Category Archives: Donald Trump

Also running is Kathy Barnette, a political commentator who has written a book about being Black and conservative and has raised more than $1 million.

Limited public polling shows a wide-open contest. A Fox News survey in early March showed Mr. McCormick leading, with 24 percent, and Dr. Oz at 15 percent, but many voters were undecided. The Democratic field includes Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, Representative Conor Lamb and Malcolm Kenyatta, a state representative.

The pro-Trump label can be an awkward fit for both Mr. McCormick and Dr. Oz.

Mr. McCormick is the former chief executive of the Bridgewater hedge fund and served in the Treasury Department of the second Bush administration. His career arc from West Point graduate to the financial world more neatly fits the traditional Republican establishment mold, and he said last year that the riot on Jan. 6 at the Capitol was a dark chapter in American history.

For his part, Dr. Oz first found fame as a regular guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show, and clips showing him dancing with Michelle Obama have made their way into ads attacking him. He previously supported key elements of the Affordable Care Act and, while he calls himself pro-life, he struggled in a Fox News interview to articulate when he believes life begins.

Mr. Trump, according to advisers, has tracked the race closely but appears content for now to sit on the sidelines. He jealously guards his endorsement record and was already burned by his early backing of Mr. Parnell. Facing the possible defeat of candidates he is backing in other states, Mr. Trump has turned at least temporarily more cautious in some key Senate races.

Just as he is doing in two other crowded Republican primaries, in Ohio and Missouri, Mr. Trump is not picking sides while the field remains muddled. In both those states, he has also met with multiple candidates vying for his backing.

Rob Gleason, a former chairman of the Pennsylvania Republican Party, said a Trump endorsement in the states race could be the tipping point in a close election.

Hes just very important in Republican circles, he said. He still is.

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Dr. Ozs Heritage Is Targeted as Rivals Vie for Trump Backing - The New York Times

In September 2015, Dawn carried my op-ed article, Pakistans Donald Trump. This was 16 months before Trump became president of the United States and about three years before Imran Khan became prime minister of Pakistan. It generated much commentary both ways. Days later, Washington-based analyst Michael Kugelman published his riposte, also in Dawn, dismissing my comparisons as merely superficial. He concluded that Naya Pakistan may be nave, but it is neither nasty nor nefarious.

Seven years is an eternity in the world of politics. What has Naya Pakistan come to mean? Since 2015, much has happened: Trump narrowly won the presidency but failed at re-election. Since then, he has not stopped trying to claw his way back to power. Khan was the winner in the controlled elections of 2018 and has had nearly four years for selling Naya Pakistan. His fate presently rests upon the no-confidence motion before parliament.

To redo the Trump-Khan comparison is timely. Certainly, some similarities I had alluded to earlier remain unaltered. Then, as now, the political toolkits of both men include abundant use of abusive language for firing up supportive mobs. So is making promises which, even if unfulfillable, help generate fantasies in their followers.

The first time around these tools, together with practised theatrics, worked well. Once installed in power, the orange-skinned president cultivated an ecosystem of sycophants, sellers of snake oil and white extremists. In a blizzard of disinformation, his political opponents were blamed for all failures of governance and economic mismanagement. The Washington Post says Trumps false or misleading claims total 30,573 over four years. Impressive!

But Americans soon realised that although Trump was brilliant before the cameras, on governance he was clueless. The economy, race matters and foreign relations headed south. Relations with European allies plummeted even as the Putin-Trump personal rapport grew stronger. When voters rejected Trump for a second term, this was incomprehensible to a man who adored himself beyond limit.

To reverse the election results he tried everything but, unfortunately for him, American democracy proved too robust. The Department of Justice and the military flatly rejected his proposal to seize voting machines and redo the elections. The siege of Capitol Hill in a country with 200 years of democracy shocked the world.

While places, times, and people are obviously different for Pakistan, many similarities are startlingly close and growing closer. Khan is already concocting an explanation for his possible ouster: he is being punished by the West for his independent foreign policy and jihad against Islamophobia. He threatens to unleash hell upon turncoat members of his own party and, of course, the opposition.

On March 27 D-Day at Islamabads D-Chowk PTI is mobilising party and state resources for holding what it says will be the biggest rally in Pakistans history. The goal: to message parliamentarians, both PTI and opposition, that they must not enter parliament to vote on the no-confidence motion.

