Trump supporters and conspiracy theory - Part 2

[Rick Plant]

'Tell us what you know': Legal analyst says next Trump charge could be a warning to those around him

The next indictment Donald Trump faces, for alleged 2020 election misconduct, could be a warning to those in the former president's orbit, according to a legal analyst from MSNBC on Thursday.

Lisa Rubin appeared on MSNBC Thursday evening, and was asked about the timing of the purported indictment from Jack Smith.

"The former president has already received a target letter. But there are still witnesses who are testifying. What is going on? What does it tell you about the timing here?" the host asked.

Rubin replied, "In the last indictment from this office of the special counsel, there was a target letter sent to President Trump in mid-May. He was not indicted until June 8th. And we obviously know that, up through and including June 8th, there were witnesses that testified before the grand jury. It was that morning that I caught up with Stan Woodward, who, ironically, is also Will Russell's attorney escorting -- into that courthouse. So, it doesn't necessarily mean that both things can't be true. There can be witnesses scheduled, and we can still be barreling toward an indictment."

She added, "One other possibility is that the special counsel is preparing to indict former president Trump and a couple of people close to him, as they did in the records investigation, with Trump and Walt Nauta ... It may be that they are doing the exact reverse that you would expect in an investigation, particularly of this magnitude, but rather than first charge of the lowest level offenders and try to flip them, as you pursue the king pin, they are first going to pursue the king pin, especially because they're running out of time and, essentially, show everybody else, this is what we have. And if you want to avoid the same, now is a good time to come in and tell us what you know."

Watch:

Jack Smith's TARGET LETTER to Trump identifies 3 crimes he committed. Why these 3? Here's why

Special Counsel Jack Smith sent Donald Trump a "target letter," putting him on notice that he is the target of the grand jury's criminal investigation of the crimes that were committed on and around January 6, 2021, and identifying three specific federal statutes on which the grand jury may indict him.

This video does a deep dive into the three crimes included in Trump's target letter, and why Smith may have chosen the three crimes he did, while DECLINING to include the crime of insurrection.

Watch:

Target letter REVEALS CHARGES against Trump

The target letter special counsel Jack Smith sent Trump listed the three charges he will face: conspiracy to defraud the US Government, obstruction of an official proceeding, and deprivation of civil rights which will likely focus on the insurrection's direct effect on Congresspeople.

TALKING FEDS PODCAST is a roundtable discussion that brings together prominent former government officials, journalists, and special guests for a dynamic and in-depth analysis of the most pressing questions in law and politics.

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

'I can guarantee' Trump is thinking about jail every night: criminal defense lawyer



A prominent criminal defense attorney said Thursday that despite Donald Trump’s outward swagger, his mounting legal troubles have left the former president worried about serving time behind bars.

“He's facing 71 felony counts, you may have at least two more indictments, one of these cases or more is going to get tried, right?" A. Scott Bolden said during an appearance on MSNBC’s “All In with Chris Hayes.”

“And if you don't plea out, and you get convicted in state court and or federal court, and you've never been in trouble before, there's a high probability that you're going to be sentenced,” Bolden said.

“I don't care whether you're a former president, whether you're running for office or not. The criminal justice system cares nothing about that despite all the political machinations about how this been weaponized, prosecutors and what have you.”

And Bolden said he has no doubt Trump is aware of this.

“I can guarantee, I can guarantee you every night, Donald Trump is thinking about his liberty and his freedom despite his bravado,” Bolden said.

“I've represented business leaders, corporate CEOs, athletes, entertainers, and a lot of politicians who've run for office and under indictment. And I can tell you in their private moments with their lawyers, and with their families, they're thinking about that future and Donald Trump is worried about this now.”

Watch:

Mark Meadows' 'radio silence' likely means cooperation in Trump probe: Ex-prosecutor

A former U.S. attorney on Thursday suggested that Mark Meadows’ “radio silence” amid Donald Trump’s ongoing legal troubles indicates he’s likely cooperating with investigators.

