Tag Archives: classified documents

legal news, national news

Special counsel crosses ‘the line’

Robert Hur, appointed to look into whether President Biden broke any law when the FBI found documents in his home, did the president no favors with his decision against filing charges against him.

Oh, no. Instead, he hurled some unflattering labels at Joe Biden, calling him an “elderly man with a poor memory.” Indeed, his report to the public announcing his decision against seeking criminal indictments against Biden, contained several references to the president’s age and hinted that the POTUS might be falling a step or two behind.

Did the special counsel cross some vague line? I believe he did.

However, Joe Biden hasn’t helped himself any with his angry response to what Hur said in his report. He sounded petulant and appeared visibly angry at reporters peppering him with questions about what Hur had said.

Oh … my  … goodness.

To be fair, not all the criticism has come from Democrats.

USA Today reported: “I think it’s outrageous. Prosecutors are taught that the Department of Justice should speak through charges or it shouldn’t speak at all,” said Mark Lytle, a veteran Justice Department public corruption prosecutor who also served in the White House Counsel’s Office in the Trump administration.

I am not going to climb aboard the “Dude Has Lost It” hay wagon. I consider the president to be mentally fit and alert — and is fully capable of doing his job as our head of state/government and as our commander in chief.

Did the  special counsel cross the line in bashing Biden’s memory? Even some Republicans think so (msn.com)

However, he doesn’t buttress his public image by lashing out as he did the other day when Hur issued his 388-page report.

As for the special counsel, who was appointed by Biden’s immediate predecessor to be U.S. attorney for Maryland, he simply could have declared there was no criminal activity found … and left it at that.

I fear that the special counsel has poured fuel onto a presidential campaign fire that appears set to explode on its own.

business news, crime news

Truth about wealth is coming

Donald J. Trump’s actual wealth has been a discussion topic for as long as this clown has been in the public eye … which seems like forever.

Why? Because he brags about it constantly, bringing to my mind the notion that anyone who is truly wealthy doesn’t need to boast openly about it.

So now the former POTUS is on trial for financial fraud. He has been accused of inflating his assets to secure favorable business dealings. Does that surprise anyone, that this pathological liar would falsify his wealth to obtain loans at a favorable rate? Of course not. It doesn’t surprise me in the least, and I don’t even possess a fraction of the wealth that Trump actually has, which I am certain will be a lot less than what he has portrayed.

Against this backdrop we have the spectacle of Trump running for president for the third time. He is the prohibitive favorite for the Republican Party presidential nomination. How that can be is utterly beyond me. But he is.

Will the GOP cult that clings to this clown’s phoniness hang onto him if the trial for which he is being tried in New York end badly? Oh, probably. Because the MAGA morons who back him don’t know any better or refuse to realize they are backing someone who is a shadow of the titan he portrays himself to be.

However, what is unfolding in a New York courtroom is just another preliminary act leading up to the main events. Trials are pending on the pilfering of classified documents and on Trump’s role in the assault on the federal government on 1/6.

Still, the prelims appear to be pretty damn tantalizing in that they likely will reveal the whole truth about the wealth that Trump used to dupe enough voters to elect him POTUS in the first place.

crime news, legal news

All this legal trouble makes me dizzy

Allow me this admission … which is that I am having a bit of difficulty keeping straight all the legal battles awaiting the immediate past president of the United States.

He has three indictments sitting in front of him: two from the federal government he once pledged to protect and another from a New York district attorney.

A fourth indictment from the Fulton County (Ga.) DA appears imminent. They all appear to be serious to the max. If he gets convicted on all the charges, Donald J. Trump could spend the rest of his life in prison. Given his advanced age, it well might be that even a partial conviction could imprison Trump for the duration.

What is most astonishing as I watch this drama unfold is witnessing how Trump no longer is in control of his own future; control rests with three judges who are presiding over the various trials awaiting the former POTUS.

