Donald Trump

THE PEOPLE’S PROSECUTOR: KAMALA HARRIS MAKES HER CASE FOR PRESIDENCY IN DNC ACCEPTANCE SPEECH

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August 31, 2022 (Chicago)—In her acceptance speech for the Democratic party’s presidential nomination delivered last week in Chicago, Vice President and former prosecutor Kamala Harris presented her case to the American people. She spoke of domestic and foreign policy priorities, sharply contrasting her goals with those of her opponent.

“My entire career, I have only had one  client. The People,” said Harris, former California Attorney General and a former district attorney.  “With this election, our nation has a precious, fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism and divisive battles of the past. A chance to chart a New Way Forward.”

Pledging to be a President for all Americans, she added, “You can always trust me to put country above party and self. To hold sacred America’s fundamental principals—from the rule of law to free and fair elections, to the peaceful transfer of power,” alluding to her opponent, former President Donald Trump, convicted of felony fraud and facing numerous pending charges related to his efforts to overthrow the 2020 election results.

Harris said that if elected, she would strive to unite Americans around “our highest aspirations” and be a President “who leads and listens, who is realistic, practical, and has common sense. And always fights for the American people.”


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PROMINENT REPUBLICANS ENDORSE HARRIS, INCLUDING TRUMP ADMIN. OFFICIALS WHO SAY TRUMP POSES DANGER TO DEMOCRACY

By Miriam Raftery

August 22, 2024 (Chicago, IL) – In an unprecedented action, numerous prominent Republicans have spoken at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this week to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for President—including top Trump administration leaders, a conservative judge,and elected Republican officials. These speakers urged Americans to put country over party, warning that their former boss poses a threat to American democracy and is unfit to hold the nation’s highest office.

Many other prominent Republicans have also endorsed Harris and/or warned that Donald Trump should not be president again, including his former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, his former national security advisor, Trump’s White House chief of staff, other administration insiders, and 15 former Republican members of Congress.


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HARRIS PICKS GOVERNOR TIM WALZ FOR VP: MIDWESTERNER IS ALSO A FIVE-TERM CONGRESSMAN, VETERAN, TEACHER AND COACH

By Miriam Raftery

August 7, 2024 (Philadelphia) – Large crowds packed a stadium in Philadelphia this week to see the first public speeches by Democratic Presidential nominee Kamala Harris and her newly-named vice presidential pick, Minnesota Governor and five-term Congressman Tim Walz. Walz brings leadership skills, expertise on rural and veterans' issues, as well as  Midwest common-sense values to the team. Raised on a farm, Walz served 24 years in the National Guard, rising to the rank of Command Sergeant Major.

He has also worked as a high school teacher and football coach, taking a team with 27 straight losses on to win the state championship for the first time in the school’s history. His affable manner and sense of humor also bring a sense of normalcy that appears to be welcomed by many voters, judging by the enthusiastic cheers heard throughout his first public speech as vice presidential running mate.


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TRUMP SAYS VOTING IN U.S. WILL END IF HE IS ELECTED

East County News Service

Photo: Trump in 2024 NH rally; cc by SA 4.0

July 27, 2024 (Detroit) -- CNN reports: "During a conservative Turning Point Action Believers’ Summit, former President Donald Trump urged Christians to vote, saying they wouldn’t have to do it again if they got out there in November and elected him." Trump urges Christians to vote: ‘You won’t have to do it anymore’ (msn.com)

Donald Trump has previously said if he didn’t win there would be “bloodbath” if he loses and claimed, “I’m not sure that you’ll ever have another election in this country.”  He has called for the “termination” of our Constitution and bragged “a lot of people like” his calls to be a “dictator on day one.”

 

WATCH: Last night, Trump again vowed to end democracy if he did win, stating:  "You  won't have to do it anymore.  Four more years, you know what, it will be fixed, it will be fine.  You won't have to vote anymore."

