April 6, 2023
This story certainly has taken an odd turn, with Donald Trump being indicted for payments to try to silence two bare it all women.
Worst money ever spent, it would appear.
Additional indictments are likely coming, and prosecutions for campaign violations are frankly very rare. It's an open question whether this is a good development or a bad one for those who regard Trump as a real danger, or those who admire him. From my prospective, these charges are the most likely to be regarded as political, and it likely would have been best for the country if they had not been brought, for that reason.
As for the coming probable more substantial charges, they can't come soon enough.
April 19, 2023
$787,000,000.
That's the amount Fox News agreed to pay Dominion in settlement for spreading lies about Dominion's voting machines.
I guess the press was concerned that the Supreme Court might dump the New York Times v. Sullivan standard when the case got there, which it would have. At least two conservative judges and one liberal one had previously indicated that they might. Too bad it didn't make it all the way up.
April 21, 2023
The Wyoming County Clerks Association issued a lengthy letter defending Wyoming's elections prior to Secretary of State Chuck Gray's meeting with touring election denier Douglas Frank.
April 25, 2023
Propagandist Tucker Carlson has been fired from Fox, but not for spouting Trumpist lies and pro Russian propaganda, but for criticizing the leaders at Fox News behind their backs.
Modern medial being what it is, Carlson will undoubtedly land on his feet, but this does amount to a blow which will reduce Carlson's exposure. Fox has really taken a beating over this past week.
And CNN let Don Lemon, news anchor, go, although the reasons are murky. Lemon had made the comment that Nikki Hailey "wasn't in her prime". The reasons, however, for his termination are less clear.
Carlson has a group of loyal followers and a large pool of angry detractors as well. His most loyal followers will follow him wherever he goes, but it won't be Fox's bullhorn. Prior Fox figures who have left it have in fact seen their star very much fade, and while Carlson won't disappear, he'll be very much less visible, and for that matter, probably to most Americans soon invisible.
April 26, 2023
A defamation case in which the plaintiff asserts that Donald Trump raped her has commenced with explosive testimony, including something alluding to DNA, which Trump commented on via Truth Social. This resulted in a really strong rebuke from the Court ordering Trump to shut up as he was violating a prior order of the Court.
June 11, 2023
As we all know, Trump was found liable for defamation, but not sexual assault. I failed to note that when it occurred.
Now he faces 37 counts in a Federal indictment, which includes violating the Espionage Act for taking classified material and refusing to return it.
All three of Wyoming's Congressional delegation have questioned the indictment, which was predictable, if sad.
June 13, 2023
Trump will appear in Federal Court in Florida today.
The indictment is so clear that it's almost impossible for this not to result in a conviction, making the feigned outrage expressed by Republican politicians, and the genuine outrage expressed by GOP loyalists, all the more questionable. Trump will be convicted.
The big question, right now, which is largely not asked by the press, is why Trump took these documents. There's some reason he did it. And as some are in the super secret national defense category, the question is all the more baffling and important.
If it is that he was going to use them for his memoirs, it conclusively shows that he simply doesn't grasp the importance of things. How a person could live to his advanced old age and not grasp this is hard to imagine, but it would suggest the operation of at least the insulation of privilege, and also perhaps something else mental or in the serious character flaw category.
But it might suggest something more than that, which is all the more disturbing. Why would a former President walk out the door with matters pertaining to national defense?
There have always been a lot of unanswered questions in this area regarding Trump. Perhaps his trial will reveal them.
June 21, 2023
Trump's trial is scheduled for August, but it won't really occur anywhere near that soon.
June 28, 2023
Donald Trump has now sued E. Jean Carroll for defamation, alleging she falsely accused him of rape after a jury in a civil trial found that he sexually abused her. The suit will fail. In fact, it'll give her the chance to reiterate her claims.
In his espionage act case, he called the audio recordings of him discussing defense plans a hoax. They're not a hoax, but his most devoted followers will adopt this absurdity.
These two moves are really odd, and smack of desperation.
June 30, 2023
A judge refused to dismiss the first of E. Jean Carroll's lawsuits against Trump, this one also for defamation. I wasn't aware until now that there were two, but there are, and the second one goes to trial in January.
July 11, 2023
Trump is seeking a lengthy delay of his espionage act case, citing in part the election as a grounds for the same.
July 15, 2023
Well into the 2024 election cycle, unfortunately, politicians who have lashed themselves to the deck of the Stolen Election Myth are in the increasingly awkward position of having it pass over the horizon. Individuals who are convinced that the election was stolen are capped in number, while also incapable of considering any other evidence at this point. Politicians, whose issue was this issue, need to keep it alive, or think they do, even though it appears to be of fixed political capital.
Enter Hunter Biden, the troubled son of President Biden, whom the general public cares next to nothing about. The Right Wing has been harping on him ever since Hillary Clinton quit being interesting, more or less, and is now flogging the story.
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Six state Secretary of States in the stolen election camp have signed onto a letter in which they express concern with U.S. Secretary of State Blinken's role as a member of Biden's campaign. They have stated in their letter: “To cast informed ballots, Americans need transparency into actions by former, and perhaps current, federal government officials to weaponize false information for political purposes,” and “Congress should hold perpetrators accountable and consider all available corrective measures to provide transparency to the public of any improper actions set forth in the report."
They go on to reference the tired Hunter Biden laptop story.
The irony here is that the "weaponizations of false information" is Donald Trump's entire post insurrection modus operendi, and he was working towards stealing the election himself prior to it taking place. The destruction of the U.S. Post Office seems to have been part of the effort, from which it has not recovered. So yes, there should be accountability, including criminal accountability where appropriate, but that's not exactly going to lock any 2020 Democratic operatives up . . . .
Wyoming's Secretary of State is one of the signatories.
With the office holders from the last election having been put in office, and having ridden this in some cases into office, the gold on this currency seems to have tarnished into brass. We can predict we'll keep hearing the stolen election mantra, but it doesn't have the shine it used to. The public may actually have moved in significantly.
July 18, 2023
From the NYT:
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Trump Says He’s a Target in the Special Counsel’s Investigation Into Jan. 6
It would be the second time the special counsel has notified former President Trump that he is likely to face indictment, this time in connection with the criminal investigation into the events leading up to the Capitol attack.
July 18, cont.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed charges against 16 people who signed paperwork falsely claiming that President Donald Trump had won the 2020 election as part of an effort to overturn the election results.
While individual January 6 Insurrectionist have gone on trial and been convicted, these are the first charges of these type and this, combined with Trump being a target of the Special Counsel's investigation, is a turning point in this story. My prediction, which is probably contrary to what most might suspect, is that this is really the beginning of the end for Trump. From here on out, denial of his association in an effort to subvert democracy will become increasingly more difficult for even diehard populists to deny, and denying the result of the 2020 election will become politically risky.
July 21, 2023
Donald Trump's trial under the Espionage Act is now scheduled for May 2024.
July 28, 2023
A revised indictment ads new charges against President Trump and adds a new defendant.
August 2, 2023
Trump indicted for the insurrection and surrounding activities:
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