BudmanTX
Well-Known Member
Diaper change STAT
u really can't make this stuff up....
u really can't make this stuff up....
TRUMP INDICTED
- Thread starter jimihendrix1
- Start date
Fogdog
Well-Known Member
It's the opening salvo. I completely agree that Trump is being treated differently than any other person who has ever faced these kinds of charges but then again, this is a different kind of situation than the courts have ever faced before.
I agree that Trump shouldn't be allowed to walk free during this trial. But I'm ignoring the political reality of what that would mean. The judge isn't ignoring it. So, he's following a stepwise progression that will show that the court has given Trump every chance to behave. We all know Trump won't. So, the next step will apply larger fine. The stairway leads to prison. By the time Trump gets to that level, the court will have plenty of evidence to justify imprisoning's Trump, should it get to that point.
Of course there are problems with that logic. Trump is doing his level best to interfere with the trial and every time he does, he does harm to not only this trial but the justice system as a whole. I'd lock him up. But I'd rather not sit in a courtroom all day. Not my job, not my monkey.
topcat
Well-Known Member
Farting in the courtroom, sung to the tune of "Smokin' in the boys room", by Brownsville Station. Ooh, have Lara Trump cover it.
printer
Well-Known Member
Former Jan. 6 panel chair seeks to strip Secret Service protection from felons
The former chair of the now-disbanded Jan. 6 committee introduced a bill Friday that would strip Secret Service protection of any former executive convicted of a felony — an effort to avoid the complications of incarcerating former President Trump should he be ordered to serve jail time.
Dubbed the “Denying Infinite Security and Government Resources Allocated toward Convicted and Extremely Dishonorable (DISGRACED) Former Protectees Act,” the legislation from Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) would nix the lifelong protection given to former presidents if they are convicted and sentenced for a felony that carries a year or more in prison time.
“Unfortunately, current law doesn’t anticipate how Secret Service protection would impact the felony prison sentence of a protectee — even a former President,” Thompson said in a statement.
“It is regrettable that it has come to this, but this previously unthought-of scenario could become our reality. Therefore, it is necessary for us to be prepared and update the law so the American people can be assured that protective status does not translate into special treatment — and that those who are sentenced to prison will indeed serve the time required of them.”
The move takes aim at Secret Service protections that have left some legal observers suggesting that any eventual conviction of Trump would likely spur some form of home confinement rather than prison time, given his round-the-clock protection.
“This bill would remove the potential for conflicting lines of authority within prisons and allow judges to weigh the sentencing of individuals without having to factor in the logistical concerns of convicts with Secret Service protection,” Thompson’s team wrote on a one-pager on the bill.
Secret Service protections are not just afforded to current and former presidents but also other high ranking officials and immediate family members of protectees.
But Trump is the only protectee facing felony charges — 91 various felony charges across four different state and federal cases.
Trump is currently in court in New York in his hush money trial and is facing charges related to Jan. 6 in federal court in Washington and in Georgia. His federal documents case is being overseen in Florida.
Thompson also claims the bill does not raise ex post facto concerns — those raised when a law is applied retroactively — citing case law finding the government can strip benefits so long as the change was not found to have an “unlawful, punitive purpose.”
thehill.com
The former chair of the now-disbanded Jan. 6 committee introduced a bill Friday that would strip Secret Service protection of any former executive convicted of a felony — an effort to avoid the complications of incarcerating former President Trump should he be ordered to serve jail time.
Dubbed the “Denying Infinite Security and Government Resources Allocated toward Convicted and Extremely Dishonorable (DISGRACED) Former Protectees Act,” the legislation from Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) would nix the lifelong protection given to former presidents if they are convicted and sentenced for a felony that carries a year or more in prison time.
“Unfortunately, current law doesn’t anticipate how Secret Service protection would impact the felony prison sentence of a protectee — even a former President,” Thompson said in a statement.
“It is regrettable that it has come to this, but this previously unthought-of scenario could become our reality. Therefore, it is necessary for us to be prepared and update the law so the American people can be assured that protective status does not translate into special treatment — and that those who are sentenced to prison will indeed serve the time required of them.”
