Trump supporters and conspiracy theory - Part 2

[Rick Plant]

Another rough day for Donnie as he loses his court appeal. He will now have to testify under oath. Can you imagine this pathological liar testifying under oath? He's a talking perjury case. Have fun Donnie! 

Trump loses appeal in NY civil probe -- now he'll have to testify under oath



A four-judge panel has ruled against former President Donald Trump in his attempt to get out of testifying under oath in a civil lawsuit filed by the New York State Attorney General.

Per The Associated Press, the panel upheld Manhattan Judge Arthur Engoron's ruling from earlier this year that enforced the New York AG's subpoena against the twice-impeached former president.

In their ruling, the judges shot down arguments made by Trump lawyers that he should not be forced to testify in a civil probe while a parallel criminal probe into the same instance was also ongoing.

"The existence of a criminal investigation does not preclude civil discovery of related facts, at which a party may exercise the privilege against self-incrimination," they wrote.

The investigation centers on whether the Trump Organization fraudulently misled investors and government officials about a wide range of its property values in an effort to minimize taxes.

Trump must answer questions under oath in the New York attorney general’s civil investigation into his business practices, a state appeals court ruled Thursday, rejecting his argument that he be excused from testifying because his answers could be used in a parallel criminal probe.

A four-judge panel in the appellate division of the state’s trial court upheld Judge Arthur Engoron’s Feb. 17 ruling, which enforced subpoenas requiring that Trump and his two eldest children — Ivanka and Donald Jr. — give deposition testimony in Attorney General Letitia James’ probe.

A message seeking comment was left with lawyers for the Trumps.

James lauded the ruling, which came just two weeks after the appellate panel heard oral arguments in the case. She tweeted that her investigation “will continue undeterred because no one is above the law.”

“Once again, the courts have ruled that Donald Trump must comply with our lawful investigation into his financial dealings,” James said in a written statement. “We will continue to follow the facts of this case and ensure that no one can evade the law.”

James has said her investigation has uncovered evidence Trump’s company, the Trump Organization, used “fraudulent or misleading” valuations of assets like golf courses and skyscrapers to get loans and tax benefits. Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr. have both been executives in the Trump Organization and are among their father’s most trusted allies.

The appellate panel, in its ruling, described the investigation as focusing on whether the Trumps “committed persistent fraud in their financial practices and disclosures.”

Appellate Court Judge Rolando T. Acosta appeared to agree with that position, foreshadowing Thursday’s ruling as he questioned Futerfas from the bench.

Anything Trump says in a civil deposition in James’ investigation could be used against him in the criminal probe being overseen by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

Last summer, spurred by evidence uncovered by James’ office, the DA’s office charged the Trump Organization and its longtime finance chief, Allen Weisselberg, with tax fraud, alleging he collected more than $1.7 million in off-the-books compensation. Weisselberg and the company have pleaded not guilty.

Thursday’s appellate court ruling was the latest in a flurry of legal activity involving Trump and the attorney general’s investigation in the last few weeks.

Last week, Trump paid $110,000 in fines and met several other conditions as he seeks to end a contempt of court order Engoron issued on April 25 after he was slow to respond to another subpoena from James seeking documents and other evidence.

On Monday, James’ office said it had subpoenaed Trump’s longtime executive assistant, Rhona Graff, and planned to question her under oath next week in the probe.

Since James’ investigation is civil in nature, she could end up bringing a lawsuit and seeking financial penalties against Trump or his company, or even a ban on them being involved in certain types of businesses

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

[Rick Plant]

Feds asking Georgia Republicans about contacts with Trump in investigation of fake electors: report

On Thursday, CNN reported that Justice Department investigators have interviewed Republicans in Georgia about whether they had any contacts with former President Donald Trump's campaign, as part of the growing probe into whether a crime was committed in the plot to submit slates of fake "electors" declaring Trump won states he did not win.

"In one case, FBI agents asked a prominent Georgia Republican whether he had direct conversations with Trump," reported Katelyn Polantz. "'They just asked who talked to me. If anyone from the Trump campaign had been in touch with me. Did Giuliani talk to me? Did Trump talk to me?' said Patrick Gartland, who was set to serve as an elector but dropped out. He recounted how two FBI agents visited his home in Marietta, Georgia, a few weeks ago."

"Investigators have sought answers this month from Gartland and others connected to the GOP in Georgia — both in FBI interviews and in grand jury subpoenas for documents and testimony," said the report. "Investigators are looking at whether the Trump campaign played a role in the submission of false election certificates, according to people approached by the Justice Department."

The fake electors plot was spearheaded by pro-Trump attorney John Eastman, who laid out a plan whereby then-Vice President Mike Pence would declare all the Biden-won states with "alternate" Trump electors to be disputed, not count their votes during the gaveling of the electoral college, and declare Trump the winner. Legal experts broadly considered this scheme to be illegal, as did Pence himself.

