Official Trump Lawsuit Watch Thread

[djAdvocate]

Trump is up for 34 Class E Felonies.  that seems 34 times as bad to me, from a criminal standpoint.  and what he did is 6000 times worse financially.

not to diminish what Cohen did.  if he had done it to me, i would want to hang him by his privates.  but what Trump did just in this one case is one to four orders of magnitude more serious than what Cohen did.  it is like comparing Netenyahu to Hitler.

[Opti]

May 21, 2024 5:48:11 GMT -5 Cheesy FL-Vol said:

May 21, 2024 5:18:26 GMT -5 Opti said:

I disagree. What NY state public interest would be served by going after Cohen who did this to a private company? If the Trump organization recovered that money, it is highly unlikely it would go to the vendor. It would most likely go into the organization's coffers. A company that has stiffed the state on taxes. 

A crime is a crime regardless of whether it is perpetrated against a private or public entity.

And? When Trump stiffs a vendor the DA is not filing cases on their behalf, so why should this be different? Many crimes go unpunished especially if they are done against poor people. 

A woman recently lost $81,000.00 when someone impersonated her and transferred money out of Wells Fargo to an account they created at another bank. (Bank of America) A DA is not going to come to her rescue, she will need to find a lawyer possibly working on contingency to sue the bank that opened the fraudulent account to have any hope at all of recovering any of that money.

[Opti]

Is it possible that the DA already knew about Cohen's crime and he is testifying on behalf of the state in exchange for the state not prosecuting this crime of his and others he has confessed to?

[billisonboard]

May 21, 2024 6:17:04 GMT -5 Opti said:

May 21, 2024 5:48:11 GMT -5 Cheesy FL-Vol said:

A crime is a crime regardless of whether it is perpetrated against a private or public entity.

And? When Trump stiffs a vendor the DA is not filing cases on their behalf, so why should this be different? Many crimes go unpunished especially if they are done against poor people. 

A woman recently lost $81,000.00 when someone impersonated her and transferred money out of Wells Fargo to an account they created at another bank. (Bank of America) A DA is not going to come to her rescue, she will need to find a lawyer possibly working on contingency to sue the bank that opened the fraudulent account to have any hope at all of recovering any of that money.

The law:

The Department of Justice prosecutes cases of identity theft and fraud under a variety of federal statutes. In the fall of 1998, for example, Congress passed the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act. This legislation created a new offense of identity theft, which prohibits "knowingly transfer[ring] or us[ing], without lawful authority, a means of identification of another person with the intent to commit, or to aid or abet, any unlawful activity that constitutes a violation of Federal law, or that constitutes a felony under any applicable State or local law." 18 U.S.C. § 1028(a)(7). This offense, in most circumstances, carries a maximum term of 15 years' imprisonment, a fine, and criminal forfeiture of any personal property used or intended to be used to commit the offense. link

In federal court, a convicted offender may be ordered to reimburse victims for financial losses incurred due to the offender's crime. link

[Tennesseer]

May 20, 2024 23:32:59 GMT -5 ripvanwinkle said:

Since DA Bragg is prosecuting Trump for falsifying business records, is he going to prosecute Cohen for a class E felony for embezzlement of $30,000 which is worse than what he says Trump did?

Maybe trump and Cohen can be cell mates.

[happyhoix]

Andrea Mitchell is reporting that the prosecutor filleted Trumps witness this morning-‘an extraordinary collapse.’

Apparently the witness, a Trump lawyer who was a go between for Trump and Cohen when the FBI raided Cohens office, was shown a stack of emails he had written to Cohen claiming ‘you can sleep better tonight’ and ‘you have friends in high places’ in an effort to get Cohen not to flip. She also had an email the witness wrote to a co-worker complaining that Cohen was acting like he was going to ignore’the most powerful man on earth.’

Pretty much confirmed Cohens story he was being strong armed not to be a rat.

[djAdvocate]

when you lie down with dogs, don't be surprised when you are covered with shit.

[swamp]

May 20, 2024 23:32:59 GMT -5 ripvanwinkle said:

Since DA Bragg is prosecuting Trump for falsifying business records, is he going to prosecute Cohen for a class E felony for embezzlement of $30,000 which is worse than what he says Trump did?

Did trump ever file a complaint with the cops?   is there any corroborating evidence to it? 

In NY, you can't convict someone solely on a confession, you need some kind of corroborating evidence.  If Trump files a complaint, it opens up his financial records to further examination.  Trump would best be advised to let this one go. 

