UPDATED: Dementia-addled fascist and serial rapist also wants US to invade and liberate Canada:
Trump told his supporters that if they want to fight for democracy abroad, “they should start with the democracy that is under threat right next door, a place called Canada.” https://t.co/ptKV1uLUzB
You could say Lauren Boebert is as dumb as a box of rocks, but unlike Boebert, rocks can be useful . . . and do not deserve to be insulted. (Last September, she demanded that President Biden be impeached. In her official statement to the press, she included a graphic that read: IMEACH BIDEN.
Boebert, a QAnon believer and Taliban-supporter who makes the news only for saying something moronic or racist, is merely the most recent far-right extremist to talk this month about invading Canada. A few months before taking office, Boebert claims to have received her high school GED, but has provided no evidence she actually received it. An acquaintance of Boebert claims after Boebert failed the exam twice, someone took the text for her and passed. (She also has a lengthy rap sheet, as does her husband, including an arrest for exposing himself to minors.)
On February 11, Fox's Jesse Watters and Greg Gutfeld agreed that the US should invade Canada.
Watters: We have to liberate the truckers from Canada. I say we do a full-blown invasion into Canada, make Canada part of the United States. I think everybody would agree that's the right move?
Gutfeld: You know what, I like the sound of that, and I like the look of that map. You know, when Justin Trudeau said everything is on the table, didn't he just suggest a willingness to go to war? Because they are saying that Americans are involved, so did he just basically say let's go, America?
Four days later, on February 15, Watters again said he wanted to "liberate" Canada from its "dictatorship".
We have to finish the wall and build a fresh one in the north if this keeps up. Or we could just liberate the Canadians from their dictatorship. . . . There's room for a few more stars on the flag.
On February 18, Candace Owens, another anti-democracy extremist, pushed this month for the US to invade Canada in support of Ottawa's anti-vaccine convoy.
STOP talking about Russia. Send American troops to Canada to deal with the tyrannical reign of Justin Trudeau Castro.
He has fundamentally declared himself dictator and is waging war on innocent Canadian protesters and those who have supported them financially.
Tucker Carlson, another Fox talking (empty) head, has called Canadian Prime Minister a "Stalinist dictator" who "suspended democracy and declared Canada a dictatorship".
Of course, Fox's own lawyers have arguedsuccessfullyincourt that no reasonable viewer could believe anything Carlson says. (Good thing all his viewers are highly unreasonable. Last week, Carlson did a full 180 – on consecutive nights! – about who was to blame for Russia's invasion of Ukraine. I wonder if any of his loyal listeners even noticed.)
In November 2020, as Fox's Sean Hannity discussed a petition for a recount of election votes in Wisconsin, an on-screen map identified the upper peninsula of Michigan as part of Canada.
Seen on Twitter today: "Lauren Boebert couldn't find Canada on a map of Canada."
As manypeople, farmorelearnedthanI, have pointed out, Russia in effect invaded the United States on January 20, 2017, and occupied the country for four years.
Vladimir Putin personally authorised a secret spy agency operation to support a "mentally unstable" Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential election during a closed session of Russia's national security council, according to what are assessed to be leaked Kremlin documents.
The key meeting took place on 22 January 2016, the papers suggest, with the Russian president, his spy chiefs and senior ministers all present.
They agreed a Trump White House would help secure Moscow's strategic objectives, among them "social turmoil" in the US and a weakening of the American president's negotiating position.
Russia's three spy agencies were ordered to find practical ways to support Trump, in a decree appearing to bear Putin's signature. . . .
A report prepared by Putin's expert department recommended Moscow use "all possible force" to ensure a Trump victory.
Western intelligence agencies are understood to have been aware of the documents for some months and to have carefully examined them. The papers, seen by the Guardian, seem to represent a serious and highly unusual leak from within the Kremlin.
The Guardian has shown the documents to independent experts who say they appear to be genuine. Incidental details come across as accurate. The overall tone and thrust is said to be consistent with Kremlin security thinking. . . .
The report – "No 32-04 \ vd" – is classified as secret. It says Trump is the "most promising candidate" from the Kremlin's point of view. The word in Russian is perspektivny.
There is a brief psychological assessment of Trump, who is described as an "impulsive, mentally unstable and unbalanced individual who suffers from an inferiority complex".
There is also apparent confirmation that the Kremlin possesses kompromat, or potentially compromising material, on the future president, collected – the document says – from Trump's earlier "non-official visits to Russian Federation territory".