 

Harris for  President spokesman James Singer issued this statement in respnse to Trump's vow to end democracy:


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HARRIS GIVES FIRST CAMPAIGN SPEECH AFTER BIDEN STEPS DOWN IN HOPES OF OFFICIAL PARTY NOMINATION

By Jessyka Heredia

July 23, 2024 (United States) – Presidential hopeful Vice President Kamala Harris clinched enough delegates to proceed as the Democratic nominee today before an official vote. Harris was quick to address the public and assert herself as the democratic nominee after she secured the backing of more than the 1,976 delegates needed to garner the nomination.

Today in her first campaign speech in Wisconsin, Harris addressed her party, “When I announced my campaign for President, I said I intended to go out and earn this nomination. Tonight, I am proud to have secured the broad support needed to become our party’s nominee. I look forward to formally accepting the nomination soon.”


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JD VANCE - WHO ONCE CALLED TRUMP 'AMERICA'S HITLER' TAPPED FOR VP

The right-wing Ohio Republican, who opposes abortion rights and backed Trump's effort to overturn the 2020 election, is a former venture capitalist who portrays himself as a champion of the working class.
 
 
July 21, 2024 (Washington, D.C.) -- Former President Donald Trump on Monday chose U.S. Sen. JD Vance as his running mate despite the Ohio Republican formerly describing himself as a "Never Trump guy" and calling the presumptive GOP nominee an "idiot," an "---hole," and "America's Hitler."

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READER'S EDITORIAL: TRUMP’S GUILTY VERDICT SHOULD DISQUALIFY HIM FROM OFFICE

By Elizabeth Luther-Olave, El Cajon

By now, we’ve all heard the news that Donald Trump was found guilty of all 34 felony counts of falsifying his company's business records to keep information from voters that he knew would harm his 2016 presidential campaign.

This isn’t just about “hush money” payments. It’s about breaking the law to hide the truth from the American people 11 days before a presidential election.

Trump has a clear pattern of lying to the American people and trying to undermine our elections in order to cling to power. He still faces three additional indictments and 54 criminal charges, including federal charges for inciting an insurrection to overturn the 2020 election. In spite of all of this, he’s still running for president.


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READER’S EDITORIAL: TRUMP COMMITTED SERIOUS CRIMES AND SHOULD NOT BE PRESIDENT AGAIN

By Steven Proveaux, La Mesa

June 2, 2024 (La Mesa) -- Donald Trump was found guilty of all 34 felony counts of falsifying his company's business records to keep information from voters that he knew would harm his 2016 presidential campaign. Lying on official business filings is a serious criminal offense and another clear example of Trump’s pattern doing anything to gain or stay in power. No one is above the law, and any other American would be punished if they committed the same crime.


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BIDEN, TRUMP DELIVER STARKLY DIFFERENT MEMORIAL DAY MESSAGES

By Miriam Raftery

Photo via the Whte House:  President Joe Biden places a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery to honor soldiers buried there.

June 1, 2024 (Washington D.C.)—Speaking at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day yesterday,  President Joe Biden praised soldiers who gave their life to protect our country, and highlighted efforts his administration has made to help military families and veterans. His rival in the November election, former President Donald Trump, took no steps to honor veterans in person, nor any promises to improve the lives of veterans or military members, instead issuing a vitriolic attack on America's judicial system.

“Today, we join our grief with gratitude,” President Biden said at Arlington. “Gratitude to our fallen heroes, to their families, and to the brave souls who continue to uphold the flame of liberty around the world.”

He added, “To everyone who’s lost and loved someone in the service of our country...I know how hard it can be,”  recalling his son,  Beau Biden, an Iraq War veteran died nine years ago of brain cancer linked to his exposure to toxic burn pits in Iraq.  Biden noted that the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics  or PACT Act that he championed and signed into law has enabled his administration to approve over a million claims from veterans injured by toxic exposures during their military service.

Biden has signed over 30 bipartisan laws supporting servicemembers, veterans and their families.“Last year, the VA delivered more benefits and processed more claims than ever in our nation’s history, he said, concluding,  “May God bless our veterans, and may God protect our troops.”


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JURY FINDS TRUMP GUILTY ON ALL 34 FELONY COUNTS IN HUSH MONEY CASE

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: C-Span video screenshot of Trump speaking to reporters after the verdicts.

