Donald Trump Announces 2016 White House Bid

[spaminator]

Trump pleads not guilty in Georgia election subversion case and seeks to sever his case from others
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Kate Brumback
Published Aug 31, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 3 minute read

ATLANTA — Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty on Thursday and sought to sever his case from some other defendants who are accused along with him of illegally trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia.


Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee had set arraignment hearings on Sept. 6 for Trump and the 18 others charged in the case. Trump’s court filing entering a not guilty plea also waived arraignment, meaning he won’t have to show up for that.


The decision to skip an in-person appearance averts the dramatic arraignments that have accompanied the three other criminal cases Trump faces, in which the Republican former president has been forced amid tight security into a courtroom and entered “not guilty” pleas before crowds of spectators. Georgia courts have fairly permissive rules on news cameras in the courtroom, and this means Trump won’t have to enter a plea on television.

McAfee said Thursday that he planned to allow live-streaming of the trial on a Fulton County-provided YouTube channel. He said he would also allow video and photographs to be shot by press pool members.


Trump and 18 others were charged earlier this month in a 41-count indictment that outlines an alleged scheme to subvert the will of Georgia voters who had chosen Democrat Joe Biden over the Republican incumbent in the presidential election.

An attorney for Trump also asked McAfee on Thursday to separate his case from those of defendants who have asked for an expedited trial. The judge has already set an Oct. 23 trial date for one of those defendants. Giving the former president less than two months to prepare a defence against a 98-page indictment would “violate President Trump’s federal and state constitutional rights to a fair trial and due process of law,” attorney Steve Sadow said in a court filing.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has said she wants all of the defendants tried together. After one defendant filed a demand for a speedy trial, she asked the judge to set an Oct. 23 trial date for everyone.


Thursday’s developments add to the pre-trial legal jousting that has dominated the two weeks since the indictment was brought, underscoring the complexities inherent in attempting to bring 19 defendants to trial at once — including an ex-president — and foreshadowing the delays ahead as judges sift through competing arguments from the defendants.

Jenna Ellis, an attorney who prosecutors say was involved in efforts to persuade state lawmakers to unlawfully appoint presidential electors, also pleaded not guilty and waived arraignment Thursday.

Three other people charged in the indictment had already waived arraignment in filings with the court, saving them a repeat trip to Atlanta after they all turned themselves in at the Fulton County Jail last week. Trump surrendered at the jail on Aug. 24, where he became the first former president to have a mug shot taken.


The case, filed under Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, is sprawling, and the logistics of bringing it to trial are likely to be complicated.

At least two defendants have filed demands for a speedy trial and have asked to be tried separately from others in the case. The judge set an Oct. 23 trial date for one of them, Kenneth Chesebro, a lawyer who worked on the coordination and execution of a plan to have 16 Georgia Republicans sign a certificate falsely stating that Trump won the state and declaring themselves the state’s “duly elected and qualified” electors.

Some of the others charged are trying to move their cases to federal court. A judge on Monday heard arguments on such a request by former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, but the judge did not immediately rule.

Trump, the front-runner in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, has criticized the cases against him as part of a politically motivated attempt to keep him from winning back the White House.

— Associated Press writers Sudhin Thanawala in Atlanta and Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.

Trump pleads not guilty in Georgia election subversion case and seeks to sever his case from others

Trump and 18 others were charged earlier this month in a 41-count indictment.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Ex-Proud Boys organizer sentenced to 17 years in prison for plot to keep Trump in power
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Michael Kunzelman and Lindsay Whitehurst
Published Aug 31, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 5 minute read

WASHINGTON — Two former leaders of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group were sentenced to more than a decade each in prison Thursday for spearheading an attack on the U.S. Capitol to try to prevent the peaceful transfer of power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden after the 2020 presidential election.


The 17-year prison term for organizer Joseph Biggs and 15-year sentence for leader Zachary Rehl were the second and third longest sentences handed down yet in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack.


They were the first Proud Boys to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, who will separately preside over similar hearings of three others who were convicted by a jury in May after a four-month trial in Washington that laid bare far-right extremists’ embrace of lies by Trump, a Republican, that the 2020 election was stolen from him.

Enrique Tarrio, a Miami resident who was the Proud Boys’ national chairman and top leader, is scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday. His sentencing was moved from Wednesday to next week because U.S. District Kelly was sick.


Tarrio wasn’t in Washington on Jan. 6. He had been arrested two days before the Capitol riot on charges that he defaced a Black Lives Matter banner during an earlier rally in the nation’s capital, and he complied with a judge’s order to leave the city after his arrest. He picked Biggs and Proud Boys chapter president Ethan Nordean to be the group’s leaders on the ground in his absence, prosecutors said.

Rehl, Biggs, Tarrio and Nordean were convicted of charges including seditious conspiracy, a rarely brought Civil War-era offence. A fifth Proud Boys member, Dominic Pezzola, was acquitted of seditious conspiracy but convicted of other serious charges.

Federal prosecutors had recommended a 33-year prison sentence for Biggs, who helped lead dozens of Proud Boys members and associates in marching to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Biggs and other Proud Boys joined the mob that broke through police lines and forced lawmakers to flee, disrupting the joint session of Congress for certifying the electoral victory by Biden, a Democrat.


Kelly said the Jan. 6 attack trampled on an “important American custom,” certifying the Electoral College vote.

“That day broke our tradition of peacefully transferring power, which is among the most precious things that we had as Americans,” the judge said, emphasizing that he was using the past tense in light of how Jan. 6 affected the process.

