Donald J. Trump, the first U.S. president to become a felon, excoriated prosecutors and the judge in his criminal case and ran through a litany of false statements as he spoke to reporters and a small crowd of vetted supporters at Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan.
It's been reported that only 10% of felons are given jail time for similar convictions. You have to wonder if such remarks after his conviction, indicating he's learned absolutely nothing, may lead a judge towards the harsher punishment.
Also, let's take a moment to applaud Alvin L. Bragg.
Alvin L. Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, risked his reputation by indicting Mr. Trump in a case that some prominent Democrats said wasn’t strong enough to have brought against a former president. Instead, Mr. Bragg cemented his place in history as the first prosecutor to convict a former president.
I hate the rhetoric that we can't do anything because it would make Trump a martyr.
So it's either let him do whatever he wants or he's a martyr. I don't know why they see this as a lose lose situation. Hold the fucker accountable for his actions or he'll keep doing shitty things. It's their fault that it's gone on as long as it has.
If anything you would expect someone who was trying to get elected (when the crimes were committed) to be held to higher standards than most and to be dealt a harsher sentence.
Nah, I think it'll just be probation with generous terms. If they put him on house arrest, he'll challenge that saying it's political and it will prevent him from campaigning. It'll be easier to just slap him with a "you have to report your travel plans" and a few hours of community service. He deserves much more, but it'll cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars and take years if they actually try to punish him. I'll call it a win if we can always refer to him as "convicted felon DT" and let him walk. That will give more ammo for harsher sentences for the federal cases.
Mr. Trump, the former president and presumptive Republican nominee, derided the trial as “rigged” and made numerous false statements about what had taken place in court
Like he would even know what took place in court since he slept through half of it
The charges against him would have been read to him in their entirety during the arraignment proceedings which come (long) before the trial. The orange dipshit probably slept through that, too.
It kind of does say it all, but in a criminal trial, refusing to testify cannot be held against you under the 5th Amendment. In a civil trial, though, refusing to testify can be factored into reaching a verdict.
So yeah, while it may make you appear guilty as hell, refusing to testify in your criminal trial cannot be held against you.
That was hammered into us every time I had to report for jury duty.
I watched a documentary about Alex Jones' court case with the Sandy Hook victims and he did the exact same thing. In court he does nothing, but as soon as he's back in front of a camera he's straight back to peddling lies and crying injustice.
"I think that the Justices on the court – I know many of them personally – I think they are deeply concerned about that, as we are. So I think they'll set this straight," the Louisiana Republican added.
I think that quote really puts into perspective that the GOP is no longer the party of law. If a jury hands down a decision we don't like, we get our friends in high places to overturn it. I bet his kids never have to worry about traffic tickets, either, they all get magically "fixed" with the right phone call.
Trump's allies are already plotting revenge, with one prospective Trump attorney general candidate telling Axios' Zach Basu and Sophia Cai that GOP prosecutors should go after Democrats in response.
You know what? If Democrats break the law, then prosecutors should go after them! Somehow, though, I don't think this is what they have in mind.
I don't think that's possible. First of all, they're state crimes. Second of all, the jury has already rendered a verdict. The state courts are separate from federal for a reason, and setting aside a jury's verdict for literally no reason is just not possible for the Supreme Court. The jury is the decider of fact, the judge is the decider of law. This jury decided that trump did indeed commit this crime, so it's now established fact.
They would have to rule based on some error in the court process. Judge Merchan was very careful to give Trump a fair trial, so there are no grounds for appeals.
I hate that we have to re-explain the entire legal system because one man who obviously committed obvious crimes also constantly lies about how the legal system works and people eat it up.
To call something a lie, the media outlet has to know, 100%, that the speaker knows it's a lie. It's difficult to impossible to meet that threshold in pretty much all cases.
A false statement is an untruth — a lie that could have resulted from an honest mistake, poor fact-checking, negligence, or just plain bad luck / stupidity.
People may say something that is known to them as the truth, but is not necessarily the objective truth as known by others. In that case, they would be making unwitting false claims. i.e. "it's not a lie if you believe it"
Basically it comes down to liability. If a media outlet directly calls something someone says a lie, they're going to get sued.
And Cheeto is a walking SLAAP lawsuit.
Best guess? Just avoiding being sued. Something being a false statement is a matter of fact that's easily proven. Something being a lie requires proving state of mind. In the US I can't imagine actually winning such a suit, but its still safer to cover asses.
One thing I am glad about is the press used to tippie toe around calling out lying with him and at least that seems to not so much be the case anymore.