One significant difference separates Capitol Hill from D-Chowk. Whereas Trump brought out his supporters with winks and nods, nothing has been left to the imagination here. Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry says all parliamentarians arriving to vote on that day would have to pass through a million Khan supporters on their way to the National Assembly and even more significantly on their way back as well. There they will face a lynch mob.

How violent it all gets on D-Day, and the final outcome, cannot be presently known. The siege of the Capitol left American democracy hanging by a thread. Nevertheless, the system was robust enough to blunt the worse. In Pakistan, what lies ahead may or may not end with Khans ouster. But what will be his legacy when he does finally go?

On democracy: depriving parliamentarians of their right to vote is a slap in the face to democracy and decency. That this violates the Constitution is clear as day. But, to be honest, worse has happened before. Four martial laws have trampled the Constitution under the boot. And, even without overt constitutional violations, crooked politicians and generals have stuffed their pockets for decades and parked their assets in unreachable places.

On the economy: todays galloping inflation, repeated returns to the IMF, more whitewashing of black money, dramatic fall of the rupee, and performance levels well below that of India and Bangladesh, are significant negatives. But dont blame PTI alone. Pakistans systemic economic weaknesses stem from overspending on defence, elite capture of national wealth, and a hopelessly under-skilled workforce. Thats why CPECs new infrastructure led to insignificant industrialisation. The same would have happened in a PML-N or PPP government.

On foreign relations: the world noticed PM Khan hailing Osama bin Laden a martyr; calling the Taliban liberators; shaking hands with Putin just before the Ukraine war; wantonly spiting the EU although it is one of Pakistans economic props; and sending relations with Saudi Arabia crashing down. Still, these are reversible. A new prime minister can set things right.

On education: Khans toxic legacy will be nearly irreversible. While madressahs do exactly today what they have done for decades and centuries, Punjabs regular schools now function more as madressahs and less as schools. Even the super-rich are only partly exempted. The kind of mixed-up, confused and ignorant generations that the so-called Single National Curriculum will produce is absolutely terrifying. On the higher education front, Khan has disembowelled the HEC and made it a hotbed of intrigue.

When Khan proclaimed Naya Pakistan would be Riyasat-i-Madina, most people thought it was a metaphor for a cleaner, more equitable Pakistan. Our friend from Washington can be forgiven for thinking this as neither nasty nor nefarious. Almost everyone failed to see the hidden text: the head of any religious state must claim divine sanction in some form. With near-daily fiery pontifications on his ideas of moral behaviour and proper dress, Khans high vision is fully before us. And, just in case you are unsure whether Naya Pakistans head should stay or go, please remember that only animals can be neutral.

The writer is an Islamabad-based physicist and author.

This article was first published in Dawn on 19 March 2022 and it has been republished here with permission.

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Imran Khan is another Donald Trump. But real danger is that Pakistan isnt another US - ThePrint

Lies destroy. Hitler lied about Jews, stoked hate, controlled the press, gained popular support, and launched WWII.

Donald Trump lies. He lied about Soviet intervention in his election, and his withholding of funds to Ukraine - attempting to coerce Zelensky into investigating Bidens sons. He continues to lie and make assertions of a fraudulent election. He lied about his attempts to coerce or replace election officials hoping to overturn results. He lied about his attempts to have Pence throw out vote counts, and he lies about instigating the insurrection at the Capitol.

I mention these particular lies in context of their severe undermining of the democratic process, which can only survive on truth, honesty and respect for the law.

These totalitarian-type behaviors didnt discourage nearly 40% of voters who still support Trump.

Whats happening in Ukraine is a world showdown between democracy and totalitarianism. Putin falsely claims he invaded Ukraine to eradicate Nazis. He falsely claims Ukraine manufactures biological and chemical weapons, opening the door for his use of them in the future. Sadly, another anti-democracy country, China, agrees with Putins assertions. These two countries are no friends of democracy and would like nothing more than to weaken the United States by seizing upon our vulnerability to lies.

With complacency and much maligning by autocrats and conspiracy theorists, the legitimate free press continues to be our last hope for truth. Let us educate ourselves with facts then make our personal decisions based on truth.

Pat Mazza

Easton

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Want the kind of government practiced in Russia? Keep listening to Trumps lies. | Letter - lehighvalleylive.com

The renowned stand-up comedian and UFC commentator Joe Rogan has made a name for himself for voicing his opinions. In his podcast, the Joe Rogan Experience, the comedian candidly discusses a various array of topics with his guests. Unfortunately, Rogan has also attracted controversies in the past.

