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Author Topic: Trump supporters and conspiracy theory - Part 2  (Read 290697 times)

Offline Rick Plant

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Re: Trump supporters and conspiracy theory - Part 2
« Reply #5736 on: August 17, 2022, 08:18:25 PM »
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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/

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Re: Trump supporters and conspiracy theory - Part 2
« Reply #5736 on: August 17, 2022, 08:18:25 PM »


Offline Rick Plant

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Re: Trump supporters and conspiracy theory - Part 2
« Reply #5737 on: August 17, 2022, 10:08:12 PM »
The Trump Cult


Offline Rick Plant

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Re: Trump supporters and conspiracy theory - Part 2
« Reply #5738 on: August 17, 2022, 11:29:33 PM »
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/

JFK Assassination Forum

Re: Trump supporters and conspiracy theory - Part 2
« Reply #5738 on: August 17, 2022, 11:29:33 PM »


Offline Rick Plant

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Re: Trump supporters and conspiracy theory - Part 2
« Reply #5739 on: August 17, 2022, 11:37:04 PM »
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.


Offline Rick Plant

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Re: Trump supporters and conspiracy theory - Part 2
« Reply #5740 on: August 18, 2022, 07:07:01 AM »
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:


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Re: Trump supporters and conspiracy theory - Part 2
« Reply #5740 on: August 18, 2022, 07:07:01 AM »


Offline Rick Plant

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Re: Trump supporters and conspiracy theory - Part 2
« Reply #5741 on: August 18, 2022, 11:06:53 AM »
Former CIA director warns GOP is the most ‘dangerous and contemptible’ political force on earth



Experts are warning of the danger poised by the Republican Party as Trump supporters escalate their violent rhetoric as his legal woes mount as he faces investigations in Florida, Georgia, New York, and Washington, D.C.

Edward Luce, an editor at the Financial Times, tweeted, "I’ve covered extremism and violent ideologies around the world over my career."

"Have never come across a political force more nihilistic, dangerous, and contemptible than today’s Republicans," Luce wrote. "Nothing close."

His analysis was retweeted by former CIA Director Michael Hayden.

"I agree," Hayden wrote. "And I was CIA director."

Trump may also be losing political support.

"This afternoon, Alex Jones turned on Trump and said he would support Ron DeSantis in 2024. 'I am supporting DeSantis,' Jones said of the Florida governor while taking issue with Trump pushing the Covid-19 vaccine during his administration," Daily Beast correspondent Zachary Petrizzo reported Wednesday.

Former Mueller prosecutor Andrew Weissmann had questions about Attorney General Merrick Garland's Department of Justice following news about Trump Organization CEO Allen Weisselberg's guilty plea.

"The Weisselberg upcoming plea is fascinating; it gives the DA various new tools with respect to Trump Org and Trump," Weissmann wrote. "But it also caps jail time for the defendant, without full cooperation. But notably some cooperation at the upcoming trial."

Weissmann followed up with a "key question."

"Why is DOJ not investigating Trump, Weisselberg, and Trump Org for federal tax fraud?" Weissman asked. "The Weisselberg state indictment, to which Weisselberg will plead guilty tomorrow, explicitly states that the scheme involved state AND federal tax fraud."

He also had questions about reporting that it was only in May that the DOJ subpoenaed the National Archives for the documents they had provided the House Select Committee Investigating the Jan. 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol.

"Very glad DOJ eventually issued this [grand jury] subpoena, but the timing and 'me too' nature of it (e.g. 'give me what they asked for') does not inspire confidence that DOJ had done much beforehand on the broader J6 investigation," Weissman wrote.

But Trump was also facing his investigation in Georgia by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who blasted as a lawyer for GOP Gov. Brian Kemp as "wrong and confused."

Watergate figure John Dean said, "Fani is proceeding without fear or favor! This letter tells us much about her: strong and fair."

With so much news, former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance described it as that feeling when "you can't keep all the active criminal investigations looking into the former president straight."

Meanwhile, Trump is reportedly struggling to hire defense attorneys:


Edward Luce @EdwardGLuce

I’ve covered extremism and violent ideologies around the world over my career. Have never come across a political force more nihilistic, dangerous & contemptible than today’s Republicans. Nothing close.

https://twitter.com/EdwardGLuce/status/1557984573354565633


Gen Michael Hayden @GenMhayden

I agree. And I was the CIA Director

https://twitter.com/GenMhayden/status/1560027626626072577


'Comply don't die': MSNBC anchor slams GOP for attacking FBI after 'smug' defense of police brutality



On Wednesday's edition of MSNBC's "The Beat," anchor Ari Melber slammed what he called the "double standard" of Republicans outraged that Trump was subject to an FBI search at Mar-a-Lago after months of refusing to comply with requests to return classified documents — when "they should have just complied" is the go-to defense Republican commentators use to defend police officers who injure or kill Black suspects with excessive force.

"It is a standard piece of conservative refrain," said Melber. "In these clashes over law enforcement and policing, including when people are documented as innocent or did nothing wrong or are facing very aggressive or illegal police treatment, the line we hear over and over is, just follow the officer's commands and comply no matter what." He then showed several clips of right-wing commentators saying this.

