Finish of DDT Trial on Days 22-23, Alito a Liar

Conviction of Deposed Donald Trump (DDT):

On Thursday, May 30, 2024, the 23^rd day of DDT’s criminal trial was a day for the history books: a jury of 12 found DDT, a former White House Occupant and a current leading GOP presidential candidate in 2024, guilty on all 34 charges presented to them in a New York criminal case. Speaker MAGA Mike Johnson (R-LA), a leading ally of DDT and second in line to the presidency, called the day a “shameful day in American history.” Although he meant the statement in a different way, he was accurate: DDT has led the nation into a “shameful … history.” Republicans’ candidate is a convicted felon. The Guardian has an excellent recap of the trial’s 20 days for those who have not followed it.

Judge Juan Merchan denied DDT’s motion for an acquittal and set a sentencing hearing for July 11, four days before the Republican National Convention. The Biden campaign said the verdict illustrates that “no one is above the law.” DDT can still go to the White House if he’s elected, but he can’t vote in Florida where he’s registered to vote. His appeal could take months or years, and the election is a only 158 days away. The conviction in the criminal trial may not require jail time, but his violating the gag order could.

DDT is the the first one of 46 presidents to be convicted of a crime since George Washington was inaugurated 235 years ago. All the charges were for falsifying business records stemming from DDT’s orchestration to suppress information about alleged extra-marital affairs before he went to the White House in a conspiracy with his former attorney/fixer Michael Cohen. Prosecutors succeeded in presenting evidence about DDT interfering in the 2016 by lying on various business records. His defense may have failed because attorneys allegedly followed DDT’s directions. Their attempts to prove DDT didn’t commit any crimes, that his payments were legal, failed.

The jury’s decision came after less than ten hours of deliberation on two different days. Guilt came from jurors’ agreement that DDT intentionally—with “conscious objective or purpose”—sought to defraud “any person or entity,” with the intent to “commit another crime or to aid or conceal the commission thereof.”

Thursday started with the judge complying with jurors requests to repeat his instructions and the reading of 34 transcript pages about David Pecker’s and Michael Cohen’s testimony. They asked about Pecker’s testimony explaining the reneging of selling Karen McDougal life rights about her affair with DDT to him through a third party. Other Pecker testimony requests were a telephone call with DDT and a Trump Tower meeting. Cohen’s testimony was also the meeting.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) misrepresented the judge’s directions to the jury when he Xed that jurors don’t have to unanimously agree “on which crime was committed as long as they all at least pick one [even] ones Trump WASN’T EVEN CHARGED WITH!!! This is exactly the kind of sham trial used.” Merchan told the jury that DDT didn’t have to be unanimous about what crime DDT was trying to cover up, just the unanimous agreement that he was trying to cover up a crime. As a lawyer, Rubio should have understood the directions, but Fox repeated his misrepresentation (aka falsehood?). Although the judge read the charges in great detail while DDT was in the courtroom, he complained about not being told about them.

On Wednesday, DDT’s campaign emailed a fundraising request that read, “I COULD BE IN JAIL TOMORROW!” and added that Democrats are “using every disgusting trick in the book to ELIMINATE MAGA.”  He also posted that “Mother Theresa could not beat these charges,” claiming they are rigged. Mother Theresa never faced charges of fraudulent payment of hush money to a porn star.

 On the same day, Fox announced its verdict for the trial, which turned out to be wrong: DDT is innocent of all wrongdoing, and President Joe Biden is guilty of weaponizing government to wage “lawfare” on his political opponent, resorting to illegal “election interference.” DDT uses this lie as the basis of his rants about his criminal cases, the one he values most. Fox host, Shannon Bream, corrected the lie in an interview with DDT’s attorney Alina Habba by telling her that Biden had nothing to do with the New York state trial. DDT called Bream “naïve” in a post and added, “HOW STUPID! Not only is [Biden] involved, he is virtually leading it, and all of the other Trials as well.” After the verdict, his audience can expect far more lies from him.

