Trump supporters and conspiracy theory - Part 2

[Rick Plant]

Donnie is a pathological liar and he can't help himself from lying. Most likely he'll get rung up for perjury under oath due to his constant lying which is why he will have to plead the 5th. But like he publicly stated, "only mobsters and criminals plead the 5th" and he is indeed one of those. What a great day for justice, the Trump Crime Family is finally being held accountable for their crimes and they have no stooges or lackeys that can help them get off the hook. Hopefully this criminal organization will be dissolved which will leave Criminal Donald penniless.

Deposition Day is coming soon!    

Trump’s company could be dissolved if New York AG seeks ’nuclear option’: MSNBC legal analyst



Donald Trump is about to face some "comeuppance," according to MSNBC legal analyst Barbara McQuade.

McQuade, a former federal prosecutor, made the statement after a New York judge ruled Thursday that Trump must sit for a desposition as part of Attorney General Letitia James' civil investigation into his company's business practices.

"You may remember that Corey Lewandowski, who was a former Trump campaign manager, famously said words to the effect of, 'It's not a crime to lie to the media,'" McQuade said. "And that's true, and I think Donald Trump has gotten away with that adage for a long time, but it is a crime to lie under oath at a deposition. And I think one of the reasons he has fought so hard to avoid this deposition is this is where truth matters, and so he can't lie his way out of it, he can't exaggerate out of it."

"So when he sits in that deposition chair as he has been ordered to do and as I'm sure will be affirmed on appeal, Donald Trump will face that comeuppance, where he has to tell the truth or assert a privilege like the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination, which he has said is something that is invoked only by mobsters and criminals, so he finds himself in a very difficult spot, because if he lies now, it does matter," she added.

Asked later in the segment about potential consequences for Trump and his company in the case, McQuade noted that it's a civil investigation for fraud.

"So the consequences there could be money damages — for example, if there are back taxes that are owed, if there were victims here, lenders who would not otherwise have made these loans who lost money in the deal — they'd have to pay damages," she said.

"But the nuclear option here is that Attorney General James actually has the power to dissolve corporations that are involved in widespread fraud. It's what happened with the Trump Foundation, so it could even happen here with the Trump Organization," McQuade added. "The other thing that could happen is this information could be used in the criminal case. We see the Manhattan DA investigating some of the very same acts under a criminal lens ... which could also bring with it in addition to monetary penalties, potential prison time."

Watch below:

[Rick Plant]

Judge Refuses to Quash Subpoenas and Depositions for Donald Trump and His Children: It Would Be a ‘Blatant Dereliction of Duty’ Not to Investigate

A Manhattan judge refused to quash civil subpoenas and depositions for former President Donald Trump and his children in a blistering ruling on Thursday, writing that it would have been “blatant dereliction of duty” not to investigate them.

“For OAG not to have investigated the original respondents, and not to have subpoenaed the new Trump respondents, would have been a blatant dereliction of duty (and would have broken an oft repeated campaign promise). Indeed, the impetus for the investigation was not personal animus, not racial or ethnic or other discrimination, not campaign promises, but was sworn congressional testimony by former Trump associate Michael Cohen that respondents were ‘cooking the books,'” Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron wrote in a 8-page ruling.

Trump and his children Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. have 21 days from the date of his order to sit for a deposition, Engoron ruled.

“Copious Evidence of Possible Financial Fraud”

During a freewheeling hearing that lasted roughly two hours on Thursday morning, Trump’s attorney Alina Habba tore into New York Attorney General Letitia James (D), whom she suggested should be brought before an ethics committee for investigating her client.

“She used his name to became AG,” Habba said. “She tried to use his name to become governor,” referring to her abandoned run for the office of the man she helped dethrone: ex-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D).

Habba remarked that the latter run did not “work out well for [James].”

Rejecting such claims, Engoron wrote: “Here, the new Trump respondents have failed to submit any evidence that the law was not applied to others similarly situated, nor have they submitted any evidence of discrimination based on race, religion, or any other impermissible or arbitrary classification.”

