Trump Indicted!

[Takhisis]

No need for special sauces

But SCOTUS has already legislated that bribery is fine.

 

[Sommerswerd]

AG Merrick Garland is saying he is going to release part of the Special Counsel's report (volume one). Judge Eileen Cannon tried to block the release of the report to protect Trump, but it looks like Garland might just ignore her order, because she didn't have jurisdiction to issue such an order in the first place.

Garland intends to release portion of Jack Smith's report related to Jan. 6 probe​

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland intends to publicly release the portion of special counsel Jack Smith's final report related to his federal election interference case against Donald Trump, according to a court filing Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who dismissed Trump's classified documents case, on Tuesday temporarily blocked the release of Smith's final report in order to prevent "irreparable harm," while the matter is considered by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

Prosecutors in Wednesday's filing argued that Garland has the "inherent" authority to release the report, and they asked the Eleventh Circuit to vacate Judge Cannon's order and deny the request from Trump's former co-defendants, aide Walt Nauta and staffer Carlos De Oliveira, to block the release of the report.

Prosecutors argued that because Smith already transmitted his report to Garland, the argument made by Trump's former co-defendants about the legitimacy of Smith's appointment is "moot."

"The Attorney General is the Senate-confirmed head of the Department of Justice and is vested with the authority to supervise all officers and employees of the Department. The Attorney General thus has authority to decide whether to release an investigative report prepared by his subordinates," prosecutors said in their filing.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/garland-i...jack-smiths-report-related/story?id=117462980
Anyway... Thanks for nothing Garland

 

[Lexicus]

AG Merrick Garland is saying he is going to release part of the Special Counsel's report (volume one). Judge Eileen Cannon tried to block the release of the report to protect Trump, but it looks like Garland might just ignore her order, because she didn't have jurisdiction to issue such an order in the first place.

Garland intends to release portion of Jack Smith's report related to Jan. 6 probe​

https://abcnews.go.com/US/garland-i...jack-smiths-report-related/story?id=117462980
Anyway... Thanks for nothing Garland

Judge Cannon has ruled that a pinhead can hold no fewer than 8 but no more than 11 angels.

 

[Takhisis]

Judge Cannon has ruled that a pinhead can hold no fewer than 8 but no more than 11 angels.

But did she have the jurisdiction to rule so or not?

 

[Birdjaguar]

She has only a connection to the remaining 2 defendants in the documents case. She wants to prevent Smith's report from affecting that case. Smith could just redact out all the material related to those two guys and be fine.

 

[Sommerswerd]

She has only a connection to the remaining 2 defendants in the documents case. She wants to prevent Smith's report from affecting that case. Smith could just redact out all the material related to those two guys and be fine.

She doesn't gaf about the remaining Defendants.

 

[Sommerswerd]

Judge Cannon has ruled that a pinhead can hold no fewer than 8 but no more than 11 angels.

If there's one thing she is an expert on... its pinheads...

 

[Takhisis]

If there's one thing she is an expert on... its pinheads...

Is this a Ramones reference?

 

[Broken_Erika]

Supreme Court rejects Trump bid to halt hush-money case sentencing​

The US Supreme Court has rejected Trump's last-minute bid to halt his Friday sentencing in his hush-money criminal case.

The president-elect had urged the top court to consider whether he was entitled to an automatic stay of his sentencing, but the justices rejected the application by 5-4.

Trump was found guilty of falsifying records to disguise reimbursements for a $130,000 hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels as legal expenses in 2016.

Justice Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the case, indicated in a recent ruling that he will not consider a jail term for Trump.

The president-elect reacted angrily to the ruling on Thursday evening, telling reporters that it was a "disgrace", but also a "fair decision, actually."

"It's a judge that shouldn't have been on the case," he said, apparently referring to Justice Merchan, and adding "they can have fun with their political opponent".

Two of the Supreme Court's conservative justices - John Roberts and Amy Coney Barrett - joined the three liberals in the majority to deny Trump's request for a delay.

The remaining four judges - Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh - would have granted Trump's bid.

Alito has been criticised for speaking to Trump just a day before the decision in a phone call when the top judge recommended one of his former law clerks for a job with the incoming president's administration.

Three lower New York courts had rejected Trump's delay attempt before the Supreme Court made its final decision on Thursday evening to let the sentencing proceed as scheduled.

