Trump's world....

[Warrior]

[Slotback Right]

[DBP66]

Trump Consulted His Diet Coke Valet About How to Overturn Democracy, New Book Alleges

 

 

Nikki McCann Ramirez

Mon, September 12, 2022 at 10:20 AM

 

 

 

Donald-Trump - Credit: (Photo by Al Drago/Getty Images)

Former President Donald Trump told aides he would not leave the White House after his loss in the 2020 election, according to an upcoming book by New York Times White House correspondent Maggie Haberman, details of which have been reported by CNN.

“I’m just not going to leave,” Trump allegedly told staff, according to Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America, which is set to be released on Oct. 4. Haberman details how the former president initially accepted his electoral loss but quickly latched onto narratives of electoral fraud. “Why should I leave if they stole it from me?” Trump reportedly complained to Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel, while affirming to an aide that “we’re never leaving … how can you leave when you won an election?”

Haberman adds that Trump questioned virtually anyone who walked into his office about how he might be able to stay in power — including the valet who hand-delivered Diet Cokes, which infamously summoned via a button in the Oval Office.

Trump, who appears poised to run to reclaim the presidency in 2024, has faced an onslaught of scrutiny by lawmakers and investigators since leaving office. Currently, the Department of Justice is pursuing an investigation into Trump’s potential involvement with schemes to overturn the election, and the House Jan. 6 committee is expected to resume their inquiry into his role in the riot this month.

[DBP66]

[DBP66]

Trump’s Lawyers Contradict Trump’s Claim That Mar-a-Lago Docs Were Declassified

 

 

Nikki McCann Ramirez

Mon, September 12, 2022 at 12:34 PM

 

 

 

donald-trump-mar-a-lago-contradiction.jpg Celebrity Sightings In New York City - August 10, 2022 - Credit: James Devaney/GC Images

Former President Trump’s lawyers contradicted his assertions that the documents seized by the Department of Justice from his home at Mar-a-Lago were declassified, arguing in a court filing on Monday that the documents’ classification status should be “determined later.”

Trump’s lawyers did not claim that Trump had classified the documents, only that he had broad, virtually unquestionable authority to do so. The roundabout irresolution stands in contrast to Trump publicly stating that he had declassified the documents.

The filing was made in response to the DOJ’s appeal of Judge Aileen Cannon’s decision to appoint a “special master” to conduct a review of the documents. The DOJ is seeking to shorten the period of time granted for the review, to exclude more than 100 classified documents, and to modify the criteria under which the review is conducted to exclude claims of privilege.

 

Despite the judge’s decision to grant the request for a special master, the DOJ already reviewed the documents while the Trump camp waited two weeks before filing their opposing motion. The trove of documents seized in the Aug. 8 raid contained almost two hundred documents with high-level classification markings, including “top secret” designations. According to The Washington Post, some of the documents contained information about an unidentified “foreign government’s nuclear-defense readiness.”

The filing on Monday indicates Trump’s team is seeking to apply a two-fold strategy in order to block the DOJ from reviewing the documents: arguing that “the former president” has broad authority to decide what is and isn’t declassified, and that under the Presidential Records Act the materials belong with either Trump, as his personal property, or with the National Archives — but not with the DOJ.

Rolling Stone previously reported that the former president was privately demanding that his lawyers recover the documents. This, along with the back and forth between Trump’s legal team and the DOJ also contradict public statements from Trump that the department had planted evidence against him and lost documents.

The DOJ and Trump’s legal team last Friday submitted their proposed appointees for the “special master” position.

[golfaddict1]

 

Not too shabby Rick.  Double dog dare ya reference lol 💯 

[DBP66]

No delay for Trump Organization criminal tax fraud trial

 

FILE PHOTO: Trump Organization former chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg

 

Karen Freifeld

Mon, September 12, 2022 at 4:05 PM

 

 

By Karen Freifeld

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York judge overseeing a tax fraud case against the Trump Organization on Monday rejected any effort to delay next month's trial, acknowledging concern that former President Donald Trump's company might be trying to "stall" the criminal case.

At a pre-trial hearing in a New York state court in Manhattan, Justice Juan Merchan warned against delaying tactics, even as a Trump Organization lawyer said the decision by longtime chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg to plead guilty changed how the defense will present its case.

"One of the accusations is the defense is trying to stall," Merchan said. "It's starting to feel that way a little bit. ... I am repeating. We are not delaying this trial. It's starting Oct. 24th and we're going forward."

 

Prosecutors charged Trump's company and Weisselberg in July 2021 with scheming to defraud, tax fraud and falsifying business records for awarding "off-the-books" perks to senior executives.

The Trump Organization, which manages golf clubs, hotels and other real estate around the world, has pleaded not guilty and faces possible fines and other penalties if convicted.