When running for office, James did not hide her intentions to investigate Trump. She openly described him as an “illegitimate president” and, his attorneys say, rhetorically convicted Trump of a crime for which he had never been charged when she said on the campaign trail: “We need to find out where he’s laundered money.” There is no indication that James is investigating Trump for alleged money laundering, but she has touted her civil investigation about the Trump Organization’s financial practices since it became public in 2020. James markedly changed her tone after taking office, issuing public statements that she follows the facts wherever they may lead.

“No one will be permitted to stand in the way of the pursuit of justice, no matter how powerful they are,” she wrote on Twitter, in response to Engoran’s ruling.

The probe was quietly taking place a year earlier, but the stakes became higher when it became apparent that it was operating in tandem with a criminal investigation by then-Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance (D), who indicted the Trump Organization and its former chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg on a raft of tax fraud offenses. Trump’s attorneys were quick to note that James attended Weisselberg’s hearing and spoke to the press after that. They claim that she has dropped all pretense of acting in a strictly civil law capacity and say she is working “hand in glove” with current-DA Alvin Bragg (D).

Noting every prosecutor behind the civil and criminal probes have been elected Democrats, Trump’s attorneys have been quick to paint the investigations as politically motivated.

Justice Engoron signaled his skepticism about that argument in a Thursday morning hearing.

“How do we know that the motive is Donald Trump’s speech rather than his financial practices?” Engoron said, noting that Trump’s beliefs do not figure into some 600 documents in the docket.

Kevin Wallace, the attorney general’s acting chief for the investor protection bureau, quoted former Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morganthau’s line about Trump’s oft-described mentor Roy Cohn.

“A man is not immune from prosecution merely because a United States attorney happens not to like him,” Morganthau replied when Cohn complained about an alleged political vendetta.

The attorney general’s office has said their investigation has been productive, allegedly uncovering that the former president’s company inflated the size of his Trump Tower triplex by nearly three times or tax benefits, did not assign a value to the Trump brand, and may have used “fraudulent or misleading” asset valuations on six properties to obtain economic benefits.

Referring to such allegations, Engoron wrote: “In the final analysis, a State Attorney General commences investigating a business entity, uncovers copious evidence of possible financial fraud, and wants to question, under oath, several of the entities’ principals, including its namesake. She has the clear right to do so.”

“Reminiscent of Lewis Carroll”

Indeed, days before Thursday’s hearing, Trump’s longtime accounting firm Mazars parted ways with the former president and his company, writing that Trump’s “Statements of Financial Condition from 2011-2020 can no longer be relied on” and must be retracted. The judge found Trump’s positive spin on that development worthy of classic works of surrealist and dystopian fiction.

“The idea that an accounting firm’s announcement that no one should rely on a decade’s worth of financial statements that it issued based on numbers submitted by an entity somehow exonerates that entity and renders an investigation into its past practices moot is reminiscent of Lewis Carroll (“When I use a word, Humpty Dumpty said … it means just what I chose it to mean – neither more nor less’); George Orwell (‘War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength’); and ‘alternative facts,'” Engoron wrote, evoking the phrase used by Trump’s former senior counselor Kellyanne Conway.

In addition to impugning James, Habba also attacked the former Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen as “discredited,” calling his congressional testimony the basis of the attorney general’s probe.

Calling Law&Crime immediately after the hearing, Cohen shot back that Habba’s jibe “reeks of desperation.”

“Trump’s financial impropriety may be an allegation but very soon will be a reality,” he said. “Numbers don’t lie. People do.”

Attorney Alan Futerfas, arguing for the president’s children, argued that the civil investigation could put his clients in criminal jeopardy. During criminal proceedings, one can assert a Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination without any adverse inference being drawn, but that is not true of a civil investigation. He argued that the what he described as dual nature of James’s investigation stripped his clients of that constitutional right.

