Part X: Felonious Sex Crimes and Political Violence.
(Steps #833 – 875.)
__________
“All right, folks, now
just to note: Newsmax has accepted the election results as legal and final.”
Eric Bolling
__________
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E. Jean Carroll, in an older picture. |
WITH the former president of the
United States now facing three indictments, the court battles continue.
Losses for Trump and his allies keep
piling up.
We pick up our numbering again, desperately
hoping to lead the MAGA true believers, step by simple step, to the Truth.
___
“Mr. Trump forcibly digitally penetrated
Ms. Carroll.”
833. August 7, 2023: We learn that the
former president needs some new lawyers – and not the kind who are going to get
sanctioned and/or indicted. A federal judge throws out Donald’s
countersuit against E. Jean Carroll, who sued him for defamation after he
repeatedly called her a liar. The central issue was her claim that Donald raped
her in a dressing room in New York City almost thirty years ago.
The jury (in what was a civil
case) found Trump guilty of “sexual assault,” but not rape,
and awarded Ms. Carroll $5 million in damages.
834. Donald has millions of dopes who
donate to his 2024 presidential campaign, which actually means they end up
paying his legal bills. So he sued Carroll for damaging his pristine,
do-no-wrong reputation. The former president wanted her to pay damages to
him, but the judge told him no.
His lawyer, Alina Habba, called it a
“flawed decision,” and said she and Donald’s other legal wizards would appeal.
835. Ms. Habba has already been sanctioned by one judge for filing a
stupid lawsuit; so now she may be going for two.
(In that first case, Habba
and Trump had to fork over $937,000.)
 |
Money down the drain.
|
836. “The difference between Ms. Carroll’s
allegedly defamatory statements – that Mr. Trump ‘raped’ her as defined in the
New York Penal Law – and the ‘truth’ – that Mr. Trump forcibly digitally
penetrated Ms. Carroll – are minimal,” Judge Lewis A. Kaplan wrote in
Monday’s ruling.
“Both are felonious sex crimes.”
837. With Donald, there’s always proof somewhere that he changes his mind more often
than a toddler changes direction in a playroom stocked with shiny toys. Back in
the day, when he was president, and hated the free press for reporting on
everything he said – he made it clear what he thought about defamation laws in
this country. He wanted to make it easier to sue people – for example,
reporters he didn’t like.
“We are going to take a strong look at
our country’s libel laws, so that when somebody says something that is false
and defamatory about someone, that person will have meaningful recourse in our
courts,” he told reporters gathered at the end of a White House cabinet
meeting.
“Our current libel laws are a sham and
a disgrace and do not represent American values or American fairness.”
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Habba, second from left, brings the cleavage.
|
Kari Lake denies another
election – in Ohio.
August 8, 2023 (Special Election Day):
In an attempt to trick the people of Ohio, GOP lawmakers decide to hold a
special election, at a cost of $25 million. Voters will have one decision
to make, to vote “yes,” or “no” on Issue 1. If Issue 1 passes, the way the
state constitution is amended will change, altering a system that had been in
place for over a century. No longer will citizens decide on adding amendments
by majority rule. If Issue 1 is adopted, it will require 60% of voters to
approve an amendment.
838. First, we should note that Issue
1 gets trampled; 57% of voters choose “no.” Only 43% vote “yes.”
And, coming in November, will be an
issue to amend the Ohio Constitution and protect a woman’s right to choose.
839. How, you may wonder, does this
relate to the general topic of stolen elections? Thanks for asking. Kari Lake,
Imaginary Governor of Arizona, had previously visited Ohio in an effort to drum
up support for the “yes” side. As is her unvarying style, she refused to accept election results. Lake claimed the election was rigged
– which is kind of amusing – since elections in Ohio are currently run by Republican
elected officials.
840. Kari never said the 2020 election
in Ohio was rigged, when Trump carried the state by eight points.
841. Nor was the election rigged in
2022, when J.D. Vance won a six-year term in the U.S. Senate.
(Only elections that
Republicans lose are rigged.)
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Vance wins - election not rigged! |
A First Amendment
defense?
842. August 9, 2023: The former
president makes an appearance on Newsmax, and tells host Eric Bolling all about
how wrong it is he’s being indicted for trying to steal the last presidential
election. Bolling’s job is not to ask probing questions, but to let viewers
listen to Trump rant, and fill their heads with pudding. At one point, Donald angrily insists, “I believe I won that election by many, many votes, many,
many hundreds of thousands of votes. That’s what I think.”
(What Donald “thinks”
does not equal proof
in court.)
843. If you’re paying strict
attention, it’s noteworthy how Trump phrases this claim. He’s now hedging his
comments – to say, “that’s what I think.” He’s clearly looking at using a First
Amendment defense in his forthcoming trial, related to the Jack Smith federal
indictment. If he expresses his views as an opinion (as here), it may help. He
can claim he didn’t try to overturn the 2020 election results illegally,
because he really, really, really, really believed he won.
