Category Archives: crime news

crime news, Donald Trump, national news, political news

Trump is a sure-fire loser!

All this media hype and hand-wringing over Donald J. Trump’s apparent skate toward the 2024 Republican Party presidential nomination has me on the brink of screaming at the top of my lungs.

I’ll refrain from that, but I will declare here — once again! — that Donald Trump will never enter the Oval Office again.

Let me say it another way. He will not be elected POTUS!

OK. I have said this before about this clown. He proved me, and millions of other prognosticators wrong in 2016 when he slipped past the conventional wisdom and squeaked out an Electoral College victory.

He then proceeded to embarrass himself, the country and endangered the lives of millions of Americans through his negligence in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He was impeached twice. He has been indicted by two grand juries and a third indictment is coming up damn soon. There will be others in store.

I am going to place a great deal of faith in the American electorate that rank-and-file Americans are not so stupid that they would actually send this guy back for another turn as head of state and commander in chief.

This individual is profoundly dangerous.

You may stop laughing at me at any moment. Yes, he defied every oddsmaker once already. However, I want to dredge up the saying that President George W. Bush once famously flubbed: Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.

Are we really, seriously ready to send this soon-to-be-convicted felon back to power?

I think not!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news

Expunge impeachments? Huh?

Allow me this full-frontal criticism of the U.S. speaker of the House: Kevin McCarthy has rocks in his noggin.

McCarthy, a Republican, is considering seeking an expunging of the record that shows Donald J. Trump has been impeached twice by the House.

As if that is going to erase the memories of every living American who witnessed the House impeach the ex-POTUS for (a) trying to get a political favor from a foreign head of state and (b) inciting the mob that attacked the government on 1/6 in an effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

He was impeached twice, man!

What does McCarthy hope to accomplish? Does an expunging of the record mean that Trump wasn’t impeached? Of course not! The record will stand forever.

McCarthy is certifiably loony.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news

Who ever thought this could happen?

Of all the political integrity I have witnessed over many decades of politics-watching, I never in a million years believed I would witness what might occur sometime in 2024.

It is that Republican Party primary voters might have to wrestle with deciding whether to nominate a convicted felon to run for the presidency of the United States.

Yes, it is entirely possible that we could have that choice presented to millions of American voters.

Donald Trump already has been indicted twice: by the Manhattan, N.Y., district attorney and by the U.S. Department of Justice.

There now appears to be that more indictments are sure to arrive … soon! The special counsel, Jack Smith, has advised Trump that he is a target of a probe into the 1/6 assault on the government. Indictment coming? Looks like it!

If Smith is able to persuade a judge to set a trial date, then it is possible we could get a decision to convict a former POTUS, who is running for the office again. That would put the burden clearly on GOP voters: Do they really intend to nominate a convicted felon?

Wow …

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news

Walls closing in — again!

I heard it said today that federal prosecutors would “rather not bring a case than bring one that they cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt.”

With that in mind, I am astonished today to learn that special counsel Jack Smith well might have the goods to drop on Donald John Trump as he concludes his probe into the 1/6 insurrection and assault on the federal government that sought to overturn the 2020 presidential election … which Trump lost to Joseph R. Biden Jr.

I say “astonished” not because I am surprised, but because I am overwhelmed by the gravity of what I now expect to happen.

Which is that Smith is going to indict Trump on a whole array of charges, which might include conspiracy to commit sedition, obstruction of justice and Lord knows what else.

Trump revealed over the weekend that he got a “target letter” from Smith, acknowledging that the special counsel has targeted the former president in his criminal probe.

Oh, brother.

What’s important to note there is that this case will not be tried by the same federal judge — Aileen Cannon — who is thought to favor Trump, who nominated her for the federal judgeship. It will fall onto the lap of another jurist. Cannon is presiding in south Florida over the case involving the classified documents — for which Trump has been indicted.

We are about to enter some mighty rough waters, ladies and gentlemen. Strap yourselves in.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news

Texas GOP: stand tall … OK?

Texas Senate Republicans are going to get a chance to demonstrate that they have the courage lacking in their national colleagues when a Texas attorney general whom the House impeached for a variety of alleged offenses relating to the conduct of his office.

