What does a TRUMP presidency look like?

[The Larch]

Maybe not strictly related but at least Trump-adjacent, it seems that the NRA is filling for bankruptcy.

National Rifle Association Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

The National Rifle Association of America files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Texas on Friday, court papers show, Bloomberg News reports.

The NRA listed assets and liabilities of as much as $500 million each, according to its bankruptcy petition.

The group intends to restructure and reincorporate in Texas, according to a statement on its website

Once again, maybe not the best thread to discuss tihs, but for the sake of continuity I post the latest piece of news ont he topic here:

Judge dismisses NRA bankruptcy case in blow for US gun lobby
Federal court says claim was not filed in good faith, paving the way for legal bid by New York state to close the group down

A federal judge has dismissed the National Rifle Association's bankruptcy case, leaving the powerful gun-rights group to face a lawsuit from New York state that accuses it of financial abuses.

The judge sitting in Dallas was tasked with deciding whether the NRA should be allowed to incorporate in Texas instead of New York, where the state is suing in an effort to disband the group. Though headquartered in Virginia, the NRA was chartered as a nonprofit in New York in 1871 and is incorporated in the state.

Judge Harlin Hale said in a written order on Tuesday that he was dismissing the case because he found the NRA's attempt to claim bankruptcy in New York was not filed in good faith.

"The court believes the NRA's purpose in filing bankruptcy is less like a traditional bankruptcy case in which a debtor is faced with financial difficulties or a judgment that it cannot satisfy" Hale wrote, "and more like cases in which courts have found bankruptcy was filed to gain an unfair advantage in litigation or to avoid a regulatory scheme."

His decision followed 11 days of testimony and arguments. Lawyers for New York and the NRA's former advertising agency grilled the group's embattled top executive, Wayne LaPierre, who acknowledged putting the NRA into Chapter 11 bankruptcy without the knowledge or assent of most of its board and other top officers.

"Excluding so many people from the process of deciding to file for bankruptcy, including the vast majority of the board of directors, the chief financial officer, and the general counsel, is nothing less than shocking," the judge added.

Phillip Journey, an NRA board member and Kansas judge who had sought to have an examiner appointed to investigate the group's leadership, was concise about Hale's judgment: "1 word, disappointed," he wrote in a text message.

LaPierre pledged in a statement to continue to fight for gun rights.

"Although we are disappointed in some aspects of the decision, there is no change in the overall direction of our association, its programs, or its second amendment advocacy," LaPierre said via the NRA's Twitter account.

"Today is ultimately about our members those who stand courageously with the NRA in defense of constitutional freedom. We remain an independent organization that can chart its own course, even as we remain in New York to confront our adversaries."

Lawyers for New York's attorney general, Letitia James, argued that the case was an attempt by the NRA leadership to escape accountability for using the group's coffers as their personal piggybank. But the NRA's attorneys said it was a legitimate effort to avoid a political attack by James, who is a Democrat.

LaPierre testified that he kept the bankruptcy largely secret to prevent leaks from the group's 76-member board, which is divided in its support for him.

Hale dismissed the NRA's case without prejudice, meaning the group can refile it. However, he warned that in doing so the NRA's leaders would risk losing control.

The judge wrote that if the case is refiled, he would immediately take up "concerns about disclosure, transparency, secrecy, conflicts of interest" between NRA officials and their bankruptcy legal team. He said that the lawyers "unusual involvement" in the NRA's affairs raised concerns that the group "could not fulfil the fiduciary duty" and might lead him to appoint a trustee to oversee it.

Hale noted the NRA could still pursue other legal steps to incorporate in Texas, but James said such a move would require her approval and that seemed unlikely.

The NRA declared bankruptcy in January, five months after James's office sued seeking its dissolution following allegations that executives illegally diverted tens of millions of dollars for lavish personal trips, no-show contracts and other questionable expenditures.

James is New York's chief law enforcement officer and has regulatory power over nonprofit organisations incorporated in the state. She sued the NRA last August, saying at the time that the "breadth and the depth of the corruption and the illegality" at the NRA justified its closure.

During a news conference after the ruling, James said she read transcripts of LaPierre's testimony, which was "filled with contradictions".

She reiterated that she intends to see the NRA dissolved, which ultimately would be decided by a judge, not the attorney general. The discovery process in her lawsuit is ongoing, James said, and she expects a trial to happen sometime in 2022.

"There are individuals and officers who are using the NRA as their personal piggy bank and they need to be held accountable," James said.

The NRA's financial standing has been upended by the coronavirus pandemic, but there was consensus during the bankruptcy trial that it remains financially sound

Last year, the group laid off dozens of employees, cancelled its national convention and scuttled fundraising. The NRA's bankruptcy filing listed between $100m and $500m in assets and the same range in liabilities.

