The Trump Criminal Case MEGATHREAD.

[Father Francis]

Trump will become as dangerous as any other cobra when faced with the mongoose of justice.

I'm pretty sure Star Trek TNG is a documentary sent from the distant future and your post is from a less distant future. We're both in trouble for violating the Temporal Prime Directive.

https://youtu.be/vdg9gkmWsEA

[Dr. Shades]

On Father's Day this year, I called my father (an Air Force retiree who served 20+ years) a traitor for continuing to support this man.

Well, don’t keep us in suspense. What was his reaction?

[Moksha]

Trump will appear in court tomorrow for his latest indictments. His lawyer has hinted at a free speech defense: That everybody is entitled to call for an insurrection to overthrow the government of the United States and appoint himself as dictator for life.

[MsJack]

Well, don’t keep us in suspense. What was his reaction?

He pretty much Karen'ed me and was like, "How dare you say that after my years of military service!" And I was like, "Your years of military service don't mean anything if you support a traitor. Look where that got Ashli Babbitt."

He had me on speaker phone and my stepmother immediately began reminding him that he isn't supposed to discuss politics with his daughters (he had started with the politics, not me), so he dropped it.

I try to maintain a relationship with him, but my sister and I have both told him that he isn't to bring up politics with us and if he does, we'll let him have it. And we're the mothers of his only four grandchildren, so he knows not to mess with us if he wants to see them.

[Res Ipsa]

Trump will appear in court tomorrow for his latest indictments. His lawyer has hinted at a free speech defense: That everybody is entitled to call for an insurrection to overthrow the government of the United States and appoint himself as dictator for life.

I'm sure that will be his pitch, but it isn't going anywhere. Oral or written communications as part of a conspiracy to commit a crime aren't protected speech -- they are treated as conduct. The charges against Trump are based on his conduct.

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

Well, don’t keep us in suspense. What was his reaction?

He pretty much Karen'ed me and was like, "How dare you say that after my years of military service!" And I was like, "Your years of military service don't mean anything if you support a traitor. Look where that got Ashli Babbitt."

He had me on speaker phone and my stepmother immediately began reminding him that he isn't supposed to discuss politics with his daughters (he had started with the politics, not me), so he dropped it.

I try to maintain a relationship with him, but my sister and I have both told him that he isn't to bring up politics with us and if he does, we'll let him have it. And we're the mothers of his only four grandchildren, so he knows not to mess with us if he wants to see them.

I hate it when military veterans wear their 'service' on their sleeves. It's aggravating. It's not a shield against criticism, and it most certainly isn't a license to spout off about, well, anything. If he's going to be a dick then he should just own it, and be a dick. There's no need to drag other servicemembers into their vortex of self-righteousness.

- Doc

[Res Ipsa]

He pretty much Karen'ed me and was like, "How dare you say that after my years of military service!" And I was like, "Your years of military service don't mean anything if you support a traitor. Look where that got Ashli Babbitt."

He had me on speaker phone and my stepmother immediately began reminding him that he isn't supposed to discuss politics with his daughters (he had started with the politics, not me), so he dropped it.

I try to maintain a relationship with him, but my sister and I have both told him that he isn't to bring up politics with us and if he does, we'll let him have it. And we're the mothers of his only four grandchildren, so he knows not to mess with us if he wants to see them.

I hate it when military veterans wear their 'service' on their sleeves. It's aggravating. It's not a shield against criticism, and it most certainly isn't a license to spout off about, well, anything. If he's going to be a dick then he should just own it, and be a dick. There's no need to drag other servicemembers into their vortex of self-righteousness.

- Doc

I've got a buddy who is retired Air Force. He says the same thing.

[Res Ipsa]

Here is the part of the conspiracy that is most chilling to me:

80. Also on the morning of January 3, Co-Conspirator 4 met with the Defendant at the White House—again without having informed senior Justice Department officials—and accepted the Defendant’s offer that he become Acting Attorney General..