Defence attorneys argued that the Justice Department was unfairly holding their clients responsible for the violent actions of others in the crowd of Trump supporters at the Capitol.

Biggs, of Ormond Beach, Florida, acknowledged that he “messed up” on Jan. 6, but he blamed being “seduced by the crowd” of Trump supporters outside the Capitol and said he’s not a violent person or “a terrorist.”


“My curiosity got the better of me, and I’ll have to live with that for the rest of my life,” he said, claiming he didn’t have “hate in my heart” and didn’t want to hurt people.

During the trial, jurors saw a trove of messages that Proud Boys leaders privately exchanged in the weeks leading up to the Capitol riot, including Biggs encouraging Tarrio to “get radical and get real men” after Trump announced plans for a rally on Jan. 6.

That day, dozens of Proud Boys leaders, members and associates were among the first rioters to breach the Capitol. Before the first breach, Biggs used a megaphone to lead rioters in chants of “Whose Capitol? Our Capitol!”

Biggs “acted as the tip of the spear” during the attack, prosecutors said in a court filing. He tore down a fence and charged up scaffolding before entering the Capitol. He left the Capitol but reentered the building and went to the Senate chamber.


“There is a reason why we will hold our collective breath as we approach future elections,” prosecutor Jason McCullough said. “We never gave it a second thought before January 6th.”

For Rehl, who also helped lead Proud Boys, prosecutors asked for a 30-year prison sentence. He was seen on video spraying a chemical irritant at law enforcement officers outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, but he repeatedly lied about that assault while he testified at his trial, said prosecutor Erik Kenerson. “He tried to craft a narrative to fit the evidence and he was caught,” Kenerson said.

Rehl also led at least three other men into the Capitol and into a senator’s office, where he smoked and posed for pictures while flashing the Proud Boys’ hand gesture, prosecutors said in court documents.


“Rehl led an army to attempt to stop the certification proceeding, was proud that they got as close as they did, and his only regret in the immediate aftermath was that they did not go further,” they wrote in a court filing.

Kelly read from some of the “chilling” messages Rehl sent after Jan. 6, including one, the judge said, that read, “Everyone should have showed up armed and taken the country back the right way.” The judge shook his head and said, “I mean, my God.”

Rehl sobbed as he told the judge he deeply regretted being at the Capitol that day. “I’m done with all of it, done peddling lies for other people who don’t care about me,” Rehl said. “Politicians started spreading lies about the election, and I fell for it hook, line and sinker.”


Defence attorney Norman Pattis, who represents Biggs and Rehl, said they are “misguided patriots,” not terrorists, and said long sentences would fuel division.

Rehl and others who rioted at the Capitol that day were following Trump’s urging, and genuinely believed that something was fundamentally wrong with the election when they took to the streets, he said. “What they’re guilty of is believing the president who said the election was stolen from him,” Pattis said.

Kelly acknowledged that was a factor, but a “very modest one.”

Prosecutors have also recommended prison sentences of 33 years for Tarrio, 27 years for Nordean and 20 years for Pezzola. Nordean and Pezzola are scheduled to be sentenced Friday.

More than 1,100 people have been charged with Capitol riot-related federal crimes. Over 600 of them have been convicted and sentenced.

The 18-year prison sentence for Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes is the harshest punishment for a Jan. 6 so far. Six members of the anti-government Oath Keepers also were convicted of seditious conspiracy after a separate trial last year.

Ex-Proud Boys organizer sentenced to 17 years in prison for plot to keep Trump in power

"I know that I messed up that day," Biggs told the judge just before being sentenced, "but I'm not a terrorist."

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Rudy Giuliani pleads not guilty in Georgia election case, won’t attend arraignment
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Kate Brumback
Published Sep 01, 2023 • 2 minute read

ATLANTA — Rudy Giuliani on Friday pleaded not guilty to Georgia charges that accuse him of trying, along with former President Donald Trump and others, to illegally overturn the results of the 2020 election in the state.


In filing his not guilty plea with the court, the former New York mayor and Trump attorney also waived his right to appear at an arraignment hearing set for Sept. 6. He joins the former president and at least 10 others in forgoing a trip to Atlanta to appear before a judge in a packed courtroom with a news camera rolling.


Trump and Giuliani are among 19 people charged in a sprawling, 41-count indictment that details a wide-ranging conspiracy to thwart the will of Georgia’s voters who had selected Democrat Joe Biden over the Republican incumbent.

The charges against Giuliani, along with other legal woes, signal a remarkable fall for a man who was celebrated as “America’s mayor” in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attack. He now faces 13 charges, including violation of Georgia’s anti-racketeering law, the federal version of which was one of his favorite tools as prosecutor in the 1980s.


Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has said she wants to try all 19 defendants together. But the legal wrangling has already begun in a slew of court filings since the indictment was filed Aug. 14.

Several of those charged have filed motions to try to be tried alone or with a small group of other defendants, while others are trying to move their proceedings to federal court. Some are seeking to be tried quickly under a Georgia court rule that would have their trials start by early November, while others are already asking the court to extend deadlines.

Due to “the complexity, breadth, and volume of the 98-page indictment,” Giuliani asked the judge in Friday’s filing to give him at least 30 days after he receives information about witnesses and evidence from prosecutors to file motions. Normally, pretrial motions are to be filed within 10 days after arraignment.

Rudy Giuliani pleads not guilty in Georgia election case, won’t attend arraignment

Rudy Giuliani on Friday pleaded not guilty to Georgia charges that accuse him of trying o illegally overturn the results of 2020 election

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Mark Meadows pleads not guilty to charges in Georgia election case
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Kate Brumback
Published Sep 05, 2023 • 1 minute read

ATLANTA — Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows has pleaded not guilty to charges accusing him of participating in an illegal scheme to try to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia and will not appear in court in Atlanta this week.


Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee had scheduled arraignment hearings for Wednesday for Meadows, former President Donald Trump and the other 17 people charged last month in a sprawling indictment. By midday Tuesday, all of the defendants had pleaded not guilty in filings with the court and waived their rights to an arraignment hearing.


During an arraignment hearing, defendants have the right to have the charges against them read and to enter a formal plea. Trump pleaded not guilty in a court filing Thursday and Giuliani entered his plea Friday, with the rest of the pleas trickling in over several days.

Meadows and four others are seeking to move the charges against them to federal court. But during a hearing last week on Meadows’ request, U.S. District Judge Steve Jones made clear that if he had not ruled by the arraignment date or if the case was not moved to federal court, Meadows would not be excused from arraignment.

Mark Meadows pleads not guilty to charges in Georgia election case

Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows has pleaded not guilty to charges accusing him of participating in an illegal scheme

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Proud Boys’ Enrique Tarrio gets record 22 years in prison for Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Michael Kunzelman, Lindsay Whitehurst And Alanna Durkin Richer
Published Sep 05, 2023 • 4 minute read

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio was sentenced Tuesday to 22 years in prison for orchestrating his far-right extremist group’s attack on the U.S. Capitol in a failed bid to stop the transfer of presidential power after Donald Trump lost the 2020 election.


Tarrio’s sentence is the longest so far among more than 1,100 Capitol riot cases, topping the 18-year sentences that Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and one-time Proud Boys leader Ethan Nordean each received after juries convicted them of seditious conspiracy and other charges.


It comes as the Justice Department prepares to put Trump on trial at the same courthouse in Washington on charges that the then-president illegally schemed to cling to power that he knew had been stripped away by voters.

The Tarrio case — and hundreds of others like it — function as a vivid reminder of the violent chaos fueled by Trump’s lies around the election and the extent to which his false claims helped inspire right-wing extremists who ultimately stormed the Capitol to thwart the peaceful transfer of power.


Rising to speak before the sentence was handed down, Tarrio pleaded for leniency, describing Jan. 6 as a “national embarrassment,” and apologizing to the police officers who defended the Capitol and the lawmakers who fled in fear. His voice cracked as he expressed remorse for letting down his family and vowed that he is done with politics.

“I am not a political zealot. Inflicting harm or changing the results of the election was not my goal,” Tarrio said.

“Please show me mercy,” he said, adding, “I ask you that you not take my 40s from me.”

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, who was appointed to the bench by Trump, said Tarrio was motivated by “revolutionary zeal” to lead the conspiracy that resulted in “200 men, amped up for battle, encircling the Capitol.” Noting that Tarrio had not previously shown any public remorse for his crimes, the judge said a stiff punishment was necessary to deter future political violence.


“It can’t happen again. It can’t happen again,” the judge repeated.

Standing before the judge in orange jail garb, Tarrio lowered his head after the sentence was read, then squared his shoulders and put his hands before his back.

Prosecutors had sought 33 years behind bars for Tarrio, describing him as the ringleader of a plot to use violence to shatter the cornerstone of American democracy and overturn the election victory by Joe Biden, a Democrat, over Trump, the Republican incumbent.

Prosecutor Conor Mulroe told the judge that the Proud Boys came dangerously close to succeeding in their plot to stop the transfer of presidential power — and noted that “it didn’t take rifles or explosives.”

“There was a very real possibility we were going to wake up on Jan. 7 in a full-blown constitutional crisis,” Mulroe said, with “300 million Americans having no idea who the next president would be or how it would be decided.”


The prosecutor urged the judge to ensure that “consequences are abundantly clear to anyone who might be unhappy with the results of 2024, 2028, 2032 or any future election for as long as this case is remembered.”

Tarrio wasn’t in Washington, D.C, when Proud Boys members joined thousands of Trump supporters, who smashed windows, beat police officers and poured into the House and Senate chambers as lawmakers met to certify Biden’s victory. But prosecutors say the 39-year-old Miami resident organized and led the Proud Boys’ assault from afar, inspiring followers with his charisma and penchant for propaganda.

Tarrio had been arrested two days before the Capitol riot on charges that he defaced a Black Lives Matter banner during an earlier rally in the nation’s capital, and he had complied with a judge’s order to leave the city after his arrest.


The judge agreed with prosecutors that the Proud Boys’ crimes could be punished as “terrorism” — increasing the recommended sentence under federal guidelines. But he ultimately sentenced the Proud Boys to prison terms shorter than what prosecutors were seeking.

The backbone of the government’s case was hundreds of messages exchanged by Proud Boys in the days leading up to Jan. 6 that prosecutors say showed how the extremists saw themselves as revolutionaries and celebrated the Capitol attack, which sent lawmakers running into hiding.

As Proud Boys swarmed the Capitol, Tarrio cheered them on from afar, writing on social media, “Do what must be done.” In a Proud Boys encrypted group chat later that day someone asked what they should do next. Tarrio responded, “Do it again.”


“Make no mistake,” Tarrio wrote in another message. “We did this.”

Tarrio’s lawyers denied the Proud Boys had any plan to attack the Capitol or stop the certification of Biden’s victory. They argued that prosecutors used Tarrio as a scapegoat for Trump, who spoke at the “Stop the Steal” rally near the White House on Jan. 6 and urged his supporters to “fight like hell.”