"The subpoenas issued to Gartland and others are seeking communications with 'any member, employee or agent of Donald J. Trump or any organization advocating in favor of the 2020 re-election of Donald J. Trump,' including his official campaign," said the report. "The subpoenas also seek any communications with more than two dozen named Trump campaign officials, attorneys and Georgia electors. CNN reported Wednesday that a recent subpoena related to the alternate electors sought communications with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, Trump campaign lawyer Justin Clark, right-wing attorney John Eastman and others."

According to the report, the case hinges on whether the fake electors truly believed Trump won and the election was in dispute, or if they knew they had lost and their scheme was an act of fraud — which could mean more obvious criminal liability for the actors involved.

Read more here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/09/23/eastman-memo-jan-6-trump/

[Rick Plant]

Mark Meadows burned papers in his office after meeting with Republican election denier

According to testimony given to the Jan. 6 committee by one of his aides, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows burned papers in his office after meeting with a House Republican who was working to overturn the 2020 election's results, POLITICO reports.

"Cassidy Hutchinson, who worked under Meadows when he was former President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, told the panel investigating the Capitol attack that she saw Meadows incinerate documents after a meeting in his office with Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.). A person familiar with the testimony described it on condition of anonymity," POLITICO's report stated.

It’s not known if Hutchinson told the committee anything specific about the papers that were burnt.

"Meadows’ destruction of papers is a key focus for the select committee, and the person familiar with the testimony said investigators pressed Hutchinson for details about the issue for more than 90 minutes during a recent deposition," the outlet reported.

According to the Guardian's Hugo Lowell,

According to Lowell, "the select committee intends to hold six hearings, with the first and last in prime time, where its lawyers will run through how Trump’s schemes took shape before the election and culminated with the Capitol attack."

The Guardian report adds, "the June public hearings will explore Trump’s efforts to overturn the election, starting and ending with prime-time hearings at 8pm on the 9th and the 23rd. In between, the panel will hold 10am hearings on the 13th, 15th, 16th and 21st."

Read the full report over at POLITICO below:

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/26/meadows-burned-papers-meeting-scott-perry-00035411

[Rick Plant]

New York Court Rules Trump Must Testify In Civil Investigation

Donald Trump must testify under oath in the New York Attorney General’s civil investigation into his business practices, an intermediate state appeals court ruled.

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

Defiant Trump brags about his upcoming NRA speech as cancellations mount



For more than half a century "American Pie" has been an integral part of American culture, but Don McLean – the 76-year old singer who brought the nearly nine-minute song about the death of Buddy Holly and other rock and roll stars to life – has canceled his appearance at the NRA's annual convention this weekend in Houston. Out of respect for the families of the 21 slaughtered children and teachers in Uvalde, Texas, McLean says it would be "hurtful" and "disrespectful" to appear.

Also canceling this weekend are country music stars Lee Greenwood, Larry Gatlin, and T. Graham Brown.

Even the manufacturer of the AR-15 style semi-automatic assault rifle used by the Uvalde shooter has canceled their appearance at the NRA's convention, "due to the horrifying tragedy," Daniel Defense said in a statement.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has managed to appear as if he's canceling out of a show of respect. The Republican currently in a tight re-election race is facing not only the horrific Uvalde mass shooting of 19 elementary school children and two teachers but the mounting evidence that lives may have been lost out of law enforcement's apparent horrific handling of the attack.

Abbott will not appear in person, instead using the time to hold another press conference. He will appear via pre-recorded video.

Donald Trump, the former president who is widely expected to be staging another run for president not only will attend this weekend's NRA convention, he is bragging about it.

"I'm making a speech tomorrow at the NRA in Huston and it'll be very interesting," Trump told far-right radio host Sebastian Gorka, who served in the Trump administration in 2017 and has ties to the alt-right.

"And so yeah, interesting time to be making such a speech, frankly."

Trump then launched into an attack on Congresswoman Liz Cheney, one of the few Republicans who has openly and repeatedly opposed him.

"But on Friday night, I'll be in Houston. And we'll be making a speech and discussing a lot of the things which you would agree to, and you know, you have to protect, you have to protect your Second Amendment. You have to give that Second Amendment great protection, because without it, we would be a very dangerous country frankly."

Watch:

https://twitter.com/i/status/1530166166550896641

[Rick Plant]

Things are really heating up in Georgia against Donnie! He could get hit with racketeering charges.

Georgia DA to subpoena 50 witnesses in racketeering investigation into Trump



Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is expected to take dozens of subpoenas to a grand jury investigating the efforts by supporters of Donald Trump to overturn the election in Georgia, which was won by Joe Biden.

