The United States of America v. djt

The First Federal Indictment of a Former President

Ann Telnaes

It's another first for our country.

On Thursday afternoon, SCROTUS truth-socialed that, “The corrupt Biden Administration has informed my attorneys that I have been Indicted, seemingly over the Boxes Hoax.”

For once, he didn't lie. 45 is under federal indictment. And yep, it's over the boxes. What's the big deal about a few score of bankers boxes containing intelligence secrets about the U.S. and other countries strewn about a gold-crusted resort?

The Document: Jeezus Christ

Yesterday, the indictment was released. A federal grand jury from the Southern District of Florida charged The Spy Kid with 37 counts in total, all felonies. For Documents Don, there are 31 counts under the Espionage Act of Willful Retention of National Defense Information and one count of False Statements and Representations. In addition, there are single counts of the following felonies, charged to him and to his co-conspirator Waltine Nauta: Conspiracy to Obstruct Justice, Withholding a Document or Record, Corruptly Concealing a Document or Record, Concealing a Document in a Federal Investigation, and one count of Scheme to Conceal. 

There is no way I could improve upon the writing of Special Counsel Jack Smith, who brought the charges. In his televised statement, Smith encouraged us all to read the indictment for ourselves. I also encourage you. Please read the document here. It is an easy read, a clear, concise, compelling short story of federal crimes perpetrated by the former leader of the free world. And boy! it packs a punch. I can't tell you how many times I muttered, "Jeezus Christ" as I read it and saw the photographs!

The Highlights

The two serious sides

The indictment outlines two very serious aspects to the case.

• That he unlawfully had the documents in the first place
• That he tried mightily to not give them back. He obstructed hard.

The photographs of the storage of "his boxes." OMG! 

Among other widely-accessible locations at the resort, such as offices and unsecured closets, the boxes containing classified documents were stacked in a ballroom and in a freaking bathroom! By the looks of it, it's possible the bathroom was actively used, pictured with a lined trash bin and clean towels set out. Thousands of people potentially had access to these areas in Mar-a-Lago.

(For other photos that are contained in the indictment, go here)

Boxes of documents stacked on the stage of the Mar-a-Lago ballroom. This space was accessible to staff, members, and visitors of Mar-a-Lago.

Raise your hand if you store your stolen classified documents in the bathroom. Rookie mistake. When I store my Top Secret documents, I put them behind the shower curtain!

Literally Spilling Secrets

One photo showed a box overturned from a stack in a closet. One of the documents spilled on the floor was marked "SECRET/REL TO USA, FVEY.” The "Five Eyes" designation means the document contains information for the eyes of only officials from an intelligence alliance from the countries of the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. 

The redacted Secret document lies between the vanity photos and the issue of the Wall Street Journal in the foreground. Jeezus Christ!

There's bad, and there's very bad

It's all bad, but the fact that he had documents under Special Access Program (SAP) is especially bad. These documents are top-top-top level, so sensitive that not only is the information limited to the eyes of a very few people, but these documents are to be handled more securely, and the location where these items are to be viewed is a safe, secured facility. The bathroom at Mar-a-Lago? Doubtful that it qualifies.

The display to visitors and the recorded admission

The indictment outlines a couple instances where Trumpty-Dumbty brought out documents and showed them to visitors. Both were at his Bedminster, New Jersey club, where he had brought some of the items.

The first instance was when he showed someone from his political action committee a classified military map and "plan of attack" and freely admitted that he shouldn't be showing it. Reporting indicates that the PAC official is Margo Martin, a communications official from the Save America PAC, whose laptop and phone were subpoenaed, and who testified in front of the grand jury. 

The other was with four individuals, including a writer and a publisher, none of whom had security clearance. This was audio-recorded and Double Agent Orange is heard saying, "As president I could have declassified it," and "now I can't, you know, but this is still a secret." The individuals weren't named in the indictment, and I can't find reporting on who the author is. Read the jaw-dropping transcript of the conversation on page 15 of the indictment. 

This is proof that one, he knew the documents weren't declassified, and two, that he didn't have the power to do so after leaving the Whitewash House. 

Jeezus Christ.

The incriminating statements

There's clear evidence of obstruction from statements he made to attorney Evan Corcoran, who "memorialized" conversations with his boss. As Sister Resister Anne noted, this shows that Corcoran knew he was being played. He didn't want to be implicated in the commission of a crime, and he wanted to preserve evidence.

Sneaky Pete

On page 21, Smith illustrates how The Bloat of Many Colors tried to implement several ways to avoid complying with the subpoena, including further hiding the documents, destroying the documents, or simply lying about having them. 

The indictment tells the story of how SCROTUS asked Corcoran, who was preparing to comply with the subpoena, to postpone for a bit his search for the requested documents. Then POTATUS directed Nauta at Mar-a-Lago to move the boxes around. There are specific timestamps on Natua's movements, indicating that Smith has video evidence of the crime. Further, there is evidence that the bumbling idiot had planned to take some of the documents on the plane back to Bedminster with him.