The move takes aim at Secret Service protections that have left some legal observers suggesting that any eventual conviction of Trump would likely spur some form of home confinement rather than prison time, given his round-the-clock protection.
“This bill would remove the potential for conflicting lines of authority within prisons and allow judges to weigh the sentencing of individuals without having to factor in the logistical concerns of convicts with Secret Service protection,” Thompson’s team wrote on a one-pager on the bill.
Secret Service protections are not just afforded to current and former presidents but also other high ranking officials and immediate family members of protectees.
But Trump is the only protectee facing felony charges — 91 various felony charges across four different state and federal cases.
Trump is currently in court in New York in his hush money trial and is facing charges related to Jan. 6 in federal court in Washington and in Georgia. His federal documents case is being overseen in Florida.
Thompson also claims the bill does not raise ex post facto concerns — those raised when a law is applied retroactively — citing case law finding the government can strip benefits so long as the change was not found to have an “unlawful, punitive purpose.”
Former Jan. 6 panel chair seeks to strip Secret Service protection from felons
The former chair of the now-disbanded Jan. 6 committee introduced a bill Friday that would strip Secret Service protection of any former executive convicted of a felony — an effort to avoid the com…
thehill.com
printer
Well-Known Member
Next one.
printer
Well-Known Member
Trump Warns of Opposition Party Extortion, Blackmail
President Joe Biden's special counsel Jack Smith, seeking to convict former President Donald Trump for challenging the 2020 presidential election and retaining White House documents under the Presidential Records Act, will threaten democracy by virtual of unwinding presidential immunity, Trump warned Saturday.
"If a president does not have immunity, the opposing party, during his/her term in office, can extort and blackmail the president by saying that, 'if you don't give us everything we want, we will indict you for things you did while in office,' even if everything done was totally legal and appropriate," Trump wrote Saturday on Truth Social. "That would be the end of the presidency, and our country, as we know it, and is just one of the many traps there would be for a president without presidential immunity."
All presidents will be subject to the scrutiny the Biden administration Justice Department prosecutors have put their political opponent under, Trump continued.
"Obama, Bush, and soon, Crooked Joe Biden, would all be in BIG TROUBLE," his post added. "If a president doesn't have immunity, he/she will be nothing more than a 'ceremonial' president, rarely having the courage to do what has to be done for our country.
"This is not what the Founders had in mind! Protect presidential immunity. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"
Trump is seeking the court's blessing on presidential immunity from Smith's indictments, arguing his 2020 presidential election challenge under the premise of pursuing election integrity was done with his official duties as president. Smith and his lawyers reject the court the reject presidential immunity, which Trump warns will ultimately render the president powerless.
"Without presidential immunity, the presidency will lose its power and prestige, and under some leaders, have no power at all," Trump added in another Truth Social post. "The presidency will be consumed by the other branches of government. That is not what your founders wanted!"
Dumped Trump Juror Stunned by 'Cowardly' Judge
A juror dismissed in Donald Trump's business records trial reportedly said he felt caught in a "competition" between a "cowardly" judge and prosecutors.
Herson Cabreras told USA Today he was "really surprised" to be dismissed from service by Judge Juan Merchan after having already been picked in the high-profile criminal case.
"I said, 'Wow, something else is going on here.' But they decided not to take me, and that's it. What can I say? So I said, 'Fine,'" Cabreras said. "Everybody wants to look good and fair in front of the public, but they don't act fair."
The sudden dump came after prosecutors raised the issue of a 1991 incident in which Cabreras and an associate were accused of tearing down political campaign signs in Harrison, New York, according to USA Today. A majority of the signs belonged to Republicans.
But Cabreras, who is in his 70s, claimed he barely remembered the incident when prosecutors confronted him Thursday, and never had to disclose the incident on other civil juries in New York on which he was picked.
"I didn't expect they were going to go into my history of 30 years and pull out something I didn't even remember," he said. "I just thought it was an excuse" for prosecutors to get him off the jury.
And though Cabreras expected Merchan to intervene, the judge did nothing, Cabreras said.