[The Larch]

Apparently there's a bnok coming out about the Secret Service during the Trump presidency, and the first salacious details have been leaked out:

Trump family members got 'inappropriately close' to Secret Service agents, book claims
Concerns over bonds involving Trump's then daughter-in-law Vanessa and daughter Tiffany revealed in Carol Leonnig's Zero Fail

Two Trump family members got "inappropriately – and perhaps dangerously – close" to agents protecting them while Donald Trump was president, according to a new book on the US Secret Service.
(...)
In her new book, she writes that Secret Service agents reported that Vanessa Trump, the wife of the president's oldest son, Donald Trump Jr, "started dating one of the agents who had been assigned to her family".

Vanessa Trump filed for an uncontested divorce in March 2018. Leonnig reports that the agent concerned did not face disciplinary action as neither he nor the agency were official guardians of Vanessa Trump at that point.

Leonnig also writes that Tiffany Trump, Donald Trump's daughter with his second wife, Marla Maples, broke up with a boyfriend and "began spending an unusual amount of time alone with a Secret Service agent on her detail".

Secret Service leaders, the book says, "became concerned at how close Tiffany appeared to be getting to the tall, dark and handsome agent".

Agents are prohibited from forming personal relationships with those they protect, out of concern that such feelings could cloud their judgment.

Both Tiffany Trump and the agent said nothing untoward was happening, Leonnig writes, and pointed out the nature of the agent's job meant spending time alone with his charge. The agent was subsequently reassigned.

Also, it seems that Trump had a Frederick William of Prussia moment with his security detail:

The president did repeatedly seek to remove Secret Service staff he deemed to be overweight or too short for the job.

"I want these fat guys off my detail," Trump is reported to have said, possibly confusing office-based personnel with active agents. "How are they going to protect me and my family if they can't run down the street?"

[Sheilbh]

Also, it seems that Trump had a Frederick William of Prussia moment with his security detail:

The president did repeatedly seek to remove Secret Service staff he deemed to be overweight or too short for the job.

"I want these fat guys off my detail," Trump is reported to have said, possibly confusing office-based personnel with active agents. "How are they going to protect me and my family if they can't run down the street?"

[The Larch]

Interesting legal defense strategy by the attorney for the "Q Anon shaman" regarding the storming of the Capitol:

Watkins, the "Q Shaman" Jacob Chansley's attorney, said his client had Asperger's syndrome and indicated that Chansley's mental state — and the impact of Trump's "propaganda" efforts — would play a role in his case. 

"A lot of these defendants — and I'm going to use this colloquial term, perhaps disrespectfully — but they're all fucking short-bus people," Watkins told TPM. "These are people with brain damage, they're fucking retarded, they're on the goddamn spectrum." 

"But they're our brothers, our sisters, our neighbors, our coworkers — they're part of our country. These aren't bad people, they don't have prior criminal history. Fuck, they were subjected to four-plus years of goddamn propaganda the likes of which the world has not seen since fucking Hitler."

[Jacob]

Looks like the nature of Trump's propaganda effort is going to be brought up in court:

Watkins, the "Q Shaman" Jacob Chansley's attorney, said his client had Asperger's syndrome and indicated that Chansley's mental state — and the impact of Trump's "propaganda" efforts — would play a role in his case.

"A lot of these defendants — and I'm going to use this colloquial term, perhaps disrespectfully — but they're all fucking short-bus people," Watkins told TPM. "These are people with brain damage, they're fucking retarded, they're on the goddamn spectrum."

"But they're our brothers, our sisters, our neighbors, our coworkers — they're part of our country. These aren't bad people, they don't have prior criminal history. Fuck, they were subjected to four-plus years of goddamn propaganda the likes of which the world has not seen since fucking Hitler."

I wonder how that'll play out.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/capitol-rioters-trump-defense-comes-up-again-and-again-will-it-make-a-difference

[viper37]

"These are people with brain damage, they're fucking retarded, they're on the goddamn spectrum."

so, the lawyer is arguing in court what every sane person has been saying since 2016 everywhere?

[Richard Hakluyt]

That is remarkably offensive language by the lawyer 

[Barrister]

Looks like the nature of Trump's propaganda effort is going to be brought up in court:

Watkins, the "Q Shaman" Jacob Chansley's attorney, said his client had Asperger's syndrome and indicated that Chansley's mental state — and the impact of Trump's "propaganda" efforts — would play a role in his case.

"A lot of these defendants — and I'm going to use this colloquial term, perhaps disrespectfully — but they're all fucking short-bus people," Watkins told TPM. "These are people with brain damage, they're fucking retarded, they're on the goddamn spectrum."

"But they're our brothers, our sisters, our neighbors, our coworkers — they're part of our country. These aren't bad people, they don't have prior criminal history. Fuck, they were subjected to four-plus years of goddamn propaganda the likes of which the world has not seen since fucking Hitler."

