Week three of the first Trump trial

New York Judge Juan Merchan has ruled Donald Trump violated the gag order nine times [out of 10 with 4 to be determined] for criticizing expected trial witnesses in posts on social media and his campaign page. Trump must pay the $9,000 fine by the end of the week [which he did]. Merchan also threatened incarceration if Trump wilfully violates the gag order again, writing in his ruling, “THEREFORE, Defendant is hereby warned that the Court will not tolerate continued wilful violations of its lawful orders and that if necessary and appropriate under the circumstances, it will impose an incarceratory punishment.”

[The judge, if violating the gag order again, should send him (in my opinion) to jail for contempt one weekend per contempt. So maybe 6 PM Friday until 6 PM on Sunday.]

Trump did not visibly react as the judge was reading his decision in court. After the ruling, Trump removed the seven “offending posts” from his failed social network and the two “offending posts” from his campaign website, as Merchan ordered.

After his day in court, Trump again criticized the gag order placed on him in his hush money criminal trial, calling it “unconstitutional.” Trump reiterated his claim that there’s “no crime” in the case.

He has already made further comments which could be against the gag order which could result in jail time for him.

[$1,000 per violation is the maximum allowed by New York State law. I am wondering if the state will enact a law to increase the fine. It would be cheaper to fine someone than to hold them in jail for up to 30 days which costs the state money and extra in the case of Trump because of additional security.]

The attorney of Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels took the stand at one point this week. At one point, McDougal was looking at a deal with either ABC News [could be ABC Entertainment] or American Media Inc. [the National Inquirer owner] but decided to take the AMI deal because she didn’t want to tell her story in publicly while she would at ABC plus ABC [by law] can’t offer her compensation directly. She in the end took the AMI deal told her story to them and AMI then buried it.

Way back when, Trump said he wanted to testify. His lawyers were probably nervous because he goes off script… always. Now he created a false excuse on why he can’t: the gag order. A gag order has nothing to do with testifying.

“They don’t want me on the campaign trail,” Trump told reporters referring to his court time. And yet, he is able to go on the campaign trail from Friday late afternoon until Sunday night plus there has been usually one day off during each week. On top of that, he hasn’t spent time in the off days solely on the campaign trail.

[I wouldn’t be surprised if he played around of golf.]

Jurors saw a full transcript of the “Access Hollywood” tape, including Trump’s infamous “grab ‘em by the p?ssy” comment, as well as other vulgar language the campaign tried to dismiss as “locker room talk.” They did not, however, hear Trump on the tape, as the judge ruled the video would be prejudicial to the jury.

[Exactly who hasn’t seen some form of that video?]

The idea that Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, made the $130,000 payment on his own to Stormy Daniels “would be out of character for Michael,” former campaign press secretary and White House communications director Hope Hicks testified.

The latest false claims by Trump:

• “New York City is a violent city; it’s become violent with the cashless bail. I’m the only one who has to put up bail.” – Nope.
• “We’re supposed to be in Ohio tomorrow and we’re supposed to be in Florida on the next day.” Trump can’t campaign at all. – Nope. He has the weekends plus usually there is a day off during the week. Ohio was never on any known schedule. He’s in Florida all weekend for a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday and the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday.

Trump wouldn’t dismiss the potential for political violence from his supporters if he isn’t elected in November, suggesting it would depend on the outcome of the presidential race. “I think we’re going to win. And if we don’t win, you know, it depends. It always depends on the fairness of an election.”

[He had already made up his mind before the 2020 election, that the election was rigged. He will do the same later this year if he loses.]

Trump also doubled down on his promise to pardon the hundreds of people sentenced for crimes committed stemming from January 6 Trump Insurrection. Trump has called these individuals “hostages,” though many have pleaded guilty to violent crimes or have been convicted by juries.

He refused to say whether he would veto a federal abortion ban, insisting such a measure was unlikely to happen, despite previously saying he wouldn’t sign a federal abortion ban if he were re-elected and one came to his desk. Trump similarly said he would let states decide if doctors who perform illegal abortions should be punished.

[In other word, he is not ready to make a decision that he will later flip flop on.]