Vance was responding to guest host Jason Johnson’s comment that “the fact that one of the main conspirators, somebody who was intimately involved in the process at least legally trying to overthrow the 2020 election, that he hasn't been on the talk circuit, that we haven't heard that much about. We know he's testified, but he's been kind of quiet.”

Jones had just played video of conservative activist and attorney George Conway discussing Meadows’ plight.

“I just have the feeling something is going on there,” Conway said.

“I mean, he's someone who ought to be every bit as exposed as Donald Trump, yet he's been so quiet, it just seems like there's something up with him.”

Vance took Conway’s comments a step further.

“He's been awfully quiet, and I think George is an astute observer here. Look, Mark Meadows is someone who in some ways makes his living by promoting himself and his work, his book on television. It's surprising to have seen him go to radio silence,” Vance said.

“That's something that we often see with people who have struck a cooperation deal with the government.”

But Vance cautioned that “That's not the only conclusion that we could reach here, he could simply be trying to keep himself out of it with a low profile, knowing he does have considerable exposure. But the reality is that Mark Meadows was in the mix, he appeared to be the gate keeper and the coordinator for much of the planning that went on in advance of January 6.”

“He would be a possible target or at least a subject of the government's investigation and if he has in fact agreed to cooperate with the government, he, too, would offer very high value. He's probably the most important cooperator that the government would be able to land because of his access, and not only his conversations with the former president, but his constant text messaging with all sorts of people, including a lot of the lawyers who have been identified as part of the fake slates of electors planning and the efforts to use the Justice Department to perpetuate the big lie and the notion that there was fraud in the election when there wasn't, so it's a very interesting absence from the public square with Mark Meadows.”

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

BREAKING: Trump and 18 others have been charged with 41 counts in a sprawling RICO indictment in Fulton County, Georgia. Here are the charges against trump.

Meadows is CHARGED - which means he didn’t get a deal.

[Rick Plant]

Georgia indicts Trump and 18 allies on charges in election interference case — former president's 4th criminal indictment

A grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia, has indicted former President Donald Trump and more than a dozen of his associates with election fraud, racketeering and other charges related to alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said at a news conference Monday night that arrest warrants have been issued for all the defendants in the case, and they have until noon on Aug. 25 to surrender.

Trump, the first former president in U.S. history to face criminal charges, has now been charged in four separate cases involving allegations that bookend his presidency.

The indictment names Trump as the top defendant and 18 others, including Rudy Giuliani, his former lawyer; John Eastman, a conservative lawyer; and Mark Meadows, former White House chief of staff. Other co-defendants include Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department official; and Sidney Powell and Jenna Ellis, conservative lawyers who pushed baseless claims of voter fraud.

The filing lists 41 total counts, including 13 against Trump, and notes there are 30 unindicted co-conspirators. In all, 19 defendants are charged with "the offense of violation of the Georgia RICO Act," among other charges.

The indictment describes the group as "a criminal organization whose members and associates engaged in various related criminal activities including, but not limited to, false statements and writings, impersonating a public officer, forgery, filing false documents, influencing witnesses, computer theft, computer trespass, computer invasion of privacy, conspiracy to defraud the state, acts involving theft, and and perjury."

The 98-page indictment lays out a scheme that began with Trump's loss in the 2020 presidential election, including in the state of Georgia, and says that those charged "refused to accept that Trump lost, and they knowingly and willfully joined a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favor of Trump."

"That conspiracy contained a common plan and purpose to commit two or more acts of racketeering activity in Fulton County, Georgia, elsewhere in the state of Georgia, and in other states," the filing states.

The indictment describes several schemes allegedly used by Trump and his co-defendants to attempt to reverse his electoral loss, including making false statements to state legislatures and top state officials; creating fake Electoral College documents and recruiting supporters to cast false votes at the Georgia Capitol; harassing Fulton County election worker Ruby Freeman; and "corruptly" soliciting senior Justice Department officials and then-Vice President Mike Pence.