I wonder how that'll play out.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/capitol-rioters-trump-defense-comes-up-again-and-again-will-it-make-a-difference

Absolutely not a defence, but could work to mitigate sentence.

Edit: only if they apologize and show remorse.

[Barrister]

Donald J. Trump
12:02pm May 19, 2021

I have just learned, through leaks in the mainstream media, that after being under investigation from the time I came down the escalator 5 ½ years ago, including the fake Russia Russia Russia Hoax, the 2 year, $48M, No Collusion Mueller Witch Hunt, Impeachment Hoax #1, Impeachment Hoax #2, and others, that the Democrat New York Attorney General has "informed" my organization that their "investigation" is no longer just a civil matter but also potentially a "criminal" investigation working with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. There is nothing more corrupt than an investigation that is in desperate search of a crime. But, make no mistake, that is exactly what is happening here. The Attorney General of New York literally campaigned on prosecuting Donald Trump even before she knew anything about me. She said that if elected, she would use her office to look into "every aspect" of my real estate dealings. She swore that she would "definitely sue" me. She boasted on video that she would be, and I quote, "a real pain in the ass." She declared, "just wait until I'm in the Attorney General's office," and, "I've got my eyes on Trump Tower." She also promised that, if elected, she would "join with law enforcement and other Attorney Generals across this nation in removing this President from office," and, "It's important that everyone understand that the days of Donald Trump are coming to an end." The Attorney General made each of these statements, not after having had an opportunity to actually look at the facts, but BEFORE she was even elected, BEFORE she had seen even a shred of evidence. This is something that happens in failed third world countries, not the United States. If you can run for a prosecutor's office pledging to take out your enemies, and be elected to that job by partisan voters who wish to enact political retribution, then we are no longer a free constitutional democracy. Likewise, the District Attorney's office has been going after me for years based on a lying, discredited low life, who was not listened to or given credibility by other prosecutorial offices, and sentenced to 3 years in prison for lying and other events unrelated to me. These investigations have also been going on for years with members and associates of the Trump Organization being viciously attacked, harassed, and threatened, in order to say anything bad about the 45th President of the United States. This would include having to make up false stories. Numerous documents, all prepared by large and prestigious law and accounting firms, have been examined, and many hours of testimony have been taken from many people, some of whom I have not seen in years. These Democrat offices are consumed with this political and partisan Witch Hunt at a time when crime is up big in New York City, shootings are up 97%, murders are up 45%, a rate not seen in 40 years, drugs and criminals are pouring into our Country in record numbers from our now unprotected Southern Border, and people are fleeing New York for other much safer locations to live. But the District Attorney and Attorney General are possessed, at an unprecedented level, with destroying the political fortunes of President Donald J. Trump and the almost 75 million people who voted for him, by far the highest number ever received by a sitting President. That is what these investigations are all about—a continuation of the greatest political Witch Hunt in the history of the United States. Working in conjunction with Washington, these Democrats want to silence and cancel millions of voters because they don't want "Trump" to run again. As people are being killed on the sidewalks of New York at an unprecedented rate, as drugs and crime of all kinds are flowing through New York City at record levels, with absolutely nothing being done about it, all they care about is taking down Trump. Our movement, which started with the Great Election Win of 2016, is perhaps the biggest and most powerful in the history of our Country. But the Democrats want to cancel the Make America Great Again movement, not by Making America First, but by Making America Last. No President has been treated the way I have. With all of the crime and corruption you read about with others, nothing happens, they only go after Donald Trump. After prosecutorial efforts the likes of which nobody has ever seen before, they failed to stop me in Washington, so they turned it over to New York to do their dirty work. This is what I have been going through for years. It's a very sad and dangerous tale for our Country, but it is what it is, and we will overcome together. I have built a great company, employed thousands of people, and all I do is get unfairly attacked and abused by a corrupt political system. It would be so wonderful if the effort used against President Donald J. Trump, who lowered taxes and regulations, rebuilt our military, took care of our Veterans, created Space Force, fixed our border, produced our vaccine in record-setting time (years ahead of what was anticipated), and made our Country great and respected again, and so much more, would be focused on the ever more dangerous sidewalks and streets of New York. If these prosecutors focused on real issues, crime would be obliterated, and New York would be great and free again!

(I'm not going to post a link - you can find it at his blog site)

[Admiral Yi]

His English seems to be improving.  Some. 

[The Larch]

His English seems to be improving.  Some. 

Now he needs to learn proper text formatting.

[Sheilbh]

If ever there's an example of a strict form providing a useful constraint, it's Trump with no character limits

[Habbaku]

Still using Boomer Capitals on Random Words, I see.

[grumbler]

If ever there's an example of a strict form providing a useful constraint, it's Trump with no character limits

Wait.    Did anyone here actually read that wall of text?  If so, why?

Trump with no character limits seems to me identical to Trump with no writing at all.

[Admiral Yi]

"Boomer capitals?"