Weisselberg initially pleaded not guilty, but changed his plea on Aug. 18 and agreed to testify though he is not cooperating with prosecutors' larger probe into Trump. His plea agreement calls for a five-month jail sentence.

Merchan also said he will not let the Trump Organization argue to jurors that it was a victim of "selective" prosecution by the Manhattan district attorney's office, now led by Democrat Alvin Bragg.

Susan Necheles, a lawyer for the company, said Weisselberg felt he was being targeted because of his ties to the Republican former president.

"I believe that he will say that he thinks he was targeted because of his association with Donald Trump," and pleaded guilty in part from concern the targeting would continue and he would be "unfairly unpunished," Necheles said.

Necheles also said Weisselberg told prosecutors that no one other than himself and Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney, who has immunity from prosecution, knew about the tax wrongdoing.

"He has no knowledge of former President Trump knowing anything about it or any of the other Trumps," Necheles said.

Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass disputed her characterization of Weisselberg's discussion with prosecutors.

Nicholas Gravante, a lawyer for Weisselberg, declined to comment.

Donald Trump has not been charged or accused of wrongdoing in the case.

Outside the courtroom, Necheles took issue with any suggestion of a stall. The trial is expected to last about four weeks.

"I'm not stalling," Necheles said. "I'm ready for trial."

[DBP66]

Roughly 40 subpoenas recently issued in DOJ's Jan. 6 probe

JOHN SANTUCCI and KATHERINE FAULDERS

Mon, September 12, 2022 at 6:13 PM

 

 

About 40 subpoenas were issued by the Justice Department last week as part of its criminal investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, sources familiar with the matter tell ABC News.

Among those subpoenaed are close advisers to former President Donald Trump, as well as former White House officials and staffers from his 2020 presidential campaign ranging from lower-level staffers to those at the highest levels of the campaign.

MORE: Federal grand jury probing Trump PAC's formation, fundraising efforts: Sources

At least one top Trump adviser, Boris Epshteyn, recently had his phone seized as part of this effort, the sources said.

Epshteyn did not respond to a request for comment from ABC News.

 

PHOTO: An explosion caused by a police munition is seen while supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump gather in front of the Capitol, Jan. 6, 2021. (Leah Millis/Reuters, FILE)

The New York Times first reported news of the roughly 40 subpoenas.

As ABC News has previous reported, the subpoenas are seeking information from witnesses about Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election, the events leading up to and surrounding the Jan. 6 attack, and the fundraising and spending efforts of the Trump-aligned Save America PAC.

[concha]

[tommygun58]

16 hours ago, golfaddict1 said:

 

Not too shabby Rick.  Double dog dare ya reference lol 💯 

Is this jerk related to Alex Jones?

[DBP66]

Trump's PAC faces scrutiny amid intensifying legal probes

JILL COLVIN

Tue, September 13, 2022 at 12:15 AM

 

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sitting on top of more than $115 million across several political committees, Donald Trump has positioned himself as a uniquely indomitable force in the GOP who would almost certainly have the resources to swamp his rivals if he launched another presidential campaign.

But that massive pile of money is also emerging as a potential vulnerability. His chief fundraising vehicle, Save America PAC, is under new legal scrutiny after the Justice Department issued a round of grand jury subpoenas that sought information about the political action committee's fundraising practices.

The scope of the probe is unclear. Grand jury subpoenas and search warrants issued by the Justice Department in recent days were related to numerous topics, including Trump's PAC, according to people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. The subpoenas seek records as well as testimony and ask at least some of the recipients about their knowledge of efforts to engage in election fraud, according to one of the people.

The subpoenas also ask for records of communication with Trump-allied lawyers who supported efforts to overturn the 2020 election results and plotted to line up fake electors in battleground states. A particular area of focus appears to be on the “Save America Rally” that preceded the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, the person said.

The investigation is one of several criminal probes Trump currently faces, including scrutiny of how documents with classified markings wound up at the former president's Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida. Regardless of Save America's ultimate role in the investigations, the flurry of developments has drawn attention to the PAC's management, how it has raised money and where those funds have been directed.

Trump spokesman Taylor Budowich slammed the subpoenas, saying a “weaponized and politicized Justice Department” was “casting a blind net to intimidate and silence Republicans who are fighting for his America First agenda.” Representatives for the Justice Department have declined to comment.

While Trump has more than $115 million held across various committees, the vast majority of it is stored at Save America. The PAC ended July with more than $99 million cash-on-hand, according to fundraising records — more than the Republican and Democratic national campaign committees combined.

Trump has continued to shovel up small-dollar donations in the months since, frustrating other Republicans who have been struggling to raise money ahead of the November midterm elections.

Save America is set up as a “leadership PAC” designed to allow political figures to fundraise for other campaigns. But the groups are often used by would-be candidates to fund political travel, polling and staff as they “test the waters" ahead of potential presidential runs. The accounts can also be used to contribute money to other candidates and party organizations, helping would-be candidates build political capital.