ETA:  This would be similar to, "he stole my cocaine."  yes, it's a crime, but maybe you don't want to report it. 

Also, I believe the statute of limitations has probably run.  

[Opti]

May 21, 2024 7:51:22 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

May 21, 2024 6:17:04 GMT -5 Opti said:

And? When Trump stiffs a vendor the DA is not filing cases on their behalf, so why should this be different? Many crimes go unpunished especially if they are done against poor people. 

A woman recently lost $81,000.00 when someone impersonated her and transferred money out of Wells Fargo to an account they created at another bank. (Bank of America) A DA is not going to come to her rescue, she will need to find a lawyer possibly working on contingency to sue the bank that opened the fraudulent account to have any hope at all of recovering any of that money.

The law:

The Department of Justice prosecutes cases of identity theft and fraud under a variety of federal statutes. In the fall of 1998, for example, Congress passed the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act. This legislation created a new offense of identity theft, which prohibits "knowingly transfer[ring] or us[ing], without lawful authority, a means of identification of another person with the intent to commit, or to aid or abet, any unlawful activity that constitutes a violation of Federal law, or that constitutes a felony under any applicable State or local law." 18 U.S.C. § 1028(a)(7). This offense, in most circumstances, carries a maximum term of 15 years' imprisonment, a fine, and criminal forfeiture of any personal property used or intended to be used to commit the offense. link

In federal court, a convicted offender may be ordered to reimburse victims for financial losses incurred due to the offender's crime. link

i think the DOJ usually prosecutes large cases. Not sure if they do individual cases even if the thief is known. This was a recent one I read about.

www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/justice-dept-makes-arrests-in-north-korean-identity-theft-scheme-involving-thousands-of-it-workers/ar-BB1mwDAw

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department announced Thursday multiple arrests in a series of complex stolen identity theft cases that officials say are part of a wide-ranging scheme that generates enormous proceeds for the North Korean government, including for its weapons program.

[happyhoix]

May 21, 2024 13:46:09 GMT -5 swamp said:

May 20, 2024 23:32:59 GMT -5 ripvanwinkle said:

Since DA Bragg is prosecuting Trump for falsifying business records, is he going to prosecute Cohen for a class E felony for embezzlement of $30,000 which is worse than what he says Trump did?

Did trump ever file a complaint with the cops?   is there any corroborating evidence to it? 

In NY, you can't convict someone solely on a confession, you need some kind of corroborating evidence.  If Trump files a complaint, it opens up his financial records to further examination.  Trump would best be advised to let this one go. 

ETA:  This would be similar to, "he stole my cocaine."  yes, it's a crime, but maybe you don't want to report it. 

Also, I believe the statute of limitations has probably run.  

He would have problems with proving the theft, I think.


Sounds like both his tax records and accounting records are more imaginary than real. Like nailing jello to a tree. He would need ‘proof’ proof.

[billisonboard]

May 21, 2024 17:06:05 GMT -5 Opti said:

May 21, 2024 7:51:22 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

The law:

The Department of Justice prosecutes cases of identity theft and fraud under a variety of federal statutes. In the fall of 1998, for example, Congress passed the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act. This legislation created a new offense of identity theft, which prohibits "knowingly transfer[ring] or us[ing], without lawful authority, a means of identification of another person with the intent to commit, or to aid or abet, any unlawful activity that constitutes a violation of Federal law, or that constitutes a felony under any applicable State or local law." 18 U.S.C. § 1028(a)(7). This offense, in most circumstances, carries a maximum term of 15 years' imprisonment, a fine, and criminal forfeiture of any personal property used or intended to be used to commit the offense. link

In federal court, a convicted offender may be ordered to reimburse victims for financial losses incurred due to the offender's crime. link

i think the DOJ usually prosecutes large cases. Not sure if they do individual cases even if the thief is known. This was a recent one I read about.

www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/justice-dept-makes-arrests-in-north-korean-identity-theft-scheme-involving-thousands-of-it-workers/ar-BB1mwDAw

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department announced Thursday multiple arrests in a series of complex stolen identity theft cases that officials say are part of a wide-ranging scheme that generates enormous proceeds for the North Korean government, including for its weapons program.

I think the national press usually covers large cases. Not sure if they report on individual cases even if the case is prosecuted. I also think local cases are prosecuted and covered locally.