Engoron skewered that argument in his ruling.

“The target of a hybrid civil/criminal investigation cannot use the Fifth Amendment as both a sword and a shield; a shield against questions and a sword against the investigation itself,” he wrote. “When they are deposed, the New Trump Respondents will have the right to refuse to answer any questions that they claim might incriminate them, and that refusal may not be commented on or used against them in a criminal prosecution. However, there is no unfairness in allowing the jurors in a civil case to know these refusals and to draw their own conclusions.”

Eric Trump asserted his Fifth Amendment right more than 500 times during his deposition in October 2020, according to court filings.

Read the ruling in link below:

https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/judge-refuses-to-quash-subpoenas-and-depositions-for-donald-trump-and-his-children-it-would-be-a-blatant-dereliction-of-duty-not-to-investigate/

[Rick Plant]

'Fire within the smoke': Former federal prosecutor says judge gave ominous signals in Trump ruling



On Thursday's edition of CNN's "OutFront," former federal prosecutor and legal analyst Shan Wu weighed in on the court ruling that former President Donald Trump and his family can be deposed in New York State's civil investigation of his family businesses.

"The judge said he reviewed thousands of documents for this investigation, [Attorney General Letitia James] did uncover copious evidence of financial fraud, that's a significant thing to say, isn't it?" asked anchor Erin Burnett.

"It's very significant," said Wu. "Frankly, with all these different legal cases that the Trump legal team keeps losing, this one is unique because it's an example of a judge passing on what we talk about as the merits of the case."

Wu then elaborated on why this could be bad news for Trump and his family.

"He has reviewed actual documents here and actually said that the evidence here is damning enough that if the New York AG didn't do anything at all, didn't have investigation, it would be a dereliction of duty," Wu explained. "So there's fire within the smoke."

Watch below:

[Rick Plant]

Trump's tweets during Capitol riots seemed to be 'ratifying' the violence that took place: judicial ruling



United States District Court Judge Amit Mehta on Friday issued a major ruling against former President Donald Trump's efforts to dismiss civil lawsuits to hold him liable for the January 6th Capitol riots.

As flagged by Politico's Kyle Cheney, Mehta's ruling contained a explosive section in which he made the case that it is plausible that Trump entered into a "tacit agreement" with the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers to condone their violent activities at the Capitol.

"From these alleged facts, it is at least plausible to infer that, when he called on rally-goers to march to the Capitol, the President did so with the goal of disrupting lawmakers' efforts to certify the Electoral College votes," Mehta argued. "The Oath Keepers, the Proud Boys, and other who forced their way into the Capitol building plainly shared in that unlawful goal."

Mehta cited Trump's tweets during the Capitol riot as evidence that he at least tacitly condoned the violence taking place.

"Approximately twelve minutes after rioters entered the Capitol building, the President sent a tweet criticizing the Vice Preisdent for not 'hav[ing] the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country,'" Mehta noted. "Rioters repeated the criticism at the Capitol, some of whom saw it as encouragement to further violence."

Mehta also noted that Trump tweeted after the Capitol had been cleared that "these are the things that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously and viciously stripped away from great patriots... remember this day forever!"

In analyzing the tweet, Mehta wrote that "a reasonable observer could read that tweet as ratifying the violence and other illegal acts that took place."

Read the ruling here:

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-capitol-riot-lawsuit-2656724928/

[Rick Plant]

Lock Him Up!

Classified documents among those Trump removed from White House, Archives confirms

Classified national security documents were in fact among those former President Donald Trump brought with him upon leaving office, the government's chief archivist said Friday, per Bloomberg.

In a letter to the chair of the House Oversight Committee, Archivist David Ferriero said the National Archives "has identified items marked as classified national security information within the boxes" recently recovered from Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort.

In January, the Archives got a hold of multiple boxes containing documents and records Trump had "improperly removed" from Pennsylvania Ave and brought with him to his Florida resort. And earlier this month, the government agency expressed concern that classified information appeared to be among the recovered boxes, in what would be a pretty obvious violation of the Presidential Records Act.