The paper refers to "certain events" that happened during Trump's trips to Moscow. Security council members are invited to find details in appendix five, at paragraph five, the document states. It is unclear what the appendix contains.
"It is acutely necessary to use all possible force to facilitate his [Trump's] election to the post of US president," the paper says.
2016 Russian psych eval of Trump: “impulsive, mentally unstable and unbalanced individual who suffers from an inferiority complex”who would secure Moscow’s strategic objectives of “social turmoil” in the US and weaken its international leverage. https://t.co/puEWU1I1Ef
We all kind of knew Trump was working for Putin, but the picture is really starting to come into focus. All of the steps systematically weakening Ukraine leading up to this moment. Trump is a compromised Russian agent and should be treated accordingly.https://t.co/918IhvaVFU
It's time to admit the obvious: Donald Trump sure is acting like a Russian agent Trump's remarks praising Putin's military aggression against Ukraine should be the last straw for anyone inexplicably holding out hope he's not driven in part by Russian interests. pic.twitter.com/Ylr9xHilAm
I know, I know, I know. But this is the absolute diametrical opposite of the truth. If the media allows this narrative to take hold, they will have learned nothing from the entire Trump era. pic.twitter.com/24FTSnRb7w
Donald Trump was cultivated as a Russian asset over 40 years and proved so willing to parrot anti-western propaganda that there were celebrations in Moscow, a former KGB spy has told the Guardian.
Yuri Shvets, posted to Washington by the Soviet Union in the 1980s, compares the former US president to "the Cambridge five", the British spy ring that passed secrets to Moscow during the second world war and early cold war. . . .
[Shvets:] "For the KGB, it was a charm offensive. . . . The feeling was that he was extremely vulnerable intellectually, and psychologically, and he was prone to flattery. . . . This is what they exploited. They played the game as if they were immensely impressed by his personality and believed this is the guy who should be the president of the United States one day" . . .
[Craig] Unger's book [American Kompromat: How The KGB Cultivated Donald Trump, And Related Tales Of Sex, Greed, Power, And Treachery] is based on interviews with numerous sources, including Soviet defectors and ex-CIA agents. In it he makes the assertion that Trump's relationship to Russia as president — one in which he appeared repeatedly averse to criticize Moscow and often took actions seen as desirable to leader Vladimir Putin– was directly tied to his cultivation by Russia over long years.
The book says Russian officials repeatedly helped Trump get through dire financial straits over the years, providing him with laundered money to support his businesses.
A number of commentators and critics have labeled President Trump an Agent of the Russian Federation. It is often not clear if they mean that he is unwittingly adopting Russian propaganda, knowingly doing the bidding of the Kremlin or is an out-and-out controlled secret asset of the Russian intelligence services. All are sordid. Some are merely repulsive while others are illegal and even treasonous (in the common though not legal understanding of that term). Even former FBI acting Director Andrew McCabe answered, "I think it's possible" when asked if President Trump might be an asset of Russian intelligence.
I think it is entirely plausible that Mr. Trump is somehow compromised by his personal and financial dealings with Russia and Russians, but I do not think he is an "agent" in the sense that intelligence professionals use the term. Let me explain. . . .
By April 19, 2019,The New York Times had documented that "Donald J. Trump and 18 of his associates had at least 140 contacts with Russian nationals and WikiLeaks, or their intermediaries, during the 2016 campaign and presidential transition."[15]
The Moscow Project — an initiative of the Center for American Progress Action Fund — had, by June 3, 2019, documented "272 contacts between Trump's team and Russia-linked operatives . . . including at least 38 meetings. . . . None of these contacts were ever reported to the proper authorities. Instead, the Trump team tried to cover up every single one of them."[16] . . .
