Breaking News: Prosecutors Signal Criminal Charges for Trump Are Likely

Teflon Don ..... No freakin way

....

Let the doormats prevail.

Maggie Haberman contributed reporting to this breaking new piece. This is legit.

I'm so jaded at this point, that I first read this as Unlikely

Does anyone believe this anymore?

Meh. I’m counting on him to split the Republican Party running against DeSantis. I don’t want him in jail yet.

I like that this has nothing to do with politics but rather, with prostitutes and hush money.

Be fun to hear the testimony and watch GOP pretend it's not happening

About fucking time!!

A story came out this morning that "someone" with connections to connections posted, "Beware the Ides of March." Cohen was to head in as the final witness (the assumption being that Trump wouldn't testify) and that that would close things out for a formal indictment by some time next week or soon after.

Bragg is jostling for position as the Georgia Grand Jury is almost done, given things were to go to them "early in March."

And of course the DOJ ought to be close with the open-and-shut documents case.

Maggie Haberman has been very careful about over reporting anything with Trump. She is a contributing reporter to this breaking news article, part of the journalist team. It more believable if she is reporting this. Also, it was chosen as breaking news. She usually does not do this.

Exhausting...never ending.

"This is in NY. "

That's because that is where most of his crimes were committed before the 2016 election.

Ruh Roh. There's going to be some stinky diapers and ketchup running down the walls of Mar-a-Lago tonight.

Thanks Alvin!

Eh, I've gotten my hopes up so many times that now I don't believe this at all.

He can't help himself. He's a mentally ill chronic compulsive liar.

It's for the Stormy Daniels hush money case? That seems so long ago.

Will there now be a race to be second to charge Trump? No one wants to come in last. Will it be Willis or Smith next?

[quote]Bragg is jostling for position as the Georgia Grand Jury is almost done, given things were to go to them "early in March."

Hi, Georgia!

I hate him, but is hundreds of thousands/millions of dollars looking into this for 5 years really financially worth it over a $130,000 payment?

I'll believe it when I see it! I still think that it's still the opinion of national security experts, that it's not a good idea to put a former President in jail. Even if he deserves it. My opinion is, he should face the consequences of his actions, but if a national security expert has a very solid argument that locking him up would look very bad on the global stage, and the butterfly effect could screw up our strategic operations abroad, then I support keeping him out of jail.

I'm tired of the perpetual blue balls.

So sick of this guy. And sick of the attention he gets.

I'm allergic to disappointment, so I'm not going to let myself get hopeful. I'm sure most of y'all feel the same.

[quote] I'll believe it when I see it! I still think that it's still the opinion of national security experts, that it's not a good idea to put a former President in jail. Even if he deserves it. My opinion is, he should face the consequences of his actions, but if a national security expert has a very solid argument that locking him up would look very bad on the global stage, and the butterfly effect could screw up our strategic operations abroad, then I support keeping him out of jail.

NOT locking up this traitor would look very bad on the global stage.

^ Yeah, we should just let bygones be bygones. Why even have any laws at all if the criminal activities of people like Trump aren't punished?

At the most he may get indicted, but he will never be convicted and will never serve even a single day in jail. The US has a double standard when it comes to justice. Lady Liberty is not blindfolded. She is winking knowingly at all the rich, the powerful and the connected, and treating almost everyone else with a more fair justice.

I don’t know if it is this case or another case but something has other gop mongrels finally rejecting this fat bastard with a bit more confidence. They must think he is going down, wether he actually is or not remains to be seen.

I’ll second that, R28 !

At the absolute worse case scenario Trump will pay a nominal fine for violating election rules. That will be it boys and girls.

Now, look over there; something shiny!

R26 I said IF. I'm not a national security expert, so I really don't know what's best for our nation's security. But I do know that you probably don't know either. There's a good chance national security experts are going to make the final decision about whether or not he's going to be charged. This is a very special case, and their opinion matters. Maybe they believe that China could use the chaos of charging Trump to attack Taiwan. Or that Russia would decide to invade Moldova. They have stated that our enemies may make tactical decisions when they perceive that we are "distracted". Also if you still think that any justice system in the history of humankind was "fair", you need to read some books.