"If, in fact, the police officer gives you a command, please exit the car, you should say, yes, officer, no, officer, okay, officer," said Sean Hannity in one clip. "Bad decisions by a cop, but those decisions wouldn't have been made if the perp didn't run away," said Eric Bolling in another. "Just comply. Please, listen," said Kimberly Guilfoyle in yet another.

"Just comply," said Melber. "This frequent conservative claim goes well beyond complying with lawful police requests. The demand is comply first, fully, no matter what. Yes, officer. Make any objections that may come up, presumably, later. And this logic, this argument, this talking point has come from conservatives over and over. So I'm showing you stuff that's on air, but this is in communities around America. Minnesota has a police union representative who in that Daunte Wright case, mistakenly drawing a gun, said they should have complied. And he argued it was the noncompliance that set off the chain of events that led to the death. Houston Police has a union, and they had a similar take when they said, quote, 'Comply don't die. Live to have your day in court.' Those are real examples. And that includes times where police were later found to make mistakes or used excessive force, even on tape."

"But that loud stubborn and often smug lecture comes from national political elites on the right and MAGA leaders and Trump allies all the way down to the police unions: comply," said Melber. "That's when innocent people were beaten or killed. That's the context for the recent legal problems for Trump because, again, this sometimes gets pushed out. There's so much going on and that's why it's our special report right now because I want everyone to understand Donald Trump was given months to comply. But he didn't. And Trump aides who have been given special elite treatment when asked to follow the law and testify have benefitted from that whole different approach. There are Trump officials who partially resisted and there are others, especially for the January 6th Committee, who fully resisted. No compliance."

"I want to be clear," said Melber. "We're talking about Donald Trump and other powerful, well-connected white people, who have acted like they are above the law and their own past demands are really not about the rules. They are just telling others to comply. And many of those other cases involve regular citizens who don't have political connections, and who are Back and Brown people in America. So this is a documented double standard. Lawless resistance for Trump elites, compliance or violence for regular citizens, and especially regular citizens who are Black and brown.

Watch below:


Offline Rick Plant

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Re: Trump supporters and conspiracy theory - Part 2
« Reply #5742 on: August 18, 2022, 11:12:54 AM »
If you were on Twitter yesterday, then you noticed that the top trending hashtag for most of the day was #LockTrumpUp.

This was the new video that was featured and massively retweeted yesterday. Take a look.


KARMA: Trump MAKES THE CASE for his own IMPRISONMENT

When it comes to Donald Trump, every single speech is a confession. For a long time, the twice-impeached, disgraced former president has made strong statements regarding the mishandling of classified information. Now, his words are coming back to haunt him, as he was caught red-handed stealing some of our nation's most sensitive materials. The new MeidasTouch ad 'Lock Trump Up' uses Trump's own words against him and makes the powerful case that it is time to lock Trump up once and for all.

Watch:


JFK Assassination Forum

Re: Trump supporters and conspiracy theory - Part 2
« Reply #5742 on: August 18, 2022, 11:12:54 AM »


Offline Rick Plant

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Re: Trump supporters and conspiracy theory - Part 2
« Reply #5743 on: August 18, 2022, 02:11:23 PM »
The CIA had to come up with clever ideas to keep Trump from putting classified info in his pockets: report



It has been a little over a week since the FBI executed a search warrant on former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach.

Douglas London, a former senior CIA Operations Officer, who worked with intelligence briefers for the president, explained that they were forced to use "unorthodox" methods for Trump to ensure he didn't put classified documents in his pockets.

"As you know, intelligence briefings for the president have to range a wide array of complex issues," said London. "The key is getting the president's attention. You have to adopt a style that will secure the president's interest and have him focus on the matter. It was hard to do that with President Trump, particularly without trying to compromise the integrity of the product itself. We found he responded very well to images, pictures, videos, that sort of thing."

He explained that the counter to that is that the former president would get "too interested" in the briefing and how he might respond.

"We try to impart those things and sometimes had to use a very catchy-headline approach, which is not really orthodox for us, to get him to focus without him wanting to pull products, such as images, which we would try to include on a tablet, so it was not something he could take — or on large poster size documents, that, again, are hard to put in your pocket."

They would also give briefers some of the questions they thought would be asked and sometimes the questions they'd anticipated Trump would ask would be, "wow, can I have this?"

"But often enough, it was really keeping him on target. There was one particular briefing we had on a sensitive terrorism issue where the president would ride off on a tangent and talk about ordering food or milkshakes in this meeting. So, sometimes the briefers would leverage the conversation to move him off of that, or promised the president we would follow up with him and address his questions," he continued.

He also confirmed previous reports that Trump had an obsession with Osama bin Laden's son, "who wasn't really a target," but was someone Trump recognized, and thus wanted to capture or kill over more serious terrorists. London noted there were also problems with Iran and counterterrorism issues coming from Iran that Trump would latch onto because he was trying to vilify the country.

"But some of his comments to support his vilification would tread closely to information we knew that we didn't want the Iranians to realize we had access to," he concluded.

Watch video in link:

https://www.rawstory.com/donald-trump-picket-classified-info/