We May Finally Get to Write: "Convicted Felon Donald Trump"
By: Michael Tomasky (The New Republic)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
We're finally here. This week, Donald Trump will sit in a courtroom and face criminal charges. The courtroom has not been kind to Trump this year: A Manhattan jury found the Trump Organization guilty on 17 counts of tax fraud last December, and E. Jean Carroll won that hefty judgment against Trump for sexual abuse, but these were civil proceedings. So mark this down as the week the criminal justice system finally managed to haul Trump before the bar of justice.
The only real question here is why this took so long. It's not as if it wasn't obvious in 2015 that Trump had total contempt for the law. That was easy for all to see. How has he gotten away with it for this long?
It's partly due to an utterly docile Republican Party, whose leaders know very well that Trump's a brigand but are afraid to say so. It's partly Trump's reliance on an old Roy Cohn legal strategy—delay, deny, accuse the other side of what you yourself have done, conjure up totally fictional defenses that should be laughed out of court but at least slow down the proceedings. And conservative judges have played their role, such as Aileen Cannon and the U.S. Supreme Court.
But crucially, this is also a media story—more precisely, it's the story of our two medias, the mainstream and the right-wing. The mainstream media have consistently held Trump to a lower standard of behavior than other politicians, and the right-wing media have held him to no standard of behavior, making excuses for everything.
It's so important to understand this phenomenon. We have two medias in this country. One wakes up every morning looking for a fight, and the other, with some exceptions, wakes up every morning looking for nuance and rationalizations. It's a huge part of the story of how we got here.
Take this now completely forgotten tale from the very early days of the Trump administration. On January 24—Trump's fourth day in office—then-national security adviser Mike Flynn was interviewed by the FBI about his Russia connections. On January 26 and 27, Sally Yates of the Justice Department told the White House about her department's suspicions about Flynn.
That same night of January 27—the first week of his presidency—Trump had dinner with then-FBI director James Comey. The FBI was investigating Flynn. It was also, we learned shortly thereafter, investigating Trump's 2016 campaign.
What was said at that dinner? We don't know everything, but that May, Trump admitted that he asked Comey if he, Trump, was under investigation. The mere asking of the question, as Lawrence Tribe said at the time, was a high crime and misdemeanor—an attempt to intimidate and to obstruct justice.
That should have launched a congressional investigation at the very least. But the Republicans controlled the House at the time, so that wasn't going to happen. In fact, then-Speaker Paul Ryan came out and called Comey compromised, backing Trump all the way.
And the media? Oh, it was a story all right, I wouldn't deny that it was. But while I haven't done a content analysis, I'd bet you that Bill Clinton's tarmac visit with Loretta Lynch inspired more outrage in both medias than this episode did. Naturally, I'm not defending what Clinton did. But he was an ex-president with no power over Lynch. Trump was the sitting president will all power over Comey—which he exercised that May by firing him.
This is one of dozens of examples in which Trump flagrantly violated norms and standards. It made a little stink for a moment or two, but it eventually faded away, quietly departing the front pages, blending into the blurry background of half-remembered Trumpian lies and outrages that have proven to be too numerous for the media watchdogs to actually keep track of, leaving one feeling overwhelmed.
That's why this week is different. This, finally, is a court of criminal law. There will be facts submitted for the record. There will be testimony, under oath. And eventually, in an estimated six weeks or so, there will be a verdict from a jury of Trump's peers.
That verdict might exonerate Trump. But most experts don't think it will. It seems pretty obvious that Trump ordered Michael Cohen to make that payment to Stormy Daniels for the reason the prosecution alleges—to keep the affair from becoming public before the election. So, with any luck, by Memorial Day or so, we'll be able to write the phrase that has been crying to be written for about 35 years: "Convicted felon Donald Trump."
How much will that change things, if it comes to pass? Maybe not much, immediately. The pro-Trump media will say he was railroaded, and the mainstream media will move on to the next story. Not many Americans have served on juries—about one in 10 in the last decade, according to this survey. But faith in the jury system is high. That may well be especially so in a case like this one, which until this week has been, to your disinterested observer, a partisan circus. But a jury's verdict has an authority and finality for these Americans that a Sean Hannity rant or a New York Times editorial lacks.
So perhaps 60 or 65 percent of America will agree, if Trump is convicted, that he paid off Daniels in order to help him win the election. It barely scratches the surface of Trump's crimes. And it's shameful that it took eight years to get here. But a jury's verdict is a lot harder for him to blame on the deep state and the fake news. In the America that Donald Trump hasn't yet corrupted, a courtroom still has that standing.
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That is the big hope of democrats, but the case is rotten to the core. A guilty verdict (and let us hope there is at least one honest juror) will not stand.
You have not heard the evidence nor the arguments and you have concluded that Trump is not guilty as charged?
