Saturday, January 27, 2024

"But...Muh States Rights!"

I'm going to come back to this, because I scanned just the comments by John Quincy Adams and knew I had to slow down and read it very carefully, and now (I mean in this moment, for me) is not the time for that.   

Well, here; you can see what I mean:

But if it so be so, as to the mere question of the right between master and slave, it is of tremendous concern to you that this little cluster of slave owners should possess, besides their own share in the representative hall of the nation the exclusive privilege of appointing two fifths of the whole number to the representatives of the people.  

This is now your condition, under the delusive ambiguity of language and of principles, which begins by declaring the representation of the popular branch of the legislature a representation of persons, and then provides that one class of persons shall have neither part nor lot in the choice of their representatives;  but their elective franchise shall be transferred to their masters,  and the oppressors shall represent the oppressed.  

The same perversions of the representative principle pollutes the composition of the colleges of electors of President and Vice President of the United States, and every department of the government of the Union is thus tainted at its source by the gangrene of slavery.

This is the "hidden wound" Wendell Berry writes of, in American history; our secret de Polichinelle.  And still we insist on hiding it from ourselves.  And are surprised when it bursts open again, and denounce attention to it as "woke," turning the word into an euphemism for our own racism and fear of a brown planet and of the "other" we have treated so brutally, fear mostly that what goes around comes around, and "justice" means we face the fate we dealt to them for so long.

And why Greg Abbott is making so much noise about an "invasion" and protecting his state from the brown people that white people took it away from (upon establishing the Republic, Texans quickly set about ejecting, eradicating, and removing all non-white person, except slaves, from the premises.  The beat goes on. Does Abbott really fear an "invasion"? No; but he knows a good political scare when he sees one.).

You can see why I need to read it carefully myself; the whole post, not just the quotes. 

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Dollar Dollar Bills, Y’all!

[Judge Engoron has entered the chat]
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Fear The Future

And reconsider just how “well-oiled and professional” that Trump campaign is:
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Making It Hard To Argue The Point

Uh... I’m guessing Scott McFarlane learned causation theory at the same place Alina Habba did?
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St. George And The Dragon 🐉

Pointing out that Trump was likely banking on "jury nullification" from just one juror to avoid a massive penalty, Vance wrote, "Judge Kaplan had an unusual inclusion in his jury instructions, something I’ve never heard a judge do before. He read from the Constitution. He talked about 'we the people' and the establishment of a justice system. And he referred to the history of the Southern District of New York, where federal courts have been in existence since 1789." 
Calling Kaplan's appeal to the jurors "low-key" that should in no way lead to be included in an expected Trump appeal, she added it was "nonetheless out of the ordinary, reinforced the importance of the court system and its integrity in the minds of the jurors before they deliberated." 
"That is a reasonable counterbalance to the chaos Trump tries to insert into judicial proceedings and was perhaps the final element of Judge Kaplan’s careful control of his courtroom, which prevented a dissent into theatrics and prevented the trial from becoming just another campaign venue," she suggested.
All due praise to Judge Kaplan, but the “Trump bubble” is real, and Trump supporters aren’t the only ones living in it.

Trump is a very litigious person; but how often has he appeared in court, or gone to trial? 60+ cases launched by him or his supporters to overturn the 2020 election, and Trump never appeared before a judge for one of them. We don’t, in other words, have a track record for Trump before judges and juries, but we all know what it is like and how it, alternatively, should be. Why? Because of the long NYS fraud case.

Trump testified there, and stormed out of the courtroom on the regular, and made a dog’s breakfast of his case, but he got to rant and rave and tout le Twitter decided he “won”, well, something, and it was Trump!, so, it should never happen again. And it didn’t in Kaplan’s court, so St. George finally slew the dragon!

Yeah, no. 

Trump’s stunts probably cost him this case. Certainly the jury spent little time discussing anything more than: “How much?” 

Judge Engoron let Trump have his say because Engoron was the only one listening. He listened, and knew what he was listening to. Kaplan had a jury to protect. Juries are vital, and sacrosanct. They are protected from bullshit and nonsense and irrelevancy in the name of fairness and due process. Engoron had no jury to protect, so Trump was shouting into an empty room. Kaplan ruled a federal courtroom in a courthouse where Trump had to leave the grounds to find a TeeVee camera, and where, like as not, he couldn’t find a spot where the Secret Service would let him stand and deliver. So Trump could only go back to Trump Tower, or get on his plane.

Kaplan is not the aberration, nor is Engoron. They are both the rule. Change the facts, change the outcome. And whatever facts Trump learned from being litigious, are failing him now. Even his critics, who bought into his myth of invincibility, are struggling to see that. But Trump is playing with the big boys now. And he just got beaten like a drum by an 80 year old woman and her female lawyer. Schadenfreude, bay-bee!

