Exculpatory in the sense that it is evidence that may lead to dismissal or acquittal on the charges. That's my understanding of the word, but I could be wrong. I agree that it's not evidence directly related to the Comey testimony that appears to be referred to in the Indictment.
I didn't follow the Trump fraud trial much, but I believe Trump and sons raised AG James' statements that you referred to as part of their defense. I assume it was something about vindictive prosecution. I'm not sure how successful it was.
I know Trump raised "selective prosecution" as a defense in his hooker trial, but it had nothing to do with AG James's comments. I don't think he came up with any evidence for that defense and it was dismissed.
I don't know how successful Comey will be arguing vindictive prosecution, but Trump's errant and urgent message to his AG DOJ prosecutor will certainly help. We shall see.
I'm not sure they are a fact of life in our political climate. If you are referring to the criminal and civil cases against Trump in the last few years, I disagree that those were not valid cases. The bathroom case would have been a slam dunk felony conviction. Trump lied to authorities on several occasions about possessing Top Secret classified documents, it is highly unlikely he was allowed to possess them at all, he stored them in an unsecured bathroom which is illegal, he tried to conspire with his lawyers to deny that he had the documents, he had one of his lawyers sign a false affidavit about the documents, and he tried to destroy evidence that he was hiding the documents from the FBI in his bathroom. A prosecutor would have no choice but to file charges on that. They can't turn a blind eye just because the suspect is a national political leader. It would be impossible not to file charges. There's no politics involved in Trump's bathroom case at all.
Trump's Fake Electors case was much more complicated, but it had to be investigated. You can't have a riot in the nation's Capitol building and not investigate who, what, how and why. Once investigators had evidence that Trump signed off on the fake electors scheme, they'd have to bring charges. How do you not bring charges for fraudulent documents submitted to rig a national election? Seems impossible to me. That case was political in the sense that all the underlying facts were about a political election, but the documentary evidence of corrupt conspiracy to rig an election was certainly there.
If you're referring to other cases, let me know. I'm not aware of any of what I would call political prosecutions that have been going on. Maybe some of the charges against Derrick Chauvin were. Difficult to say. I'm not even sure the charges against Comey are primarily political, although so far it looks like they are. The Indictment is ridiculous and deficient, and we know Trump and Bonda had a difficult time even finding an attorney to sign off on it. But all that could change. We shall see.
In my experience, the media's legal commentators do a horrible job of reporting on cases and legal events. They get things confused, they get terms wrong, they emphasize trivial things and seem oblivious to important things. So I don't know what they were saying about selective prosecution, but I wouldn't doubt they got it wrong. My understanding of selective prosecution is that it obviously requires a lot more than just a prosecutor deciding to go forward. And I think it's different than vindictive prosecution, which is probably what they were trying to talk about, but got the terms wrong.
Thank you so much for the detailed and thoughtful reply. I agree with way too much of what you wrote to raise any objections.
I'd like to switch gears, because I see a larger problem...
When Jospeph R Biden was President, every day in America passed with its citizens assured that we would not read a bizarre, unhinged rant at that President's political opponents. Biden did have bad things to say Trump and his ilk, but he usually managed to say them in a way that was befitting of the President of the United States.
Trump absolutely deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. He did something amazing, practically impossible, even. He's not going to get it (It's going to Alexei Navalny's widow...and that is with Trump somehow being the favorite in several betting markets).
Why is it so hard to say something nice about a leader when we do not like him? Biden's approval ratings were very much in the Trumpy range. They were lower than Trump's at the end of his Presidency. Two obvious answers are that Trump has an obnoxious personality and worse (like way worse).
On some level, that doesn't make sense. You can take almost any great leader and see that they are human and had massive flaws in their character which translates to massive flaws in their personal conduct.
I don't think our current political climate explains this phenomenon. I think it's our collective inability to get over ourselves.
And I could be wrong. Trump could win that prize. I hope he does. Because I would love to see what happens next.
One reason it is hard to give Trump credit for a Peace deal with Israel and Gaza is because of his blatant self dealing that he isn't even hiding. Kushner has plans ready to go for the Trump family to make billions with a Gaza Riviera. And you will have to forgive people if they don't believe that Trump as the Chairman of the board for such a plan will make sure that Gaza citizens are taken care of. His pattern of life shows otherwise.
So if Trump is able to make a temporary cease fire stick, he is doing good. But we are nowhere near knowing that. But you can't turn a blind eye to the self dealing corruption.
It's hilarious isn't it? Mueller could have easily indicted Trump for obstruction of Justice. He said so. But we have a 30 year old DOJ "Memo" that says it isn't cool to indict a president because it might be hard for him to do his job.
Do any other countries have a "memo" guiding whether or not their leader can crime in office and not be held accountable?
"The memo" is a reminder of the quaint old days when something infuriating and perplexing like that seemed as if it might be one of the worst things about our legal system. Unfortunately, of course, it's been eclipsed over and over again by so many worse things.
In other words: DoJ memo <<< SCOTUS likes Kings, POTUS can unilaterally dismantle the federal government, POTUS can openly go after any organization or person in the country, POTUS can murder possible fishermen, etc., etc., etc.