May 30, 2024 (New York, NY) -- A New York state jury has found Donald Trump guilty on all 34 felony criminal counts of falsifying business records to conceal payments to a porn star in order to influence the 2016 election. The former President and presumptive nominee will face sentencing at a July 11 hearing, where a judge could sentence him to prison. The hearing is just days before the Republican National Convention.

Trump, released pending the sentencing hearing, held a press conference after the unanimous verdict was read. He denounced the trial as "rigged" and a "disgrace," then said voters deliver the "real verdict" during the November 5 election.


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TRUMP LAWYER ARGUES TO SUPREME COURT THAT PRESIDENTS SHOULD HAVE IMMUNITY EVEN FOR ORDERING EXECUTION OF A POLITICAL RIVAL

 

By Miriam Raftery

May 3, 2024 (Washington D.C.) -- In April arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court,  former President Donald Trump’s lawyers argues that presidents should be immune from prosecution for any official acts done while they are in office,  unless the president is impeached and convicted by Congress.  But Trump attorney David Sauer’s argument, if accepted by the high court, would grant a president dictatorial powers even for violent acts committed for personal gain—by his own admission in arguments before the high court.

Liberal justices pushed back on that disturbing proposition.  Justice Elena Kagan pressed Sauer on whether ordering a military coup or selling nuclear secrets to a foreign power would be considered official acts that would prevent criminal prosecution of a president, and Sauer said such acts should be protected by presidential immunity.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor grilled Sauer on whether ordering execution of a political rival would be considered an official act. Sauer replied, “We could well see that as an official act.” Hear recording of this exchange.

Audio: 


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ARGUMENTS IN TRUMP’S FIRST CRIMINAL TRIAL SLATED TO BEGIN MONDAY

By Bransen P. Harper

Miriam Raftery contributed to this story

Photos via Wikipedia: Former President Donald J. Trump; likely prosecution witnesses Stormy Daniels, an adult film star, and Karen McDougal, an ex-Playboy model

April 20, 2024 (New York, NY) – Twelve jurors and six alternates have been selected in the federal criminal case against Donald J. Trump in Manhattan, the New York Times reports. Opening arguments by the prosecution and Trump's lawyers are slated to begin Monday in the case, which accuses the former President and presumptive Republican nominee of funneling hush money payments through his lawyer to prevent negative information from surfacing during his 2016 presidential campaign.

Ahead of this first-ever criminal trial  of a former president, which has no clear historical precedent in the U.S., here are the essentials to know.


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READER’S EDITORIAL: TRUMP IS A DANGER TO OUR DEMOCRACY

By Jean Dittmeyer
 
Photo by Gage Skidmore, cc: Donald Trump at 2020 campaign rally in Arizona
 
March 22, 2024 (San Diego) -- Americans await with baited breath the election corruption trial of Donald Trump in New York. Known his entire life for avoiding accountability and now for attempting a coup to overthrow a legal and legitimate Presidential election, Trump is hoping to avoid accountability again. Meanwhile his Republican supporters in the United States Congress do all they can to promote his hatred for anything supporting democracy.

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NIKKI HALEY SUSPENDS CAMPAIGN, BUT DOES NOT ENDORSE TRUMP

By Miriam Raftery

Photo by Gage Skidmore: Nikki Haley in 2024

March 6, 2024 (San Diego) – Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley announced today that she is suspending her presidential campaign,  after losing 13 of the 14 primary races (winning only Vermont) on Super Tuesday.

Her withdrawal means former President Donald Trump is the Republican party’s presumptive nominee, with no other challengers remaining. But Haley pointedly did not endorse Trump, whom she has sharpy criticized.

In a speech this morning, Haley voiced “no regrets” adding, “I will not stop using my voice for the things I believe in.”


