War, Politics Plus DDT Trial Day 20

Foreign Events:

First, Israel threw Al Jazeera out of the country; then it seized an Associated Press camera and broadcasting equipment, accusing the news organization of giving images to Al Jazeera. Hours later the government said it will return the equipment after blocking AP’s live video of Gaza and facing increased criticism of interfering with independent journalism. The Biden administration, journalism organizations, and an Israeli opposition leader condemned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and pressured it to reverse the decision. Israel’s communications minister, Shlomo Karhi, said the defense ministry will review news outlets’ positioning of Gaza’s live video. AP had not been formally warned that the camera’s positioning was an issue but had been told to stop transmitting.

One of thousands of AP customers, Al Jazeera receives live video from AP and other news organizations. AP follows Israel’s censorship rules prohibiting broadcasts of security problems such as details of troop movements, but the live video generally shows smoke rising over the territory. During the 2021 Israel-Hamas war, Israel destroyed the building housing AP’s Gaza office, claiming, with no evidence, that Hamas used the building for military purposes.

Since January, members of Israel’s police and military have been telling far-right activists and settlers where they can find aid trucks delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza so that they can block and vandalize the convoys. Trucks are looted and set on fire. Settlers claim they’re keeping supplies from getting to Hamas.

U.S. Ambassador Robert Wood told the UN that Russia likely launched a counter space weapon on May 16 close enough to be capable of attacking and destroying a nearby orbiting U.S. government satellite. The first such launch since 2022 occurred while the U.S. and its allies are highly concerned about Russia’s efforts to develop a nuclear space weapon to destroy commercial and government satellites. Woodward says the launch debunks Russia’s claims that it is seeking outer space security.

DDT Disasters:

The Boeing 757 belonging to Deposed Donald Trump (DDT) clipped the rear elevator of an unoccupied parked corporate jet at Palm Beach International Airport. Whether DDT was on the plane at the time is unknown. His plane was arriving from Atlantic City International Airport; DDT held a campaign rally on May 12 nearby at Wildwood (NJ).

In Florida, a new loophole in the law is hiding Jared Kushner’s family ties to Surfside; billionaire Charles Kushner and other top real estate developers can put “thousands of dollars” into 2024 candidates in the oceanfront village of 5,000. Voters won’t be able to see the source of donations until after the election. While his father-in-law hopes to be in the White House, Jared Kushner plans to build a $500 million hotel with DDT’s former aide Richard Grenell on prime Belgrade real estate on the site of the former Yugoslav defense ministry given to Kushner. The U.S. backed NATO forces in 1999 to bomb the complex during Serbian war with Kosovo. House Democrats including Jamie Raskin (MD) and Robert Garcia (CA) are speaking out against Kushner’s $3 billion European deals with money from Saudi Arabia.

Congressional Conflagrations:

House Democrats want an investigation into the allegation that lawmakers were drinking alcohol and acting “pretty ugly” during a hearing last Thursday to mark up a bill declaring contempt of Congress for AG Merrick Garland. Republicans who attended DDT’s criminal trial as surrogates postponed the hearing until evening about Garland’s refusal to give Republicans the tapes of Robert Hur’s interviews with President Joe Biden regarding his possession of classified documents. The surrogates were in New York for publicity by attacking people, statements which a gag order blocked DDT from making. James Comer (R-KY), chair of the Oversight Committee, was unable to control Republicans insulting Democratic members. Raskin, the committee’s ranking member, wants to initiate the investigation into those accused of behavior “embarrassing to our institution.” Axios reported that a House Republican described the hearing as “embarrassing” and “a four-alarm dumpster fire.”

Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN) wants Congress to “shut down” the U.S. economy over the southern border and falsely accuses Biden of Marxist “socialist policies.” She introduced her request in an interview with Fox host Maria Bartimono. According to Spartz, Biden has a “failed policy … with its supply chain … and subsidizing corporations very close to the government in trying to control financial markets.” Spartz continued to ramble on with her unfounded complaints. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) plans to reintroduce the bill rejected earlier this year by Republicans who want to campaign on the premise that Democrats aren’t trying to solve border security.