The most beautiful pages

The second most delicious page was page nine, the one with the "But her emails!" quotes. His sick rhetoric has been used against him in a federal 👏 indictment 👏 for 👏 felony 👏 crimes 👏

Clay Jones

The most beautiful words were on the last few pages, the Penalty Sheet, which outline the penalties attached to each count. Up to 20 years for many counts, 10 years for each of the espionage counts. Let's get that prison cot warmed up! On second hand, nah. No sheets in that cell. Gotta keep him uncomfortably alive until age 97½.

Hero of the Day: Jack Smith 

Special Prosecutor Jack Smith was appointed to the job by Attorney General Merrick Garland back in November 2022 after the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago and retrieved the stolen documents. He has been mum during the whole seven months on the job, and very few leaks have emerged from his investigation. We didn't even know what he sounded like until Friday night, when he appeared before the American people to encourage them to read the indictment for themselves. He also reminded us that, "We have one set of laws in this country and they apply to everyone." And he reminded us that in our system, 45 is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. 

Read more about Jack Smith in the Washington Post.

The Players

Though individuals and specific countries are not named in the indictment, the identities of the players have been reported as:

• "Attorney 1" is Evan Corcoron 
• "Senior Military Official" is Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley
• "Country A" is Iran. 

It seems that Corcoron's documentation and possibly his testimony is the basis for most of the conspiracy and concealing charges. 

The co-conspirator: Waltine (Walt) Nauta 

Previously unknown to me, and likely to you, Walt Nauta was the Mendacious Duckbilled Twatypus's right-hand co-conspirator. Nauta is originally from Guam. He enlisted in the Navy in 2001 and worked as a part of the Presidential Food Service from 2012 to 2021, rising to the rank of Senior Chief Culinary Specialist. After 2021, he worked for IMPOTUS as a valet or "body man" at Mar-a-Lago. 

Shaking my head. This poor little fish flopping around in a bigly tremendous drying-up pond. Forever linked to the worst perpetrator of crimes by a former president in the history of the nation.

The Big Question: will Nauta save his tail and cooperate?

Read more about Nauta from Maggie Haberman at the New York Times.

Waltine Nauta and Don the Con
Reuters

What's next?

Attorneys have resigned. Hours after the indictment was released, two of SCROTUS's attorneys resigned. There was no reason given, but as you know, he is under investigation for two more crimes, indictments coming soon. These attorneys aren't the first to jump ship. He has difficulty retaining good counsel. 

Tuesday, June 13: The arrest and the hearing

For the second time in as many months, The Former Guy will report to the authorities and will be placed under arrest for his crimes. He will stand before a judge and hear the charges against him, and he will enter pleas.

Will he make a plea deal so he can get on with his campaign? HELL NO! He doesn't really want to be president again. He wants to use his precious political persecution to WITCH HUNT! the hell out of it. He will get rallies all over RedLand with his base of deplorable Q people, soaking in all their applause and red hats, and he will bilk them for millions and millions of dollars. He'll have them going into (further) debt for him. And that's how he likes it.

Threats to Jack Smith and his family. It's his familiar playbook. Threaten and intimidate, and send your minions after "the enemy." On Friday, he truth-socialed insults about Smith, calling him “a deranged lunatic,” a “Trump Hater,” and a “psycho." No doubt Smith and his family are under increased security today. 

Motions: will the judge delay proceedings?

The judge initially assigned to the case, über-conservative Aileen M. Cannon, is a win for Nostradumbass. He appointed her in 2020 to the federal judgeship for the District Court for the Southern District of Florida. In previous actions regarding this case, she ruled in his favor by restricting the FBI from conducting their investigation. It was later overturned by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals (another conservative body) in a scathing decision, but I'm sure her appointer liked her style of delaying proceedings. If she decides to entertain motions from the defense in this case, it could be dragged out until after the election. 

You can read more about Aileen the Sticky Wicket here.

The upcoming cases

It's unclear what effect, if any, this indictment will have on the other pending investigations. Fulton County, Georgia Attorney General Fani Willis's case surrounding election interference has been rumored to be imminent for a while.

And Jack Smith is keeping busy with the January 6 attempted coup investigation and will undoubtedly bring charges there as well. When? We don't know. 

Clay Jones

Stay tuned. Little Sister Resister will bring you what she knows!

Like a Common Criminal

It was a big day on Tuesday, when Covfefool had to appear in front of a judge and plead to crimes.

The Best Moments

1. The words D***** J. T**** and under arrest in the same sentence.

2. This moment, below. Don't let the door slap you in the face on the way in. Loser. 

 

3. And the photos of the slumped, sad, humiliated orange turd sitting at the defense table. 

Alas, there was no mugshot.

But that didn't stop Don the Con from using a fake mugshot to pick his minions' pockets. He plastered one on a T-shirt, which can be yours for the low, low price of $36 or $47. I'd buy it, but it's a little pricier than my usual toilet paper. 