Tarrio is the final Proud Boys leader convicted of seditious conspiracy to receive his punishment. Three fellow Proud Boys found guilty by a Washington jury of the rarely used sedition charge were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 15 to 18 years.

The Justice Department is appealing the 18-year prison sentence of Rhodes, the Oath Keepers founder, who was convicted of seditious conspiracy in a separate case, as well as the sentences of other members of his antigovernment militia group that were lighter than what prosecutors had sought. Prosecutors had requested 25 years in prison for Rhodes.

Proud Boys’ Enrique Tarrio gets record 22 years in prison for Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy

Tarrio orchestrated his far-right extremist group's attack on the U.S. Capitol.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Judge rules Trump in 2019 defamed writer who already won sex abuse and libel suit
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Published Sep 06, 2023 • 1 minute read

NEW YORK — Four months after a jury found that Donald Trump sexually abused and defamed advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, a federal judge ruled Wednesday that still more of the ex-president’s comments about her were libelous.


The decision means that an upcoming second civil trial will concern only how much more he has to pay Carroll.


The ruling stands to streamline significantly the second trial, set for January. It concerns remarks that Trump made in 2019, after Carroll first publicly claimed that Trump sexually attacked her in a luxury department store dressing room in the 1990s, which he denies.

The first trial, this spring, concerned the sexual assault allegation itself and whether more recent Trump comments were defamatory. Jurors awarded Carroll $5 million, finding that she was sexually abused but rejecting her allegation that she was raped.

“The jury considered and decided issues that are common to both cases — including whether Mr. Trump falsely accused Ms. Carroll of fabricating her sexual assault charge and, if that were so, that he did it with knowledge that this accusation was false” or acted with reckless disregard for the truth, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan wrote in Wednesday’s decision.


The judge said the jury’s May verdict, by finding that Trump had indeed sexually abused Carroll, effectively established that his 2019 statements also were false and defamatory.

Carroll and her attorneys “look forward to trial limited to damages for the original defamatory statements Donald Trump made,” her lawyer Roberta Kaplan said.

Trump lawyer Alina Habba said Wednesday that his legal team is confident that the jury verdict will be overturned, mooting Kaplan’s new decision. Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, also is seeking to delay the second trial.

Judge rules Trump in 2019 defamed writer who already won sex abuse and libel suit

A federal judge ruled Wednesday that still more of the ex-president Donald Trump's comments about her were libelous

torontosun.com

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

All a Demon-Rat plot to Destroy America.

 

[petros]

Alex Biron on Instagram: "Get ‘em in my bio"

4,664 likes, 850 comments - alexbironcomedy on September 6, 2023: "Get ‘em in my bio".

www.instagram.com

Funny shit.

 

[spaminator]

Prosecutor in Georgia election case against Trump seeks protections for jurors
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Kate Brumback
Published Sep 07, 2023 • Last updated 2 days ago • 3 minute read

ATLANTA — The Georgia prosecutor who has brought charges accusing former President Donald Trump and others of illegally trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the state is asking the judge in the case to take steps to protect jurors.


The preemptory step by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis comes after the grand jurors who last month returned the wide-ranging 41-count indictment against Trump and 18 others were harassed after their information was posted online. It’s a reflection of the highly polarized feelings surrounding the criminal cases against the former president.


Willis wrote in a motion filed Wednesday that the grand jurors’ information was posted “with the intent to harass and intimidate them.” Additionally, the motion said, Willis’ personal information and that of her family and members of her staff have been posted online “intertwined with derogatory and racist remarks” about the district attorney, who is a Black woman.


News cameras are frequently allowed in the courtroom for trial proceedings in Georgia, but video and still photographers are regularly instructed not to show images of members of the jury. During the jury selection process, the prospective jurors are typically referred to by numbers rather than by name.

Willis is asking Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee to prohibit defendants, members of the news media or anyone else from creating or publishing images — including video, photos and drawings — of jurors or prospective jurors. She is also asking that the judge prohibit the publication of any information that would help anyone to identify them, “specifically physical descriptions, telephone numbers, addresses, employer names and membership affiliations of all jurors or prospective jurors.”


Legal experts have said it’s standard for indictments in Georgia to include the names of the grand jurors, in part because it provides defendants the opportunity to challenge the composition of the grand jury. So the names of the 23 grand jurors who heard the district attorney’s evidence against Trump and the others and voted to approve charges were included on the indictment. They immediately became the victims of “doxxing,” which is short for “dropping dox” or documents, and refers to the online posting of information about someone, generally in an attempt to harass, threaten, shame or exact revenge.

It is “clearly foreseeable” that that would happen to trial jurors if their names were made public, and that could jeopardize their “ability to decide the issues before them impartially and without outside influence,” affecting the defendants’ right to a fair and impartial jury, Willis argued.


Attached to Willis’ motion were sworn statements from Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum and an investigator in Willis’ office.

Schierbaum said that listings of the grand jurors’ information “called for harassment and violence against the grand jurors” and that his department worked with the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office and other local law enforcement agencies to ensure that safety measures were put in place to protect them. Those efforts “require a significant devotion of our capacity and represent a strain on law enforcement resources to allow them to complete their civic duty without being subjected to unnecessary danger.”

Information about Willis and the grand jurors was posted on the dark web, a part of the internet hosted within an encrypted network and accessible only through specialized tools that provide anonymity, district attorney’s investigator Gerald Walsh wrote.

The site where the information was posted is hosted in Russia and is known by federal authorities to be “uncooperative with law enforcement.” Users who post on that site have made similar posts about other prosecutors, judges, federal employees and their families in other states as well, Walsh wrote.