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Since the controversies, Rogan has unwantedly pulled a lot of undesirable attention and speculation. And that also gives room to baseless rumors. In a recent episode of his podcast, Rogan cleared one such rumor. The Rumour was that former United States President Donald Trump will come on as a guest on his popular podcast.

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Its been a whole thing where a hundred people, at least, have texted me and sent me emails and contacted friends because they heard [Donald] Trump was coming on my podcast. The source of it is a fake Trump account on Twitter. Its Trumps face, and its a fake account that said, Im going on the Joe Rogan podcast soon,' said Rogan.

Watch This Story: Everything You Need To Know About Paddy Pimblett And His Fiance, Laura Gregory

The 54-year-old said that he doesnt want to take any political stand on his show, during episode #1793 of the Joe Rogan Experience. Speaking with former CIA officer Mike Baker, Rogan clearly wants to abstain from leaning towards any political candidate.

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During the show, Rogan also talked about YouTube, removal of an episode of the NELK Boys Podcast where the former president Donald Trump was their guest. They pulled the podcast, which is one of the craziest things you could do, said Rogan.

While talking about being apolitical, Rogan said, I have decided that I am very apolitical when it comes to the future in like political candidates, I dont wanna have that kind of influence I wanna be someone who can watch and observe dont wanna be someone whos actually affecting this.

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Conor McGregor vs Joe Rogan Net Worth Comparison: Is Conor McGregor Richer ThanJoe Rogan?

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What do you make of what Joe Rogan had to say about being apolitical and his views on NELK Boys podcasts Donald Trump episode being taken down? Let us know below in the comments.

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Joe Rogan Clears the Rumor of Donald Trump Appearing on His Podcast - EssentiallySports

Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he was surprised that Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine.

I thought he was negotiating when he sent his troops to the border, Trump told the Washington Examiner. I thought he was negotiating.

The president appeared to qualify his widely condemned praise of Putin last month as pretty smart and a genius for his troop buildup before the onslaught.

I thought it was a tough way to negotiate but a smart way to negotiate, Trump told the conservative outlet.

Trump said he believed Putins tactics were aimed at striking some sort of deal with the United States. The U.S., he claimed, never made a good trade with the Russians until I came along.

And then he went in and I think hes changed, Trump said. I think hes changed. Its a very sad thing for the world. Hes very much changed.

Trumps admiration for the Russian dictator has been an issue, even for some supporters.

In a recent interview with Fox News Sean Hannity as Russias attack on Ukraine intensified, Trump refused to call Putin evil, despite the Trump-supporting hosts prompts. And he stumbled to walk back his gushing over Putins strategy, dwelling on semantics instead.

In his interview with the Examiner, Trump retreated to his hollow claim that hed been very, very tough on Putin.

I get a bad rap on that, Trump insisted. At the same time, I got along with him very well. But I got along with most [world leaders] very well.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

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Donald Trump Says He's 'Surprised' That Vladimir Putin ...

Some members of City Council want to punish former President Donald Trump, and we get it.

Trump is a playground bully with a big ego and a cult-like following, despite being voted out of office. His ongoing attempts to perpetuate the Big Lie that he won the 2020 election are not just indefensible and a threat to democracy, they are tiresome.

But he thrives on attention. Dont give it to him.

Which is why that proposed City Council ordinance intended to stop Trump from doing any future business with the city because of his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 attempted insurrection at the Capitol seems a waste of time and energy.

City Council should move on, to the many far more important matters facing our city.

The ordinance, sponsored by Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th) and approved by the Committee on Contracting Oversight and Equity, says the permit for that Trump sign downtown which must be renewed annually shall be denied, or such permit shall be revoked, if the applicant or any controlling person of the applicant has been convicted of a crime of treason, sedition or subversive activities.

Dont hold your breath for that conviction, despite the ongoing investigation by the House select committee on Jan. 6.

... [W]hether you are Donald Trump, or one of the many traitors who stormed the United States Capitol on Jan. 6th, the City of Chicago is not interested in doing business with traitors or those who perpetrate hate crimes, Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd), co-sponsor of the ordinance, said. Will the ordinance have a sweeping effect? No. But I think it sends a clear and important message to two groups that are doing great harm to our country today.

Sending a moral message is a fine idea. But as a mayoral spokesman confirmed to us, the citys Law Department says convicted felons already cannot do business with the city.

Besides, anything that keeps Trump in the news or gives him the chance to puff out his chest and play the victim is counterproductive.

