Jenna Ellis was one of the 19 co-conspirators facing felony charges in Georgia. She was an attorney and Faux News face that helped in the plot to install fake electors in Georgia and other states that would challenge the certification of Joe Biden as president-elect on January 6. You may also remember her as the one who had to endure Rudy Giuliani's farts at a hearing in Michigan.
In August, she stated on Twitter or X, or whatever it was called in August, that she would "trust the Lord," but by October she decided to trust that the Georgia justice system would be lenient if she pled guilty and promised to testify against other of her co-defendants.
Ellis issued a tearful video statement after her conviction:
Her sentence: five years probation, $5000 in restitution, community service, a written apology to the citizens of Georgia, along with the pledge to testify truthfully in others' trials.
These early flippers – now numbering four – are getting pretty good deals. If I were a co-defendant, I'd want on that bus!
Mark Meadows, T****'s seemingly unshakable-in-his-loyalty chief of staff, finally broke with his boss and cooperated with the special counsel in exchange for immunity in the election interference case. He admitted he was "dishonest" with the public about the 2020 election. He stated that he told T**** multiple times that the claims of fraud were baseless.
He lied to the public in front of cameras, and he lied in his book, "The Chief's Chief." Shame on him.
So, he has immunity in the federal case, but not in the Georgia case, where he is charged with two felony counts, the over-reaching RICO charge, and one count of Solicitation of Violation of Oath by Public Officer, which stems from the call he arranged and took part in to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
I wonder if he will end up pleading guilty there.
He's not a flipper per se, but Mike Pence dropped his candidacy for president. And this means he is "just" a witness again. T**** can't talk about him without violating his gag order. And if We the People were very lucky, he would testify in open court (he has already testified in front of the federal grand jury and does not face any charges).
Speaking of gag orders, Judge Tanya Chutkan, who had suspended the gag order while she considered a stay in light of T****'s attempts to appeal the decision, has reinstated the order. And in the New York civil fraud trial, T**** was fined an additional $10,000 for violating Judge Engoron's gag order there.
Other trial news:
The Federal election obstruction case: T**** and his team are throwing out the idea that his trial should be considered double jeopardy because he was acquitted in the impeachment trial. Yeah, no. I'm not a constitutional scholar by any means, but no. Double jeopardy does not apply. That "trial" was in name only.
The Federal classified documents case: there is a hearing scheduled for this week, on Wednesday, November 1. Judge Aileen Cannon will discuss scheduling of the trial. Currently, the trial is scheduled to begin on May 20, 2024. We will see if that holds.
The New York civil fraud trial: Ivanka Trump has been ordered to testify. She doesn't want to. But she's gonna. Ivanka had not been charged in the case, but prosecutor Leticia James states she has "knowledge of facts" and should talk about them. Sure, let's hear her!
Former T**** attorney Michael Cohen testified and got raked over the coals for his previous dishonesty. He's quite a scumbag, trying to rehabilitate by speaking out all over the place about his former boss, for whom he took a fall and served time in jail. He testified about his part in inflating the property values of T****'s properties to "what ever number Mr. Trump told us."
Nothing else to report tonight. I have a feeling though, that the Bus o' Guilty Pleas will be taking on more passengers this week.
I told you in my last post about former bail bondsman Scott Hall, who pleaded guilty a couple weeks ago and worked out a deal with the prosecutor. He was the first of the 19 co-defendants in the Georgia election interference case to flip. Since then, two of the major turncoats have also decided to plead guilty and cooperate. Now they are turncoat turncoats.
You may recall that two of the inner-circle defendants, attorneys Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro, had asked for and received a speedy trial and were diverted from the consolidated trial of the other 18. Their trials were due to start this month, and both took a turn.
Look at you, Sidney Powell!
First, on Thursday, attorney Sidney Powell, evil mastermind of the plot to subvert the Dominion voting machines data, decided to plead guilty to six counts.
You'll remember Powell as the one promoting conspiracy theories about the election, such as the involvement of the (long-dead) Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. She was at that infamous Oval Office meeting that almost devolved into fisticuffs. She is a bad lady.
According to the Washington Post, the terms of her plea deal are: "six years’ probation and agreed to pay a $6,000 fine and $2,700 in restitution to the state of Georgia, turn over documents and testify truthfully in her co-defendants’ trials."
Friday, just as jury selection was underway, Kenneth Chesebro, former T**** campaign attorney, also plead guilty.
You remember that Chesebro was the mastermind behind the plot to have fake electors "certify" a win for T****. Certify this, Kenny Boy!