"I looked at him, like, Aren't you going to say something?" Cabreras said. "I'm sitting there, I'm the target, and he's supposed to be judging. And he just let it happen, he didn't say anything."
According to USA Today, the questionnaire provided to jurors required them to disclose encounters with law enforcement or the criminal justice system.
During his initial appearance at the questioning process, Cabreras said Trump is "fascinating and mysterious," the outlet reported.
"He stirs up all kinds of things," Cabreras told the outlet. "The guy walks in, and people go crazy. That's what I meant," adding he "didn't even notice" Trump when he walked into court.
Cabreras said Merchan is a "cowardly judge" for allowing the prosecution to dredge up details from the decadesold incident.
"I feel sorry for the other jurors," Cabreras told USA Today. "Because if the way they treated me is any indication of how they're going to treat other potential jurors, then I feel sorry for them."
Cabreras said that despite asserting he could have been impartial in the trial, "they did me a favor" by bumping him from the jurors — saying his family "was not happy with all this."
President Joe Biden's special counsel Jack Smith, seeking to convict former President Donald Trump for challenging the 2020 presidential election and retaining White House documents under the Presidential Records Act, will threaten democracy by virtual of unwinding presidential immunity, Trump warned Saturday.
"If a president does not have immunity, the opposing party, during his/her term in office, can extort and blackmail the president by saying that, 'if you don't give us everything we want, we will indict you for things you did while in office,' even if everything done was totally legal and appropriate," Trump wrote Saturday on Truth Social. "That would be the end of the presidency, and our country, as we know it, and is just one of the many traps there would be for a president without presidential immunity."
All presidents will be subject to the scrutiny the Biden administration Justice Department prosecutors have put their political opponent under, Trump continued.
"Obama, Bush, and soon, Crooked Joe Biden, would all be in BIG TROUBLE," his post added. "If a president doesn't have immunity, he/she will be nothing more than a 'ceremonial' president, rarely having the courage to do what has to be done for our country.
"This is not what the Founders had in mind! Protect presidential immunity. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"
Trump is seeking the court's blessing on presidential immunity from Smith's indictments, arguing his 2020 presidential election challenge under the premise of pursuing election integrity was done with his official duties as president. Smith and his lawyers reject the court the reject presidential immunity, which Trump warns will ultimately render the president powerless.
"Without presidential immunity, the presidency will lose its power and prestige, and under some leaders, have no power at all," Trump added in another Truth Social post. "The presidency will be consumed by the other branches of government. That is not what your founders wanted!"
Dumped Trump Juror Stunned by 'Cowardly' Judge
A juror dismissed in Donald Trump's business records trial reportedly said he felt caught in a "competition" between a "cowardly" judge and prosecutors.
Herson Cabreras told USA Today he was "really surprised" to be dismissed from service by Judge Juan Merchan after having already been picked in the high-profile criminal case.
"I said, 'Wow, something else is going on here.' But they decided not to take me, and that's it. What can I say? So I said, 'Fine,'" Cabreras said. "Everybody wants to look good and fair in front of the public, but they don't act fair."
The sudden dump came after prosecutors raised the issue of a 1991 incident in which Cabreras and an associate were accused of tearing down political campaign signs in Harrison, New York, according to USA Today. A majority of the signs belonged to Republicans.
But Cabreras, who is in his 70s, claimed he barely remembered the incident when prosecutors confronted him Thursday, and never had to disclose the incident on other civil juries in New York on which he was picked.
"I didn't expect they were going to go into my history of 30 years and pull out something I didn't even remember," he said. "I just thought it was an excuse" for prosecutors to get him off the jury.
And though Cabreras expected Merchan to intervene, the judge did nothing, Cabreras said.
"I looked at him, like, Aren't you going to say something?" Cabreras said. "I'm sitting there, I'm the target, and he's supposed to be judging. And he just let it happen, he didn't say anything."
According to USA Today, the questionnaire provided to jurors required them to disclose encounters with law enforcement or the criminal justice system.
During his initial appearance at the questioning process, Cabreras said Trump is "fascinating and mysterious," the outlet reported.
