GUILTY NY - Ex-President Donald Trump, charged with 34 criminal counts of falsifying business records, Apr 2023, Trial 25 Mar 2024 #4

[tlcya]

The trial is over so I think it's appropriate. I liked what he said, all very valid.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1796597458048352574

I understand your POV

But IMO, when the President of the United States comments on the conviction of a former president who just so happens to also be his competition in the current election, and that convicted former president/candidate has spent the entire duration of his trial whining about how this is politically motivated and rigged, I find it to be in poor taste and poor judgment for the sitting President to comment.

JMO MOO the mileage of others will vary.

 

[RANCH]

I understand your POV

But IMO, when the President of the United States comments on the conviction of a former president who just so happens to also be his competition in the current election, and that convicted former president/candidate has spent the entire duration of his trial whining about how this is politically motivated and rigged, I find it to be in poor taste and poor judgment for the sitting President to comment.

JMO MOO the mileage of others will vary.

This is only the first salvo from President Biden where he will use this conviction as a campaign tool. JMO.

 

[JennieM]

31 May 2024

The judge who presided over Donald Trump’s business fraud trial is the target of a wave of rightwing misinformation in the wake of his conviction on business fraud charges, the Guardian’s Gloria Oladipo reports:

Juan Merchan, the judge who oversaw the New York hush-money trial of Donald Trump, is facing fresh threats to his safety after false reports about jury instructions have circulated online.

Several rightwing pundits, including a Fox News anchor, have incorrectly reported that Merchan told jurors they did not need to be unanimous in finding Trump guilty in order to convict him, NBC News reported.

“Judge Merchan just told the jury that they do not need unanimity to convict,” Fox News anchor John Roberts posted to X on Wednesday. “4 could agree on one crime, 4 on a different one, and the other 4 on another. He said he would treat 4-4-4 as a unanimous verdict.”

Roberts’s post has been viewed almost 6m times.

Misinformation on Merchan’s instructions have drawn threats of violence, especially after Trump was found guilty of all 34 counts of falsifying business records in the hush-money trial on Thursday.

On Gab, a social media site popular among far-right users, one person said it was “time to find out where that judge lives and protest as the left calls it”, NBC reported.

Others in pro-Trump forums accused Merchan of treason, and suggested that he should be hanged for his participation in the trial, an echo of rioters at the January 6 attack on the US Capitol by extremist Trump supporters who called for Mike Pence, then the vice-president, to be hanged for refusing to block the certification of Joe Biden’s election victory.

Biden says Trump’s claim of rigged trial is ‘dangerous’ and ‘reckless’ in White House speech – as it happened

The president said ‘Donald Trump was given every opportunity to defend himself’ and ‘no one is above the law’. This blog is now closed.

www.theguardian.com

Trump trial judge faces new threats after false reports on jury instructions spread

Rightwing pundits incorrectly report Juan Merchan told jurors they didn’t need to be unanimous in finding Trump guilty

www.theguardian.com

 

[tlcya]

This is only the first salvo from President Biden where he will use this conviction as a campaign tool. JMO.

I'm sure you are correct.

Just as 45 has already turned the focus of his own campaign fundraising heavily toward his "unjust" conviction and railroading.

I find every bit of this behavior from both sides very distasteful and quite frankly embarrassing to this great nation.

 

[branmuffin]

He's still a proven liar who's testimony is not believable to me. JMO.

And that's probably why Trump was not put on the stand. He's a proven liar, too. It would have turned the trial into the Olympic sport of lying. So it's probably why Trump was convicted of 34 counts because Cohen was convicted for the same campaign finance violations and incarcerated for the crime. It's probably why Trump was convicted, too. People who high fived each other when Cohen, a lying, devious, underhanded thief with an axe to grind went to jail I'm a little non-plussed why people who think Trump got railroaded for being the Beavis to Cohen's Butthead when they were two sides of the same coin. Except one was in the position of power and the other one was an underling. They both reek of criminality, imo.

It's also naive to believe that the prosecution is responsible for putting defense witnesses on the stand. Why would they? It's their job to find reliable and believable witnesses that support the charges especially when those individuals were people like Hope Hicks who hammered in a few nails in Trump's coffin without even trying. So when a soft ball witness like Hicks can damage Trump's credibility I can see why Todd Blanche resorted to whining about the prosecution's decision not to put Weisselberg or Keith Schiller on the stand. Why would they? It's not their job. Blanche moaned about it, as if his hands were tied, yet either of those two guys would have hammered the rest of the nails in Trump's coffin and he knew it. He couldn't risk putting individuals on the stand who may inadvertently release even more crushing evidence against Trump and open the door to the prosecution's cross. Weisselberg may be tired of taking the heat for Trump's criminality.

Trump has five kids, one who was an advisor to Trump when he was president. His older male kids worked side by side with Trump who knew the machinations of Trump's business. Wouldn't you think that any of those children could have vouched for Trump's veracity? But none of them took the stand. And we all know why. Stealing from charities, using campaign funds for personal business, charging rack rates for government businesses in Trump's hotels, etc. It would have been a bloodbath.