Despite the International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s arrest for war crimes, Speaker MAGA Mike Johnson (R-LA) plans to invite the PM to speak to Congress. He’s waiting for Schumer to join him in the invitation but will do it himself if Schumer doesn’t go along with the plan. Schumer said he thinks “Netanyahu has lost his way by allowing his political survival to take precedence over the best interests of Israel.” Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) said he would help the ICC serve the warrant if Netanyahu addresses Congress. Because the U.S. did not sign the Rome Statute to empower the ICC to prosecute individuals for war crimes, the country is not obligated to arrest the prime minister.

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) said filibuster reform is possible if Democrats hold the Senate. He pointed out that members possibly not returning next year, Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kirsten Sinema (I-AZ), joined Republicans in supporting the “no-effort obstruction, as opposed to the talking filibuster,” but those who remain want the Senate to work again. Arizona’s moderate Democrat Mark Kelly, a former astronaut, said:

“I’ve been here just over three years, and I’ve never seen an organization with rules like the United States Senate. If NASA had these rules, the rocket ship would never leave the launchpad. So as changes to the rules come up, I’ll evaluate it based on the merits.”

Willis, McAfee Winners:

Republicans hoped that they could get rid of the Fulton County (GA) RICO case by voting out DA Fani Willis who started the case and Judge Scott McAfee who has been hearing it. Voters in the heavily Democratic district thwarted the GOP by electing the two of them in Tuesday’s primary. They run in the November election and keep their offices at least until the end of the year.

DDT Trial Day 20: In a move surprising no one, DDT did not testify in the New York criminal trial, and the defense has rested. Judge Juan Merchan released the jury until Tuesday, May 28 when they will hear the summations. He added that they will “hear my jury charge” and begin “deliberations at some point on Wednesday.”

Merchan spent the afternoon hearing requests and complaints from both sides, including debates of his language in discussing the specific crimes DDT is charged with and describing laws that DDT is accused of violating. The judge rejected requests from DDT’s lawyers to direct the jury that hush-money payments aren’t inherently illegal and others regarding political bias against Trump.

On Tuesday morning, DDT ally Robert Costello continued his testimony, arguing that he was Michael Cohen’s lawyer but finally admitting that Cohen had never signed a retainer. The DDT camp had sent Costello to reign in Cohen; instead, Cohen related the entire story about Stormy Daniels’ payoff and coverup. Under oath, Costello called Cohen a liar for saying he had never signed a retainer or agreed to retain Costello, something for which he has no proof. Prosecution accused Costello of working with DDT’s former lawyer Rudy Giuliani when they tried to keep Cohen loyal to DDT, and Costello again became adversarial and sarcastic. Costello had trouble supporting his lies with his email to his law partner put into evidence:

“Our issue is to get Cohen on the right page without giving him the appearance that we are following instructions from Giuliani or the President.”

Not all Congressional Republicans plan to support DDT even if he is convicted of business fraud. Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), whose bipartisan bill was killed by DDT in a campaign scam, would only say, “I want to be able to have people that are role models.” He added that “the policy issues are going to matter significantly.”

With a bachelor’s degree in finance and marketing, Rep. Byron Donalds told Fox host Maria Bartiromo that after “examining Biden, he believes the president is receiving a secret medication making him appear to be sharp-witted and completely “coherent.” Donalds is on DDT’s vice-presidential shortlist. Caught in agreeing to debates with Biden, DDT is now demanding a drug test for Biden before the events, and another VP wannabe, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) predicted that Biden will be “jacked up for those debates,” that “he was high as a kite” at his State of the Union address in March. Rep. Greg Murphy, a urologist, told Bartiromo that Biden was drugged, that Murphy had “a little bit of good knowledge that that had captained—that that had happened.” Bartiromo said, “You’ll show me what?” DDT sycophants repeated DDT’s lies about drugged Biden 2020 and Hillary Clinton in 2016.