"As many as 50 witnesses are expected to be subpoenaed by a special grand jury that will begin hearing testimony next week in the criminal investigation into whether former President Donald J. Trump and his allies violated Georgia laws in their efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state," The New York Times reported Friday.

Willis had paused the investigation until after Georgia's 2022 primary elections, which were conducted on Tuesday.

Willis spoke with the newspaper on Thursday.

"As many as 50 witnesses have declined to talk to her voluntarily and are likely to be subpoenaed, she said. The potential crimes to be reviewed go well beyond the phone call that Mr. Trump made to Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, on Jan. 2, 2021, during which he asked him to find enough votes to reverse the election results," the newspaper explained. "Ms. Willis is weighing racketeering among other potential charges and said that such cases have the potential to sweep in people who have never set foot in Fulton or made a single phone call to the county."

Raffensperger's confirmed he had been subpoenaed, along with Gabriel Sterling, the chief operating officer for the secretary of state’s office. Two Democratic state senators, Jen Jordan and Elena Parent, both said they had received subpoenas. Both serve on a judiciary subcommittee that heard from Rudy Giuliani.

"Her investigators are also reviewing the slate of fake electors that Republicans created in a desperate attempt to circumvent the state’s voters. She said the scheme to submit fake Electoral College delegates could lead to fraud charges, among others — and cited her approach to a 2014 racketeering case she helped lead as an assistant district attorney, against a group of educators involved in a cheating scandal in the Atlanta public schools," the newspaper reported.

Raffensperger is expected to face questions on two key phone calls, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Friday.

"The first is the hour-long phone call Trump placed to him on Jan. 2, 2021, in which the then-president pressed Raffensperger to “find” 11,780 votes to reverse Democrat Joe Biden’s win in Georgia," the newspaper reported. "The second involves another call that Raffensperger received two months earlier, in the days following the Nov. 3 election, from Trump ally U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). Raffenpserger said that Graham had questioned him, as election officials conducted a recount and audit of the presidential race, about whether he had the power to disqualify more absentee ballots based on mismatched signatures."

The newspaper has been told to expect a subpoena for reporter Greg Bluestein, who extensively covered the efforts to overturn the election.

Read this exclusive article here: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/27/us/trump-grand-jury-georgia.html

[Rick Plant]

Trump, other Republicans reject gun reforms at NRA convention that showcases nation’s split



Houston CNN — Former President Donald Trump and other GOP leaders rejected efforts to overhaul gun laws and mocked Democrats and activists calling for change Friday at the National Rifle Association’s annual convention.

The gathering this weekend in Houston is taking place 280 miles east of the South Texas town of Uvalde, where 19 children and two adults were killed by a gunman at an elementary school Tuesday.

Hours before top Republicans were scheduled to speak in Houston, law enforcement officials in Uvalde acknowledged that they had waited too long to breach the classroom where a gunman was shooting children and teachers.

But those mistakes, and their ramifications on proposals to place more armed police and teachers in schools, went unmentioned in speeches by Trump and other Republicans.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott canceled his planned appearance at the NRA convention and instead pre-recorded a video in which he was dismissive of calls for gun reforms.

“Remember this: There are thousands of laws on the books across the country that limit the owning or using of firearms, laws that have not stopped madmen from carrying out evil acts on innocent people in peaceful communities,” he said.

Trump in his speech called for a series of measures that largely mirrored what other Republicans had proposed throughout the day: Schools with a single entryway, with armed guards stationed there, and exit-only fire escapes. He also said some teachers should be allowed to carry firearms.

“The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,” the former President said – repeating a refrain that Texas Sen. Ted Cruz had used onstage less than an hour earlier.

But Trump also nodded to the political reality that gun rights advocates represent a core constituency for Republicans, and for the former President in particular. “You are the backbone of our movement,” he said Friday.

Cruz, meanwhile, blamed a “cultural sickness,” including fatherless children and video games, for mass shootings. He said schools should have a single entry point defended by multiple armed guards.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem attacked advocates of gun safety legislation.

"Let me tell you the truth about the enemies of the Second Amendment. They are schooled in the ways of Marx and Lenin,” she said.

And NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre said that “if we as a nation were capable of legislating evil out of the hearts and minds of criminals who commit these heinous acts, we would have done it a long time ago.”

The tale of two Americas

In the nation’s bitter divide over guns, the tale of two Americas was on vivid display in downtown Houston, as protesters waved signs and shouted at NRA members as they walked into the George R. Brown Convention Center for their meeting and exposition.

“NRA, go away,” a woman said over and over, her voice echoing through a bullhorn beneath the punishing sunshine.

“You go away,” another woman yelled back as she crossed the street to enter the event.

It’s been three years since the NRA last gathered for its convention – the last two years were called off because of the Covid-19 pandemic – and thousands of people descended on Houston to show their support for the Second Amendment and to go shopping in the expansive exposition hall.

