Donald Trump Announces 2016 White House Bid
- Thread starter B00Mer
- Start date
Isn't this a school nite, you should be in bed shouldn't you?
Seriously kid - did you honestly think someone who's so obviously full of it would bother an actual adult like me? It was obvious you didn't know shit when you tried to pretend the birds don't get tangled in lines.
You have a good sleep and don't forget to take an apple to your teacher. Next time maybe stick to things you have a clue about. You'll look a little less stupid
The big head speaks again . Seriously dude , adult ? Give our head a shake l.lIsn't this a school nite, you should be in bed shouldn't you?
Seriously kid - did you honestly think someone who's so obviously full of it would bother an actual adult like me? It was obvious you didn't know shit when you tried to pretend the birds don't get tangled in lines.
You have a good sleep and don't forget to take an apple to your teacher. Next time maybe stick to things you have a clue about. You'll look a little less stupid
Yup . Carry on . Oh and look in the mirror . See that idiot staring back at you .I'm not sure what you mean when you want me to give your head a shake but either way i 'm pretty sure i'm not interested
Next time don't put your stupidity on display for everyone and you won't wind up looking like an idiot.
Steve Bannon, former Trump adviser, pleads not guilty in border wall scheme
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Karen Freifeld
Publishing date:Sep 08, 2022 • 16 hours ago • 3 minute read • 12 Comments
NEW YORK — Steve Bannon, the onetime top strategist to former U.S. President Donald Trump, pleaded not guilty on Thursday to money laundering and conspiracy charges for allegedly deceiving donors to an effort to help Trump build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Bannon, 68, was handcuffed when he came into a New York state court in Manhattan. He was released without bail after his lawyer David Schoen entered the plea on his behalf.
Prosecutors accused Bannon of defrauding donors who contributed more than $15 million to a private fundraising drive, known as “We Build the Wall,” for the former Republican president’s signature wall.
According to the indictment, Bannon promised donors that all their money would go toward the wall, but concealed his role in diverting hundreds of thousands of dollars to the drive’s chief executive, who had promised to take no salary.
The chief executive has been identified in court papers as Brian Kolfage, an Air Force veteran who pleaded guilty in April to federal wire fraud conspiracy and tax charges, and is awaiting sentencing.
“It is a crime to profit off the backs of donors by making false pretenses,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said at a joint press conference with New York Attorney General Letitia James, who worked with him on the probe.
Bannon was charged with two counts of money laundering, three counts of conspiracy and one count of scheming to defraud.
If convicted, he could face up to 15 years in prison for money laundering, though prison is not mandatory.
Thursday’s indictment concerns some of the conduct underlying an August 2020 federal prosecution of Bannon, Kolfage and two other men.
Bannon pleaded not guilty in that case, which ended abruptly in January 2021 when Trump pardoned him in the final hours of his presidency.
Presidential pardons do not prohibit state prosecutions.
“In New York, we have zero tolerance for corruption,” James said. “There cannot be one set of rules for everyday Americans and another set of rules for the wealthy and powerful.”
James and Bragg, both Democrats, have also been investigating Trump and his businesses.
After being released, Bannon told reporters outside the courthouse that the charges were politically motivated, noting they came two months before the November elections.
“I’ve got news for them,” he said, referring to prosecutors. “We are going to win a sweeping landslide at every level, from school boards to election officials… We are not going to back down and they will not be able to shut me up.”
Bannon’s lawyer Schoen stood by his side and called the charges a “carbon copy” of the federal case, and said Bannon would fight “all the way through.”
Bannon’s next court appearance was scheduled for Oct. 4.
PROBES TIED TO TRUMP
Thursday’s indictment includes several communications from 2019 involving Bannon, Kolfage and Andrew Badolato, who also pleaded guilty in April in the federal case, where prosecutors estimated $25 million in fundraising contributions.
The indictment said Bannon texted in January 2019 that there would be ” o deals I don’t approve; and I pay so what’s to worry.”