So... Thirty-four felony counts were filed against him by Alvin Bragg, District Attorney of Manhattan, all surrounding entries to his business records. He is charged with falsifying business records with this scheme: 

• His fixer Michael Cohen created a shell company and paid Stormy Daniels $130,000 in the weeks leading up to the election. 
• T**** reimbursed Cohen from his business accounts over time, labeling them as "attorney fees." 
• Each entry into the ledgers is an additional count. There were 34 in total; 11 counts for false invoices, 11 for false checks and check stubs, and 12 for false general ledger entries according to the indictment and Statement of Facts, which the New York Times has so niftily annotated. 
• The Statement of Facts also mentions payoffs to another former sexual partner, Karen McDougal, as well as to T**** Tower doorman Dino Sajudin to keep 'em quiet about "alleged" other dirty SCROTUS bizness in "catch and kill" schemes while in cahoots with National Enquirer publisher David Pecker (yes, David 🍆), to influence the outcome of the 2016 election. Here is the Statement of Facts with individuals identified, from The Wall Street Journal.

The business financial entries are illegal; they are misdemeanors on their own. But when made in connection with another crime (including planning another crime, even if it doesn't occur), they become felonies.

There is bigly speculation as to what the other crime is / are, as it wasn't described in the indictment nor in the statement of facts. There is speculation that it is either tax fraud (i.e., Cohen declared them on his taxes and Trumpty-Dumpty deducted them), or campaign finance fraud (i.e., POTATUS used the payments as de facto campaign donations, and their purpose was to cover up facts that would influence voters).

LSR's Takeaways

The pundits are "poking holes" in the case and saying that it's not a strong case. But they don't know all the elements, which D.A. Alvin Bragg has kept close to the chest. There's nothing "surprising" in the indictment documents, and it seems that this is evidence of "nothing to look at" for many of the talking heads. 

I think it's a good case, for these reasons:

• Michael Cohen was convicted for the same crime. Shouldn't the mastermind be brought up on charges? I think he'll be convicted. 

• As outlined in the Wall Street Journal, it is obvious that the payment was made specifically to influence the election:

When Mr. Cohen negotiated a deal with a lawyer for Ms. Daniels to buy her silence, however, Mr. Trump directed him “to delay making a payment to [Ms. Daniels] as long as possible,” instructing him that “if they could delay the payment until after the election, they could avoid paying altogether, because at that point it would not matter if the story became public,” prosecutors said. He ultimately signed off on the payment, asking Mr. Cohen and then-Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg to “find a way” to make it and agreeing to reimburse Mr. Cohen.

• Similarly, after the election both the doorman and Karen McDougal were released of their NDAs. This points to the fact that the payments were to influence the election. The NDAs served their purpose, and once he was elected, it didn't matter. Would this be true if The Big Liebowski were just trying to protect Melania?

Karen Friedman Agnifilo and Norman Eisen writing in the New York Times thinks it's a strong case too. 

The Aftermath

At the courthouse, there was a tepid showing of MAGAts, led by the blond one from Georgia. She hustled away within minutes of her taking the bullhorn, after being drowned out by anti-45 protesters wielding whistles. 

This notice was photographed in NYC and gave me a chuckle.

Besides the few at the courthouse on arraignment day, those on the right doth not protest much. Will Carless at USA Today speculates that the reason why is four-fold:

• Scooby Coup hasn't told them what to do
• Some of the extremists are mad at him for abandoning them in the aftermath of January 6
• Some extremists actually learned a lesson after 1000 charges stemming from January 6
• The Q people simply think he will beat the charges, and it's all going to plan, so why bother?

That hasn't stopped others of them from engaging in odious behavior. Dum Junior posted a photo of the judge's daughter and of course, threats of violence have been made against the judge and his family. Do we expect anything different?

Voldemoron gave a statement campaign speech after he landed back at Mar-a-loony. Most news organizations didn't bother broadcasting it. I watched for about 90 seconds before I couldn't stomach it anymore. It was the same ol' victim-boasting shit, but in the most tired, bored, worn-out way. If you really wanna torture yourself, have at it. 

The next court date isn't until December. Which is disappointing, but not. It gives room for the other cases to come forward. But it butts up into election season.

The Fun Stuff

See what you score on the T**** Indictment Quiz from McSweeney's. 

Jack Ohman

John Darkow

Jeff Danziger

Ann Talnaes

OMG I love this letter from Michael Moore. I have to share the whole thing.

Dear Criminal Defendant #4913961R:

Thank you for showing up without incident yesterday for your arrest and arraignment. You appeared somewhat bewildered as to why you were there. As this is only the first of a number of criminal charges and arraignments for you that will follow from other prosecutors, I think it’s only fair that I give you the lay of the land as to what’s ahead and why this is happening. 

