That Trump Thing

lobotero

Apr 4

The biggest story for the MSM over the weekend was those indictments of our dear beloved ex-president....so I thought I should bow to conventional wisdom and do what needs to be done.

Personally I am sick of the whole idea of Trump....

The news is Trump is making a deal for his appearance on Tuesday.....

Court officials in New York said Friday that they plan to arraign Donald Trump at 2pm Tuesday. The former president's presence is expected in a 15th-floor Manhattan courtroom for the proceeding, they said. A lawyer for Trump said his team has agreed with the district attorney's office on how the arrest will be handled, Fox News reports: Trump is to surrender to detectives, who will not handcuff him. The Secret Service will decide how the former president is brought to Judge Juan Merchan's courtroom. A meeting was scheduled for Friday afternoon among representatives of the FBI, New York City police, New York state court officers, the Secret Service, and the district attorney's office to settle logistical and security arrangements.

The prosecutor in the case responded Friday to intense criticism from Republican lawmakers over the indictment. A letter from District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office to three GOP committee chairmen called their accusation that the indictment is politically motivated "misleading and meritless." General counsel Leslie Dubeck wrote that Trump is entitled to fight the charges in court, per Politico. "What neither Mr. Trump nor Congress may do is interfere with the ordinary course of proceedings in New York State," the letter says. Dubeck asked that Reps. Jim Jordan, James Comer, and Bryan Steil withdraw their demands for information about the case and allow the case to "proceed without unlawful political interference."

Trump launched fresh attacks Friday on the judge he'll stand before Tuesday, posting that "the Judge 'assigned' to my Witch Hunt Case … HATES ME." Merchan handled unrelated accusations against the Trump Organization, and Trump said the judge treated him "viciously." Partly because of Trump's recent social media posts, fears of political violence related to the case have increased. The New York mayor's office tweeted Friday afternoon that no credible threats have been received, per the Independent

We will see what this shakes out of the woodwork.

Meanwhile the Trump sycophants are running to the closest camera and spouting their usual crap....how will that play out?

We know former President Trump has been indicted, though we don't know the exact charges just yet. Still, the unprecedented move to indict a former president has given political observers across the political spectrum plenty to consider:

Worth the worry: Columnist Nicholas Kristof is worried that a failed prosecution would strengthen Trump. "Yet I'd also worry—even more—about the message of impunity that would be sent if prosecutors averted their eyes because the suspect was a former president," he writes in the New York Times. Kristof cites the example of a police officer who ticketed then-President Ulysses S. Grant for speeding with a horse. "If a police officer in 1872 could hold out his hand and force the president's speeding carriage to a stop, then we, too, should do what we can to uphold the magnificent principle of equality before the law."

Trouble ahead: The conservative editorial page of the Wall Street Journal, while frequent critics of Trump, see the move as a mistake akin to opening Pandora's box. "The danger for America is the precedent this prosecution sets," reads the editorial. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg "is busting a political norm that has stood for 230 years," and you can bet that Republican prosecutors will try to make a name for themselves by reciprocating against a Democratic president. Our "democracy will be further abused and battered," it warns. "Bragg, the provincial progressive, is unleashing forces that all of us may come to regret."

Glenn Beck: The right-wing pundit donned a MAGA hat on Fox News and declared, "This is the way the average American feels tonight." Appearing on Tucker Carlson's show, he said: "The bill of rights is gone. Nobody is paying attention. ... Donald Trump is not even a person anymore. He's a symbol. He's a symbol of the average everyday guy that keeps getting screwed every single time." Watch the clip.

On the left: In the Nation, Elie Mystal writes that he doesn't care if this makes Trump more popular politically. Still, he's not optimistic about a conviction. "I want to get him, and these charges don't feel likely to accomplish that," he writes. "A federal case against Trump for tax and campaign finance fraud two years ago would have been welcome. But going at Trump with shaky jurisdictional authority, two years too late, feels doomed."