The Conversation -- April 22, 2024

Matthew Haag of the New York Times : "The New York attorney general's office and representatives for Donald J. Trump agreed in court on Monday to slightly modify the terms of a $175 million bond posted by the former president in his civil fraud case after the state questioned the qualifications of the company that provided it and sought to have it rejected. The deal will keep the bond largely unchanged, with the $175 million in cash that Mr. Trump deposited as collateral remaining in a money-market account, while adding new terms stipulating that the $175 million must remain as cash, and not be transferred into mutual funds, for example. The two sides also agreed to give the California firm that provided the bond, Knight Specialty Insurance Company, exclusive control over the money-market account."

Jonah Bromwich & Ben Protess of the New York Times : "Manhattan prosecutors delivered a raw recounting of Donald J. Trump's seamy past on Monday as they debuted their case against him to jurors, the nation and the world, reducing the former president to a co-conspirator in a plot to cover up three sex scandals that threatened his 2016 election win. Their opening statement was a pivotal moment in the first prosecution of an American president, a sweeping synopsis of the case against Mr. Trump, who watched from the defense table, occasionally shaking his head. Moments later, Mr. Trump's lawyer delivered his own opening, beginning with the simple claim that 'President Trump is innocent.'... The former president lied 'over and over and over' again, [prosecutor Matthew] Colangelo emphatically said, casting him as a conniving criminal. But Mr. Trump's lawyer Todd Blanche sought to undercut the prosecution's lofty rhetoric with a more innocuous distillation of the case: a 'business records violation.' He called it 'just 34 pieces of paper.'"

Jonathan Swan, et al., of the New York Times: "Mr. Trump has portrayed his legal jeopardy as a threat to America itself, and he has suggested that the country would not put up with it. But the streets around the courthouse on Monday were chaos-free -- well-patrolled and relatively quiet. As his motorcade made its way to the courthouse, the few Trump supporters gathered in the park were outnumbered by Trump detractors, who waved signs about his alleged liaison with a porn star.... Shortly after 7 a.m., he posted on his social media website that 'America Loving Protesters should be allowed to protest at the front steps of Courthouses' and he followed this lament with a call for his supporters to 'GO OUT AND PEACEFULLY PROTEST. RALLY BEHIND MAGA. SAVE OUR COUNTRY!'... Mr. Trump had made no secret of the fact that he wanted a circus to accompany his trial." MB: I do wonder why the Trumpettes & their ilk have not followed Trump to town to play a part in what has turned out to be barely a one-ring circus. Maybe it's because you can't set up a camper in Manhattan (as far as I know).

Jonathan Alter of the New York Times: "In the prosecution's opening statement, Matthew Colangelo outlined what his team calls the August 2015 'Trump Tower conspiracy' hatched by Trump, Michael Cohen and David Pecker, boss of The National Enquirer.... Colangelo previewed a large amount of evidence that will corroborate Cohen's testimony about the falsified business records (including handwritten notes) that will most likely be damaging to Trump.... Todd Blanche, Trump's lead attorney, seemed to be setting up a defense partly based on Trump not wanting the Stormy Daniels story made public in order to protect his family. But Cohen and others are expected to testify that Trump tried to avoid paying the hush money on the theory that it wouldn't matter if the story came out after the election. So much for shielding Melania.... By insisting that Trump is completely innocent, his lawyers have made it harder for the jury to convict him of just misdemeanors, not felonies. But it will be a few weeks before the jury understands all of that."

Lachlan Cartwright in the New York Times Magazine (April 3) describes what went down at the National Enquirer, where he was an editor of "catch-and-kill" stories. Thanks to Akhilleus for the link.

If you're interested in the nitty-gritty, the New York court systems plans to publish daily transcripts of the Trump trial proceedings "online and publicly available before the end of the next business day." Links to the daily transcripts will be on this page. ~~~

     ~~~ Update: I know the transcript of Monday's proceedings was published several hours ago, but I'll be damned if I can see the link to it.