One of them, U.S. District Judge Tanya  Chutkan is the most interesting. She is an immigrant from Jamaica appointed to the federal bench by President Obama. Thus, she presents a challenge to Trump; she hails from a “sh**hole country,” as Trump once said and she owes her lifetime job to a man Trump despises. Trump is likely to anger her beyond all measure before this case gets resolved.

Special counsel Jack Smith wants the indictment he obtained regarding the 1/6 assault on our government to be tried quickly. Judge Chutkan holds the key to that matter.

Well, I am sitting out here in the peanut gallery watching and waiting with a good bit of anticipation on what could happen to the most unfit man ever elected to the presidency. I’ll just have to keep my mind clear to stay caught up with what appears to be a whirl of activity for the rest of the current year and into the next one.

I will have to hold on with both hands.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

legal news

Is a deal possible?

What you are about to read from this blogger isn’t an original thought; it comes from a former Republican governor and one-time GOP presidential candidate.

That said, I want to reveal what he expressed.

Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich has tossed out a possibility that — upon some reflection — isn’t nearly as goofy as some observers might suggest it is. Kasich was careful to stipulate that he isn’t “predicting” this would happen, but believes it remains a distinct possibility.

It is that Trump’s lawyers, who must defend him against multiple indictments on multiple fronts, might want to cut a deal with federal special counsel Jack Smith. Kasich suggests that Trump’s lawyers well might determine that Trump cannot win the classified documents case or the 1/6 insurrection matter.

What does he do? Well, Kasich said it might be that Trump’s legal team could suggest he cuts a deal with prosecutors that would include a guilty plea and his dropping out of the 2024 race for president.

He’s already pleaded not guilty to all the federal indictments, and to the New York indictment over the hush money payment he made to the adult film star. He’s likely to plead not guilty to an indictment that everyone on Earth believes is coming from the Fulton County, Ga., district attorney on another case involving election tampering.

However, criminal defendants have changed their pleas before. The alternative might be serious prison time if he’s convicted, say, of obstruction in the case involving the 1/6 assault on our government.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a one-time U.S. attorney, said recently that prosecutors would rather refuse to bring a case than bring one they cannot win. Jack Smith, therefore, well might have the goods on Trump to all but guarantee a conviction.

It makes me go “hmmm.” Is there an alternative, therefore, to prison for the former president? Looks like it to me.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Donald Trump

Is this the worst week?

It is fair to wonder whether this week will be the latest “worst week” in Donald J. Trump’s life, given the myriad setbacks and stumbles he has suffered since leaving the only public office he ever has held.

He has been indicted on more charges related to the classified documents caper. There could be even more indictments coming from the 1/6 assault on our federal government. And, yes, we have a Fulton County, Ga., district attorney preparing to issue even more indictments on Trump’s alleged effort to rig the 2020 election.

It could happen this week, too!

Meanwhile, the dumb and dumber among the GOP primary electorate continues to glom onto this individual’s political fortunes, seeming to ignore the facts that (a) he’s been indicted already, (b) has been convicted of sexual abuse and (c) he’s been impeached twice by Congress for misconduct during his term as POTUS.

Trump continues to whip the MAGA morons into a frenzy, holding onto sizable leads in primary states.

It’s unbelievable.

Well, the good news — as I see it — is that if Republicans somehow manage to nominate this clown, he won’t win a 2024 general election. That base of MAGA cretins remains substantial, but it is shrinking.

I am waiting with bated breath for the next wave of “worst-week” developments to roll over this idiot.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

legal news

Judge hits ‘stand-up double’ with trial ruling

OK, it wasn’t a home run or even a triple, but the judge who is presiding over the classified documents pilfering by Donald J. Trump has issued a ruling that is giving me a glimmer of hope that we can get a trial without bias.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, nominated by Donald J. Trump to the federal bench in the final weeks of his term as POTUS, has set a May 20 trial date in Fort Pierce, Fla., on the indictment alleging that Trump broke the law by squirreling away classified documents in his Florida mansion.

Special counsel Jack Smith’s team of federal prosecutor’s wanted to stage the trial in December; Trump’s team wanted an indefinite delay. Cannon split the difference — more or less — by setting the May date. Frankly, it appears to favor Smith’s side of the argument.