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BIDEN AND TRUMP DENIED SWEEPS THIS SUPER TUESDAY, BUT MOVE CLOSER TO CLINCHING NOMINATIONS

Jason Palmer wins American Samoa, Nikki Haley wins Vermont

Update: Nikki Haley will suspend her campaign, reports Associated Press

By Jonathan Goetz

March 5, 2024 (San Diego's East County) -- On Super Tuesday, President Joe Biden won all 16 states holding Democratic contests for President, while former President Donald Trump won at least 12 of the 14 states holding Republican primaries or caucuses today. Neither secured enough delegates yet to secure their party’s nominations, though both appear on track to do so. This is Biden's first loss to primary challengers in the 2024 election cycle and Trump's second, following Haley's victory in Washington, D.C.

Jason Palmer, a venture capitalist and former staffer of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, defeated Incumbent President Joe Biden by 51 votes to 40, in American Samoa's caucus. As a result, Palmer secured all six Democratic delegates from American Samoa. Palmer told NBC news after his surprising win, “You can never expect to beat an incumbent president, but I love the people of American Samoa, and they’ve been so wonderful to me this past month.”

Trump was denied a sweep by Nikki Haley, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and Governor (ret.) of South Carolina, who won the Republican primary in the State of Vermont, picking up at least 9 of 17 Republican delegates.


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NY ATTORNEY GENERAL WINS HUGE FRAUD VERDICT AGAINST TRUMP: JUDGE ORDERS FORMER PRESIDENT TO PAY $355 MILLION PENALTY

“We are holding him accountable for lying, cheating, and a lack of contrition...because there cannot be different rules for different people in this country, and former presidents are no exception.” – New York Attorney General Letitia James (photo, left)

By Miriam Raftery

February 18, 2024 (New York, NY) – Donald Trump has been ordered to pay a $354.1 million penalty for fraudulently inflating his net worth and the value of his real estate holdings in order to obtain bank loans. In the New York civil trial, Judge Arthur Engoron also barred Trump from running a business in New York for two years and ordered that a monitor oversee Trump Organization’s business dealings. Two of his sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., were each fined $4 million and prohibited from running the company for three more years.

This is not the first time that Trump has been found to have committed fraud.  His family charity and Trump University both shut down after separate courts found them to have engaged in fraud.


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TRUMP URGES PUTIN TO ATTACK NATO ALLIES, DRAWING REBUKES FROM WORLD LEADERS AND FORMER NATO COMMANDER

NATO forces fought in Afghanistan to protect the U.S. after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, but Trump made clear he would not defend our NATO Allies

By Miriam Raftery

Photo (cc by SA) --  The Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington D.C. caused NATO to invoke its collective defense article for the first time.

February 12, 2024 (San Diego) — Former president Donald Trump said Saturday that if reelected, he would not defend U.S. allies under the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance, or NATO, unless they paid at least 2% of their gross domestic product on defense. He claimed to have told the leader of a major ally that if Russia were to attack that nation, “No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want.”

Trump’s comments during a South Carolina rally sent shockwaves around the world, drawing strong rebukes from NATO and world leaders.

Retired General Wesley Clark, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, called the remarks “treasonous,” in a CNN interview.

Earlier, he issued this statement:  “On 9/11, when America was under attack, NATO nations all mobilized to come to our defense and fought alongside us to crush al Qaeda. They didn’t ask us for money. They didn’t put strings on it.  That is the kind of iron-clad commitment that has kept western democracies—including our own—alive for 75 years.”

General Clark added, “For Donald Trump to publicly signal to Vladimir Putin that he can take as much of Europe as he wants, and we will sit by and cheer him on, isn’t just breaking the promise the United States has made, and it isn’t just threatening Europe. It is encouraging World War III, which will hit our shores and cost American lives....The lives of every American, both in uniform and civilian, are at severe risk if Donald Trump wins this election.”


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BIDEN’S FIRST CAMPAIGN SPEECH AT VALLEY FORGE WARNS OF THREATS TO DEMOCRACY; TRUMP POSTS MESSIANIC VIDEO

By Miriam Raftery

January 7, 2024 – A day before the anniversary of the deadly Jan.6,2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, President Joe Biden and his likely campaign opponent Donald Trump presented sharply divergent messages.