Between 2013 and 2015, Trump stated "I do have a relationship with" Putin, "I met him once", and "I spoke indirectly and directly with President Putin, who could not have been nicer." From 2016, during his election campaign, his stance changed. During a press conference in July 2016, he claimed, "I never met Putin, I don't know who Putin is . . . Never spoken to him", and in a July interview said, "I have no relationship with him."[22]
BREAKING: Marjorie Taylor Greene announced as surprise speaker at white nationalist Nick Fuentes' America First Political Action Conference tonight in Orlando, FL. MTG has now joined Paul Gosar in embracing Fuentes. Fuentes claims alt-right troll Milo Yiannopoulos made it happen pic.twitter.com/PoqNp8UcAp
Shortly before bringing up MTG, the camera showed a sizeable and raucous crowd. Fuentes praised "our secret sauce...young white men." Fuentes then solicited a round of applause for Russia in its invasion of Ukraine, and the groyper crowd chanted "Putin, Putin." pic.twitter.com/I8BGH1TYGm
A speaker at the white nationalist event where Marjorie Taylor Greene just appeared opened his remarks by calling @CPAC "QueerPac" and "FudgePac." The previous speaker made homophobic comments as well
“You know, they say about America…diversity is our strength…and I look at China and I look at Russia. Can we give a round of applause for Russia?” – Trump-supporting Republican Nick Fuentes at AFPAC conference with @RepMTG
Longtime white nationalist leader Vince James lauding the "historic American nation" and the "founding stock" of the country-- common white nationalist buzzwords for white people. The groyper chat room erupts with cheers of "White Lives Matter". MTG and Gosar are in the audience pic.twitter.com/QkBwhcpUuc
A moment later in his speech Vince James again laid out the central tenet of White nationalism- "they want to replace you...Western white culture is the majority culture, to which even non-whites assimilate into today- and they're better off for it" pic.twitter.com/vuYerGcT6y
Andrew Torba, CEO of hard-right alt-tech platform Gab (where the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter made his final post), again attacks Israel from the Right, & the groyper chat applauds the antisemitism. Later he celebrates Jesus for "rebuking the synagogue of Satan" pic.twitter.com/YiANkz8bkI
Hard-right video streamer Jesse Lee Peterson- "the civil rights movement was the worst thing to ever happen to black people" pic.twitter.com/dXDcntcc9T
Peterson is apparently a minister who has "thanked God for slavery", and has associated for decades with white nationalists and reactionary black nationalists like Louis Farrakhan https://t.co/aLUHa4Nk23
Excellent. This is what these people deserve. Every bit of it. She was the keynote speaker at a Nazi rally last night. Today she is the darling of CPAC. Make her and everyone there own it. Speaking appearances have consequences. https://t.co/o9sdHzlGCj
Marge Greene now claims that when she went as the headline speaker to the Nazi rally last night, she didn’t know what they were about, didn’t know anything about their leader who invited and introduced her, and just went because she cares about young people. pic.twitter.com/9p3ZIhcvu9
How did Marjorie Taylor Greene know many of the AFPAC attendees had been “canceled” off social media if she had no clue this was a white nationalist conference? pic.twitter.com/cHpzkCfqax
A reminder, Marjorie Greene (R-GA) attempted to form the “America First Caucus” with Paul Gosar (R-AZ) last April. Gosar was also working closely with Nick Fuentes at the time, including collaborating on “America First” branding materials with Fuentes.https://t.co/zr9I9PkZ2qpic.twitter.com/JJWDBrZB7Y
Lt. Gov of Idaho Janice McGeachin, in a pre-recorded video message to the same white nationalist conference Marjorie Taylor Greene appeared at this evening, tells the extreme right crowd to "keep up the good work fighting for our country." She's endorsed by Trump. pic.twitter.com/tmrc43fHt8
Far-right radio host and AFPAC speaker Stew Peters tells The Daily Beast: "It is unsurprising to see liar and fraud Marjorie Taylor Greene so quickly stab Nick Fuentes in the stomach mere hours after pretending to fawn all over his fast-growing movement."
If Democrats in Congress don't take action against Greene, and if we in the media don't hold Kevin McCarthy to account for this far-right caucus member of his, then we are all complicit in the mainstreaming of white supremacy, antisemitism, Holocaust denial, and more. https://t.co/lfQxlKYDLp
Since the day that Donald Trump became president, Democrats in Washington have told you you have a patriotic duty to hate Vladimir Putin. It's not a suggestion, it's a mandate. Anything less than hatred for Putin is treason.
Many Americans have obeyed this directive. They now dutifully hate Vladimir Putin. Maybe you're one of them. Hating Putin has become the central purpose of America's foreign policy, it's the main thing that we talk about. Entire cable channels are now devoted to it. Very soon, that hatred of Vladimir Putin could bring the United States into a conflict in Eastern Europe.
Before that happens, it might be worth asking yourselves since it is getting really serious, what is this really about? Why do I hate Putin so much?