DDT’s campaign considers his conviction a goldmine for fundraising that it warned all GOP candidates not to use it for personal use. Chris LaCivita, the campaign co-manager, announced:

“Any Republican elected official, candidate or party committee siphoning money from President Trump’s donors are no better than Judge Merchan’s daughter. We’re keeping a list, we’ll be checking it twice and we aren’t in the spirit of Christmas.”

DDT called a press conference on  Friday morning at 11:00 am at Trump Tower. 

Alito Lies:   

In satirist Andy Borowitz’s column about DDT’s conviction, “Mrs. Alito Raises New Flag,” he wrote

“The wife of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito raised a new flag in front of the couple’s home late Thursday afternoon. Justice Alito said that he played ‘no role’ in the latest flag-related incident involving his wife. ‘I have recused myself from all decisions made on my flagpole,’ he said. The Alito’s neighbors were not available for comment because they were too busy dancing in the street.”

For decades, most people didn’t know the names of Supreme Court Justices. Clarence Thomas changed this a few years ago when he took huge bribes for his decisions. Attention to Thomas migrated to Samuel Alito when he flew political flags at both his residence and vacation house supporting insurrectionists attempt to illegally keep DDT in the White House after the 2020 election. 

Alito has been asked to recuse himself from participating in cases about DDT’s immunity and whether the insurrectionists can be convicted of obstruction of justice. Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee also asked Chief Justice John Roberts to meet with them, but he refused. In response to the letter sent to Roberts, Alito wrote he is “required” to not recuse himself because of the non-mandatory Code of Ethics. Some people insist the Code doesn’t impose “any” requirements on the justices, yet expert authority declares he should or must recuse himself.

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) argues that the DOJ can force Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito to recuse themselves in case about the January 6 insurrection. He said that the DOJ can petition the other seven justices to require the recusal of the two connected to the insurrection “as a matter of law.” The constitutional authority cited “the due process clause and the federal statute mandating judicial disqualification for questionable impartiality, 28 U.S.C. Section 455.”

Alito initially claimed that his wife was completely responsible for flying the U.S. flag upside down, but neighbors’ narratives prove he lied because of a fight about their anti-DDT signs. After days of silence about the insurrectionist flag at his vacation rental, Alito now also blames his wife, saying both flags—in clear sight—were flown without his knowledge and that she refused to take them down. He added that neither one of them knew the flags’ connection to insurrectionist. He said:

“My wife is fond of flying flags. I am not. My wife was solely responsible for having flagpoles put up at our residence and our vacation home and has flown a wide variety of flags over the years.”

Because of ongoing controversies, the Supreme Court adopted a code of conduct specifically for the nine justices for the first time last fall. It states a justice should disqualify from cases in which the justice’s “impartiality might reasonably be questioned,” in which an unbiased person familiar with all the facts and circumstances “would doubt that the justice could fairly discharge his or her duties.”

Alito attributed the upside-down flag at his home came from his wife being called a derogatory name, but according to interviews with Alito’s neighbors, the spats with neighbors over their anti-DDT signs came almost a month after the flag was flown during the time of President Joe Biden’s inauguration. Martha-Ann Alito called a neighbor couple “fascists” while the justice and his wife were walking by the neighbors’ home and harassed the couple so much that they called the police on February 15.

Alito also claimed that his wife flew the flag because the neighbors’ offensive sign was within 50 feet of where children waited to board the school. At that time, however, the pandemic permitted only virtual school sessions—no buses. Even after the sign was removed, Ms. Alito continued her hostility, even appearing to spit at the couple.

The Atlantic’s Tom Nichols, sarcastically wrote:

“I’m starting to think Justice and Mrs. Alito are not entirely trustworthy in their explanations.”

The Nation’s justice correspondent, Elie Mystal, wrote that “the Alitos are also liars.” 

Knowing how Alito will vote on cases protecting him, DDT congratulated Alito on Truth Social, applauding him “for showing the INTELLIGENCE, COURAGE, AND ‘GUTS.” 