844. Bolling doesn’t care if what
Trump has said is twaddle. But he has to come back after a commercial break. “All right, folks, now
just to note: Newsmax has accepted the election results as legal and final.”
The channel is already
being sued for defamation, after spreading the lie that Dominion Voting Systems
were critical to rigging the election. So Bolling has to avoid stepping on
another legal land mine.
“Force is the first
law?”
845. August 12, 2023:
Speaking alongside Trump at the Iowa State Fair on Saturday, Rep. Matt Gaetz
had another great idea on how to save America.
And save Donald’s lard ass, and maybe his own.
Gaetz told a crowd that
Democrats were “weaponizing” the justice system. He said they were going after
“patriotic Americans who love this nation.” He and Donald, he added, were
having a wonderful time at the fair – corndogs and such – and schmoozing with
the crowd. “But we know that only through force do we make any change in a
corrupt town like Washington D.C.” For good measure, he warned the MAGA faithful
that the government was coming for them, too!!
Maybe some Iowan in a Trump
baseball cap will be indicted for making a butter sculpture of a cow, but this blogger doubts
it.
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Beware the butter cow!
|
846. Plus, Matt might want
to remember what Adolf Hitler once said, when stirring the Nazi mobs: “Force is
the first law.”
It’s also worth
remembering, that during the January 6 Committee hearings, three different
witnesses (all
under oath), who worked in the Trump White House, said that in the waning days
of Donald’s presidency, Gaetz had a request. Fearing he could be charged for
breaking the law to try to keep Trump in office – and for a matter involving
alleged sex trafficking of a minor – Matt requested a blanket pardon.
847. Matt, however, denies
it – but not under oath.
848. Out in Arizona, a Maricopa County judge allows a
defamation lawsuit against Ms. Lake to move forward. Kari had boldly
insisted, as her defense against defamation, that any lies she told about her
2022 defeat in the race to become governor were covered by the First Amendment.
(In Kari Land, lying – defamation if you will – would be
“free speech.”)
849. Nope, said the judge. Kari had repeatedly claimed that
Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer had helped sabotage her chances.
In a lengthy ruling, Judge
Jay Adleman said it was clear that claims made by Lake and her campaign were
not, as her lawyers claimed, “mere rhetorical hyperbole.”
Lake had insisted that “improper
19-inch ballots” were used to damage her chances of winning, and claimed
300,000 “illegal, invalid, phony or bogus” were counted. Judge
Adleman ruled that such statements “may be discerned by a factfinder [at a
coming trial] as either true or false when considered in the light of any
available evidence. These statements constitute assertions of fact
[emphasis added] that are actionable under prevailing Arizona law.”
850. In other words, Kari will have to
prove her statements were true and show that she did not act with “actual
malice.”
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that people who
are considered public figures, like Richer, cannot sue for defamation unless
they can prove by clear and convincing evidence that the statements were made
with actual malice. In general, that means the person making the statement knew
it to be false or that the statement was made with a reckless disregard for the
truth.
Since poor Kari has repeatedly failed to prove she was
cheated out of a win in court, chances she can prove it now are slim.
851. Mr. Richer – a Republican, like Ms. Lake – said he was
relieved by the court’s decision. “My family and I have faced endless
and vile threats, including calls for our execution, and I’ve lost important
personal relationships and seen my reputation severely damaged by [the]
defendants.
“Working as a public servant should not lead
to death threats, harassment or defamation,” he added.
855: In months to follow, Ms. Lake was
regularly floated as a possible vice presidential candidate on the Trump
2024 ticket. Two lying peas in a pod – two shameless
individuals, unconcerned if their lies lead to death threats aimed at others.
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Liars lying together: Ms. Lake. |
August 12, 2023: Candidate
Trump spends his day “truthing” on his personal vanity social media site, Truth
Social (similar to the old Soviet newspaper, Pravda, which meant in
Russia, “truth”).
856. Donald wanted to attack the Georgia
prosecutor who he
had heard was likely to have a grand jury indict his ass in the coming
week.
I hear that RACIST Fulton County (Atlanta) District
Attorney “Phoney” Fani Willis, who weakly presides over one of the deadliest
communities in the U.S., with thousands of murderers, violent criminals &
gang members roaming the streets while going untried, free, & are treated
with “kid gloves,” is using a potential indictment of me, and other innocent
people, as a campaign and fundraising CON JOB, all based on a PERFECT PHONE
CALL, AS PRESIDENT, CHALLENGING ELECTION FRAUD – MY DUTY & RIGHT!
“Republicans should never let
honesty be mistaken for weakness.”
857. Meanwhile, Trump is sure to add
another name to the list of people he hates, after they testify under oath.
