacking those who stood in the way of his return to the presidency. Of course, nobody can know what exactly went on inside Trump’s mind that day, but his conversation with Tuberville, the subsequent tweet, and his conversation with McCarthy point in a very dark direction.
Let’s Be Honest About What Trump Wanted on January 6
Trump Had ‘Expletive-Laced’ Call With McCarthy, Siding With Rioters | Crooks and Liars
As the fourth day of Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial wrapped up, CNN reported shocking new details about the January 6th insurrection on the Capitol. They report that there was an “expletive-laced phone call” with House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy while the rioters were actively attacking the Capitol and shocking no one, Donald Trump gleefully told McCarthy that the “rioters cared more about the election results than McCarthy did.”
Trump Had ‘Expletive-Laced’ Call With McCarthy, Siding With Rioters | Crooks and Liars
Throughout his ownership of Mar-a-Lago, Trump has feuded with neighbors and local officials and violated zoning rules with abandon. He has repeatedly attempted to build a dock at the property, one time going so far as to seek approval from the federal government despite never having notified the town he was intending to build a marina. And after the town told him he couldn’t build an 80-foot flagpole (nearly twice the allowed height), he built it anyway, opting to pay daily fines. Eventually, after he wracked up $120,000 in fines, the town relented and allowed Trump to build a 70-foot flagpole, dropping the fines if Trump donated $100,000 to a veteran’s charity.
In Residency Fight, Donald Trump Claims He’s Just a Regular ‘Ol Mar-a-Lago Staff Member – Mother Jones
Donald Trump’s impeachment trial is in its third day with the US Senate hearing example after example of the rioters saying the President directly summoned them to the Capitol on January 6.
Trump impeachment trial live updates: Rioters said President directly summoned them to the Capitol, US Senate hears – ABC News
Impeachment sends Republican senators scrambling: Trump makes the GOP squirm with a flailing defense | Salon.com
But there’s one silver lining: The Democrats who are arguing the case as the House managers so thoroughly smoked Trump’s defense that even Trump knows it.
Impeachment sends Republican senators scrambling: Trump makes the GOP squirm with a flailing defense | Salon.com
“We cannot begin to address this threat and rebuild trust unless we send a clear message that future presidents cannot incite an insurrection at the end of their term and get away with it.”
‘The Senate Must Convict. America Is Watching’: Watchdogs Demand Trump Be Held to Account | Common Dreams News
I analyzed all of Trump’s tweets to find out what he was really saying
The tally was in, it was clear Donald Trump had lost – and he tweeted: “either a new election should take place or … results nullified.” It sounds familiar, but it wasn’t November 2020. It was February 2016. Trump was just months into his presidential campaign, and was already telling a story he would tell countless times over the following five years, hinting to the world at the character of the man the U.S. Senate will soon evaluate in the impeachment trial. Back then, Trump was seeking to nullify Ted Cruz’s victory. And he was accusing Iowa of bungling the primary vote counting.
I analyzed all of Trump’s tweets to find out what he was really saying
Republicans are embracing a technicality to avoid finding Trump guilty.
Trump’s Impeachment Trial Matters, Even If He Dodges Conviction – Mother Jones
Widespread voter fraud is a fake problem, but some conservative donors say they’re getting scammed out of real money.
Election Denier Groups Accused of Profiting Without Results
“That cause is not a democratic cause. It’s not a limited-government cause. It seems that the Mercers invested in chaos and they got exactly what they wanted. It seems like they invested in someone who didn’t believe in American democracy, and they got someone who tried to burn it down.”
How one billionaire family bankrolled election lies, white nationalism — and the Capitol riot | Salon.com
In an 80-page document laying out their case, the Democrats’ impeachment managers state that Trump “summoned a mob to Washington, exhorted them into a frenzy, and aimed them like a loaded cannon down Pennsylvania Avenue”.
Trump impeachment: Democrats say Donald Trump ‘singularly responsible’ for Capitol riot
Trump’s many post-presidential perks will go away if he is convicted. Trump would get to keep his Secret Service detail, but the rest—”a pension, access to health insurance, office space and staff”—aren’t guaranteed.
Donald Trump Doesn’t Appear to Have a Lawyer for His Impeachment Trial – Mother Jones
Former president Donald Trump has parted ways with his lead impeachment lawyers little more more than a week before his trial, two people familiar with the situation have said.
Trump loses lead impeachment lawyers a week before trial
On the night before the rally, Stone surrounded himself with symbols of potential violence in the form of his Oath Keeper security detail, who also chauffeured him around in a golf cart. When he spoke, he made clear that he knew exactly what would drive the masses over the police barricades the following afternoon, casting the futile fight in the common language of the QAnon fantasy movement, of a struggle between “dark and light, between the godly and godless, between good and evil.” Reached for comment for this article, Stone told Salon to “have a nice day.”
Six degrees of sedition: Was master trickster Roger Stone behind the Capitol riot? | Salon.com
Lambe notes that “several defense attorneys who represent those arrested at the U.S. Capitol Siege on January 6 have said their clients acted specifically because they believed Trump told them to do so.”
Trump’s Impeachment Is Unlikely to Result in a Conviction. But It May Increase His Chances of Being Criminally Prosecuted. | The Smirking Chimp
what we do know are the ways the trial could end. There are four of them, to be exact.
Donald Trump’s Senate impeachment trial will end one of these four ways – ABC News
“Trump confessed he was wrecking USPS to rig the election. His toady Postmaster General DeJoy carried out that arson. It’s time to clean house.” by Jake Johnson, staff writer
Biden Urged to Fire Entire Postal Service Board for Complicity in ‘Devastating Arson’ by Trump and DeJoy | Common Dreams News
Former President Donald Trump issued more than 100 pardons before leaving the White House, most of them to personal friends and political allies, including controversial figures such as Paul Manafort and Gen. Michael Flynn. According to a Saturday report from Business Insider, some legal experts believe that Trump’s pardons were so “poorly worded” that the individuals he pardoned may still be open to prosecution.
Donald Trump’s Pardons Were So ‘Poorly Worded’ That His Allies May Still Be Prosecuted, Legal Experts Say
Revenue from government sources will end. Nevertheless the ex- President may not leave a financial legacy but he will have a comfortable life of golf
The disclosure showed sizable debt facing the company of more than $300 million, much of it coming due in the next four years, and a major bright spot: Revenue at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, his new post-presidency home, rose by a few million dollars.
Trump Returns To A Business Empire Ravaged By Pandemic | HuffPost
As Donald Trump left the White House yesterday, he returned to a business empire in dire financial condition—far worse than previously reported, according to newly disclosed information. Trump’s final personal financial statement, filed Wednesday night, shows that revenues at his company, the Trump Organization, plunged by more than $150 million last year—a whopping decline of nearly 40 percent. The disclosure also reveals that many of his flagship properties saw much of their business evaporate over the last year.
More Bad News for Trump: Last Year, His Company’s Revenues Plunged $150 Million – Mother Jones
When former President Donald Trump expressed solidarity with the Proud Boys during his first debate with Joe Biden in late September, the far-right group felt energized. But now, at the dawn of President Joe Biden’s administration, the group is in a state of disarray and disillusionment. Proud Boys organizer Joe Biggs has been arrested in connection with the January 6 insurrection, and some members are now railing against the former president they once idolized.
‘Trump will go down as a total failure’: The Proud Boys are in disarray as Biden’s presidency begins – Alternet.org
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