Here's the New York Times' liveblog of proceedings in the Trump trial du jour. The Times' liveblogs usually include some pretty frank appraisals of the subject at hand. However, if you want to save a lot of time, Akhilleus has got his hands on Trump's opening statement and reports it at the top of today's Comments. ~~~

Susanne Craig: "Trump is struggling to stay awake. His eyes were closed for a short period. He was jolted awake when Todd Blanche, his lawyer, nudged him while sliding a note in front of him."

Jonah Bromwich: "The judge reads his ruling on the Sandoval hearing aloud. This determines what prosecutors can ask Trump about if he testifies. Justice Merchan says he will allow the prosecution to bring up six different determinations from four other cases, including his loss in the civil fraud trial earlier this year.... Justice Merchan will also let prosecutors ask about Trump's attack on a law clerk in that case, in violation of a gag order.... Prosecutors will also be allowed to ask Trump about having been found liable twice for defaming the writer E. Jean Carroll."

Alan Feuer: "... the judge just handed the prosecution a fairly heavy legal cudgel to use against Trump if he does decide to testify."

Bromwich: "The trial will only go until 12:30 p.m. today, Justice Merchan tells the jurors. Tomorrow, the day will start at 11 a.m and end at 2 p.m."

Bromwich: "Matthew Colangelo, one of the prosecutors, stands up to deliver his side's opening statement.... He begins by telling the jury that Trump lied 'over and over and over' again by disguising business records."

Maggie Haberman: "Colangelo is saying that Trump, Michael Cohen and David Pecker 'formed' a conspiracy at a meeting early in the campaign to help Trump get elected."

Kate Christobek: "As Matthew Colangelo says that Trump orchestrated a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election, Trump shook his head."

Haberman: "Trump has attacked Colangelo on Truth Social repeatedly. He worked at the Department of Justice before being hired to work on this case in 2022. Trump has used that fact to baselessly claim the existence of a widespread conspiracy against him."

Bromwich: "Matthew Colangelo has a conversational, easy-to-follow style. This is all very easy to understand thus far, as he explains Michael Cohen's job, which he says was 'to take care of problems for the defendant.' A fixer, in other words, he says."

Haberman: "Colangelo is now describing the practice of 'catch and kill,' in which The National Enquirer bought stories that were problematic to Trump and then buried them.... One of those catch-and-kill deals involved a story that turned out to be false about Trump fathering a child out of wedlock."

Christobek: "Trump is visibly displeased at the mention of the alleged out-of-wedlock child and strongly shakes his head."

Bromwich: "Colangelo is now describing the second 'catch-and-kill' deal in question, relating to Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who said she had an affair with Trump.... Colangelo says David Pecker will testify that $150,000 [paid to McDougal] was more than The National Enquirer would typically have paid for such a deal, and that Pecker had trouble being reimbursed for it. Crucially, Colangelo says, Pecker will testify that he spoke to Trump about it."

Haberman: "Colangelo then continues the narrative, saying the Access Hollywood tape's emergence was the precursor to a story from a porn star named Stormy Daniels that was about to become public. 'So at Trum's direction, Cohen negotiated a deal to buy Ms. Daniels's story in order to prevent American voters from learning that information before Election Day,' he says."

Bromwich: "'It was election fraud, pure and simple,' Colangelo says bluntly."

Bromwich: "'President Trump is innocent,' are the first words of [Trump attorney Todd] Blanche's opening. 'President Trump did not commit any crimes.'"

Haberman: "'I have a spoiler alert: There's nothing wrong with trying to influence an election,' Blanche says. 'It's called democracy.'"

Bromwich: "Blanche now tries to tell the jury that Cohen has perjured himself. Colangelo objects and the objection is sustained.... [After a bench conference, it appears the judge has ruled] that Blanche will not be allowed to accuse Cohen of perjury directly. But he will say that Cohen lied under oath."