Just like "only Nixon could go to China", so only a Republican prosecutor can prosecute Trump. Any Democratic prosecutor is going to be seen, appropriately, as purely partisan, trying to take out the head of the rival political party.

The GOP needs for him to go away for Trump's followers to get behind DeSantis. They may grumble and whine, but staying at home is not really an option when they want their bigot utopia where they can keep bullying minorities.

So sick of "signals," signs and portents. Just indict already!

While I normally would agree that it's not good to charge a former president, here we are talking about someone who has spent 5he last 6 years talking about prosecuting Clinton, Obama and Biden. So he himself obviously sees nothing wrong with the general idea.

May Lady Justice be harsh and swift, as she fucks him up his prolapsed, unlubed ass.

Other countries have gone after their leaders when they have broken the law. Why do we Americans think we're so sacred and god damned special that we can't do the same?

Gee, one might start to think that all this "American exceptionalism" talk is just a bunch of bullshit talk to not hurt the feelings of a bunch of snowflakes.

He's broken a zillion laws already--prosecute his fat ass. If the case loses because of one MAGAt juror then so be it--but you have to try and uphold the rule of law.

I've had it with all of the kvetching and kvelling.

I don't believe it. We have been down this road too many times. Remember when Matt was supposed to be charged? Nothing comes from any of this. It's sad but true. They protect each other.

We would show our exceptionalism by going after this crook!

If he had a shred of decency in him he'd just stroke out.

I would love to see something like the Harvey Weinstein case where Trump decides to make his appearances in court using a walker with tennis balls attached to the feet. It just seems like these things fizzle out before they begin, I guess Trump has been around a long time and has a lot of dirt on a lot of people and manages to have things stopped at the last minute.

The demise of Donald J. Trump is imminent.

I'm skeptical...but, Capone was indicted and jailed for tax evasion. When the cuffs are on him, then I'll have faith.

I hope Stormy gets to tell everyone about how small and malformed Donald's dick is, again. After all of his "Horseface" comments about her and even denying he was with her 😂, I'll bet she has some stuff to say.

Pffft.

It's pathetic and weak looking for a nation like ours to have he and his family running around free. Life in jail for all of them is the only suitable outcome. Give them no access to the media. Let them dry up like the long-festering boils they are.

Whatever happened to Garland's newly appointed special prosecutor, Jack Smith? Nothing from him....fucking crickets. He was supposed to be tough? Garland just pushed trumps investigation off, that he wanted nothing to do with, to someone else....who will also do nothing. What fucking hope is there anymore. The top cops of the US...

Re: R48:

Cannot speak for Garland regarding Trump or J6 but Smith has been busy:

Smith isn't "doing nothing." Just yesterday he was in court trying to force Trump’s defense attorney Evan Corcoran to testify again in front of the grand jury. The court hasn't ruled on whether he'll be forced to or not.

A few weeks ago we learned that there were something like 10 court cases he was currently juggling re: the Trump case, all hearings meant to decide specific issues like Corcoran testifying.

L'Affaire Stormy is embarrassing for the Trump crowd, so that's fun, but much better for him to be charged with the far more serious federal offenses and by the Fulton County D.A. This is apparently a complicated case to make. I'd rather have him not charged than acquitted.

Re national security: Because of his Secret Service protection, which is for life, Trump could never be in a regular jail cell and around other prisoners, even at a white collar prison. Doesn't mean he can't be convicted and confined. They could give him a wing of his own, or convert some barracks for him somewhere. After he was spared execution by de Gaulle, Petain lived out his days in some remote building where he was the only prisoner. Similar fate for Napoleon on St. Helena. This is an option for Trump, as is house arrest, although given that his house is a resort he seldom leaves anyway, that would be mostly symbolic. I think it really needs to be the former route, to make a statement.

[...]

He can run against DeSantis while indicted and facing conviction in multiple jurisdictions. That’d be OK.