Trump for the first time said that Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich “should be released” after a year of detainment in Russia. Asked why he hadn’t previously called for Gershkovich’s release, Trump said: “I guess because I have so many other things I’m working on.”

[It’s not hard to release something on his failed social network to have Gershkovich released but he has time to criticize the judge and others and supposedly play golf.]

A few weeks back, Trump hosted a golf tournament. The morning after a couple of days playing, the golfers in the tournament [probably no namers] took and look and found Trump’s name at the top of the ranking. Asked how. Supposedly he used a couple of days practice from a few weeks prior and used the results for him in the tournament.

[Aside from no host usually plays in his own tournament and inserting previous results, it is unbelievable that he could be that good to win the tournament when he is known to be a lousy golfer (even after all those days he played golf while supposedly running the country). Either that or all the other golfers are that bad!]

Trump is claiming he will continue what he started in his final year as president [why wait 3+ years?] to “drain the swamp”. He wants to decentralize the government by moving more departments out of the heavily left leaning Washington, DC area.

Trump seeks to sweep away civil service protections that have been in place for more than 140 years. He has said he’d make “every executive branch employee fireable by the president of the United States” at will. It would move as many as 100,000 positions out of Washington. His plans would eliminate or dismantle entire departments. While assailing “faceless bureaucrats,” Trump also has said he would move federal agencies from “the Washington Swamp… to places filled with patriots who love America.”

And of course he wants to especially look at the Department of Justice, FBI, EPA and others.

From Trump’s statement on his campaign website: “I will immediately reissue my 2020 executive order restoring the president’s authority to remove rogue bureaucrats. And I will wield that power very aggressively.” That executive order reclassified many civil service workers, whose jobs are nonpartisan and protected, as political appointees who could be fired at will.

[This could push to hire less qualified people to take over the jobs of federal employees who were fired or left on their own. About the time Trump started his reign, the were quite a few federal employees who left the government and it took a long time to replace them. Departments were short staffed which caused many delays.

In 2019, Trump moved the headquarters of the Bureau of Land Management to Grand Junction, Colorado, and two agencies within the Department of Agriculture [USDA] to Kansas City. The government was claiming that costs will be lower and there will be better employee diversification. The Trump administration said moving the USDA agencies would bring researchers closer to “stakeholders”– that is, farmers.

The USDA said the move to Kansas City would save taxpayers $300 million over 15 years. Including such costs, the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association estimated the move actually cost taxpayers between $83 million and $182 million.

[For the USDA alone, in fact there were less minorities after the movies and the estimated costs that would be save actually was more expensive. In addition, many employees in those departments decided not to move outside of Washington forcing the departments to hire new and untrained employees.]

The National Institute for Food and Agriculture started with 394 when Trump started his reign and were losing 10 to employees each week. When the relocation was announced, there were 270 employees of which only 70 relocated to Kansas City.

Recently, the Office of Personnel Management, which in effect is the human resources department for the federal government, adopted new rules meant to bar career civil service workers from being reclassified as political appointees or other types of at-will workers. Trump’s draining would include the workers being reclassified as political appointees.

In an interview President Biden said he is willing to have at least one debate with Trump. Trump responded with “Everyone knows he doesn’t really mean it, but in case he does, I say, ANYWHERE, ANYTIME, ANYPLACE, an old expression used by Fighters.”

[Why wouldn’t Biden mean it? On the other hand, there is a greater chance of Trump backing out at the last moment. He complained when the moderator had the option of silencing his and Biden’s microphone during the 2020 debates. Trump has also said he wants to testify in his hush money trial but most likely won’t – probably because the prosecution and judge may disallow any of his comments that are known to be untrue.]

The auditor for Trump’s media company was charged with “massive fraud” by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which accused the firm of being a “sham audit mill” whose failures put investors at risk. The auditor, BF Borgers, and its owner, Benjamin Borgers, agreed to a permanent suspension from accounting work and to pay $14 million in civil penalties, federal regulators said. The SEC said its review of the firm’s audits found “deliberate and systemic failures” in more than 1,500 filings from January 2021 through June 2023. That period was before Trump Media & Technology Group went public, suggesting that its filings were not among those investigated as part of the review.

[Anyone surprised about this and fell down, stunned? Nope.]