It also accuses members of the "enterprise" of stealing data, including ballot images, voting equipment software and personal voter information, from Coffee County, Georgia, and making false statements to government investigators.

The charges against Trump

The indictment charges Trump with the following felony counts:

Violating the Georgia RICO Act
Three counts of solicitation of violation of oath by public officer
Conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer
Conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree
Conspiracy to commit false statements and writings
Two counts of conspiracy to commit filing false documents
Conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree
Two counts of false statements and writings; and filing false documents.

The grand jury returned the indictments around 9 p.m. ET and it took around two hours to process before the details became public.

The investigation, led by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, was prompted in part by a Jan. 2, 2021, phone call in which Trump told Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger: "I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state."

In a September 2022 statement, Trump called his conversation with Raffensperger "an absolutely PERFECT phone call" in which he did "nothing wrong." Trump has since repeated that that the call was "perfect," including at an Aug. 7 rally in New Hampshire.

The investigation grew from its initial focus, eventually probing a variety of efforts by Trump and his allies to undermine Joe Biden's victory in Georgia — including an alleged scheme to submit an alternate slate of electors committed to nominating Trump, attempts to pressure or intimidate election workers and, in at least one county, accessing election software and data.   

Over the course of about six months in 2022, the special purpose grand jury's dozens of interviews included Trump advisers such as attorney Rudy Giuliani and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, as well as Georgia officials such as Raffensperger and Gov. Brian Kemp. In January, it completed a report based on its investigation and turned it over to Willis, who ultimately decided to bring the charges before a regular grand jury.

Before any charges were released to the public Monday, the Trump campaign released a statement calling Willis a "rabid partisan" who "stalled her investigation to try and maximally interfere with the 2024 presidential race" and damage Trump's campaign.

Attorneys for Trump said in February that they would challenge any indictment filed by Willis' office.

Three other felony cases against Trump

The indictment in Georgia is now the fourth felony case filed against the former president.

In a New York State criminal case, Trump entered a not guilty plea on April 4 after he was charged with 34 felony counts of falsification of business records. The charges relate to alleged efforts to obscure the source of payments made to porn actress Stormy Daniels, who agreed in October 2016 not to speak publicly about an alleged affair with Trump. Trump has denied having the affair and any wrongdoing in connection with this case. He claims this case is also politically motivated.

He is also facing two federal cases filed by special counsel Jack Smith.

In Florida, Trump entered a not guilty plea on June 13 to 37 counts after he was indicted on allegations related to his handling of classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago residence after his presidency. He also pleaded not guilty in August to additional counts filed in a superseding indictment. Trump has denied wrongdoing and repeatedly criticized Smith, calling him a "radical."

And in Washington, D.C., Trump pleaded not guilty on August 3 to federal four counts related to an alleged conspiracy to thwart the electoral vote count following his 2020 election loss.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-charges-fulton-county-georgia-election-investigation/

[Rick Plant]

Trump and his co-conspirators will face racketeering charges for trying to steal the 2020 election.

Trump faces a RICO charge in Georgia. What is the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act?
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-georgia-indictment-what-are-rico-charges/

[Rick Plant]

This is huge!

Special counsel obtained Trump’s Twitter direct messages
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4155004-special-counsel-obtained-trumps-twitter-direct-messages/

[Rick Plant]

Read the full text of the Georgia Trump indictment document to learn more about the charges and co-conspirators

Former President Donald Trump and more than a dozen of his associates have been indicted on 41 counts by a grand jury in Georgia for election fraud, racketeering and other charges related to alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election.   

The indictment handed up by the Fulton County grand jury names Trump and 18 others, including his former lawyer Rudy Giuliani, his former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, conservative lawyer John Eastman, former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark and lawyers Sidney Powell and Jenna Ellis.

All 19 defendants are charged with violations of the Georgia RICO Act, among other counts, alleging a conspiracy "to unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favor of Trump," after refusing "to accept that Trump lost" the 2020 presidential election.

Read Here: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/read-trump-georgia-indictment-text-document-pdf-copy-charges/