;)
The Conversation -- November 3, 2023
Devan Cole of CNN: "A federal appeals court on Friday temporarily froze the limited gag order issued against Donald Trump in the former president's election subversion criminal case in Washington, DC. In a brief order, a three-judge panel at the US DC Circuit Court of Appeals said they were pausing the gag order issued by District Judge Tanya Chutkan to give them more time to consider Trump's request to pause the order while his appeal plays out before the court. This story is breaking and will be updated." MB: Neal Katyal, appearing on MSNBC, says this is not a "win" for Trump but merely an "administrative stay," and it does not address the merits of the case.
The Trump Org fraud case has adjourned for the day. Here is the New York Times' liveblog of developments. And here is CNN's liveblog. The law clerk-bashing thread seems to have won the day. ~~~
~~~ Update. Jonah Bromwich & Kate Christobek of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump's legal team on Friday repeatedly attacked a law clerk during the former president's civil fraud trial, overshadowing Eric Trump's second day on the witness stand and prompting the judge to bar the lawyers from making public statements about his private communications with his staff. The judge, Arthur F. Engoron, works closely with the clerk, Allison Greenfield, and the two often speak and pass notes on the bench. Ms. Greenfield previously worked as a trial attorney in New York City's law department, and the judge appears to rely on her expertise when considering rules of evidence and other matters. But the former president has taken issue with her involvement in the monthlong trial -- Ms. Greenfield is a Democrat and Mr. Trump believes she is biased against him -- and his lawyers have complained about her regularly. On Friday, one of Mr. Trump's lawyers, Christopher M. Kise, continued those objections, saying that the communications between the judge and clerk had created a 'perception of bias.' After court had ended for the day, Justice Engoron issued a written order prohibiting the lawyers from making public statements, in or out of court, about his private communications with Ms. Greenfield, including their conversations and notes."
~~~ Rebecca Shabad of NBC News: "The judge presiding over Donald Trump's $250 million civil fraud trial on Friday imposed a partial gag order on members of the former president's legal team after he said they made 'on the record, repeated, inappropriate remarks' about his principal law clerk. Judge Arthur Engoron's order said that Christopher Kise, Clifford Robert and Alina Habba, lawyers for the former president and his adult sons, 'are prohibited from making any public statements, in or out of court, that refer to any confidential communications, in any form, between my staff and me.'... He said in his order that the three lawyers made remarks about his clerk, 'falsely accusing her of bias against them and of improperly influencing the ongoing bench trial.'... He also stated that since the beginning of the bench trial, his chambers have been 'inundated with hundreds of harassing and threatening phone calls, voicemails, emails, letters and packages.'"
Marie: NYT reporter Susanne Craig appeared on MSNBC Friday and outlined the defenses the Trump boys have made over the past few days. (1) They didn't know anything about appraisals, as executives at their level did not delve into such minor matters. (2) They relied on professional accountants and lawyers to determine the appraised values of Trump properties; that is, they had nothing to do with making the appraisals. (3) Even if they did have input into the appraisals (as the prosecution demonstrated), the appraisals were far too low; the Trump properties were worth more than the stated appraised valuations. If you find these arguments contradictory, they are. Besides being self-contradictory, evidence presented in court and previously presented to the judge also contradicts the boys' contentions.
If the facts are against you, argue the law. If the law is against you, argue the facts. If the law and the facts are against you, pound the table and yell like hell. -- Carl Sandburg
Donald Trump seems to have modified Sandburg's old saw: If the law and the facts are against you, attack the courts, the prosecutors and the witnesses often and in all-caps. -- Marie Burns
Kyle Cheney of Politico: "A California judge made a 'preliminary finding' Thursday that attorney John Eastman breached professional ethics when he aided Donald Trump's bid to overturn the 2020 election, a significant milestone in the lengthy proceedings over whether Eastman should lose his license to practice law. Eastman said Thursday that the extensive disbarment proceedings -- which delved deeply into his allegations of election fraud and irregularities, as well as his fringe theories about the vice president's power to unilaterally choose the winner of the presidential election -- had strengthened his belief that the 2020 election was tainted. Now, state bar officials are preparing to present 'aggravation' evidence aimed at justifying their call to strip Eastman, a veteran conservative attorney who once clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, of his law license." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Andrew Weissmann, appearing on MSNBC, said that while no one was looking, what the Eastman case laid out was a version of the federal case against Donald Trump. All John Eastman had to do was demonstrate that he had a good-faith reason to believe that the 2020 presidential election results were fraudulent. This, Weissmann, said was a very low bar. And the judge has "preliminarily determined" that Eastman could not reach it.
