Donald Trump in Hot Water

[batmagadanleadoff]

If he denies it, it is a case of "he said-she said".
But she has described so much detail of the encounter (the room, what he said, what he wore) that she may have turned it into a believable "He said-she saw" case.

I doubt that he'll take the stand to deny it because if he does, he will expose himself to the most brutal cross examination anyone has ever witnessed and he'll get murdered because he's a pathological liar who can't go more than a sentence and a half without lying.

And he's gonna have to deny a heckuva lot more than just the sexual encounter.

[batmagadanleadoff]

From the NYT:

Stormy Daniels Describes Sexual Encounter With Trump and Is Grilled by His Lawyer

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/05/07 ... my-daniels

Excerpt (emphasis added):

Susan Hoffinger, the prosecutor, is now asking Stormy Daniels about having had sex with Trump, which Trump denies. “Did you at some point end up on the bed having sex with him?” Hoffinger asks. Daniels says yes. When she describes the position they were in, the defense objects, and the objection is sustained...The defense has been objecting to many questions and the judge has been sustaining a lot of them. He is not happy about this testimony. As we see how explicit this becomes, it's worth remembering the following: This is relevant testimony, given that this encounter is at the heart of the prosecution's case. But it also may be a risk for prosecutors. It’s very hard to know what jurors will make of it all.

[Lefty Specialist]

Judge denies a motion for a mistrial based on the salacious Stormy Daniels testimony being prejudicial to Trump. Well, it's the heart of the case; these details were the ones he didn't want to get out, and he committed the election fraud payments to prevent them from doing so.

[MFS62]

Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert showed up in court today. I guess they're there to provide immoral support.

Later

[Lefty Specialist]

Hands in the air, Lauren.

[MFS62]

Wishing Ai was real.
https://www.businessinsider.com/chatgpt ... lty-2024-5

Two AI applications found, based on the evidence, Trump is guilty.

Later

[MFS62]

I'm surprised the DA didn't make more of the $360,000 authorized to pay Cohen.
If I pay someone to do something for me (e.g.- paint my house) I pay them the amount on the invoice, and they are responsible to pay taxes on what they earned. I am not responsible for adding money to make sure that they end up with the billed amount after taxes.
The DA should stress that this is not, therefore, a payment but a reimbursement to make sure Cohen received the full amount necessary to pay Stormy Daniels for her silence.
Later

[Lefty Specialist]

Defense rests after putting on only two witnesses, one of whom pissed off the judge so much he excused the jurors twice so he could admonish him. And now the jury will be sitting out there in the world for a whole week, including a holiday weekend, with relatives and friends either saying 'you better nail that SOB' or 'You better NOT nail that SOB.'

[Edgy MD]

I feel awful nervous.

If he so much as gets a hung jury, his image of invulnerability grows tremendously and his campaign gets a huge gust of wind in its sails.

[kcmets]

If he so much as gets a hung jury, his image of invulnerability grows tremendously and his campaign gets a huge gust of wind in its sails.

Yup!©

The orange tidal bluster would be unbearable to watch and listen to.

[Lefty Specialist]

Yeah, fingers and toes crossed. It seems like the prosecution has put on a solid case and the defense was sub-par. But it only takes one rogue MAGA juror.

[Frayed Knot]

I've never had any faith in this case, particularly with anything substantial holding up over the longer term.

[Centerfield]

I've never had any faith in this case, particularly with anything substantial holding up over the longer term.

Do you have reservations that there'd be a conviction? Or that the conviction would lead to jail time?

I was of the camp that a conviction of some sort would be found, but that the sentence would be probation etc. No jail time.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I fear an acquittal.

Maybe he'd get house arrest, with an ankle bracelet? (A gold one! A beautiful ankle bracelet!)

[batmagadanleadoff]

I fear an acquittal.

Maybe he'd get house arrest, with an ankle bracelet? (A gold one! A beautiful ankle bracelet!)