The terms of his plea deal are similar to Powell's. According to the Washington Post: "Chesebro pleaded guilty to a single felony count of conspiracy to file false documents and accepted a sentence of three to five years of probation, a $1,000 fine, $5,000 in restitution to the state of Georgia, an apology letter, 100 hours of community service and a promise to testify truthfully against any other co-defendants in the case, should they go to trial."
Love those last bits of the plea terms! What co-defendants might they testify against? A few other co-defendants shared the charges that the Chese-man was facing. They are campaign operative Michael Roman, lawyers Ray Smith and Robert Cheeley, and! attorneys John Eastman and Rudy Giuliani, as well as the big guy, djt himself. Powell shares charges with some of the lower-level conspirators, such as Cathleen Latham, former GOP Chair of Coffee County, Georgia, and Misty Hampton, the former elections supervisor who did Very Bad things like letting T**** people in to access the voting machines and tamper with them.
But this. This is the best co-conspirator to testify against. A tremendous co-conspirator. The best. He must be tired of winning Bigly Co-conspirator:
Inmate #P01135809
Besides being a big win for D.A. Fani Willis in getting the convictions, with these two early trials off the table, she doesn't have to yet show her hand of the evidence she has.
Chesebro gets to keep his law license, gets to serve his probation in his home area of Puerto Rico, and if he is a good boy during probation, he will have his conviction expunged under the first-offender part of the deal.
Powell's fate is trickier. She has had numerous lawsuits filed against her regarding her election interference, as well a Texas state bar lawsuit. She may be able to hold on to her legal license, but she has a lot of legal problems separate from this conviction.
You can read all about Powell's path from quiet federal prosecutor and defense attorney to convicted felon in The Washington Post.
Three down, 16 to go!
The Gags
Judges now in two cases have issued gag orders on the primary defendant.
In the Federal election interference case, Judge Tanya Chutkan placed a limited gag order last Monday, prohibiting T**** from disparaging the prosecuting attorneys, court personnel, and potential witnesses. Judge Chutkan said, "Mr. Trump is facing felony charges, and he does not get to respond to every criticism if that response could affect a potential witness. He doesn’t get to use all the words."
By Friday, she had paused the gag order while she considers the defendant's intentions to appeal the decision. She will hear arguments about the gag order and then decide if it shall remain in place while it is being appealed.
It gets sticky, because one of the potential witnesses is also a competing presidential opponent, Mike Pence. T**** should have the right to talk about his opponent. Judge Chutkan ruled that, "If Mr. Trump wants to criticize his political rival, Mr. Pence, he may do so, but he cannot make statements about Mr. Pence’s role in the events in this case."
Nevertheless, T**** is loving the fight. He immediately took the issue to his followers as a donation pitch and issued his usual blustering statement.
This is the second gag order; you'll remember the first one stemmed from his behavior during his civil fraud trial. Judge Arthur Engoron prohibited him from posting about court personnel after he truth-socialed shit about the judge's clerk.
Well! It turns out that that mean tweet was left up on his campaign website for 17 days after the judge issued the gag order and the original truth social post had been deleted. Judge Engoron fined him $5000.
And some have cautioned that the gags are an overreach and a violation of T****'s First Amendment rights. Writers like Erwin Chemerinsky in the Los Angeles Times, who called it unconstitutional, and Jonathan Turley writing for The Hill, who called for it to be struck down.
As the American Civil Liberty Union notes, however, "freedom of speech does not prevent punishing conduct that intimidates, harasses, or threatens another person, even if words are used." Freedom of speech ends when the speech interferes with others' rights. We the People have a right to a fair trial as well! Gag orders are not uncommon, and his status as a candidate should not factor in to protecting his harassing speech.
Other Trial News
The Mar-a-lago case
Co-defendant Waltine Nauta had a Garcia hearing, which considers conflict of interest issues. Nauta has retained T**** organization attorney Stanley Woodword. Woodward would be resonsible for cross-examining the third co-conspirator in the case, Yuscil Taveras. The trouble is that Woodward represented Taveras before Taveras fired him and switched to a public defender and decided to tell the truth. Judge Aileen Cannon criticized prosecutor Jack Smith's timing in bringing about the conflict-of-interest concerns. In the end, the judge ruled that Nauta could continue with Woodward despite potential conflicts of interest, and Woodward stated that he would not question current or former clients.
The New York State campaign Fraud / Stormy Daniels case
No news at this time. It's been put on the back burner so that the other cases can move forward a little more easily.
Section Three Clarification
Last time I wrote, I said that the 14th Amendment, Section Three solution was dead in the water. That wasn't quite true. There are some lawsuits that are going ahead to force the issue, and no ban on T****'s candidacy will go forward without some court decisions. The groups who are pursuing a disqualification in some states face many challenges, however, and because of that I sort of prematurely called an "out" on that play. For accuracy's sake, I'll outline what the challenges at the state level are looking like.