"He stirs up all kinds of things," Cabreras told the outlet. "The guy walks in, and people go crazy. That's what I meant," adding he "didn't even notice" Trump when he walked into court.
Cabreras said Merchan is a "cowardly judge" for allowing the prosecution to dredge up details from the decadesold incident.
"I feel sorry for the other jurors," Cabreras told USA Today. "Because if the way they treated me is any indication of how they're going to treat other potential jurors, then I feel sorry for them."
Cabreras said that despite asserting he could have been impartial in the trial, "they did me a favor" by bumping him from the jurors — saying his family "was not happy with all this."
printer
Well-Known Member
I thought the Senate were sitting today because of the bill, Tuesday then.
"The Senate now stands ready to take the next step," Schumer said in a Saturday statement. "A few moments ago, Democrats and Republicans locked in an agreement enabling the Senate to finish work on the supplemental with the first vote on Tuesday afternoon."
"The Senate now stands ready to take the next step," Schumer said in a Saturday statement. "A few moments ago, Democrats and Republicans locked in an agreement enabling the Senate to finish work on the supplemental with the first vote on Tuesday afternoon."
printer
Well-Known Member
Trump Fumes as Judge Orders Him to Sit Like a Dog
The first week of Donald Trump’s criminal trial in New York City ended with a power move by the judge, who ordered the former president to take a seat—where he remained fuming in his chair until the judge left the courtroom.
New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan was wrapping up a contentious hour of debate with lawyers on both sides Friday afternoon, when he clarified that a contempt hearing—where he might punish Trump for repeatedly ignoring a gag order and continuing to publicly speak threateningly about witnesses and jurors—would commence Tuesday morning.
But just as the judge neared the end of his sentence, Trump abruptly stood up—apparently thinking the day was over. Immediately, Merchan turned his face to the former president and said in a firm voice: “Sir, can you please have a seat.”
His long, black robes dangled from beneath his right hand as he waved it down, like a man addressing his dog. It wasn’t a question. And while the judge maintains a stoic demeanor at all times, the tone was decidedly sharper than even the one he’d taken when expressing disappointment in Trump’s lawyers minutes earlier.
Without hesitation, Trump went and plopped straight back down into his maroon leather chair at the defense table—and remained for another minute, fuming as the judge gathered his paperwork and strolled toward his chambers.
As the judge exited the courtroom, Trump shot up and made straight for the back, furious. He looked straight toward the wooden double doors in back, ignoring reporters in the pews and clicking his tongue as he approached the EXIT sign.
Shortly after the confrontation, Trump’s lawyers made yet another Hail Mary pass–as they’ve done in every civil trial he’s faced so far. They formally asked the state appellate court overseeing Manhattan, the First Judicial Department, to halt the trial. They cited what they called “prejudicial pretrial publicity”—never mind that much of that was due to the former president’s own relentless attacks on DA Alvin Bragg Jr., the judge, and jurors themselves, calling the entire trial “an assault on America.”
In the Friday evening appellate court filing, Trump’s lawyers complained about the jury selection that took all week, portraying the five-day challenge as a total failure.
“The fair and impartial jury cannot be selected in New York county as evidenced by the extreme difficulty in procuring a venire resulting from the significant bias against President Trump that permeates the jury pool,” they wrote.
au.news.yahoo.com
The first week of Donald Trump’s criminal trial in New York City ended with a power move by the judge, who ordered the former president to take a seat—where he remained fuming in his chair until the judge left the courtroom.
New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan was wrapping up a contentious hour of debate with lawyers on both sides Friday afternoon, when he clarified that a contempt hearing—where he might punish Trump for repeatedly ignoring a gag order and continuing to publicly speak threateningly about witnesses and jurors—would commence Tuesday morning.
But just as the judge neared the end of his sentence, Trump abruptly stood up—apparently thinking the day was over. Immediately, Merchan turned his face to the former president and said in a firm voice: “Sir, can you please have a seat.”
His long, black robes dangled from beneath his right hand as he waved it down, like a man addressing his dog. It wasn’t a question. And while the judge maintains a stoic demeanor at all times, the tone was decidedly sharper than even the one he’d taken when expressing disappointment in Trump’s lawyers minutes earlier.