Prosecutor in Georgia election case against Trump seeks protections for jurors

Georgia prosecutor who has brought charges accusing President Donald Trump is asking the judge in the case to take steps to protect jurors

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Trump White House official Navarro convicted of contempt after defying House Jan. 6 subpoena
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Lindsay Whitehurst
Published Sep 07, 2023 • 3 minute read

WASHINGTON (AP) — Trump White House official Peter Navarro was found guilty Thursday of contempt of Congress charges for refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.


The verdict came after a short trial for Navarro, who served as a White House trade adviser under President Donald Trump and later promoted the Republican’s baseless claims of mass voter fraud in the 2020 election he lost.


Navarro was the second Trump aide to face contempt of Congress charges after former White House adviser Steve Bannon. Bannon was convicted of two counts and was sentenced to four months behind bars, though he has been free pending appeal.

Navarro vowed to appeal the verdict, saying the “die was cast” after a judge ruled that he couldn’t fight the charges by arguing he couldn’t cooperate with the committee because Trump had invoked executive privilege.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta found that Navarro didn’t have enough evidence to show Trump had invoked it.


“This is a landmark case that’s bound for the Supreme Court,” Navarro said. Defense attorney John Rowley echoed that, saying “this case is not over by a long shot.”

Mehta scheduled Navarro’s sentencing for Jan. 12. Navarro was convicted in Washington’s federal courthouse of two misdemeanor counts of contempt of Congress, both punishable by up to a year behind bars.

The verdict came after a four-hour jury deliberation. After it was read, defense attorney Stanley Woodward moved for a mistrial, saying that the jurors had taken an outdoor break near where protesters and media regularly gather outside the courthouse and came back with a verdict shortly after. Mehta did not immediately rule, but said he would consider written arguments on the issue.


Prosecutors argued at trial that Navarro acted as if he were “above the law” when he defied a subpoena for documents and a deposition from the House Jan. 6 committee.

A defense attorney countered that Navarro didn’t purposely ignore the House Jan. 6 Committee. Navarro instead told staffers to contact Trump about what might be protected by executive privilege, something that didn’t happen, Woodward said.

Prosecutors, though, argued that even if Trump had invoked executive privilege, Navarro should have handed over what material he could and flagged any questions or documents believed to be protected. They said much of the material the committee sought was already publicly available.

“Peter Navarro made a choice. He chose not abide by the congressional subpoena,” prosecutor Elizabeth Aloi said. “The defendant chose allegiance to former President Donald Trump over compliance to the subpoena.”


Barred from relying on the executive privilege argument at trial, the defense argued that Navarro had not acted “willfully” or only out of loyalty to Trump.

“Do we know that his failure to comply beyond reasonable doubt wasn’t the result of accident, inadvertence or mistake?” Woodward said.

The House Jan. 6 committee finished its work in January, after a final report that said Trump criminally engaged in a “multi-part conspiracy” to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 election and failed to act to stop a mob of his supporters from attacking the Capitol.

Trump, meanwhile, faces a federal indictment in Washington, D.C., and a state indictment in Georgia over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden, a Democrat. He has denied wrongdoing and has said he was acting within the law.

Trump White House official Navarro convicted of contempt after defying House Jan. 6 subpoena

Navarro was the second Trump aide to face contempt of Congress charges after former White House adviser Steve Bannon.

torontosun.com

 

[Taxslave2]

And the witch hunt continues.

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

And the witch hunt continues.

If Hunter Biden ignored a Congressional subpoena and was convicted for it, you'd cream your jeans.

 

[Ron in Regina]

If Hunter Biden ignored a Congressional subpoena and was convicted for it, you'd cream your jeans.

I only really know about Hunter Biden from Memes. He’s good material.

 

[spaminator]

Donald Trump-hater Ann Coulter calls ex-president: 'gigantic p****'
Comments come after ex-prez calls pundit 'stone-cold loser'

Author of the articleostmedia News
Published Sep 08, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 1 minute read

Tell us how you really feel, Ann Coulter.

The American conservative media pundit ramped up her verbal war with Donald Trump, calling the former U.S. president a “gigantic p***y” in response to Trump calling Coulter a “has-been” and a “stone-cold loser.”


“Trump begged me to come to Bedminster this week, I said only if I could record a substack with him, but the GIGANTIC P***Y is too afraid of me, so instead he did this,” Coulter said on social-media site X (formerly Twitter).



Trump owns an estate in Bedminster, N.J.

Coulter, who publishes a show called ‘Unsafe’ on subscription-based Substack, took aim at Trump in response to the one-term president’s negative posts about her on his Truth Social app.

The latest social tirade falls on the heels of Coulter calling Trump a “giant baby” who “can barely speak English.”



She has also praised his main GOP presidential nominee rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Trump, who is embroiled in legal woes, remains the odds-on favourite to win the GOP presidential nomination in 2024.

“Has-been Ann Coulter is a Stone Cold Loser!!!” Trump wrote on Wednesday.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1699608236087747023

Donald Trump-hater Ann Coulter calls ex-president: 'gigantic p****'

American conservative media pundit Ann Coulter ramped up her verbal war with Donald Trump.

torontosun.com

 

[justfred]

Some reports have been made that Mr Trump has or is being removed from being able to run for president in 2024. I noticed one saying he has resigned or self stopped running for president, it is so hard to believe what the real answer is. If someone is running for president, I am not sure that Americans, from either party would want someone that will come after them, if they vote for someone else, or if a republican does not send in say $100,000 to Donald Trump so he can use the money for personal defence expenses.