U.S. Capitol Hill Republicans had the same opportunity — twice, in fact — when the House impeached Donald Trump. Both times, the GOP couldn’t muster enough guts to toss the POTUS out of office.

The signs in Austin are demonstrating a potentially different outcome, given the monstrous majority vote in the Texas House to impeach the AG. Many Republicans joined their House Democratic colleagues in endorsing the impeachment articles presented by the GOP-run House Government Investigations Committee.

Now, though, comes the Senate, which has a high bar to clear, just as the U.S. Senate had a high bar. The Texas Senate comprises 19 Republicans and 12 Democrats. One of the GOP senators, Angela Paxton, is married to the defendant and she will not take an active part in the deliberations and in the vote.

Still, the Texas Senate has a two-thirds majority requirement for conviction. The Senate well might be able to reach that majority, given the huge body of evidence that has been collected.

That, and the constant drumbeat of criticism that keeps coming from the AG’s office and all the legal difficulty that seems to find Paxton.

For my money, it doesn’t take courage to do the right thing, which would be to examine the evidence and then cast a vote. What’s more, Paxton doesn’t seem to engender the kind of blind and brainless fealty among Texas Republicans that Trump does among the national party.

Let the trial begin.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news, legal news

Prosecutor vs. Perpetrator

Watching the drama building as the prosecutor pursues the perpetrator, I cannot help but be struck by the profound differences in  the way these men act in public.

Let’s look first at the prosecutor. His name is Jack Smith, appointed special counsel to investigate alleged crimes committed by the perp.

Smith has been studied, measured, professional, discreet, reticent. He has been faithful to his pledge to grant the perp in this case the presumption of innocence to which he is entitled. Yet he has compiled an astonishing array of evidence that the perpetrator knew he lost an election in 2020 but tried to overturn the results. He also has assembled a mountain of evidence that the perp took highly classified documents to his home in Florida and kept them in highly unsecured locations.

The perpetrator is Donald John Trump, the former president of the United States.

Trump has been, well, shrill, venal, vile, deceitful, defamatory, profane, highly vocal in his objection to the investigation that has taken place. He ignores lawyers’ advice to keep his trap shut. He continues to denigrate the prosecutor’s reputation, asserting that Smith has it in for him. He’s also chosen to hurl epithets at Smith’s wife who, as near as I can tell, has nothing at all to do with the probe underway.

Even if I didn’t already believe that the perpetrator is guilty of the crimes for which he has been indicted, I would be rooting for the prosecutor. Why? Because I believe strongly in the criminal justice system for which the prosecutor is working. I believe in the rule of law.

The prosecutor is facing a form of competition, as has been reported, from local district attorneys who are conducting their own probes into the perp’s post-2020 election behavior. They, too, might file indictments alleging criminal activity involving the search for votes that didn’t exist and for attempts to coerce and bully state election officials to overturn an election.

Do we hear the prosecutor telling the local DA’s to back off? That they should let the feds have first crack? The prosecutor is a seasoned pro with many years of experience under his belt. Granted, the perp in this instance happens to be the first of his kind ever held under investigation … given that he is a former POTUS, for crying out loud!

But my money clearly is on the prosecutor to deliver the goods in due course.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news, national news

Trump Fatigue sets in

You may choose to believe or disbelieve what I am about to say, but it’s true … which is that I am getting weary of all things Donald John Trump.

Yes! I want this to end! I want to stop thinking about what this idiot might do next to call attention to himself. I want to get on with serious policy discussions about serious policy differences between serious political leaders.

Trump offers nothing serious or sober to any of this. He offers only drama, chaos, narcissism, threats against democracy.

He is in the middle of multiple legal battles, none of which is likely to end well for him. If he’s convicted, say, of violating the Espionage Act in hiding those documents at his joint in Florida, he’ll fight the prison sentence that awaits him.

People such as me will comment on it, as we must. I don’t want to do it, but I will.

Just to be crystal clear: I do not believe Donald Trump will be elected POTUS. I remain dubious as to whether he will remain in the campaign for the White House.