Minnesota: A challenge has been mounted in Minnesota by a group called Free Speech for People. Minnesota's Secretary of State Steve Simon has asserted that the secretary "does not have authority to investigate a candidate’s ineligibility." This prompted the group to pursue the state's Supreme Court to weigh in. The court ruled against T****'s direct involvement in the suit, but is allowing a pathway to allow his and his campaign's participation. Oral arguments are set to begin on November 2.
Free Speech for People has also filed a lawsuit in Michigan. It is going ahead speedily.
In addition, Free Speech for People had written letters to the secretaries of state in several other states asking for a ban, including Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin, New Hampshire and New Mexico. The secretaries have pretty much all backed away, saying they don't want to appear partisan and that it's not in their scope to determine who is and isn't eligible.
The only other serious court case that I have found going ahead is in Colorado. A group called Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has filed a lawsuit to prevent T**** from appearing on the ballot there. The court has repeatedly rejected T****'s efforts to shut the lawsuit down. The trial in Colorado is set to begin on October 30.
A lot has happened in the few weeks since my last post. My thoughts have been otherwise consumed. I'll try to catch up with a quick digest!
Section Three of the 14th Amendment
My last post was all about Section Three of the 14th Amendment, which mandates that no one who "has engaged in insurrection or rebellion" may "hold any office, civil or military, under the United States." Seems that the Section Three boat is dead in the water as a solution to the Orange Problem. And I understand the reasoning. There is little precendent, and there are other legal questions to be answered before action barring him should be undertaken (for example, is he an "officer" of the United States?)
He may become a more dangerous beast if anything other than voting keeps him from office, and violence could erupt if any state official kept him off the ballot. True, voting barely worked the last time, and it didn't keep violence at bay. But it's our republic's weapon, and we must use it.
Here is a very good analysis from Ruth Marcus at the The Washington Post. And Politico describes how some Democrat secretaries of state are not keen on it either. So, as elegant, interesting, and correct the idea is, it has evolved to be just a thought experiment. We have to gear up for battle at the voting booth.
T**** endorsed the idea of executing General Mark Milley
Just another day in 'murkkka. Read in The Atlantic. Disgusting.
I don't know what scares me more. That he throws these kinds of ideas out there so casually, or that his worshippers not only not budge in their support, but they lap it up.
Jim Jordan's Mouth
Jim Jordan did his mouth thing again when he demanded that Georgia prosecutor Fani Willis turn over all her evidentiary documents to Congress. And Willis shot back. Hard.
In a scathing nine-page letter to Jordan, she took him to school. First class: Constitution 101. She wrote, “Your attempt to invoke congressional authority to intrude upon and interfere with an active criminal case in Georgia is flagrantly at odds with the Constitution ... There is absolutely no support for Congress purporting to second guess or somehow supervise an ongoing Georgia criminal investigation and prosecution. That violation of Georgia’s sovereignty is offensive and will not stand." She pointedly wrote, "Your notion that different standards of justice should apply to a select group of people is offensive." And added, "those who wish to avoid felony charges in Fulton County, Georgia ... should not commit felonies in Fulton County, Georgia” and suggested that Jordan "consider directing the USDOJ to investigate the racist threats that have come to my staff and me because of this investigation." She went on to say that she will not "be bullied and threatened by Members of Congress, local elected officials, or others who believe lady justice should not be blind and that America has different laws for different citizens." Butthead. (Ok, so that was mine)
Cassidy Hutchison, former aide to T**** Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and star witness in the January 6 Congressional hearings, came out with a new tell-all book. And tell all she did! My goodness, lots of disturbing things within. I haven't read it, but the press has described a few concerning things.
Rudy Giuliani groped her at the January 6 rally.
Mark Meadows's clothing smelled like a "bonfire" after burning so many documents in his Whitewash office fireplace.
Meadows got accidentally drunk when he downed three and a half White Claws, not knowing they contained alcohol (Meadows doesn't drink).
Meadows admitted that he helped to "kill Herman Cain" by going ahead with the superspreader event held indoors in Tulsa in June, 2020.
T**** didn't like to wear masks because it smeared his bronzer. So, how many lives were lost based on that one vanity?
And speaking of Covid, after the election, precautions went out the window and visitors were allowed in the Whitewash House even if they tested positive.
T**** admitted to Meadows that he had lost the election.
The leader of the Odious Eight, Matt Gaetz, hit on her numerous times. Ewwwwww!