Sorry, I left out one of, if not THE, most important ones: DoJ memo <<< POTUS trying to steal an election.
It is frankly bizarre that people are arguing that Trump NEEDS the Nobel Peace price. And when I say people, I mean Maga americans because nobody else on the planet believes he does. He has nobody internationally saying so.
In normal times, a president that has publicly displayed such a pathetic desperation to get the prize would have in itself caused normal people to cringe with disgust. This guy has tried to extort multiple global leaders to nominate him. He has a cabinet that are all traveling the globe pathetically lobbying for the same.
But the fact that he can get normal citizens to buy into his own shallow narcissist need for approval is frankly amazing.
IN normal times the horse comes before the cart. The noble Peace prize comes AFTER the world recognizes the Peaceful accomplishments. We are not in normal times in America.
It is frankly bizarre that people are arguing that Trump NEEDS the Nobel Peace price. And when I say people, I mean Maga americans because nobody else on the planet believes he does. He has nobody internationally saying so.
In normal times, a president that has publicly displayed such a pathetic desperation to get the prize would have in itself caused normal people to cringe with disgust. This guy has tried to extort multiple global leaders to nominate him. He has a cabinet that are all traveling the globe pathetically lobbying for the same.
But the fact that he can get normal citizens to buy into his own shallow narcissist need for approval is frankly amazing.
IN normal times the horse comes before the cart. The noble Peace prize comes AFTER the world recognizes the Peaceful accomplishments. We are not in normal times in America.
Oh, and the world has another question: "Your president is ON TAPE very explicitly asking for over 11,000 votes, and he was never charged with anything, much less punished, much less prevented from running for office again?"
Wow. Just saw that Katie Porter interview. Yowsa. She needs to drop out.
What is it with this arrogant, entitled viewpoint of our elected officials? Even though she is a Democrat, is she got elected she would be a narcissist head case just like Trump. Is it a contagious disease that is spreading?
US have forgotten how to govern properly. A president or mayor should not be in the media every singel week. In the capital of Norway our former mayor was less in media than almost half the city Council. Similarly the leader of one of the political parties gives away about half of her salary so she won't have more than regular folks.
In a democracy the politics matter- not the leaders.
Wow. Just saw that Katie Porter interview. Yowsa. She needs to drop out.
What is it with this arrogant, entitled viewpoint of our elected officials? Even though she is a Democrat, is she got elected she would be a narcissist head case just like Trump. Is it a contagious disease that is spreading?
Newsom’s tweets just look dumb. And there’s a reason why Desantis failed so bigly in the primaries as well. You can’t imitate Trump - he’s truly one of a kind. Anyone who tries will look bad
Wow. Just saw that Katie Porter interview. Yowsa. She needs to drop out.
What is it with this arrogant, entitled viewpoint of our elected officials? Even though she is a Democrat, is she got elected she would be a narcissist head case just like Trump. Is it a contagious disease that is spreading?
Newsom’s tweets just look dumb. And there’s a reason why Desantis failed so bigly in the primaries as well. You can’t imitate Trump - he’s truly one of a kind. Anyone who tries will look bad
Agree. Trumpism doesn’t scale.
But Newsome isn’t imitating Trump. He is ridiculing Trump. And it brings a sense of astonishment at how insane Trump is when he does it. It’s effective.
Humor works. that’s why Trump has had a hard on for SNL and late night comedians for a decade.
Wow. Just saw that Katie Porter interview. Yowsa. She needs to drop out.
What is it with this arrogant, entitled viewpoint of our elected officials? Even though she is a Democrat, is she got elected she would be a narcissist head case just like Trump. Is it a contagious disease that is spreading?
Newsom’s tweets just look dumb. And there’s a reason why Desantis failed so bigly in the primaries as well. You can’t imitate Trump - he’s truly one of a kind. Anyone who tries will look bad
Correct. DeSantis made the worst political blunder in History. A great governor and MAGA had his back. You do not go against MAGA. That is Trumps vote until he deems it a career.
.@POTUS on forming a coalition with the same Arab nations that were reluctant for decades to be part of a solution for peace in Gaza: "I develop relationships with people — and sometimes those relationships lead to great things..." pic.twitter.com/8Knbg6Pv2F
Newsom’s tweets just look dumb. And there’s a reason why Desantis failed so bigly in the primaries as well. You can’t imitate Trump - he’s truly one of a kind. Anyone who tries will look bad
Correct. DeSantis made the worst political blunder in History. A great governor and MAGA had his back. You do not go against MAGA. That is Trumps vote until he deems it a career.
trump goes against maga every day he orders Speaker Johnson not to release the Epstein files.
Correct. DeSantis made the worst political blunder in History. A great governor and MAGA had his back. You do not go against MAGA. That is Trumps vote until he deems it a career.
trump goes against maga every day he orders Speaker Johnson not to release the Epstein files.
Seems to be ok to go against maga.
Trump has been the main person ordering the release of the Epstein files. He wants them released but can only do so much.