His message was different five months later, according to the indictment, when he told prospective donors at a fundraiser: “Remember, all the money you give goes to building the wall.”
Lawyers for Kolfage and Badolato did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A trial of the fourth defendant in the federal case, Timothy Shea, ended in a mistrial.
The state probe of Bannon began under Bragg’s predecessor Cyrus Vance.
Bragg also inherited Vance’s probe into Trump’s company, the Trump Organization, which along with longtime Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg was charged with tax violations in July 2021.
Weisselberg pleaded guilty in August, and the Trump Organization faces a scheduled October trial.
Bannon is not the first Trump ally charged in federal and state court.
In March 2019, Vance brought fraud charges against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort that were similar to federal charges on which Manafort had been convicted and sentenced to 7-1/2 years in prison.
But a New York judge dismissed the state charges nine months later because they amounted to double jeopardy.
Trump pardoned Manafort in December 2020.
Double jeopardy may not apply to the Bannon case because he never went to trial on the federal charges.
Bannon, a longtime Trump ally, champions “America First” right-wing populism and fierce opposition to existing immigration practices, hallmarks of Trump’s presidency.
He now runs the podcast “War Room” and often hosts guests who deny that President Joe Biden won the 2020 election.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Karen Freifeld
Publishing date:Sep 08, 2022 • 16 hours ago • 3 minute read • 12 Comments
NEW YORK — Steve Bannon, the onetime top strategist to former U.S. President Donald Trump, pleaded not guilty on Thursday to money laundering and conspiracy charges for allegedly deceiving donors to an effort to help Trump build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Bannon, 68, was handcuffed when he came into a New York state court in Manhattan. He was released without bail after his lawyer David Schoen entered the plea on his behalf.
Prosecutors accused Bannon of defrauding donors who contributed more than $15 million to a private fundraising drive, known as “We Build the Wall,” for the former Republican president’s signature wall.
According to the indictment, Bannon promised donors that all their money would go toward the wall, but concealed his role in diverting hundreds of thousands of dollars to the drive’s chief executive, who had promised to take no salary.
The chief executive has been identified in court papers as Brian Kolfage, an Air Force veteran who pleaded guilty in April to federal wire fraud conspiracy and tax charges, and is awaiting sentencing.
“It is a crime to profit off the backs of donors by making false pretenses,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said at a joint press conference with New York Attorney General Letitia James, who worked with him on the probe.
Bannon was charged with two counts of money laundering, three counts of conspiracy and one count of scheming to defraud.
If convicted, he could face up to 15 years in prison for money laundering, though prison is not mandatory.
Thursday’s indictment concerns some of the conduct underlying an August 2020 federal prosecution of Bannon, Kolfage and two other men.
Bannon pleaded not guilty in that case, which ended abruptly in January 2021 when Trump pardoned him in the final hours of his presidency.
Presidential pardons do not prohibit state prosecutions.
“In New York, we have zero tolerance for corruption,” James said. “There cannot be one set of rules for everyday Americans and another set of rules for the wealthy and powerful.”
James and Bragg, both Democrats, have also been investigating Trump and his businesses.
After being released, Bannon told reporters outside the courthouse that the charges were politically motivated, noting they came two months before the November elections.
“I’ve got news for them,” he said, referring to prosecutors. “We are going to win a sweeping landslide at every level, from school boards to election officials… We are not going to back down and they will not be able to shut me up.”
Bannon’s lawyer Schoen stood by his side and called the charges a “carbon copy” of the federal case, and said Bannon would fight “all the way through.”
Bannon’s next court appearance was scheduled for Oct. 4.
PROBES TIED TO TRUMP
Thursday’s indictment includes several communications from 2019 involving Bannon, Kolfage and Andrew Badolato, who also pleaded guilty in April in the federal case, where prosecutors estimated $25 million in fundraising contributions.
The indictment said Bannon texted in January 2019 that there would be ” o deals I don’t approve; and I pay so what’s to worry.”