First — and I don’t know why no one has told you this — but your assessment is correct: We ARE out to get you and bring you to Justice. You tried to illegally overturn the election and overthrow the government. You were refusing to give up your seat in the Oval Office and decided to stage a coup. It’s that simple. And now the vast majority of the country wants a legal way to stop you from causing any further destruction. And truthfully, we don’t really care how we get there. As long as it’s honest and legal, we the people are going to throw whatever available book we have at you. Somebody should tell you this. I just did. 

Have you read the 34 felony count indictment and its “Statement of Facts” against you? I have. Wow — I mean, it’s stunning in its brilliance and construction. It puts you in a real chokehold and yet allows the prosecution even more room in the coming months to crush you even further. I’m thinking you must have some sense of this and your impending doom. 

The prosecutor you’re up against, Alvin Bragg — the one you call “an animal” and “a criminal” — he’s been a prosecutor for nearly 20 years. He’s helped put hundreds of criminals like you away. I know, I know — he’s Black. Just like those five innocent teenagers in Central Park that you tried to get a jury to send to the electric chair. Just like the thousands of families you and your father refused to rent your apartments to for decades until the federal government stopped you. Yes, that kind of Black! Yes, karma does suck! Yes, that was your father in the KKK parade way back in the day. Now you’ve got three Black prosecutors — the Manhattan D.A., the New York State Attorney General and the Fulton County, GA, prosecutor — all coming after you. Revenge for sins against them and all who look like them? I hope so! But, seriously, Black America has never really made us truly pay for their suffering, either the cruelty meted out to their ancestors by our ancestors, or the hand they themselves have been dealt by a society that still seems comfortable with the average white family in 2023 having a net worth 8 times that of the average Black family.

No, Defendant #4913961R, these Black prosecutors, whom you hurl racist insults at — including the one where you, New York’s leading racist, called them “racists(!)” — they are serious professionals who are just doing the job the majority of voters sent them to do. One of those jobs is to send you finally to prison. 

All 34 charges against you are felonies. You conspired with others to silence people who had information the voters might possibly like to know before they cast their vote. You only won because of the 77,000 votes you got in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. How many would have changed their minds if they knew certain things about you? Your hush money payments went to at least three individuals, all with the intent of keeping the public in the dark in order to throw the election your way. And to cover it up, you told your lawyer, Michael Cohen, to take out a “home equity loan” for himself to pay off these individuals so it wouldn’t look like you had anything to do with it! What an idiot!

So, Defendant #4913961R, do you now understand why this is happening to you? And why we don’t care whatever the reason is they’ll be sending you to Sing Sing soon?

You attempted to blow up our democracy. 

You led a violent uprising in which people died.

You tried to overthrow a presidential election, an election that you brutally lost. 

You are on tape privately bullying the Georgia Secretary of State to illegally stuff the ballot box with 11,780 votes for you that did not exist. 

Then You got 147 Republican members in Congress to vote to steal the election for you! Is there a greater act of treason in a Democracy than the outright theft of an election and thus the overthrow of the elected government?

You hate this country and what it stands for.

And the vast majority of us know it. That’s why we tossed you to the curb in 2020 and then put you on a garbage barge to Florida. You are correct to assume we and the prosecutors we elect will charge you and arrest you for ANY legal reason we can find.

Last night, in your continuing crusade to incite violence, you and your son posted a photo of the Judge’s daughter online. It was your way of threatening him with violence. You know it will take only one of your psychopathic supporters to commit a heinous act. Do you have any idea what tens of millions of American parents would do to you if you did anything to threaten their child’s life? 

You’re upset because you think we’re prosecuting you because of a porn star? HAHAHA! 

Look, we’d arrest you for anything we legally could — littering, parking tickets, jaywalking, you name it. 

Anything to stop you from staging another coup. Anything that would stop you from endangering the life of that Judge’s daughter. Anything we can legally do to stop you, we will. You remember Al Capone. They could never get him on the murderous crime organization he ran. So they got him for lying on his income taxes. Nobody cared. The public wanted him put away by any legal means necessary. We’re Al Caponing you, Don. 

Your crime spree, which began in 1973, is coming to an end. 

Deal with it. Pack a toothbrush.

Let's get on with our Al Caponing. Next: Fulton County, Georgia. Indictments are expected any day. 

#Resist

INDICTMENT! Yeah, Baby!

It ain't no April Fool!

Somebody finally had the cajones to bring an indictment against the former president*, and that was a Manhattan grand jury who voted Thursday to indict on charges sought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. 

It's an historical event. No other former or sitting president has been charged with a crime. 

Da Facts

At least 12 (a majority of the 23 members of the Grand Jury) citizens of New York City believed there was sufficient evidence to bring charges against former NYC resident, Orange Julius Caesar.

There may be around 30 (!) charges stemming from the hush-money payment of $130,000 made to Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels, an adult-film actress and one-time sexual partner of the before-he-was-a-candidate. As you recall, Individual 1 "allegedly" laundered the payments from his business to his attorney and "fixer" Michael Cohen, who paid off Ms. Clifford during the 2016 election campaign. The payment was made days before the November 8, 2016 election. 