Funny how Michael Cohen was found guilty and served jail time over this matter yet you know that Trump broke no laws?
And no, Vic, I am not claiming that I know Trump is guilty. I think the fact that Cohen was found guilty and that AMI admitted it broke campaign finance laws (and paid a hefty fine) is rather significant. It is not likely that Trump had no hand in this, so I think the chances are pretty good that the evidence will show that he is guilty.
But, we will simply have to wait for the trial.
And, as always, I care about the Jan 6th cases since those deal with Trump as PotUS rather than private citizen Trump. But given Trump has been successful thus far in delaying the important cases, I have no concerns about citizen Trump being found guilty of a felony (if true, of course) and labeled a felon.
As the great Yogi Berra once said, "It ain't over till it's over!". And it certainly is not over yet.
That is for sure.
Read the article!
If you want to rebut what I wrote then do so.
An out of the blue command / implied assertion is not a rebuttal.
My rebuttal was posted yesterday:
A Case Without Merit - Community | The NewsTalkers
I didn't see any "critical thinkers" there.
You post an entirely vague reply of "read the article" (this article) with no indication of what you find wrong with my comment (to which you replied). And then when asked to be clear you deflect to another article and imply I am not a critical thinker and that by not engaging in your referenced article that somehow you have made a point I cannot refute.
If you have a problem with my comment state it here in this article with clarity instead of playing rhetorical hide and go seek.
It's the weakest case of all and is basically a misdemeanor. No jail or prison time, and is quickly forgotten by the voters,
Even CNN Legal Analyst Incredulously Wrecks 'Weakness' of Unprecedented Criminal Case Against Trump – RedState
That is NOT how i have read it. You may wish to reinvestigate from a better source.
Basically it's 34 felonies. Definite prison time.
Fake felonies and the jury will hang!
Do they still allow that in NY ?
Only if there is one honest jury member.
I am sure the other TDS driven members will dox them; and they very well could be hung.
What makes them fake? Do tell.
It's a feeling
exactly.
A jury verdict in a Democrat Bastion of Stupidity like NY? Try again. New Yorkers have already proven their TDS with the civil suit by E Jean Carroll twice.
The only thing in question is is one New Yorker in the jury pool with any integrity left to see this case for what it is; and not allow the TDS driven mighty mental midgets that didn't recuse themselves for not being unbiased to bully them?
Says all you need to know about the potential jurists. At least those TDS sufferers that recused themselves right away can maintain some of their integrity.
Uh hu..
Ok..
Bit of a one trick pony aren't ya?
This is orwellian.
If he had not been held to a lower standard than any other politician he would have been run out of the 2016 republican primaries. The amount of ethical baggage he had at that time was staggering.
If only Trump had stayed a Democrat!
Then this would all be a bad dream and the left's goal of turning the US into a woke, dysfunctional, version of China would be much closer.
Trump was never a popular Democrat. Only a Republican can be dumb enough to succumb to Trump level “thinking”, which is why he settled on the Republican Party. When it comes to politics, wealthy private developers are only interested in the potential for expedience to advance their personal financial interests.
He was popular with the media and celebrities in NYC. In the 80's he was on a Tom Brokaw interview, 60 Minutes, David Letterman, Oprah Winfrey, Larry King, etc. He palled around with celebrities there and frequently appeared on the gossip pages. Cameos in movies and TV shows, NYC society events, hosting SNL, he was a real man about town.
The source is a hyper leftist liberal publication. Nothing like credible, fair, honest, and non biased reporting.
Cohen already went to prison for the same thing trump is on trial for, (for the most part).... But the rightists insist trump is innocent and Cohen is guilty...
LMAO They really think that way!
Another judge already called him a serial perjurer.
Cohen is Bragg's key witness.
Ironically, Trump tries to discredit Cohen by calling him a convicted felon ... convicted for his actions on the events for which Trump is now on trial.
Trump is going to prison Vic, even trump's lawyers have told him he may want to prepare to go to prison for 1 to 4 years.
If found guilty, my bet is that he will be fined and placed on some form of probation. But he will, however, be a convicted felon at that point.
Depends on whether or not he gets elected prior to getting to trial.
I wish he would at least get house arrest...
I'll leave the seeder here with one question and then I have to go.
When DNC/Hillary Clinton lied about the 2016 campaign funding of the Steele Dossier, there were no criminal charges or media calls for accountability.
What is the difference?
The D
what exactly did she lie about again Vic ?
1) CDS much?
2) Was she under oath? No. Sorry.
as she under oath? No. Sorry.
It amazing to watch people attack trump for lying waive away any criticism of their own hero for llying. The more they claim to hate trump the more they seem to act like him.
