Jarqui
Jarqui's JournalColorado Supreme Court disqualifies Trump from 2024 ballot, pauses ruling to allow appeal
Source: CNBC
The Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that former President Donald Trump cannot appear on the state’s ballots for the 2024 election due to his incitement of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, reversing a lower court ruling.
But the state Supreme Court stayed its ruling from taking effect until Jan. 4, “subject to further appellate proceedings.”
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/19/trump-ballot-challenge-decided-by-colorado-supreme-court.html
A step closer ....
The ruling
https://www.courts.state.co.us/userfiles/file/Court_Probation/Supreme_Court/Opinions/2023/23SA300.pdf
My Great Uncle was a WW1 veteran
When he was eight, his father died unexpectedly.
He dropped out of school to work two jobs to support his mother, my grandfather who was six years old and his younger sister. His siblings stayed in school while he worked.
He never stopped working as his mother and siblings needed his support.
Eventually, he got into law enforcement when he got older.
He lied about his age and joined the army when WW1 came along.
He got shot in the head. They put a plate in and sent him back out to fight.
He got promoted and fought hard. War is a terrible thing. That war was as bad as any.
When the war was over, he came home. He had many ‘souvenirs’ from German soldiers he had captured (weapons, helmets, swords/sabres, etc.)
He just dropped them at my grandfather's house and left.
Years later, my brother and I were playing in the basement of my grandfather's house when we came across his war souvenirs. We asked about them. We couldn't believe we had kind of a war hero in the family we'd never heard about. We were very young. I was about 7 years old. Hollywood was still sort of glorifying WW2 in the movies ..
I kept at my father. "What happened to him?" "Why don't we see him?" "Where is he?" "The family should be seeing him, shouldn't they?"
He'd dropped his belongings and went out west to live in the woods more than 40 years before.
Once a year, he would write his brother.
I told my father “You have to go get him" I would not let it go. My 9-year-old brother backed me.
I didn't understand why he would not be with us or see us.
We basically shamed my father into doing something about it.
My Dad was 2 years old when he returned from the war. He'd never really met him either.
My father relented, tracked him down and sent him thousands of dollars to entice him to visit and pay his traveling expenses. In the fall of 1963, he came to visit for a week.
To this day, I have never met anyone like him. I had an instant, incredible connection with him. It was like we knew what each other was thinking without speaking. I was glued to him for that week. But we didn't say much. It was kinetic. Extraordinary serenity, comfort and safety with another person. I can't fully explain it. Never experienced anything like it since. He seemed to feel something too.
Just as the plates were being taken away after our last dinner, my dad requested of my great uncle "Tell the boys about the war ..." My great uncle was across from me. He froze. Tears welled up. As I darted around the table, my father, with a more insistent tone, demanded again. I said in a panic "He already answered!" Everyone look at me like I was nuts. He had said nothing. I said it again more emphatically as I stood protectively beside him. His eyes and expression answered the question. Nothing more needed to be said. In the silence of his response, I could sense the terror & feel the horror. Like I could hear the screams inside of his mind.
He left the next morning to go back to his home alone in the wilderness.
My mother lost her mother to cancer when she was eight. At age fifteen, she nursed my grandfather as he wheezed to death from the gassings in the WW1 trenches. We were not allowed to speak of the wars around her. It could trigger tremendous suffering she never got over.
I asked to go see my great uncle. I could spend the summer in the wilderness with him. He had built a cabin in the woods. My parents wouldn't let me. A few years later, the police informed us he'd passed away. They delivered a box of his belongings. That was it.
Except it wasn't it for me. I was troubled. This man stopped his childhood at age eight and devoted his life to taking care of his mother and siblings. He served in law enforcement and defended his country. How could such a person wind up like he did? My brother and I started researching. We tracked down people in the town near where he lived (we fixed up his grave). We went through the war records, etc. We found articles that had mentioned him. We traced where he'd been. We found that he had relieved my mother's father in a trench in France - they marched past each other - a few years before my mother was born.
But it still didn't make sense. Something had happened. It seemed to have happened in the war. Trench warfare is horrific but there seemed to be something else or more. Why did he turn in his stripes? I kept digging. Finally, an officer in the army agreed to let me look at records that were not in the public and said he'd try to help me figure out what happened. In 2016, we met at a facility where these records were.
From a review of the records, the officer felt that my great uncle had become upset at the waste of young soldiers by their commanding officers’ careless command. He spoke out. They took exception and made an example of him. They tied him to a wagon wheel and rolled him out to around the trenches barely in range of the Germans. The Germans could practice target shooting at him. They left him there for two weeks. Then, he turned in his stripes.