Politico’s lengthy analysis shows Alito’s contempt for critics because he believes he can do anything he wants with no repercussions and the new ethics rules are a sham. Alito’s fabrication in the flag situation seem similar to the fabrication in some of his Supreme Court opinions.   

UK Election, GOP Shenanigans Plus More DDT

In the third world shakeup this month, UK’s Tory Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called for a surprise general election on July 4, catching his party members off guard. Never elected, Sunak was appointed by his own party two years ago after Liz Truss left at the end of 49 days.  The country’s sixth Conservative leader since David Cameron was elected in 2010, Sunak moved the party to the right with his focus on immigration and “anti-woke” language, disturbing his centrist colleagues.

Believing they would have a better chance in autumn, Tories are furious, especially after their recent election losses. Opinion polls give the Labour party a 20-point lead, and it has an organized campaign. Parliament is now suspended at the end of the week and formally shut down in another week, leaving it only two days to pass any outstanding legislation. The first July election in UK since 1945, it is also the first general election since 2015 not requiring Parliamentary approval. This week begins general election campaigning for the 650 seats in Parliament.

Speaker MAGA Mike Johnson (R-LA) has no additional GOP votes after Vince Fong was elected to fill the seat of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) who resigned last year. Rep. Greg Murphy (R-NC) will be absent for an indefinite time to undergo surgery for the removal of a tumor at the base of his skull. Johnson must also deal with the departure of four staff members, including his well-connected communications director, Raj Shah, a link to DDT loyalists.

After the discovery of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito flying the U.S. flag upside down, claiming a stolen presidential election in 2020, a second flag story appeared. In July and September of 2023, the Alitos flew the “Appeal to Heaven” flag (aka Pine Tree flag) at their New Jersey summer beach house. The flag symbolizes religious support for the “Stop the Steal” campaign and Christian nationalists’ promotion to recreate the U.S. government. Once used by George Washington, the flag appeared at the January 6 insurrection. Court authority Dahlia Lithwick commented:

“That flag is not merely another January 6 signifier but also rooted in John Locke’s ‘appeal to heaven,’ meaning ‘a responsibility to rebel, even use violence, to overthrow unjust rule.’”

Johnson flew the same flag outside his office last year. He claims that “it goes back to the founder’s era” and that he’s “always flown that flag,” that it has nothing to do with the “stop the steal” protests.”

In 2013, prominent far-right evangelical Dutch Sheets made the flag a symbol of his ambitions for Christian nationalism and wrote about it in his 2015 book, An Appeal to Heaven. He and his fellow leaders described Alito their great religious hope as an opponent to abortion and same-gender marriage.  

Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) introduced a resolution to censure Alito “for knowingly violating the federal recusal statute and binding ethics standards and calling the impartiality of the Supreme Court of the United States into question.” He stated that flying the flag upside down shows “a knowing and shameless demonstration of his political bias.” Other Democrats have called on Alito to recuse himself from cases about the 2020 election and the insurrection, including DDT’s presidential immunity case. A few Republicans mildly criticized Alito’s actions but want the court to monitor itself.

In solidarity with DDT, GOP Senators are rejecting a bill solving security on the southern border originally endorsed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). McConnell asked President Joe Biden to solve the problem with executive actions. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) wants to advance the bill this week. Several Senators posturing against the bill are vying to Senate minority leader with McConnell resigning form the position this fall. (Right: Schumer holding a sign last week.)

Schumer’s bill is part of the strategy to show Republicans as obstructionists toward solving southern border issues. The DOJ will announce a rule for more resources to prosecute migrants with immigration-related offenses. Biden has already signed executive orders, one of which imposes sanctions on people profiting from moving migrants, moves the disqualification standard earlier in the asylum process, and processes recent asylum seekers before those in the line longer. Senate Democrats will hold a press conference explaining how the bipartisan bill that the GOP scuttled would have helped block down on fentanyl shipped into the U.S.