Not that Biden supporters actually care about anything other than getting trump by any means possible, but Clinton’s campaign and the dnc were fined for illegally funding the steele dossier.
yes, the Clinton/Democratic party did wind up funding the Dosier, but it was Republicans that opened it up to begin with
No, they didn’t. That’s just another fake fact the left made up and repeats endlessly,
Yes, and Trump sued Steele for slander and lost. All Steele did was to curate the information MI6, Interpol, the Mossad and the GRU had about the relationship between Trump and Putin. Facts like the fact Trump was in constant negotiations with Vlad Putin to build a Trump Tower in Moscow right up to election day in and that Trump had even offered Putin a luxury penthouse as a bribe to close...
Lol. He didn't do any of those things. A Democratic Public Relations executive fed him rumors and he embellished them.
had even offered Putin a luxury penthouse as a bribe to close...
The comedy of errors continues. The source for that rumour was Felix Sater, not Steele.
(Anti-Trump Republicans initially funded Fusion GPS’ research during the 2016 GOP primaries, but the Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee picked up the tab before Steele got involved.)
your link states exactly what i did
The Steele dossier had nothing to do with the public source research project fusion did earlier in the year for the Free Beacon. You claimed that republicans opened up the research for the steele dossier, which is false.
So the Republican funded investigation to find dirt on Trump, eventually grew into the Clinton and Democrat funded Steel Dossier, which is by technicality slightly different, by it not being called the Steele Dossier yet. nevertheless, it began as a Republican funded inquiry to find dirt on Trump. I'd say we are both correct..
Not at all. The Free beacon paid for a summary of publicly available information on trump. After that was finished, The dnc and Clinton hired Richard steele to do his own investigation using his own sources and that’s what’s in the steele dossier. It’s Steele’s work, and Steele’s work alone, in the stele dossier.
There’s no work product from the first project, in the second. If you read the steele dossier and its referenced sourcing, that’s clear. Not to mention This was all testified to during the investigation.
Are you denying there was a Republican led investigation to dig around ole Donny ? Cause that's NOT what your link stated. Also, IO don't believe the Steele Dossier has been proven non factual, only lacking evidence, that I'm fairly certain, could be Putin at the end.
The endless defense of the indefensible continues Iggy - all they got.
Actually they did.
Projection, deflection, denial. Hillary Clinton Derangement syndrome. She was correct about everything which is why the spineless scummy (the majority) republicans hate her.
You have to admit Hillary has staying power as MAGA's number one boogie man, er, she devil. This despite the fact she has not held any elected or appointed office for well over eleven years now...
Good lord.
They were laughing at the cult of the former 'president'
How anyone here can believe he will get a fair trial in this venue, is beyond me.
I realize the triggered are literally giddy with the possibilities but sorry, that dog still don’t hunt.
what would the right wing do without this 8 year old photograph ?
lol …. Hilarious!
Too bad ….Truth is never outdated or out of style. Showing liberals how silly they still look is also very topical
“I realize the triggered are literally giddy with the possibilities but sorry, that dog still don’t hunt.”
A trial before a jury of one’s peers when charges are brought is fundamental to our system of justice. Not sure what ‘that dog still don’t hunt’ is meant in your predictable ‘triggered’ argument.
Unless, of course, you’re just howling.
Yes and a key component of that fundamental is an unbiased jury. One might say THE key component.
See above and get back to me if you still haven’t made the connection.
It's the usual hive minded drone nonsense.
Lol - which venue do you think would be fair and impartial? That’s nobody’s fault but the defendant. Perhaps there’s life on a another planet that hasn’t heard him telling the universe what a worthless asshole he is.
Over 50 or the prospective jurors said they could not be impartial............SO FAR. May have trouble getting that 12 + 6 alternates. Of course, if I were to be chosen as a prospective, I'd lie too to get out of it. Too high profile and either way the verdict may go, you're gonna get some heat. May as well throw this bogus circus trial in file 13.
lol …. Now there is Lady Justice talking eh?
There are some that will lie to just get on the jury to get Trump.
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Lady Justice has no other recourse than to inform the defendant that it was he who made his bed, now he must lie in it. You don’t get to get out of trouble by contaminating the entire country with your nonstop disgusting, reprehensible, and infamous behavior.
You wish!
Felon former 'president' shitstain.
You clearly don’t understand the concept of Lady Justice.
No …. Grandpa poopy pants is still president right now
In the name of ‘Lady Justice’, would you have excused yourself from potentially being seated on this jury?
I’d answer that but you’d just disagree so it would be pointless really.
“I’d answer that but…”
Of course. [Deleted][✘]
Heaven forbid the turd follows the rules and conduct of the court and not carry on his fucking freakshow
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well that's not very patriotic is it?
Don Snoreleone...
You forgot Joe’s drool bucket
You liked that?
I will be the first to admit I don't know the law. If he used campaign money to pay her, I can see that being illegal. So did he use campaign finances? Or was it paid out of his own pocket?