Haberman: "Blanche is now trying to portray The National Enquirer's practices as similar to how other news outlets operate, in terms of deciding when and how to publish a story. That is not correct."

William Rashbaum: "David Pecker is the first witness for the prosecution, and their choice looks to be a good one for them."

Haberman: "'We used checkbook journalism, and we paid for stories,' Pecker says of his time at The National Enquirer. Steinglass, the prosecutor, asks him whether he had 'final say' over editorial decisions. Anything over $10,000 for a story, Pecker says, had to be approved by him."

Haberman: "Pecker is dismissed from the stand. We expect him back tomorrow." That's it for today's testimony.

~~~~~~~~~~

Marie: The headline planted on Stephen Markley's opinion piece in the NYT -- "A Planetary Crisis Awaits the Next President" -- made me suspect Markley would use his precious Sunday NYT space to make mild mitigation, both-sider suggestions to whoever got the top job next time around. Well, I was wrong. Markley really lets fly what a disaster Trump would be: "... everyone will fall short -- and, surely, I've fallen short --in describing just how frightening a second Trump presidency could actually be...." And his attitude toward Biden is similar to what yours may be: "I fully admit, Mr. Biden was not my first, nor even my seventh, choice in the 2020 Democratic primary. Yet when it came to the immense challenge of confronting this crisis, I am forever grateful that he proved me wrong, delivering a game-changing victory with the narrowest of congressional margins." Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)

Zolan Kanno-Youngs & Brad Plumer of the New York Times: "President Biden will travel to a national park in Virginia on Monday, Earth Day, to spotlight his clean energy investments, with an eye on bolstering support among young voters disillusioned with their choices for the 2024 election. Against the backdrop of the park, Prince William Forest, Mr. Biden will announce $7 billion in grants to fund solar power for hundreds of thousands of homes in primarily disadvantaged communities, according to the White House. He will be joined by future members of the American Climate Corps, a new work force for young people hoping to combat climate change. Mr. Biden's top officials will also fan out across the country to promote his environmental policy. Mr. Biden hopes Monday's event can build enthusiasm among young people, a crucial constituency for his re-election bid that includes some who have expressed disappointment with the White House on economic and foreign policy matters but that also cares deeply about environmental policy." The AP story is here.

Tyler Pager of the Washington Post: "Growing up in a proud Irish Catholic middle-class family, Joe Biden idolized the Kennedys. He and his family saw the Kennedys -- successful, wealthy, attractive Irish Catholics -- as the embodiment of the American Dream. Biden says Robert F. Kennedy Sr., whose bust sits in the Oval Office, inspired him to become a public defender and ultimately run for office. 'The Kennedys were, as a group, the people he patterned his life after,' said former senator Ted Kaufman (D-Del.), who was Biden's longtime chief of staff and remains his close friend. 'Not just his political life, but his life.' So when the Kennedy family rallied behind Biden last week in Philadelphia with a full-throated endorsement of his reelection campaign, pointedly choosing him over one of their own -- Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is running as an independent -- it was not just politically helpful. It was also a hugely personal victory for Biden."

Philip Nieto of Mediaite: "President Joe Biden's White House denounced Columbia University's pro-Palestinian protests as 'blatantly anti-Semitic and dangerous.' Over the last week, hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters have gathered to demand an end to the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. The student protesters set up what they called a 'Gaza Solidarity Encampment' and included tents, signs, and more. The actions have led to hundreds of activists being arrested, including the daughter of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN)." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I do realize that hot war and mass murder are not the best circumstances under which to try to foster nuance, but to folks on both sides: there is a stark difference between antisemitism and anti-war. And it is quite possible to be pro-Israel and anti-Bibi.

     ~~~ Update. So a Little Nuance. Kyle Melnick of the Washington Post: "President Biden condemned antisemitism on college campuses in a statement on Sunday, three days after more than 100 people protesting the Gaza war on Columbia University's campus were arrested. Biden's statement, which came as part of a lengthy Passover greeting he issued from the White House, didn't name Columbia directly but said there had been 'harassment and calls for violence against Jews' in recent days.... The president and the White House often issue holiday greetings for various faiths, but the latest statement was notable for its political references. It noted that Passover was coming at a difficult time for Jews still processing the Oct. 7 attacks, when Hamas militants killed 1,200 in Israel and took numerous hostages." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: For the first time in my life, I am beginning to wonder if the very premise of a Jewish state is past its sell-by date. A more tolerant model of government could do a much better job at maintaining the peace by guaranteeing equal protection to Jews & non-Jews alike. I never thought I'd feel that way, but Netanyahu has showed me the cracks in my traditional views of Israel. If this be the Promised Land, I'd rather be in Sweden! Of course I don't think my Kumbaya premise holds much chance in a land buffeted by war after war going back to pre-history, so in the meantime, I'll go with the less-than-ideal two-state "solution."

Catie Edmondson of the New York Times reports the official version of how Mike Johnson got to "yes" on aid to Ukraine: "Mr. Johnson's decision to risk his speakership to push the $95 billion foreign aid bill through the House on Saturday was the culmination of a remarkable personal and political arc for the Louisiana Republican.... As a rank-and-file hard-liner, Mr. Johnson had largely opposed efforts to fund Kyiv's war effort.... Mr. Johnson attributed his turnabout in part to the intelligence briefings he received, a striking assertion from a leader of a party that has embraced ... Donald J. Trump's deep mistrust of the intelligence community.... 'I want to be on the right side of history,' Representative Michael McCaul of Texas, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, recalled the speaker telling him." In yesterday's Comments, Ken W., Akhilleus & I expressed more skeptical views of the impetus for the Conversion of Saint Michael of Shreve. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Besides, there's this: ~~~