Fight the Big Lie, not just the liar.

Send letters toletters@suntimes.com.

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Dont feed the bully Donald Trump - Chicago Sun-Times

The TAKE with Rick Klein

A party remade by former President Donald Trump is in the process of being remade again.

Republican officeholders and office seekers aren't keen to admit it, but for most of them Russia's invasion of Ukraine has them publicly agreeing more on the substance with President Joe Biden than with Trump.

That comes through in the raucous bipartisan reception Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy got in front of Congress and also in Biden's agreement with a unanimous Senate that Russian President Vladimir Putin is a "war criminal."

The crisis has been coursing through GOP primaries in unexpected ways. Ohio Senate candidate J.D. Vance -- among those pursuing Trump's endorsement in the May 3 primary -- labeled the invasion a "tragedy" after first saying on Steve Bannon's podcast last month that "I don't really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another."

Former President Donald Trump speaks to the crowd during a rally at the Florence Regional Airport, March 12, 2022, in Florence, S.C.

In North Carolina, Trump's favored candidate, Rep. Ted Budd, is on the receiving end of a harsh attack ad from a rival Republican featuring a clip with Budd calling Putin "a very intelligent actor." (Some quotes in the ad are taken out of context, though the issue only came up because Trump called Putin "pretty smart" for trying to overrun Ukraine.)

Even where Republicans are offering sharp critiques of Biden -- blasting the president for not moving enough lethal aid quickly enough to Ukrainians -- there are limits that speak to how the GOP is changing. Virtually no major Republican figures are calling for perhaps the most hawkish action Zelenskyy wants -- American enforcement of a no-fly zone.

It has fallen to some of the staunchest Trump loyalists to offer major differences of opinion. Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C., on Wednesday blasted "neocons both on the left and in my party who clamor for war at every chance they get" -- a week after calling Zelenskyy a "thug."

The RUNDOWN with Averi Harper

A couple of House progressives are taking the Biden administration to task for its treatment of Haitians who seek asylum in the United States.

In a letter, Reps. Mondaire Jones, D-N.Y., and Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., have called on the Department of Homeland Security to halt deportations and expulsions of people to Haiti. The Biden administration has continued to invoke Title 42, a policy started under the Trump administration, which allows migrants to be turned away without a chance to have their asylum claims heard.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley addresses demonstrators participating in the "Stand with Ukraine" march in Boston, March 6, 2022.

The pair of lawmakers cited the July 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Mose and the aftermath of the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that rocked the island nation in August as reasons they believe returning migrants to Haiti is dangerous. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has previously claimed it is safe enough for asylum-seekers to return.

The lawmakers contrasted the ongoing expulsions to policy changes intended to welcome Ukrainian refugees.

"Recently, on March 3, Immigration and Customs Enforcement suspended deportation flights to Ukraine in response to the 'ongoing humanitarian crisis' there a justified and important exercise of your enforcement discretion," wrote the lawmakers. "There is every reason to extend that same level of compassion and exercise that same discretion to suspend deportations to Haiti."

The Biden administration has deported or expelled more than 20,000 migrants to Haiti since Biden was inaugurated, according to the advocacy group Washington Office on Latin America.

The TIP with Hannah Demissie

The idea of disgraced former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo making a political comeback is starting to look like a real possibility.

After he resigned last year amid multiple allegations of sexual harassment, Cuomo is now considering a run for his former job against the very woman who replaced him, Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, according to reporting by CNBC published Wednesday.

Aides of Cuomo have been conducting internal polling on how he would perform against Hochul in the New York primary.

Governor Andrew Cuomo holds press briefing and makes announcement to combat COVID-19 Delta variant in New York, Aug. 2, 2021.

Cuomo entered 2022 with a $16 million campaign war chest. But even though his supporters are encouraging him to run for office, many leaders in his own party do not support the idea.

New York Democratic Party Chair Jay Jacobs told CNBC he thinks "it would be a bad mistake."

Talk of a Cuomo bid comes as an audit released Tuesday shows the Cuomo administration did not publicly account for the deaths of nearly 4,100 nursing home residents during the pandemic.

NUMBER OF THE DAY, powered by FiveThirtyEight

18. That's the number of districts where Latinos constitute a majority of the voting-age population in California, which marks an increase of five districts since the 2010 redistricting cycle. This makes California by far the biggest source of new Latino seats in the country. More broadly, it underscores the growing political clout of Latino voters in this redistricting cycle, accounting for more than 51% of the country's growth from 2010 to 2020. But as FiveThirtyEights Nathaniel Rakich writes, thats essentially the extent of this redistricting cycle's gains when it comes to the representation of people of color. In fact, there are many districts where nonwhite voters' power -- particularly Black voters' power -- has been eroded.