They broke him.
It happened over 100 years ago and I am crying as I type that.
It is still so hard to accept.
Turns out the army had motivation for seeing me. They had a problem with soldiers coming back from Iraq & Afghanistan who were killing themselves. They wanted to try to understand why my great uncle, who obviously had severe PTSD, had not killed himself. And if they got that understanding, maybe it could help them help others. I had an instant answer. "Look at his army pay. It was going home to his mother and sister. He'd looked after them since he was eight years old. If he killed himself, how would they survive? So, he toughed it out in the woods making a few bucks panning for gold, trapping, dog sledding, lumberjacking, etc. and supporting them like he'd done all his life. It's pretty simple. That was the essence of my great uncle => taking care of his family was his top priority."
Hardly anyone knows he existed.
If it wasn't for him, there is a good chance my family and I would not exist.
There are no monuments or medals for him. Just a flat grave marker covered by leaves in the woods in the middle of nowhere.
I still appreciate the week I got with him. I hope it gave him some relief from the immense pain he was in.
I will never forget him.
I think this tweet is probably true
https://twitter.com/PopularLiberal/status/1698837038571647102Popular Liberal 🇺🇸
@PopularLiberal
WOW: I greatly appreciate when ex-Republicans speak out against the prejudice present in the Republican party and acknowledge its negative implications. This individual, who used to identify as conservative, shares that he renounced his affiliation with the Republican party after witnessing racism directed towards Barack Obama. Moreover, they witnessed instances where Republicans obstructed legislation beneficial for the nation, solely with the intention of undermining the former president. If you support this viewpoint, please show your agreement by engaging with the video: like, comment, and share.🤚🏽#WeAreBlue1 #wtpBLUE
7:14 PM · Sep 4, 2023
There's a 1 minute video behind his comment that seemed worthy of passing on
The video got me more than their comment
Bullshit
Ignoring all the other felony convictions of members of Trump Org or Campaign ...
Letitia James, AG of NY, began her investigation of Trump in 2018.
Feb 2018 Federal court approves $25 million Trump University settlement
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/federal-court-approves-25-million-trump-university-settlement-n845181
A federal court approved a $25 million settlement with students who said they were duped by Donald Trump and his now-defunct Trump University.
August 2018, Trump lawyer Cohen pleads guilty to a variety of crimes - many linked to Trump hush money payments.
https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/michael-cohen-pleads-guilty-manhattan-federal-court-eight-counts-including-criminal-tax
In 2018 Trump organization is also under investigation that results in convictions for 17 felonies including tax fraud in Dec 2022 and a $1.6 mil fine.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/13/politics/trump-org-sentencing/index.html
https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/trumps-alleged-hush-money-payments-path-criminal-charges-2023-04-04/
AUGUST 2019
Cyrus Vance, the Manhattan District Attorney at the time, issues a subpoena to the Trump Organization - Trump's family real estate company - for records of hush money payments.
In Nov 2019, EJ Carroll sued Trump for defamation. A second suit resulted in an award of damages in 2023 for $5 mil for in part, Trump raping/sexually abusing EJ Carroll.
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/e-jean-carroll-sued-trump-defamation-last-resort-blame-statute-ncna1077321
In Nov-Dec 2019, Trump Charity Foundation is shut down, Trump ordered to pay $2 million to charities.
https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2019/donald-j-trump-pays-court-ordered-2-million-illegally-using-trump-foundation
https://apnews.com/article/trump-georgia-election-investigation-2020-willis-d625354d03e871306c44ff386f1ff88e#:~:text=Fulton%20County%20District%20Attorney%20Fani%20Willis%20has%20been%20investigating%20since,a%20grand%20jury%20next%20month.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has been investigating since early 2021 whether Trump and his allies broke any laws as they tried to overturn his narrow election loss in Georgia to Democrat Joe Biden.
As of Jan 6, 2021, Trump lost 61 of 62 election lawsuits
https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/politics/elections/2021/01/06/trumps-failed-efforts-overturn-election-numbers/4130307001/
Trump won a trivial case that affected a few votes in PA on showing ID more than 3 days after the election.
The investigation into what occurred in the Capitol Jan 6th, 2021 began that day. I don't think I need to provide a link for that. More than 1,000 have been charged with more than half convicted (some with sedition) so far with many cases still outstanding.