Upset because Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) described the legal problems of Deposed Donald Trump (DDT) on the House floor, Rep. Erin Houchin (R-IN) demanded his words be stricken from the record. McGovern was rebuked and stopped from making any statements for the remainder of the day. During the process, House business was halted for over an hour while Republicans had McGovern’s factual remarks investigated by the House Parliamentarian:

“We have a presumptive nominee for President facing 88 felony counts, and we’re being prevented from even acknowledging it. These are not alternative facts. These are real facts. A candidate for President of the United States is on trial for sending a hush money payment to a porn star to avoid a sex scandal during his 2016 campaign, and then fraudulently disguising those payments in violation of the law. He’s also charged with conspiring to overturn the election. He’s also charged with stealing classified information and a jury has already found him liable for rape and a civil court. And yet, in this Republican controlled House, it’s okay to talk about the trial but you have to call it a sham.”

Presiding over the chamber, Rep. Jerry Carl (R-AL) made the decision to strike McGovern’s “offensive” remarks according to House Rule XVII, “House members are prohibited from impugning the motives of fellow House members, senators or the President. And in this case, the former President.” McGovern also said:

 “My friends over the other side of the aisle have pandered to their most extreme members over and over and over again. They let the extremists kick out their own Speaker. They let the extremists dictate the agenda on the House floor. They let the extremists take down seven rule votes since January 2023—a stunning indictment of their ability to get anything done. And speaking of indictments, Republicans are skipping their real jobs to take day trips up to New York to try to undermine Donald Trump’s criminal trial. No time to work with Democrats, but plenty of time to put on weird matching cult uniforms and stand behind President Trump with their bright red ties like pathetic props…

“Now I understand why my Republican friends want to distract from Donald Trump. They don’t want to talk about how Trump had the worst jobs record since the Great Depression, how we sold out our allies and empowered our adversaries. So they bring silly things like this to the floor to deflect blame and distract from the fact that they have no real vision, just division, and no real plans to make life better for the American people.”

DDT’s criminal trial doesn’t resume until next Tuesday, the 21^st day and seventh week, but Judge Juan Merchan gave the jury directions yesterday on the process to reach their verdict. To find DDT guilty of felony falsification of business records, they must agree that the falsification was done to cover up a separate crime, but they don’t need a unanimous agreement on any of the three possible “predicate” crimes: tax-related offenses and both state and federal campaign finance violations. Defense lawyers had unsuccessfully argued for unanimous agreement for each instance. The prosecution had said that “the importance of the case is not a basis for deviating from the standard application of the law. There’s no reason to rewrite the law for this case.” With this ruling, jurors can more easily find DDT guilty on any of the 34 felony charges.

According to a newly unsealed 87-page filing for Florida’s classified document case, DDT’s lawyers found more classified documents in his bedroom four months after the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago in August 2022. After that search, other classified documents were found at “an off-site office, a storage unit and at Mar-a-Lago,” according to U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell. She also stated that DDT intentionally obstructed the government’s investigation despite a subpoena to turn over all the classified materials. In June 2022, DDT’s lawyers had guaranteed that no classified documents were at Mar-a-Lago.

As a distraction, DDT is using a fundraising email to accuse Biden of trying to assassinate him because the DOJ used boiler-plate language authorizing the FBI to use deadly force when executing a court-approved search warrant. DDT also claims that proves Biden is “MENTALLY UNFIT TO HOLD OFFICE.” Ultra-conservative lawmakers leaped on the band wagon, echoing DDT’s statement that Biden was “locked & loaded” and “ready to take me out.” DDT has gone to the Supreme Court for permission to do this to Biden.  

In a rare announcement, the FBI responded to the unwarranted accusations by stating that “standard protocol” was followed with “no departure from the norm in this matter.” Before the search, the FBI guaranteed that DDT would not be on the premises and informed the Seret Service and local law enforcement of their plans.

In another laptop scandal, another DDT adviser connected to his Save America PAC admitted scanning classified documents in a box in 2021 that he stored on a personal laptop provided by the PAC. Last year, the media reported the aide is Chamberlain Harris, known as ROTUS, Receptionist of the United States.