Has Putin ever called me a racist? Has he threatened to get me fired for disagreeing with him? Has he shipped every middle-class job in my town to Russia? Did he manufacture a worldwide pandemic that wrecked my business and kept me indoors for two years? Is he teaching my children to embrace racial discrimination? Is he making fentanyl? Is he trying to snuff out Christianity? Does he eat dogs?
These are fair questions and the answer to all of them is "no." Vladimir Putin didn't do any of that. So why does permanent Washington hate him so much?
REMINDER 2019: Trump gives two different reasons for holding up to aid to Ukraine. Later we learned it was because he was blackmailing the Ukrainian Pres to find dirt on Biden. Plus Trump is pro-Putin https://t.co/mnnl2PlqyG
Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn just issued a statement blaming Biden because he “ignored and laughed at Putin’s legitimate security concerns, and legitimate ethnic problems in the Ukraine,” … while we continuing “to demonize Russia.” pic.twitter.com/iWIgi1VyUE
Says the Fucking Russian asset traitor who was forced to leave his job as NSA because he had secretly discussed sanctions with the Russian ambassador to Washington and then tried to cover up those conversations. But sure, let’s get this Qrackhead’s hot take on Putin & Ukraine. 👍🏻
Ah, yes. Tommy Tuberville invokes Hitler’s “Lebensraum” rationale to justify Putin’s aggression. The largest country in the world just needs more farmland. The exact same argument Hitler used to invade Ukraine. Nice job, Tommy! https://t.co/E41xRNTcEtpic.twitter.com/uay8vQFo8O
The only person dumber than Tommy Tuberville is a Tommy Tuberville voter. FYI: This was also Hitler's rationale for invading Central and Eastern Europe. https://t.co/PVRsKDpeVF
Shortly before bringing up MTG, the camera showed a sizeable and raucous crowd. Fuentes praised "our secret sauce...young white men." Fuentes then solicited a round of applause for Russia in its invasion of Ukraine, and the groyper crowd chanted "Putin, Putin." pic.twitter.com/I8BGH1TYGm
Removing sanctions and blocking lethal military assistance to Ukraine were the 2 primary goals of Putin’s foreign policy. The Trump/Manafort changes to the GOP platform handed those goals to Putin on a golden platter👇🏼https://t.co/APcubfBAN5pic.twitter.com/IKEco7sCQm
Remember that Pompeo had US ambassador to Ukraine recalled to fire her because Giuliani thought she was in the way of Trump blackmailing ukraine https://t.co/w47lD6m0U3
The Biden Democrats say we have to choose. Either we are for them or we are against them. Okay, then, we are AGAINST. Moreover, I’ll go further and say they pose a far greater threat to our freedom and safety than #Putin. He’s the lesser evil. They are the greater one #Ukraine
Trump Has Been Loyally Doing Putin's Bidding For Many Years
Remember when the Republican Party watered down support for Ukraine in its 2016 platform and no one wanted their fingerprints on the mysterious move? https://t.co/GEHXsS1DMX
BREAKING NEWS (CNN): Russian Forces Very Close to Kyiv, Advancing on City From North and East; Full-Scale Battle for City of 2.9 Million May Begin As Early As Tonight; Ukrainian Government Has Passed Out 18,000 Rifles to Civilians and Urges Mass Home Creation of Molotov Cocktails
Candace Owens, an inveterate liar on myriad topics, an apologist for Adolf Hitler, a supporter of the murder of innocent people, and the woman who called Donald Trump a feminist icon, wants the United States military to invade Canada and liberate me (and 38 million other helpless hostages) from the tyrannical, worse-than-Stalin rule of Fidel Castro's secret son!
STOP talking about Russia. Send American troops to Canada to deal with the tyrannical reign of Justin Trudeau Castro.
He has fundamentally declared himself dictator and is waging war on innocent Canadian protesters and those who have supported them financially.
Candace says if we would just listen to Putin, we would know that our government is lying to us and this whole time we have been in the wrong. (Liked by Don Jr). pic.twitter.com/iY3AbuGaxz
If you guys are wondering what actual feminism is, it’s Donald Trump having the courage to stand up on stage and call out the insanity of biological men dominating women’s sports.
Donald Trump is more of a feminist icon than any woman breathing who works to legitimatize the diabolical effort from the LGBT community to erase what it means to be a woman.
BREAKING: @RealCandaceO has lost in court, yet again. The Delaware Supreme Court has affirmed the lower court's decision that she had no case against USA Today and @LeadStoriesCom for fact-checking her COVID lies.
This week's launch of Truth Social, Donald Trump's new social media site, has been exactly what most people expected: an utter train wreck.
