The Big Dwarf: A Case Study of a New York City Art of the Deal, and Trump’s 2016 Campaign Against His Indictment
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In 1971, an Ivy League graduate was renting a studio apartment on Third Avenue and 75th Street in New York City. There was a window looking out on the water tank.
“I … tried to divide it up so that it would seem bigger. It was still a dingy apartment no matter what I did. In his 1987 book, co-authored with Tony Schwartz, Donald Trump wrote that he loved it. I had an apartment on the Upper East Side when I was a kid who worked in Brooklyn. … I became a city guy instead of a kid from the boroughs.”
The ex-president was complaining about being a subject of a media circus. Without his salesman’s talent for whipping up media circuses, he’d have never have been president. Trump created his art of the deal in New York and provided fodder for the city’s tabloids with tales of his famous celebrity and business scandals. His entire campaign and his single term presidency were filled with outrage, scandal, and lawlessness because of his often unchained TWo posts.
As with almost everything about the former president, there’s no real precedent for the latest chapter of his story — and no way to tell how it will end.
► Alyssa Farah: “Be careful not to be spun by Trump world. Trump will try to harness the narrative and frame it as a win for him, even though he is spiraling over this indictment. Take a step back, contextualize this moment for history: being indicted is never a good thing and it hurts him in a general election regardless of what he says.”
Trump denied wrongdoing in all of the cases. America’s legal systems will be put under enormous pressure once more after Trump came down the escalator at his campaign headquarters to start his campaign in 2015.
If Trump is elected President, he will have to argue that the case against him is unconstitutional based on Justice Department guidance that a president can no longer be indicted. While in office.
While Trump’s characteristically aggressive attacks on Bragg, the judge in the case, and the Biden Justice Department might be effective in a political context, there’s no guarantee they’ll work in court. Bragg has an important task in that he must prove that Trump committed crimes. But the former president is now in an new position for him – he’s subject to the rules of evidence and the schedule of a court that may be unmoved by his normal methods of attack, deflect and delay.
“Even if a case was tried in a part of the country where Trump isn’t very popular, statistically you are very likely to end up with one or more Trump voters on the jury of 12 people,” said Honig. “A judge would tell jurors to put aside their political views and personal beliefs — but I know from my days as a prosecutor that jurors are human beings, not robots — they’re subject to the same emotions, biases, and incentives as any person would be. And the legal bar at trial is far higher than in the grand jury…”
If anyone knows how to thrive in a media circus, it is Trump. He fears that he can no longer control the media circus that he is part of, and this is what makes the difference in this case.
In the Washington Post, Henry Olsen wrote, “Anyone who cares about fairness in our criminal justice system should be queasy that Donald Trump will be prosecuted in one of the country’s most liberal jurisdictions. By all accounts, this should be a federal case.”
The case could possibly be a sign that, finally, Trump is being called to account for his rule-crushing behavior and that everyone is equal under the law. But Trump, using his bond with his most loyal supporters, is claiming the prosecution is a case of naked political persecution from District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, that’s designed to thwart the possibility of a presidential comeback. According to fundraising numbers that his campaign is touting, Trump is getting a political boost from the attention.
The Crumbleys, the Cries, and the Guns: Why does the US War in Afghanistan matter to the children and adults of a Nashville school shooting?
Sorrow, anger and frustration were among the emotions people felt after yet another school shooting last week — this time in Nashville, Tennessee, where three children and three adults were killed at The Covenant School on Monday.
The Crumbley’s were charged with neglecting cries for help from their son for months and dismissing serious concerns at the school the day before the shooting. Yet even as they apparently ignored warning signs, the Crumbleys bought their son a gun and took him to target practice. Their son pleaded guilty to terrorism and murder charges and was sentenced in October.
All of this raises the question of how to prevent shootings. They believe there is a move to hold parents accountable in certain cases.
A court last week turned down the parents of the teenager who shot and killed four students at a Michigan high school’s arguments that the charges against him have no legal basis.
