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Analysis: Trump is just days from his first criminal trial after latest legal gambit fails | CNN Politics
www.cnn.com Analysis: Trump is just days from his first criminal trial after latest legal gambit fails | CNN Politics

Donald Trump is close to running out of time in his last-ditch bid to stave off the historic stigma of being the first former president to go on criminal trial next week.

Analysis: Trump is just days from his first criminal trial after latest legal gambit fails | CNN Politics
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Trump’s $175 Million Bond Is Even Shadier Than It Looks
www.thedailybeast.com Trump’s $175 Million Bond Is Even Shadier Than It Looks

New information shows that the insurance company that swooped in and bailed out Trump with a $175 million bond isn’t on a list of vetted companies—and wrote a bizarre contract.

Trump’s $175 Million Bond Is Even Shadier Than It Looks
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Panic mode sets in for Trump as he faces deadline for massive bond | CNN Politics
www.cnn.com Panic mode sets in for Trump as he faces deadline for massive bond | CNN Politics

Former President Donald Trump is in panic mode as the deadline approaches to secure a half-billion-dollar bond to appeal his civil fraud case in New York, according to multiple sources familiar with his thinking.

Panic mode sets in for Trump as he faces deadline for massive bond | CNN Politics
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Donald Trump will not win a war against the Swifties
www.businessinsider.com Donald Trump will not win a war against the Swifties

Swift's US adult fan base is larger than the 2020 presidential vote, is unafraid to "go low," and has a long history of sending death threats.

Donald Trump will not win a war against the Swifties
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Trump's Secret Plan to Expand Presidential Immunity To 'King George' Levels
www.rollingstone.com Trump's Secret Plan to Expand Presidential Immunity To 'King George' Levels

Trump and his allies are planning to expand presidential immunity to ‘King George’ levels if he beats Joe Biden in the 2024 election.

Trump's Secret Plan to Expand Presidential Immunity To 'King George' Levels
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Last Week Was Bad for Trump. This Week Could Be Four, Five Times Worse.
  • Think $83.3 million is a lot of money? Well, hold onto your hat, buster, because this week, New York Judge Arthur Engoron is supposed to announce the penalty he’s slapping on Donald J. Trump in the Trump Organization fraud case.

    The case, brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James in 2022, accuses Trump of lying to bankers and insurers about the value of his properties. Last September, Engoron declared in a summary judgment that the evidence clearly said Trump had done so. He wrote in his ruling: “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. That is a fantasy world, not the real world.”

    Last month, Engoron said he was aiming to announce the fine amount by January 31. That’s Wednesday. James is seeking $370 million.

    Last week’s damage award in the E. Jean Carroll case was staggering. We had a little office pool going (well, just three of us, and we didn’t actually bet money). I came in highest at $40 million, so under traditional Price Is Right rules, I was the closest, but nevertheless light-years off. That rigged, deep state jury took all of three hours to award Carroll more than three times what lawyer Roberta Kaplan was asking.

    Is there a precedent there for a larger reward than was even being sought? Signs are promising. Engoron, you’ll recall, showed little patience for Trump’s courtroom antics. Earlier this month, he nixed Trump’s attempt to make a closing argument. “Not having heard from you by the third extended deadline (noon today), I assume that Mr. Trump will not agree to the reasonable, lawful limits I have imposed as a precondition to giving a closing statement above and beyond those given by his attorneys, and that, therefore, he will not be speaking in court tomorrow,” the judge wrote. Trump nevertheless managed to blurt out a few sentences of petulant nonsense. “Please control your client,” Engoron advised his counsel.

    Bad? Yep. But the knife took another twist into Trump’s flesh last Friday, the same day the Carroll jury threw all that buckshot in Trump’s face. Barbara Jones was appointed last fall by Engoron to monitor some of the Trump Organization’s transactions. On Friday, Jones wrote Engoron a 12-page letter saying in part: “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.” So—what’s your bet? Maybe $400 million? What about $500? Who knows?

    The money isn’t even the main factor in play, especially considering that Trump probably doesn’t have it and wouldn’t pay it even if he did. No—the nuclear bomb here, the real psychological waterboarding of Donald John Trump, will come if Engoron strips him and his company of the ability to do business in New York state. This option is on the table because Trump was prosecuted under a 1956 law that allows courts the ability to issue a “permanent and plenary ban” on a company if the behavior is egregious enough to warrant it.