Trump has the patience of an overtired four-year-old. Last month, he expressed frustration at the slow pace of TS's development. Trump likely insisted that the app be put out there now, before it could be properly tested. Within a few hours after launch, people attempting to create accounts received error messages: "Something went wrong. Please try again."
Late Night host Seth Meyers was amused by how vague the message was: "'Something went wrong,' like even they don't know what the problem is. Usually you get an error code or something but Trump's site just gives you a shrug emoji that says, 'What you expecting, this thing is a clusterfuck.'"
Then, according to The Daily Beast, users trying to sign up "were told that the app was simply too popular for them to join it, with a warning that read: 'Due to massive demand, we have placed you on our waitlist.'"
The wait list grew to nearly 500,000 people, though some users reported their placement in line varied wildly each time they checked in, as though the placement spot was more of a random number generator than an actually place in line.
Jimmy Kimmel cracked: "Truth Social has been such a disappointment so far, Trump may have to rename it to "Don Jr'".
The basic thing they needed to actually get right, to get someone in the door, they couldn't get right. There is no better sign of a rushed implementation than the fact that you can't onboard anybody. So I'm hard-pressed to understand why anyone would trust that these people would keep their information safe.
On Tuesday, TS released a statement: "Due to the overwhelming demand at launch, we are currently rate-limited on onboarding new users to the platform. We are working to increase signup capacity for onboarding and will continue to update this status as capacity increases."
Alex Wagner of MSNBC, while mocking the entire enterprise (see video at top), drew special attention to the statement's business-speak: "It's painful news – painful news – for everybody looking to get on-boarded to the truth."
Truth Social has been "almost entirely inaccessible" for several days. Jenna Ellis, an incompetent member of Trump's legal team (the self-described Elite Strike Force which lost 62 court cases concerning 2020 election fraud) and who may have caught Covid from a Rudy fart, ridiculed Trump on Instagram:
Having tens of thousands of users unable to create accounts or log-in for several days is only the latest fuck-up to hit Trump's latest soon-to-fail business venture. Truth Social also learned – on its very first day – that it could face a lawsuit for stealing the logo of Trailar, a British green energy company. As Newsweek reported:
[U]pon its launch in the Apple app store, other social media users noticed that Truth Social's logo—a purple square with a white "T" and a turquoise square in the bottom right—is almost identical to that of a British green energy company, Trailar.
The Truth Social logo even has the left side of the "T" cut off in the exact same way as Trailar's, a company which fits solar mats on top of commercial vehicles across the globe, in order to save on fuel, CO2 emissions and maintenance costs.
In a statement to Newsweek, Trailer confirmed that it is now "seeking legal advice" to determine the best course of action after being made aware of the similarities between Truth Social's logo and its own logo.
Truth Social looks and functions exactly like Twitter, which might open TS to additional legal headaches. It has the exact same engagement icons as Twitter: a thought bubble for replies, a repeat symbol for retweets, and a heart for likes. There is one difference, though! Twitter's blue "verified" checkmarks are red at Truth Social. And its tweets are called "truths".
Truth Social's problems date back to at least October 2021, when Mastodon claimed TS was using its computer code, but claiming that the source code was the sole property of TS. That was a lie. According to Mastodon's founder Eugen Rochko:
Based on public reports, we understand that Truth Social used Mastodon's source code to develop its platform . . . Truth Social is required to make its complete source code available. . . . On Oct 26, we sent a formal letter to Truth Social's chief legal officer, requesting the source code to be made publicly available in compliance with the license. According to AGPLv3, after being notified by the copyright holder, Truth Social has 30 days to comply or the license may be permanently revoked.
I have not seen any follow-ups to that story, so the issue may have been rectified. Still, it's not a great beginning. Use computer code illegally, steal a logo . . .
Devin Nunes, the former member of Congress who is most famous for (this is absolutely true) attempting to sue a make-believe cow for $250 million, is the current CEO of Trump Media & Technology Group. He has zero experience in tech, but that's unlikely to cause any problems down the road. Nunes hopes (!) the TS app will be working properly by the end of March.
Truth Social is also under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission over its merger with a Chinese holding company. (Chy-naa!) (Hey, remember when Trump claimed that if Biden was elected, every single American would be forced to learn Chinese? . . . How are your lessons coming along? . . . In truth, Trump (andhisfamily) lovesChina.)
