Trump supporters and conspiracy theory - Part 2

[Rick Plant]

Trump Jr and Ivanka wanted for questioning by New York attorney general




The New York attorney general's office is seeking to question Donald Trump's two eldest children.

"The involvement of the children, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump, was disclosed in a court document filed on Monday as the Trump Organization sought to block lawyers for the attorney general, Letitia James, from questioning the former president and his children," The New York Times reported Monday.

"The subpoenas for the former president and two of his children were served on Dec. 1, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Eric Trump, another of Mr. Trump’s sons, was already questioned by Ms. James’s office in October 2020."

The news Trump was subpoenaed was previously reported, but it is new that his two eldest children had also been subpoenaed.

"Mr. Trump’s three elder children — Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric — have long been deeply involved in their father’s company, the Trump Organization, which each of them joined shortly after graduating from college," the newspaper reported. "The legal filing that disclosed the subpoenas on Monday was signed by a judge who presided over an earlier court action brought by the attorney general’s office that forced the Trump Organization to turn over records and Eric Trump to submit to questioning."

Read the full report here:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/03/nyregion/letitia-james-ivanka-donald-trump-jr-subpoena.html?

[Rick Plant]

Great news! These criminals will have to answer for their crimes.

Trump, Ivanka, Don Jr subpoenaed by NY attorney general



New YORK (AP) — The office of New York’s attorney general confirmed for the first time Monday that it had subpoenaed former President Donald Trump and his two eldest children, Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr., demanding their testimony in an investigation into the family’s business practices.

In a court filing, lawyers for Attorney General Letitia James said they are seeking the Trumps’ testimony and documents as part of a yearslong civil probe involving matters including “the valuation of properties owned or controlled” by Trump and his company.

Monday’s filing was the first public disclosure that investigators scrutinizing the former president’s dealings were also seeking information from Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr., both trusted allies of their father who’ve been executives in his family’s Trump Organization.

Last month, it was reported that James’ office had requested Trump sit for a deposition.

James, a Democrat, has spent more than two years looking at whether the Trump Organization misled banks or tax officials about the value of assets — inflating them to gain favorable loan terms or minimizing them to reap tax savings.

The Trumps have indicated they will fight the subpoenas and are expected to file court papers through their lawyers seeking to have them thrown out. A similar legal fight played out last year after James’ office subpoenaed the testimony of another Trump son, Eric Trump.

Trump sued James in federal court last month, seeking to put an end to her investigation. Trump, in the lawsuit, claimed that James had violated his constitutional rights in a “thinly-veiled effort to publicly malign Trump and his associates.”

A state court judge who handled that dispute agreed Monday to entertain arguments over the recent subpoenas.

Messages seeking comment were left Monday with the Trumps’ lawyers and the Trump Organization. A message seeking comment was also left with the attorney general’s office.

In the past, the Republican ex-president has decried James’ investigation as part of a “witch hunt” along with a parallel criminal probe being run by the Manhattan district attorney’s office.

James’ office went to court last year to enforce a subpoena on Eric Trump, a Trump Organization executive, and a judge forced him to testify after his lawyers abruptly canceled a previously scheduled deposition.

The same judge, Arthur Engoron, has ruled in the past to enforce subpoenas stemming from the Trump probe, including forcing Trump’s company and a law firm it hired to turn over troves of records related to a Trump-owned estate north of Manhattan.

Although the civil investigation is separate from the district attorney’s criminal investigation, James’ office has been involved in both.

Last year, then-District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. gained access to the longtime real estate mogul’s tax records after a multiyear fight that twice went to the U.S. Supreme Court. He also brought tax fraud charges in July against the Trump Organization and its longtime CFO Allen Weisselberg.

Before he left office last week, Vance convened a new grand jury to hear evidence in the investigation, but left the decision on additional charges to his successor, Alvin Bragg. The new district attorney has said he’ll be directly involved in the Trump matter while also retaining the two veteran prosecutors who led the case under Vance.

Weisselberg pleaded not guilty to charges alleging he and the company evaded taxes on lucrative fringe benefits paid to executives.

It is rare for law enforcement agencies to issue a civil subpoena for testimony from a person who is also the subject of a related criminal investigation.

That’s partly because the person under criminal investigation could simply cite their Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. It is unlikely that Trump’s lawyers would allow him to be deposed unless they were sure his testimony couldn’t be used against him in a criminal case.

Both investigations are at least partly related to allegations made in news reports and by Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, that Trump had a history of misrepresenting the value of assets.

James’ office issued subpoenas to local governments as part of the civil probe for records pertaining to the estate, Seven Springs, and a tax benefit Trump received for placing land into a conservation trust. Vance later issued subpoenas seeking many of the same records.

James’ office has also been looking at similar issues relating to a Trump office building in New York City, a hotel in Chicago and a golf course near Los Angeles.

https://www.wbrz.com/news/trump-ivanka-don-jr-subpoenaed-by-ny-attorney-general

[Rick Plant]

There never was any "voter fraud". It's just a scam by Criminal Donald and his right wing cronies so they can continue to implement voter restriction laws across America after his coup and insurrection failed.