Though the hush-money itself is not illegal, the crime comes from the fact that the payment was routed from his business to his lawyer and in was in conjunction with a campaign, made for the purpose of covering up material facts during the pursuit of his 2016 campaign for president. 

The exact charges are sealed until the first court appearance on Tuesday, April 4. 

LSR's Takes

It's not great for him. It's both great and not great for the country. It's an extension of a very dark period in our history, having a criminal in the highest office in the land. But finally, consequences are coming! This is very good. It demonstrates that as a nation, we continue to assert that no one is above the law, including a person who happened to hold the office of president. Especially a person who held the office of president. 

If we don't enforce the law and bring charges against those who break them, what are laws for?

I'm convinced he only announced his candidacy early because he knew charges would be brought. His candidacy would serve to complicate prosecution, and bonus! he could claim political persecution, thus riling up his base, easing another grift. He doesn't want to be president. His motivation is not power, it's picking the pockets of feckless Americans who hang on his every racist, misogynistic, violent word. 

This case surrounds the least egregious of his myriad crimes. I think there is a danger of numbing the populace to his misdeeds and ironically making the next indictment, either of his tax fraud (NY State), conspiracy to interfere with an election (Georgia),  his conspiracy to commit sedition (Feds), or his illegal mishandling of classified documents (Feds) more ho-hum.

On the other hand, maybe the same will be done with his followers. Will they fatigue with their "donations to defense fund" and their energy to get out and protest/maim/destroy/intimidate/kill by the time other charges are filed?  I wonder if the various prosecuting attorneys collaborated as to which charges to bring first and when. I don't know enough about lawyer stuff. Would that be a thing when various charges from various jurisdictions are being investigated at the same time? 

It won't be a fast process, that's for sure. The Bloat of Many Colors knows how to work the system. And work it some more. Motions on top of motions will be filed, dragging the case out well into the campaign season.

What's Next?

Surrender

He is expected to surrender to authorities (how sweet the words) on Tuesday. He will be fingerprinted and mug-shotted before appearing before a judge for arraignment. Wooo-hoooo! I wish we could see that! Most likely it will all be away from cameras. It is anticipated that the intake and the court appearance will be done quietly, out of view. Mug shots, though, are public record. Can't wait for that one to hit the meme store! 

Undoubtedly he would like to create a spectacle with handcuffs and a perp walk. As scared as he probably is (and I hope he is very scared), he surely wants to milk the moment for all the victimhood possible. Common sense and secret service will no doubt prevail over that nonsense.

The charges will be presented and he will stand in front of a judge to be arraigned, at which time he will enter a plea. If he does not enter into a plea agreement – and why would he, if the spectacle of a prolonged case will whip up his base into a delicious frappe of pitchforks and checkbooks?  – a trial date will be set. 

Oooooh how sweet the news cycle!

Hand-wringing

GOP elected officials and other surrogates will be crying and feigning outrage. FAUX News talking heads will be spinning the facts how they feel will play best to their audience. It's already started, from the milder reaction from Ivanka to the not-at-all-veiled call for violence from F*cker Carlson.

Ivanka Instagrammed: "I love my father, and I love my country. Today, I am pained for both. I appreciate the voices across the political spectrum expressing support and concern."

There was an audible gasp over at FAUX News:

Audible gasps let out in Fox News' studio as they announce the Trump indictment news pic.twitter.com/FFyx2mvPUp

— Brennan Murphy (@brenonade) March 30, 2023

Marge tweeted:

I’m going to New York on Tuesday.

We MUST protest the unconstitutional WITCH HUNT!

— Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 (@mtgreenee) March 31, 2023

Mr. Brows-in-Perpetual-Furrow stayed on-brand with his incitement to violence in his throw-away-but-not-really line about assault rifles:

Ryun: "We will find ourselves on that path to a one-party state and authoritarian government."

Tucker Carlson: "Probably not the best time to give up your AR-15s. And I think most people know that." pic.twitter.com/SRlaUQ7Qtb

— Republican Accountability (@AccountableGOP) March 31, 2023

Fund-Raising

Even a couple weeks ago, when he truth-socialed that he was going to be "arrested on Tuesday," it was just one of his many grifts. After the indictment came down, he rushed to put ads on Facebook to squeeze his boomer supporters and separate each of them from $47 with an "OFFICIAL ELECTION DEFENSE FUND" plea. 

Violence?

Before the indictment, SCROTUS overtly called for violence and has launched racist attacks on the Black D.A. Alvin Bragg who has been investigating him.

Just after midnight on March 24, he warned about "death and destruction" if an indictment came down. He truth-socialed, 

What kind of person can charge another person, in this case a former President of the United States, who got more votes than any sitting President in history, and leading candidate (by far!) for the Republican Party nomination, with a Crime, when it is known by all that NO Crime has been committed, & also known that potential death & destruction in such a false charge could be catastrophic for our Country?