Ryan Reilly of NBC News: "A former Donald Trump political appointee at the State Department who tried to storm the Capitol and assaulted law enforcement officers on Jan. 6 was sentenced to 70 months in prison on Friday. Federico Klein was arrested in March 2021 and convicted of eight felonies as well as misdemeanor offenses by U.S. District Court Judge Trevor McFadden, also a Trump appointee, in July 2023 following a bench trial.... Klein was represented by attorney Stanley Woodward, who represents several Trump aides who have been caught up in federal investigations surrounding the former president."
In a post faulting New York Times reporters for failing to account for the way Donald Trump politicized his administration while in office, Marcy Wheeler outlines some of the instances where Trump and his minions tried to exact or succeeded in exacting revenge against Trump's perceived "enemies." Favorite visual evocation: [Bill] "Barr didn't just pressure John Durham to prosecute high-level people: He skipped, hand-in-hand, with Durham as they used Russian intelligence to fabricate an attack on Hillary Clinton...." I'm seeing Tweedledee & Tweedledum skipping merrily, merrily, merrily around Europe in search of a conspiracy. Thanks to RAS for the link.
Times of Israel: "In a brief televised statement before the start of Shabbat, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he has told visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that he rejects any temporary halt to the fight against Hamas that does not include 'the release of our hostages.['] He also says Israel 'will not enable the entry of fuel to Gaza.'"
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Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "The Senate on Thursday confirmed three more senior military officers in its latest move to bypass an expansive blockade on President Biden's nominees imposed by Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) in a bid to gain leverage in a fight over the Pentagon's travel policy for troops seeking abortions. Approved by lopsided margins were Adm. Lisa Franchetti, Biden's choice to lead the Navy, who will become the first woman on the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Gen. David W. Allvin, nominated to lead the Air Force; and Lt. Gen. Christopher J. Mahoney, who will be promoted to four-star general, become the Marine Corps's No. 2 officer and step in as the caretaker commandant in the absence of Gen. Eric Smith, who suffered apparent cardiac arrest on Sunday. Smith, 58, was in stable condition on Wednesday evening with an unclear long-term prognosis. Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks, the Pentagon's No. 2 political appointee, appeared to link the hold on Thursday directly to Smith's condition[:] 'We have seen tragic effects of that stress, but we've also seen stress at the individual human level. And I think that's been well-communicated on Capitol Hill.'" (Also linked yesterday.)&
Jacob Bogage & Abigail Hauslohner of the Washington Post: "The Republican-controlled House on Thursday approved legislation to send roughly $14 billion in emergency aid to Israel and cut about the same amount from the Internal Revenue Service, in a deeply divided vote on a measure that Senate leaders say they won't take up and President Biden has already threatened to veto.... New House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) chose to split the Israel funding off from the rest of the aid and declared the House would cut the budget to pay for the spending to keep the federal deficit from growing. But the cuts to the IRS would actually cost taxpayers money, meaning the aid for Israel would add to the deficit even more than just borrowing the $14 billion Biden wants to send, according to a nonpartisan analysis by the Congressional Budget Office." (Also linked yesterday.)
The Trials of Trump, Ctd.
Jonah Bromwich & Ben Protess of the New York Times: "Eric and Donald J. Trump Jr. ... stepped out of their father's shadow and into a legal minefield on Thursday, tiptoeing around potentially damaging evidence as they testified in a trial that threatens their family business. Donald Trump Jr. was mostly calm but often evasive as he blamed outside accountants for any errors in company financial statements during nearly two hours on the stand.... His younger brother, Eric, who now runs the Trump Organization, was more precise in his answers but more combative in his tone. He acknowledged his central role within the company but denied direct involvement with the documents. At one point, Eric Trump erupted in anger at questioning from a lawyer with the New York attorney general's office about whether he was aware of the financial statements in question....