Without hesitation, Trump went and plopped straight back down into his maroon leather chair at the defense table—and remained for another minute, fuming as the judge gathered his paperwork and strolled toward his chambers.
As the judge exited the courtroom, Trump shot up and made straight for the back, furious. He looked straight toward the wooden double doors in back, ignoring reporters in the pews and clicking his tongue as he approached the EXIT sign.
Shortly after the confrontation, Trump’s lawyers made yet another Hail Mary pass–as they’ve done in every civil trial he’s faced so far. They formally asked the state appellate court overseeing Manhattan, the First Judicial Department, to halt the trial. They cited what they called “prejudicial pretrial publicity”—never mind that much of that was due to the former president’s own relentless attacks on DA Alvin Bragg Jr., the judge, and jurors themselves, calling the entire trial “an assault on America.”
In the Friday evening appellate court filing, Trump’s lawyers complained about the jury selection that took all week, portraying the five-day challenge as a total failure.
“The fair and impartial jury cannot be selected in New York county as evidenced by the extreme difficulty in procuring a venire resulting from the significant bias against President Trump that permeates the jury pool,” they wrote.
Trump Fumes as Judge Orders Him to Sit Like a Dog
Pool/Getty Images The first week of Donald Trump’s criminal trial in New York City ended with a power move by the judge, who ordered the former president to take a seat—where he remained fuming in his chair until the judge left the courtroom.New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan was...
cannabineer
Ursus marijanus
compassionateExotic
Well-Known Member
printer
Well-Known Member
I like the, "I can't believe Trump finally pays someone and they indict him." (or something like that)
compassionateExotic
Well-Known Member
printer
Well-Known Member
Trump urges supporters to ‘go out and peacefully protest’ ahead of hush money trial’s opening arguments
Former President Trump aired grievances on social media ahead of Monday’s opening arguments in his trial over an alleged hush money scheme, taking aim at prosecutors and urging demonstrators to “peacefully protest” in support of him.
In a post just before he left for the courthouse, Trump questioned why pro-Palestinian protesters were allowed to “roam the Cities, scream, shout, sit, block traffic, enter buildings, not get permits, and basically do whatever they want” while his supporters are “rudely and systematically shut down and ushered off to far away ‘holding areas,’ essentially denying them their Constitutional Rights.”
“America Loving Protesters should be allowed to protest at the front steps of Courthouses, all over the Country,” Trump added, appearing to reference how demonstrators who have shown up outside his trial have been kept across the street from the building.
Trump urged his supporters to “GO OUT AND PEACEFULLY PROTEST. RALLY BEHIND MAGA. SAVE OUR COUNTRY!”
Opening statements are expected to begin Monday in Trump’s trial over charges that he falsified business records with the intent to defraud and to commit or further another crime as part of an alleged hush money scheme to keep an affair quiet.
Trump in a Truth Social post late Sunday reiterated his false claim that the 2020 election was rigged and stolen before launching into a diatribe about the hush money case in New York City.
“Tomorrow morning I report to a New York Criminal Court for a Trial on, somewhat ironically, ELECTION INTERFERENCE, ruled over by Crooked Joe Biden’s DOJ, before a Corrupt and Highly Conflicted Judge, a failed Soros funded District Attorney who didn’t want to bring this case, which could have been brought eight years ago, but wasn’t, in an almost completely Democrat District,” Trump wrote, echoing many of the same claims he has made for months in the case. The case is being led by New York prosecutors, not the federal Department of Justice.
“IT IS A SHAM THAT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN BROUGHT, EXCEPT TO TRY AND DAMAGE BIDEN’S POLITICAL OPPONENT, ME. SEE YOU TOMORROW MORNING!” Trump added.
In a separate post Sunday, Trump specifically attacked Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D), who is leading the case against Trump, and defended the payment at the heart of the case as a “legal expense.”
