Trump supporters and conspiracy theory - Part 2

[Rick Plant]

Trump could face 33 years in prison for violating federal laws
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-convicted-espionage-violated-laws-33-years-in-prison-2022-8

[Rick Plant]

Confessing to the crime’: Reporter’s claim about Trump being ‘reluctant’ to return records ignites legal experts



Legal experts including Neal Katyal, Andrew Weissmann, and others are responding to a claim made by a right wing reporter that they say indicts rather than vindicates Donald Trump.

The claim was made by Paul Sperry, a former D.C. bureau chief for Investor's Business Daily, who has worked for the far right wing website WorldNetDaily. He is described as having a "long record of promoting anti-Muslim conspiracy theories" by Georgetown University's Bridge Initiative Team.

If his reporting is true, legal experts say it is a confession to unlawful actions regarding the 35 cartons of White House records that belong not to the former president, as he reportedly stated, but to the National Archives.

"BREAKING," Sperry's post on the right wing social media site Gettr begins. "Sources close to Trump say the former president was reluctant to furnish presidential records to the National Archives after he found out partisan Democrat political appointees there were releasing thousands of his White House documents to the January 6 Committee in spite of his lawyers' claims of executive privilege. They say the former president simply 'does not trust' the Obama and Biden political appointees running the National Archives to act in good faith and in bipartisan spirit."

That post was included as a screenshot and tweeted by attorney Ron Filipkowski.

Former FBI General Counsel Andrew Weissmann responds by saying: "Legally, this is a confession, not a defense, even if Trump thinks this plays to his base. The more Trump keeps talking, the more he keeps digging his legal grave."

Weissmann also served as an Assistant United States Attorney, chief of the criminal fraud section of the U.S. Department of Justice, and worked under Robert Mueller during the Trump investigation.

This "is Trump confessing to the crime," says former U.S. Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal. "If this report is accurate, Trump is saying he took these doc[uments] for his personal gain. It's no defense to say 'the govt was going to be unfair.' These are the govt's docs, not his. He doesn't get to hide them& benefit."

The nonpartisan watchdog Citizens for Ethics (CREW) writes: "So Trump was intentionally breaking the law. That's really not the winner they think it is."

Attorney Owen Barcala offers up this sarcastic response: "'How dare you say he negligently retained classified documents! He did so intentionally and with the specific purpose to interfere with a Congressional investigation!'"

National security lawyer Mark S. Zaid: "These 'sources' close to Trump are undermining any possible factual or legal defenses he might assert. Please keep talking!"

Journalists are also weighing in.

Civil liberties and national security journalist Marcy Wheeler: "These 'sources close to Trump' LITERALLY just confessed to concealing official records to thwart an investigation, which is one of the crimes under investigation, 18 USC 1519."

Columbia Journalism School Professor Bill Grueskin: "Each story is more confession-y than the previous one."

New York Times opinion columnist Farhad Manjoo: "he's admitting to taking classified documents from the White House in order to keep them away from government officials? convenient, because that is ... specifically one of the crimes he's being investigated for."

Read More Here:

https://twitter.com/AWeissmann_/status/1559637863276445696


'Oh my lord!' CNN legal analyst astounded by 'all the crimes' Trump and his lawyers could be charged with



Former President Donald Trump is facing a criminal investigation into whether he violated the Espionage Act, and CNN legal analyst Elliot Williams argued on Wednesday that Trump and his attorneys face exposure to a wide range of potential charges.

During a discussion about last week's FBI search of Mar-a-Lago that recovered top secret government documents, host John Berman quoted at length from a New York Times report that described behind-the-scenes actions that led up to the decision to execute a search warrant.

"Let me read another quote from Maggie Haberman's reporting that dealing with surveillance footage and the fact that they were alarmed with what they saw," Berman said. "'At that point at least one trump lawyer signed a statement saying material with the classified markings had been returned, according to four people familiar with the document, but officials used a subpoena to obtain surveillance footage of the hallway outside a storage room at Mar-a-Lago and saw something that alarmed them. They also received information from at least one witness who indicated that more material might remain at the residence."

Williams responded by expressing astonishment.

"Oh my lord!" he exclaimed. "It's like a law school exam question where you have to count all of the crimes. I'm dead serious here. Number one, signing that document could itself be a crime because it's a false statement to the government. Number two, not complying with the subpoena, it's a misdemeanor but still a crime. Number three, what you're seeing are potentially crimes or at least gross abuses in judgment happening on camera."

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

Trump lawyers tried to access 2020 election data in two Michigan counties

Report: Trump lawyers tried to access 2020 election data in Wayne, Antrim counties



Documents obtained by the Washington Post found a “secretive, multistate effort to access voting equipment that was broader, more organized and more successful than previously reported,” included efforts in Michigan that have already come under scrutiny.

