Pecker problems
Trump minting coin from his felony convictions ... Toadies in the bleachers ... Justice Alito flagging his proclivities ... SCOTUS corrupted ... Rule of lawlessness ... More horrible judicial distortions in the pipeline ... Roger Fitch files from Washington
"The smart play ... would have been to say it doesn't matter whether or not [Trump] had a relationship with Stormy Daniels, because that renders big chunks of the case irrelevant. But character is destiny, and Trump's character is egotistical and combative" - former federal prosecutor, NY Times
"Trump Undone by the Truth of his Pecker" - ambiguous Emptywheel headline
Donald John Trump has been convicted on all counts in People of the State of NY v Trump. The offender was charged with falsifying records to cover up another criminal offence. This could be his usual business practice, but in New York, it's a felony.
Lawfare listed what prosecutors had to prove in People v Trump, and the Times listed the 34 counts that were proved.
Further felony charges against Trump remain and are awaiting trial in Georgia state court (election interference), DC federal court (the January 6 election theft attempt) and Florida federal court (Espionage Act violations), but Trump is already a convicted felon, affecting travel to 38 countries including Australia.
Sadly, Trump won't do the decent thing: drop out. Running is too lucrative. Since his conviction, fresh millions from sucker supporters have flooded in. "Moron", after all, is an Americanism.
The trial itself was uncontroversial, except for the unseemly behaviour of the defendant, who ranted before and after his court appearances, accompanied by an entourage of what one cartoonist called "Trump Chumps and Toadies", i.e, Republican camp followers and vice-presidential aspirants.
Mob boss: "Benny Eggs" Mangano
Trump may not be an actual mob boss, but he took the precaution of hiring Susan Necheles, a former (unsuccessful) lawyer for the Genovese crime family underboss Venero "Benny Eggs" Mangano. In Trump's trial, Necheles had the unenviable task of cross-examining Stormy Daniels, and it didn't go well.
The Republican groupies who followed Trump into court each day included the former head of Hell's Angels; a NY criminal gang of yesteryear; the convicted NY City Police Commissioner Bernie Kerik (pardoned by his patron); the crackpot lawyer Alan Dershowitz; the health care plunderer, now Senator, Rick Scott; the theocrat House speaker Mike Johnson; the Trump-convert and Hillbilly Elegy author, Senator JD Vance; the fraud-indicted Texas AG Ken Paxton; and the Indian-American vice-presidential wannabe Vivek Ramaswamy.
There were so many congressional sycophants that it could have cost the Republicans a close vote in the evenly-balanced House.
Speculative clues to the further adventures of NY v Trump may be found in the Spring Exam set by Cornell Law Professor Michael Dorf for his Federal Courts course.
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