THE PLAYLIST

ABC News' "Start Here" Podcast. Start Here begins Thursday morning with ABCs Mary Bruce on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyys emotional address to Congress. Then, ABCs Elizabeth Schulze breaks down what to expect from the first interest rate hike in more than three years. And, ABCs Christine Theodorou details the aftermath of the strong earthquake that hit Japan. http://apple.co/2HPocUL

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

Download the ABC News app and select "The Note" as an item of interest to receive the day's sharpest political analysis.

The Note is a daily ABC News feature that highlights the day's top stories in politics. Please check back tomorrow for the latest.

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Ukraine revealing GOPs drift from Trump: The Note - ABC News

The media have been quick to rubbish Attorney General Merrick GarlandMerrick GarlandGOP senators seek probe of 'egregious' conditions at NJ nursing home The post-Trump era has begun Biden signs reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act MORE for his failure so far to indict former President TrumpDonald TrumpGOP talking point could turn to Biden's 'underwhelming' Russia response House Oversight Committee opens investigation into New Mexico 2020 election audit Hunter Biden paid off tax liability amid ongoing grand jury investigation: report MORE over the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. They have tarred him with epithets worthy of Trump himself, such as Merrick the Mild and Merrick the Meek. And a host of former prosecutors and law professors have criticized his inaction, saying that Garland needs to indict Trump to vindicate the rule of law.

We dont know for certain, but it appears that Garlands Justice Department has yet to convene a grand jury to investigate the affair. Were they subpoenaing witnesses before the grand jury, we would have heard something about it from reporters hanging around the court house or from the witnesses lawyers.

Justice appears to be riding the coattails of the House select committee, which has served a flurry of subpoenas, and has already referred two recalcitrant witnesses, Stephen Bannon and Mark MeadowsMark MeadowsNC investigators open probe into Mark Meadows voter registration Is Merrick Garland finally ready to indict Donald Trump? Jan. 6 panel subpoenas Trump campaign adviser Cleta Mitchell, five others MORE, to Justice for criminal prosecution only to see Bannon indicted for a misdemeanor and Meadows so far uncharged some fourscore and seven days after the criminal reference.

The case against Meadows is a simple one, and the long delay is vexing. It is possible that Justice is using the time to investigate, but this seems unlikely in light of the Doric simplicity of the facts. Meadows refused to testify. Full stop. It is also possible that Justice had decided not to indict Meadows for contempt of Congress; but then, why the silence? If they had let Meadows know he was off the hook, he would have loudly told the press about how he was exonerated. Finally, it is possible that the government and Meadows are crafting a deal, some testimony in exchange for no indictment. Time will certainly tell us the answer.

Garland has vowed to follow the law and the facts wherever they may lead him. But many legal observers have concluded he is timid and overly cautious, fearful that we appear to be a banana republic indicting, and possibly jailing, our former leaders because they are now politically out of favor. Of course, the total answer is that we look like a banana republic if we dont hold our former leaders accountable for the serious crimes they may have committed, such as sedition, incitement to insurrection or conspiracy to defraud the United States.

Frustrated at the inaction, the redoubtable Harvard Law professor Laurence Tribe has called on Garland to appoint a special counsel. Tribe argues that a special counsel is the best way to reassure the country that no one is above the law, justice is nonpartisan and fears of political fallout will not determine the decision on whether to bring charges. Tribe says that such an appointment is imperative.

Appointment of a special counsel would give Garland some political cover, even though a special counsel is not institutionally independent of the Justice Department. Yet, so far, Tribes urgent clarion call has fallen on deaf ears.

Trumps strategy of course is to run out the clock. With the midterm elections less than eight months off, and a widely expected outcome that Republicans will take the House, the select committee investigating Jan. 6 may be on its last legs.

Yet, as the man said, it isnt over til its over. Only recently, there have been unmistakable signs and portents that the inquiry into the events of Jan. 6 may have brought Trump to his Watergate moment. The most notable events in recent days are as follows:

If Reffitt receives a stiff sentence, and Tarrio is convicted, they may be incentivized to cooperate with the government as did Oath Keepers member Joshua James, who is cooperating as part of a guilty plea for obstructing an official proceeding of Congress, and for seditious conspiracy culminating in the Jan. 6 attack. Such testimony of co-conspirators could provide evidence supporting broader conspiracy charges against Trump or his closest associates.