June 2021: Court Suspends Trump lawyer Giuliani’s Law License, Citing Trump Election Lies
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/24/nyregion/giuliani-law-license-suspended-trump.html
https://apnews.com/article/trump-documents-investigation-timeline-087f0c9a8368bb983a16b67dd31dcd4c
On or about May 6, 2021: Realizing that some documents from Trump’s presidency may be missing, the National Archives asks that he turn over any presidential records he may have kept upon leaving the White House. The agency makes subsequent, repeated demands.
and that led to the 40 or so indictments of Trump this year.
August 2022, Trump CFO, Allen Weisselberg pleads guilty to 15 tax and fraud crimes from an investigation started in 2018
Sept 2022 New York AG Letitia James files $250M lawsuit against Trump for defrauding lenders, others
https://abcnews.go.com/US/york-ag-letitia-james-files-250m-lawsuit-trump/story?id=90240332
Nearly five years after the above started or transpired:
Nov 15, 2022 Trump announces he's running for President in 2024
https://www.npr.org/2022/11/15/1137052704/trump-2024-president-campaign
Clearly, all these DoJ people were clairvoyant
Fulton DA clarifies timeline for witness testimony in Trump probe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=YY-CzKmVgVc&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=AtlantaJournal-ConstitutionAtlanta Journal Constitution interview with Fani Willis on Trump Probe
In April of 2023, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis talked with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about the timeline of her investigation into former president Donald Trump and whether he tried to illegally overturn election results in Georgia in 2020
2nd Grand Jury convenes in May to review the report, hear witnesses, etc
Testimony starts in early June
EDIT: I returned to this thread to read the comments and ran into a significant issue.
I cut and pasted the above from youtube for this video
The thread title was the title of the video which now reads "2022 Interview: Fulton DA clarifies timeline for witness testimony in Trump probe" (bolded part added)
The bolded 2023 in the comments above has been switched to 2022.
The election date she refers to in the video was May 24 of 2022. There is no election on May 24, 2023.
The video was posted a few hours ago on the Atlanta Journal Constitution Youtube channel.
I apologize for the confusion. I would disregard this or look at it for historical reference
Here's the indictment he plead guilty to:
https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/20982370/indictment-final-unsigned.pdfHere's AG James claim
https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/tto_complaint.pdf
Beyond Zurich insurance, just a quick scan of AG James claim reveals other areas of criminal concern for Weisselberg:
Paragraph 56-57
56. Similarly, the engagement letters specifically obligated the Trump Organization to
provide Mazars with “access to all information of which you are aware [that] is relevant to the
preparation and fair presentation of the financial statement, such as records, documentation, and
other matters,” and made clear that Mr. Weisselberg, as the Trump Organization’s CFO, was
responsible for “the selection and application of accounting principles,” and for “establishing and
maintaining internal controls.” The engagement letters similarly obligated the Trump
Organization to “mak[e] all financial records and related information available to [Mazars] and
for the accuracy and completeness of that information.”
57. In addition to the engagement letters, for each year from 2011 to 2020, Mr.
Weisselberg as CFO of the Trump Organization signed a representation letter submitted by the
Trump Organization to Mazars in connection with Mazars’s actual issuance of the completed
Statement of Financial Condition. In the letter, Mr. Weisselberg represented that the Trump
Organization was “responsible for the information provided to Mazars for each annual
compilation,” and that the information was “presented fairly and accurately in all material
respects.”
Paragraph 61
61. As noted, Mr. Trump or the Trustees would prepare valuations and data for the
Statement, which Mazars (or for 2021, Whitley Penn) would then compile. Each year the Trump
Organization personnel (including Mr. Weisselberg and Mr. McConney) would prepare a
supporting data spreadsheet containing the valuations for the Statement and backup material
supporting those valuations. Mazars (or for 2021, Whitley Penn) then compiled that information
into financial-statement format.
Paragraph 212:
212. What is more, during the course of the 2019 valuation of Trump Tower, Mr.
Weisselberg systematically rejected numerous valuations that would have reached values
between $161 million and $224 million less than the prior year’s $732 million valuation.
Multiple draft valuations were prepared by the junior employee charged with preparing the
Statement using other, more recent Plaza District transactions with much higher capitalization
rates of 4.65% and higher--but Mr. Weisselberg systematically rejected all of those market data
points and decided to use a less recent, but much more favorable, 2.67% rate from the 666 Fifth
Avenue sale to push the value north of $800 million.
paragraph 320
320. For the years 2017 to 2021, the Trump Organization purported to use the
“stabilized net operating income” and claimed in supporting spreadsheets that the NOI figures to
derive the values for the properties came from audited financial statements. Those statements
were false and misleading. In reality, the Trump Organization, at the direction of Allen
Weisselberg, frequently used unaudited reports and then adjusted them to suit its own purposes
by adding millions of dollars in net operating income to the figures.