~~~ The Shadow Speaker. Andrew Solender of Axios: "Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) found himself in an unusual position for a minority leader last week: It was he, not the House speaker, who had the ultimate power to decide whether legislation came to the floor.... Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), a master legislative tactician, heaped praise on her successor: 'He is fabulous. We're so proud of him.' One senior House Democrat told Axios: 'It easily could have fallen apart ... He played the cards the way you'd want to play them.'... Jeffries' message to his members leading up to the foreign aid fight was to stay unified behind him and not commit themselves to positions on saving [Mike] Johnson that might box the party in."

It's Showtime! Jonah Bromwich & Ben Protess of the New York Times : "The first criminal trial of an American president will debut on Monday for a jury of 12 New Yorkers, as prosecutors and defense lawyers deliver opening statements that provide dueling interpretations of the evidence against Donald J. Trump.... Prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorney's office are expected to say that Mr. Trump orchestrated a scheme to suppress stories that could have damaged his 2016 campaign.... The defense ... will try to poke holes in that narrative.... His lawyers will most likely focus on [former Trump lawyer Michael] Cohen, calling him a serial liar with an ax to grind against Mr. Trump. They are also expected to argue that Mr. Trump was not personally involved in the falsification of the records at his company. And they may assert that Mr. Trump's motive for pursuing the hush-money deals was not political, and that he was trying to protect his family from negative publicity." ~~~

~~~ Michael Rothfeld of the New York Times: In the 2016 election interference criminal case against Donald Trump, "... prosecutors for Alvin L. Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, will try to show that the payment [to Stormy Daniels] was part of a larger effort to suppress negative news about Mr. Trump to sway the election. That scheme, they will contend, resulted in not just the hush-money payment at the center of the trial, but two others. Though the other episodes are not part of the formal indictment in the case, prosecutors will use them to argue that the true purpose of the Daniels payment was related to the election, making it a federal campaign finance violation, and that his company's records were falsified to cover it up. The accusation that Mr. Trump concealed another crime elevates charges that would normally be misdemeanors into felonies." Based on numerous sources, including court records, Rothfeld traces the schemes to quash stories that might hurt Trump's chances to win the 2016 presidential election. Rothfeld, who previously worked for the Wall Street Journal, was the lead reporter on the WSJ's Pulitzer Prize-winning reports on Trump's hush-money payments in 2018. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ OR, you could just go with Patrick Fitzgerald's explanation:

Liz Cheney in a New York Times op-ed: "On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear Donald Trump's arguments that he is immune from prosecution for his efforts to steal the 2020 presidential election. It is likely that all -- or nearly all -- of the justices agree that a former president who attempted to seize power and remain in office illegally can be prosecuted.... If the trial is delayed past this fall and Mr. Trump wins re-election, he will surely fire the special counsel, order his Justice Department to drop all Jan. 6 cases and try to prevent key grand jury testimony from ever seeing the light of day.... The Supreme Court should understand this reality and conclude without delay that no immunity applies here."