“What other term would be more appropriate??? Believe it or not, this is the pretext under which I was Indicted, and that Legal Scholars and Experts CANNOT BELIEVE,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “It is also the perfect Crooked Joe Biden NARRATIVE – To be STUCK in a courtroom, and not be allowed to campaign for President of the United States!”
Trump is required to attend the trial in New York City, which takes place four days a week and is expected to last several weeks. He has scheduled campaign rallies on the weekends, though his planned event this past Saturday in North Carolina was canceled due to severe weather.
thehill.com
Former President Trump aired grievances on social media ahead of Monday’s opening arguments in his trial over an alleged hush money scheme, taking aim at prosecutors and urging demonstrators to “peacefully protest” in support of him.
In a post just before he left for the courthouse, Trump questioned why pro-Palestinian protesters were allowed to “roam the Cities, scream, shout, sit, block traffic, enter buildings, not get permits, and basically do whatever they want” while his supporters are “rudely and systematically shut down and ushered off to far away ‘holding areas,’ essentially denying them their Constitutional Rights.”
“America Loving Protesters should be allowed to protest at the front steps of Courthouses, all over the Country,” Trump added, appearing to reference how demonstrators who have shown up outside his trial have been kept across the street from the building.
Trump urged his supporters to “GO OUT AND PEACEFULLY PROTEST. RALLY BEHIND MAGA. SAVE OUR COUNTRY!”
Opening statements are expected to begin Monday in Trump’s trial over charges that he falsified business records with the intent to defraud and to commit or further another crime as part of an alleged hush money scheme to keep an affair quiet.
Trump in a Truth Social post late Sunday reiterated his false claim that the 2020 election was rigged and stolen before launching into a diatribe about the hush money case in New York City.
“Tomorrow morning I report to a New York Criminal Court for a Trial on, somewhat ironically, ELECTION INTERFERENCE, ruled over by Crooked Joe Biden’s DOJ, before a Corrupt and Highly Conflicted Judge, a failed Soros funded District Attorney who didn’t want to bring this case, which could have been brought eight years ago, but wasn’t, in an almost completely Democrat District,” Trump wrote, echoing many of the same claims he has made for months in the case. The case is being led by New York prosecutors, not the federal Department of Justice.
“IT IS A SHAM THAT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN BROUGHT, EXCEPT TO TRY AND DAMAGE BIDEN’S POLITICAL OPPONENT, ME. SEE YOU TOMORROW MORNING!” Trump added.
In a separate post Sunday, Trump specifically attacked Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D), who is leading the case against Trump, and defended the payment at the heart of the case as a “legal expense.”
“What other term would be more appropriate??? Believe it or not, this is the pretext under which I was Indicted, and that Legal Scholars and Experts CANNOT BELIEVE,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “It is also the perfect Crooked Joe Biden NARRATIVE – To be STUCK in a courtroom, and not be allowed to campaign for President of the United States!”
Trump is required to attend the trial in New York City, which takes place four days a week and is expected to last several weeks. He has scheduled campaign rallies on the weekends, though his planned event this past Saturday in North Carolina was canceled due to severe weather.
Trump urges supporters to ‘go out and peacefully protest’ ahead of hush money trial’s opening arguments
Former President Trump aired grievances on social media ahead of Monday’s opening arguments in his trial over an alleged hush money scheme, taking aim at prosecutors and urging demonstrators …
thehill.com
printer
Well-Known Member
Trump is using the old O.J. Simpson tactics
O.J. Simpson is dead. But he lives as a player in the 2024 presidential election.
Simpson’s famous murder trial proved beyond all reasonable doubt that rich and famous people can create a media circus and gum up processes with endless delays. Exhibit A of Simpson’s continued power is on display right now in the case of New York v. Donald Trump.
Trump is mimicking Simpson’s daily use of celebrity and race to distract public focus from charges of election interference through the use of “hush money” paid to an adult film actress.
Attention has already been diverted from the criminal charges to the gag orders placed upon Trump after his comments about the judge. There are also Trump’s relentless insults and racially charged attacks against Black prosecutors. It is all parallel to Simpson’s ploy of playing on Black distrust of white police.