The justices denied Trump's petition because they believed his concerns could be addressed during an appeal.

They also wrote that the burden of attending a sentencing was "insubstantial".

Trump's lawyers had also asked the Supreme Court to consider whether presidents-elect had immunity from criminal prosecution.

Manhattan prosecutors had urged the Supreme Court to reject Trump's petition, arguing there was a "compelling public interest" in holding the sentencing and that there was "no basis for such an intervention".

Following the jury's guilty verdict in May 2024, Trump was initially set to be sentenced in July, but his lawyers successfully persuaded Justice Merchan to delay the sentencing on three separate occasions.

Last week, Justice Merchan declared the sentencing would move forward on 10 January, just days before Trump is sworn in again as president.

The days since have seen a volley of appeals and court filings from Trump's attorneys, trying to stave off the sentencing.

But in swift succession, New York appeals courts rejected the bids.

Finally on Wednesday, Trump's lawyers petitioned the Supreme Court to intervene.

The court should stay the proceedings "to prevent grave injustice and harm to the institution of the Presidency and the operations of the federal government", they wrote.

The bench's 6-3 conservative majority had handed Trump a major victory last year, when they ruled that US presidents had immunity from criminal prosecution for "official acts" undertaken in office.

That decision gutted a federal prosecution against Trump on charges he illegally interfered in the 2020 election outcome, which he denied and pleaded not guilty.

But since his re-election, Trump's lawyers have tried to persuade a series of judges that those presidential immunity protections should also apply to a president-elect in this Manhattan criminal case.

Manhattan prosecutors argued in their own brief to the Supreme Court that Trump's "extraordinary immunity claim is unsupported by any decision from any court".

"It is axiomatic that there is only one President at a time," the prosecutors wrote.

Separately, a group of former public officials and legal scholars filed an amicus brief - effectively a letter of support - to the Supreme Court, asking the justices to reject Trump's "attempt to avoid accountability".

In another legal setback for Trump on Thursday, a federal appeals court in Georgia rejected a bid to block the release of a portion of special counsel Jack Smith's report into Trump's alleged plot to prevent the transfer of power to Joe Biden after the 2020 election.

Lawyers for Walt Nauta, a former aide, and former Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos de Oliveira had argued that the release would unfairly prejudice potential future criminal cases against them.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2v2exxn72o

 

[Sommerswerd]

Trump sentenced in felony "hush money" case, released with no restrictions​

Appearing in court virtually from his Mar-a-Lago home Friday, President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced for his crimes in the New York "hush money" case and released with no restrictions.


Justice Juan Merchan followed through on a promise made one week ago to give Trump a sentence of unconditional discharge, which includes neither jail time nor any other restriction that might impede Trump after his inauguration on Jan. 20.

Merchan said during sentencing Friday that he was granting that sentence because he believed it was the only legal option, just 10 days before Trump assumes the presidency.

He told the court that "this has been a truly extraordinary case," even though once the courtroom doors closed, the trial itself had been no more special or unique or extraordinary than any other.

However, he told Trump, the same could not be said about the circumstances surrounding the president-elect's sentencing "because of the office you once occupied and will soon occupy again." He said that it was the legal protections afforded to the office of the president that were extraordinary, not the occupant of the office.

Those considerable — even extraordinary — legal protections afforded by the office of the chief executive, were a factor that overrode all others, Merchan said, but they were not a mitigating factor. He said they did not reduce the seriousness of the crimes, and even those considerable protections did not have the power to erase a jury verdict.

But because of those protections, Merchan said he had determined that the only lawful sentence that permits entry of a judgment in conviction, without encroaching on the highest post in the land, was an unconditional discharge, which he imposed to cover all 34 counts.

While Trump's trial and arraignment brought crowds and overnight lines, on Friday morning, the general public line was sparse and no onlookers in the park across the street were visible before dawn.

Trump was found guilty in May after a seven-week trial. A unanimous jury concluded he committed 34 felonies in authorizing a scheme in 2017 to falsify records, in order to cover up reimbursements for a "hush money" payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

Daniels testified during the trial, as did Trump's former lawyer and "fixer" Michael Cohen, who received the falsified reimbursements for his wire to Daniels just before the 2016 presidential election. Cohen gave Daniels the $130,000 payment in exchange for her silence about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump years earlier.