In a speech near Valley Forge, Biden spoke of General George Washington crossing the Delaware with patriot soldiers in 1777 to defeat the British and win freedom and democracy—the then radical idea that the people could govern themselves, without a king or dictator. “But if democracy fails, we’ll lose that freedom,” the President said.  He warned that Trump has openly announced plans to dismantle our democracy, stating bluntly, “Democracy is on the ballot.  Your freedom is on the ballot.”

Trump meanwhile posted a video on his social media platform that proclaimed “God created Trump” to be a “shepherd to mankind” who would be “willing to go into the den of vipers, call out the fake news for their tongues as sharp as the serpents” as well as “wrestle the deep state” and  “wield a sword.”


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EXPERTS SOUND ALARM OVER TRUMP PLAN TO ARREST CRITICS, “TERMINATE” CONSTUTITIONAL PROTECTIONS AND SEEK AUTOCRATIC RULE

By Miriam Raftery

November 11, 2023 (Washington D.C.) –A growing chorus of voices on both the left and right are speaking out to warn of threats to U.S. democracy if former president Donald Trump wins election in 2024.  The warnings come after increasingly vitriolic statements by Trump threatening to arrest political critics, eliminate free press rights, eliminate independence of the Justice Dept. and FBI, order the military to suppress peaceful demonstrations, and support  "termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution." 

The conservative Lincoln Club warns that America is in a “fight for democracy,”  stating in a newly released ad, “The fate of your country, your family and your freedom are on the line” in the 2024 election. “We’re not liberals. We’re not progressives. We’re former Republicans who put country over party. We’re Americans who know that unless we stop Trump, he will end this democracy we cherish.”

 Among those starring in anti-Trump Lincoln Club ads is Michael Steele, former chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC). 

In an interview on Univision last week, Trump said, ““If I happen to be president, and I see somebody who is doing well and beating me very badly, I’ll say, ‘go down and indict them." 


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JUDGE FINDS TRUMP AND SONS REPEATEDLY VIOLATED NEW YORK FRAUD LAWS, ORDERS COMPANIES DISSOLVED

 

By Miriam Raftery

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Trump Tower in New York, Creative Commons 3.0 image by Bin im Garten

September 29, 2023 (New York, NY) --  Donald Trump and his sons Eric and Don Jr. stand to lose their business empire, after New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron ruled that the company repeatedly violated the state’s fraud laws. The judge found that the Trumps  inflated the value of their assets by billions of dollars to get favorable loans and insurance terms, while claiming far lower values on the same properties when it suited them to do so.

For example, Trump valued his Mar-a-Lago golf club at $714  million on his annual financial statements, even though a tax assessor estimated its value at must $18 million. Trump even listed the size of his Mar-a-Lago  penthouse at 30,000 square feet, instead of its actual size—just 10,000 square feet, according to the civil fraud lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Judge Engoron has ordered business certificates for Trump’s New York properties cancelled and ordered independent receivers be appointed within 10 days to manage dissolving the companies, which could include selling off the assets. Trump could be entitled to money from any such sale.


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VOWING TO DEFEND DEMOCRACY, BIDEN HITS HARD AT TRUMP

President warns of dangers to democracy posed by Trump’s attack on government, call to execute General Milley, and disdain for Constitution

 

By Patsy Widakuswara, Voice of America

September 28, 2023 (Washington D.C.)-- U.S. President Joe Biden sharpened his attacks against Donald Trump on Thursday, delivering his most forceful assertion to date that the former president and Republican front-runner represents an existential threat to the country’s democratic values and institutions.

In a speech in the western state of Arizona, Biden charged that Trump holds the "dangerous notion" that he has unchecked power and is above the law.

"Trump says the Constitution gave him, quote, the right to do whatever he wants as president, end of quote. I've never heard a president say that even in jest," Biden said. "Not guided by the Constitution or by common service and decency toward our fellow Americans, but by vengeance and vindictiveness."


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READER’S EDITORIAL: GEORGIA HAS SPOKEN—DONALD TRUMP IS NOT ABOVE THE LAW

 

By Brenda Thompson, La Mesa

Photo:  Trump 's mugshot, via  Fulton County, Georgia Sheriff's department

 

September 21, 2023 (La Mesa) -- By now, we’ve all heard the news that Donald Trump was indicted for a fourth time, this time on racketeering charges in Georgia for the criminal conspiracy he allegedly led to overturn the 2020 election.