His message was different five months later, according to the indictment, when he told prospective donors at a fundraiser: “Remember, all the money you give goes to building the wall.”
Lawyers for Kolfage and Badolato did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A trial of the fourth defendant in the federal case, Timothy Shea, ended in a mistrial.
The state probe of Bannon began under Bragg’s predecessor Cyrus Vance.
Bragg also inherited Vance’s probe into Trump’s company, the Trump Organization, which along with longtime Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg was charged with tax violations in July 2021.
Weisselberg pleaded guilty in August, and the Trump Organization faces a scheduled October trial.
Bannon is not the first Trump ally charged in federal and state court.
In March 2019, Vance brought fraud charges against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort that were similar to federal charges on which Manafort had been convicted and sentenced to 7-1/2 years in prison.
But a New York judge dismissed the state charges nine months later because they amounted to double jeopardy.
Trump pardoned Manafort in December 2020.
Double jeopardy may not apply to the Bannon case because he never went to trial on the federal charges.
Bannon, a longtime Trump ally, champions “America First” right-wing populism and fierce opposition to existing immigration practices, hallmarks of Trump’s presidency.
He now runs the podcast “War Room” and often hosts guests who deny that President Joe Biden won the 2020 election.
Steve Bannon, former Trump adviser, pleads not guilty in border wall scheme
Steve Bannon, the onetime top strategist to Donald Trump, pleaded not guilty on Thursday to money laundering and conspiracy charges.
U.S. reveals more classified records may be missing in Trump probe
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Sarah N. Lynch
Publishing date:Sep 08, 2022 • 12 hours ago • 4 minute read • Join the conversation
The three page itemized list of property seized in the execution of a search warrant by the FBI at former U.S. President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate is seen after being released by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in West Palm Beach, Fla., Aug. 12, 2022.
The three page itemized list of property seized in the execution of a search warrant by the FBI at former U.S. President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate is seen after being released by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in West Palm Beach, Fla., Aug. 12, 2022. PHOTO BY JIM BOURG /REUTERS
WASHINGTON — Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s team may not have returned all the classified records removed from the White House at the end of his presidency even after an FBI search of his home, U.S. prosecutors warned on Thursday, calling it a potential national security risk that needs investigation.
That revelation came in a Justice Department court filing asking U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to let it continue reviewing about 100 classified records seized by the FBI at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate while it investigates whether classified documents were illegally removed from the White House and improperly stored there.
Trump is under investigation for retaining government records, some of which were marked as highly classified, at the resort in Palm Beach, Florida, his home after leaving office in January 2021.
The 100 documents represent a fraction of the more than 11,000 records and photographs seized, most of which the government said Trump may review because they are not classified.
“This motion is limited to … the seized classified records because those aspects of the order will cause the most immediate and serious harms to the government and the public,” the department said in its court filing.
The prosecutors also asked the judge not to allow an independent arbiter, called a “special master,” to review classified materials seized from Trump’s property.
Trump, in a posting on his Truth Social platform, described the request as a waste of money.
The Justice Department on Thursday suggested there could be more classified records that were removed from the Trump White House that investigators have not yet located. This revelation comes about a week after the Justice Department released a detailed list of property seized from Trump’s home which showed the FBI located 48 empty folders labeled as classified and another 42 which indicated they should be returned to a staff secretary or military aide.
Legal experts were perplexed as to why the folders were empty, and it was not clear whether records were missing.
“Without a stay, the government and the public will also suffer irreparable harm from the undue delay to the criminal investigation,” prosecutors wrote.
“The injunction against using classified records in the criminal investigation could impede efforts to identify the existence of any additional classified records that are not being properly stored – which itself presents the potential for ongoing risk to national security,” they added.
READY TO APPEAL
Prosecutors asked Cannon for a ruling by Sept. 15. If she denies their request, they intend to file an appeal to the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where six of the 11 active judges are Trump appointees.