As the Washington Post concluded in its article reporting the Reffitt verdict: "The notion that Attorney General Merrick Garland is slow-walking charges against Trump or has decided not to go after him is inconsistent with the departments actions to date. Garland might just be warming up to take on the man whose refusal to accept defeat resulted in the most lethal armed insurrection since the Civil War."

As Trump signaled to the Proud Boys in his September 2020 debate with Biden, stand back and stand by. Garland may not be shooting so many blanks as his critics claim.

James D. Zirin is a former federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York.

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Is Merrick Garland finally ready to indict Donald Trump? | TheHill - The Hill

On 8 March, a jury took three hours to render a guilty verdict against Guy Reffitt, a January 6 insurrectionist. Donald Trump could not have been pleased. DC is where Trump would be tried for any crimes relating to his admitted campaign to overturn the election.

Jurors there would have no trouble finding that the evidence satisfies all statutory elements required to convict Trump, including his criminal intent, the most challenging to prove. That is our focus here.

A 3 March New York Times story asserted that [b]uilding a criminal case against Mr Trump is very difficult for federal prosecutors ... given the high burden of proof ... [and] questions about Mr Trumps mental state.

The clear implication is that justice department leaders may simply be following the path of prudence in hesitating to indict, or even to robustly investigate, Mr Trump. But based on the already public evidence and theres undoubtedly lots more thats not yet public no vigilant prosecutor would be deterred by the difficulty of convincing a jury about Trumps state of mind. Full speed ahead is now the only proper course.

The former president is vulnerable to charges of conspiring to defraud the United States, 18 USC 371, and obstructing a congressional proceeding, 18 USC 1512(c)(2).

Regarding 371s intent requirement, the US supreme court has ruled that conspiracies to defraud the United States include plots entered for the purpose of impairing, obstructing or defeating the lawful functions of any department of Government using deceit, craft or trickery, or ... means that are dishonest.

The mental state required for 1512 is a corrupt intent to obstruct, influence, or impede an official proceeding. In Arthur Andersen v United States, the supreme court said corrupt meant dishonest or wrongful, immoral, depraved, or evil.

The mountain of already public evidence would surely lead a DC jury to reject Trumps defense that that he honestly believed his own big lie that widespread ballot fraud had deprived him of victory, and therefore that his intent was innocent.

First, Trump knew that the 60-plus court cases seeking to overturn the votes in contested states had failed.

Second, as the former Michigan US attorney Barbara McQuade has compellingly shown, five of Trumps top officials told him unequivocally that all the fraud claims were false.

Third, Georgias secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, told Trump the same thing during the infamous recorded call in which Trump asked Raffensperger to find 11,780 votes, exactly one more than needed to overturn the states election.

That call alone screams corrupt intent. And the barely veiled way Trump threatened Raffensperger in that call reinforces Trumps evil state of mind.

Fourth, Trumps speech immediately preceding the Capitol attack included a provable, telling lie that he would join the Capitol march with the crowd even though his pre-speech schedule showed no such plan and Trump did nothing of the sort. A properly instructed jury would likely conclude that this lie reflected Trumps desire to remain far from the violence he had encouraged, giving him both physical safety and plausible deniability and further evidencing a corrupt state of mind.

Fifth, Trumps failure for three hours to call off the siege after it began, notwithstanding violent televised images and entreaties from his children, advisers and allies despite his undoubted duty to take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed was manifestly depraved.

Sixth, when Trump belatedly asked the insurrectionists to go home, he called them patriots who should remember this day for ever. A federal judge wrote in an 18 February opinion that a reasonable observer could read that tweet as ratifying the violence and other illegal acts that took place that day.

Seventh, willful ignorance of incriminating facts is equivalent to knowledge. Drug couriers cannot escape conviction by having chosen not to ask what was inside the heroin-containing package they were handsomely paid to import. In Trumps case, his purported belief in election-changing voter fraud was at the very least willfully blind to the facts before him.

Finally, another of Trumps anticipated innocent intent defenses that he was relying on his lawyer John Eastman would fail. Eastman has stated that it was on his advice that Trump sought to have Pence reject electoral votes for President Biden or to delay the entire vote.

Even if Trump and Eastman had the requisite attorney-client relationship, which is dubious as a matter of fact, the defense has a gaping hole: under the law, Trumps reliance must have been reasonable.