Much of the money Trump has amassed was raised in the days and weeks after the 2020 election, which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden. That’s when Trump supporters were bombarded with a nonstop stream of emails and texts, many containing all-caps lettering and blatant lies about a stolen 2020 election, soliciting cash for an “election defense fund.”

But no such fund ever existed. Instead, Trump has dedicated the money to other uses. He's financed dozens of rallies, paid staff and used the money to travel as he's teased an expected 2024 presidential run.

Other expenses have been more unusual. There was the $1 million donated last year to the Conservative Partnership Institute, a nonprofit that employs Cleta Mitchell and former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows, both of whom encouraged Trump’s failed attempt to overturn the 2020 election.

There was the $650,000 “charitable contribution” in July to the Smithsonian Institution to help fund portraits of Trump and the former first lady that will one day hang in the National Portrait Gallery, according to the Smithsonian spokesperson Linda St. Thomas.

Much of the money has also funded a different sort of defense fund — one that has paid the legal expenses of Trump confidants and aides who have been called to testify before the Jan. 6 committee.

Overall, Trump’s sprawling political operation has spent at least $8 million on “legal consulting” and “legal expenses” to at least 40 law firms since the insurrection, according to an analysis of campaign finance disclosures.

It’s unclear how much of that money went to legal fees for staffers after a congressional committee started investigating the origins of the attack. But at least $1.1 million has been paid to Elections LLC, a firm started by former Trump White House ethics lawyer Stefan Passantino, according to campaign finance and business records. An additional $1 million was paid to a legal trust housed at the same address as Passantino’s firm. Passantino did not respond to a request for comment Monday night. Payments have also been made to firms that specialize in environmental regulation and real estate matters.

As of July, only about $750,000 had been doled out to candidates for Congress, with an additional $150,000 given to candidates for state office, records show. Trump is expected to ramp up his political spending now that the general election season has entered full swing, though it remains unclear how much the notoriously thrifty former president will ultimately agree to spend.

Trump has long played coy about his 2024 plans, saying a formal announcement would trigger campaign finance rules that would, in part, force him to create a new campaign committee that would be bound by strict fundraising limits.

In the meantime, Trump aides have been discussing the prospect of creating a new super PAC or repurposing one that already exists as gets he closer to an expected announcement. While Trump could not use Save America to fund campaign activity after launching a run, aides have discussed the possibility of moving at least some of that money into a super PAC, according to people familiar with the talks who insisted on anonymity to discuss private plans.

Campaign finance experts are mixed on the legality of such a move. Some, like Richard Briffault, a professor at Columbia Law School and an expert in campaign finance, said he didn't see a problem.

“There may be some hoops he has to jump through,” he said. But “I don't see a problem with it going from one PAC to another ... I don’t see what would block it.”

Others disagree.

“It is illegal for a candidate to transfer a significant amount of money from a leadership PAC to a super PAC. You certainly can’t do $100 million,” said Adav Noti, a former Federal Election Commission attorney who now works for the Campaign Legal Center, a Washington-based government watchdog group focused on money and politics.

And whether or not Trump would face any consequences is a different matter.

For years, the FEC, which polices campaign finance laws, has been gridlocked. The commission is split evenly between Republicans and Democrats, and a majority vote is needed to take any enforcement action against a candidate.

Indeed, legal experts say Trump has repeatedly flouted campaign finance law since launching his 2016 White House run, with no consequence.

More than 50 complaints involving Trump and his various campaign committees have been filed with the FEC. In roughly half of those instances, FEC lawyers have concluded that there was reason to believe that he or his committees may have broken campaign finance law. But the commission, which now includes three Trump-appointed Republicans, has repeatedly deadlocked.

The list of dismissed complaints against Trump is extensive. In 2021, Republicans on the commission rejected the claim, supported by the FEC’s staff attorneys, that a Trump orchestrated hush-money payment by his former lawyer to pornographic film star Stormy Daniels amounted to an unreported in-kind contribution. In May, the commission similarly deadlocked over whether his campaign broke the law by hiding how it was spending cash during the 2020 campaign.

And over the summer, the commission rejected complaints stemming from Trump’s threat to withhold $391 million in aid for the Ukraine unless the Ukrainian officials opened an investigation into the relationship President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden had with a Ukrainian gas company called Burisma, which the FEC’s attorney’s determined was a potential violation of campaign finance law.

“There is no legal basis whatsoever for believing that Congress intended the FEC to police official acts of the government that may be intended to assist an officeholder’s reelection,” the commission’s three Republicans said in a written statement late last month.

That means any enforcement action would likely have to come from the Justice Department.