Read more from WaPo.

Last week, he called Bragg a "degenerate psychopath" and posted a photo of himself with a baseball bat to Bragg's head. I won't show that here. He also called Bragg a "Soros-backed animal" and has called Bragg "racist."

His minions have followed his lead. Bragg has been inundated with racist taunts and threats of violence. It shouldn't be dangerous to do your civic duty in the United States. 

Cartoons!

Yay for our nation's journalist artists who encapsulate our situation and give us a bit of comic relief with a few strokes of a pen. And for the meme makers, who shall inherit the earth.

Ann Telnaes

Chris Riddell

John Deering

R.J. Matson

Clay Bennett

John Deering

HISTORIC AND UNPRECEDENTED: NY Grand Jury votes to indict Former President Trump! ❤️ if you support this! pic.twitter.com/A15g2jnZlt

— 💙Brittney💙 (@AZ_Brittney) March 30, 2023

‘I NEED A POSTER OF RITA HAYWORTH’ pic.twitter.com/THIN4mdJyQ

— Tom Reagan’s Hat (@RufusTSuperfly) March 30, 2023

while i’m not a fan of donald trump, it is chilling to realize that this could happen to any one of us after livetweeting 34 consecutive crimes

— soul nate (@MNateShyamalan) March 30, 2023

 

The January 6 Hearings. Part 10: It's Official! He's a Criminal!

John Deering 

We witnessed history yesterday. The U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol convened for their 10th and final time in front of the American people. After 18 months of investigation and nine hearings, bringing plenty of receipts, they finally announced that they are making criminal referrals to the Department of Justice for four – count 'em, four – felonies that The Salmon Seditionist committed, including the feloniousest of felonies, inciting an insurrection. Hallelujah! It's about damn time someone said it out loud! 

Granted, the referrals are symbolic, as only the Department of Justice has the authority to make the decision whether to indict. But still, the action is unprecedented. No former or sitting president has ever had criminal referrals levied against them.

Chairman Bennie Thompson (D- MS) and Vice-Chair Liz Cheney (R-WY) laid out the overreaching rationale for the charges: accountability. As Rep. Ruskin noted, "Ours is not a system of justice where foot soldiers go to jail and the masterminds and ring leaders get a free pass." Vice-Chair Cheney reminded us that throughout the nation's history, every single president has committed to the peaceful transfer of power. All but one. 

To the point about defending our democracy, Cheney told a poignant story about her great-great-grandfather who fought all four years of the Civil War and who was present to march in front of President Johnson and General Grant at the end of the war. An historian wrote about the troops that day. Cheney recounted, "He said they had 'a just appreciation of the value and advantage of free government and the necessity of defending and maintaining it, and they enlisted prepared to accept all the necessary labors, fatigues, exposures, dangers and even death for the unity of our nation and the perpetuity of our institutions.'" 

Poignant stuff.

Monday's meeting was rather brief, mostly a recap of the evidence presented so far. There were a few new tidbits, however. 

The committee presented powerful testimony from Hope Hicks, who we had not seen before as a witness. Ms. Hicks, as you remember, was one of SCROTUS's most trusted, closest, and valued aides. She said that she confronted him about the fact that there was no evidence of fraud and that there was danger of "damaging his legacy." His response? "Nobody will care about my legacy if I lose, so that won’t matter. The only thing that matters is winning."

There was also new evidence about witness tampering. Rep. Lofgren said that the funds from some of 45's probably-illegal fundraising were used for definitely-illegal things, like hiring lawyers to intimidate witnesses. She said that: 

One lawyer told a witness, the witness could, in certain circumstances, tell the committee that she didn’t recall facts when she actually did recall them. That lawyer also did not disclose who was paying for the lawyer’s representation, despite questions from the client seeking that information. He told her, “We’re not telling people where funding is coming from right now.” We’ve learned that a client was offered potential employment, that would make her, “financially very comfortable,” as the date of her testimony approached, by entities that were apparently linked to Donald Trump and his associates. These offers were withdrawn or didn’t materialize, as reports of the content of her testimony circulated. The witness believed this was an effort to affect her testimony, and we are concerned that these efforts may have been a strategy to prevent the committee from finding the truth.

Yeah. That's not ok.

CNN has since reported that it was a former Whitewash House ethics lawyer that put this pressure on his client, star witness Cassidy Hutchinson. All the while not disclosing that ***** was paying for his services. Bad, bad stuff.

The Committee presented a video summary of the aspects of the POTATUS Coup Plans showing that 

1. He knew the election was not stolen;

2. He pressured states;

3. He pressured the DOJ;

4. He pressured the V.P.;

5. He summoned the mob;

6. And he was derelict in his duties for 187 minutes as the invasion was happening. 

Here is that short video:

I liked that each of the nine committee members spoke. The Chairs laid out the need for accountability, and each of six members took a piece of the coup plan and reiterated the evidence. 

• Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) reiterated the evidence about The Big Lie;

• Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) summarized how he pressured the States and conspired to send false electors to Congress;

• Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) reminded us how he pressured the DOJ and nearly installed a sycophant to be AG; 

• Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA) summarized the Pence Pressure Campaign; 

• Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-FL) outlined how he assembled the mob and sent them to do violence;

• Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA) recapped Agent Orange's 187 minutes when he was derelict in his duty to faithfully execute the laws of the United States;

And last but very much best, Rep. Jamie Raskin outlined the criminal referrals to the DOJ. He sat a little straighter and spoke a little louder and firmer when he announced the referrals. It was exciting to hear the charges that the Committee recommends. They included:

• Obstruction of an official proceeding,

• Conspiracy to defraud the United States,

• Conspiracy to make a false statement,

• "Incite," "assist" or "aid and comfort" an insurrection.

The "conspiracy" part of the charges  includes a criminal referral for attorney John Eastman, but would-be fake AG Jeffrey Clark and Rudy Giuliani should be right there too. I'm thinking other conspirators may also be referred, people like Rudy Giuliani, Roger Stone, Mark Meadows, and Mike Flynn. You know, those asses that plead the Fifth during their meetings with the Committee.

The committee also made referrals to the House Ethics Committee for censure of several members over ignoring subpoenas. Though they were not named during the meeting, those who flaunted subpoenas include House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania and Andy Biggs of Arizona.

As I said, though Congress can make criminal referrals, only the Department of Justice can decide whether to seek indictments. The DOJ has been doing their own investigation. A special counsel, Jack Smith, has been overseeing it for the past month. Though the DOJ is doing its own investigation and has the final authority, no doubt the Committee's body of evidence will be an important piece. Come on, Mr. Garland! Do. It. 

Videos of the Meeting. Yesterday's meeting was only 70 minutes. Watch the whole thing below (not sure why it's dated 12/14/2022. It is yesterday's hearing, 12/19/2022).

If you have only a few minutes, here is WaPo's 4-minute version:

I'm really pleased and proud of how the Committee conducted this investigation and how they brought the evidence before us. Each of the 10 televised hearings was riveting. Jaw-dropping evidence, fine-tuned organization, well-spoken witnesses, and good production value, all presented by a calm and resolute bi-partisan committee, made it must-watch TV. It's a model for any future investigations, and one that will live in the history books.

The Final Act. The Committee's report is due to be published this week. It will contain a depth of evidence and will detail many of the criminal players' nefarious actions. I can't wait to get my hands on it! I hope the DOJ has a team ready with some fine-tooth combs and magnifying glasses, and an extra server for the spreadsheets! They need to build a very tight case and get it in front of a jury. 

*****

In other news!

The Ways and Means Committee are poised to release the long-sought tax returns of the Conman. It may even be tomorrow! Let's see 'em!

A mysterious Truth Social post went out last week promising "a major announcement." Speculation abounded. Running mate? Endorsement for Speaker of the House? Invitation to dinner for more Nazis?

No. It was just another grift. The announcement was for the release of some "digital trading cards," NFT images for sale. Offered were several images of BLOATUS as calendar pin-up boys. 45,000 of them for sale at the cool price of $99 each. They sold out within 12 hours. NFT trading cards: The modern way of separating fools from their money. 

News is that the NFTs have drastically lost value already. Big surprise.

And more news: the images appear to have been stolen. Yup. Business as usual.

You can google the images. But I like the internet's versions better (From Reddit and Sister Resister Anne)

And SNL's treatment:

And of course, we need some editorial cartoons!

Bill Bramhall

Chris Britt

Ed Wexler

Adam Zyglis

A Step Back from Fascism

 

Walt Handelsman

Do you feel that calm? That's fascism heading toward its hidey hole!

It has been a good week for democracy, and there is a fair bit to unpack. Not sure I can dive too deep here. Because, you know, life. 

The Red Wave That Wasn't

Prognosticators and polls predicted a punctual, pertinacious pull of the parties past progressive. But it didn't happen. As of this writing, five days after the polls closed, the Democrats have retained control of the Senate, and the House is on a knife's edge, with a dozen or so races yet to be called. Though "they" say that the right still has an advantage to take the House, the Dems could still pull off a majority. But even if they don't, I believe the country still won.

The Anxiety That Wasn't

Or rather, shouldn't have been. If we learned anything from 2016, it was that polls lie. They lied again this year. I know I'm not the only one who had a deep anxiety in the weeks leading up to Election Day. It took a toll on my sister resisters, too. It's was a long four years, and January 6th trauma still simmers, so to face even one more day of being governed by people who "love" the country so much that they are willing to burn it down, was too much to face.

Note to self: save the anxiety for the actual counting days and skip the polls and the pundits. Do the work, then let the voters say.

Big Lie? Bye-bye! 