Still Crazier. Derek Hawkins, et al., of the Washington Post: "On Truth Social, [Donald Trump] is serving up an even more extreme version of his online [Twitter] self. His following is diminished, but his posting has accelerated. He has traded combative tweets for even more belligerent screeds. Diatribes against his perceived enemies have drawn gag orders from judges in multiple cases. His media diet has become almost exclusively right-wing. And above all, he persists in spreading lies about his 2020 election loss, deep into his campaign for another term.... It's here that Trump ... offers an intimate view of what his second term could look like: isolated, vitriolic and vengeful.... On a typical day, Trump's feed is a flurry of polls and links interspersed with a drumbeat of attacks and dire warnings about the state of the country[.]... He also is now more likely to write in all caps[.]... At least 570 posts since he announced his presidential bid in November 2022 have contained insulting language directed at someone.... In between all that, Trump reposts bizarre AI-generated art and crudely doctored images. And the site abounds with fringe companies peddling diet supplements, political-themed knickknacks and gold bars."

The Fascists Have Always Been with Us. Paul Rosenberg of Salon interviews author David Austin Walsh on the history of the far right in the U.S. Walsh tells Rosenberg: "... even after the so-called purge of the racists and the Nazis and antisemites in the mid-1960s, you still see these elements very close to the so-called mainstream of American conservatism.... [William F. Buckley, Jr.] is the conduit through which I found all the characters in my book.... Joe McCarthy ... doesn't emerge out of nowhere.... You already have, immediately after World War II, the growing power of the farthest fringes of the right.... There's a real danger in 2024 of nostalgizing the 20th-century conservative movement as 'responsible,' 'respectable' and 'about ideas.' The same features of what became MAGAism were embedded in the movement from the very beginning, and were broadly tolerated by conservative elites even if they found them to be slightly distasteful." (Also linked yesterday.)

~~~~~~~~~~

Israel/Palestine, et al. The Washington Post's live updates of developments Monday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "The head of intelligence for the Israel Defense Forces said he will step down and retire over the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, in what Israeli media reported is the first departure of a general because of the failures that allowed the assault to happen.... In a resignation letter shared by the IDF, Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva wrote that the military intelligence directorate did not live up to its mission under his command on the day of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. 'I have been carrying that black day ever since, day and night,' he said. The attack was preceded by several intelligence failures, including internal warnings that were downplayed or dismissed.... Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed alarm that the United States is considering imposing sanctions on an IDF unit, describing it as the 'height of absurdity' at a time when his troops are battling Hamas in Gaza.... Netanyahu was responding to a report by Axios that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to announce sanctions against Netzah Yehuda, an ultra-Orthodox military unit accused of human rights violations in the occupied West Bank. Israeli opposition leader Benny Gantz told Blinken in a call that the move would 'harm Israel's international legitimacy.'" ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Monday are here.

Comments

[Akhilleus]

News flash! Through my very secret connections I have come into possession of Donald Trump’s opening arguments in his trial for election interference (as well as general and specific assholism):

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury:

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh! I did nothing wrong! Witch hunt! Biden commie Democrat haters. The Oscars! Jimmy Kimmel, Michael Cohen, horse face Daniels, all liars, Merchan’s daughter! My MAGAts will get you all! Mike Pence screwed me. Barron’s graduation. Diet Coke….can I get one? Waaaaaaaaaaah! No more America. I don’t wanna be here. It’s cold! People make fun of me! And…and…a…n…d…..