“He has nothing to fear from the Federal Election Commission until either its structure is changed or there is turnover among the FEC Commissioners,” said Brett G. Kappel, a longtime campaign finance attorney who works at the Washington-based firm Harmon Curran and has represented both Republicans and Democrats. “That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have anything to fear from the Justice Department, which is already apparently investigating Save America. From what I can see, there are multiple wire fraud allegations that could be the subject of a Justice Department investigation."

In the meantime, Trump and Save America continue to rake in contributions from grassroots supporters, blasting out fundraising solicitations with aggressive demands like “this needs to be taken care of NOW” and threatening donors that their “Voter Verification” canvass surveys are “OUT OF DATE," even as some of the Republican Senate contenders Trump endorsed and helped drag across the finish line in primaries are struggling to raise cash.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has urged those candidates to ask Trump for money, which the former president has so far proven reluctant to provide. That has left the candidates, some of whom presented themselves as McConnell antagonists during their primaries, to grovel to McConnell and the Senate Leadership Fund, the super PAC he controls and has $100 million in reserve.

It also strengthens McConnell’s hand in his long-simmering feud with Trump, who has urged GOP senators to oust the Kentucky Republican. Some close to Trump acknowledge the candidates could use the money, but said he doesn’t see it as his responsibility to fill the void.

[I AM IRONMAN]

17 hours ago, golfaddict1 said:

 

Not too shabby Rick.  Double dog dare ya reference lol 💯 

Wonder how he feels about Hillary?

[Warrior]

Checking DP - you get him yet? How about them Nuke Codes? Such a national security risk last week.....

[DBP66]

11 minutes ago, Warrior said:

Checking DP - you get him yet? How about them Nuke Codes? Such a national security risk last week.....

naaa...he innocent of all charges....it's a "deep state" plot....he didn't steal any files...it's all B.S...🤡

[concha]

Dow down 1,000 points as hotter-than-expected August inflation number sends stocks skidding

 

 

Inflation isn’t just about fuel costs anymore, as price increases broaden across the economy

 

• Rather than fuel, it was food, shelter and medical services that drove costs higher in August, slapping a costly tax on those least able to afford it.
• The food at home index, a good proxy for grocery prices, has increased 13.5% over the past year, the largest such rise since March 1979.
• For medical care services, the monthly increase of 0.8% was the fastest monthly gain since October 2019. Veterinary care was up 10% from a year ago.

[Warrior]

1 hour ago, DBP66 said:

naaa...he innocent of all charges....it's a "deep state" plot....he didn't steal any files...it's all B.S...🤡

Keep your chin up - I'm sure your crew will think of something. 

[Warrior]

51 minutes ago, concha said:

Dow down 1,000 points as hotter-than-expected August inflation number sends stocks skidding

 

 

Inflation isn’t just about fuel costs anymore, as price increases broaden across the economy

 

• Rather than fuel, it was food, shelter and medical services that drove costs higher in August, slapping a costly tax on those least able to afford it.
• The food at home index, a good proxy for grocery prices, has increased 13.5% over the past year, the largest such rise since March 1979.
• For medical care services, the monthly increase of 0.8% was the fastest monthly gain since October 2019. Veterinary care was up 10% from a year ago.

 

Painful, and these idiots are having a party tonight to celebrate the "Inflation Reduction Act" bill. You can't make this stuff up. 

[I AM IRONMAN]

1 hour ago, Warrior said:

Keep your chin up - I'm sure your crew will think of something. 

Key word being think

[DBP66]

1 hour ago, Warrior said:

Keep your chin up - I'm sure your crew will think of something. 

the "deep sate" is always at work....😉

[DBP66]

2 minutes ago, I AM IRONMAN said:

Key word being think

yea...just like they had to "think" of an excuse to raid his house....he really didn't lie to them when he said he returned all the files in June....the other 20 boxes they found in August??....it was all planted by the D.O.J.!....you heard it here first!....😉

[DBP66]

48 minutes ago, Warrior said:

 

Painful, and these idiots are having a party tonight to celebrate the "Inflation Reduction Act" bill. You can't make this stuff up. 

what don't you like about the bill?

[Warrior]

6 minutes ago, DBP66 said:

what don't you like about the bill?

#1 it will raise your taxes.

[Warrior]

10 minutes ago, DBP66 said:

what don't you like about the bill?

 

#2 80 Billion to the IRS. 

[DBP66]

Just now, Warrior said:

#1 it will raise your taxes.

I wish it did!....but I don't make over $400,000.00....I'm good along with a big majority of Americans...😉

[DBP66]

Just now, Warrior said:

 

#2 80 Billion to the IRS. 

to go after fat cats who don't pay...I pay my fair share....I'm good....and so is everyone else who pays their taxes...😉

we know that Trump paid only $700.00 in Federal taxes one year!?!...I have a feeling those days are over...😉