"Toward the end of the day, [state prosecutor Andrew] Amer also drilled down on the value of the family's golf club in Westchester County, N.Y., seeking to show that Eric Trump had ignored an independent appraisal when advising an employee on how much the property was worth. Mr. Trump disputed that he paid much attention to appraisals, despite Mr. Amer's showing several emails in which he had corresponded with an appraiser about appraisals. The testimony was combative throughout, a stark contrast from his brother, who appeared to take his stint on the stand in stride. At one point, Donald Trump Jr. told a courtroom sketch artist to 'make me look sexy,' the artist told reporters." (Also linked yesterday.) The AP's story is here. ~~~
~~~ Charlie Nash of Mediaite: "Judge Arthur Engoron accused former President Donald Trump's lawyer Chris Kise of misogyny and warned him not to refer to [the] court clerk again during a tense exchange on Thursday.... Engoron snapped at Kise for repeatedly referring to Engoron's principal law clerk Allison Greenfield as a 'female principal law clerk.'... [This] reportedly prompted Kise to 'adamantly' deny he was a misogynist.... Engoron then reportedly warned Kise, 'All joking aside, do not refer to my staff again.... The person sitting along side me is a civil servant, doing what I ask her to do.' Engoron also reportedly threatened to expand Trump's gag order to Kise and other Trump lawyers if they continued to refer to court staffers." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Jeremy Herb of CNN: "A higher court on Thursday denied Ivanka Trump's request to postpone her upcoming testimony in her father's civil fraud trial, shortly after she claimed she'd suffer 'undue hardship' if forced to appear during a school week.... With the appeal, Trump sought to block New York Judge Arthur Engoron's previous order for her to testify until an appeal could be heard by the New York appellate court." MB: IOW, a person who was previously happy to globetrot any day of the week ending in "y," cannot appear in court during the school year lest her children, who -- unlike most children, certainly have a nanny -- would suffer too much. In future, all court cases in which any participant is a mother with young children must be held during the summer months. How odd the appeals court denied Ivanka's plea. Sorry she has to suffer so much. ~~~
~~~ Stephen Collinson of CNN: "... even before Donald Jr. and Eric had wrapped up an unconvincing day of testimony in a New York civil fraud trial, their father erupted. 'So sad to see my sons being PERSECUTED in a political Witch Hunt by this out of control, publicity seeking, New York State Judge, on a case that should have NEVER been brought,' ... Donald Trump posted on his Truth Social. 'Legal Scholars Scream Disgrace!'"
Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A federal judge has scheduled jury selection to begin Feb. 9 in ... Donald Trump's Washington, D.C., trial on charges of seeking to subvert the results of the 2020 election. U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan set the date for hundreds of District residents to be summoned to the federal courthouse to complete a written questionnaire about the case."
Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Lawyers for ... Donald J. Trump filed an emergency request to a federal appeals court on Thursday seeking to lift the gag order imposed on him in the criminal case in which he stands accused of trying to overturn the 2020 election. The lawyers asked the appeals court to keep the pause of the order in place until it reaches a final decision on whether the order should have been issued in the first place.... Mr. Trump's lawyers, by contrast, have sought, without evidence, to portray the gag order as an attempt by President Biden to 'silence' his chief opponent in 2024 election as the campaign heats up. The former president's lawyers have argued that the order undermines Mr. Trump's First Amendment rights to freely express his belief that the election interference prosecution is, in fact, political persecution -- despite the fact that Judge [Tanya] Chutkan has expressly allowed him to criticize the case, Mr. Biden and his administration." ~~~
~~~ Marie: IOW, according to Trump, an alleged criminal out on bail cannot run for elective office without, say, threatening the children of court staff or recommending the death penalty for potential witnesses. ~~~
~~~ Brett Samuels of the Hill: "Former President Trump on Thursday referred to those jailed over their actions during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol as 'hostages' during a rally with supporters in Texas.... [To conclude the rally,] a song in which Trump collaborated with a chorus of inmates detained on charges related to the Jan. 6 insurrection began to play, and the former president stood saluting."
Don't Be a Silly Girl, Judge Aileen. Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "Prosecutors with special counsel Jack Smith's office have accused ... Donald Trump's legal team of seeking to manipulate the courts in their bid to delay his trials past the 2024 presidential election. Fresh off a Florida hearing where Trump appeared to gain traction in his effort to delay one of his criminal trials, his attorneys asked Wednesday night for a second trial he faces next year in Washington, DC, to be put on hold. But Trump's emboldened attempts to delay facing federal juries -- on his national security records mishandling and 2020 election cases -- while he is running for president were quickly called out by prosecutors who accuse him of manipulating the courts. 'Defendant Trump's actions in the hours following the hearing ... confirm his overriding interest in delaying both trials at any cost. This Court should [not] allow itself to be manipulated in this fashion,' the Justice Department said in a court filing Thursday with Judge Aileen Cannon in Ft. Pierce, Florida." MB: Reminds me of a father urging his impressionable daughter not to let the football captain turn her head.