Trump has also made himself a victim of a Latino judge, intensifying a loud dog whistle to white nationalists among his supporters.
Even before the trial began, Trump said Judge Juan Merchan should recuse himself because of political bias. He derided Merchan as a “highly conflicted and corrupt judge.” It was a replay of 2016, when Trump said that a federal judge in Indiana dealing with class action claims of fraud against Trump University was biased against him because he was Mexican.
“I have a judge who is a hater of Donald Trump, a hater,” he said at one rally.
Judge Gonzalo Curiel was born in Indiana to Mexican immigrant parents. That was enough for Trump to launch his racist attack.
Trump is also using racialized tactics against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
Alvin Bragg is a “racist in reverse,” he wrote online last year. He said Bragg should be held accountable for the crime of “interference in a presidential election.”
Trump has also written that Bragg is a “Soros-backed animal,” a dehumanizing effort suggesting the black D.A. is working mindlessly for a major donor to Democrats, George Soros.
Trump attacked James as “racist A.G. Letitia… James.” He also complained that Willis was “racist” and that his Georgia indictment was a “con job.”
He said that instead of prosecuting him, Willis should be going after unnamed people who, he claimed, without evidence, rigged the presidential race in Georgia. “They only went after those that fought to find the riggers,” he posted. That use of “riggers,” which sounds suspiciously similar to an anti-black slur, in turn led Trump supporters in an online platform to openly trash Willis by openly using the racist word.
While he attacks judges and prosecutors as racists, Trump plays to base stereotypes about Black people as criminals by absurdly claiming that his police mugshot is helping to improve his standing among black voters.
That tactic was a reminder that Simpson’s backers pointed to a Time cover photo with an artificially darkened face of the former football star as evidence that he was a victim of white racism.
Trump’s constant use of race to distract from the criminal charges against him extends to arguments from his lawyers that he can’t get a fair trial in Manhattan or Washington D.C.
Trump has suggested moving the New York trial out of Manhattan into Republican-friendly Staten Island.
Is that tactic any different from the lawyers for the white police officers charged with brutally beating Rodney King, arguing that their trial should be held outside of Los Angeles, in the mostly white suburb of Simi Valley? A jury there acquitted those police.
The racial divide over Simpson’s guilt started with Simpson fleeing down a Los Angeles freeway in a white Ford Bronco driven by a friend. He brought with him a passport, money, a gun and disguises.
The fact of his flight and other evidence badly implicated Simpson. But racial tensions left over from the police acquittal in King’s beating led prosecutors to be cautious in hammering him with evidence not directly tied to the murders. That shifted the focus to police behavior and their handling of evidence.
The police were on trial, and they were essentially convicted. The debate between Blacks and whites over whether to trust the police continues to this day.
The May 2020 killing of George Floyd by a white police officer during Trump’s presidency gave a much higher profile to the Black Lives Matter movement, which had started six years earlier. Trump and his far-right backers dismissed the large nationwide protests of 2020 as threatening and focused on incidents of violence. They also focused on calls to “Defund the Police,” a fringe view, to attack Democrats, even though violent crime is down nationwide and in most blue cities.
When Simpson was acquitted in 1995, Black Howard University students reacted with cheers. Their reaction had less to do with Simpson’s supposed innocence than a sense of payback for the reality of racist cops abusing black people.
With time, polls show most people, Black and white, now agree Simpson was guilty.
Despite the election of a Black president, the gains that Americans have made in race relations are threatened by backlash, as the Trump presidency revealed.
It is now too late for jurors to see the racial games being played on them by Simpson’s lawyers. Let us hope it is not too late for voters to see through the racist manipulations being used by Trump.
thehill.com/opinion/columnists/juan-williams/4605093-trump-is-using-the-old-o-j-simpson-tactics/
O.J. Simpson is dead. But he lives as a player in the 2024 presidential election.
Simpson’s famous murder trial proved beyond all reasonable doubt that rich and famous people can create a media circus and gum up processes with endless delays. Exhibit A of Simpson’s continued power is on display right now in the case of New York v. Donald Trump.
Trump is mimicking Simpson’s daily use of celebrity and race to distract public focus from charges of election interference through the use of “hush money” paid to an adult film actress.