The New York trial in which Trump was indicted for the hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels will have concluded. Trump might get convicted of violating state law in spending campaign money keep Daniels quiet about a tryst she says occurred, but which Trump denies … go figure on that one!

The Republican Party presidential primary season will be all but over when Cannon commences the documents trial. Trump remains the favorite for the GOP nomination.

If it concludes prior to the start of the GOP convention, and Trump is convicted of federal felonies (which many observers believe is a probability), then delegates get to decide whether they want to nominate a convicted felon for POTUS.

The ex-POTUS’s legal difficulties are mounting seemingly by the hour, which makes me wonder — and I am serious about this — whether he’ll be able to continue to mount a political campaign while seeking to keep his sorry backside out of prison.

I get that Cannon should have recused herself from this trial, given her conflict of interest in being nominated by the criminal defendant in this case. She hasn’t. She likely won’t.

So, we are left then to hope she does right by the judicial system she serves. It looks to me as if setting the trial date is a step toward correctness.

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, national news

Will a competent jury be found?

One of the mysteries of this nation’s criminal justice system has to be the selection of competent jury panels to try cases that are on the top of everyone’s mind.

Hence, it is with a significant degree of confidence that I will assert that the federal government will be able to try its case against Donald J. Trump in front of a competent panel of jurors, whether it’s in Florida or New Jersey or in Timbuktu.

The burden for convicting Trump of any of the various crimes he has been charged with committing is high. The Justice Department team led by special counsel Jack Smith has to prove guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt.” The verdict must be unanimous. If a single juror holds out, we have a mistrial on our hands.

The only possible glitch that could occur — as I see it through my untrained, non-lawyer’s eyes — is a juror who is so wedded to Donald Trump that he or she cannot be persuaded to follow the evidence.

Then again … during the jury selection process, it seems unfathomable to me that such a juror would be seated to hear the trial in the first place.

The legal teams have to agree on a panel comprising individuals who truly are neutral, who have no bias, who can hear the evidence as if they are hearing it for the first time … and then deliver a verdict.

That all said, I must declare that I never in a million years could clear the jury selection process. My own bias is so abundantly clear that any lawyer worth a damn would disqualify me the moment I opened my trap.

That leaves the door open to anyone else who might not have read a single thing about Trump’s alleged crime of squirreling classified documents from the White House and blabbing to visitors about having these sensitive papers.

The beauty of our system of criminal justice is that such a jury panel can — and likely will — be found. Yeah, it’s a mystery … which makes it all the more remarkable.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Donald Trump, military news, national news

The circle tightens around Trump

As the world learns more about the allegations involving the classified documents that ended up in Donald Trump’s Florida mansion, the keener the perspective becomes on what kind of individual served for a term as commander in chief.

Let’s look briefly at his disdain for the men and women who work in our intelligence community and who risk their lives to protect our lives.

We have learned that Trump exposed these documents to guests at his Florida estate who had no security clearance. He boasted about having them illegally, even calling attention to their sensitive nature.

He could have put people’s lives in jeopardy. He could have risked their lives … and to what end? To make himself look good in front of his friends? To satisfy his juvenile ego?

Trump clearly has no appreciation or understanding of the risks that these individuals take. Nor does he honor the sacrifices many of them have made in service to their country.

I flash back now for just a moment to the day of his inauguration. He went to CIA headquarters and stood in front of a wall containing stars symbolizing the agents who died in the line of duty. Did the new president honor them? Did he salute their service? Did he bow his head in silent prayer?

No! He instead boasted about the size of the crowd attending his inaugural speech, which we would learn later was seriously inflated.

This man lacks any empathy gene that would seem to be required of someone serving as our head of state. Many of us knew this all along. Some of us even warned the public that Trump’s entire professional life had been geared toward self-aggrandizement.

The indictments and the evidence we are seeing that led up to them are providing proof of what we have known all along. This individual is unfit for public office!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com