Far from being reasonable, Eastmans claim that that Pence was the ultimate arbiter of the electoral count was utter nonsense. Trump would be unable to produce any lawyer who supported that constitutionally absurd theory and could withstand even amateur cross-examination.

A concluding point. Some observers have expressed fear that a single Trump-supporting juror could hang the jury, suggesting that the US attorney general, Merrick Garland, might just deem that risk to be too great to be worth running. But as the BBCs observer of Guy Reffitts trial noted, every juror there saw through the smoke the defendant was blowing. Jurors are instructed to use their common sense, and the jury in Reffitt did just that.

A DC jury would do the same in a trial of the conspiracys central actor. Once all the evidence is expeditiously gathered, with or without the special counsel that we recommend, the justice department must indict him.

Laurence H Tribe is the Carl M Loeb university professor emeritus of constitutional law at Harvard University. Follow him @tribelaw. Dennis Aftergut is a former federal prosecutor, currently of counsel to Lawyers Defending American Democracy

Originally posted here:

The evidence is clear: its time to prosecute Donald Trump - The Guardian

Donald Trump, Steve Bannon, Tucker Carlson, Michael Flynn and the other leaders of the American neofascist movement are very generous, in their own sinister fashion. They make their escalating threats of right-wing violence, insurrection and other forms of mayhem in public. There is little skulduggery or subterfuge involved.

Why are they so bold? Because they have suffered no serious long-term negative consequences for their behavior. And for the most part, the Republican fascists and the larger white right are winning in their war against American democracy. Momentum is on their side. Why should they conceal their intentions?

When disaster follows be it some version of Jan. 6 (which is almost inevitable) or other acts of right-wing terror the American people and their leaders will not be able to claim ignorance. They have repeatedly been warned and have chosen to ignore those warnings.

RELATED:In the coming second American Civil War, which side are you on?

Last Saturday at a rally in Florence, South Carolina, Donald Trump continued with his threats of white supremacist violence. He suggested that his political cult members should enter into a lethal blood pact and fight an existential battle against the phantasm of "critical race theory" as proof of their loyalty:

Getting critical race theory out of our schools is not just a matter of values, it's also a matter of national survival. We have no choice. The fate of any nation ultimately depends upon the willingness of its citizens to lay down and they must do this lay down their very lives to defend their country. If we allow the Marxists and communists and socialists to teach our children to hate America, there will be no one left to defend our flag or protect our great country or its freedom.

Trump's commands are part of a larger pattern of behavior. At recent rallies in Arizona and Texas, he made similar hints at a "race war", and other appeals to fascist violence. Histhreats are becoming ever clearer and less veiled: His suggestion that his followers must be willing to die in order to stop the imaginary threat of "critical race theory" almost directly echo the infamous neo-Nazi "14 words" slogan and pledge.

How did the American mainstream news media respond to Trump's most recent white supremacist threats of violence and "race war"? For the most part, theyignored it. If an obligatory comment was offered about Trump's hate rally in South Carolina, it was derisive. Those reporters who did write about Trump's speech defaulted to obsolescent and dangerous habits of "horse race" political journalism, or whitewashing Trump's speech by focusing on "policy issues" or his signals that he is likely to run for president again in 2024. Such an approach normalizes, and therefore empowers, Trumpism and neofascism.

America's mainstream news media and larger political class continue to demonstrate that they are unwilling to respond to the escalating threats posed by the Trump movement and the larger white right.

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Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser and U.S. Army general turned coup plotter, spoke last weekend at a "ReAwaken America" event in Southern California that brought together election-fraud truthers, QAnon adherents and other conspiracy theorists. He also threatened violence against educators who resist the Republican moral panic over"critical race theory":

We need you to charge the machine gun nest. Maybe I'm just asking you to dig a little bit deeper there or hold this side of the line, or form up cause we're gonna counterattack over here, and that counterattack is, we're gonna go after school boards.

Flynn's summoning of violence was not random hyperbole: He was an intelligence officer and is a trained expert in psy-ops, propaganda and manipulation.

Ron Filipkowski, a former federal prosecutor and an expert on right-wing extremism, was among the first people to sound the alarm about Flynn's recent comments. He offered further context in an email to Salon:

Flynn's general message is that there is a global cabal that runs the world, which is controlled by elites who want to erode national sovereignty. The supposed global elites use the media, universities and other institutions to manipulate and control the population. Part of these claims is that there is a "deep state" of career civil servants and government officials who really run things and that elected officials do not.