In celebration of its 150th anniversary, the NRA went big for its Texas meeting, with a sign outside the convention center promising “14 acres of guns and gear.”

Guns of all shapes and sizes were on display, from antique pistols to automatic weapons, with some decorated in camouflage and others in American flags. Hundreds of vendors set up booths for the weekend, selling ammunition and a variety of gun paraphernalia.

After the Columbine massacre in 1999, the NRA canceled its exposition during its meeting in nearby Denver. But this year, despite Uvalde being less than 300 miles away, the exposition went on as planned – except for Daniel Defense, the company that manufactured the weapon used in the shooting at Robb Elementary School.

"We believe this week is not the appropriate time to be promoting our products in Texas at the NRA meeting,” Steve Reed, vice president of marketing for Daniel Defense, told CNN.

A popcorn cart, a baked potato stand and several tables and chairs were hastily set up in the space originally reserved for Daniel Defense, a Georgia company.

In the wake of the shooting, that was the only noticeable alteration to the sprawling exposition hall. But prominent country singers Lee Greenwood and Larry Gatlin were among the performers who also canceled their appearances.

“I didn’t think it was a good time to go down to Houston and have a party with them digging 21 fresh graves in the valley of my precious, beloved Texas,” Gatlin, of the famed Gatlin Brothers, told CNN.

Conversations with several members of the NRA – some from Texas and others who were visiting Houston for the weekend event – found respectful expressions of sympathy at the loss of life at the Uvalde school. Yet person after person placed blame on mental health problems and other issues – not guns – for the horrific shooting.

"It’s not that guns are evil. Guns are tools that can be used for good or evil – just like cars,” said Dr. Elizabeth Tom, who traveled to Texas from Elko, Nevada, for the convention. “Many more people are killed in car wrecks, but nobody says that you have to have a waiting period in order to buy one or that all cars are evil because some people run over other people with them.”

An NRA member for about three decades, Tom said she did not believe that more gun restrictions would prevent future massacres.

“I know this may be somewhat controversial and I certainly don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, but if any of those teachers had been armed, this might have ended a lot quicker,” Tom told CNN. “We already have gun restrictions. Shooting someone is already illegal, so I’m not really sure what more they want.”

Not all attendees shared that view.

Max Shirley, an NRA member from Round Rock, Texas, said he would support “sensible measures” to stop the cycle of school shootings. He said he believed the age limit to buy an automatic weapon should be raised to 21 and the clip size for ammunition should be lowered.

"If the person you’re defending yourself against is not down or the threat is not diminished after 10 rounds or 10 shots, then you’ve got bigger problems,” Shirley told CNN. “Or you’re a bad shot.”

‘I can’t believe they’re still here after Uvalde’

Outside the convention center, thousands gathered for a protest organized by gun control advocacy groups Moms Demand Action and March for Our Lives, as well as local teachers’ unions, Black Lives Matter chapters and the Harris County Democratic Party.

Many there said they were furious that the NRA would go on with its convention after a school shooting in the state just days earlier.

“I can’t believe that they’re still here after Uvalde,” said Anastacia Castro, a 20-year-old college student whose brother was shot and killed last year. “They insult victims of gun violence like me by being here in the city.”

Milan Narayan, a 17-year-old student who leads a Students Demand Action chapter at his high school, where he said an accidental shooting took place last year, said he understood that the NRA’s convention had been booked well in advance.

“But you can’t be tone deaf. I mean, kids have died,” he said.

The signs protesters held demonstrated the rawness of the emotion some of them said they felt after the Uvalde shooting, which took place in a state that has seen a series of mass shootings in recent years — including 26 people killed at a church in Sutherland Springs in 2017 and 22 killed at a Walmart in El Paso in 2019 by a gunman targeting Latinos.

One sign said, “I will vote you out because those 10-year-olds will never get to.” Another said, “My little sister is afraid to go to school.”

The focus of those protesting in Houston on Friday, in speeches and interviews, was on guns. Many argued for a ban on the sale of assault rifles.

Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke, the Democrat who is challenging Abbott in November’s midterm elections and has called for “red flag” laws and a ban on the sale of AR-15s, sought to extend an olive branch to NRA members.

“To those who are attending the NRA convention across the street: You are not our enemies. We are not yours. We extend our hand, open and unarmed, in a gesture of peace and fellowship, to welcome you to join us to make sure this no longer happens in this country,” O’Rourke said during a speech at the protest, about a football field away from the convention center. O’Rourke made headlines the day after the shooting when he confronted Abbott and other officials during a news conference in Uvalde.

“But the time for you to respond and join us is now. We cannot wait any longer for you,” he said. “Those who will be the victims of the next mass shooting unless we act are counting on us at this moment. So please join us now or be left behind.”

https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/27/politics/uvalde-donald-trump-nra-convention/index.html