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz…..

He rests his face.

[Ken Winkes]

Jennifer agrees with Marie.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/04/22/johnson-military-aid-damage-ukraine/

[Akhilleus]

As the Fat Fascist sits and fumes, dreaming of revenge and stewing in his own particular brew of hatred, narcissism, greed, and advancing dementia, the media still tries to figure out how best to both sides this trial.

The editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer doesn’t fret about that anymore. In an editorial published last week, he pointed out one of the many fallacious aspects of both sides journalism:

“As for those who equate Trump and Joe Biden, that’s false equivalency. Biden has done nothing remotely close to the egregious, anti-American acts of Trump.”

Here’s an interview with that clear thinking news leader, Chris Quinn, talking to the invaluable Dan Froomkin.

A taste:

“But you know, I spent most of my life wondering how a country could go down the path Germany went down. It just seemed unfathomable growing up when I did that a country could do that. And then came Donald Trump. And you realize: ‘Wow! That’s exactly how it happens.’

You demonize the media. You create these phony divisions. You dehumanize groups of people. With Donald Trump it’s not Jewish people, it’s immigrants. He’s basically treating them like they’re nonhuman. We’re following the exact path. And I think a lot of people see that but they’re afraid to say it because they don’t want to be vilified for using the suffering of millions of people to push a cause.”

A worthwhile read.

[Akhilleus]

Peckers, pricks, and protection

Thanks to Marie for her hard work in transmitting the live-blogging from the courtroom in NYC to our screens. It’s great to be able to get a quick overview of this historic trial that could possibly, at long last, bring some semblance of culpability and consequences to the tray of infant high chair in which the Orange Monster squirms and sneers and bleats.

The prosecution got right into it by calling AMI-National Enquirer former CEO, David Pecker, an important co-conspirator in Fatty’s scheme to hoodwink the electorate prior to the 2016 presidential election. Pecker’s promise to be Trump’s eyes and ears, catching and killing any true stories that could negatively impact his chance of sleazing into the White House has been described in great detail in a Sunday Times Magazine story written by a former editor at the Enquirer, Lachlan Cartwright, who tells the inside story of a Pecker working for a prick. .

It’s a gripping read, a firsthand account of the astonishing sleaziness of the whole deal, not just an insider’s look at the mechanics of “catch and kill”, but the lengths the publication pursued in order to attack Trump’s rivals.

After reading through it again, some of those screeching headlines, “Hillary gains 100 lbs. On the verge of death!” Ted Cruz’s father killed JFK!”, “Bill Clinton’s 36 girlfriends!” “Who is Chelsea’s real dad?”, sound very much like Fatty’s 3AM ranting posts.

Oh, and by the way, Trump wasn’t the only prick Pecker protected. Harvey Weinstein also had a secret agreement to escape damaging publicity, along with a concurrent effort to attack his accusers as gold digging bimbos.

All the best people.

[Akhilleus]

The Fat Fascist’s mouthpiece tries to brush off a conspiracy to gaslight American voters, to keep them from important information that could have changed history had it become widely known, as a simple bookkeeping error. Yeah, like Watergate was nothing more than a couple of maintenance guys who entered the wrong office to change a light bulb.

But you know what?

This slimy rat bastard could still get off.

I’m not counting any chickens. They could still be DOA.

[RAS]

CNN

"Donald Trump’s valet Walt Nauta was told that if he was charged with lying to the FBI, the former president would pardon him when he won a second term in 2024, according to notes from an interview with a witness in the federal classified documents investigation."

[Ken Winkes]

In Texas, nothing to see here, says an appeals court. Corruption all the way down...and part way up...

https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/22/politics/sidney-powell-trump-election-lawsuits/?