The White House hosted a democracy summit with Costa Rica, the Netherlands, South Korea, and Zambia as co-sponsors.
The premise of the summit is somewhat hollow since the Biden administration abandoned 40 million Afghans to the Taliban in less than a year.
There is a commission mandated by the congress that is examining the entire 20-year war in Afghanistan. “Of course, any examination of the US record in Afghanistan is something of a double-edged sword for Republicans,” Bergen noted, “since it was the Trump administration that signed the agreement with the Taliban in 2020 that set the stage for the total US withdrawal from Afghanistan.”
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/02/opinions/trumps-manhattan-story-opinion-column-galant/index.html
Fixing what’s wrong with social media: Can it save lives? The Israel crisis is the catalyst for a change in the judiciary
The drama playing out in Israel this week offered an indicator of how protest can make a difference in a democracy. The country’s judiciary should be put under the control of the Knesset as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants, according to published reports. The plan was convenient for Netanyahu. “It created the possibility of escaping his own legal woes, since one of the controversial bills recently passed would make it more difficult for a prime minister to be declared unfit for office…
“On Monday, under nearly unbearable pressure, Netanyahu agreed to postpone the overhaul -— which was being rammed through the Knesset — until the next legislative term. The crisis, however, is not over.”
“Breakups suck.” New Zealand is conducting a campaign that helps people cope with relationships that have ended. Holly Thomas wrote that behavior doesn’t have to follow suit.
“The nation’s Love Better campaign … aims to help young people recover from breakups and build resilience. Youthline is an organization dedicated to supporting people ages 12 to 24 and is part of the campaign.
A survey of 1,200 young people found that nearly 70% of them had experienced self- harm, substance abuse, violence, and sexual behaviors after being rejected. It is surprising that campaigns like this are not commonplace in other countries as well. At the very least, it would improve our collective mental health. At most, it might save lives.”
Is Utah leading the way in fixing what’s wrong with social media? Kara Alaimo believes so. The age of all users in the state have to be verified by the social media companies and children under the age of 18 have to get permission from their parents to have accounts.
The accounts for kids won’t be allowed to be used between 10:30pm and 6:30am without parental consent, while parents will be able to access their accounts.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/02/opinions/trumps-manhattan-story-opinion-column-galant/index.html
How Putin’s words have been spun in the West: The Story of the King and the Legend, Stan Lee, and the Hulk, Thor, Iron Man and Black Panther
“How Putin’s words have been spun in the West may be a surprise to Moscow — but there’s no doubt it will be a highly gratifying one. Because Russia has already ‘used’ nuclear weapons. It’s used them highly successfully without firing them, by trading on empty threats about potential nuclear strikes to very effectively deter the West from fully supporting Ukraine against Russia’s imperialist war.”
A year before the US entered World War II, a gutsy artist and his writing colleague introduced a new superhero, with the debut cover of the new comic showing him punching the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.
Kirby’s son said he was frightened and angry about the rise of Nazism in Europe and the US. Chamberlain had appeasement and Kristallnacht. He and Simon created their hero in direct response, and Kirby plainly stated, ‘Captain America was myself.’ When he drew him punching Hitler, it was his ‘own anger coming to the surface.’”
As Schwartz noted, “After the war, superheroes fell out of favor and Kirby wrote and drew other genres of comics. When Stan Lee, by then the editor and head writer at what would soon be named Marvel, asked him to try superheroes again in 1961, the two created together the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, Thor, Ant-Man, Iron Man, the Avengers, the X-Men, Black Panther and countless others. Kirby was dubbed the ‘King of Comics’ because of his artistic innovation. It made him one of the most influential artists of the 20th century.
The Indictment of the New York Democrat for the January 6, 2021, Stormy Daniels, and his Charges against Michael Cohen
At the same time, it is ultimately Trump’s norm-busting behavior that pushed the country to this somber moment. He is being investigated by a special counsel over his conduct in the run up to the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, as well as over efforts to overturn the 2020 election result in Georgia. Even though the case of the Stormy Daniels is only the one that has resulted in an indictment, Trump may face even more serious legal problems in other cases.