81. On the afternoon of January 3, Co-Conspirator 4 spoke with a Deputy White House Counsel. The previous month, the Deputy White House Counsel had informed the Defendant that “there is no world, there is no option in which you do not leave the White House [o]n January 20th.” Now, the same Deputy White House Counsel tried to dissuade Co-Conspirator 4 from assuming the role of Acting Attorney General. The Deputy White House Counsel reiterated to Co-Conspirator 4 that there had not been outcome-determinative fraud in the election and that if the Defendant remained in office nonetheless, there would be “riots in every major city in the United States.” Co-Conspirator 4 responded, “Well, [Deputy White House Counsel], that’s why there’s an Insurrection Act.”

Co-conspirator 4 is Jeffrey Clark. Invoking the insurrection act would have allowed Trump to deploy the U.S. military against anyone who resisted the coup. And, at the time Clark made that statement, Trump had already offered Clark the position of Acting Attorney General and he had accepted.

83. On the evening of January 3, the Defendant met for a briefing on an overseas national security issue with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other senior national security advisors. The Chairman briefed the Defendant on the issue—which had previously arisen in December—as well as possible ways the Defendant could handle it. When the Chairman and another advisor recommended that the Defendant take no action because Inauguration Day was only seventeen days away and any course of action could trigger something unhelpful, the Defendant calmly agreed, stating, “Yeah, you’re right, it’s too late for us. We’re going to give that to the next guy.”

Trump knew he had lost.

94. Also on January 4, when Co-Conspirator 2 acknowledged to the Defendant’s Senior Advisor that no court would support his proposal, the Senior Advisor told Co-Conspirator 2, “[Y]ou’re going to cause riots in the streets.” Co-Conspirator 2 responded that there had previously been points in the nation’s history where violence was necessary to protect the republic.

This was an attempted coup -- to overturn the results of a lawful election -- and back it up with violence against American citizens using the U.S. military.

Maybe some of these co-conspirators will cut deals. But I hope the prosecution offers no deals to Clark and Giuliani. They deserve hard time.

[Manetho]

This was an attempted coup -- to overturn the results of a lawful election -- and back it up with violence against American citizens using the U.S. military.

Thank you for laying it out like that.

Trump tried to become a dictator. MsJack is right: anyone supporting him now is betraying the United States.

Maybe some of these co-conspirators will cut deals. But I hope the prosecution offers no deals to Clark and Giuliani. They deserve hard time.

I wish ill upon Eastman, too. He was the architect of the nonsensical legal theory underlying the coup attempt, and a few months before that, he claimed that Kamala Harris couldn't be vice-president, based on an even more crazed version of birtherism that didn't dispute that she was born in the United States, but claimed that she didn't really count because she was born to immigrant parents. Trying to sabotage a presidential election and attacking all children of immigrant parents in a mere six months is quite a track record.

[Res Ipsa]

This was an attempted coup -- to overturn the results of a lawful election -- and back it up with violence against American citizens using the U.S. military.

Thank you for laying it out like that.

Trump tried to become a dictator. MsJack is right: anyone supporting him now is betraying the United States.

Maybe some of these co-conspirators will cut deals. But I hope the prosecution offers no deals to Clark and Giuliani. They deserve hard time.

I wish ill upon Eastman, too. He was the architect of the nonsensical legal theory underlying the coup attempt, and a few months before that, he claimed that Kamala Harris couldn't be vice-president, based on an even more crazed version of birtherism that didn't dispute that she was born in the United States, but claimed that she didn't really count because she was born to immigrant parents. Trying to sabotage a presidential election and attacking all children of immigrant parents in a mere six months is quite a track record.

Yeah, I didn't single out Eastman because he wasn't throwing around statements about using the U.S. Military against U.S. civilians. But he was the legal architect of the conspiracy and admitted that he knew Pence would have to break the law to play his assigned part in the coup.