LET'S BE CLEAR, YOU CAN INDICT A HAM SANDWICH Former New York Court of Appeals Chief Justice Sol Wachtler famously said that as a way of expressing how much control the DA has over a grand jury process. It may especially be true in this case, as DA Alvin Bragg is bringing charges TWO other agencies decided NOT to bring with the same evidence. Donald Trump has been indicted and is expected to turn himself in to be arrested next week. Read this bit from the Wall Street Journal:
The case brought by Mr. Bragg, a Democrat, is far from a sure bet. Mr. Bragg’s predecessor, Cyrus Vance Jr., and federal prosecutors each passed on charging Mr. Trump in a stand-alone case related to the hush money. If the case goes to trial, a conviction would almost certainly require a jury to credit the testimony of former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, who has faced his own legal troubles and pleaded guilty to an array of federal felonies in 2018. Among them was a campaign-finance offense for the porn-star payment, as well as charges of lying to a bank and to Congress.
It is almost impossible to believe that this is not a purely politically motivated prosecution and Alvin Bragg better hope he can pull this off or this will be a huge strike against the Democratic party overall. If he loses, then Republicans can make the claim, accurately in my view, that the Democrats in New York have reached Banana Republic status, where they have weaponized the court system against political opponents. We've already seen in the January 6th cases, but too many people think those people "got what they deserved". You know how I feel about Trump, but this is really BS from a prosecutor who won't prosecute real crimes in New York. According to CNN, Trump faces 30 counts related to business fraud.
NOW THE PRECEDENT HAS BEEN SET And if Joe Biden doesn't realize this is bad news for him too, he is more decrepit than I thought. If President's can now be charged with crimes when they leave office, all of his son and brother's dirty dealings with Chinese Communists, where they were to keep "10% for the Big Guy" will be fair game. This is a good column about the precedence this sets and some history about where and how other nations have charged former leaders. I sure hope Republicans are paying attention, because if this is how it's done they have a target rich environment themselves. From this column:
In 2008, voters in two small towns in liberal Vermont approved resolutions accusing Mr. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney of “crimes against the Constitution” and instructing their town attorneys to draft indictments. Nothing ever came of it, but it is not hard to imagine a conservative local prosecutor trying to charge President Biden with, say, failing to adequately guard the border.
“This presents the opportunity for potentially thousands of state and local prosecutors to investigate and charge a president without the impediment imposed by D.O.J.’s policy against indicting sitting presidents,” said Stanley M. Brand, a former House counsel whose firm represents a couple of Trump associates in the investigation into the mishandling of classified documents. “It theoretically subjugates the presidency in a way I don’t believe was ever constitutionally contemplated.”
Indeed it does.
I'M NOT SURE I HATE HOLDING POWERFUL PEOPLE ACCOUNTABLE Even if this particular prosecution is flimsy at best. Isn't it about time that the rich and powerful should fear the justice system too? Wouldn't it be nice if the people who have gotten rich while dividing the country had to stand to answer for their abuse of the system? The problem is I have no faith that this new commitment to holding power accountable will be applied evenly. Our nation feels doomed right now.
OH, THERE ARE THREE MORE INVESTIGATIONS INTO TRUMP STILL ONGOING Even if he beats the charges filed in New York, he is still being investigated for inciting January 6th, working to overturn the election in Georgia, and his handling of classified documents, although how in the world they are still pursuing that last one when so many classified documents have been found in the current President's offices and homes is beyond me. Read about them all here.
OH, AND ANOTHER HUSH MONEY CASE TO ANOTHER WOMEN IS BEING LOOKED AT Karen McDougal is the other woman who says she had an affair with Donald Trump and now that case is being investigated as well. This case in my mind would be a clearer case of a campaign violation because McDougal sold her story to the National Enquirer who then buried it on behalf of Mr. Trump. But that isn't a matter for a local DA, so why look into it? From the Wall Street Journal story:
The grand jury testimony of David Pecker, the former chief executive of American Media, has tied Mr. Trump directly to the payment to Ms. McDougal and to an alleged broader scheme to suppress negative stories about Mr. Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign, according to some of the people familiar with the matter.
Mr. Pecker in January was among the first witnesses to testify before the grand jury, and he returned for a second appearance earlier this week.
Mr. Pecker’s testimony could help prosecutors shore up the word of Michael Cohen, a former Trump lawyer who is expected to play a central role as a prosecution witness in any case against the former president. One grand jury witness who testified at the request of Mr. Trump’s team told jurors that Mr. Cohen has offered inconsistent reasons for paying Ms. Daniels.
So Bragg could be looking into this just as a means to shore up the testimony of known liar Michael Cohen. We'll see.
THE DOJ IS ALLEGEDLY ANNOYED AT THE CHARGES FOR THE WEAK CASE As they think if Trump beats this rap it will undermine more significant investigations currently underway. Read more here.
I'VE GOT A BATTLE BOT AT 1PM! Not the actual robot, which is Copperhead and having a stellar season so far this year on the incredible great show BattleBots on Discovery channel. Copperhead is a local bot and I've got Chad New who is its weapon operator on the show today to talk about it. You can see the bot on display at a cool store in Parker called Hall of Justice Comics which you can find here.
YEMI WANTS TO BE COLORADO SPRINGS MAYOR And he's shaking up the race by being an independent with a clear vision for the Springs which isn't mired in party politics. He joins me at 1:30 to talk about his run and why you should vote for him. Find out more about him by clicking here!