The 45th president is expected to turn himself in on Tuesday in Manhattan, where he built a reputation as a loudmouthed celebrity real estate mogul, but which can now be used to cause his downfall in the face of the People of the State of New York.
Trump made a spectacle of himself on his return to New York. The motorcade of black Secret Service SUVs went from the private plane to the White House in a power play intended to send a message of strength.
Trump’s indictment raises plenty of unique legal and political questions, given his former job and the fact that he’s currently campaigning to hold the office again.
If an indictment against a president who is already running for re- election is not enough to merit a historical step of indicting him, how come the case seems to involve accountants and campaign finance violations?
While Trump’s critics have celebrated the indictment as a sign that he is not above the law, they argued that he was getting worse treatment because of his fame and political ambitions.
If he hadn’t been running for president right now, the polls have shown that his numbers went up and he wouldn’t have been indicted. Bragg has refrained from making any comment since the indictment was handed down.
“Michael Cohen is a pathological, convicted liar, perjurer. He lied to banks, Congress, and the IRS. The lawyer for Cohen hit back at the lawyer for Trump, warning him that a Trump defense shredding his client’s reputation would not work. If Joe thought he was building his whole strategy on personal attacks on Michael Cohen, that was a wrong strategy.
Intense security is already in place in New York given the political sensitivities of the case and after Trump warned of potential “death and destruction” ahead of being charged, especially given his past incitement before the Capitol insurrection. Not many of Trump’s fans have come out to the streets for the protests so far.
Alvin Bragg: A Shadow Campaign Against Donald Trump, And His Role In Covering Up The Hush Money To Stormy Daniels
Bragg had been attacked by many of Trumps allies, critics and likely opponents before and after the indictment.
A shadow campaign is being run by the man who hasn’t decided if he’ll run, in order to promote policies that would not distract the ex president. The indictment of the GOP nominee could be a problem in the upcoming general election. Another Republican, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who has called on Trump to step aside because of the indictment, announced his own run for president on Sunday.
In a statement on Thursday, the president of the United States showed that he will respond to this brush with political fate exactly as he has reacted to previous threats of his own in his business and political career, using his political power to create huge disruption and partisan anger.
He believes the Witch-Hunt will backfire on Joe Biden. The American people know what the Radical Left Democrats are doing. Everyone can see it. So our Movement, and our Party – united and strong – will first defeat Alvin Bragg, and then we will defeat Joe Biden, and we are going to throw every last one of these Crooked Democrats out of office so we can MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
With his approach, this Tuesday is likely to be the beginning of a new dramatic and divisive chapter in Trump’s political career and another extreme test for America.
The expected voluntary surrender of a former president and 2024 White House candidate will be a unique affair in more ways than one – both for the Manhattan district attorney’s office and the New York courthouse where he’ll be arraigned and for a nation watching to see how it’ll shake up the GOP presidential primary.
The former president has remained “surprisingly calm,” spending the weekend in Florida playing golf and mulling how to use it to boost his campaign, CNN reported Sunday night, after an indictment that caught him and his advisers “off guard.”
The charges, which are expected to remain under seal until Trump’s arraignment Tuesday, relate to his alleged role in covering up hush money paid to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in the days before the 2016 presidential election.
He might be summoned to appear in court. The grueling pre-trial process, with its numerous legal argument deadlines and heaps of evidence the defense must sift through, will impose severe demands on a legal team that has often struggled to act coherently. Ahead of his appearance Tuesday, for instance, Trump made a late shuffle of his legal team, bringing in another attorney, Todd Blanche, to serve as his lead counsel – a move some saw as sidelining another attorney, Joe Tacopina. The ex-president’s camp pushed back on this interpretation, however.
The investigators will take Trump’s fingerprints. A mug shot is normally taken. Sources familiar with the preparations were unsure if a mugshot would be taken due to the fact that authorities were concerned about the improper leaking of the photo and since Trump is a candidate for president.