At the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner, of which Trump never attended in his four years, of course there were jabs made at Trump. Trump responded [as if he watched it but I’m sure he had a lackey who did] that the dinner was basically boring or garbage.

[Do you really think the comedians and guests who appeared during the four years without Trump would of sucked up and gave him kind words? OK maybe right wing nobodies.]

Week one of the first Trump trial

Early Friday afternoon in week one of the hush trial in New York City, the six alternate jurors were selected for the first trial of Donald Jonathan Trump.

[He hates when his middle name is used, so I used it!]

After some legal matter such as whether Trump can be used as a witness, the trial should begin on Monday in the second week.

[Trump testifying could be harmful for him as he obviously has a history of exaggeration and lies. If he takes the stand there will be plenty of side-bars to decide whether some (or most) if his testimony will be allowed or stricken.]

The prosecutor is introducing a motion to sanction Trump for his three social media posts they allege violate the judge’s gag order. The prosecutor told the judge they are seeking permission to hold Trump in contempt for violating the gag order and sanction Trump $1,000 for each of the three posts that violate the order. The prosecutor also said that prosecutors want the judge to take down the three posts and to remind the defendant that “further violations could result in jail time.” The judge hasn’t decided on this yet. At one point in the first week, Trump ignored the gag order seven times.

[Normally $3,000 should be “chicken feed” for him but with all his legal expenses.]

Judge Merchan said he will hold a hearing on the district attorney’s motion to sanction Trump for his social media posts, according to pool reports.

Seems Trump was bored in the first week of the trial during jury selection. It was reported that Trump actually dozed off during the first day. After the reporter mentioned it publicly, Trump gave the reporter a look.

Trump wants to take part in sidebars, which could put him very close to jurors. Defendants rarely get involved in sidebars with judges during jury selection.

Trump’s attorney asked the district attorney’s office to share the first three witnesses they plan to call, noting that opening arguments and the first witness testimony could begin very soon. The Assistant District Attorney refused but acknowledged that courtesy is often extended. But because Trump has been posting on social media about their witnesses, he said with a shrug, “We’re not telling him who the witnesses are.” Merchan said he couldn’t fault prosecutors for that. Trump visibly shook his head over the exchange.

Evidence that will be allowed:

• Judge Juan Merchan said he will allow a series of National Enquirer stories attacking Trump’s opponents into evidence.
• Testimony from Karen McDougal will also be allowed, but Merchan said it is not necessary for the jury to hear that Trump continued his affair with McDougal while his wife, Melania Trump, was pregnant and after she gave birth. McDougal is a model and actress who has said she had a months long affair with Trump in 2006 and was paid $150,000 to keep quiet about it by the National Enquirer. Trump has denied the affair.
• Merchan will allow testimony of former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen’s guilty plea to campaign finance violations with the proper foundation. He said prosecutors cannot tie that guilty plea to Trump.

What will not be allowed:

• Merchan said he still believes the “Access Hollywood” video in which Trump brags about groping women should not be shown to jurors because it’s so prejudicial.
• The judge also denied prosecutors’ request to bring into evidence the allegations of sexual assault against Trump that came out after the “Access Hollywood” tape. He said he will not allow Trump to be prejudiced by a “rumor.”
• Merchan additionally said he doesn’t think the deposition of E. Jean Carroll, who accused Trump of sexual assault, should be brought in because it would be “building in a trial into a trial.”

Barron Trump’s graduation is on a court day but Merchan hasn’t decided to allow Trump to go to it. Although that’s later in May.

[Trump will probably go berserk if he can’t. Although knowing enough of him, he’d do campaigning as well.]

Remember how Trump was complaining that he couldn’t get a fair trial in heavily Democrat leaning New York City? Trump was asked what he thought of the first seven jurors selected. He answered to ask him again in two months [when the trial could be over]. So he’s not complaining now about a fair trial.

[Of course if he loses, he will bring up the unfair trial crap and if he wins, he won’t mention the unfairness. Note that his illegal activities related to this trial took place in New York City. So where else can it be done?]

While he is in court and can’t get out of being there, Trump’s vice-president candidates are on TV and radio trying to help him. They are J.D. Vance, Elise Stefanik, Doug Burgum [a long shot as from a small state and mostly unknown], and Vivek Ramaswamy.