Trump has previously criticized the "wildly aggressive censorship" of other social media networks and promised that TS would mark an "end to censorship". However, TS's Terms of Service's list of "prohibited activities" and limitations on posting run to more than 1,200 words. Users can be banned for posting "false, inaccurate, or misleading" information or "obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, violent, harassing, libelous, slanderous, or otherwise objectionable" material. Users cannot "depict violence, threats of violence or criminal activity" or "advocate or incite, encourage, or threaten physical harm". Trump also forbids anyone from using the site for "any revenue-generating endeavor". Only Trump has the right to use TS as a grift to clean out the rubes' wallets.
Most importantly, saying anything bad about Donald Trump will get you banned. NPR's Bobby Allyn reported that the app's terms of service also state it is prohibited to "disparage" the backers of the site.
Someone billing himself in all seriousness as an "America First White Christian Alpha Male, Purveyor of Dangerous Truth" is whining about being censored (despite having no clue what censorship actually is):
Radical anti-vax right-wing broadcaster Stew Peters complains that he's "being censored on Truth Social" simply for demanding that those responsible for the COVID-19 vaccine "be put on trial and executed." pic.twitter.com/Uf9WXA793A
Melanie Trump, who recently put one of her hats up for auction and ended up buying it herself (#auctionfail), stated in October 2021 that she would not be using TS. She has decided to post her bullshit on Parler.
Truth Social is bound to fail because (a) everything Trump touches dies and (b) since it will be a MAGA echo chamber, there will be no ability to "own the libs" and whatnot. Users will get bored of being around only like-minded dolts. Anyone who has not been banned from Twitter will soon spend more time back on Twitter.
Before Truth Social hits the graveyard, though, it will have likely put millions of investor dollars in Trump's pocket, which is the sole reason he started the site in the first place. Everything is a grift.
Trump’s Truth Social’s disastrous launch raises doubts about its long-term viability https://t.co/02a6tOD882
Here's what I get. What in hell does this mean? "405 Method Not Allowed response status code indicates that the server knows the request method, but the target resource doesn't support this method." pic.twitter.com/UzNyGAyhcT
I checked the terms and agreement. Some interesting policies like no false information, no suing us for things said on here and other gems that are exactly like all other online platforms. pic.twitter.com/YVWkdHAWrJ
Truth Social is absolutely nowhere near being ready to launch. Couldn’t even enter date of birth - app already died. I built apps for 6 years. This is a basic fail.
Not sure how @AppStore approved this. Did they feel pressure to approve Trump’s app so they wouldn’t look biased? pic.twitter.com/9BoytpHjw5
Until tonight, Trump statements were attacking reporters for relying on what his team said were false, politically motivated and anonymous statements related to his classified records at Mar-a-Lago. Now that archives is on the record saying it, the statement has changed a bit. pic.twitter.com/lOuNRMuxwV
Trump neatly glosses over the fact that he committed a federal crime when he stole the documents in the first place. And he makes his usual threat/request for more violence from his marks supporters.
"The fake news is making it seem like me...was working in a filing room." This is one statement he probably did write.
So . . . Will Trump face any consequences for this latest crime?
Almost certainly, no.
As Seth Abramson points out below, Trump was not in the White House for even four months before he gave classified information to the Russians during an Oval Office meeting, which strengthened hard-to-ignore rumors that TrumpisaRussianagent. And nothing happened.
The Department of Justice, despite knowing it has clear evidence of more than 12 counts of Obstruction of Justice against Trump, is quietly letting the statute of limitations run out.
That same DOJ has been deafeningly silent since Trump incited a deadly seditious insurrection, part of a complex plot to void the results of the 2020 election and install himself as an unelected dictator, nearly 14 months ago, in likely violation of several federal laws, including 18 U.S.C. §2383 (Rebellion or Insurrection), §2384 (Seditious Conspiracy), §2385 (Advocating Overthrow of Government), §2389 (Recruiting for Service against United States).