After they are arrested, defendants are booked in cells near the courtroom and held for the duration of their trial. That will not happen with Trump. A back set of hallways and elevators will be used to take the former president to the courtroom once he has been processed. He is going to walk into the courtroom from the public hallway.
Trump’s lawyers attempted to wrest some control of the court proceedings on Monday, arguing against a request by news organizations, including CNN, to allow television cameras into Tuesday’s arraignment. The media outlets believed that the case should be broadcast because of the public interest. But Trump’s lawyers told the judge that “it will create a circus-like atmosphere at the arraignment, raise unique security concerns, and is inconsistent with President Trump’s presumption of innocence.”
Several media outlets, including CNN, have asked a New York judge to unseal the indictment and for permission to broadcast Trump’s expected appearance in the courtroom on Tuesday.
The news organizations are asking for a “limited number of photographers, videographers, and radio journalists to be present at the arraignment,” and said in the letter that they are making “this limited request for audio-visual coverage in order to ensure that the operations of the Court will not be disrupted in any way.”
Merchan, an acting New York Supreme Court justice, has sentenced Trump’s close confidant Allen Weisselberg to prison, presided over the Trump Organization tax fraud trial and overseen former adviser Steve Bannon’s criminal fraud case.
Merchan does not stand for disruptions or delays, attorneys who have appeared before him told CNN, and he’s known to maintain control of his courtroom even when his cases draw considerable attention.
Trump attorney Timothy Parlatore said during an interview Friday on CNN that Merchan was “not easy” on him when he tried a case before him but that he will likely be fair.
“I’ve tried a case in front of him before. He could be very tough. I don’t think it’s necessarily going to be something that’s going to change his ability to evaluate the facts and the law in this case,” Parlatore said.
Tacopina told CNN’s Dana Bash Sunday that the former president will plead not guilty. His team “will look at every potential issue that we will be able to challenge, and we will challenge,” Tacopina said.
The Trump team’s court strategy could center around challenging the case because it may rely on business record entries that prosecutors tie to hush money payments to Daniels seven years ago, beyond the statute of limitations for a criminal case. In interviews Sunday, the Trump business did not make false entries, but that the statute of limitations may have passed.
Trump’s legal team isn’t currently considering asking to move the case to a different New York City borough, Tacopina said. “There’s been no discussion of that whatsoever,” he told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos in another interview Sunday. “It’s way too premature to start worrying about venue changes until we really see the indictment and grapple with the legal issues.”
According to sources close to Trump, advisers to the president were discussing how to best portray the accusation of a political hoax as a witch hunt.
His team has spent the last several days presenting the former president with polls showing him with a growing lead over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, currently considered Trump’s biggest 2024 rival, in a head-to-head match up. His team says they have raised more than $5 million since his indictment.
The office is more important than a single person. In an ABC News interview, Hutchinson said that he does not think that is a good idea for the presidency. “He needs to be able to concentrate on his due process.”
What’s next for Trump? — Stormy Daniels, Michael Cohen, and the Trump/Trump Connection on Truth Social Network (TLC)
Porn star Stormy Daniels gave testimony to the grand jury about her dealings with Donald Trump, and Michael Cohen testified about his dealings with the former president. More than half of the jury believed there was probable cause to believe that Trump committed a crime.
Trump has denied any criminal wrongdoing and is expected to plead not guilty. “On Tuesday morning I will be going to, believe it or not, the Courthouse,” he wrote on Truth Social. America was supposed to be different.
A criminal’s first court appearance is an arraignment. For a normal person, that’s when they will appear for photographs, fingerprints and arrest paperwork, which take hours behind closed doors.
Then, defendants go before a judge to hear the charges against them. Defendants can enter a plea, most often “not guilty,” at this stage in the criminal process.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/04/03/1167756756/trump-traveling-new-york-arraignment-whats-next-trial
What is next-trial in TRUMP Traveling New York? An attorney’s perspective on the case against a former Manhattan district attorney
Logistical challenges are expected since he is a former president. A Secret Service detail and a large legal team are what he has. Protests are expected. There will be media attention. A busy state court office will be involved in all of that.