 

[spaminator]

Trump's mug shot features prominently on beer company's limited edition cans
Author of the articleostmedia News
Published Sep 13, 2023 • Last updated 2 days ago • 1 minute read
A U.S. beer company is selling limited edition cans with Donald Trump's mugshot.
A U.S. beer company is selling limited edition cans with Donald Trump's mugshot. PHOTO BY HANDOUT /Ultra Right
It’s being dubbed the Donald Trump revenge beer.


Ultra Right, an American beer company that launched in the wake of Bud Light’s partnership with a transgender influencer, has released limited edition cans called “Conservative Dad’s Revenge” featuring former U.S. President Donald Trump’s mugshot.


The mugshot was taken last month when Trump was booked in Georgia’s Fulton County Jail in Atlanta. He is accused of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 U.S. presidential election in the state.

A six-pack is on pre-order and is selling for US$25 to American consumers only.




The company said the beer is 100% made in America and 10% of its sales will be used to defend people charged with election interference in Georgia.

“Each sale defends conservatives against the unconstitutional prosecution by the communist Fulton County District Attorney,” the company says on its website.

The conservative beer company launched in April as an online-only brand for “100% woke free” beer lovers now has distribution deals across the U.S. and is already available in stores and restaurants throughout Georgia and Arkansas, reports Fox Business.

In its first two weeks, the company said it had more than $1 million in sales after 10,000 customers bought more than 20,000 six-packs.

'Ultra Right' conservative beer expected to hit $1M in sales since Bud Light boycotts: 'It's a movement'

Conservative Dad's Ultra Right Beer will reach $1 million in sales just weeks after its mid-April launch, making waves in the beer industry amid the Bud Light controversy.

foxbusiness.com

LIMITED EDITION: Conservative Dad's Revenge (6-Pack)

SPECIAL EDITION COLLECTORS ITEM: CONSERVATIVE DAD'S REVENGE! FILLED WITH CONSERVATIVE DAD'S ULTRA RIGHT BEER! Pre-Order. This special edition can ships approximately 45 days after order. 100% Made in America. EACH SALE DEFENDS CONSERVATIVES AGAINST THE UNCONSTITUTIONAL PROSECUTION BY THE...

ultrarightbeer.com

Trump's mug shot features prominently on beer company's limited edition cans

It's being dubbed the Donald Trump revenge beer.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Judge rules Trump defrauded banks, insurers while building real estate empire
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Michael R. Sisak
Published Sep 26, 2023 • 5 minute read

NEW YORK — A judge ruled Tuesday that Donald Trump committed fraud for years while building the real estate empire that catapulted him to fame and the White House.


Judge Arthur Engoron, ruling in a civil lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, found that the former president and his company deceived banks, insurers and others by massively overvaluing his assets and exaggerating his net worth on paperwork used in making deals and securing financing.


Engoron ordered that some of Trump’s business licenses be rescinded as punishment, making it difficult or impossible for them to do business in New York, and said he would continue to have an independent monitor oversee the Trump Organization’s operations.

A message seeking comment was left for a Trump spokesperson. Trump has long insisted he did nothing wrong.

The decision, days before the start of a non-jury trial in James’ lawsuit, is the strongest repudiation yet of Trump’s carefully coiffed image as a wealthy and shrewd real estate mogul turned political powerhouse.


Beyond mere bragging about his riches, Trump, his company and key executives repeatedly lied about them on his annual financial statements, reaping rewards such as favorable loan terms and lower insurance costs, Engoron found.

Those tactics crossed a line and violated the law, the judge said, rejecting Trump’s contention that a disclaimer on the financial statements absolved him of any wrongdoing.

“In defendants’ world: rent regulated apartments are worth the same as unregulated apartments; restricted land is worth the same as unrestricted land; restrictions can evaporate into thin air; a disclaimer by one party casting responsibility on another party exonerates the other party’s lies,” Engoron wrote in his 35-page ruling. “That is a fantasy world, not the real world.”


Manhattan prosecutors had looked into bringing criminal charges over the same conduct but declined to do so, leaving James to sue Trump and seek penalties that aim to disrupt his and his family’s ability to do business in the state.

Engoron’s ruling, in a phase of the case known as summary judgment, resolves the key claim in James’ lawsuit, but several others remain. He’ll decide on those claims and James’ request for $250 million in penalties at a trial starting Oct. 2. Trump’s lawyers have asked an appeals court for a temporary delay.

Trump’s lawyers, in their own summary judgment bid, had asked the judge to throw out the case.

They argued James wasn’t legally allowed to file the lawsuit because there wasn’t any evidence that the public was harmed by Trump’s actions. They also argued that many of the allegations in the lawsuit were barred by the statute of limitations.


Engoron, noting that he had “emphatically rejected” those arguments earlier in the case, equated them to the “time-loop in the film ‘Groundhog Day.”‘ With his ruling, he fined five defense lawyers $7,500 each as punishment for “engaging in repetitive, frivolous” arguments, but denied James’ request to sanction Trump, his two eldest sons and other defendants.

James, a Democrat, sued Trump and the Trump Organization a year ago, alleging a pattern of duplicity that she dubbed “the art of the steal,” a twist on the title of Trump’s 1987 business memoir “The Art of the Deal.”

The lawsuit accused Trump and his company of routinely inflating the value of assets like skyscrapers, golf courses and his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, padding his bottom line by billions.