Georgia Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan says he has been “requested to testify before the Fulton County grand jury on
Tuesday.” He adds that he is looking “forward to answering their questions
around the 2020 election.” Then, he notes, “Republicans should never let
honesty be mistaken for weakness.”
858. Journalist George
Chidi has also been asked to testify. On December 14, 2020,
he stumbled into a meeting of sixteen Republicans pretending to be Georgia’s
real Electoral College voters. What, in fact, he interrupted that day was what
had been meant to remain secret: a meeting of Georgia’s alternate slate of
electors (fakes, really), who would pledge their votes to the Orange Dumpling
from Mar-a-Lago, in hopes of bamboozling the fools who love Trump more than
they love the rule of law.
“A national security threat to the United
States of America.”
859. Elsewhere, we can report a brief touch
of hope. GOP presidential candidate Will Hurd shows up in Iowa to
campaign. In a radio interview he describes the former
president as “a
national security threat to the United States of America,” and says, “we need
to be honest about that.”
Addendum: Multiple Death
Threats.
August 13, 2023: With former President
Trump continuing to attack judges, prosecutors and witnesses who might indict,
try, or testify against him in multiple investigations, worries abound.
860. In Georgia, where a fresh
indictment seems likely, state election official Gabriel Sterling speaks his mind. He’s afraid there will be violence. “It’s not going to mean organized things,” he
said Sunday. “It’s not going to be a bunch of conspirators together. It’s going
to be one probably mentally unstable individual who’s going to be radicalized
through this process and that’s my biggest concern through this.”
Sterling is a Republican.
Trump is what worries him most.
861. We won’t know this until later, but Fani
Willis, the Fulton County District Attorney, will become the target of non-stop death
threats. On October 30, 2023, Arthur Ray Hanson II, an Alabama man and fan of
Trump, will be arrested for threatening both Willis and Sheriff Pat
Labat, who takes the infamous mug shot of Trump.
“When you charge Trump on that fourth indictment,
anytime you’re alone, be looking over your shoulder,” Hanson allegedly
warns Ms. Willis.
As for Labat, Hanson had this to say: “If you
take a mug shot of the president and you’re the reason it happened, some bad
(expletive)’s gonna happen to you,” and “You gonna get (expletive) up you keep
(expletive) with my president.”
862. As these cases play out against Trump (innocent
until proven guilty, of course), death threats have become a common element. In
the same way, we learn that another
right-wing genius, James W. Clark, decided he was going to send bomb threats to
Arizona election officials, because it was pissing him off to see Republicans
keep losing state elections.
In the wake of Trump’s loss in 2020, Clark
warned that if the attorney general did not resign “her” office within 48 hours an “explosive device impacted in her personal
space will be detonated.”
863. Besides being morally wrong, Clark was factually
wrong. The attorney general at the time was a Republican gentleman.
864. Nor was Clark the only Trump-loving nut to
have gone after Arizona officials. Mark A. Rissi, of Hiawatha, Iowa, has
previously pleaded guilty to threatening both AG Mark Brnovich and Clint
Hickman, of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. First, in December
2021, had come this cheery voicemail greeting:
This message is for Attorney General Mark Brnovich . . . . I’m a victim
of a crime. My family is a victim of a crime. My extended family is a victim of
a crime. That crime was the theft of the 2020 election. The election that was
fraudulent across the state of Arizona, that the Attorney General knows was
fraudulent, that the Attorney General has images of the conspirators deleting
election fraud data from the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors computer
system. Do your job, Brnovich, or you will hang with those [expletive] in the
end. We will see to it. Torches and pitchforks. That’s your future,
[expletive]. Do your job.
Then, a few months later, came a message for
Mr. Hickman:
Hello Mr. Hickman, I am glad that you are standing up for democracy and
want to place your hand on the Bible and say that the election was honest and
fair. I really appreciate that. When we come to lynch your stupid lying Commie
[expletive], you’ll remember that you lied on the [expletive] Bible, you piece
of [expletive]. You’re gonna die, you piece of [expletive]. We’re going to hang
you. We’re going to hang you.
Both Brnovich and Hickman are Republicans.
And we’re not done yet!
865. Judge Tanya Chutkan, who will be overseeing one of the four trials
involving Mr. Trump, was allegedly threatened by a Texas woman, Abigail Jo
Shry. “You are in our sights, we want to kill you,”
Shry reportedly said in one voice mail. “Trump doesn’t get elected
in 2024, we are coming to kill you, so tread lightly, b****.”
Trump has never condemned those making death
threats.
866.
So, let’s end this post with a list of just some of the people who have
been threatened with death, simply for doing their jobs – but crossing Donald
J. Trump, as he describes it, in some way.
1. Richard Barron,
Fulton County, Georgia election official (singled out by Trump).
2. Jocelyn Benson,
Michigan Secretary of State.