It’s a sign of things to come. He faces jury trials from here on out. Criminal trials, so he’ll have to sit still for them, and stay in his seat, and impress the jurors with his mature demeanor and stoic behavior, and his ability to listen calmly.

This is how the legal system works. And he’s toast.
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🤡

When the Constitution was ratified, Mexico was a Spanish vice regency. Mexico wasn’t independent of Spain until 1831. Texas gained its independence from Mexico in 1836, and became a state in 1845. Which is also when the Rio Grande became a part of the U.S. border.

There has never been a serious question that the federal government is responsible for international borders.

These people aren’t threats. They’re clowns. 
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Message Received?

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Trump Bankruptcy Watch

And while I’m thinking about it, interest accrues on these two federal court judgments, with or without appeal bonds. At $5 million, it’s a tidy sum. At $83.3 million, it’s a very tidy sum, indeed.

That just seems relevant to a bankruptcy watch.
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How It’s Going

Who also doesn’t want this bill to pass until hc can take credit for it. It’s Nixon’s “secret plan to end the war,” without the secret.

A”well-run and disciplined” campaign, donchaknow?

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Some Of What I’ve Been Saying

He did this last summer when a jury awarded Carroll $5 million after a separate jury found Trump defamed her. (He's appealing that decision also.) Another way would be to secure a bond and pay a fraction of the total and also leverage some of his non-liquid assets as collateral. This may have Trump seeking a lender to square away some of the monies while he battles for a better fate.
First, I stand corrected. I didn’t realize Trump had appealed the earlier decision. I did know he got in trouble with the court monitor for funding that bond without first notifying her. I had thought he was paying the judgment, not funding an appeal bond 

His options now are to pony up the judgment amount, or get a bonding company to loan him the money. With the NY fraud judgment coming any day now, the odds of that happening are zip and none. All of Trump’s assets are effectively spoken for. Nobody’s going to pony up for Trump on this one, much less for the appeal for the likely $250 million judgment looming.

Trump can always appeal, but without the bond, the plaintiff can work to collect judgment. And the odds are good Trump loses the appeals. 

As for the punitive damages:
“I think even those in the courtroom when they heard that number gasped how outrageous it was, right," he said during an appearance on the cable network. "The punitive damages are so high that it's guaranteed it'll be reversed on appeal."
The jury found Trump liable for $18.3 million in actual damages, and added $65 million in punitive damages, which is less than 4 times the amount of actual damages. The Supreme Court rule of thumb is that punitive damages should not exceed single digit multipliers of the actual damages. This award is well within that limit.

Whether they actually appeal the punitive damages will depend on whether they ask Kaplan to lower them. If they don’t, they can’t raise the issue on appeal. If they do and Kaplan denies their request, it isn’t likely to win in appeal. Kaplan knows the law and doesn’t want a reversal if he can help it. I could be wrong, but Kaplan probably won’t be.

The only other way out from under this judgment is to declare bankruptcy. And I think Trump would rather slit his own throat.
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Friday, January 26, 2024

Nobody Could Have Foreseen

"'I have identified certain deficiencies in the financial information that I have reviewed, including disclosures that are either incomplete, present results inconsistently, and/or contain errors,' former federal judge Barbara Jones, tasked with scrutinizing the former president's business empire, wrote in a 12-page letter," reported Adam Klasfeld. "Though she described Trump and his businesses as 'cooperative' with her investigation, Jones added that 'information required to be submitted to me pursuant to the terms of the monitorship order and review protocol has, at times, been lacking in completeness and timeliness.'" 
"Jones, who also served as a monitor in Rudy Giuliani and Michael Cohen's criminal investigations, said that the Trump Organization has 'implemented changes' under her monitorship, but it needs to shape up even more," the report continued, quoting her as saying. "Absent steps to address the items above, my observations suggest misstatements and errors may continue to occur, which could result in incorrect or inaccurate reporting of financial information to third parties."
One recalls that Judge Engoron heard enough evidence of fraud that he entered a summary judgment on it, a judgment upheld by the Appellate Division. The above description sounds like what the Judge probably found. So does this:
He claims Trump tried to tell the world he paid cash for Mar-a-Lago, his 126-room, 62,500-square-foot Palm Beach, Florida mansion and club. 
"When Donald, to give you a good example, bought Mar-a-Lago, he told everybody he paid cash for it," he said. 
Johnston noted that isn't true. 
"I have in my home the letter from Chase Bank promising to never reveal he took out a mortgage for 120% of the purchase price."
If Johnston is right, the court may not need to fight over whether or not MAL is protected by Florida’s homestead exemption. The bank might just have to foreclose on it
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This Could Be A Very Serious Chink In Trump’s Armor

The agreement would give the president the authority to completely shut down the border if crossings reach certain levels, and President Biden's statement said that he would exercise that authority immediately. The asylum process would also be sped up so that cases could be processed more quickly, which would also speed up deportations for migrants who fail to qualify.
That steals Trump’s thunder and takes away his issue. A triple-whammy because how does the House justify not giving Biden what Trump says he must have? To-may-to, to-mah-to, right? It wouldn’t take many GOP representatives voting with the Democrats to get this into law. MAGA can’t stand that, But how much clout does MAGA still have?