He will remain on center stage, though, as an ex-POTUS and rabble rouser extraordinaire.

I just want him to vanish. Forever.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news

Judge to go ‘on trial’?

The relationship between a federal judge and a former U.S. president is far too complicated for my feeble mind to comprehend.

I’ll try to sort it out anyway.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon is presiding over the pending trial involving Donald Trump’s pilfering of classified documents from the White House. Trump nominated Cannon to her federal judicial seat. That’s one element.

Trump has filed a petition asking that Cannon delay the trial until after the November 2024 presidential election. His filing in the court actually declares that the judge should do his bidding, which by itself isn’t necessarily Earth-shattering. What gives the declaration its heft is that it comes from an ex-POTUS who has been indicted for the first time in history by the very same Justice Department he once took an oath to protect.

OK, what does Judge Cannon do? Does she go along with Trump’s demand for an indefinite postponement? Or does she set a trial date and hold firm?

Cannon is under no specific obligation to do as Trump demands. However, she is a human being who — just like the rest of us — doesn’t like the barrage of criticism she is sure to face if she grants Trump’s demand for a postponement.

Cannon set an Aug. 14 trial date after Trump was indicted. Special counsel Jack Smith asked for a delay until December; Cannon granted that request.

Trump is certain to play the delay game as a ploy to cast doubt on witnesses’ memory. The longer we wait, the foggier those memories become. Smith, on the other hand, is vowing a “speedy trial.”

I want a speedy trial. I do not want Trump to delay this proceeding into oblivion. I also want Judge Cannon to set a firm trial date and stand her ground.

This case has made history already in ways we haven’t yet been able to calculate.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news

How about some A/C relief for convicts?

Allow me to stipulate that I am acutely aware that convicted felons serving time in Texas’s vast prison system aren’t exactly a crop of model citizens.

Still, do they deserve to die in prison from heat-related causes? No!

What’s more, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice appears stubbornly to refuse to acknowledge the deaths of inmates — when they involve the oppressive heat — are in fact the result of what we all are feeling at this moment.

Summer in Texas always produces this kind of reporting. The Texas Tribune reports that at least nine TDJ inmates have succumbed from the current heat wave, but that the agency is reluctant to identify heat as the cause of death.

What the hell?

Most of the TDC units have no internal air conditioning. TDCJ officials rely on nature’s remedy to give inmates some relief. The Legislature, which is battling over property tax reform, seems to treat the health of the state’s inmate population as, well … no big deal.

Yeah, it’s a huge deal, man.

Legislators entered this year’s session with a budget surplus of more than $32 billion. Did they peel off some of that money to equip or prison system with A/C units? Hah! Hardly!

This isn’t a matter of “getting tough on crime and those who commit them.” It’s a matter of human decency.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news

Hits just keep coming for Paxton

Ken Paxton, the impeached Texas attorney general, just can’t stop making “hits” that cause state House of Representatives investigators to keep dancing.

Now the House is examining some potentially dicey real estate purchases Paxton made with his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton. They total more than $3 million. Paxton’s lawyer said the couple merely was looking into purchasing the property while interest rates were low.

But wait! Is this the kind of thing we can expect from our state’s chief law enforcement officer? Good grief!

He is set to stand trial beginning Sept. 5 in the Senate on allegations that he has abused his office. The House has until early August to determine whether to add to the impeachment articles already on the Senate’s trial agenda.

The Texas Tribune reports: The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Paxton, his wife and a family trust doled out nearly $3.5 million on six properties from July 2021 to April 2022 in Oklahoma, Florida, Utah and Hawaii. The timing and amount of money drew the attention of House investigators, according to the newspaper.

In late September 2020, several of Paxton’s top aides reported to the FBI that they believed he was misusing his office to help a wealthy campaign donor, Austin real estate investor Nate Paul. Those allegations are tied to most of the 20 articles of impeachment that the House approved last month.

Texas House looking into Ken Paxton real estate buys, report says | The Texas Tribune

If it isn’t securities fraud allegations, or the accusations of bribery and corruption, or reports of doing favors for political donors … it’s this.

This guy is a joke!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com