Ferriero's letter also said the Archives "has identified certain social media records that were not captured and preserved by the Trump Administration," and that it found "some White House staff conducted official business using non-official electronic messaging accounts that were not copied or forwarded into their official electronic messaging accounts." Such disclosures are required under current presidential record law, Ferriero said.

Because classified information was, in fact, found among Trump's boxes, the Archives staff has been in touch with the Department of Justice, reports The New York Times.

"These new revelations deepen my concern about former President Trump's flagrant disregard for federal records laws and the potential impact on our historical record," House Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) said in a statement on Friday. "I am committed to uncovering the full depth of Presidential Records Act violations by former President Trump and his top advisors, and using these findings to advance critical reforms and prevent future abuses."

White House records taken by Trump contained classified information, National Archives confirms

The agency told Congress it has "identified items marked as classified national security information" in boxes that were sent to Mar-a-Lago
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/white-house-records-taken-trump-contained-classified-information-natio-rcna16890

[Rick Plant]

In a remarkable, 112-page ruling, MEHTA said Trump essentially entered into a "tacit agreement" with the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, sending a rally crowd he knew included violent elements to the Capitol.

This is clear evidence of insurrection and sedition. Lock up Criminal Donald for treason and crimes against the United States.

[Rick Plant]

Trump ends week with yet another court loss as judge refuses to dismiss Capitol riot-related lawsuits

Donald Trump has just lost in court -- again.

Capping off what one legal analyst has described as an "epically terrible legal week" for the former president, United States District Court Judge Amit Mehta slapped down Trump's attempt to dismiss civil lawsuits filed by multiple members of Congress that hold him personally responsible for inciting the January 6th riots at the United States Capitol building.

While Mehta granted Trump's attempt to dismiss certain aspects of the lawsuits, including accusations of intentional infliction of emotional duress, he refused to dismiss claims in the lawsuits that Trump aided or abetted the assault on the Capitol.

This ruling is just the latest in a string of legal defeats for Trump that, in the last week alone, have included being forced to testify in the New York Attorney General Office's civil lawsuit alleging fraud at the Trump Organization; a failed effort to keep White House visitors logs hidden from the House Select Committee investigating the January 6th Capitol riots; the reinstatement of the Trump Organization as a defendant in Washington, D.C. AG's civil lawsuit over alleged fraud at the Trump Inaugural Committee; and the announcement that longtime accountant Mazars USA could no longer vouch for the validity of Trump's financial statements.

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-capitol-riot-lawsuit-2656724792/


Trump took classified material from White House to Florida, National Archives says

Donald Trump took classified information to his Florida home after leaving the White House, the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration said in a letter to Congress on Friday about the 15 boxes of documents it recently recovered.

The Archives said it had informed the Department of Justice, which would handle any investigation.

"NARA has identified items marked as classified national security information within the boxes," David Ferriero, the archivist of the United States, said in a letter to Democratic U.S. Representative Carolyn Maloney, chair of the House of Representatives oversight committee.

Maloney's committee has been looking into Trump's handling of records by the Republican president, who left office in January 2021.

"These new revelations deepen my concern about former President Trump’s flagrant disregard for federal records laws and the potential impact on our historical record," Maloney said in a statement.

The letter from Ferriero also said that some White House staff conducted official business using nonofficial electronic messaging accounts that were not copied or forwarded into official electronic messaging accounts and that it was in the process of obtaining some of those missing records.

The Washington Post reported last week that some of the documents taken to Trump's home were marked as classified, which could intensify the legal pressure Trump or his aides could face.

The Presidential Records Act requires the preservation of memos, letters, notes, emails, faxes and other written communications related to a president's official duties.

Claiming executive privilege, Trump sued unsuccessfully to stop the release of records from his White House, including to the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-took-classified-material-white-house-florida-national-archives-says-2022-02-18/