The voters decided that they weren't going to tolerate any more MAGAT nonsense. They rejected most of the MAGAT-backed candidates. From coast to coast, they were sent packing. The SCROTUS Effect, turns out, is poison ivy. Here's a summary from AP News about the election-deniers who were denied. As they quoted Joanna Lydgate of States United, "It was a good day for democracy."

My predictions, thankfully, came true. 

In these pages more than once I proposed that the only way out of our MAGA mess was for the Republican Party to become divided and to burn their own house down. Yes! It happened! The Republican Party became their own worst enemy; it became divided into "Team Crazy" and "Team Normal." Team Crazy pulled ahead when their MAGAT, election-denying candidates won primary elections across the country. But those crazies lost to Democrats' Team Normal candidates last week.

Qualified, reasonable Democrat candidates swooped up votes when independent voters – and Team Normal Republicans – decided that Team Crazy wasn't for them. 

Thanks for the meme, Sister Resister Anne!

My Pollyanna Moment

We have hope for the future! Hopefully the Republicans can hold on to Normal, regain their moral compass, and put forth qualified candidates. Maybe then we can actually start taking about policy again rather than if the Apricot Pol Pot is the Messiah, if we should oppress brown people, if we should regulate women back to being barefoot and pregnant, and if we should kill the Vice President of the United States of America. 

Dare we hope? Maybe this will embolden the reasonable Republicans to speak up loudly, reject a TЯUMP candidacy, and shut the far-right shit down. Do we dare hope?

The "Usual" trends did not materialize

It's a historical trend that midterm voters have usually turned away from the party of the current president, especially when approval ratings were low. The usual didn't hold up this year. In fact, not only did they not firmly turn away from the current president, this year voters turned away from the previous president*.

In past trends, voters tend to push against the reigning party, especially in the first term. Here's what has happened in the last half-century or so of House midterms (stats thanks to UCSB's The American Presidency Project).

1974 Ford (post Nixon) approval rating 54%, lost 78 seats (following Watergate)

1978 Carter 45%, lost 15

1982 Reagan 42%, lost 26

1986 Reagan 64%, lost 5

1990 Bush I 57%, lost 8

1994 Clinton 48%, lost 52

1998 Clinton 65%, gained 5

2002 Bush II 67%, gained 8 (just after 9/11)

2006 Bush II 37%, lost 30

2010 Obama 45%, lost 63 

2014 Obama 41%, lost 13

2018 T**** 44%, lost 40

2024 Biden 42%, TBD

At this writing, the final results are not known. Though this year's numbers are still to be determined, it looks like Democratic losses this year will not follow the usual trend. We are not in usual times. 

Even if the Dems don't keep control of the House, we all won. The Repugs will have control by the slimmest margin, and the Democrats control the Senate. The election really could not have gone much better given all the circumstances. Who else is feeling elated?

What was important to the voters 

Abortion rights and saving democracy. Yes, certainly the economy, too, but it appeared to be less of a driving factor than the pundits led us to believe. 

We still have toxicity out there. 

FAUX News's talking heads like F*cker Carlson, as well as the toxic radio and YouTube crowd, will continue to spew misinformation and whip up the whip-upable.

We still have the Wart Squad: Boebert (possibly; her seat is still undecided), Margie Green, Matty G, Scamperin' Josh Hawley, and the rest of that ilk, along with the newbies such as Senator-elect J.D. Vance in Ohio and Representative-elect Ted Budd in North Carolina. Come 2024, though, perhaps we'll have that industrial size barrel of Compound W ready and waiting at each polling place to get some of those nasties off our asses. 

Yes, FAUX News is still a scourge, but without the additional mouthpieces spouting the nonsense and obstructing constructive work in the Congress, and with Moscow Mitch gone (whoo-hoooo!) as Senate Majority Leader (please, please, please, Mitch, might you consider retiring when your term ends in 2027?), at least we may have a quieter place in which to do the work.

And there's the non-elected white supremacists. They are still out there. We must continue to fight! The misogynists still wanna misogyn. They must feel strong push-back. We still have much work.

Yes, indeed, we do have a lot of work to do. 

In the near term, we need to help get Senator Raphael Warnock re-elected in Georgia! His runoff election is Tuesday, December 6. Donate to his campaign or write postcards! I use Postcards to Voters. I like the way they manage the task.

We must codify abortion rights into the law of the land. We must strengthen our civil rights and work on our justice system. We must work NOW to combat climate change. We need to better our children's educations. We must continue to examine January 6 and bring all the ne'er-do-wells to justice. We must promote federal judges that will be fair and protect our Constitution and civil rights. We must continue to examine Supreme Court justice malfeasance. And so much more. The progressive agenda isn't going away just because it's going to be a little more difficult. 

The Once and Future President*?

Supposedly there's a "big announcement" coming from that puckered orange mouth this week. But yanno, I don't want to talk about some two-bit bigoted grifting seditionist has-been who has umpteen court cases pending against him. Let's just bask in the big win and delegate that heaping orange turd to the loser's corner.

We did it, Resisters! Go treat yourself! 

Dave Whamond