All look like they're within the statute of limitations for a NY felony.
Insurance Fraud, bank fraud and tax crimes.
No wonder he needs a criminal lawyer.
And therefore, he's very susceptible to being flipped.
Trump has some significant liability too ... if they can flip Weisselberg ..
Another note on this
Weisselberg gets out of Riker's on April 19, 2023
https://a073-ils-web.nyc.gov/inmatelookup/pages/home/home.jsf
The Daily Beast article:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/why-the-trump-org-suddenly-fired-its-jailed-money-man-allen-weisselbergs-lawyer
identifies Weisselberg's new lawyer as Seth L. Rosenberg and says “Mr. Weisselberg’s decision to change lawyers was entirely his own, a decision which I understand Mr. Weisselberg made in consultation with his family after the conclusion of the trial.”
Here's Seth's bio
https://www.martindale.com/attorney/seth-l-rosenberg-464028/
For more than twenty-five years Seth L. Rosenberg has specialized in defending white-collar criminal cases and litigating complex civil disputes.
...
At Clayman & Rosenberg LLP Seth has represented individuals and institutions in state and federal criminal investigations throughout the United States, and defended them against a wide range of charges including securities fraud, financial and health care fraud, embezzlement, money laundering, political integrity issues and many others. He also has appeared before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Election Commission and other regulatory bodies.
Let's recap for a second:
Wesseilberg, according to Riker's inmate records, gets out of jail on April 19, 2023
He's done with his 15 crimes that he pleaded guilty to.
So after that case and 15 convictions and after Trump org was nailed for financial crimes, why does Weisselberg still need a criminal lawyer specialized in white collar crime?
It's a rhetorical question.
He's still got a criminal problem hanging over him so those actions corroborate the media report that Bragg pressured him to flip.
I don't feel much different this morning
Bragg declined the Stormy case last year. And he declined aspects of the Trump investigation.
ex NY State prosecutor Pomerantz's book and interviews lay that out.
There were two key problems with the Stormy case according to Pomerantz.
1. It relied heavily on a felon convicted of lying - Cohen
2. It needed a related felony to lift the Stormy payoff misdemeanor to a felony. The only one that seemed plausible to pursue was a Federal campaign finance felony that would require a precedent to lift a state misdemeanor to a felony in conjunction with a federal felony as opposed to a state felony. There were Trump felonies at the state level alleged by AG James but they lacked witnesses needed to cut through the complex bookkeeping in court.
Something changed Bragg's mind.
Some wondered if it was Pomerantz's book. But the book didn't solve the issues with the case. If it did anything, it laid them out for all to see.
Weisselberg flipping solves both problems with the Stormy case.
1, He shores up Cohen as a witness (though they also have Pecker, Stormy's & McDougall's lawyer, Stormy & McDougall)
2. He helps the felonies AG James referred to Manhattan prosecutors at the state level so they don't need to achieve a precedent of tying to a federal FEC felony.
And Weisselberg obviously helps NY State prosecute Trump for his other financial crimes identified by AG James. And maybe helps the IRS who Trump confirmed were after him.
Something of substance changed. Weisselberg flipping explains all of it.
One other very notable pattern:
Before Michael Cohen and Cassidy Hutchinson flipped, they fired their lawyer being paid for by Trump - like Weisselberg did. (The media is behind on this. Weisselberg fired these lawyers a while ago. From Daily Beast article “Mr. Weisselberg’s decision to change lawyers was entirely his own, a decision which I understand Mr. Weisselberg made in consultation with his family after the conclusion of the trial.” Weisselberg pleaded guilty in August 2022)
Another notable pattern possibly broken:
Trump has been strangely quiet. They were posting about it on Truth Social last evening. Trump likes to get out in front of stories ... or kill them quickly .... I wondered about a crazy 2 am posting. But all I see and hear are crickets.
It is possible something else is happening with Weisselberg. If I had to bet on it, I'd bet that Weisselberg flipped.
I'm not convinced that is the whole story at all
First of all, it has been documented that AG Barr squashed many of the efforts to investigate Trump at SDNY. They fired Berman. Nothing was coming out of there while Trump was President. Who here thinks Trump would feel it was too illegal to scuttle or sabotage their evidence while his folks were in charge?
If Bragg's case was dead after Costello testified, why bring Pecker back two days ago for rebuttal of Costello?
Bragg wouldn't have bothered if the Stormy case was dead. Two days ago, the Stormy case was not dead.