R51 They can banish him to Elba Island like Napoleon.

I think once a former president is convicted of a crime, Secret Service protection should be forfeited.

Confine him to a welfare hotel double-occupancy with Ghouliani.

They deserve each other.

There's some shit going on. He can be charged with a misdemeanor for Stormy. He could be charged with a felony, but unlikely. The thing is, NY gets him first which delays Georgia. And Where the FUCK is DoJ on the classified documents and the fucking insurrection, Seditious Conspiracy?

A New York indictment does not delay a Georgia indictment. He would not go on trial in either case for several months, if indicted.

But I don't understand the NYS case. According to NYT the misdemeanor falsifying business records charges goes to a felony if it was covering up a crime, but they then cite NY election law and Trump's campaign was federal so that doesn't apply. If they say -contrary to the NYT- that he was violating federal election law with the hush money, that is a case the feds never brought and they're going to have a state jury deal with that? Seems not great.

The "hush" money case will fall apart. A person paying off their blackmailer is not a crime.

R59 It is because it's violating state and federal election laws. They were trying to suppress public information to affect the election.

Isn’t it kind of surreal how such a vile piece of shit like DJT, known for decades as a frivolous buffoon, became President and a daily torture in our lives? Trump has become this all encompassing energy suck, a constant irritant, bloated, shrill and completely insane. It has to be some sort of mad plan to drive the country in the ground by unleashing that imbecile into the mainstream filter.

[quote]They were trying to suppress public information to affect the election

It wasn't public information and a person being blackmailed can certainly try to prevent information from being disclosed.

Paying hush money per se is not a crime. But crimes can be committed in doing it. If it entails falsifying business records, that's a crime. There is also the campaign finance angle, which is a bit more debatable.

But even if so, this is very far from the worst thing he has done and more complicated legally than some other cases. I certainly hope this is not all he is charged with. There is an argument that the NY DA should have gone with the fraud case.

It makes no sense to me that Michael Cohen goes to prison, but "Individual #1" doesn't.

[quote]It makes no sense to me that Michael Cohen goes to prison, but "Individual #1" doesn't.

Cohen was as surprised as anyone. The idiot pled guilty, thinking he was going to be treated lightly if he cooperated. The sad sack is just a tool, used first by Trump, and then by prosecutors. Cohen is a convicted liar and criminal, so it is appropriate that he went to prison.

[quote]And Where the FUCK is DoJ on the classified documents and the fucking insurrection, Seditious Conspiracy?

Nosferatu has slow-tracked that investigation, within the last week or so.

We’ll believe it when we see it.

What are the "indictment is good for Trump" people thinking? He is facing multiple indictments and each of them could contain multiple charges?

He's going to beat ALL of them before November 2024? Or get a mistrial for ALL of them? He's going to be able to drag them all out? I agree that an indictment might not stop him from being nominated, but indictments do lead to trials and things don't look good for him. The Stormy Daniels case is the least of it, even if that's the most imminent.

R68 I think the scenario one side is dreading and the other is hoping for, is Trump getting indicted, tried and found not guilty, and he will get the nomination and he will be a formidable candidate.

R69, That seems really unlikely though. In the documents case he is extremely guilty and it looks like they have him on obstruction. They can say "Biden had documents too" but he didn't obstruct justice. The Georgia case seems to have a smoking gun in various recordings. The charge is maybe unorthodox I guess. Jan 6 is more complicated but they may get him on that. The Stormy Daniels case is the weakest for various reasons, but it's not like he didn't do it. There is some chance he wriggles out of this or that, but everything? Yes, he can appeal any conviction and he won't be confined (however they do that, house arrest or a special barracks or wing of a prison where he can be isolated) for a long time. But as effed up as the GOP is, I don't think the electorate as a whole is going to elect a convicted felon out on bond appealing his sentence. I just don't.

Indictments don’t mean shit to Netanyahu, for example. He governs while under indictment! Trump would happily do the same, right?