WHO IS LYING AT DPS? Denver Public Schools Clown Show Board President Xóchitl Gaytán has reprimanded VP Tay Anderson for disclosing matters discussed in Executive Session and in doing so seemed to support his claim that Superintendent Alex Marrero said that Mayor Hancock threatened an Executive Order that would force SRO's back into Denver Public Schools after the East High shooting. The problem is the Mayor's office STRONGLY denies that such a threat was ever made. Here are my follow up questions I'd like answered.
- So would Tay Anderson have voted to bring back SRO's if he wasn't under the impression that the Mayor was going to do it or not? If now, how does he justify that stance now?
- Who is lying, the Mayor or the Superintendent? I'm leaning towards the Superintendent, because the Mayor is not a threaten kind of guy.
- Why is this school board so incompetent? JK, I know the answer.
FOURTEEN TEACHERS IN LOVELAND NEED TO BE FIRED And I don't say that lightly, but when a Safe2Tell tip came through threatening a school shooting, they left campus and left students behind to find locked doors and lights out in their classrooms. School was eventually cancelled but not before students were just left milling about the campus wondering what was going on. This is unacceptable. These people should be fired. Now.
THE ROCKIES WIN! It was a good night to be a Rockies fan considering pretty much no one thought they would beat the stacked Padres. I'm going to hold onto the fact they are 1-0 until tonight anyway.
DENVER VOTERS YOU BETTER TURN IN YOUR BALLOTS And as low as turnout is right now you should vote for Andy Rougeot to get him in the top 2 for Mayor. Just a measly 10% have voted and this is how you end up with a Socialist City Council if you don't pay attention and vote.
I KNOW SO MANY VERSIONS OF THIS WOMAN AND SHE MADE ME LAUGH Why people should not break into houses in the South, where they protect themselves with "pit bulls and pew pews".
AN ARBITRARY BED CAP FOR JUVENILES IS A HUGE PROBLEM In Colorado, we have a cap on how many juveniles can be held at any time while waiting for trial. It hasn't been a huge problem, but with the big spike in juvenile crime, it's become a huge issue. Now DAs are asking for a fix. Read more here.
IF YOU'RE GONNA BE STUPID, YOU BETTER COUGH UP Watch below or click here.
TRUMP GETTING INDICTED MIGHT LOOK LIKE THIS And I have to say the dialogue is eerily accurate. Watch below or click here.
RON DESANTIS SAYS NO TO EXTRADITION OF TRUMP And he did so clearly and unequivocally in this tweet:
I CRIED WITH LAUGHTER WATCHING THIS LAST NIGHT I mentioned on the show that people listen to the podcast sped up so they can get through it faster and recommended that they slow it down to see if I sounded like Barry White and one listener did just that. Now I know what I sound like totally wasted. Enjoy.
THE Q ANON SHAMAN IS OUT OF JAIL He's been released for good behavior early, which is good knowing how badly he got screwed by pleading guilty when his defense didn't have all the available video about his role in January 6th. But he's out now.
CBS DEAD GENDERS THE NASHVILLE MURDERER In an effort to protect the transgender community (that is the only reason I can think of for this) they have made the blanket decision to BAN the word "transgender" from their reporting on the Nashville murderer who was a woman using He/Him pronouns. I bet if she were a rumored Republican they would include that. Just saying.
EVERYONE NEEDS AN UNSUNG HERO This is a great story about a guy who developed a sharp wit, emphasis on the sharp, until a friend pulled him aside to tell him he was hurting people with his humor. We all need those people in our lives to "check" us on occasion. I'm married to mine.
WAS RINGO THE SECOND BEST DRUMMER IN THE BEATLES? That's the case being made here. As my favorite song is Dear Prudence maybe so.
COLLEGE FRESHMAN EXPLAINS SOCIALISM TO A CUBAN REFUGEE Straight from the Babylon Bee!
STORMY DANIELS IS MAKING BANK People are rushing to buy her #TeamStorm merchandise. Good for her, she did have to sleep with Donald Trump to make it.
SORORITY GIRLS SUE OVER SISTER WITH AN ERECTION That is not a headline I thought I'd ever write but here we are. The women of Kappa Kappa Gamma at the University of Wyoming are suing over the admission of a "sister" who is actually a man. How do I know? Women don't get erections. The women say that Artemis Langford stared at them inappropriately, often with a visible erection under "her" leggings, while also asking them what a vagina looked like (shocker, he's never seen one) and about their breast sizes. This line is the most important line:
“An adult human male does not become a woman just because he tells others that he has a female ‘gender identity’ and behaves in what he believes to be a stereotypically female manner,” the lawsuit, seen by Cowboy State Daily, claims.
No he does not.
PUCKER UP, T-REX HAD LIPS This is a cool story that really shows how little we know about the dinosaurs who roamed the earth long ago. Now scientists believe that the Tyrannosaurus Rex, which has been portrayed as a toothy monster in movies, had lips that covered those teeth. Read more here.
MORE MOCKERY OF THE TIKTOK HEARINGS Watch below or click here.
HOW TO BEAT THE SYSTEM IN NEW YORK There is a rule in New York that dogs on the subway have to be in bags. This woman was like, okay. Watch below or click here.
PANDAS ARE DRUNK TODDLERS IN COSTUME Change my mind after watching this.