3. Seth Bluestein,
deputy to Al Schmidt (below), who got anti-Semitic threats.
4 . Kathy Boockvar,
Pennsylvania Secretary of State; like many on this list, she had to go into
hiding.
5. Arizona Attorney
General Mark Brnovich (as described above).
6. Dr. Eric Coomer,
security director for Dominion Voting Systems.
7. Judge Tanya Chutkan
(as described).
8. Judge Arhtur
Engoron, who presided in the New York fraud trial against Mr. Trump
9. Ruby Freeman,
low-level Georgia poll worker.
10. Jordan Fuchs, deputy to Georgia Secretary of State
Brad Raffensperger.
11. Jena Griswold,
Colorado Secretary of State.
12. Allison Greenfield,
Judge Engoron’s law clerk
13. Clint Hickman,
Maricopa County Board of Supervisors (as above).
14. Katie Hobbs,
then-Arizona Secretary of State.
15. Ralph Jones, Fulton County registration chief.
16. Four Colorado
judges who ruled that Trump was ineligible to run for office after inciting the
January 6 attack on Congress
17. Governor Brian Kemp
of Georgia.
18. Kemp’s wife (not previously mentioned in any of my
posts).
19. Kemp’s daughter
20. His other daughter
21. And…his other
daughter
22. Christopher Krebs,
head of the Department of Homeland Security’s cybersecurity unit (a Trump
appointee).
23. Sheriff Pat Labat
(as above).
24. Antonio Luna,
employee of the Maricopa County, Arizona Elections Department.
25. Staci McElyea and other workers in the Nevada Secretary of State’s
office.
26. Rep. Pete Meijer,
who voted to impeach Trump.
27. Gen. Mark Milley,
former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
28. Shaye Moss,
low-level Georgia poll worker, who got racist threats, as did her son.
29. Ms. Moss’s
14-year-old son.
30. Vice President Mike
Pence.
31. Georgia Secretary
of State Brad Raffensperger.
32. Secretary
Raffensperger’s wife, who also got sexualized threats.
33. Secretary
Raffensperger’s daughter.
34. Stephen Richer
35. Richer’s family
36. Al Schmidt,
Philadelphia city commissioner, a Republican singled out by Trump.
37. Schmidt’s wife.
38. Schmidt’s children.
39. Also, the other Philadelphia commissioner.
40. And the other,
other city commissioner.
41. A senior election
official for the City of Philadelphia.
42. Leslie Stahl,
interviewer on 60 Minutes.
43. Gabriel Sterling,
chief operating officer for Georgia Secretary of State.
44. Janice Winfrey,
Detroit city clerk.
45. Milwaukee’s city
election commissioner, Claire Woodall-Vogg.
46. Unnamed Arizona
voting official (now wearing body armor).
47. Unnamed young
Georgia poll worker.
48. Unnamed members of
the Fulton County, Georgia voter education and outreach staff.
49. Unnamed workers at twelve Georgia polling places,
prior to a special election, (bomb threat).
50. Twenty-three
members of the Georgia grand jury that recommended indicting Trump. (The
vote was 23-0.)
51. Unnamed Michigan
electors, who voted to certify electoral votes for Biden.
52. Unnamed workers at
the Vermont state election office.
53. Unnamed F.B.I. agents in Cincinnati (an armed man shows up
at their office and is killed in a shootout).
54. President Joseph R.
Biden Jr.
ABC News has previously done an interesting story, featuring 54 acts of
violence,
inspired by Trump.
867. The Reuters News
Agency tracked down two dozen threateners and found that most were
unrepentant.
868. Also unrepentant,
this guy:
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Support for political violence should
be unacceptable.
869. BLOGGER’S NOTE: No true American should be happy to
hear that so many of Trump’s enemies have been threatened, or that in the case
of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, that he had been badly injured in a hammer attack at his home, by a Trump-believing
election denier.
870. In the same way, no sane person could be happy to know
that a weirdo with an AR-15 managed to nearly kill Trump, himself, while he was speaking at a campaign rally in
Butler, Pennsylvania.
872. Or happy that the assassin had done research online, apparently considering other targets, including President
Biden.
873. Or happy when a second would-be assassin – again, with
an AR-15 – set up position near a Trump golf course in Florida, and prepared to
open fire when the target in a golf cart presented. That’s two more nuts to add to our tale.
874. As a good liberal, then, allow me to say that I do not
believe every nut case with enough dollars should be able to get his or her or
they’s hands on military-grade firepower.
“They’s” as in transgender individuals – who Team Trump campaign
ads are focusing on as some sort of godawful threat to democracy, and the
American Way of Life (as defined in 1950.)
875. Finally, we should add that when Trump makes a joke
about Nancy Pelosi’s injured husband, that’s what makes the man uniquely,
especially dangerous.