Cyrus Vance, the former Manhattan District Attorney, said in anNPR interview on Sunday that a lot of external factors do not happen for 99% of the cases they have. It will be a challenge for the police department, court officers, investigators, and our office to keep things running smoothly.
Kim Wehle is a law professor at the University of Baltimore and she says that he is entitled to the same due process as everyone else.
She told All Things Considered there are a lot of hurdles to overcome before any charges or penalties would be brought against him.
“There are a lot of procedural, evidentiary and constitutional protections in place to make sure that that far-off question is fairly adjudicated,” Wehle adds.
Key to a trial will be the strength of the evidence presented by prosecutors, legal experts said. Michael Gerhardt said that one of the factors would be the jury.
He said in an interview that he would probably choose to be on the prosecution’s side if it was necessary to win the case to save his life.
Most similar cases would probably take a year to get to trial, Galluzzo says. He expects the process will be delayed as much as possible.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/04/03/1167756756/trump-traveling-new-york-arraignment-whats-next-trial
What he really wants to tell us about the presidency of Donald Trump, or what he’s been saying since he left office in 2016
He said that they wouldn’t make him an offer that he would accept. “And I think more than anything he probably wants that public stage to play the victim, to have an audience.”
The extraordinary moment will test how well outlets have adapted to reporting on Trump since he left office in disgrace, and how well they arereceived in the public.
The first version of this article appeared in the newsletter. The daily digest chronicles the evolving media landscape here.
► Margaret Sullivan: “Use what we’ve learned since 2015 about covering Trump (if we really have learned!) and adjust accordingly. Consider the newsworthiness of the moment against the likelihood of him spreading his lies. Fact-checking later is not nearly as effective as putting his statements in context before blasting them out raw. Remember we are in the business of truth and democracy.
► Jack Shafer: “Editors and producers should stop looking over their shoulders worrying about what the ox peckers might say about their camera angles, the number of hours they spend on the booking, the number of column inches they burn on the prosecution and trust their own journalistic instincts and training. It’s a story, follow it. Inform your readers and viewers.”
The Ex-President’s Legal Threats: New Observations from Smith’s Prosecutor at Mar-a-Lago
There are growing signs that the new reality which will come with hefty financial commitments in legal fees and locks on Trump’s schedule could be amended at a time when he is already facing intense demands from another White House bid.
Smith’s prosecutors have secured daily notes, texts, emails and photographs and are focused on cataloguing how Trump handled classified records around Mar-a-Lago and those who may have witnessed the former president with them, CNN’s Katelyn Polantz and Evan Perez reported Monday. The new details coincide with signs the Justice Department is taking steps consistent with the end of an investigation.
The developments are a serious turn in the case for Trump, according to the ex-president’s former lawyer. “We’ve known the investigatory steps were under way, we just haven’t known alleged results until today,” Cobb said. “I think these are highly consequential.”
One criminal prosecution is onerous enough. Trump hasn’t been charged in any of the other cases, but a multi-front defense in multiple cases would represent an extraordinary storm. And it would further disrupt the ex-president’s capacity to dictate his political schedule and control his destiny. When he was under scrutiny in the Russia investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller, or during his two impeachments, Trump exploited his huge popularity with Republican voters to discredit accusations against him. If they voted to convict him, most GOP senators would not be allowed to leave the Senate.
The situation is similar to when the will of voters prevailed in the 2020 election and Trump was unable to have votes thrown out due to the fact that the standards of evidence and the law were different.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/04/politics/trump-legal-threats-analysis/index.html
ABOVE CP Violating Camera Rules for Post-Newtonian Sensitive Bounds on a Proposed Radio Hearing
In a late-night ruling, Merchan turned down the request for broadcast cameras. Five still photographers will be allowed to take pictures of Trump and the courtroom before the hearing begins, however.