Multiple witnesses testified that Trump was pleased voters did not learn of Daniels' story before the 2016 election.

Merchan held Trump in contempt 10 times during the trial for violations of a gag order barring him from making public comments about witnesses, court staff and others. In issuing the 10th contempt citation, Merchan — who frequently acknowledged the unique circumstances of the trial and its famed, powerful defendant — foreshadowed Friday's likely sentence.

"The last thing I want to do is to put you in jail," Merchan said.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-sentencing-new-york-hush-money-case/

Well... yeah... duh... we got that part loud and clear.

So, TL;DR - Trump has finally been sentenced... to nothing whatsoever..

Again... Thanks for nothing

 

[Sommerswerd]

Appeals court allows release of Smith’s report on Trump’s election-reversal efforts​

A federal appellate court ruled Thursday that the Justice Department may publicly release special counsel Jack Smith’s report on Donald Trump’s efforts to undo the results of the 2020 election, although the timing of that release remains unclear.

The ruling did not distinguish between the two volumes of Smith’s report — one dealing with his election-interference probe and the other focused on Smith’s investigation into Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents.

But Smith and Attorney General Merrick Garland have said in court filings and in a letter to Congress that they will keep the classified documents volume under wraps while litigation related to the case continues.

The president-elect and two of his former co-defendants in the documents case had urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit to block the release of the entire report, with Trump saying making it public would harm his White House transition.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/01/09/trump-jack-smith-special-counsel-report/

Obviously, the cases against Trump's co-Defendants are going to be dropped as soon as Trump takes office, so Garland should release everything, since there is no actual risk to the Co-Defendants, as their cases are going to be dropped in ten days, when Trump takes control of the DOJ.

 

[Klaus Hergersheimer]

I'm certain Trump's opponents can safely argue that whatever opposition they take towards him, they would consider that as punishment enough. Trump is the first convicted felon to hold the US presidency; I presume that will mean something to someone somewhere.

otoh, the failure to legally punish him will certainly add to his air of invincibility and the perception that all the charges were politically motivated.
So we might just break even.

 

[choxorn]

Trump sentenced in felony "hush money" case, released with no restrictions​

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-sentencing-new-york-hush-money-case/

Well... yeah... duh... we got that part loud and clear.

So, TL;DR - Trump has finally been sentenced... to nothing whatsoever..

Again... Thanks for nothing

Not even like, a token $1 fine or something? What the hell was even the point of all this and all the delays and court maneuverings if his only punishment is the justice system being like "You were a very naughty boy"

 

[Gorbles]

Not even like, a token $1 fine or something? What the hell was even the point of all this and all the delays and court maneuverings if his only punishment is the justice system being like "You were a very naughty boy"

Perfoooooormative juuuuuuuuustice!

(spoken as though some kind of telegraphed special attack in either a budget or otherwise self-aware superhero show)

 

[Klaus Hergersheimer]

Not even like, a token $1 fine or something? What the hell was even the point of all this and all the delays and court maneuverings if his only punishment is the justice system being like "You were a very naughty boy"

In my estimation, the prosecutors wanted to create an aura of guilt around Trump in which was basically a victimless crime, which simply fell through with his eventual [although not foreseeable] 2024 election. And I don't think they really thought about what a punishment should be, as I truly believe they were betting on a loss to then fine him or worse. They blew it...by their standards at least. In some ways it's unfortunate because this was the only charge against him to ever reach a jury and it is by far the least compelling out of the three more well-known ones.

 

[Birdjaguar]

It was the easiest way to keep him a convicted felon and avoid further appeals.

 

[Takhisis]

So, TL;DR - Trump has finally been sentenced... to nothing whatsoever..

If you don't mind my asking, wouldn't ‘hush money’ be covered under SCOTUS' ruling in 2024 that bribery is esentially legal?

 

[Sommerswerd]

It was the easiest way to keep him a convicted felon and avoid further appeals.

He's still appealing it...

If you don't mind my asking, wouldn't ‘hush money’ be covered under SCOTUS' ruling in 2024 that bribery is esentially legal?

No and nope, not at all

 

[Takhisis]

No and nope, not at all

So hush money isn't bribery? Hmmh.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Campaign spending violation.