For those who think Trump will face some punishment for removing classified intel from the White House and taking it home to Florida, remember that his whole presidency was a national security scandal and *began* with him revealing Israeli intel to the Kremlin in the Oval Office
For those who think Trump will face some punishment for removing classified intel from the White House and taking it home to Florida, remember that his whole presidency was a national security scandal and *began* with him revealing Israeli intel to the Kremlin in the Oval Office
My point is, I want to get excited about the breaking news today but unfortunately I wrote three books about Trump's national security violations and learned that not only does no one care when a POTUS is a national security threat but basically everyone agrees it must be ignored
And of course now Trump is an *ex*-POTUS, so you think that he can no longer be a virulent national security threat on a daily basis without consequences—until you realize that holding him accountable would embarrass a large number of powerful people so we'll just have to skip it
It's vital that journalists catalog every crime Trump committed so if there's an America 1,000 years from now he will *still* be considered the worst president and biggest traitor in our history, but that is separate from thinking 15 boxes of classified intel will bring him down
The upper limit of where today's breaking news goes is Trump is prosecuted in a case that takes 3 or 4 years and sees everyone associated with it threatened with death by MAGA terrorists on a daily basis, with the only result being that Trump gets 2 years of probation and a fine
That could change slightly if we find that he had input into which classified intelligence he would spirit out of the White House, and deliberately stole evidence he thought could be used to convict him, but even then the evidence would matter infinitely more than the theft of it
Remember, this is a man who was a focus of an 800-page DOJ report confirming unambiguously that he committed the federal felony of Obstruction of Justice at least a dozen times, and not only was he not prosecuted but DOJ is letting the statute of limitations lapse without comment
There are people in this country, in politics and law enforcement, whose *oaths* actually *compel* them to *ensure* that Trump is treated no differently than any other citizen—and all of America has watched them do f*ck-all since 2016 and that won't change because of today's news
This news will only matter if it can be linked to a broader criminal conspiracy to overthrow the federal government—which, to be clear, it is *entirely possible* that it ultimately will be
But that is *not* where we are tonight and that is *not* what the current breaking news is
Anyone on Twitter not being *very* clear that this is the 1000th national security scandal involving Trump—and I'm not exaggerating by much, because there really was one every few days for four years—and that none of them resulted in anything but news cycles is being disingenuous
The best part for me personally is that I can write a thread like this and still be confident that MAGA radicals will swear my response to today's news was "he promised Trump would go to prison 🤣" What I actually say matters as little to these people as what Trump actually does
And if you wonder what prompts me to write a bitter thread like this, read any one of the Proof books—or all three—and imagine how angry I am being a lawyer who has watched hundreds of my fellow "brothers and sisters at the bar" violate their oaths with respect to Trump for years
This is not *exactly* right.
The court ordered Trump to *sit for a deposition*.
Trump can plead the Fifth—and likely will—to many questions, avoiding answering them.
His son Eric—who like his father is a criminal—did so *500+ times* in a deposition in the same case last year. https://t.co/cJfrS6sanj
PS2/ In any case, we must distinguish between the reporting that says Trump "must answer questions" (false), the reporting that says Trump "must testify" (technically true but misleading), and the reporting that says Trump "must sit for a deposition" (accurate).
Look
His skull's not hairy
Teeth fake, thrice-ly married
The leakage on his cheekage is scary
Probably sherry
He's drunk
But on the surface he looks, well, drunk
He's not hiding it
Hope he doesn't whip out his junk
Like that one scene
So obscene
He reached for peen
To show a teen
'Til Papa Borat intervened Rudy: "You think we're stupid? You think we're fools?"
Yeah, but I also think you shouldn't be allowed near schools
He's lost grasp of reality
Whoa, is he having a stroke?
He found ballots, they're faux
He's Trump's madam, that's gross
Befriends Russians, colludes
Love corruption, it's true
He's been pushing the coup
Married his cousin? Oh, ew
The dude should be disbarred
He's a fiend for cigars
He wants treason, it's hard
But he won't stop
Back to the Four Seasons
No, not that Four Seasons
The landscaping business by a dildo shop
You can go screw yourself
You're a doofus, you know it
You bonehead, less-ethical Nosferatu
Told me he's had one shot
It smells more like twenty-two
His cerebellum's gone into rapid decline
Douchenozzle!
This is an example of what’s referred to as “ratf*cking”—and it *should* be a federal felony.
BREAKING NEWS: Partisan Tactic By Texas Republican Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick’s Campaign Delays Thousands of Requests for Mail-in Ballots From Texas Voters https://t.co/PDjXpKKlqF
NEW: The judge of Harris County, Texas is urging the Department of Justice to intervene after it was revealed that nearly 38% of absentee ballots in the Democratic county have been rejected, largely resulting from the Texas GOP’s new voter suppression law.