Eli Tan & Tory Newmyer of the Washington Post: "A jury on Thursday convicted FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering, the culmination of a month-long trial that saw the former crypto mogul take the stand in his own defense after his inner circle of friends-turned-deputies provided damning testimony against him. The decision was reached after a few hours of deliberation by a jury of nine women and three men, who found Bankman-Fried guilty of two counts of wire fraud, four counts of conspiracy to commit fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. The conviction cements Bankman-Fried as one of the largest financial fraudsters in history, whose victims suffered nearly $10 billion in losses after FTX misappropriated customer funds to spend lavishly on luxury real estate, investments, and 'dark money' political donations, all at his direction, the jury found." (Also linked yesterday.) CNN's report is here.
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New York. William Rashbaum , et al., of the New York Times: "Federal prosecutors and the F.B.I. are conducting a broad public corruption investigation into whether Mayor Eric Adams's 2021 election campaign conspired with the Turkish government to receive illegal foreign donations, according to a search warrant obtained by The New York Times. The investigation burst into public view on Thursday when federal agents conducted an early-morning raid at the Brooklyn home of the mayor's chief fund-raiser, Brianna Suggs. Investigators also sought to learn more about the potential involvement of a Brooklyn construction company with ties to Turkey, as well as a small university in Washington, D.C., that also has ties to the country and to Mr. Adams. According to the search warrant, investigators were also focused on whether the mayor's campaign kicked back benefits to the construction company's officials and employees, and to Turkish officials."
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Israel/Palestine
The New York Times' live updates of developments Friday in the Israel/Hamas war are here. CNN's live updates are here.
Kevin Liptak, et al., of CNN: "President Joe Biden and his top advisers are warning Israel with growing force that it will become increasingly difficult for it to pursue its military goals in Gaza as global outcry intensifies about the scale of humanitarian suffering there. Biden, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken -- who departed Thursday for Israel with a message on protecting civilian lives -- have all explicitly pressed the case in recent private conversations with the Israelis, telling them that eroding support will have dire strategic consequences for Israel Defense Forces operations against Hamas. Behind the scenes, American officials also believe there is limited time for Israel to try to accomplih its stated objective of taking out Hamas in its current operation before uproar over the humanitarian suffering and civilian casualties -- and calls for a ceasefire -- reaches a tipping point."
Zoe Richards of NBC News: "President Joe Biden said Wednesday that a 'pause' was needed in the Israel-Hamas war.... 'I think we need a pause, Biden said in response to a question from a protester who interrupted him at a campaign reception in Minnesota. Asked to clarify what a pause meant, he said: 'A pause means give time to get the prisoners out....' Negotiations to free 239 hostages, including children and the elderly, have continued since Hamas' Oct. 7 terrorist attack killed about 1,400 people in Israel. After Hamas breached Israel's border wall, other groups from Gaza seized additional captives. The protester, who identified herself as Rabbi Jessica Rosenberg, said she wanted Biden to call for a cease-fire." (Also linked yesterday.)
Michael Shear of the New York Times: "Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken will urge the Israeli government to agree to a series of brief cessations of military operations in Gaza to allow for hostages to be released safely and for humanitarian aid to be distributed, White House officials said on Thursday. The message comes as President Biden revealed on Wednesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel had previously agreed to halt shelling briefly on Oct. 20 to allow for the release of two Americans, Judith Raanan, 59, and her daughter, Natalie Raanan, 17. The push for what American officials call 'humanitarian pauses' is one of several subjects Mr. Blinken will raise with Mr. Netanyahu and other officials when he arrives in Israel on Friday for another round of diplomacy..." (Also linked yesterday.)
News Lede
CNBC: "The U.S. economy saw job creation decelerate in October, confirming persistent expectations for a slowdown and possibly taking some heat off the Federal Reserve in its fight against inflation. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 150,000 for the month, the Labor Department reported Friday, against the Dow Jones consensus forecast for a rise of 170,000. The United Auto Workers strikes were primarily responsible for the gap as the impasse meant a net loss of jobs for the manufacturing industry."
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Reader Comments (14)
The other day, I suggested that the Trump spawn courtroom appearance would be a lie fest. And it was. Junior smirked his way through and Stupid Eric behaved badly as always. And the idea that neither of these weasels know what’s going on in the company with their name on it is patently ridiculous.
As Maggie Haberman points out, these guys, especially Eric, were running the company.
Saying “I dunno, I’m not an accountant, I just sign shit. Heh-heh” is not an out. You sign it, you own it. Let’s say you sign a promissory note or some other kind of contract. You don’t get to skate on paying up or avoiding contractual obligation by playing Mickey the Dunce. And the idea that some schmoe accountant is responsible for jiggering property values up or down by tens of millions of dollars is not only a bridge too far, it’s a bridge that doesn’t exist.