Engoron found that Trump consistently overvalued Mar-a-Lago on his financial statements between 2014 and 2021, inflating its value on one statement by 2,300%, and rebuked him for lying about the size of his Trump Tower apartment in Manhattan. Trump claimed the three-story penthouse was nearly three times its actual size, valuing the property at $327 million.

“A discrepancy of this order of magnitude, by a real estate developer sizing up his own living space of decades, can only be considered fraud,” Engoron wrote.

Trump has denied wrongdoing, arguing in sworn testimony for the case that the values on his financial statements didn’t matter because they have a disclaimer that says they shouldn’t be trusted. Trump argued that banks “made a lot of money” from him and didn’t object to the valuations.


James’ lawsuit is one of several legal headaches for Trump as he campaigns for a return to the White House in 2024. He has been indicted four times in the last six months — accused in Georgia and Washington, D.C., of plotting to overturn his 2020 election loss, in Florida of hoarding classified documents, and in Manhattan of falsifying business records related to hush money paid on his behalf.

The Trump Organization was convicted of tax fraud last year in an unrelated criminal case for helping executives dodge taxes on extravagant perks such as Manhattan apartments and luxury cars. The company was fined $1.6 million. One of the executives, Trump’s longtime finance chief Allen Weisselberg, pleaded guilty and served five months in jail. He is a defendant in James’ lawsuit and gave sworn deposition testimony for the case in May.


James’ lawsuit does not carry the potential of prison time, but could complicate Trump’s ability to transact real estate deals. It could also stain his legacy as a developer.

James has asked Engoron to ban Trump and his three eldest children from ever again running a company based in New York. She also wants Trump and the Trump Organization barred from entering into commercial real estate acquisitions for five years, among other sanctions. The $250 million in penalties she is seeking is the estimated worth of benefits derived from the alleged fraud, she said.

James, who campaigned for office as a Trump critic and watchdog, started scrutinizing his business practices in March 2019 after his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen testified to Congress that Trump exaggerated his wealth on financial statements provided to Deutsche Bank while trying to obtain financing to buy the NFL’s Buffalo Bills.

James’ office previously sued Trump for misusing his own charitable foundation to further his political and business interests. Trump was ordered to pay $2 million to an array of charities as a fine and the charity, the Trump Foundation, was shut down.

Judge rules Trump defrauded banks, insurers while building real estate empire

A judge ruled that Donald Trump committed fraud for years while building the real estate empire that catapulted him to fame and White House

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Court rejects Donald Trump’s bid to delay trial in wake of fraud ruling that threatens his business
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Michael R. Sisak
Published Sep 28, 2023 • 1 minute read

NEW YORK (AP) — An appeals court Thursday rejected Donald Trump’s bid to delay a civil trial in a lawsuit brought by New York’s attorney general, allowing the case to proceed days after a judge ruled the former president committed years of fraud and stripped him of some companies as punishment.


The decision, by the state’s intermediate appellate court, clears the way for Judge Arthur Engoron to preside over a non-jury trial starting Oct. 2 in Manhattan in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ civil lawsuit.


Trump is listed among dozens of possible witnesses, setting up a potential courtroom showdown with the judge. The fraud ruling Tuesday threatens to upend his real estate empire and force him to give up prized New York properties such as Trump Tower, a Wall Street office building, golf courses and a suburban estate.

Trump has denied wrongdoing, arguing that some of his assets are worth far more than what’s listed on annual financial statements that Engoron said he used to secure loans and make deals. Trump has argued that the statements have disclaimers that absolve him of liability. His lawyers have said they would appeal.

Court rejects Donald Trump’s bid to delay trial in wake of fraud ruling that threatens his business

Rejection comes in wake of fraud ruling that threatens his business

torontosun.com

 

[Taxslave2]

Judge rules Trump defrauded banks, insurers while building real estate empire
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Michael R. Sisak
Published Sep 26, 2023 • 5 minute read

NEW YORK — A judge ruled Tuesday that Donald Trump committed fraud for years while building the real estate empire that catapulted him to fame and the White House.


Judge Arthur Engoron, ruling in a civil lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, found that the former president and his company deceived banks, insurers and others by massively overvaluing his assets and exaggerating his net worth on paperwork used in making deals and securing financing.


Engoron ordered that some of Trump’s business licenses be rescinded as punishment, making it difficult or impossible for them to do business in New York, and said he would continue to have an independent monitor oversee the Trump Organization’s operations.

A message seeking comment was left for a Trump spokesperson. Trump has long insisted he did nothing wrong.

The decision, days before the start of a non-jury trial in James’ lawsuit, is the strongest repudiation yet of Trump’s carefully coiffed image as a wealthy and shrewd real estate mogul turned political powerhouse.


Beyond mere bragging about his riches, Trump, his company and key executives repeatedly lied about them on his annual financial statements, reaping rewards such as favorable loan terms and lower insurance costs, Engoron found.

Those tactics crossed a line and violated the law, the judge said, rejecting Trump’s contention that a disclaimer on the financial statements absolved him of any wrongdoing.

“In defendants’ world: rent regulated apartments are worth the same as unregulated apartments; restricted land is worth the same as unrestricted land; restrictions can evaporate into thin air; a disclaimer by one party casting responsibility on another party exonerates the other party’s lies,” Engoron wrote in his 35-page ruling. “That is a fantasy world, not the real world.”


Manhattan prosecutors had looked into bringing criminal charges over the same conduct but declined to do so, leaving James to sue Trump and seek penalties that aim to disrupt his and his family’s ability to do business in the state.