The Israeli legal system is MUCH slower than the American one. Netanyahu was indicted in 2019 and the trial is not close to over! It's good that they were able to indict a seating leader -unlike the US- but the lack of speed is totally nuts. I don't think Trump is dealing with the same timetable here.

Netanyahu made a bargain. He's is in Putin's pocket right now taking his country to the extreme Right. So his "trial" will move very slowly indeed.

"But as effed up as the GOP is, I don't think the electorate as a whole is going to elect a convicted felon..."

To the MAGAts, being a convicted felon is a badge of honor, a big F.U. to "the man," even though Trump and the Republicans are the embodiment of "the man." Hell, they're biggest TV star, Tim Allen, is a convicted felon/ex drug dealer and the MAGAts worship the ground Allen walks on.

The MAGAts will gladly vote for any felon, past or present, as long as that felon is white and male.

I don’t think anything short of exile to Mars will work for Trump. He would run from a prison cell.

I stand by what I've said regarding imprisonment for him: House arrest with his sycophants. Those ugly hogs showing up to his rallies should surround him for the rest of his days.

Wait. I thought everyone here said he was going to be arrested last week. What happened there? Oh, he's gonna get it now, really get it. He is going to be SO arrested! Wait and see. You will see. Really! Just a matter of time. I am not kidding this time.

[quote]Wait. I thought everyone here said he was going to be arrested last week.

Psst. There was ONE person who said he was going to be arrested last week. That was dump himself.

No one else claimed anything else other than that fetid boil on the ass of humanity.

Trump is the only one who claimed he was being arrested, so I don't know why anyone runs with anything that orange dogshit says

R74, Yes the hardcore Trumpers will never leave him. But not everyone who voted for him against Biden and HRC is in that category. A lot of them are just regular non-MAGA Republicans who voted for him out of party loyalty and hostility to the Dems. He barely won in 2016 in an electorate that was whiter and more filled with Boomers than the 2024 one will be. It doesn't take more than a small number of defectors to doom the GOP ticket. I don't think that the squishy voters will shrug off a conviction or even an indictment.

[quote]just regular non-MAGA Republicans who voted for him out of party loyalty and hostility to the Dems

There is no such thing. The moment they voted for that vile, stupid man, was the moment they showed the world who they were. That they could ignore his bullhorn hate (starting with the birther crap), is despicable. As I said in the other thread: He got the nomination in the first place the moment he targeted non-whites. Why was that allowed to happen? They ignored every other credible candidate and supported a man who couldn't tell you who wrote the constitution even if Madison himself used flashcards to explain it to that orange pile of shit. They all ran to support him the moment he put on that klan robe.

Had those "regular" Republicans had any decency, they would've written in a "regular" Republican. There is no "regular" anymore. Their platform is extremism. And I don't want to hear the "both sides" bullshit, because the Dem platform has nothing extreme (and if I get some bullshit"trans" obsessed moron responding, I'll just put your dumb ass on ignore, so don't bother with your tiresome lies).

Could you be a rational adult for five minutes? Trump is terrible and even regular Republicans are bad for going along with him to the extent they have. But not every single one is in his cult and will die in the last ditch for him. He lost last time, when he wasn't in legal trouble and he had the advantage of incumbency. Multiple indictments at a minimum and a possible conviction would finish him.

But his fans don’t believe that he lost! Why would they care about indictments?

R82, yes, let me be "rational"... despite four years of his glaring corruption and continued vitriol and ignorance and idiocy and weaponization/corruption of agencies including the IRS and DOJ, he got even MORE "regular" Republicans to vote for him in 2020. "Regular" Republicans had the opportunity to speak up and they didn't. "Regular" Republicans continued to enable him. "Regular" Republicans could've joined in with the impeachment. Cheney and Kinzinger are both GONE, because there weren't enough "regular" Republicans to support them.