Attention has already been diverted from the criminal charges to the gag orders placed upon Trump after his comments about the judge. There are also Trump’s relentless insults and racially charged attacks against Black prosecutors. It is all parallel to Simpson’s ploy of playing on Black distrust of white police.
Trump has also made himself a victim of a Latino judge, intensifying a loud dog whistle to white nationalists among his supporters.
Even before the trial began, Trump said Judge Juan Merchan should recuse himself because of political bias. He derided Merchan as a “highly conflicted and corrupt judge.” It was a replay of 2016, when Trump said that a federal judge in Indiana dealing with class action claims of fraud against Trump University was biased against him because he was Mexican.
“I have a judge who is a hater of Donald Trump, a hater,” he said at one rally.
Judge Gonzalo Curiel was born in Indiana to Mexican immigrant parents. That was enough for Trump to launch his racist attack.
Trump is also using racialized tactics against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
Alvin Bragg is a “racist in reverse,” he wrote online last year. He said Bragg should be held accountable for the crime of “interference in a presidential election.”
Trump has also written that Bragg is a “Soros-backed animal,” a dehumanizing effort suggesting the black D.A. is working mindlessly for a major donor to Democrats, George Soros.
Trump attacked James as “racist A.G. Letitia… James.” He also complained that Willis was “racist” and that his Georgia indictment was a “con job.”
He said that instead of prosecuting him, Willis should be going after unnamed people who, he claimed, without evidence, rigged the presidential race in Georgia. “They only went after those that fought to find the riggers,” he posted. That use of “riggers,” which sounds suspiciously similar to an anti-black slur, in turn led Trump supporters in an online platform to openly trash Willis by openly using the racist word.
While he attacks judges and prosecutors as racists, Trump plays to base stereotypes about Black people as criminals by absurdly claiming that his police mugshot is helping to improve his standing among black voters.
That tactic was a reminder that Simpson’s backers pointed to a Time cover photo with an artificially darkened face of the former football star as evidence that he was a victim of white racism.
Trump’s constant use of race to distract from the criminal charges against him extends to arguments from his lawyers that he can’t get a fair trial in Manhattan or Washington D.C.
Trump has suggested moving the New York trial out of Manhattan into Republican-friendly Staten Island.
Is that tactic any different from the lawyers for the white police officers charged with brutally beating Rodney King, arguing that their trial should be held outside of Los Angeles, in the mostly white suburb of Simi Valley? A jury there acquitted those police.
The racial divide over Simpson’s guilt started with Simpson fleeing down a Los Angeles freeway in a white Ford Bronco driven by a friend. He brought with him a passport, money, a gun and disguises.
The fact of his flight and other evidence badly implicated Simpson. But racial tensions left over from the police acquittal in King’s beating led prosecutors to be cautious in hammering him with evidence not directly tied to the murders. That shifted the focus to police behavior and their handling of evidence.
The police were on trial, and they were essentially convicted. The debate between Blacks and whites over whether to trust the police continues to this day.
The May 2020 killing of George Floyd by a white police officer during Trump’s presidency gave a much higher profile to the Black Lives Matter movement, which had started six years earlier. Trump and his far-right backers dismissed the large nationwide protests of 2020 as threatening and focused on incidents of violence. They also focused on calls to “Defund the Police,” a fringe view, to attack Democrats, even though violent crime is down nationwide and in most blue cities.
When Simpson was acquitted in 1995, Black Howard University students reacted with cheers. Their reaction had less to do with Simpson’s supposed innocence than a sense of payback for the reality of racist cops abusing black people.
With time, polls show most people, Black and white, now agree Simpson was guilty.
Despite the election of a Black president, the gains that Americans have made in race relations are threatened by backlash, as the Trump presidency revealed.
It is now too late for jurors to see the racial games being played on them by Simpson’s lawyers. Let us hope it is not too late for voters to see through the racist manipulations being used by Trump.
thehill.com/opinion/columnists/juan-williams/4605093-trump-is-using-the-old-o-j-simpson-tactics/