[happyhoix]

Four months after the FBI searched Mar A Lago Trump’s lawyers found more classified documents in his bedroom.

www.axios.com/2024/05/21/trumps-classified-documents-bedroom-mar-a-lago

What do you want to bet all his residences still have stashes of classified documents.

But not a big deal, I guess, at least according to Judge Cannon.

[Tennesseer]

May 21, 2024 20:27:11 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

Four months after the FBI searched Mar A Lago Trump’s lawyers found more classified documents in his bedroom.

www.axios.com/2024/05/21/trumps-classified-documents-bedroom-mar-a-lago

What do you want to bet all his residences still have stashes of classified documents.

But not a big deal, I guess, at least according to Judge Cannon.

And probably Rip too.

[Tennesseer]

Watching the first few minutes of this evening's CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, the panel agreed today cross examination by the prosecution of Costello was disastrous for the defensive's only main witness.

Had to then change channels because it was trump and trump jr. Whining for the cameras. Cannot stand either one of them and their voices.

[Tennesseer]

THE BOROWITZ REPORT

Woman in Miserable Marriage Dreading Husband's Week Off
MAY 21,2024

NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report)—An unhappily married Manhattan woman whose husband has been occupied for over a month is “deeply dreading” his upcoming week off, a friend of the woman revealed Tuesday.

The friend, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the woman has been “deliriously happy” for the past five weeks and is “devastated” to see the idyll end.

“Since the middle of April, she could count on his being gone every day, except for Wednesdays,” the friend said. “It was like a gift from heaven.”

"Honestly, she doesn't know how she'll get through the week," she added. "The only saving grace is he spends most of the day sleeping."

Woman in Miserable Marriage Dreading Husband's Week Off

[ripvanwinkle]

May 21, 2024 2:12:27 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

May 20, 2024 23:32:59 GMT -5 ripvanwinkle said:

Since DA Bragg is prosecuting Trump for falsifying business records, is he going to prosecute Cohen for a class E felony for embezzlement of $30,000 which is worse than what he says Trump did?

by what measure?  he defrauded lenders of almost $200M, rip.  how is that worse than $30k?

How did he defraud them? If the lenders did their own assessments and agreed to the assessment value how was that fraud? No harm no foul. Everybody made money.

[djAdvocate]

May 21, 2024 22:35:30 GMT -5 ripvanwinkle said:

May 21, 2024 2:12:27 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

by what measure?  he defrauded lenders of almost $200M, rip.  how is that worse than $30k?

How did he defraud them? If the lenders did their own assessments and agreed to the assessment value how was that fraud? No harm no foul. Everybody made money.

lenders don't generally do their own assessments.  they rely on the assessments of others.  in this case, the assays were fraudulent.

so what you (and Trump) are claiming is that if you cheat and you win it is ok.  i disagree with that completely.  our entire economic system is built on the pretense of fair play.  if the rules and laws are not applied equally, then people like me have no chance against the cheats.  

that might be ok with you and Trump but it is not ok for the rest of us.

the point is not whether everyone profited, rip.  the point is whether Trump would even have obtained the loan in the first place without getting fraud, and whether, if he did, he would have gotten the favorable terms that he got.  what Trump did is lied, and then he pocketed the difference between what he should have paid and what he did pay.  again, that is ok with you and him, but it is not legal.

do you want a fair, legal system or not, rip?

[Cheesy FL-Vol]

May 21, 2024 20:37:42 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Watching the first few minutes of this evening's CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, the panel agreed today cross examination by the prosecution of Costello was disastrous for the defensive's only main witness.

Had to then change channels because it was trump and trump jr. Whining for the cameras. Cannot stand either one of them and their voices.

I can proudly say I have never heard either of them speak.

[happyhoix]

May 22, 2024 0:40:20 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

May 21, 2024 22:35:30 GMT -5 ripvanwinkle said:

How did he defraud them? If the lenders did their own assessments and agreed to the assessment value how was that fraud? No harm no foul. Everybody made money.

lenders don't generally do their own assessments.  they rely on the assessments of others.  in this case, the assays were fraudulent.

so what you (and Trump) are claiming is that if you cheat and you win it is ok.  i disagree with that completely.  our entire economic system is built on the pretense of fair play.  if the rules and laws are not applied equally, then people like me have no chance against the cheats.  

that might be ok with you and Trump but it is not ok for the rest of us.

the point is not whether everyone profited, rip.  the point is whether Trump would even have obtained the loan in the first place without getting fraud, and whether, if he did, he would have gotten the favorable terms that he got.  what Trump did is lied, and then he pocketed the difference between what he should have paid and what he did pay.  again, that is ok with you and him, but it is not legal.

do you want a fair, legal system or not, rip?

