The 34th president, Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower, officially established May 1st as Law Day in 1958, and the 45th, former Republican president and felony defendent Donald J. Trump, is celebrating it in 2024 by spending the day in a New York courtroom. Citizen Trump is accused of disguising hush money payments to a porn star and to others through the National Enquirer as legal expenses when they were undeclared campaign expenses, designed to influence the outcome of the 2016 election. From what we know of the Trump Organization, maybe he claimed the adulterous payoffs as business expenses on his tax returns, too.
Serial adulterer and convicted sexual abuser Donald Trump, who lied 30,573 times while he was in the White House, will sell you a Bible for $59.99. Not just any Bible, but one emblazoned with the lyrics of a song written and recorded by Melvin Lee Greenwood, “God Bless the USA,” and padded out with our county’s public domain founding documents. Perhaps copies will replace the Gideon versions in Trump Hotel nightstands.
Bible salesman Trump is running for the presidency of the United States, and he plays Mr, Greenwood’s patriotic 1984 recording at all his campaign rallies, right after The Village People’s “YMCA,” a paean to gay culture.
In California on Monday Federal magistrate judge Kandis Westmore ordered former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and former Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen to testify about the Trump Administration’s family separation policy. The case in question was filed in 2021 by three families from El Salvador and Guatemala, alleging the parents were separated from their children (then ages 6, 11, and 13) for several weeks before being reunited. The children were housed in detention centers.
The Department of Justice Inspector General later found that top Trump officials instituted the “zero tolerance” policy to separate migrant families in the belief that it would deter future illegal immigration. A Federal Judge blocked the practice in 2018.
More:
“Trump administration officials ordered to testify on family separations,” Maria Sacchetti, Washington Post
The Trump Organization, an amalgam of Trump family real estate, hotel, and golf course holdings, had its licencing revoked, and its New York State assets will be administered (and possibly liquidated) under receivership. They include 40 Wall Street, an estate in Westchester County, Trump Tower, Trump Park Avenue, and a Westchester golf club. Donald Trump can no longer pretend to be a legitimate businessman, except perhaps on televison (fun fact: he is a former SAG-AFTRA member).
Trump businesses are due to go on trial for further charges of civil fraud again on Monday. New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking a $250 million judgment on one of those claims.
More:
“Judge rules Donald Trump defrauded banks and insurers while building real estate empire,” Michael R. Sisak, Associated Press
“Why a fraud finding is like ‘corporate death penalty’ for Trump,” Zachary B. Wolf, CNN
“Trump’s Habit of Lying About Everything All the Time May Cost Him Trump Tower,” Bess Levin, Vanity Fair
“Trump’s Absurd Property Valuations Confirm His Disregard for Reality,” Jacob Sullum, Reason
In case you missed it, Donald Trump got an endorsement from fellow authoritarian Vladimir Putin last week. Vlad said the multiple indictments of Donald Trump are political persecutions in advance of the 2024 election. Mr. Trump welcomed his support.
More:
“Legal action against Trump shows ‘rottenness’ of US politics, says Putin,” Andrew Roth, The Guardian
“Donald Trump pleased at praise from Putin: ‘I like that he said that,’” Ramon Antonio Vargas, The Guardian
Inmate number P01135809, Donald “Pouty Boy” Trump, visited Atlanta’s historic Fulton County Jail on Rice Street for Class Picture Day last Thursday. He wasn’t happy about it. Nevertheless, he immediately started selling merch with the photo on it, tee shirts, beer coozies, even a mug (get it?). They’re all captioned with the phrase “No Surrender,” but that’s exactly what the ex-president did, surrender to the authorities at the jail. He just can’t resist an opportunity to twist the truth.
All Mr. Trump’s fellow alleged racketeers had similar photo shoots. So where are the RICO trading cards?
More:
“What to know about Trump’s mug shot,” Kierra Frazier, Politico
“One image, one face, one American moment: The Donald Trump mug shot,” Jonathan J. Cooper, Associated Press
“The mug shot seen round the world: Donald Trump’s forever photo,” Karen Heller, Washington Post
A federal grand jury indictment of former president Donald Trump was unsealed on Tuesday, four felony counts for attempting to overturn the 2020 election.This is his third criminal indictment in four months. He is charged with conspiring to defraud the United States by attempting to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s victory, witness tampering, conspiracy against the rights of citizens, obstruction of an official proceeding. and depriving voters of their right to a fair election on grounds he knew to be false.
There are also six currently unindicted co-conspirators, four lawyers, a DOJ attorney, and a political consultant. They haven’t been indicted yet, probably to streamline the case and give them a chance to cooperate with prosecutors to minimize their own charges. Who are they? From the descriptions in the indictment, The Hill is guessing the lawyers are Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Sidney Powell, and Kenneth Chesebro, the DOJ official is Jeffrey Clark. The political consultant is anybody’s guess, but Steve Bannon, Roger Stone, and Boris Epshteyn were in the January 6th “War Room” at the Willard Hotel.
Mr. Trump is running for president, as former congressman Will Hurd said, to stay out of jail. He’s using small-dollar election contributions to pay for his $40 million in legal expenses for all these criminal cases, a practice which, for some reason, seems to be technically legal.
Donald Trump has been summoned to appear Thursday before U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who has often handed down harsh prison sentences to January 6th rioters.
More:
“US charges Trump with conspiracy for efforts to overturn 2020 election,” Sarah N. Lynch, Jacqueline Thomsen and Andrew Goudsward, Reuters
Related:
“New Trump Fund-Raising E-mail Asks Supporters to Serve Prison Time for Him,” Andy Borowitz, The New Yorker
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