It’s not within the realm of political commentary, & it’s not just me. He regularly targets people that do not have access to resources for protection. Once he gets to fantasizing about “booty calls” of women on national TV I cease to see the political value outside of incitement
Georgia ranks 38th in the nation in child and family well-being and firearms are the first-leading cause of death among children and teens in the state. I’m guessing she won’t make this better… #gapolpic.twitter.com/H0raJ7a9BE
Amazing -- Fox News hyped their coverage of Hillary Clinton's speech all day. They ended up carrying about 30 seconds of it before cutting away as she denounced Republicans for defending "coup plotters" and embracing the big lie https://t.co/2CwshTYqUn
The level of absolute, off the charts desperation, terror, lunacy and derangement, comingled with flopsweat at record setting levels is hard to comprehend, even for him. Today’s court ruling re: the NY AG clearly has woken him up that he is cornered like a rat more by the hour. pic.twitter.com/ChnNLENbnu
Lawrence O'Donnell (MSNBC, The Last Word) can barely hold back his laughter as he explains how Donald Trump's unhinged rant on Wednesday was a complete contradiction of everything his lawyers had told a judge only the day before and served as a perfect piece of evidence that the New York Attorney General immediately used in telling the judge Trump must be compelled to answer questions under oath in the current civil and criminal investigations into his business practices (my emphasis):
If you think Donald Trump is stupid – and you have every right to – imagine, imagine what his lawyers think of him.
New York's Attorney General releases a letter that shows that Mazars, the accounting firm, has dropped Donald Trump – and Donald Trump's insane ego demands that Donald Trump release a statement, fighting back against that Mazars letter.
And when he does that – when Donald Trump does that – he contradicts everything that his lawyers have been telling the judge in that case, and then tonight, in the breaking news of the night, the Attorney General of the State of New York uses Donald Trump's exact, profoundly stupid words in his statement against him. . . .
Attorney General Letitia James has now responded to Donald Trump's statement about her release of that February 9 letter from Donald Trump's now-former accountants. In a filing with the judge in the case tonight, the Attorney General says "it is truly rare for a party to publicly disagree with statements submitted by his own attorneys in a signed pleading – let alone one day after the pleading was filed."
The Attorney General refers to the fact that Donald Trump's lawyers insisted, in writing, to the court, that Donald Trump should not be compelled to testify about his businesses because he does not know enough about his businesses.
Tonight, the Attorney General told the judge "he professes intimate knowledge of his company, its assets and their values". . . .
Today, the Attorney General points out that Donald Trump's written rant responding to the Mazars letter begins with Donald Trump's own description of the evaluation of his assets, which is exactly what the Attorney General is investigating.
In his written statement, Donald Trump boasts: "My company has among the best real estate and other assets anywhere in the world, has significant amounts of cash, and has relatively very little debt, which is totally current." He then lists specific figures for cash and marketable securities, escrow, reserve deposits and prepaid expenses, total assets, net worth, and total liabilities and net worth.
He went on to say that the numbers don't tell the whole story because "based on current enthusiasm and transactions which have or will take place, the brand value today could be, in my opinion, substantially higher".
So once again Donald Trump holds himself out as the highest, most-definitive authority on the valuation of his businesses.
And he does that in his boastful written statement which is a direct, complete and total contradiction to what his lawyers have told the judge in this case, the reason his lawyers have given for why he should not have to testify.
The Attorney General clearly believes Donald Trump's written statement solidifies her right to compel his under-oath testimony about the valuation of his businesses. In her filing with the judge tonight, Attorney General James says: "Mr. Trump claims to know exactly what OAG is investigating."
Once again, we see there is no one – no one – who testifies against Donald Trump more effectively than Donald Trump . . .
Donald Trump issued a completely incoherent rant yesterday in reaction to Mazars dropping him as a client and in it he said that Hillary Clinton should be executed for spying and he seemed to confess – to just confess – to the fraud charges that the company is already facing by writing this:
The charge against a 74-year-old long-term and wonderful employee [Allen Weisselberg] is that he did not pay taxes on a company care or a company apartment (Do others pay such a tax? Did [former Manhattan District Attorney] Cy Vance pay a tax on his car?), and a charge having to do with my paying for the education of his grandchildren. Murders all over the city and they are worried about me helping with young children's education?
So Donald Trump appears to be admitting that no taxes were paid on the compensation to Allen Weisselberg that included a free car, a free apartment and free tuition for his grandchildren, a compensation package that was close to $2 million. Donald Trump does not say that all relevant tax laws were complied with. He simply seems to be saying, "Why are they enforcing tax laws against us?"