    Sounds heavy, right? No question it would be a crushing blow to Trump’s ego. But guess what? Trump is such an accomplished conman that this isn’t even the first the time the law has been used to prosecute him. Trump University set that precedent. One of Trump’s lawyers whined last week that the law was overbroad and unfair: “This is not just about President Trump. Every major bank CEO and every Wall Street participant should speak out now before the Attorney General’s shocking and tyrannical interference in the capital markets places all New York business transactions at risk.”

    Quick…does that statement remind you of anything? It should. To me it sounds an awful lot like Trump’s own blubbering about presidential immunity—that all presidents need blanket immunity because someone is bound to sue them after they leave office over something they did.

    Well—no: Somehow or another, we’ve had 46 presidents, and only one of them has faced this kind of legal scrutiny after he left office. That’s because only one president, so far as we know, spent his entire adult life in and out of office flagrantly ignoring the law (one other kind of did, but he resigned and retreated to a mostly quiet life of writing books, and society decided to leave him more or less alone).

    So no, presidents don’t need blanket immunity. Trump keeps inventing examples—maybe an ex-president will be sued for having bombed some country. I guess any jerk can file any kind of nuisance lawsuit, but all Congress has to do is pass a law (if indeed one is not already on the books) protecting ex-presidents from legal action arising from policy-making decisions. Ex-presidents—and major bank CEOs and Wall Street “participants”—who obey the law don’t need blanket immunity!

    And speaking of immunity: Where’s the ruling on that? The U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit heard arguments on January 9, and a lot of people are wondering what’s taking so long. This was the hearing where one of the judges, Florence Pan, noted that under Trump’s theory, a president could order Seal Team 6 to kill a political opponent and face no consequences. It’s widely expected that the court will rule against Trump, and he will appeal.

    What a way to start a year! Maybe about a half-a-billion dollars in fines, and a court ruling that is expected to torch his ridiculous immunity theory and allow other prosecutions to proceed. Speaking of which, Jack Smith is looming right around the corner. All while Trump is going to be crowned the Republican nominee. You have to believe that at least some normie Americans are going to see that something’s wrong with this picture.

  • Nikki Haley Is Going to Lay into Trump, and It Will Be Great to Watch
    newrepublic.com Nikki Haley Is Going to Lay into Trump, and It Will Be Great to Watch

    When Biden attacks Trump, it’s dog bites man. But when Haley hits him, it’s news. And she can remind voters of all the bad things about Trump they’ve forgotten.

    Nikki Haley Is Going to Lay into Trump, and It Will Be Great to Watch
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    Letter: Trump seems more like the false prophet in the Bible than the “Anointed One”
    www.sltrib.com Letter: Trump seems more like the false prophet in the Bible than the “Anointed One”

    I was trying to figure out if I had this “Trump derangement syndrome” that I read about in an article recently. I read somewhere that it is more his character than policies that are the problem. Being a Democrat, I do not agree with all the Republican policies, but that doesn’t mean I hate all Repub...

    Letter: Trump seems more like the false prophet in the Bible than the “Anointed One”
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    Donald Trump slurring words at rally raises questions
    www.newsweek.com Donald Trump slurring words at rally raises questions

    An account run by Joe Biden's re-election campaign shared a video adding: ""Trump slurs his words while ranting."

    Donald Trump slurring words at rally raises questions
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    Donald Trump mocked after Nikki Haley gaffe: "Losing his mind"
    www.newsweek.com Donald Trump mocked after Nikki Haley gaffe: "Losing his mind"

    Trump appeared to confuse Nikki Haley with former Speaker Nancy Pelosi during a New Hampshire rally on Friday night.

    Donald Trump mocked after Nikki Haley gaffe: "Losing his mind"
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    15 G.O.P. Governors Shut Out Food Aid for 8 Million Children
    www.nytimes.com 15 G.O.P. Governors Shut Out Food Aid for 8 Million Children

    Congress approved a Biden administration initiative to feed poor children during the summer. But 15 states led by Republican governors opted out.

    15 G.O.P. Governors Shut Out Food Aid for 8 Million Children
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    Judge in Trump’s Civil Fraud Trial Faces Bomb Threat at His Home
    www.nytimes.com Judge in Trump’s Civil Fraud Trial Faces Bomb Threat at His Home

    Authorities came to the home of Justice Arthur F. Engoron on the day he was set to hear closing arguments in New York’s suit against Donald Trump. The former president had attacked him on social media.

    Judge in Trump’s Civil Fraud Trial Faces Bomb Threat at His Home
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