In an order on Thursday evening, Cannon gave Trump’s lawyer’s until Monday morning to respond to the government’s request.
Cannon, also a Trump appointee, on Monday ordered prosecutors to pause reviewing the more than 11,000 recovered records while a special master is appointed to review the material.
The Justice Department said it will on Friday provide the court a list of possible special master candidates in a joint filing with Trump’s attorneys, as Cannon has requested.
The Justice Department is also investigating possible obstruction of justice, after it uncovered evidence showing that records may have been removed or concealed from the FBI when it sent agents to Trump’s home in June to try to recover all classified documents through a grand jury subpoena.
Cannon granted Trump’s request for a special master, despite prosecutors’ objections.
The judge said the special master will review documents not just covered by attorney-client privilege, but any records possibly covered by executive privilege as well. Executive privilege is a legal doctrine that can shield some presidential records from disclosure.
The Justice Department has challenged the logic of using executive privilege because Trump does not own the records and is no longer president. Cannon’s reasoning has also been criticized by Democratic and Republican legal experts.
“No potential assertion of executive privilege could justify restricting the executive branch’s review and use of the classified records at issue here,” the Justice Department wrote in its Thursday filing.
In Cannon’s Monday order, she allowed U.S. intelligence officials to review all of the seized materials as part of their ongoing national security damage assessment.
But the Justice Department said there is no way to wall off the criminal investigation and the national security review.
“The ongoing Intelligence Community classification review and assessment are closely interconnected with — and cannot be readily separated from–areas of inquiry of DOJ’s and the FBI’s ongoing criminal investigation,” the prosecutors said.
Some legal experts on Thursday lauded the Justice Department’s approach to Cannon’s order, saying it carefully preserves its right to appeal broader concerns about a special master appointment, while at the same time asking Cannon for a much narrower solution for bigger concerns.
“I think the government has embarked on a shrewd tactical strategy,” said David Laufman, an attorney who previously served as chief of the department’s counterintelligence section.
He said the department’s legal strategy takes “a scalpel” to Cannon’s order by seeking immediate relief from its worst parts, while still preserving its right to appeal in the future.
“They are focusing on what is most critical and most time-sensitive, both with respect to protecting the national security interests of the United States and with conducting follow-up investigative action,” he said.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Sarah N. Lynch
Publishing date:Sep 08, 2022 • 12 hours ago • 4 minute read • Join the conversation
The three page itemized list of property seized in the execution of a search warrant by the FBI at former U.S. President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate is seen after being released by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in West Palm Beach, Fla., Aug. 12, 2022.
The three page itemized list of property seized in the execution of a search warrant by the FBI at former U.S. President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate is seen after being released by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in West Palm Beach, Fla., Aug. 12, 2022. PHOTO BY JIM BOURG /REUTERS
WASHINGTON — Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s team may not have returned all the classified records removed from the White House at the end of his presidency even after an FBI search of his home, U.S. prosecutors warned on Thursday, calling it a potential national security risk that needs investigation.
That revelation came in a Justice Department court filing asking U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to let it continue reviewing about 100 classified records seized by the FBI at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate while it investigates whether classified documents were illegally removed from the White House and improperly stored there.
Trump is under investigation for retaining government records, some of which were marked as highly classified, at the resort in Palm Beach, Florida, his home after leaving office in January 2021.
The 100 documents represent a fraction of the more than 11,000 records and photographs seized, most of which the government said Trump may review because they are not classified.
“This motion is limited to … the seized classified records because those aspects of the order will cause the most immediate and serious harms to the government and the public,” the department said in its court filing.
The prosecutors also asked the judge not to allow an independent arbiter, called a “special master,” to review classified materials seized from Trump’s property.
Trump, in a posting on his Truth Social platform, described the request as a waste of money.