The story, published Monday, concludes that a team of computer experts directed by lawyers allied with former President Donald Trump, requested Atlanta-based forensics data firm SullivanStrickler to access county election systems in at least three battleground states; Michigan, Nevada and Georgia.

In Michigan, the investigation determined that attorney Sidney Powell ordered the team to travel to Michigan and copy election data in rural Antrim County and then later arranged for them to do the same in Wayne County, which have both been the subject of pro-Trump conspiracy theories.

Powell, a QAnon conspiracy adherent, was at the head of an unsuccessful effort to overturn the 2020 election. She was later ordered to pay sanctions for bringing frivolous, misinformation-laden lawsuits into Michigan courts and is also the subject of an effort to disbar her.

The emails and other records used in the Post investigation were compiled via a subpoena issued to SullivanStrickler by plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit concerning the security of Georgia’s voting systems.

“The documents shed new light on one front in the wide-ranging battle by Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election,” said the story. “The small team of lawyers and security contractors worked quietly to get their hands on the county-level equipment while others around Trump filed legal challenges, deployed protesters to Washington and lobbied Congress and Vice President Mike Pence to reject Joe Biden’s victory.”

SullivanStrickler’s dealings in northern Michigan’s Antrim County came in December 2020 in response to a lawsuit filed by Matthew DePerno, the Trump-backed GOP likely nominee for Michigan attorney general who will face Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel this fall. Antrim County has been the subject of many right-wing conspiracy theories for briefly showing Biden ahead of Trump after the 2020 election, an error that was quickly corrected.

A judge allowed DePerno to take images of county vote tabulators. That lawsuit was later dismissed.

DePerno is also now the subject of a petition for a special prosecutor into whether third parties gained unauthorized access to, and then tampered with, election equipment and data after the 2020 election.

A SullivanStrickler team flew into Antrim County on a private jet and while ordered by the judge not to distribute any data without permission, copied the hard drive of an elections server and provided them to Trump’s team upon payment of services, the story reports.

It was also reported that the same data was later publicized during an election fraud symposium held in August 2021 in Sioux Falls, S.D., by MyPillow chief executive Mike Lindell.

Two weeks later, emails indicate that a SullivanStrickler team went to Wayne County at Powell’s direction as part of the Trump campaign’s attempt to challenge precinct tallies there, and ultimately halt certification of the state’s results.

Wayne, the state’s largest county, is home to Detroit and went for Biden by about 150,000 votes. Republicans led a raucous protest at the former TCF Center where absentee ballots were being counted and activists made numerous false allegations of election fraud.

The Wayne County Board of Canvassers, which is evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans, almost didn’t certify the election results in November 2020 following the testimony of several Trump supporters. Trump contacted the Republican canvassers to thank them for their support.

When asked to comment on the report, Tracy Wimmer, spokesperson for Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, referred the Michigan Advance to a statement Benson issued last week when word of the petition for a special prosecutor was first reported.

“There must be consequences for those who broke the law to undermine our elections in order to advance their own political agendas,” stated Benson. “I’m thankful to Attorney General Nessel for conducting this investigation into the tampering of our secure voting machines and referring the case for prosecution. The republican, democratic and nonpartisan election clerks of this state do their jobs with professionalism and integrity, and we will continue to ensure they are equipped with a full understanding of the legal protections in place to block bad actors from pressuring them to gain access to secure election systems.”

Wimmer did note that “all breached tabulators identified by the investigation were decommissioned prior to this year’s elections.”

In November, Benson is likely facing Republican Kristina Karamo, who was a poll challenger at the TCF Center and has spread election conspiracy theories, in the general election.

A request for comment was also sent to Wayne County Clerk Kathy Garrett, but has yet to be returned.

https://michiganadvance.com/blog/report-trump-lawyers-tried-to-access-2020-election-data-in-wayne-antrim-counties/

[Rick Plant]

The Trump Cult

[Rick Plant]

Trump’s CFO Allen Weisselberg Will Implicate Trump Companies in Guilty Plea

The Trump Organization’s money man has agreed that, if called, he’ll testify against Trump’s companies



Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization’s finance chief, will say in Manhattan court Thursday that he conspired with several of the ex-president’s companies when he pleads guilty to state tax crimes, two sources familiar with the case tell Rolling Stone.

As part of Weisselberg’s plea deal, he has agreed to testify against The Trump Corporation and the Trump Payroll Corporation at trial, which is scheduled for October.

If called to the witness stand during trial, Weisselberg will provide testimony that is the same as what he admits to in court this week, the source said. One of the sources said that while Weisselberg is agreeing to testify, that does not mean he necessarily will; it depends on whether prosecutors decide to call him. The New York Times first reported that Weisselberg was expected to plead guilty, and CNN reported he would testify if called.

Weisselberg will not go beyond his testimony to help the criminal probe, one of the sources said. Still, his potential testimony could pose a severe threat to Trump’s companies. This possible testimony, which allegedly implicates Trump’s businesses, could be key to prosecutors’ securing a guilty verdict against these companies. When a company is found to have engaged in criminal conduct, significant fines can pile up quickly — potentially leading to its demise.