A company run like that would have to be some kind of fraudulent criminal operation.
Oh, wait…
Kyiv Independent
"Minister: Russia attacks over 100 Ukrainian towns in 1 day
Russian forces shelled 118 Ukrainian settlements in 24 hours spanning Oct. 31-Nov. 1, marking the year's heaviest single day of shelling, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko reported on Nov. 1."
Marcy Wheeler runs down much of Trump's political interference and retribution some of which is continuing on in the House.
Bankman-Freid....and AK-47's.
Got the impression from a recent New Yorker profile of Bankman-Fried that that he is one weird duck...which led me to think of him not just as the crook he apparently is, playing fast and very loose with other people's property, but also as a victim of his abnormal brain chemistry, of his odd upbringing and of the opportunity his society presented him to do harm.
No, I do not think (back in the day when cars had keys) it is the fault of the driver who left his key in the ignition when his car was stolen, but...
....opportunity does have something to do with the kind and extent of the crime perpetrated.
That said, the financial markets we've arranged in all their complexity and abstraction have made it possible, even more likely, to do great damage to many thousands who have little connection to the issues and decisions made by those who choose to break the law or behave unethically.
Just as we blithely give weapons of war to the deranged, our markets place weapons of mass financial destruction in the hands of those who should not have access to them.
Don't know if it's a consequences of size alone, but there is something very wrong here.
BTW, Bankman-Fried didn't steal a penny of my CryptoCash.
DiJiT's higher education plan:
-- take the endowments of existing universities
-- set up a website with programmed texts for "every thing you need to know"
-- hand out diplomas for BAs, by mail
Just like Trump U, but not just for realty!!
https://www.wonkette.com/p/what-if-trump-university-but-for
@Ken W. Clearly, I have fallen behind the times. My first clue was when you mentioned the old days when cars had keys. Both of mine still do. Then I was unsure about your stash of cryptocash: can it be hidden under the mattress a la Mike Johnson's favored banking system?
Florida governor Ron DeSantis continues to make himself relevant and has fastened on President Biden's call for a 'humanitarian pause" in Gaza. https://floridapolitics.com/archives/642616-ron-desantis-rips-joe-bidens-disgraceful-call-for-humanitarian-pause-in-israel-hamas-war/
Barring Trump being imprisoned or dying it seems DeSantis is a fading star with no chance of winning the nomination.
@Bobby Lee: But his boots!
A friend sent me this.
Mayor Pete is a class act.
The Supreme Court is considering whether or not Trump too small.
I know what yer thinkin’, “Trump too small” has something to do with complaints filed jointly by Melanie and Stormy Daniels. So how does the Court “handle” this? Do they employ calipers? A micrometer? Perhaps they break out an electron microscope to check for accurate measurements. Are we talking Planck Length? A Planck Length is 1.6 x10-35 m across. Smaller than that?
Whew.
Unfortunately, or luckily, as the case may be, the Court is not so much concerned with ascertaining the exact teensiness of the ex-presidential member, but rather whether or not the phrase “Trump too small” can be trademarked for t-shirt purposes (I’ll take two!)
It looks as though, sadly, no trademark will be awarded here, according to Scotusblog. The issue turns on a long-standing tradition against issuing trademarks involving a living person (which is weird, because there must be hundreds of eponymous products with trademarks).
Anyway, my take is, the second Fatty kicks, the guy gets his trademark. Go trademark!
In the meantime “Trump too small” is in the public domain. T-shirt people, get going!
One of the Georgia defendants (Floyd) is seeking to prove that Biden did not win the election, by asking for all the paper associated with the 2020 vote. DiJiT's lawyers of course support this ploy, stating that:
"... “Under the First Amendment, each individual American participating in a free marketplace of ideas — not the federal Government — decides for him or herself what is true and false on great disputed social and political questions.” ... "
And here most of us thought that "counting" and "adding" were pretty much undisputed operations.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/11/03/trump-codefendant-georgia-election-case/
Marie, there was a big hoo-haw (sorry, no link) within the past week or so if whether or not he has lifts in his boots.
Re: Eastman and the assertion in Georgia that arithmetic is in the realm of the " free marketplace of ideas" (thanks, Patrick, for that one)...
Bottom line (once an accounting term): R's never lose. When it appears they do, it's proof the other side cheated. Obviously and Q. E. D.
If anyone needed a point to turn thumbs down on DeSantis, I think this one ought to do the job. https://floridapolitics.com/archives/642427-ron-desantis-tuberville/