[With some of the candidates, they could hurt him more than help.]

At some rally in some small town in Pennsylvania, Trump said “Gettysburg, what an amazing, horrible, just incredible, classy, terrible thing, really beautiful. I kinda went there, but had the wrong address. Robert E Lee a war hero that wasn’t captured, loser on the hill, but we miss him, really a great guy, believe me.”

[Lee was a war hero and “really a great guy, believe me” – Trump is that old to know him? The GOP were always ranting about President Biden’s age.]

The Supreme Court seemed deeply divided over a challenge to a federal law that prosecutors used to charge more than 350 people who were part of the Trump Insurrection mob that attacked the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Several conservatives expressed concern about giving prosecutors broad power that they suggested would allow the government to target peaceful protesters or hecklers who disrupt a court proceeding.

The court’s ruling, likely to land in late June, has the potential to undo the convictions and sentences of those who have gone to trial or pleaded guilty, and upend the charges still pending for many more. It could also clear Trump of some charges.

[So the justices want those disturbing the court to be allowed to?]

Jimmy Kimmel delivered another monologue making fun of Trump. The morning after, Trump claimed that at the Academy Awards in March, it was Kimmel, not Al Pacino, who said should of said “and the Oscar goes to” or at least “and the winner is.” Kimmel was the host that night. See here. [particularly at about 47 seconds in. “In fairness to our former President, many stable geniuses confuse me with Al Pacino….,” Kimmel wrote late that afternoon on Twitter.

[Can’t Trump get this right? Did he or have someone to verify the message sent? I guess not.]
Trump’s campaign is asking Republican candidates and committees using his name and likeness who fundraise to give at least 5% of what they raise to the campaign. Trump’s campaign managers, Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, said in a letter dated April 15, “Beginning tomorrow, we ask that all candidates and committees who choose to use President Trump’s name, image, and likeness split a minimum of 5% of all fundraising solicitations to Trump National Committee JFC…”

[You think anyone will give more than 5%?]

The LA Times goofed, claiming a “typographical error” when in the obituary for OJ Simpson, Donald Trump’s name was used instead. “Long before the city woke up on a fall morning in 2017, Trump walked out of Lovelock Correctional Center outside Reno, a free man for the first time in nine years,” the Times’ obituary read. “He didn’t go far, moving into a 5,000-square-foot home in Las Vegas with a Bentley in the driveway.”

Voting technology company Smartmatic and the far-right network One America News said that they had settled a defamation lawsuit stemming from the outlet’s lies about the 2020 election. Because of a confidential agreement, no details were revealed. Smartmatic filed its lawsuit against OAN in 2021, alleging that the right-wing conspiracy network “victimized” the company and spread lies about its role in the 2020 election to “increase viewership and revenue.”

The DJT stock continues to drop at one point. Maybe related to the fact that they began selling 2.1 million more shares which diluted the stock [which reduces Trump’s percentage in the company] and then announced they want to go into streaming as well. Streaming a notoriously cost-intensive business in which media behemoths like Disney have struggled to turn a profit. Since the height of DJT stock, it has dropped 70% as of April 16th but over the past three days, it has shot up a bit.

It is suggested that its streaming network could host live news, religious programming and family-friendly shows, movies and documentaries that “has been cancelled, is at risk of cancellation, or is being suppressed on other platforms and services.”

[So I guess content could include Beverley Hillbillies, Dukes of Hazard, moonshine experts, a cookie show on how to make deep fried Oreos….]
Trump repeatedly ranted about wind power during a fundraising dinner with oil and gas industry executives recently, claiming that the renewable-energy source is unreliable, unattractive and bad for the environment.

[Talking about sucking up. Just remember that he was pushing dirty and environmentally unfriendly coal when it was being used less and less. How anyone can think that renewable-energy source is bad for the environment must be crazy. He is.]

Only it now came out that disgraced former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December after being ordered to pay $148 million for falsely accusing two poll workers of cheating in the 2020 election. This week, the former Trump attorney sat for an hours-long deposition behind closed doors in the case, as his creditors seek to recover their money — with his treasure trove of assets revealing how they might be paid.