The Justice Department on Thursday suggested there could be more classified records that were removed from the Trump White House that investigators have not yet located. This revelation comes about a week after the Justice Department released a detailed list of property seized from Trump’s home which showed the FBI located 48 empty folders labeled as classified and another 42 which indicated they should be returned to a staff secretary or military aide.
Legal experts were perplexed as to why the folders were empty, and it was not clear whether records were missing.
“Without a stay, the government and the public will also suffer irreparable harm from the undue delay to the criminal investigation,” prosecutors wrote.
“The injunction against using classified records in the criminal investigation could impede efforts to identify the existence of any additional classified records that are not being properly stored – which itself presents the potential for ongoing risk to national security,” they added.
READY TO APPEAL
Prosecutors asked Cannon for a ruling by Sept. 15. If she denies their request, they intend to file an appeal to the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where six of the 11 active judges are Trump appointees.
In an order on Thursday evening, Cannon gave Trump’s lawyer’s until Monday morning to respond to the government’s request.
Cannon, also a Trump appointee, on Monday ordered prosecutors to pause reviewing the more than 11,000 recovered records while a special master is appointed to review the material.
The Justice Department said it will on Friday provide the court a list of possible special master candidates in a joint filing with Trump’s attorneys, as Cannon has requested.
The Justice Department is also investigating possible obstruction of justice, after it uncovered evidence showing that records may have been removed or concealed from the FBI when it sent agents to Trump’s home in June to try to recover all classified documents through a grand jury subpoena.
Cannon granted Trump’s request for a special master, despite prosecutors’ objections.
The judge said the special master will review documents not just covered by attorney-client privilege, but any records possibly covered by executive privilege as well. Executive privilege is a legal doctrine that can shield some presidential records from disclosure.
The Justice Department has challenged the logic of using executive privilege because Trump does not own the records and is no longer president. Cannon’s reasoning has also been criticized by Democratic and Republican legal experts.
“No potential assertion of executive privilege could justify restricting the executive branch’s review and use of the classified records at issue here,” the Justice Department wrote in its Thursday filing.
In Cannon’s Monday order, she allowed U.S. intelligence officials to review all of the seized materials as part of their ongoing national security damage assessment.
But the Justice Department said there is no way to wall off the criminal investigation and the national security review.
“The ongoing Intelligence Community classification review and assessment are closely interconnected with — and cannot be readily separated from–areas of inquiry of DOJ’s and the FBI’s ongoing criminal investigation,” the prosecutors said.
Some legal experts on Thursday lauded the Justice Department’s approach to Cannon’s order, saying it carefully preserves its right to appeal broader concerns about a special master appointment, while at the same time asking Cannon for a much narrower solution for bigger concerns.
“I think the government has embarked on a shrewd tactical strategy,” said David Laufman, an attorney who previously served as chief of the department’s counterintelligence section.
He said the department’s legal strategy takes “a scalpel” to Cannon’s order by seeking immediate relief from its worst parts, while still preserving its right to appeal in the future.
“They are focusing on what is most critical and most time-sensitive, both with respect to protecting the national security interests of the United States and with conducting follow-up investigative action,” he said.
U.S. reveals more classified records may be missing in Trump probe
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's team may not have returned all classified records removed from the White House, prosecutors warned.
So explain more how you don't understand the process currently involving Trump, without outright saying so?
They have and they might. Anybody who can't see the political implications with which this situation is fraught is retarded.
Yes, yes, go over to your fainting couch before your attack of the vapours over how maybe, just maybe, justice isn't equal for the wealthy and powerful. Wouldn't want you to hurt yourself when you're overcome by the shock everybody else is well used to.
Trump is Republican and the swamp is Democrat . The whole issue in a nutshell .
Judge tosses Trump's Russia probe suit against Clinton, FBI
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Publishing date:Sep 09, 2022 • 17 hours ago • 2 minute read • 7 Comments
WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Florida has dismissed Donald Trump’s lawsuit against 2016 Democratic rival Hillary Clinton and former top FBI officials, rejecting the former president’s claims that they and others acted in concert to concoct the Russia investigation that shadowed much of his administration.