The indictments in Georgia and Washington, D.C. made clear that Trump knew he had lost the 2020 presidential election, but worked with his cronies on a variety of illegal schemes to change the election’s outcome so he could remain in power. When his plans to pressure state officials to overturn the will of voters and create fake elector certificates failed to secure him the presidency, Trump and his allies resorted to instigating a violent insurrection to try to keep Trump in power.


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FEDERAL JUDGE SETS TRUMP FEDERAL TRIAL ON ELECTION INTERFERENCE FOR MARCH 4

By Miriam Raftery

Photo, left: Judge Tanya Chutckan, who will preside over the federal case in Washington D.C.

August 28, 2023 (Washington D.C.) – The first criminal trial against former President Donald Trump has been scheduled to begin on March 4, 2024, in the midst of the primary season, opening one day before Super Tuesday.

Trump—now the leading candidate for the GOP's 2024 presidential nomination—has pleaded not guilty to the four federal charges of election interference. He is the only named defendant in the case, which lists four unindicted coconspirators.


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ONE FOR THE BOOKS AS TRUMP AND REST OF FULTON 19 ENTER GEORGIA JUSTICE SYSTEM OVER 2020 ELECTION

BY:  AND 

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Booking photos from the Fulton County conspiracy case charging Donald Trump and allies with trying to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results. Top row, from left Jeffrey Clark, Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis, Michael Roman, Ray Smith, David Shafer, Sen. Shawn Still. Center row, from left, Mark Meadows, Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump, John Eastoman, Kenneth Chesebro. Bottom row from left, Robert Cheeley, Harrison Floyd, Stephen Lee, Scott Hall, Misty Hampton, Cathleen Latham, Trevian Kutti. (Georgia Recorder illustration from Fulton County Sheriff’s Office photos)

August 26, 2023 (Fulton Co., Georgia) -- At the end of a historic week at the Fulton County jailhouse, the criminal case against former President Donald Trump and his 18 allies also accused of subverting Georgia’s 2020 presidential election is just beginning.


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TRUMP AND 18 ASSOCIATES CHARGED WITH RACKETEERING IN GEORGIA FOR CONSPIRACY TO CHANGE ELECTION OUTCOME

 

Scheme involved fake electors, seizing voting machines, and pressuring officials in Georgia and other states to break the law

By Miriam Raftery

August 15, 2023 (Fulton County, GA) – In a sweeping 98-page indictment, Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis filed indictments against former president Donald Trump and 18 others with violating the state’s Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO)  Act. The indictments, recommended by a Grand Jury, accuse the defendants of willfully joining a “conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favor of Trump.”

41 counts in the conspiracy case include forgery, filing false documents, making false statement and writings, impersonating a public officer, pressuring public officials to violate their oaths of office to commit illegal acts in multiple states, and illegally accessing ballots on voting machines in Coffee County, Georgia, among other things.

Trump faces 13 new criminal charges in Georgia, the fourth jurisdiction where he is under criminal indictment. The former president and current presidential candidate is charged with conspiracy to  impersonate a public officer (related to the slate of fake electors that cast votes and submitted them to official channels), conspiracy to commit forgery, conspiracy to commit false statements and writings (including in official proceedings), and conspiracy to commit filing false documents. He is also charged with pressuring public officials to violate the law for the purpose of stealing the 2020 presidential election.

The indictment alleges that after  Trump falsely declared victory following the Nov. 2020 election, Trump among other things personally committed the ofllowing illegal acts:

  • Called Arizona Speaker of the House Rusty Bowers and pressured  Bowers to unlawfully appoint electors to vote for Trump, even though Biden won the state. Bowers declined and told Trump, “I voted for you… I campaigned for you.  I just won’t do anything illegal for you.”
  • Joined a call to Pennsylvania legislators, made false statements and asked them to appoint electors for Trump, though Biden won Pennsylvania;
  • Met with Mark Meadows and John McEntee to devise a scheme for Vice President Mike Pence  to count only half the electoral votes from some states and return others to state legislators, an illegal act which Pence refused to do;
  • Solicited Georgia’s Republican Speaker of the House David Ralston (since deceased) to commit a felony by arranging for Georgia to appoint presidential electors for Trump, even though Biden won Georgia;
  • Called the Republican Party chair Ronna McDaniel and asked her to help get certain people to meet as fake electors and cast electoral votes for Trump in states won by Biden;
  • Asked  U.S. Attorney General Jefrrey Rosen and Acting U.S. Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue to make a false statement.  Trump urged them, “Just say that the election was corrupt,and leave the rest to me and the Republican Congressmen.”
  • Made false and harassing statements against officials who refused his demands to violate the law, such as “What a fool Governor@BrianKempGA of Georgia is…Demand this clown call a Special Session and open up signature verificfation NOW.”
  • Submitted false documents in a lawsuit, Trump v.Kemp, which falsely claimed that thousands of votes were cast by felons, unregistered voters, underage people and dead people, without any evidence.
  • Solicited Georgia’s Secretary of State,Republican Brad Raffensperger, to commit a felony by unlawfully altering  certified election results.
  • Making false statements to  Raffensperger and other Georgia officials claiming pollworker  Ruby Freeman stuffed ballot boxes, that ballots were dumped,and numerous other claims found to be false.
  • Was present at a January 4, 2021 meeting with Vice President Pence,  Eastman and others. After Trump pressured Pence to reject electoral voes or delay the joint session of Congress on January 6, Eastman “admitted both options violated the Electoral Count Act,” the indictment states.
  • Made false statements asserting election fraud (despite losing 62 court challenges, some decided by Trump-appointed judges) in his speech at the Ellipse and urged the crowd to march to the U.S. Capitol on January 6, where violence ensued that resulted in several deaths and 140 injured  Capitol police officers.

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SPECIAL PROSECUTOR APPOINTED TO INVESTIGATE HUNTER BIDEN; DEMOCRATS TO RELEASE REPORT ON TRUMP FAMILY PROFITEERING

By Miriam Raftery

August 13, 2023 (Washington D.C.)—Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Friday that he has appointed U.S. Attorney David Weiss to serve as a special prosecutor to oversee the probe into Hunter Biden, the son of  President Joe Biden.  Weiss was already overseeing the Justice Department’s investigation of Hunter Biden, but a special prosecutor has more independence to launch a potentially broader probe and report directly to Garland. 

Weiss was nominated by then-President Donald Trump and confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate. Despite this, some  Republican leaders have criticized his appointment as special prosecutor, because Weiss oversaw a plea deal that has since fallen apart.


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TRUMP FACES NEW CHARGES OF OBSTRUCTING JUSTICE, ORDERING VIDEOS DESTROYED

By Miriam Raftery

July 28, 2023 (Miami, FL) – Special Prosecutor Jack Smith has issued an updated indictment in the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump. It adds new charges alleging that Trump ordered a staffer to delete surveillance video at  his Mar-a-Lago estate to coverup evidence of crimes, after Trump learned that the U.S. Department of Justice was seeking the video during its investigation. Read the new indictment.

The revised indictment also charges a new defendant, Carlos DeOliveira, the head of maintenance at Mar-a-Lago. Prosecutors allege that Trump spoke with Oliveira and his valet, Walt Nauta, and that the two employees then told a third employee to delete the security footage because “the boss” wanted the videos destroyed. However, the third employee reportedly balked at destroying evidence and has not been charged; he may be a cooperating witness.

The indictment charges Trump, Nauta and Oliveira with violating two federal laws in an attempt to destroy evidence, which suggests that the video was not destroyed and may be shown to jurors. Those statutes make it illegal to corruptly destroy or tamper with a record to impair its use in an official proceeding, and to corruptly try and persuade someone else to alter or destroy evidence.


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TRUMP INDICTED UNDER ESPIONAGE ACT FOR RISKING NATIONAL SECURITY, SHARING DEFENSE SECRETS AND HIDING EVIDENCE FROM GRAND JURY

Timeline analysis prepared by ECM documents efforts to conceal records from FBI

By Miriam Raftery

Photo, from indictment: Boxes with classified records stored insecurely in a bathroom at Trump’s Mar a Lago Club.

June 10, 2023 (Washington D.C.) – Special Counsel Jack Smith yesterday unsealed a 49-page indictment charging former president and current presidential candidate Donald Trump with “felony violations of our national security laws as well as participating in a conspiracy to obstruct justice,” Smith announced, after a Florida grand jury voted to indict. Trump is charged with 37 felonies; if convicted, he could face decades in prison.

His chauffeur and former White House aide Waltine Nauta also faces charges, including conspiring with Trump to obstruct justice.

Prosecutors allege that Trump:

  • Showed a secret Pentagon plan of attack against a foreign country to unauthorized persons including a writer and publisher in a taped meeting in July 2021, in which he stated, “See as president I could have declassified it…Now I can’t, you know, but this is still a secret.”
  • Showed a political action committee member without a security clearance a classified map of a foreign country during a military operation that he stated was “not going well” in summer 2021.
  • Asked his lawyers to defy a subpoena, withhold documents and lie to the FBI;
  • Ordered an aide to move boxes of subpoenaed documents without telling his attorneys, shortly before the FBI raid on Mar a Lago;
  • Stored highly sensitive documents in an insecure manner in a bathroom, ballroom, storage closet and other areas with unlocked doors Mar a Lago, where thousands of guests attended over 150 events while records were there;
  • Mishandled documents on nuclear weaponry of the United States, America’s vulnerabilities,  nuclear capabilities of a foreign country, a foreign country’s support of terrorism against U.S. interests,and plans for possible retaliation in response to a foreign attack.

Smith says of the indictment, “I invite everyone to read it in full to understand the scope and the gravity of the crimes charged…Our laws that protect national defense information are critical to the safety and security of the United States and they must be enforced. Violations of those laws put our country at risk….We have one set of laws in this country, and they apply to everyone.”


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TRUMP PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO 34 FELONY CHARGES, RAILS AGAINST JUDGE AND PROSECUTOR

Unsealed indictment alleges pay-offs to three people with negative claims about Trump were fraudulently covered up in order to protect his presidential campaign

By Miriam Raftery

View District Attorney Alvin Braggs' press conference after arraignment

View Trump's speech at  Mar-a-Lago after arraignment

April 5, 2023 (New York) – Former President Donald Trump was arrested yesterday in Manhattan and pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records as part of a conspiracy to undermine the integrity of the 2016 election. 

If convicted, Trump could be sentenced to up to four years for each count, though the court could determine whether terms would be served concurrently or consecutively.  Trump’s lawyers have until August to file motions, with the next court hearing scheduled for December 4.  Barring further delays, a trial could be held early next year, just as the 2024 primaries get underway.

Trump, also a candidate running in the 2024 presidential race, was booked and fingerprinted, but not handcuffed nor was a mugshot taken. After the arraignment, he was released pending trial and returned to his home in Florida, where he gave a blistering speech railing against the prosecutor and judge despite a judicial warning to refrain from rhetoric that could incite violence.


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FORMER PRESIDENT TRUMP INDICTED OVER HUSH MONEY COVER-UP:ARRAIGNMENT EXPECTED TUESDAY

 

By Jacob Pamus and Miriam Raftery

 

March 31, 2023 (San Diego) – A Manhattan grand jury has indicted former President Donald Trump on criminal charges related to alleged pay-offs made to porn star Stormy Daniels, the  New York Times and other media outlets confirm.  The indictment remains sealed until the arraignment, though sources have told media outlet including CNBC that Trump could face around 30 criminal charges.

 

Trump is the first former president to be indicted. He is also a candidate in the 2024 presidential election, so his arrest casts unprecedented uncertainties into the campaign. 

 

He is expected to turn himself in for an arraignment on Tuesday,, PBS reports. His attorneys have indicated that he will plead not guilty. It is anticipated that he will be fingerprinted, have a mugshot and DNA sample taken,but as is customary with New York defendants in white collar crimes, he will likely be released until the trial. 


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