I am most concerned with supervisor of elections and secretary of state races. These officials in swing states, most of whom were establishment Republicans, refused to go along with the Big Lie and did their duty in 2020. That is why it is a high priority for Trump, Flynn, Bannon and others to replace them. These are low profile and low dollar races that can be won with far less effort than others. These are also races that the GOP is intensely focused on and the Democrats are not. If election fraud conspiracy theorists take over the offices that run and administer our elections, coupled with all the new "voter fraud" legislation, that would be a huge threat to the survival of our democracy.

As with Trump, the mainstream news media was largely mute in response to Flynn's comments.

In the Age of Trump and beyond, the Republican fascists' tactics of stochastic terrorism in combination with increasingly overt and direct threats of political violence against Democrats, liberals, Black and brown people and other targeted "enemy" groups have proven highly effective. TheCapitol attack of January 2021 was a direct result of these tactics.

Domestic terrorism and other law enforcement experts are warning that right-wing extremists have been empowered by events such as Jan. 6, and continue to be a great (and growing) threat to the country's safety and security.The Department of Homeland Security has warned of an increased likelihood of right-wing terrorism and other political violence during the 2022 midterms and the 2024 presidential election.

Election board members and other public officials, particularly including school board members, find themselves under siege by threats of violence and intimidation. Public opinion and other research has shown that millions of Trump supporters are willing to support political violence and terrorism in order to "save" their notion of "traditional" America.

In recent interview at the Washington Post, political scientistBarbara Walter, an expert on civil wars and political violence, discussed the escalating threats America now faces:

There are definitely lots of groups on the far right who want war. They are preparing for war. And not talking about it does not make us safer.

What we're heading toward is an insurgency, which is a form of a civil war. That is the 21st-century version of a civil war, especially in countries with powerful governments and powerful militaries, which is what the United States is. And it makes sense. An insurgency tends to be much more decentralized, often fought by multiple groups. Sometimes they're actually competing with each other. Sometimes they coordinate their behavior. They use unconventional tactics. They target infrastructure. They target civilians. They use domestic terror and guerrilla warfare. Hit-and-run raids and bombs.

We've already seen this in other countries with powerful militaries, right? The IRA took on the British government. Hamas has taken on the Israeli government. These are two of the most powerful militaries in the world. And they fought for decades. And in the case of Hamas I think we could see a third intifada. And they pursue a similar strategy.

Here it's called leaderless resistance. And that method of how to defeat a powerful government like the United States is outlined in what people are calling the bible of the far right: "The Turner Diaries," which is this fictitious account of a civil war against the U.S. government. It lays out how you do this. And one of the things it says is,Do not engage the U.S. military. You know, avoid it at all costs. Go directly to targets around the country that are difficult to defend and disperse yourselves so it's hard for the government to identify you and infiltrate you and eliminate you entirely.

Walter continued by explaining that she was not surprised by the events of Jan. 6, 2021, and that in fact her "biggest emotion was just relief":

It was just, Oh my gosh, this is agift. Because it's bringing it out into the public eye in the most obvious way. And the result has to be that we can't deny or ignore that we have a problem. Because it's right there before us. And what has been surprising, actually, is how hard the Republican Party has worked to continue to deny it and to create this smokescreen and in many respects, how effective that's been, at least among their supporters. Wow: Even the most public act of insurrection, probably a treasonous act that 10, 20 years ago would have just cut to the heart of every American, there are still real attempts to deny it. But it was a gift because it brought this cancer ... out into the open.

The American political class, most of the news media and other elites remain committed to denial and happy-talk fables about the dire realities now facing the country. That applies to most of the public as well. But because of their experience with slavery, Jim and Jane Crow and other forms of white supremacy and fascist violence, Black Americans as well as others who have suffered under power know to take these threats seriously.

In a previous essay at Salon, I warned that the fascist train is bearing down on the American people and that too many of them have convinced themselves that if they ignore the danger, they will somehow magically escape the destruction. Many white Americans in particular believe, consciously or otherwise, that white privilege (or their class, their gender or their religion) will protect them from the fascist onslaught. That is a massive and potentially fatal error of both assumption and inference. American fascism is being powered by white privilege in its most lethal form, but ultimately it will spare no one, of any race or color.

Read more on the rising threat of political violence in America:

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Donald Trump, Michael Flynn call for violence they're not kidding, but the media doesn't care - Salon