The Omnibus P01135809 Criminal Investigation Thread

HUNTER FILES: PART XVI
Hunter once ate at a Chinese restaurant.

There's also the option of writing a memo that includes information that, while not incriminating, they aren't allowed to release, then screaming "RELEASE THE MEMO!" at the top of their lungs for several months.

"Democrats to forcibly release them for not other apparent reason than spite."

A. Put a spotlight on the IRS (and as part of a pattern with other executive agencies) failing in their duties out of deference to the would-be king.

B. Put pressure on DOJ and other instruments of justice (state AGS, local DAs etc) to bring charges where crimes were committed

C. most importantly, to undermine the typical legal-political-powerful cadre who have luxuriated in elite impunity since at least the pardon of Nixon. To do nothing, to not even drag it out into the daylight, reinforces the generations long message that if you're rich enough or powerful enough, the rules don't apply to you.

As for Hunter, he has never held nor sought any office up public trust - if the GOP does that, and they might, they are simply being the disingenuous assholes they have been for at least 30 years. That said, they are entitled (by law) for their investigation to request and receive them as they are anyone else's and if they find crimes have been committed, then refer them to DOJ. This whole "payback is a bitch" thing only matters if your target has not, in fact, committed a crime.

They tried. Republicans blocked it.

Oh, they absolutely will.

But we have to stop with all the "Oh, we can't possibly do this, because then the Republicans will too!" handwringing. The Republican Party is no longer anything other than a cadre of craven, power-hungry, corrupt assholes with no ethical compass whatsoever, and they need no excuse to do whatever the fuck they want to, whether a precedent has been established or not.

Trump’s renewed attack on Ruby Freeman is revealing. Here's why.
His revival of baseless claims against the former Georgia election worker could signal legal news — and might hurt his wallet, too.

Trump’s spiritual advisor accused of stealing money from Journey. Yes. The band.

https://nypost.com/2023/01/05/journ...r-of-improperly-accessing-bands-bank-account/

There are some eye-opening provisions in the text of the GOP’s proposed “select subcommittee on the weaponization of the federal government” that will get a vote next week.

One explicitly authorizes the review of “ongoing criminal investigations.”

https://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20230109/BILLS-118HResPIH-Fed-Gov-comv2.pdf



https://twitter.com/kyledcheney/status/1611710390546882560

Full article here:

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/01/07/gop-panel-criminal-investigations-00076890

Why comply?

These are all points I hadn't considered, you've changed my mind on this. Thank you.

as I understand there's solid precedent and policy for DOJ to tell them to pound sand.

Not sure what Garland will do though.

The specifics of this will probably be only of interest to folks who are into trivia-type stuff but it turns out that there's a "one weird trick" involving grand juries and Georgia that Trump is almost sure to try to gum up the works. The short explanation is as follows: There's a minor Constitutional issue related to special grand juries (which is what Georgia has been using in regards to Trump trying to get them to find votes) that has never been adjudicated.

What this means is that the report that the special grand jury wants to make public is in a bit of a legal grey area. Not for any reason other than there's a question of how one is supposed to dot the i's and cross the t's when it comes to such things. So, assuming that Trump sues to stop the release (he almost certainly will as it's a judge involved in the case who pointed this out in court the other day) because no one's legally certain as to how those i's should be dotted and t's crossed we'll wind up with a series of hearings (almost certainly going to SCOTUS) of people arguing about this. Now, even if SCOTUS rules in Trump's favor, all it will mean is that the way the report gets released has to change. Not the content of the report, just the exact mechanism of how it becomes public according to the law.

If you want the details on all of this, then this podcast episode has them for you.

It is really sad that the stupidest and cruelest of us want to rule while the wisest and most caring are prone to avoid it due to worrying about their mistakes.

So, Trump Org was fined $1.6M for the tax evasion stuff, which is pocket change (an apartment in Trump Tower goes for more, because Russians don't launder less than $2M) but the maximum the law allows. Because corporations are not people, unless it comes to lobbying.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ap-us-apnewsalert_n_63c1717fe4b0d6724fcd481d

Penny Arcade said it best:

Trump was deposed in the Jean Carroll lawsuit. Under oath he said:

1) It never happened
2) She's a nutjob
3) He'll sue her and he'll sue her lawyer for bringing the suit
4) She said she enjoyed it
5) She said it was sexy being raped.

We know this because the judge released the transcripts.

https://apnews.com/article/politics...ork-lawsuits-fcc5f482a1eb99609376078422665bc8

Jesus fucking christ.

@Paladin is, checking my notes, overjoyed.

Well, i cant wait to see more of him confessing in the courtroom...

Trump claims that the folders with classified markings on them were empty when he took them from the White House.

https://twitter.com/kyledcheney/status/1615705410375225346?s=46&t=JuCY6-XFU0_xCvhgwCpwLg

Michael Cohen spent a couple of hours this week talking to the Manhattan DA’s office. All he’ll say is that it was related to the Stormy Daniels investigation.

More likely a sign of dementia, but this doesn't play well for Trump regarding his claim that he didn't rape E. Jean Carroll because "she's not my type" - he apparently mistook a photo of her for his former wife...

I note he also refers to Marla as his wife, not former/ex-wife...

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/en...k-photo-deposition_n_63c8fa30e4b01a4363849bf0

Eroll Flynn raped a woman, and got off on the "I can get hotter chicks than her" defense.
'Murca!

Nah. He’s pulling a Gotti. He knows he’s fucked, so he’s going to act senile in hopes that this keeps him out of jail. Gotti, the original “Teflon Don,” did shit like that when he realized that the Feds had his nuts in a vise. Didn’t keep him out of jail, but it did delay things a bit. Gotti and Trump did know one another.

Yeah... I don't see him keeping that act up too long, especially if he's serious about another POTUS run. He's got to keep up his image among the MAGAts of being the tough negotiator, and dribbling senility doesn't play well with that image.

If he tries the senile act in court, I'd bet dollars to donuts he's then caught on tape bragging about pulling the wool over their eyes to his adoring crowds and ending up on perjury charges.

He's serious about staying out of jail. That's about it. People who've known him for years have said he'd frame Ivanka if it kept him out of prison.

The judge has tossed Trump's lawsuit against Hillary and others over the 2016 election as frivolous and ordered him and his lawyer (so, hope she's got deep pockets) to cough up $800K in fines.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-64347994

Stiffing small time contractors is one thing, stiffing a federal judge is quite another. Time to buy some more popcorn futures!

It also caused Trump to retract another lawsuit against Hillary before the same judge.

Guess he didn't want to be on the hook for another $1 million.

The judge noted that sanctions are supposed to be high enough to get the message across, but not so high that they can't be paid and the judge said that in order to forego an invasive search of their finances, the figure was arrived at as one that the defendants (Trump and his "lawyer") could afford. So if they try to get out of paying they'll have to prove they're too poor to pay. I'll just leave that one right there.

Trump Boast About 'Cool Keepsake' Classified Folders Is 'Evidence From Heaven': Lawyer
“Everything he posts" can be used against him in a case, according to former Army prosecutor Glenn Kirschner.

https://twitter.com/muellershewrote/status/1617890414085943296?s=46&t=mgGB2R8xWX9CwuK_nnacsg