Trump paid just $750 in federal taxes for two years, 2016 and 2017 I think. I don’t know about you, but I paid way more than that. He did it by claiming enormous losses on some of his properties- he’s got a 100,000 million dollar tax investigation going on right now because he claimed huge losses on a property two times.

He’s a billionaire who claims he is a genius businessman, is it fair that he gets to pay basically no taxes on a property he will claim, to a bank lending him money, is worth hundreds of millions of dollars? His whole life he’s been cheating, at the expense of those of us who keep our finances legit and don’t try to squirm out of what we owe. The fact that other people also do that and don’t get caught for it doesn’t mean he doesn’t deserve to be caught.

If nothing else he can be a fine example of what not to do in business. If he had just invested that 400 million his daddy left him he and his relatives would have enjoyed a very comfortable life, but it wasn’t enough for him.

[happyhoix]

They also found more classified documents in a leased storage unit and a Mar a Lago office.

100 additional classified documents found two months after the 38 documents were recovered in the FBI search.

Seems like Trump was not making any effort to find and return the documents- especially the ones he had in his bedroom.

In response to this news, Trump has a rage fit, claiming the FBI had been authorized to use deadly force (they weren’t) and blaming the whole thing on Biden.

Because of course.

[billisonboard]

The "deadly force" thing was just a FBI joke. At the briefing before they went in, one of the female officers asked what she should do if she walked into Trump's bedroom to search and found him on the bed in his underwear. The officer in charge said, "Just shoot him."

[djAdvocate]

May 22, 2024 7:33:49 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

May 22, 2024 0:40:20 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

lenders don't generally do their own assessments.  they rely on the assessments of others.  in this case, the assays were fraudulent.

so what you (and Trump) are claiming is that if you cheat and you win it is ok.  i disagree with that completely.  our entire economic system is built on the pretense of fair play.  if the rules and laws are not applied equally, then people like me have no chance against the cheats.  

that might be ok with you and Trump but it is not ok for the rest of us.

the point is not whether everyone profited, rip.  the point is whether Trump would even have obtained the loan in the first place without getting fraud, and whether, if he did, he would have gotten the favorable terms that he got.  what Trump did is lied, and then he pocketed the difference between what he should have paid and what he did pay.  again, that is ok with you and him, but it is not legal.

do you want a fair, legal system or not, rip?

Trump paid just $750 in federal taxes for two years, 2016 and 2017 I think. I don’t know about you, but I paid way more than that. He did it by claiming enormous losses on some of his properties- he’s got a 100,000 million dollar tax investigation going on right now because he claimed huge losses on a property two times.

He’s a billionaire who claims he is a genius businessman, is it fair that he gets to pay basically no taxes on a property he will claim, to a bank lending him money, is worth hundreds of millions of dollars? His whole life he’s been cheating, at the expense of those of us who keep our finances legit and don’t try to squirm out of what we owe. The fact that other people also do that and don’t get caught for it doesn’t mean he doesn’t deserve to be caught.

If nothing else he can be a fine example of what not to do in business. If he had just invested that 400 million his daddy left him he and his relatives would have enjoyed a very comfortable life, but it wasn’t enough for him.

he means he is a genius con artist and ripoff.  i am not convinced he has ever made a legitimate dollar.

[djAdvocate]

i think what we all need to understand is that economic systems are built on trust. and trust is a window of opportunity for cheats.

the ONLY way that the cheat is stopped is if they are caught and punished. that is what is happening to Trump, now. and he doesn't like it one bit. he thinks he should be able to continue cheating. and he KNOWS that if he has to play by the rules, he is going to lose. and he can't stand losing.

it appears that rip and others have no problem with cheating.

that is good to know.

[swamp]

May 21, 2024 20:31:31 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

May 21, 2024 20:27:11 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

Four months after the FBI searched Mar A Lago Trump’s lawyers found more classified documents in his bedroom.

www.axios.com/2024/05/21/trumps-classified-documents-bedroom-mar-a-lago

What do you want to bet all his residences still have stashes of classified documents.

But not a big deal, I guess, at least according to Judge Cannon.

And probably Rip too.

But Biden!!! 