Weisselberg’s expected guilty plea stems from an indictment last year from the Manhattan district attorney’s office accusing him and several of Trump’s companies of tax crimes in a “sweeping and audacious illegal payment scheme.” These financial offenses related to the lavish perks that came with being CFO of Donald Trump’s real estate empire. (The Trump Organization has maintained its not guilty plea, so his namesake business, and several related entities, remain under indictment.)

Starting in 2005, Weisselberg, a Trump family employee of some five decades, lived gratis in an apartment on Manhattan’s Riverside Boulevard. The Trump Corporation, which leased the apartment, was covering his rent — along with Weisselberg’s utilities and parking fees, the indictment charged. The Trump Organization also allegedly made sure his longtime moneyman rode in style. From 2005 to 2017, the ex-president’s company paid the leases on two Mercedes Benzes that Weisselberg and his wife used as their personal cars. Trump’s company gave Weisselberg cash around Christmastime so he could pay “personal holiday gratuities,” prosecutors alleged.

Weisselberg’s family was also well taken care of, prosecutors said. The company covered Weisselberg’s personal expenses “for his homes and for an apartment maintained by one of his children,” according to the indictment. Among these requests were items such as “new beds, flat-screen televisions, the installation of carpeting, and furniture for Weisselberg’s home in Florida.” Weisselberg’s grandchildren benefited from this arrangement, too, with the Trump Corporation footing the bill for private school tuition, per the charging papers. Prosecutors alleged that Weisselberg didn’t declare these benefits on his taxes, meaning he purportedly received $1.7 million in unlawful payments.

A lawyer for Trump’s companies declined to comment. A spokesperson for the Manhattan D.A.’s office did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Speaking generally about how a Weisselberg guilty plea could impact Trump, Rebecca Roiphe, New York Law School professor, tells Rolling Stone: “It is another Trump person being convicted of something, and it also reflects on him more than just the company he keeps. This is obviously conduct that occurred separately from his presidency and has to do with how he conducted his businesses. Whether or not he was directly involved in these actions, or knew about them or was criminally liable for them, it’s serious and significant.”

"It should — and does — bear upon his reputation as a businessperson in New York. Assuming they can convict the organization as well, it can have direct consequences on his business and his work and his business’s ability to continue in New York,” Roiphe said.  “Criminal liability is usually a pretty big deal for a corporation— it’s often a death sentence. The penalties could be so significant that the organization cannot survive past it. The penalties can be so high the company just doesn’t exist, and it could ultimately end in the dissolution of the company.”

The potential of criminal liability for Trump was greater in the Georgia election meddling case and South Florida federal records inquiry.  “There’s a parallel civil and criminal investigation in New York [and] while we don’t know where it will ultimately lead, there have certainly been signs that show the [New York] criminal investigation has been lagging,” Roiphe said.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/allen-weisselberg-guilty-plea-trump-organizations-criminal-trial-1398303/

[Rick Plant]

Breaking news just coming out: Trump Org CFO Allen Weisselberg expected to plead GUILTY on Thursday and admit to 15 felonies. As part of the deal, he has reportedly agreed to testify against Donald Trump's companies.

We also can't forget about this:

Donald Trump Jr. swore that he, Eric Trump, and Allen Weisselberg were RUNNING THE TRUMP Org’s finances during a deposition related to the Presidential Inauguration Committee’s finances.

[Rick Plant]

Court can't release the FBI affidavit because the witnesses it exposes could be killed by Trump supporters: legal expert



On Wednesday's edition of MSNBC's "The ReidOut," former federal prosecutor Barbara McQuade outlined the clear danger posed by former President Donald Trump's demand for federal officials to unseal the affidavit used to obtain the search warrant at his Mar-a-Lago resort.

The key problem, she pointed out, is that it could expose witnesses — whose lives would then be in danger.

"Why would Trump want this unsealed?" asked anchor Tiffany Cross. "Do you think this is his way of figuring out who the informants are? Again, it feels like thinks a crime syndicate, not a former president."

"You're absolutely right, Tiffany," said McQuade. "I think part of this is his public relations bid. He wants to frame himself as somehow being a victim, and being targeted, and being treated unfairly, so this is something he can argue about, but I think there's zero percent chance the judge will release the search warrant affidavit at this time because as you said, the Justice Department said it would compromise the identities of witnesses, as well as reveal grand jury material that by law cannot be released. So I think there's no chance."

The real danger is not Trump himself, clarified McQuade, but his supporters.

"Imagine not what Trump, but his followers might do to a witness who gets identified and outed by this affidavit," said McQuade. "We saw that attack on the Cincinnati FBI field office last week. One could just imagine what may happen to this person, whoever it may be, who is identified in this affidavit."

Watch below: