;)
The Conversation -- May 3, 2024
Even Trump's Auditors Are Crooked. Matthew Goldstein of the New York Times: "An accounting firm that audits the financial statements of hundreds of public companies including ... Donald J. Trump's social media company can no longer do so, U.S. securities regulators said on Friday. The Securities and Exchange Commission charged the firm, BF Borgers, with fraud, saying that it had failed to comply with accounting rules. In settling with the S.E.C., the firm agreed immediately stop filing audited statements on behalf of its clients. The regulator held BF Borgers and its owner, Benjamin F. Borger, responsible for 'deliberate and systemic failures' to comply with accounting rules. The accompanying settlement requires both the firm and Mr. Borgers to pay a total of $14 million in civil penalties. Many companies that used BF Borgers must now find new auditors."
An elderly, sleepy-headed, possibly confused Donald Trump returns to the courtroom today to face his accusers in a trial for crimes the Manhattan D.A. alleges he committed in relation to his 2016 campaign for president*. New York Times reporters are on the scene to relay developments:
Maggie Haberman: "Justice Merchan is now addressing something that Trump said outside court yesterday, when he claimed that he could not testify because of the gag order.... The comment left many people confused, and it wasn't clear if Trump was simply making an excuse for not testifying, or if he misspoke. But Justice Merchan is informing him that the statement was incorrect. The gag order 'does not prohibit you from taking the stand' or limit what he can say, the judge says."
Jonah Bromwich: "Justice Merchan is now addressing something that Trump said outside court yesterday, when he claimed that he could not testify because of the gag order.... The comment left many people confused, and it wasn't clear if Trump was simply making an excuse for not testifying, or if he misspoke. But Justice Merchan is informing him that the statement was incorrect. The gag order 'does not prohibit you from taking the stand' or limit what he can say, the judge says.... Justice Merchan handled this deftly, taking the air out of a baseless argument that Trump appeared to float."
Kate Christobek: "When Merchan finished speaking, Trump mouthed the words 'thank you.'"
Haberman: "Justice Merchan was wise to clean up confusion. But Trump appeared to try to clean up his error himself to reporters in the hallway this morning before entering court. 'The gag order is not to testify. The gag order stops me from talking about people and responding when they say things about me,' he said."
Bromwich: "Todd Blanche, Trump's lawyer, is now arguing about how a Washington Post article should be discussed at trial today. In doing so, he says he expects a witness to testify today about how the 'Access Hollywood' tape, on which Trump was caught describing assaults on women, affected his 2016 campaign."
Haberman: "Blanche is describing a Truth Social post made by Trump as an 'alleged' post, a reminder that the defense has refused to stipulate basic facts in the case repeatedly."
Haberman: "Emil Bove, the defense lawyer, is asking Douglas Daus, the tech witness, all kinds of jargony questions about disappearing message applications that were on Michael Cohen's phone. It sounds like it has substance, but realistically this seems to be more about chewing up time and stretching out the length of trial than provoking meaningful testimony."
Susanne Craig: "Daus's testimony is chewing up time, as Maggie notes, but it is quite interesting. He's explaining how law enforcement extracts information from a person's phone. It's straightforward to grab some things, say text messages. But some apps, such as Signal, have 'self-destruct' functions that can delete messages in just seconds."
Jesse McKinley: "Trump's eyes seem to be shut, as they sometimes have been during testimony. He addressed this on Thursday afternoon in a post to his Truth Social account, denying that he has been sleeping, and saying: 'I simply close my beautiful blue eyes, sometimes, listen intensely, and take it ALL in!!!'" ~~~
~~~ Haberman: "Several people in his world have confirmed privately that he has been sleeping."
Haberman: "On re-direct, [prosecutor Chris] Conroy is using his time to ask questions that essentially mock what Emil Bove was asking. Without actually saying it, he is suggesting to the jury that Bove's line of questioning had little merit."
Bromwich: "Among his questions: 'I take it you're not a friend of Michael Cohen's?' and 'Is it unusual for a phone to be used?'"
Bromwich: "Georgia Longstreet, our next witness, is a paralegal at the Manhattan district attorney's office. She will be questioned by Rebecca Mangold, a prosecutor.: [Longstreet testifies as to how Twitter & the Wayback Machine work.]
Bromwich: "The jurors have just been excused.... The defense agrees to let a particularly damning piece of evidence -- a Washington Post article publicizing the 'Access Hollywood' tape -- in without a witness being questioned about it. The [jury returns and the] agreement, called a stipulation, was just read aloud to the jury and the judge had reason to explain the concept to the jury for the first time."
Haberman: "Prosecutors are now playing a video statement Trump put out right after the 'Access Hollywood tape' was made public by The Washington Post. He acknowledged in the video that he made the comments on the tape. The video statement was recorded after he had earlier refused to apologize, though his aides had encouraged him to.... It's worth noting, as we reported in 2017, that shortly before he took office, Trump started telling some Republicans that he was having the 'Access Hollywood' tape reviewed again and that it may not have been his voice on it, even though it was."
Haberman: "We're now getting a series of tweets into evidence: Trump attacking Senator John McCain, Trump insisting he never inappropriately touched two women who claimed he had, and Trump complaining he'd lost large numbers of female supporters, all from 2016.... There's now a Truth Social post from March 2023 in which Trump, in colorful terms, denies an affair with Stormy Daniels." ~~~
~~~ Bromwich: "While the defense lawyers agreed to let the Washington Post article in, they tried to fight the admission of these tweets. They were unsuccessful, and the witness, Georgia Longstreet, is now describing the posts from the stand, as Trump sits at the defense table scanning his old tweets."
Haberman: "Todd Blanche is now cross-examining the witness, with a really tortured set of questions in which he implies that someone else is writing Trump's social media posts, the ones Trump posts under his handle on a website that he routinely tells people is the true voice of America. That was a painful back-and-forth. He concluded his cross-examination shortly thereafter." ~~~
~~~ Bromwich: "Todd Blanche ... [asks] Georgia Longstreet ... about Michael Cohen and whether she tracked his social media as part of her job. She says she followed his tweets and his podcast, 'Mea Culpa.' Asked if she listened to every episode of the podcast, Longstreet responds 'absolutely not,' getting a big laugh in the courtroom."
Alan Feuer: "This evidence is reminiscent of the campaign rally videos prosecutors played for the jury a few days ago of Trump assailing women who made allegations against him. It appears designed to give the jurors insight into Trump's state of mind in late 2016 as incidents piled up that exposed his vulnerability among female voters.... The tweet that was introduced quoting Trump as saying 'IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I'M COMING AFTER YOU' was posted one day after he was arraigned ... on federal charges of plotting to overturn the 2020 election. One day after the post went up, a Texas woman left a racist message on the voicemail of the federal judge hearing Trump's case, threatening to kill her. (The woman was later arrested.)"
Craig: "The decision to enter evidence this way means the jury will see potentially damaging evidence at least twice, once now and again when future witnesses are asked about it." [MB: That was the defense's decision.]
Haberman: "The people call Hope Hicks, Matthew Colangelo, one of the prosecutors, says."
Cristobek: "Several members of the public in the overflow room gasped when her name was announced."
Haberman: "Hope Hicks refers to Trump as 'Mr. Trump.' Notably, she says she's paying for her own lawyer. She says the last time she spoke to Trump was in the summer or fall of 2022.... That was right around the time when text messages she exchanged with a colleague criticizing what was happening around the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob were made public.... Her voice is low and she is visibly uncomfortable. She is testifying under subpoena. She says she's 'nervous' as she tries speaking louder."
Jonathan Swan: "So far in her testimony, Hope Hicks has gone out of her way to praise Donald Trump and signal that she still feels fondly towards him."
Bromwich: "Matthew Colangelo keeps asking Hope Hicks to acknowledge that Trump oversaw every aspect of her job.... Again, this is key for prosecutors, showing that Trump is a hands-on manager -- and hoping to convince the jury he would have taken the same hands-on approach as Michael Cohen brought him news of negative stories to quash."
Haberman: "Hope Hicks is now recalling in detail how Trump praised David Pecker, who was then the publisher of The National Enquirer, after the tabloid ran a story saying one of his G.O.P. presidential rivals, Dr. Ben Carson, had left a sponge in a young girl's brain. 'Mr. Trump was congratulating him on the great reporting,' she recalls. 'This is Pulitzer-worthy,' Hicks says she recalls him saying." [MB: Not clear if either Hicks or Trump realizes how flat-out comical this praise is.]
Haberman: "Hope Hicks has just been shown the email that the reporter [Washington Post reporter] David Fahrenthold sent her on Oct. 7, 2016, seeking comment about the 'Access Hollywood' tape. The email contained a transcript of what was said on it. 'I was concerned. Very concerned. Yeah,' Hicks says. 'I was concerned about the contents of the email, I was concerned about the lack of time to respond, I was concerned that we had a transcript but not a tape. There was a lot at play.' She's then shown a copy of her email forwarding the message to her colleagues. In it, she says: 'Need to hear the tape to be sure,' and 'Deny, deny, deny.' She describes it to Matthew Colangelo, the prosecutor, as a 'reflex.'"
Bromwich: "... prosecutors ... [have] argued that the 'Access Hollywood' tape sent the campaign into a frenzy. Hicks certainly seems to support that, describing her reaction by using the word 'concerned' at least five separate times.... Hicks says that when she shared the email from The Washington Post with Trump, one of his initial reactions was to say that his comments about assaulting women 'didn't sound like something he would say.'" [MB: Right.]
** David Fahrenthold: "When I reached out to Hope Hicks about the 'Access Hollywood' video while I was working at The Washington Post, we already knew the tape was legitimate. But we wanted to know how Trump would explain his words. Her first reaction was, 'That doesn't sound like something he would say.' Now we know where she got that statement: directly from Trump himself."
Feuer: "The big picture here is that the 'Access Hollywood' tape is a kind of focal point for the prosecution's narrative that served to bring together all of Trump's worlds in the same time and place. It spooked his campaign. And in so doing, prosecutors say, it led to him to use people from the Trump Organization, like Michael Cohen, in an effort to quash Stormy Daniels's story much like he had used his contacts in the tabloid world to quash earlier scandals."
Swan: "The prosecution just played the video Trump recorded on Oct. 7, 2016, when he acknowledged that he'd said the words on the 'Access Hollywood' tape and he apologized for them. But within months after being elected, Trump was telling people privately that he thought the tape might be a fake. If a similar tape came out today, there is almost no doubt that Trump would claim it was artificial intelligence and many voters would likely believe that. It's impossible to imagine him releasing an apology like his 2016 one.... The prosecutors asked Hicks to respond to a parade of prominent Republican lawmakers in 2016 condemning Trump for the 'Access Hollywood' tape and distancing themselves from him. It's impossible to imagine the same thing happening today. Nearly all Republicans who were willing to publicly criticize Trump back then have either retired or been defeated in primaries...."
Christobek: "Hope Hicks testified that the media response to the Access Hollywood tape was 'intense' and that it 'dominated coverage.' She recalled that a Category 4 hurricane was anticipated to make landfall at that time but she doesn't think anyone remembers where or when the hurricane landed. 'It was all Trump all the time for the next 36 hours,' she said."
Bromwich: "Hope Hicks is now describing her knowledge of Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels, two women with salacious stories about Trump who received hush-money payments during the 2016 campaign. She learned about McDougal, she said, from the reporter Michael Rothfeld -- now a Times reporter -- while on Trump's plane.... Hicks is discussing an email from our colleague Michael Rothfeld, then at The Wall Street Journal, asking about Trump's relationship with the Playboy model Karen McDougal. Hicks says she forwarded the email to Jared Kushner, who was overseeing much of the campaign operation. She hoped, she said, that Kushner's good relationship with Rupert Murdoch -- who owned the Wall Street Journal, then our colleague's employer -- could 'buy a little extra time to deal with this.' Kushner responded that 'he wasn't going to be able to reach Rupert and we should just work on responding and dealing with it,' Hicks testifies."
Michael Rothfeld: "When I emailed Hope Hicks before publishing the Karen McDougal story a The Wall Street Journal, we knew that David Pecker and The National Enquirer had paid McDougal and that Pecker was Trump's longtime friend, but we couldn't definitively connect the deal to Trump. My questions to Hope Hicks were geared to trying to strengthen that connection, which would come out later." ~~~
~~~ Bromwich: "Prosecutors are seeking to make the same connection in the courtroom right now.... Stormy Daniels was also going to be mentioned in the Wall Street Journal article, Hope Hicks testifies, and says that she spoke not only to Michael Cohen about Daniels's claims, but to Trump too. This fits in with the prosecution's narrative -- it would make sense that Cohen would become increasingly more frantic in seeking to quiet Daniels once they knew a reporter was on the trail of her story. And we'll take our lunch break...."
Haberman: "Hope Hicks, testifying again, says she denied that Trump had a relationship with Stormy Daniels to The Wall Street Journal. She is then asked if she witnessed conversations between Trump and Michael Cohen. 'I believe I heard Mr. Trump speaking to Mr. Cohen shortly after the story was published,' she says."
Bromwich: "Hope Hicks is explaining how the Trump campaign responded to the story about Karen McDougal, who by this point had been paid money by the parent company of The National Enquirer to keep quiet. Hicks says that, internally, she was told -- presumably by the candidate himself -- that Trump had not had an affair with McDougal, but that she did not remember Trump 'verbatim' saying that he had no knowledge of that hush-money deal. The jury is seeing something that prosecutors have sought to show them is a lie being shared with the media, and the public.... We then see that Hicks denied 'unequivocally' to the Wall Street Journal that Trump had a relationship with Stormy Daniels. Hicks says that's what she was told, and that she testified to that effect in front of the grand jury that indicted the former president."
Swan: "The prosecution has now brought up text messages between Hope Hicks and Michael Cohen on Nov. 4, 2016, after the Wall Street Journal article about Trump's alleged affairs with Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels was published. Cohen is repeatedly -- and with great urgency -- asking Hicks for a status update on the story.... In these text messages, Cohen is closely monitoring how many other outlets are picking up on the WSJ story about the alleged hush-money payments. When Cohen mentions how little coverage the story was getting, Hope replies to Cohen, 'Keep praying!! It's working!'"
Bromwich: "Hicks acknowledges the irony as she reads these messages, in which Cohen fretted about the story becoming more public than it already was. The story, of course, became a criminal case -- the one you're reading about right now."
Haberman: "One text from Cohen to Hicks is particularly damaging to the defendant: Cohen says he's got a denial from Stormy Daniels, whom he calls 'Storm,' but is holding it in reserve. Cohen communicating with the campaign about Daniels's denial, and working with her on it, underscores the connections here."
Swan: "Hope Hicks says Trump was very concerned about the Wall Street Journal story about his alleged affairs and the hush-money payments. He was worried about his wife's reaction and asked Hicks to make sure the newspapers weren't delivered to their residence that morning. Trump also asked her how the story 'was playing' -- given this was only a few days before the election."
Bromwich: "Hicks just handed a real gift to the defense.... [Trump's professed concern about his wife] provides an alternative motive for covering up damaging information, a believable one that is unrelated to his electoral chances.... Colangelo sought to get another, more helpful response, asking if Trump was concerned about the campaign. Hicks acknowledged that Trump was concerned about how the story was playing -- but her answer about his family was far more specific, and definitive."
Haberman: "Listening to the testimony about the timing of all of this underscores the duality of Trump's life at that moment. On the one hand, he was on the cusp of becoming the president of the United States. On the other, he was still wading in the muck of the tabloid New York City life he had lived for decades."
Bromwich: "Hope Hicks is now describing the initial Wall Street Journal article about the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels. She says she cannot recall certain facts about this period, including a conversation with Michael Cohen. But she says if the prosecution has something to refresh her memory, she is willing to look at it. She has gotten considerably more nervous-looking again, clenching her jaw and stumbling a bit in her speech.... Hicks is asked what she made Trump's suggestion to her that Michael Cohen had made a payment to Stormy Daniels 'out of the kindness of his heart.' Hicks acknowledges that it did not fit in with the Cohen she knew, who she did not understand to be 'an especially charitable person or selfless person.'"
Feuer: "This testimony bolsters the prosecution's story that Trump was behind the payment to Daniels. Moments later, Hicks bolsters another part of the state's case, saying that it would have been bad if the scandal came out before the election."
[Marie: Somehow the reporters missed this. Susanne Craig said later on MSNBC that Hicks' direct testimony effectively ended with her acknowledging that Trump told her in 2018, when the WSJ published its story detailing the payment to Daniels that Trump told her it was better that the story came out in 2018 than right before the election.]
Bromwich: "... this is going to be a tricky cross-examination for the defense lawyer, Emil Bove, especially with a vulnerable witness. And Hope Hicks just began to cry."
McKinley: "Hicks suddenly broke down a little bit when she was asked about her time at the Trump Organization, and we're taking a break."
Bromwich: "Hope Hicks is back -- still looking fairly upset. She walks to the witness stand and takes a seat.... Emil Bove, the defense lawyer, heads straight into it, asking Hope Hicks about her relationships with the Trump family and employees of the Trump Organization."
Haberman: "Emil Bove is now asking Hicks about how Michael Cohen did not have an official role with Trump's 2016 campaign. 'He would try to insert himself at certain moments,' she said, which will feed into the defense's argument that Cohen was freelancing."
Swan: "Emil Bove builds on this theme, getting Hope Hicks to agree that Michael Cohen 'went rogue' and did things that were 'unauthorized.' These answers are largely helpful to the defense's efforts to build a case that Cohen could have arranged the hush money without Trump's direct orders."
Haberman: "Emil Bove is now asking Hope Hicks about Trump's concerned over how his wife would react to the 'Access Hollywood' tape. 'President Trump really values Mrs. Trump's opinion, and she doesn't weigh in all the time, but when she does, it's really meaningful to him,' Hicks says. 'He really, really respects what she has to say. I think he was just concerned of what her perception of this would be.' Hicks's comments are similar to what a number of former White House officials have said about Trump's reactivity to his wife's opinions, regardless of what else was swirling around."
Bromwich: "Emil Bove’s last question to Hope Hicks was a pointed one, calling attention to the way that the actual charges of falsifying business records have not been discussed in two full weeks of testimony. 'While you were focused on your job at the White House,' he asked, 'you didn't have anything to do with the business records of the Trump Organization 200 plus miles away in New York City, did you?' Hicks said she didn't. That will conclude testimony for the week. The judge is excusing the jury now.... The lawyers are not quite done yet, even though the jury is. Prosecutors have asked whether they can question Trump, if he testifies, about his nine violations of his gag order. Todd Blanche, a defense lawyer, is asking the judge to bar any such question.... Merchan says he agrees with the defense, saying it would be too prejudicial for a jury to hear that the judge presiding over the trial at hand had found against the defendant. That's a win for Blanche. Merchan's ruling doubles as an acknowledgment of his own sway over the jury."
~~~~~~~~~~
Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Biden traveled on Thursday to North Carolina, a possible swing state in the fall election, to promote his efforts to replace toxic lead pipes as part of his administration's program to expand and upgrade the nation's network of roads, airports and other critical infrastructure. During a stop in Wilmington[, N.C.], the president announced $3 billion in new spending drawn from the bipartisan infrastructure law that he pushed through Congress in 2021, one of the signature legislative achievements he hopes to use to show voters that he can be effective despite political polarization."
Adam Cancryn of Politico: "President Joe Biden on Thursday condemned pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses that have turned violent or resulted in property destruction, emphasizing that Americans only have the right to protest as long as it remains peaceful. 'There is a right to protest,' Biden said, in his most extensive remarks since the campus protest movement began. 'But there is not a right to cause chaos.' The president, however, rejected the idea that the National Guard should be called in to quell some of the demonstrations at campuses across the country. And he rejected the suggestion that the protest movement might persuade him to change course in the Middle East, where Biden has remained largely supportive of Israel's war in Gaza.... In his speech, Biden acknowledged the demonstrations are part of a long history of Americans exercising a right to free speech and assembly that he called 'American fundamental principles.' But he insisted the protests must stay within the law...." (Also linked yesterday.) The Washington Post's report is here.
Michael Shear of the New York Times: At a campaign reception Wednesday night, President Biden took "a swipe at two of America's partners, saying that Japan and India are struggling economically 'because they're xenophobic.' He said the two democratic countries, along with China and Russia, 'don't want immigrants.'... The comments have the potential to be a diplomatic irritant for the administration, which has spent years courting the governments of both Japan and India as part of the president's strategy to counter Chinese aggression in the region.... But ... Mr. Biden is trying to find a politically palatable balance on immigration as he seeks a second term in the White House.... At the same time, Mr. Biden is trying to assert the moral high ground on the country''s treatment of migrants by drawing a contrast with ... Donald J. Trump and his yearslong assault on immigration." CNN's report is here.
Azi Paybarah of the Washington Post: "President Biden on Friday will give the nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, to 19 people -- with recipients covering nearly every corner of American life, including former House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Olympic champion Katie Ledecky, Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh and, posthumously, civil rights leader Medgar Evers." The article includes a list of all the recipients. A CBS News story is here.
Darlene Superville of the AP: "Jill Biden on Thursday paid tribute to her fellow teachers, hosting the 2024 national and state teachers of the year at a swanky White House dinner to honor their commitment to their students and excellence in the classroom.... President Joe Biden made a brief, surprise appearance at the East Room event immediately after he returned from a trip to North Carolina, saying he appreciates everything teachers do.... The national and state teachers of the year typically attend a White House ceremony after they're selected by an organization that represents elementary and secondary school educators. (They did not visit during the coronavirus pandemic.) But Jill Biden, who has taught English and writing at Northern Virginia Community College since 2009, added a new twist by honoring the teachers at a 'state dinner' instead." The New York Times story is here.
Hamed Aleaziz of the New York Times: "Thousands of undocumented immigrants will be able to obtain health care through the Affordable Care Act under a new federal rule, U.S. officials said this week. The new eligibility comes for those in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which since 2012 has protected undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as young people from deportation. The program also provides recipients with work permits. More than 500,000 immigrants have DACA protections but have been ineligible for benefits such as federal health insurance programs. A rule set to be published Friday by the Health and Human Services Department would change that, granting such immigrants access to health coverage and subsidies under the Affordable Care Act when the regulation takes effect in November. U.S. officials estimate thatabout 100,000 uninsured people could obtain health insurance as a result." The CBS News story is here.
The Washington Post's live updates of developments in campus protests against the war on Gaza are here: "Law enforcement cleared a library at Oregon's Portland State University for a second time Thursday night, with the day's arrests there reaching at least 30, as pro-Palestinian protests and resulting police actions continued to roil the campus and many others across the country. In New York, police said that an officer at Columbia University who fired a gun on Tuesday discharged the weapon accidentally and that no one was hurt.... House Republicans have launched multiple investigations into the pro-Palestinian protests ... as part of what House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) described as a probe of antisemitism in America." ~~~
~~~ The New York Times' live updates Friday are here. ~~~
~~~ Julie Watson, et al., of the AP: "Police have arrested more than 2,100 people during pro-Palestinian protests at college campuses across the United States in recent weeks, sometimes using riot gear, tactical vehicles and flash-bang devices to clear tent encampments and occupied buildings. One officer accidentally discharged his gun inside a Columbia University administration building while clearing out protesters camped inside, authorities disclosed Thursday. No one was injured by the officer's mistake late Tuesday inside Hamilton Hall on the Columbia campus, the NYPD said Thursday. He was trying to use the flashlight attached to his gun at the time and instead fired a single round that struck a frame on the wall. There were other officers but no students in the immediate vicinity, officials said. Body camera footage shows when the officer's gun went off, but the district attorney's office is conducting a review, a standard practice." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Wait a minute. I thought the NYPD sent highly-trained tactical units onto the Columbia campus. Wouldn't you think that training would include a class where the instructor demonstrated to the trainees the difference between a gun and a flashlight? I'm going to suggest they include that lesson in their next term's syllabus. ~~~
~~~ Jake Offenhartz of the AP: "Before police officers poured into Columbia University on Tuesday night..., New York City Mayor Eric Adams said ... 'outside agitators' working to 'radicalize our children' were leading students into more extreme tactics.... And one of them, Adams said repeatedly in media appearances Wednesday morning, was a woman whose husband was 'convicted for terrorism.' But the woman referenced by the mayor wasn't on Columbia's campus this week, isn't among the protesters who were arrested and has not been accused of any crime. Nahla Al-Arian, 63, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Adams had misstated both her role in the protests and the facts about her husband, Sami Al-Arian, a former computer engineering professor and prominent Palestinian activist. He was arrested in 2003 on charges of supporting the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group in the 1980s and 1990s, but a jury declined to convict him.... The complicated case remained in legal limbo for years, even after he took a plea deal on a lesser charge that his family said he accepted to get out of jail.... He was deported to Turkey in 2015, ending a case seen by some as an example of excessive government overreach." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Gosh, I don't know; repeatedly condemning a woman whose husband lives in another country and may or may not have associated with radicals some 35 years ago does seem a bit of a stretch.
The Trials of Trump & the Trump Mob
Jonah Bromwich & Jesse McKinley of the New York Times: On a recording made by Michael Cohen in 2016, the jury in Donald Trump's Manhattan criminal trial heard "Mr. Cohen [discuss] a hush-money deal that the parent company of The National Enquirer made on Mr. Trump's behalf with the former Playboy model Karen McDougal, as well as the question of how to deal with 'the financing' -- that is, repaying -- the supermarket tabloid's publisher, David Pecker.... [Trump] directed Mr. Cohen to 'pay with cash.' (Mr. Pecker, the jurors already know, was never repaid.)... On Thursday, prosecutors concluded their questioning of Keith Davidson, a Los Angeles lawyer who had a niche practice representing people with often salacious claims against celebrities. In 2016, Mr. Davidson represented Stormy Daniels.... Mr. Davidson began the day by describing his unpleasant relationship with Mr. Cohen, and the former fixer's fevered efforts to keep allegations of extramarital affairs by Mr. Trump out of the public eye.... A defense lawyer, Emil Bove, in a furious cross-examination, painted a suddenly red-faced Mr. Davidson as a serial extortionist.... Mr. Davidson conceded he had no personal interactions with Mr. Trump....
"In another recording that was played while Mr. Davidson was on the stand, jurors heard Mr. Cohen say in 2017 that Mr. Trump hated 'the fact that we did it.' Mr. Davidson explained that Mr. Trump had been referring to the payment to Ms. Daniels, providing a boost to the prosecutors seeking to corroborate Trump's knowledge of and involvement in the deal.... On Thursday morning, the judge, Juan M. Merchan, heard arguments about four additional statements that prosecutors say violate the order, including remarks in the hallway outside the court, where Mr. Trump has taken to attacking the case and Democrats he feels are behind it. The judge did not immediately rule."
Thursday was another Sleepy Time Daycare Center day for Alleged Criminal No. 1 in downtown Manhattan, and New York Times reporters memorialized the occasion with their nearly-up-to-the-minute observations, many of which are republished in yesterday's Conversation. ~~~
~~~ Norm Eisen in a CNN opinion piece: "Perhaps the most dramatic moment of [Keith] Davidson's morning testimony came when he was asked about an election night 2016 text message exchange with Dylan Howard --a former editor of the National Enquirer who helped broker the negotiations for the story. The prosecution asked Davidson to explain the meaning of a text he had sent to Howard that evening. As the election was about to be called for Trump, Davidson sent a text to Howard asking, 'What have we done?'... He answered that it meant 'our efforts may have in some way -- strike that -- our activities may have in some way assisted the presidential campaign of Donald Trump.'... The exchange ... reflects the purpose of the payment." ~~~
~~~ Stephen Robinson in Public Notice: "Donald Trump has downplayed the $130,000 hush payment made on his behalf to adult film performer Stormy Daniels as a 'simple private transaction.' In reality, it may have changed the course of US history.... [Trump's] improbable comeback [after release of the 'Access Hollywood' tape] is usually linked to FBI Director James Comey's October 28 letter that publicly announced the FBI had 'learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation' into [Hillary] Clinton's private email server use.... Trump was spinning the Access Hollywood recording as merely 'locker room talk' -- not something he'd actually do in real life -- but Daniels, like [Karen] McDougal, claimed that Trump cheated on his wife who'd given birth to their son just a few months earlier. This revelation that Trump was cheating on his mistress with an adult film actress would have solidified Trump's sleazeball image with the undecided voters he needed to swing his way."
~~~ Marie: So far, IMO, the prosecution has not presented any evidence that proves Trump was involved in -- or even had before-the-fact knowledge of -- the payment to Daniels. In fact, on the written agreement between Daniels & the Trump campaign, there is a line for the signature of Trump's pseudonym, and Trump didn't sign it. Although teevee commentators keep pointing out that Michael Cohen got nothing out of the deal, Davidson testified that Cohen thought Trump would give him a top job in the administration, so Cohen had nearly as much reason as Trump to want Trump to become president*. As for falsifying business records, it would be easy for Trump to claim that (a) he didn't know about them, or (b) that he knew about them, but that his shady accountant made them.
Michael Luciano of Mediaite: After court on Thursday, "a reporter asked [Donald Trump] about the possibility of [his] taking the stand.... 'Well, I'm not allowed to testify,' Trump replied. 'I'm under gag order I guess, right? I can't even testify.'... During Thursday's edition of The Lead, CNN's Jake Tapper asked former Manhattan Chief Assistant District Attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo about Trump's claim.... She replied, '... Of course he can testify. He has an absolute right to testify and he is not restricted in terms of what he can talk about as long as it's relevant, admissible evidence. So, the gag order has nothing to do with his testimony at trial. Perhaps he's confused about that, but it only talks about statements outside of court.'" ~~~
~~~Marie: As I recall, Trump's assertions about testifying have devolved from "Of course I'll testify; I've done nothing wrong," through "I want to testify" to "the mean Democrat judge won't let me testify." I want to congratulate Trump on managing to lie in every instance even when essentially reversing himself. That's tricky. If a simple person such as I said I would do something, then I said I wouldn't do it, one of those two opposing responses would be true.
Surprise! Allen Weisselberg Is a Shady Accountant. Charles Davis of Salon: "... emails obtained by The Daily Beast suggest not only that Weisselberg provided unreported labor for the campaign, in possible violation of campaign finance laws, but specifically helped on its filings with the Federal Election Commission.... Weisselberg's work appears to constitute an in-kind contribution to the campaign -- donated labor -- but does not show up on any FEC filings, The Daily Beast noted.... Though Weisselberg is not expected to testify in the [2016 election] case, he 'left behind a potentially priceless paper trail' for prosecutors, according to the report.... Prosecutors say they plan to introduce evidence at Trump's criminal trial showing that the former Trump Organization executive was involved in the hush money scheme." (Also linked yesterday.)
Ryan Reilly of NBC News: "Jack Wade Whitton, a Georgia man who dragged an officer down the steps of the U.S. Capitol ... on Jan. 6 and bragged he 'fed' the officer to the mob, was sentenced to more than four years in prison Thursday. 'You're gonna die tonight!' Whitton admitted yelling at officers during one of several assaults he committed on law enforcement at the lower west tunnel, the scene of some of the worst violence during the Capitol attack. U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras sentenced Whitton to 57 months in prison and ordered mental health treatment. 'Those videos were gruesome,' Contreras said, referring to videos that showed the assault. 'You really went out of control.'" ~~~
~~~ Marie: Trump told Time magazine that he would consider pardoning and releasing all of the 800+ convicted January 6 felons. This is the same law-and-order ex-president* who this week called the largely peaceful campus protests "a disgrace to our country" and blamed President Biden for demonstrations.
Presidential Race
"Absolutely Thrilled." Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "... Trump has taken to claiming that the [post-Dobbs abortion] situation as it stands now is exactly what everyone wanted.... 'Democrats, Republicans, liberals, conservatives -- they wanted to get abortion out of the federal government,' Trump claimed Wednesday at a rally in Wisconsin. 'Everybody wanted that....' This is not true.... 'Look,' Trump continued, talking about laws that would be and have been implemented at the state level, '... But basically the states decide on abortion, and people are absolutely thrilled with the way that;s going on.' This is also not true. This is, if it's possible,more not true.... Most people in most states believe that abortion should be legal in all or most cases..., even in states that ban abortion completely...."
Michelle Boorstein of the Washington Post: "The United Methodist Church, one of the largest organized Christian groups in America, ended a slew of anti-LGBT policies this week, including a ban on gay clergy and on penalties for clergy who conduct same-sex marriages. The moves came as votes of the UMC's General Conference, the denomination's legislative body, which normally meets every four years. While multiple other mainline Protestant groups, including Episcopalians and the United Church of Christ, years ago ended anti-LGBTQ+ policies, the United Methodists -- who historically have been more politically and regionally diverse -- remained deeply divided. Tensions stayed high in recent years as advocates for liberal reforms kept pressing for change and conservatives continued to resist.... Nearly a quarter of the UMC's 30,000 congregations in the United States have left since 2019, >primarily conservatives. That's when denominational leaders opened a window for congregations to leave with their property, according to the UMC news service."
Fatal Coincidence? Lori Aratani of the Washington Post: "Joshua Dean, a former quality auditor who alleged he was fired from his job at a major Boeing contractor in retaliation for raising concerns about the 737 Max jet, died Tuesday morning after a brief illness, according to press reports and social media posts from family members.... The news comes after the death in March of John Barnett, a quality manager who flagged safety concerns in the production of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner. He was found in his car with what authorities said was a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The investigation into that case is ongoing."
The South Is Drowning. Chris Mooney, et al., of the Washington Post: "One of the most rapid sea level surges on Earth is besieging the American South, forcing a reckoning for coastal communities across eight U.S. states, a Washington Post analysis has found.... The Gulf of Mexico has experienced twice the global average rate of sea level rise since 2010, a Post analysis of satellite data shows. Few other places on the planet have seen similar rates of increase...." MB: And of course it will be up to the rest of us to literally try to bail out the Southern climate deniers. The price we pay for the wilful stupidity of wingers is incalculable.
~~~~~~~~~~
Arizona. Adam Edelman of NBC News: "Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs [D] on Thursday signed a repeal of the state's near-total abortion ban that has been on the books since the Civil War, capping a political scramble sparked by a controversial state Supreme Court ruling last month. Flanked by Democratic lawmakers who helped wrangle the bill through the GOP-controlled Legislature, Hobbs signed the repeal inside the state Capitol one day after the state Senate passed it.... But even after Hobbs' signature, the road ahead on how and what abortion restrictions will be enforced in Arizona remains complicated: The ban is still bound to go into effect for a period of time due to unique aspects of Arizona law." The article explains those "unique aspects."
Arkansas. Andrew Demillo of the AP: "Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared Thursday that the state won't comply with a federal regulation that seeks to protect the rights of transgender students in the nation's schools, joining other Republican-led states that are defying the new rules. Sanders signed an executive order stating that Arkansas schools will continue to enforce restrictions on which bathrooms and pronouns transgender students can use, laws that could be invalidated by the new regulations on how to enforce Title IX.... Sanders' order follows similar moves by several other states, including Texas and Oklahoma, that have told schools to not comply with the new regulation. Lawsuits also have been filed in federal courts in Texas, Alabama, Louisiana and Kentucky challenging the rule.... Sanders' order follows several moves by Arkansas to restrict the rights of transgender youth."
Michigan. AP: "The former leader of the Michigan House and his wife pleaded not guilty Thursday [link fixed] to financial charges arising from an investigation of how they spent money from unregulated political funds. Lee Chatfield and Stephanie Chatfield appeared in a Lansing-area court by video conference from Kentucky.... Chatfield, a Republican, was speaker of the House in 2019 and 2020. He is accused of using money for personal travel, housing and other benefits when he was in office. Investigators said he tapped political funds that were created under federal law as tax-exempt social welfare organizations. Stephanie Chatfield monitored her husband's credit card balance and paid it off with money from the Peninsula Fund, including $132,000 over a 14-month period, Attorney Dana Nessel said when charges were filed in April." MB: Looks as if odds are high that if you're a Republican lawmaker, you're a crook.
Texas. So We Begin. Caroline Kitchener of the Washington Post: "As soon as Collin Davis found out his ex-partner was planning to travel to Colorado to have an abortion in late February, the Texas man retained a high-powered antiabortion attorney [Jonathan Mitchell] -- who court records show immediately issued a legal threat. If the woman proceeded with the abortion, even in a state where the procedure remains legal, Davis would seek a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the abortion and 'pursue wrongful-death claims against anyone involved in the killing of his unborn child,' the lawyer wrote in a letter.... Now, Davis has disclosed his former partner's abortion to a state district court in Texas, asking for the power to investigate what his lawyer characterizes as potentially illegal activity.... The previously unreported petition was submitted under ... the state's wrongful-death statute or the novel Texas law known as Senate Bill 8 that allows private citizens to file suit against anyone who 'aids or abets' an illegal abortion.... Mitchell suggests in the petition that people who helped [the woman] procure the abortion could be found liable."
~~~~~~~~~~
Israel/Palestine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Friday in the Israel/Hamas war are here.
News Lede
CNBC: "The U.S. economy added fewer jobs than expected in April while the unemployment rate rose, reversing a trend of robust job growth that had kept the Federal Reserve cautious as it looks for signals on when it can start cutting interest rates. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 175,000 on the month, below the 240,000 estimate from the Dow Jones consensus, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. The unemployment rate ticked higher to 3.9% against expectations it would hold steady at 3.8%."
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This sermon appeared in the local paper this morning.:
Name-calling has a long history on the playground and in politics. Some of that name-calling is just mean. It’s also an easy way to imply your own superiority. Nothing to it. No work at all involved. Just a few syllables to knock the other person down and you feel somehow stronger and better about yourself.
Most name-calling depends for its force on obvious differences. Whatever intended insult we hurl, we’re saying that whatever we are, we’re not one of THOSE. When I was growing up one river valley to the south, racial epithets were surprisingly common. To be one of the crowd, I even used a few of them myself. About the time I was ten, however, I began to wonder why so many used skin color as a weapon when we were all obviously white. It seemed downright silly.
When it comes to name-calling, though, any difference will do. I had red hair, freckles, and beginning in first grade I wore glasses. I also liked to read and do well in school. Those differences from my classmates were enough to prompt some playground meanness. I’ll leave the colorful names I was called to rest quietly in the grave of my personal history.
On the political front the same impulses to hurt or feel superior are at work Accuracy seldom matters, just so long as the brand sticks. “Socialism” is a favorite of the Right, regardless of its application or meaning. “Racist,” is used by the Left a bit too handily for comfort. Some epithets disguise simple crudeness and rudeness, like “Let’s go Brandon,” and some seem downright strange, like “woke” (for who would want to sleep through life’s classroom?), unless you happen to know the meaning of “woke,” that is, being mindful of injustice, originated in African American vernacular. For those who do know, denigrating “woke” can also be subtly racist. There. Two birds with one stone. It’s the playground again, all grown up.
Perhaps the strangest insult of all I’ve encountered in the last few decades, though, is one that has been around since the 1940’s, when Republicans first began calling the Democratic Party the “Democrat” Party. The practice never entirely died away, but it was given new life in the 1990’s by Newt Gingrich. George W. Bush used it, and Donald Trump doubled down on the tradition.
I never quite understood it. The names I was called as a child were much, much worse, and it’s not as if dropping the “ic,” even if you pronounce “Democrat” with a Trumpian sneer, would cause anyone to shed a tear.
But after last week’s Washington State Republican convention, I may understand it better. Washington State’s Republicans have now officially declared any form of “democracy” to be such a bad word that convention attendees were enjoined to stop using the word democracy entirely. We’re not a democracy, they were told, we’re a republic (seattletimes.com).
So. Republic good. Democrat bad. I get it now.
In fact, though, the United States is a democratic republic. We elect our representatives to make our laws, so we are both a democracy AND a republic (act.represent.us). When we elect governors or vote on initiatives, we exercise direct democracy. When our state or federal legislatures enact a law, or when the Electoral College anoints presidents who have either won or lost the popular vote, our government acts indirectly, sometimes for, sometimes against, our democratically expressed wishes. That’s the republic half of our nation’s split personality.
For some, that split is still too much to swallow. Although twice this century the Electoral College or the Supreme Court has selected Republican Presidents who lost the popular vote, there’s still too much democracy running around loose for some.
Now that Washington State’s Republicans have told me how bad democracy really is, I finally understand how insulting it is to call anyone a Democrat.
Ken,
Initially I thought the slur “Democrat” was employed to keep from having to imply that the opposing party was democratic (one implication being, perhaps, at least to small, snarling minds, that theirs was less so, or not at all—both of which proved to be true).
But, as much as they hate the concept, things evolve. Even insults. Perhaps de-volve is more accurate. Whatever. And now, as you point out, “democracy” itself is a bad word. Party orthodoxy, as influenced by the forces of anti-democratic thugs, led by you know who, now requires all Party of Traitors members in good standing to avow that the United States is NOT a democracy, but a republic. They choose not to say “democratic republic” because there’s that awful word again.
This is true, as far as it goes, at least as a matter of categorical description, but, as with all things right-wing these days, also a lie. In a republic, the people have the final say, through their elected representatives.
The Party of Traitors, however, have devised a way to subvert, invert, and pervert that system so that the people end up having very little say. We are run now by an oligarchical minority. Our laws are made, when Republicans choose to actually do some work, by politicians who, on average, especially in the senate, represent a distinct minority of the population. This means that for most Americans, their interests are never considered. As pointed out recently, in Wyoming, that nearly all white, all Christian state has one senator for every 280,000 residents. California, a much more diverse state, gets one senator for every 20 million. Not very representative.
And the Supreme Court, which is on the warpath against democracy, civil and voting rights, and pretty much any progressive idea of the 20th and 21st centuries, is controlled by six far right-wingers, five of whom were appointed by presidents who lost the popular vote.
So, democracy is now anathema, both as a word and an ideal.
Given that, one might suspect that they’d be fine with calling the opposing party by its actual name, the Democratic Party.
But insults die hard in small minds and blackened hearts.
The New York Times is at it again, kids.
A.G. is so pissed that President Biden hasn’t genuflected before him to kiss his ring that he’s now publishing hagiographic op-Eds that promote the Fat Fascist as an Outlaw warrior hero.
Today we get to read all about how Trump might be on the wrong side of the law, but it’s for a “higher purpose”! That of freeing Americans from the evil clutches of a corrupt legal system that will “backfire” in its attempt to hold the Great Hero accountable.
Oh yeah, and guess what? Trump’s crimes have all been done in the noble cause of saving Democracy!
Betcha didn’t know that.
Yup. Fatty is Jesse James, paying off a poor widow’s mortgage. He’s Robin Hood. Biden is the evil Prince John, representing stifling, corrupt systems that brave Sir Donald will smash with his mighty indictments!
Are you fucking kidding me? Trump pay off a widow’s mortgage? He doesn’t even pay his own bills. He’d be much more likely to screw the widow out of her property and steal it from her.
But this is how it goes now. Trump being held accountable, after decades of criminal activity, is a hero. The judge and Biden and the prosecutors are all evil, greedy malefactors while Trump is the only one working for democracy and true law and order.
A hero outlaw.
Jesus fucking Christ.
Thank you, A.G. What’s next? Trump is god?
Akhilleus,
My brief response to yesterday's Times column attempting to burnish a shit pile. I didn't think it worked. It was still shit.
Hard to find heroism anywhere in or near the guy who so obviously acts only on his own behalf and who is himself so obviously corrupt.
I understand the point attempted here, but it would be hard to find a worse example.
The real problem is an electorate that buys the poor little rich boy faux victimhood he's selling. You know, that large group whose feelings are hurt by words like "deplorable."
The ones who are held at gunpoint by realities they deny and are hence attracted to their Denier in Chief.
He is one of them. And in that bunch there is not a single Robin Hood to be found.
@Akhilleus: I'm not sure Schmitz, who is a "conservative" writer, fully embraces the outlaw hero he claims Trump tries to emulate. It's possible he's just a bad writer.
This passage implies that he's really into Trump as an "outlaw hero" (or something): "Mr. Trump may pose a threat to our political system as it now exists, but it is a threat animated by a democratic spirit. It is the threat of the outlaw hero, a figure of defiance with deep roots in American culture who exposes the injustices and hypocrisies of a corrupt system."
But Schmitz ends his little essay by suggesting just the opposite: that's Trump feint could deprive voters of seeing through his scheme to falsely present himself as a Western folklore hero: "If Mr. Trump can manage to convince voters that he is an outlaw hero, then the usual criticisms of him won’t stick. His vices, however grave, will be seen as expressions of the democratic character, bound up with the political system his critics purport to defend. The threat he presents won’t be addressable by limiting foreign influence or vanquishing a single candidate. Indeed, given the nature of the outlaw hero’s appeal, we shouldn’t be surprised if efforts to counter him end up limiting things that are normally cherished as democratic values — not least, the freedom to challenge authority."
ProPublica
"How Chinese Organized Crime Is Dominating America’s Illegal Marijuana Market"
Map of abortion access
Dan Pfeiffer
"The biggest divide in politics is not between Left and Right; it’s between political junkies and everyone else. There is a massive chasm between those who actively seek out political news and the vast majority of the country. The gap has been exacerbated by tectonic shifts in the media environment.
Readers (and the writer) of this newsletter have barely noticed the changesy. We watch cable news, we download podcasts, subscribe to newsletters, and (some of us) still use Twitter to track current events. We are junkies. We seek out political news at every opportunity. But for the vast majority of Americans, who do not actively engage with politics and the news, these changes significantly altered their media diets and what they know about politics and politicians."
Gabriel Zucman
"It’s Time to Tax the Billionaires"
Marie, I agree that Mr. Schmitz is a really bad writer. He wasn't really extolling DiJiT's bad-boy persona, rather he was trying to describe the phenomenon that many redhats (and other) see DiJiT as a Robin Hood, and that that is ridiculous. But as I read the piece yesterday I found myself experiencing the verbal equivalent of one of those perception figure-ground tests (you know -- it's a vase -- no, it's two faces in profile looking at one another -- but, no, vase ...) where the meaning seems to flip flop as you spend more time on it.
Anyway ... no news ... Americans have always been attention-suckers for train wrecks, cat fights, building fires, Bonnies and Clydes, and DiJiT is just one of those disasters, drawing eyeballs.
Remember 2016, when he ws voted out, and we all felt big dopamine because we would not have to look at , hear from, hear about or think about him any more? Nope. His talent for attention hogging is far greater than the average intellect of our citizenry, which continues to stare at the flames in his dumpster. And we watch too because now we have to ensure that the dumpster doesn't burn down the neighborhood.
Errata:
"Remember 2020, when he as voted out ..." or
"Remember 2016, when we thought he'd be voted down ... "
His absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Atlantic
"Why Your Vet Bill Is So High
Corporations and private-equity funds have been rolling up smaller chains and previously independent practices.
Veterinary-industry insiders now estimate that 25 to 30 percent of practices in the United States are under large corporate umbrellas, up from 8 percent a little more than a decade ago. For specialty clinics, the number is closer to three out of four.
Americans spent an estimated $38 billion on health care and related services for companion animals in 2023, up from about $29 billion in 2019. Even as overall inflation got back under control last year, the cost of veterinary care did not. In March 2024, the Consumer Price Index for urban consumers was up 3.5 percent year over year. The veterinary-services category was up 9.6 percent."
Enquirer minds want to know…
Hope Hicks took the stand today. Just wondering if she stopped to steam Fatty’s pants on the way out. (“Hope! C’mon, baby, steam my pants!”) Maybe he was asleep and she didn’t want to wake him.
One other thought…this auditing firm, Bullshit F. Burger, or whatever it’s called, the one the SEC is dropping the hammer on for fraudulent business practices…I’m wondering if the SEC was already on to these jamokes or if the squirrely business surrounding Fatty’s antisocial media stock deal drew attention to their sleazy operation.
If the latter, it’s just another in the long line of people who lose everything by being connected to that fat loser.
However it went down, it’s also another in the long line of skeezy operators in the Trump domain. He simply cannot abide doing business with a straight up and down honest company or individual. It’s one big ball of scuzzy fraudulence and shady operators.
And no amount of steam will get the wrinkles out of that fabric.
RAS,
Thanks for the lowdown on the rise in vet costs. I’ve been wondering about that. The last time we boarded Rocket for a few days the bill was crazy. I asked for an itemized bill and discovered that all of a sudden they were charging extra for giving him the medication he was on at the time. It was a pill. One little pill. $20 for that. Twenty bucks for giving him a pill. Each time he got one. What a rip! Now it makes sense. “Oh, we fed your dog. That’ll be an extra $50.”
I’m guessing vets don’t take the Hippocratic Oath, “First, do no harm”. But some of them probably take the Corporatic Oath: First, fleece the pet owner.
Ah, private equity!
In the medical and larger healthcare fields, it already kills people.
Hope the pets do better.
Though have to wonder how animals in the care of a pet boarding service owned by a private equity firm named Noem Capital would do...
Ken,
Noem Pet Motel: pets check in. They don’t check out. It’s kinda like a Bates Motel for pets. “And visit our scenic MAGA gravel pit out back!”
On the question of whether the SEC checked out Borgers because it was associated with Trump Media, probably "no." The SEC was looking at over a thousand crappy Borgers audits. Trump Media and the associated investment firm were "victims." Which probably means that they chose the cheapest and least demanding audit firm because they were just checking a box, not looking for serious business information.
https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2024-51
Another failed, manufactured Fatty photo op.
Trump pizza! Cold and smushed.
The Orange Monster pretends to be personally delivering pizza to a NYC firehouse. But oops! The pizza had been sitting around for 45 minutes getting cold as staffers waited for Don Snoreleone to show up and pretend to be the Dominoes delivery guy.
“Trump jostled the pizza so much, slapping them on the bottom and moving them around into different positions, one might think they were going to be the subject of his next catch and kill story. In fact, after Trump redelivered the pizzas, he inspected them and decided that they were in no condition to hand out.”
By the time the firefighters got those pizzas (paid for by someone not named Donald) they were “colder than Kristi Norm’s pet goat.”
It must take a lot of effort being a fraud in every aspect of your life. No wonder he dozes off all the time.
A wild orangutan proves that he’s smarter than Trump.
“When a wild orangutan in Indonesia suffered a painful wound to his cheek, he did something that stunned researchers: He chewed plant leaves known to have pain-relieving and healing properties, rubbed the juice on the open wound — and then used the leaves as a poultice to cover his injury.”
So, he didn’t
A. Tell other orangutans it was just a cold
B. Pretend nothing happened
Or…
C. Think drinking bleach would help
Trump. Stupider than an ape. Maybe that’s why Republicans don’t believe in evolution.