Trump's Texas 'audit' falls apart: 'Forensic' probe finds no substantial evidence of voter fraud



Texas Republicans have failed to find any substantial evidence of outcome-altering fraud in the 2020 presidential election after leading a months-long recount at Donald Trump's behest.

The findings, reported by the secretary of state's office on New Year's Eve, are part of the first phase of the audit, which targets the four largest counties in the Lone Star State: Collin, Dallas, Harris, and Tarrant. According to The Texas Tribune, the initial findings bore "few discrepancies between electronic and hand counts of ballots in a sample of voting precincts."

Specifically, the audit unearthed only 509 possible duplicate votes – less than 0.005% of the approximate 11.3 million ballots cast in the state. Further, only 67 votes were cast under the names of voters who were deceased.

Remi Garza, president of the Texas Association of Election Administrators, said that the results aren't "too far out of the ordinary."

"I hope nobody draws any strong conclusions one way or the other with respect to the information that's been provided," Garza told the Tribune. "I think it's just very straightforward, very factual and will ultimately play a part in the final conclusions that are drawn once the second phase is completed."

The secretary of state report found that several voting discrepancies could be explained by procedural errors. For instance, in Collin County, some voters were given the option to cast a curbside ballot, allowing them to vote from their cars. County officials said that this option did not produce a paper trail, leading to slight difference between the manual vote count and electronic one.

The second phase of the recount is set to be conducted this Spring. According to an outline of the process provided by the state, phase two involves "a comprehensive election records examination" to "ensure election administration procedures were properly followed." The process will, among other things, address signature verification, the provision of early voting materials, voting machine accuracy.

The "forensic audit" was originally launched back in September, hours after the former president pressured Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to investigate the state's handling of the general election, even though Trump won handily in Texas.

"Despite my big win in Texas, I hear Texans want an election audit!" Trump wrote in a letter to Abbott at the time. "You know your fellow Texans have big questions about the November 2020 Election."

Since then, Trump and his allies have pushed for a number of audits in various battleground states, including Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, and Arizona. None of them have produced any evidence of widespread fraud. One of them in Arizona found that President Biden held an even larger margin of victory over Trump than was originally reported.

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-texas-audit-2656212361/

[Rick Plant]

Lock them up! Nobody is above the law.

Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr refuse to comply with subpoenas in fraud case



Donald Trump's two eldest children have refused to comply with subpoenas issued by the New York attorney general's office in a fraud investigation of their family-owned business.

New York attorney general Letitia James called for Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. to testify in as part of an ongoing civil investigation into the Trump Organization's business practices, but the pair will file motions to quash the subpoenas, reported ABC News.

A joint filing between James and an attorney representing the Trump Organization said that motion could be filed as soon as Monday.

The criminal investigation has resulted in indictments against the Trump Organization and its longtime chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg on tax charges, but the twice-impeached one-term president and his business have denied any wrongdoing and attacked the investigation as politically motivated.


NY AG Letitia James responds to Ivanka Trump and Don Jr. saying they’ll defy her subpoena

New York Attorney General Letitia James has issued subpoenas for Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump as part of a fraud investigation involving the Trump Organization.

The investigation is probing the financial dealings into whether former President Donald Trump artificially inflated assets to score loans from banks and then deflated his assets to pay less in taxes.

The probe began with reports from Washington Post's David Fahrenthold, who obtained financial documents that revealed Trump lied about the number of floors in one of his buildings and the acres of the Trump Winery, which raised questions about whether Trump was keeping two sets of financial books to be used for different purposes.

James made it clear on Twitter that if the Trump children intend to defy subpoenas in the case that she will move forward, and she characterized it as nothing more than a delay tactic. Ultimately, however, they will be forced to testify.

@NewYorkStateAG "Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Ivanka Trump are trying to stop my office from interviewing them under oath as part of our investigation into the Trump Organization and Mr. Trump.

Over two years of delay tactics won't stop our investigation because no one is above the law.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/eldest-trump-children-comply-subpoenas-york-attorney-general/story?id=82052732

[Rick Plant]

'A platform to spread lies': Media watchdogs warn networks against uncritical airing of Trump’s Jan. 6 event



In the lead-up to the first anniversary of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol later this week, media watchdogs are warning news networks and journalists against uncritical live coverage of Donald Trump's planned press conference and the lies the disgraced former president is expected to spew.

"It is critical that news networks do the right thing—refuse to carry it live, so they do not uncritically promote the lies and disinformation that is generated from Trump's speech in real time."

"Donald Trump's January 6 press event should be recognized for what it is: an opportunity for Trump to lie to downplay the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and set up his 2024 presidential campaign," said Angelo Carusone, president of watchdog Media Matters for America, in a Monday statement.

He stressed that "it is critical that news networks do the right thing—refuse to carry it live, so they do not uncritically promote the lies and disinformation that is generated from Trump's speech in real time."

"Trump has a well-established pattern of lying every time he opens his mouth," Carusone noted. "He has also had ample opportunities to weigh in on the insurrection—including when Fox hosts begged Trump to take action in real time to stop the riot. To give Trump a platform to spread lies and misinformation on this tragic anniversary would be to repeat the very mistakes that helped foment the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in the first place."

