#Russ Choma, "Lock Him Up?" Mother Jones, January + February 2021. - His (Trump's) list alleged offenses both during and before his presidency, includes tax and bank fraud, obstruction of justice, bribery, defamation, and more." "On the federal level, one of the most plausible crimes Trump could be charged with is obstruction of justice."
"Since 2019, New York Attorney General Letitia James has been probing the Trump Organization for bank, tax, and insurance fraud." "Court filings suggest that [New York prosecutor Cyrus] Vance's probe now goes well beyond the hush-money payments, and may overlap the issues James is investigating."
"In Scotland, where Trump has invested more than $200 million in his golf courses, lawmakers are pushing for their government to request an Unexplained Wealth Order to peer into Trump's finances."
My Comment: I would add to Choma's list of crimes, Trump's repeated violation of campaign finance laws, which he treats as permitted oppo. (opposition) research. He has added to Ukraine, both Russia and China as countries he wants to initiate investigations of Biden family corruption. Witness tampering could also have been added to the list, as a few examples would be: 1.) Trump called for the investigation of Michael Cohen's father-in- law's source of money -- he was a possible witness in a Cohen trial. 2.) Trump encouraged Roger Stone to refuse to cooperate with federal prosecutors. And 3.) Trump denigrated the fired ambassador to Ukraine while she was testifying before a House committee.
President Trump also violated the Impoundment Act when he withheld appropriated funds for a policy reason. Similarly, Trump likely violated the Wire Fraud Act when he requested a quid pro quo on the phone call to the Ukrainian president.
When House committee chair, Jerold Nadler, said that Trump committed 1,001 acts of obstruction of justice, he was probably referring to the multiple times Trump called the Mueller probe a witch hunt or a hoax, thereby poisoning the minds of U.S. citizens when the report came out.
#Katha Pollitt, "The Damage Done," The Nation, November 30 - December 7, 2020. - "At every step, Trump has shown contempt for nature, from the humble sage grouse, whose habitat is no longer protected from mining and drilling, to our rapidly heating planet." Pollitt then switches the focus to Trump's judicial appointments.
Pollitt says: "But let's not forget that Trump has nominated and the Senate has confirmed 218 federal judges to lifetime appointments; that's a quarter of the federal judge total. A large majority of them are white men; fewer than 5 percent are African American. Of the nine nominees rated 'not qualified' by the American Bar Association, seven were confirmed." "And no matter what Trump said or did, around four in 10 Americans stood right there with him."
"Trump has turned us into a nation of braying bullies and conspiracy theorists and mean people proud of their indifference to the bullying of others." "We may rid ourselves of Trump. But Trumpism? That will be with us for the rest of Uncle Harry's life and mine and maybe yours as well."
#Eric Alterman, "The America Berserk," The Nation, May 4/11, 2020. - "His [Trump's] moral culpability is that of a murderer, even though the law doesn't call him one." "As the constitutional law professor Lawrence Tribe tweeted on March 26, 'Trump is ensuring the avoidable death of countless New Yorkers. Instead we get Trump's meanderings, lies, and conspiracy theories broadcast on television evert day, and respectful headlines on top of stories about "disagreements" between people with lifetime's experience in epidemiology.' 'The advent of Covid-19 is a crisis, to be sure, even more so is a political culture that has produced a coronavirus-like presidency, implacably infesting and destroying what remains of our ailing democracy.' "
#Madison Pauly, "To Depose a President," Mother Jones, January + February 2021. - "For nearly four years, Trump has wielded the office of the presidency as a shield from lawsuits from women who have accused him of sexually assaulting them before his election." E. Jean Carroll has accused Donald Trump of raping her in a dressing room of a Macy's store. Her legal team has asked a lab to look for genetic material on a black dress she says she was wearing when Trump allegedly penetrated her. "The results turned up unidentified male DNA, which if matched to Trump, could help a jury to conclude that her allegations were true."
ADDENDUM:
*Mike Konzal, "Go Big or Go Home," The Nation, November 30 - December 7, 2020. - "Many of Biden's planned actions, like a public option and expanding Medicare to those ages 60 to 65, would plug into existing regulatory infrastructure. In the past, Democrats boxed themselves in by worrying about deficits and rising interest rates that never materialized."
No comments:
Post a Comment