U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks said in a sharply worded ruling on Thursday that Trump’s lawsuit, filed in March, contained “glaring structural deficiencies” and that many of the “characterizations of events are implausible.”
He dismissed the idea that Trump had sued to correct an actual legal harm, saying that “instead, he is seeking to flaunt a two-hundred-page political manifesto outlining his grievances against those that have opposed him, and this Court is not the appropriate forum.”
The lawsuit had named as defendants Clinton and some of her top advisers, as well as former FBI Director James Comey and other FBI officials involved in the investigation into whether Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign had coordinated with Russia to sway the outcome of the election.
Other defendants include the founders of a political research firm that hired a former British spy to investigate ties between Trump and Russia, and a well-connected Democratic lawyer who was recently acquitted on a charge of lying to the FBI during a 2016 meeting in which he presented the bureau with information he wanted it to investigate.
But none of the claims, the judge wrote, supported Trump’s claims of a conspiracy against him.
“What the Amended Complaint lacks in substance and legal support it seeks to substitute with length, hyperbole, and the settling of scores and grievances,” Middlebrooks wrote.
A 2019 Justice Department inspector general report did identify certain flaws by the FBI during the Russia investigation, but did not find evidence that the bureau’s leaders were motivated by political bias in opening the probe and said the inquiry was started for a legitimate purpose.
A separate investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller produced criminal charges against nearly three dozen people and entities and found pervasive Russian interference in the election, but did not establish a criminal conspiracy with the Trump campaign.
Alina Habba, a lawyer for Trump, said Friday that Trump would appeal the dismissal.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Publishing date:Sep 09, 2022 • 17 hours ago • 2 minute read • 7 Comments
WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Florida has dismissed Donald Trump’s lawsuit against 2016 Democratic rival Hillary Clinton and former top FBI officials, rejecting the former president’s claims that they and others acted in concert to concoct the Russia investigation that shadowed much of his administration.
U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks said in a sharply worded ruling on Thursday that Trump’s lawsuit, filed in March, contained “glaring structural deficiencies” and that many of the “characterizations of events are implausible.”
He dismissed the idea that Trump had sued to correct an actual legal harm, saying that “instead, he is seeking to flaunt a two-hundred-page political manifesto outlining his grievances against those that have opposed him, and this Court is not the appropriate forum.”
The lawsuit had named as defendants Clinton and some of her top advisers, as well as former FBI Director James Comey and other FBI officials involved in the investigation into whether Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign had coordinated with Russia to sway the outcome of the election.
Other defendants include the founders of a political research firm that hired a former British spy to investigate ties between Trump and Russia, and a well-connected Democratic lawyer who was recently acquitted on a charge of lying to the FBI during a 2016 meeting in which he presented the bureau with information he wanted it to investigate.
But none of the claims, the judge wrote, supported Trump’s claims of a conspiracy against him.
“What the Amended Complaint lacks in substance and legal support it seeks to substitute with length, hyperbole, and the settling of scores and grievances,” Middlebrooks wrote.
A 2019 Justice Department inspector general report did identify certain flaws by the FBI during the Russia investigation, but did not find evidence that the bureau’s leaders were motivated by political bias in opening the probe and said the inquiry was started for a legitimate purpose.
A separate investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller produced criminal charges against nearly three dozen people and entities and found pervasive Russian interference in the election, but did not establish a criminal conspiracy with the Trump campaign.
Alina Habba, a lawyer for Trump, said Friday that Trump would appeal the dismissal.
Judge tosses Trump's Russia probe suit against Clinton, FBI
WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Florida has dismissed Donald Trump’s lawsuit against 2016 Democratic rival Hillary Clinton and former top FBI officials, rejecting t…
Any crowds of Democrats stormed the Capitol to overthrow the Constitution?
Yes, yes, start screeching about the BLM protests as if they're the same thing.