Trump may win the nomination; in fact, he certainly will. But will he control this Congress? There’ll be another one in 2025, most likely not a MAGA Congress. And Trump isn’t likely to be President again.

So why delay the power to close the border (it will take a law Trump doesn’t have on Day One of his second term), and the authority to speed the asylum process (Trump is never going to round up and deport anyone. And even if he could, why wait? Is this a national problem, or a personal one?)? House MAGA may want to, but the problem of the border (and Ukraine) is pressing now.

Besides, I was reading this morning that McConnell didn’t have the votes, so I’m sure there aren’t the votes in the House, either. Well, until there are.

I’m beginning to think Biden knows what he’s doing.
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Nothing Personal

Trump has taken a lot of people to court. Mostly on business matters; commercial matters. Or he’s been taken to court, for the same. He’s never faced criminal charges, or been in court against a government that doesn’t back down or get intimidated, or run out of money.

Or have a good case Trump can’t understand. It’s seldom been personal to Trump, so he thought he was invisible and bulletproof. It finally caught up with him. Now it’s personal.

Personal as to the judgment (he can’t put the company into bankruptcy and leave the suckers holding the empty bag). Personal as to his required presence in court; and subject to the rules of court. Personally subject to those rules.

Imagine Trump forced to sit quietly for four weeks of a criminal trial. Forced to sit because he can’t be excused, and because the court won’t send him out of the courtroom. Instead the court will chain him to a chair, or gag him, if necessary. But he will sit through the trial. He will play by the court’s rules; whether he wants to or not.

The tweets every night alone will be interesting. How long will he understand anything can and will be used against him in a court of law?

Not very long, is my guess.
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🔜 Alina Habba, Internet Lawyer

A limited series, coming soon 🔜 to HULU.
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Coda

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QED

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Even FoxNews Gets It

Habba is not even a lawyer. I don’t think I can begin to explain how ignorant she is. She acts like a character from a courtroom drama written a by a writer with no clue how the court system works, or even what it does. A lot like her client:
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🤪🤣🤣🤣🤣

The first count of the appeal is going to be the way the judge talked to her. She doesn’t like being spoken to like that! Reverse and render! Second count! The defendant is the former POTUS and the leading candidate for POTUS! He must be allowed to say whatever he wants to say, even when it has nothing to do with the issues in the trial!  REVERSE AND RENDER! She really is as stupid as Trump. She thinks she can try this case in the media, and win!

She won’t even figure out what color the cover on the appellate application should be.  

APPELLATE RULES ARE UNFAIR TO THE FORMER POTUS AND LEADING CANDIDATE! REVERSE AND RENDER!
(No, not a compliment.) Does she know this sidewalk rant is not a substitute for filing a motion for new trial? Is she going to explain to her client that it’s too late to appeal the May, 2023 verdict (appeal must be filed within 30 days of verdict). Or does she think that’s unfair to former Presidents who are also leading candidates? TAKE IT STRAIGHT TO THE TOP! THE SUPREME COURT MUST REVERSE AND RENDER IMMEDIATELY! EVERYTHING MUST GO TRUMP’S WAY! HE’S THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON EVER!!!
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Strategeryizing

Well, I think Donald actually has a strategy here with his doubling, tripling, quintupling down on his attacks on E. Jean Carroll," said Johnston. "I think he's hoping the jury awards far more than $10 million. Then he can go out and say see, it's further evidence the system is against you. He can say it's a New York jury, which is code for, they're not Christian and they're not white. And that will appeal to his base, but it won't broaden his support, which is what he needs." 
The key thing to understand, Johnston added, is that "Donald here doesn't expect to ever pay this, just as he doesn't believe he'll ever go to jail. Doesn't mean that in his jumbled mind he's also not terrified. He is. But I think his goal here is get an enormous award from this jury so that he can use it to stir up his base."
True, but that won’t pay the $83.3 million judgment or fund the appeals bond (I’m not sure Trump hasn’t missed his chance to appeal the first verdict). Or expand his political base even as Trump works harder and harder to shrink it. Trump wants everyone who’s not with him kicked out of the party as RINO’s. Is that, too, a “strategy”?

And he is going to pay it. If he doesn’t pay it to Carroll, he has to pay it to the Court in order to stay the judgment while he appeals. Either way, he pays.  He should talk to his old lawyer, Rudy, who filed bankruptcy after his multi-million dollar judgment for libel. That’s Trump’s future.

Not much strategizing going on there.
Probably what he has in mind.
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I Guess They Were Ready To Go Home

Will the sun come up in the morning? Has anyone explained the concept of an $83.3 million appeal bond to him?
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