Engoron’s ruling, in a phase of the case known as summary judgment, resolves the key claim in James’ lawsuit, but several others remain. He’ll decide on those claims and James’ request for $250 million in penalties at a trial starting Oct. 2. Trump’s lawyers have asked an appeals court for a temporary delay.

Trump’s lawyers, in their own summary judgment bid, had asked the judge to throw out the case.

They argued James wasn’t legally allowed to file the lawsuit because there wasn’t any evidence that the public was harmed by Trump’s actions. They also argued that many of the allegations in the lawsuit were barred by the statute of limitations.


Engoron, noting that he had “emphatically rejected” those arguments earlier in the case, equated them to the “time-loop in the film ‘Groundhog Day.”‘ With his ruling, he fined five defense lawyers $7,500 each as punishment for “engaging in repetitive, frivolous” arguments, but denied James’ request to sanction Trump, his two eldest sons and other defendants.

James, a Democrat, sued Trump and the Trump Organization a year ago, alleging a pattern of duplicity that she dubbed “the art of the steal,” a twist on the title of Trump’s 1987 business memoir “The Art of the Deal.”

The lawsuit accused Trump and his company of routinely inflating the value of assets like skyscrapers, golf courses and his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, padding his bottom line by billions.


Engoron found that Trump consistently overvalued Mar-a-Lago on his financial statements between 2014 and 2021, inflating its value on one statement by 2,300%, and rebuked him for lying about the size of his Trump Tower apartment in Manhattan. Trump claimed the three-story penthouse was nearly three times its actual size, valuing the property at $327 million.

“A discrepancy of this order of magnitude, by a real estate developer sizing up his own living space of decades, can only be considered fraud,” Engoron wrote.

Trump has denied wrongdoing, arguing in sworn testimony for the case that the values on his financial statements didn’t matter because they have a disclaimer that says they shouldn’t be trusted. Trump argued that banks “made a lot of money” from him and didn’t object to the valuations.


James’ lawsuit is one of several legal headaches for Trump as he campaigns for a return to the White House in 2024. He has been indicted four times in the last six months — accused in Georgia and Washington, D.C., of plotting to overturn his 2020 election loss, in Florida of hoarding classified documents, and in Manhattan of falsifying business records related to hush money paid on his behalf.

The Trump Organization was convicted of tax fraud last year in an unrelated criminal case for helping executives dodge taxes on extravagant perks such as Manhattan apartments and luxury cars. The company was fined $1.6 million. One of the executives, Trump’s longtime finance chief Allen Weisselberg, pleaded guilty and served five months in jail. He is a defendant in James’ lawsuit and gave sworn deposition testimony for the case in May.


James’ lawsuit does not carry the potential of prison time, but could complicate Trump’s ability to transact real estate deals. It could also stain his legacy as a developer.

James has asked Engoron to ban Trump and his three eldest children from ever again running a company based in New York. She also wants Trump and the Trump Organization barred from entering into commercial real estate acquisitions for five years, among other sanctions. The $250 million in penalties she is seeking is the estimated worth of benefits derived from the alleged fraud, she said.

James, who campaigned for office as a Trump critic and watchdog, started scrutinizing his business practices in March 2019 after his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen testified to Congress that Trump exaggerated his wealth on financial statements provided to Deutsche Bank while trying to obtain financing to buy the NFL’s Buffalo Bills.

James’ office previously sued Trump for misusing his own charitable foundation to further his political and business interests. Trump was ordered to pay $2 million to an array of charities as a fine and the charity, the Trump Foundation, was shut down.

Judge rules Trump defrauded banks, insurers while building real estate empire

A judge ruled that Donald Trump committed fraud for years while building the real estate empire that catapulted him to fame and White House

torontosun.com

So nothing every other successful business hasn't done. The reality here is, the lenders were not doing their due diligence before lending money. I bet they were quite happy to receive the interest every month.

 

[spaminator]

‘Woke free’ beer featuring Trump mugshot selling like hotcakes
Ultra Right Beer predicts sales of the limited edition Trump beer will net $2 million by Sunday at midnight when it's taken off the market

Author of the article:Eddie Chau
Published Sep 29, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 1 minute read
ULTRARIGHT
Ultra Right Beer, featuring the image of Donald Trump’s mugshot on it. PHOTO BY SCREENSHOT
An American beer brand that boasts it’s “100% woke-free” claims it’s bringing in the cash after releasing beer cans featuring ex-President Donald Trump’s mugshot.


In an interview with Fox News, Seth Weathers, the founder of the conservative Ultra Right Beer, says the company has made $500,000 in 12 hours after dropping the Trump-themed beer for sale.


Weathers said he knew “people would go wild over these collector cans, but we had no idea the response would be this crazy.”

The beer maker – also known as Conservative Dad online – predicts the limited edition Trump beer will net $2 million by Sunday at midnight when it’s taken off the market.

“Sales have poured in from the moment we launched,” Weathers said.

The beer is currently being sold in six packs for $25, with 10% of sales going towards the Georgia Republican Party’s legal fund and the David Shafer Legal Defence Fund.

Ultra Beer launched in April, selling 20,000 six-packs of beer just 12 days after launching. The beer brand was created after the Bud Light controversy in which the brand featured transgender Tiktok personality Dylan Mulvaney in an ad, prompting a call for a boycott of Budweiser and its owner, Anheuser-Busch.

Ultra Right CEO reveals 'record-breaking' sales on limited-edition beer can featuring Trump's mugshot

The Ultra Right CEO reveals selling a whopping half a million dollars of their limited edition beer featuring former President Trump's mugshot within just 12 hours of its launch.

foxbusiness.com