Carusone echoed the recommendations of New York University journalism professor Jay Rosen, who writes and edits the blog PressThink.

In a Sunday tweet, Rosen urged against carrying Trump's speech live or amplifying the former president's go-to lies that have been debunked.

Asked by a Twitter user why journalists and news outlets struggle with practices that seem "so simple and so obvious," Rosen responded: "Because the practice on view here—newsworthiness—is an incoherent grab bag of factors that doesn't take into account the damage a demagogue can do to the public sphere, or the truth value of an event. And because this particular speaker can be 'good' at lurid spectacle."

Some networks and journalists called out Trump's lies while he served as president. CNN reporter Daniel Dale used to be at the Toronto Star, "where he was the first journalist to fact-check every false statement" from Trump—who tends to push back against any critical coverage with the term "fake news."

Two days after the 2020 presidential election, before the race was widely called for President Joe Biden, multiple major U.S. networks cut away from a live speech in which Trump made several false claims, including that he had won reelection—lies that were repeated by his allies in Congress and beyond.

Trump also circulated his lies about the security and outcome of the election during a speech at a January 6 rally that occurred as Congress was in the process of certifying Biden's win—and dozens of Republicans were baselessly contesting the results.

"Now, it is up to Congress to confront this egregious assault on our democracy. And after this, we're going to walk down, and I'll be there with you," Trump told the crowd nearly a year ago. "We're going to walk down to the Capitol, and we're going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women, and we're probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them."

Trump did not join his supporters in storming the Capitol, but lawmakers accused him of inciting the violence and his speech ultimately led to his historic second impeachment.

Despite his loss and two impeachments—along with facing civil and criminal investigations—75-year-old Trump is widely expected to run for president again in 2024, and political observers have long warned that his Big Lie about 2020 was just the beginning.

In a December 21 statement, Trump not only continued to lie about the election results but also blasted the House panel investigating the deadly Capitol attack, slammed so-called "Republicans in name only" (RINOs), and promoted his upcoming event. He said in part:

Why isn't the Unselect Committee of highly partisan political hacks investigating the CAUSE of the January 6th protest, which was the rigged Presidential Election of 2020? ...I will be having a news conference on January 6th at Mar-a-Lago to discuss all of these points, and more. Until then, remember, the insurrection took place on November 3rd, it was the completely unarmed protest of the rigged election that took place on January 6th.

As Newsweek reports, Trump's plan to host a press conference on Thursday has even been criticized by Republicans, including a former White House aide from his administration.

Trump's event is scheduled for 5:00 pm—a half-hour before a congressional prayer vigil at the U.S. Capitol is set to start, meaning the ex-president is expected to provide, in the words of Politico's David Siders, "a vivid split-screen moment."

The January 6 anniversary comes amid rising concern about the state of U.S. democracy as well as outrage over failures by congressional Democrats and the Biden administration to take real action to protect it.

The results of an NPR/Ipsos poll released Monday show that a majority of Democrats, Independents, and Republicans believe that U.S. democracy—and the nation—are "in crisis and at risk of failing."

While voters across the political spectrum are worried, the new survey found that unlike Democrats and Independents, less than half of Republicans accept the results of the 2020 presidential election, even though Trump's own officials attested to its security.

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-jan-6-2656214823/

[Rick Plant]

Trump advisor blasted for trying to pass off their coup attempt as a righteous and legal effort



Former Trump White House advisor Peter Navarro's attempt to separate his efforts to overturn the 2020 election from the actions of the violent mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol was analyzed by conservative columnist Amanda Carpenter for The Bulwark.

"Donald Trump’s former White House advisor Peter Navarro is mad. The way he tells it, he and Steve Bannon had a perfectly legal strategy they termed the 'The Green Bay Sweep' (a nod to Vince Lombardi) to deprive Joe Biden of the presidency. And, everything was going swimmingly until Trump’s mob showed up and ruined the flow," she wrote.

Navarro has detailed in recent interviews and his new book how he worked with Bannon on a scheme to reject the vote in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

In his new book "In Trump Time: A Journal of America's Plague Year," Navarro writes that he, Trump, and Bannon were “the last three people on God’s good Earth who want to see violence erupt on Capitol Hill” because “it was this violence that finally put an abrupt end to any hope the president had for taking back an election likely stolen from him.”

Carpenter offered her analysis of the defense Navarro offered.

"In other words: He, Bannon, and Trump were in the middle of executing a legal coup, which the violent coup attempt foiled. Therefore, he, Bannon and Trump couldn’t possibly be responsible for the violent attempted coup," she explained. "Therefore, he, Bannon and Trump couldn’t possibly be responsible for the violent attempted coup. Which is a defense, of sorts."

Read the full analysis:
https://www.thebulwark.com/the-good-coup/

[Rick Plant]

What a joke. The same liars who helped plan the coup and insurrection is going to come up with their own "report"

GOP planning alternative January 6 'report' to discredit House committee's work
https://www.rawstory.com/republican-alternative-january-6-report/