You can read about all that and more from Yahoo News or NY Magazineor scurry down to your local independent bookstore, buy her book, and see for yourself!
Speaking of the Odious Eight...
I don't usually address all the myriad aspects of the monkey circus that is today's Republican Party, but Matty G and his band of gormless grubs threw the House in disarray when they ousted Kevin McCarthy as Speaker. Again, another first in history.
And yet, it's not so surprising. The Odious Eight set the stage for chaos. They forced McCarthy into making tons of concessions just to get elected to the speakership after a historic 15 rounds of voting. One concession was that a single member could force a vote to remove the Speaker. And not-so-surprisingly, Kevin is blaming the Democrats for the dysfunction.
It is not clear who will take the speakership. Steve Scalise and Jim Jordan are running for the position, but it's not clear that either has the votes.
T**** has made it known that he would like the position himself, and there is nothing in the Constitution that says he can't. At least one writer, Rex Huppke from USA Today, suggests that T**** go ahead and take it. I mean, why not? It would skip a few steps. As it stands today, though, he has endorsed Mr. Sweaty himself, the foaming-mouth Jim Jordan.
And remember this about Matt Gaetz
Emma Specter in Vogue (I love that hard journalism sometimes comes from fashion magazines. Strong women, strong country!) wants us not to forget what Gaetz is all about. He is a vile, vile man.
"Word salad"
T**** has been stumping on the campaign trail, though he has skipped both of the Repug debates VP auditions.
And it hasn't gone well.
A campaign rally in the middle of last month had him fretting about Biden starting World War II, and suggested that he beat Barack Obama in the last election and is besting him in the latest polls as well.
“We would be in World War II.” Trump has lost it, he’s demonstrating how cognitively impaired he is. Watch him ramble, stumble on his words, blank out, then turn to reading the teleprompter to save himself, reading it intently. And he still misspeaks. (Video: Newsmax) pic.twitter.com/cS1GLrPHL3
And in another campaign stop, he blathered these things. Not only is it bizarre, but his speech seems dysarthric to me.
There 👏🏼 is 👏🏼 something 👏🏼 neurological 👏🏼 going 👏🏼 on 👏🏼 with 👏🏼 this 👏🏼 man.
And in the court cases:
Judge Chutkan in Washington declined to recuse herself
The tangerine turd made a bid for Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing the Federal January 6 case against him, to recuse herself. She declined.
Judge Cannon in Florida has paused the case
Judge Aileen "Loose" Cannon, overseeing the classified documents case in Florida federal court, has put a pause on proceedings while she thinks about T****'s request to extend some deadlines.
Judge McAfee in Georgia will continue to preside over the case
Judge Scott McAfee, who is overseeing the Georgia election interference case, won't need to consider a motion to move T****'s trial to federal court because T**** withdrew his bid to move it. There is speculation why he changed his mind, and Harry Litman writing in the Los Angeles Times, surmises that it's because the judge is a white former member of the Federalist Society, and T**** "may have better prospects for charming and cajoling McAfee" than Judge Steve C. Jones, who would be the one to preside in federal court, and who last month shut down Mark Meadows's bid to move his trial there.
Judge Merchan in Manhattan is mulling a motion
Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the hush-money case in Manhattan, has a motion in front of him to dismiss the case. Ain't gonna happen.
Judge Engoron in New York found "overwhelming fraud"
The civil fraud case is heating up. T**** is finding himself in quite the hot soup in New York.
Judge Arthur Engoron found that the evidence of fraud by T**** and the T**** Organization was so overwhelming that he made a summary judgement that there was fraud before the trial even started. The fraudster had inflated the worth of his properties massively (for example, Mar-a-Lago's value was inflated by 2300%, and the square footage in his apartment in T**** Tower was inflated from about 11,000 square feet to 30,000 square feet) to garner improved terms from lending institutions. He lived in a "fantasy world" according to the judge.
The trial, which was lost before it started, will simply determine how much the Ochre Ogre will have to pay in fines. It could be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. He may also lose several properties. The trial started last week.
You can watch Lisa Rubin on MSNBC to get the latest developments in that trial.
Judge Engoron issued a gag order based on the egregious truth social posts. Finally! His actionopens the door to other judges deciding the same. Judge Tanya Chutkan is also contemplating a gag order.
Co-defendants in the Georgia case are starting to plead. Scott Hall, the Georgia bail bondsman who was accused of breaching voting equipment, was first. Hall pled guilty to five misdemeanor counts of conspiracy and will receive probation in exchange for his cooperation.
Since then, "a handful" of other co-defendants have been working with prosecutor Fani Willis to make deals.
Let's get that tiny-handed turncoat to the stockade -- STAT!
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