[Tennesseer]

May 22, 2024 6:09:29 GMT -5 Cheesy FL-Vol said:

May 21, 2024 20:37:42 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Watching the first few minutes of this evening's CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, the panel agreed today cross examination by the prosecution of Costello was disastrous for the defensive's only main witness.

Had to then change channels because it was trump and trump jr. Whining for the cameras. Cannot stand either one of them and their voices.

I can proudly say I have never heard either of them speak.

Good one.

[Tennesseer]

[happyhoix]

May 22, 2024 9:47:51 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

i think what we all need to understand is that economic systems are built on trust. and trust is a window of opportunity for cheats.

the ONLY way that the cheat is stopped is if they are caught and punished. that is what is happening to Trump, now. and he doesn't like it one bit. he thinks he should be able to continue cheating. and he KNOWS that if he has to play by the rules, he is going to lose. and he can't stand losing.

it appears that rip and others have no problem with cheating.

that is good to know.

Trump frequently says ‘but everyone does it!’ Which is what every third grade kid caught cheating on a math test says.

[Tennesseer]

Trump falsely says Biden was ‘locked & loaded and ready to take me out’ in Mar-a-Lago search

Former President Trump falsely claimed in a fundraising email that President Biden was “locked & loaded and ready to take me out” – twisting standard language from documents prepared as law enforcement prepared to search Mar-a-Lago for classified records.

The comment from Trump plucks from court filings a policy statement prepared by law enforcement that lays out protocol for the search.

In reality, the statement allows deadly force “only when necessary,” such as when someone “poses an imminent danger of death or serious physical injury to the officer or to another person.”

Nonetheless, the email claims at various turns that either Biden or the Justice Department “was authorized to shoot me.”

Various links encourage readers to donate anywhere from $20.24 to more than $3,000 to his campaign.



Despite Trump’s claims, he was not home when the FBI conducted its Aug. 8, 2022 search of his Florida estate, a decision made to help avoid any potential conflict with the former president.

One of the only diversions from standard FBI protocol was that officers donned polo shirts and khakis while conducting the search in order to draw less attention while on site at the club.

The FBI did not respond to request for comment but told The Washington Post that it “followed standard protocol in this search as we do for all search warrants, which includes a standard policy statement limiting the use of deadly force.”

“No one ordered additional steps to be taken and there was no departure from the norm in this matter,” the agency said.

Rest of article here: Trump falsely says Biden was ‘locked & loaded and ready to take me out’ in Mar-a-Lago search

[pulmonarymd]

Not sure why Trump thinks it would be a problem if Biden did that. According to his Supreme Court argument, a president has absolute immunity for any action he does in office. So he would be within his right to have have trump assassinated based on his argument.

[Tennesseer]

Racist trump is at it again.

In racist rant, Trump claims his hush money judge "hates" him: "Look at where he comes from"

donald Trump's hush money trial wrapped up for the week on Tuesday, capped off with an appearance by the former president outside the courtroom in which he insinuated that Judge Juan Merchan "hates" him because he immigrated to the U.S. from Colombia.

As part of what has become an end-of-day ritual, Trump, addressing reporters outside the Manhattan court, read aloud analyses from sympathetic pundits such as Fox News' Gregg Jarrett, who has made a habit of inventing legal doctrine to justify Trump's alleged criminal actions. This time, Trump echoed Jarrett's line that Merchan and prosecuting attorney Alvin Bragg "loathed" him, before proposing his own theory.

"The judge hates Donald Trump, just take a look," he concluded to the assembled reporters. "Take a look at him. Take a look at where he comes from. He can't stand Donald Trump. He's doing everything in his power."

Merchan was born in Bogotá, Colombia, and moved to Queens, New York at the age of six. After attending Baruch College, he received a J.D. from Hofstra University School of Law.

In Trump's telling, judges with Mexican ancestry also hold a grudge against him. During a civil fraud case against Trump University in 2016, then-candidate Trump called Judge Gonzalo Curiel a "hater" because he was "Hispanic" and "Mexican"; because of his ancestry, Trump maintained, Curiel was biased against him for wanting to build a border wall. Curiel was born in Indiana, went to law school at Indiana University, and, like Merchan, is an American citizen.

But Trump has been unstinting in his praise for another judge born in Colombia. That judge, Trump appointee Aileen Cannon, is presiding over his classified documents case, and has been widely criticized for breaking legal norms in favor of the former president.

Rest of article here:  In racist rant, Trump claims his hush money judge "hates" him: "Look at where he comes from"