I think acquittal is the unlikeliest jury finding. But you never know what a jury will do. A hung jury is a stronger possibility. It takes just one MAGA fanatic to have Trojan horsed his or her way onto the jury
to prevent a conviction.

What has gone unsaid in all of this wall to wall media coverage is that if there's a hung jury, the prosecution has the option of retrying the case.

[batmagadanleadoff]

I've never had any faith in this case, particularly with anything substantial holding up over the longer term.

Do you have reservations that there'd be a conviction? Or that the conviction would lead to jail time?

I was of the camp that a conviction of some sort would be found, but that the sentence would be probation etc. No jail time.

He will surely appeal any conviction. There's no way the judge will incarcerate him pending his appeal. Me, I doubt he'd ever face jail time for this crime, even if the conviction is upheld and all appeals are exhausted.


Wanna hear my Florida case prediction? I'll tell youse anyways. The scumbag judge will dismiss the entire case after a jury is empaneled, thus preventing the prosecution from appealing or doing anything about her dismissal.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Wanna hear my Florida case prediction? I'll tell youse anyways. The scumbag judge will dismiss the entire case after a jury is empaneled, thus preventing the prosecution from appealing or doing anything about her dismissal.

Well, first she's gonna delay the case past the Election to see how that plays out, knowing that if Trump wins, he'll have his DOJ end the case. But if Biden wins, she'll come up with some cockeyed, convoluted intelligence-insulting reason to dismiss the case after a jury is empaneled and jeopardy sets in. This fucking typewriter is totally in the bag for Trump. And she has a lifetime appointment. She could not give one flying fuck what her critics think of her.

Jack Smith's only hope is to have the Circuit Court of Appeals force her off the case.

[Frayed Knot]

I've never had any faith in this case, particularly with anything substantial holding up over the longer term.

Do you have reservations that there'd be a conviction? Or that the conviction would lead to jail time?

I was of the camp that a conviction of some sort would be found, but that the sentence would be probation etc. No jail time.

Guilty in some degree or another? Maybe. But it will be appealed immediately, almost certainly with claims of prosecutorial
misconduct and judicial bias, and a subsequent trial would take forever while not necessarily yielding the same result. And
remember that this whole thing is contingent on not just whether he paid her off (OF COURSE he did!) but that the payment
is not just indicative of sleaziness (again, OF COURSE he is!) but that it somehow constitutes election fraud and that was
always a tough sell IMO even though it was the entire reason for bringing the charges in the first place.

[Edgy MD]

Well, he faces 34 counts, all of which amount to falsifying business records. He could well convicted of those (evidence is overwhelming) without it the jury necessarily finding it establishes election fraud.

Election fraud is the motive, but not the charge.

But ... the problem is that they are felony charges, and those laws are only counted as felonies if the motive was that he was falisifying documents toward the end of committing a further crime.

So election fraud doesn't have to be officially found to convict him, but it or something of the like it needs to be understood to have been going on.

So ... tricky.

[Cowtipper]

I don't follow politics. What did Trump do? I always thought he was really good and pretty smart.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

This is not the forum for performative heel turns

[The Hot Corner]

I don't follow politics. What did Trump do? I always thought he was really good and pretty smart.

Trump and smart are not two words I associate with one another.

[MFS62]

I don't follow politics. What did Trump do? I always thought he was really good and pretty smart.

Here is the list of the charges that have been brought against him in the four court proceedings underway.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-cases- ... p_catchall

That does not include his two impeachment trials or offenses committed before he was president.
Later

[kcmets]

I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THE CHARGES ARE IN THIS RIGGED CASE--I'M ENTITLED TO SPECIFICITY JUST LIKE ANYONE ELSE. THERE IS NO CRIME!

Yeah, uh, ok...

(used to be they call in the men in the white suits and they just put
'em in a straightjacket and cart them off - those were the days)

[MFS62]

(used to be they call in the men in the white suits and they just put
'em in a straightjacket and cart them off to a rubber room- those were the days)

Made that thought even nicer. :)
Later