Trump is lucky he didn't get charged with all the crimes Cohen did because if he had, he'd be incarcerated, too. Lucky for him, the felonies he's been convicted of rarely end up with jail time. His sentence may involve community service which usually has to be somewhat related to the charges. Although I'd love to see him cleaning toilets in Central Park, I think finally paying all the trades Trump stiffed during his reign of error would be a perfect starting point. My opinion as a bystander watching this trainwreck.

 

[branmuffin]

That is correct. JMO.

And yet we know if Trump had taken the stand, Cohen would have lost the title within five minutes. Another reason Trump wasn't put on the stand.

 

[Kaley Smith]

Please take the high road American websleuthers. There will be many opportunities for you to do that in the next few months as the hostilities will ratchet up. The same for my fellow Canadians when we head into elections in the future. Keep to the issues. There has been a huge increase in threats to politicians, keeping many good potential candidates in all parties out of politics. I've recently e-mailed the three main parties to urge them to stay away from mudslinging, name-calling and generally dragging our political discourse down. I'm a swing voter and am open to voting for any of the three main leaders in Canada, and character matters to me just as much as policy.

 

[Smelly Squirrel]

This is only the first salvo from President Biden where he will use this conviction as a campaign tool. JMO.

Is there any ethical problem with that? He's not supposed to point out the judicially prosecuted criminal record of his opponent? All the meanwhile, that opponent invents crimes of his and scores of false accusations against myriads of others?

 

[Kaley Smith]

I have no complaints if the mods delete any of my posts for being too personal or whatever. It's such a tough and thankless job. I appreciate them allowing discussion on this topic because I think it's such an important one, although I know it creates a heap more headaches and work for them.

 

[RANCH]

And yet we know if Trump had taken the stand, Cohen would have lost the title within five minutes. Another reason Trump wasn't put on the stand.

I think that President Trump didn't need to testify at this trial. In fact I feel his defense team should have rested after the prosecution was finished with their case. JMO.

 

[RANCH]

Is there any ethical problem with that? He's not supposed to point out the judicially prosecuted criminal record of his opponent? All the meanwhile, that opponent invents crimes of his and scores of false accusations against myriads of others?

I think that President Biden will take full advantage of this conviction during his campaign.

It's up to voters on how they feel about it. JMO.

 

[JennieM]

New Wiki entry for Trump.

Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and convicted felon who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump

 

[JennieM]

1h ago

Trump conviction dents independent, GOP support - poll​

A just-released Reuters/Ipsos poll indicates Donald Trump’s business fraud conviction may cost him among independent voters, as well as Republicans.

The survey conducted following Trump’s guilty verdict on Thursday finds 10% of registered Republican voters are less likely to voter for him, alongside a quarter of registered independent voters.

The findings were significant for a few reasons. Independent voters may decide the outcome in swing states Joe Biden carried in 2020, but where polls show his support has dropped in the years since. And even though Trump easily won the votes necessary to become the GOP’s presumptive nominee, some people continue to cast ballots for Nikki Haley, who bowed out of the race for the Republican nomination months ago. That raises the possibility that the former president is unpalatable to a potentially significant number of Republicans – a group whose ranks may have just grown with his conviction.

Biden says Trump’s claim of rigged trial is ‘dangerous’ and ‘reckless’ in White House speech – as it happened

The president said ‘Donald Trump was given every opportunity to defend himself’ and ‘no one is above the law’. This blog is now closed.

www.theguardian.com

 

[RANCH]

The presidential campaign of Donald Trump said it raised a record $34.8 million from small-dollar donors in the hours after his criminal hush money case conviction in New York.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/31/trump-campaign-donations-record.html

 

[Ursamajr]

This is only the first salvo from President Biden where he will use this conviction as a campaign tool. JMO.

I mean, really, he should. Reminding the people that the alternative is a convicted felon should be part of his campaign. I don't really mind if people think it's ugly of him. *Everything* is ugly now and thats because things have been allowed to get to where they are right now.

 

[IzzyBlanche]

I mean, really, he should. Reminding the people that the alternative is a convicted felon should be part of his campaign. I don't really mind if people think it's ugly of him. *Everything* is ugly now and thats because things have been allowed to get to where they are right now.

If Biden were the convicted felon, Trump wouldn't be able to open his mouth without mentioning it.

 

[IzzyBlanche]

After listening to part of that unhinged rant this morning, I am far more concerned about Trump's mental capacity than Biden's.

 

[RANCH]

I mean, really, he should. Reminding the people that the alternative is a convicted felon should be part of his campaign. I don't really mind if people think it's ugly of him. *Everything* is ugly now and thats because things have been allowed to get to where they are right now.

I see what you're saying.

I have a feeling that some will cheer and some will take offense and find it, as you say, ugly. JMO.

 

[Ursamajr]

If Biden were the convicted felon, Trump wouldn't be able to open his mouth without mentioning it.

Yup. It's always fascinating to me (and baffling) when behaviors from one are accepted and go unchecked (and even revered!) and yet the same behavior will cause the person right next to them to be lambasted. We truly live in a tiered society - politically and racially and economically. What a time to be alive.

 

[Ursamajr]

I see what you're saying.

I have a feeling that some will cheer and some will take offense and find it, as you say, ugly. JMO.

When I was younger I used to scoff at the (what I deemed fake and forced) civility of politicians. Now I long for the days!