The indictment has been unsealed. See https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.648653/gov.uscourts.flsd.648653.3.0.pdf
It’s not good.
And 2 of Trump’s lawyers quit today.
I think that, while a GOP landmark is a good one for identify the inflection point, folks on both sides of the aisle have done things that moved us further down the slippery slope of political dysfunction.
If we’re trying to place blame: both of the major parties are at fault, as is (perhaps) the architecture of how elections generally are held in the US.
He is toast.
They have him via the Espionage Act (one count per file) and lying to federal investigators (a recording of this).
I always knew this case would end him because the evidence was just so stacked against him.
Espionage Act is basically the one law the Rs cannot attack or else they look delusional. The more they try, the more delusional (and politically incompetent) they look to voters. So let them keep it up.
you think that matters with their core?
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Ronny Jackson has already said that the severity of the accusations proves that the evidence was planted b/c no one would possibly actually do this.
Here’s a comment on the Mitt Romney statement:
Here’s the thing.
Mitt is right. It looks like trump really did break the law.
The miscarriage of Justice here isn’t that trump is being prosecuted, it’s that trump is being prosecuted when Hillary isn’t for extremely similar offenses.
When it looks bad, just say bothsides.
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I haven’t thought about it recently, but I remember many years ago contemplating how the rise of the 24/7 news environment (and perhaps the news-flavored infotainment of Limbaugh, MSNBC, Fox News, etc.) incentivized politicians to grandstand and play to their power bases…which is rather incompatible with building constructive compromises.
Remember the circus when McCarthy was going through his ordeal to get the Speakership at the start of this Congress, when the pundits were all excited over CSPAN having the freedom to show activity in the House chamber, since normally they’re only allowed to focus on people actively speaking at their mics?
I want to say that rule dates to Gingrich. I remember that before he was Speaker, but he was making a name for himself with video of some distinctive speeches from the floor, he got frustrated that CSPAN would pan around and show that the House chamber was mostly empty. Some of his better speeches were given after hours, as he was “revising and extending” his remarks for the record. So, when he got control of the House, the rules were changed and CSPAN was constrained.
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I think the media mostly hasn’t done a good job explaining the significant distinctions between the Clinton and Trump situations. Basically you don’t get charged (at least once you reach a certain level) for mishandling classified information all by itself. You get charged if there is some other confounding factor, or suspicion of some other compounding factor. E.g., David Patraeus wasn’t charged b/c he had classified information at his house, he was charged because he shared it with his mistress to help her with her book.
Trump is being charged b/c he a) shared information on at least 2 occasions with people who do not have security clearances, and b) he obstructed efforts to retrieve the documents. He would not be charged had he returned documents when asked, much as Pence won’t be charged b/c he returned documents.
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Does anyone else find it humorous that one of Trump’s attorneys who resigned today is named Jim Trusty?
The core Rs will never care.
But the Independents will absolutely care.
I remember at the beginning of W’s second term he wanted to privatize social security.
Democrats flatly refused to even discuss it. Everyone was supposed to vote against it, period.
It worked. Efforts to privatize SS went nowhere.
I think the r’s basically took that same strategy and applied it to obama’s entire agenda.
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I think you underestimate the strength of the hold Trump has on his cult following.
Folks who were mainstream Republicans before Trump took over the party probably will move further away from Trump. But his cadre of cultists, who subscribe to his alternative reality? This indictment will only fuel their belief that they’re supporting a rebel who’s fighting a corrupt system that’s out to get them and their leader.
The question to ask now is: how much of the GOP voting strength comes from the cult?
Republicans: hold my beer
(But not Bud Light. That stuff needs to be shot with a high powered rifle)
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Why did they have to do the indictment during a writers’ strike?
Colbert, Fallon, Oliver, and other similar folks would have some epic monologues over this mess.
FWIW, from the indictment:
31 counts of “Willful Retention of National Defense Information” (max sentence 10 years, 250k)
1 count of “Conspiracy to Obstruct Justice” (max sentence 20 years, 250k)
1 count of “Withholding a Document or Record” (max sentence 20 years, 250k)
1 count of “Corruptly Concealing a Document or Record” (20 years, 250k)
1 count of “Concealing a Document in Federal Investigation” (20 years, 250k)
1 count of “Scheme to Conceal” (5 years, 250k)
1 count of “False Statements and Representations” (5 years, 250k)
As I skimmed through the indictment, I couldn’t help but wonder if being a narcissistic idiot might actually be a plausible defense…but IANAL.
Yeah…the 31 counts is essentially 31 documents.
He is definitely going to jail.
The only remaining question is for how long.
Yeah. This is a very Trumpian clusterfuck.
I always forget who we are dealing with until the details come out.
Did you mean Clinton (oh Hillary) - got it. She was wrong - not criminal
Then there was Biden & Pence, who were neglectful, and truthful, certainly not criminal