Perhaps you buy into the "Team Normal" bullshit, but anyone who has paid attention, knows that save a literal handful of Republicans, they're mostly garbage. Even that complete horse's ass bill whatever who coined the "Team Normal" we an adviser to the campaign of Liz' Cheney's opponent...another Trump crackpot. You don't seem to understand that these "regular" Republicans are fine with Trump's disgusting, hateful platform. They just want to change the QB to a less stupid, but equally evil one. Even the "regular" Republicans who testified --including the ones who got death threats-- said they'd vote for Trump again.

The majority of "regular" Republicans think the election was stolen and that violence is a perfectly reasonable way of countering a loss.

was* an adviser

Bill Stepien*

If 95% of Republicans are fine with indicted Trump or convicted but appealing his sentence Trump, he is DOOMED. This is not complicated math.

He doesn’t need votes, he’s a Republican.

The republican party are working with and enabling Russia and China to destroy us .

They're coming to take me away, ha-ha!

At this particular time and for the past sometime, the main damage has been Russia not China. China does stupid shit like spying on us to get a lead on our technology. It is similar to industrial espionage. Corporate spying. The auto companies always spied on one another in the 50's and 60's, etc. Russia wants to crush us. Destabilize us so they can gain access to power in Europe. Now I wouldn't doubt some lobbyists and members of Congress get payouts from China for legislation, etc. But Russians are evil. They have also been using their clients like Iran and Lebanon and Syria to do damage. There was even an Israeli groups doing troll farms and fucking with our elections. Yes. But they weren't working for Israel they were mercenaries working for who ever hired them. We are so vulnerable and so porous it's embarrassing. Biden has been trying to get cyber security and tech stuff passed in Congress, and is establishing new rules and regulations but it's over due and requires funding and constant updating.

Russia is messing with us more now. China is a much greater threat in the medium and long term. Russia is in decline. All it has is fossil fuels, nukes and spies. They are botching the Ukraine War.

As Biden rightly pointed out, China is our competitor not our adversary. And it's pretty damned clear the Russians may be a rogue state, but they are our nemesis. Even "in decline" they're a great danger to world peace. They don't want stability.

All the underhanded, illegal shit that man has done in New York since the '70s, but yet the best thing the DA can try to hang on him is that he paid for sex? No one cared in 2016, even his Evangelical God-botherer core base didn't give a shit. Only a Federal charge can put this man down -- c'mon, Georgia.

R93- The charge would not be that he paid for sex.

[quote]yet the best thing the DA can try to hang on him is that he paid for sex?

The charge isn't for "paying for sex." It's for where the money came from. He used campaign money to "pay for sex."

[quote]No one cared in 2016, even his Evangelical God-botherer core base didn't give a shit.

Are people ever going to figure out that Evangelicals are deviants full of shit who've never had anything resembling a moral core? It's white supremacy under the guise of religion. If they actually cared about morality, they would've supported Obama. They're as close to morality as Matt Schlapp is to heterosexuality.

It's not even that he used campaign money to "pay for sex". The sex was in 2006 at some golf tournament in another state. It was hush money to buy her silence a decade later which was an unreported campaign expenditure and which business records were falsified to cover up.

Riiiiiiiight

You marxists have been saying this for years. Keep on dreaming.

[quote]You marxists have been saying this for years. Keep on dreaming.

"Marxist" is an awfully sophisticated word for an inbred methhead.

LOL, "Marxist". I didn't see that comment because I already have the asshole on ignore, but WTF does "Marxist" even mean when they say it? Is it a reference to liberals in govt being the ones banning books and trying to control people's bodies or a reference to "socialism" which is also preposterous since we all know it's the capitalist blue states that have to *distribute* our wealth to shithole red states full of losers without pot to piss in?

I have no opinion as yet about any other investigations or possible prosecutions of Trump but this one is completely political and bad law. It really is ethically troubling. There is a very good legal reason why Mueller and Vance (a hell of of lot more experienced and ethical than Bragg) both declined to prosecute.

How many times will we hear this..?

R101, you're an idiot. I'm actually embarrassed for you as to how little you know about all of this. Were you the idiot who also said SDNY wouldn't take the case because there was no evidence?You didn't even understand the situation with Mueller (and Barr's involvement in that, too). Sit this one out.