For another reason: they allegedly determined Trump CFO Weisselberg lied to them since he was sentenced. They can go back at Weisselberg to flip him and appear to have been pressuring him as documented in a NYT article of Feb 2nd, 2023 (just after the Grand Jury reconvened for Stormy's case). Trump copmplained about them pressuring Weisselberg in March. Weisselberg can shore up Cohen's testimony big time. He signed some of those checks and did the bookkeeping. If Weisselberg gets caught lying, he goes to prison for a long time.
For another reason, the way they're talking about the case in the article in the top post isn't the only way it can be looked at:
https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/trump-write-hush-money-payments-article-1.3980656
To elevate the misdemeanor to a felony, instead of a FEC felony violation, they could get him on a state felony for tax evasion so they wouldn't need to make the precedent of trying to lift a state misdemeanor with a federal felony. If Trump expensed those Stormy payments, he might be liable for the state taxes he saved with those expenses. If it is more than $3,000 in taxes as it is likely to be with Stormy's and McDougals payments, that's a NY State felony. So Stormy's misdemeanor might be lifted to a felony with a state tax felony. The article in the top post did not mention that.
As well, who would want to rely on a federal conviction of Trump? Next time the GOP steal the White House, Trump will be pardoned.
And if they flipped Weisselberg, they've got AG Letitia James criminal referrals for insurance and bank fraud they can go after him for. I suspect that same Grand Jury met on those last Thursday and are meeting again this Thursday - they're not meeting on the Stormy case tomorrow but they're still meeting.
There was a bunch of evidence against Trump pulled together after Bragg took office. They criminally convicted Weisselberg & Trump org. They got Trump's tax returns. NY AG Letitia James filed her civil claims for $250 mil with the assistance of Bragg's office. And then AG James made her IRS and criminal referrals. All that had little to nothing to do with Stormy. It is more than merely plausible Bragg has been able to piece together a felony there that Stormy's expenses tie to.
Again, Bragg's career is on the line as is the safety of his family and co-workers. With all the above going on, it is very premature to count him out. In fact, in light of the above, it seem foolish to dismiss his efforts.
Lev Parnas: How My Work For Trump and Giuliani Sought to Make Ukraine Defenseless
Source: Time
... I was used by Trump and his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani in ways that helped pave the way for Putin to invade Ukraine, my native land. If Trump and Giuliani’s plans had worked, the Ukrainians might not have had the necessary weapons, medical equipment, and other supplies they needed to fight back.
...
My connection to Trump came through Giuliani, with whom I had done business, and through the large campaign donations I had made to Trump’s campaign. Giuliani, who desperately wanted to be Secretary of State, recruited me to help him further Trump’s interests overseas. I had no official position, but my primary task was to be their go-between with Ukrainian and Russian oligarchs and government officials. In retrospect, I concluded that my real job was to help undermine and destabilize the Ukrainian government.
...
Trump and Giuliani argued that Ukraine’s leaders were corrupt and anti-American, but I believe there were other reasons Trump had it in for them. He viewed them as political enemies who had supported Hillary Clinton in 2016, hurting his feelings and engaging his unquenchable thirst for revenge. Trump also hated the Ukrainian government because Putin did. Some have said that Putin has compromising information on Trump, regarding money laundering or prostitutes, but those theories are promoted by people who did not know Trump well. I never saw evidence of that kind. Rather, I think the Russian leader had a lot in common with Trump’s father, Fred. Both men were authoritarian leaders who valued ruthlessness and considered it the only way to succeed. I first met Fred when I was selling condos in Brooklyn as a kid and he and Putin struck me the same way. Both men had immense effects on Donald Trump.
...
Trump acted on his hatred of Ukraine as he tried to improve his re-election chances in 2020. The plan that Giuliani and Trump put into operation was simple. Giuliani sent me to collect compromising information that the Eastern European oligarchs had on Hunter Biden’s activities in Ukraine to use against Joe Biden. It was also my job to convince the new Ukrainian government to announce an official investigation into Hunter Biden. If they didn’t, the U.S. would not send Trump or Vice President Mike Pence to Zelensky’s inauguration, threatening Zelensky’s domestic stature and his ability to stand up to Putin. Trump also paused much needed military aid for Ukraine while he tried to get Zelensky to open the Biden investigation.
Read more: https://time.com/6255090/lev-parnas-giuliani-trump-ukraine/
He goes on to complain the Republicans denying military support for Ukraine are helping Putin.
A bunch here did not surprise. It confirms what many thought.
I guess Gym Jordan won't want to hear from Lev Parnas in his Hunter Biden hearings ...
Presented for those who might be interested ...
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