Trump supporters and conspiracy theory - Part 2

[Rick Plant]

Judge warns ‘defendant’ Trump

[Rick Plant]

Donald Trump's Secret Service Agents Set to Testify Against Him



A number of Secret Service agents are set to testify as part of the federal investigation into Donald Trump's handling of classified documents, according to reports.

Fox News's Bret Baier said on Twitter that "multiple" Secret Service agents connected to the former president have been subpoenaed and are "expected to testify before the D.C. grand jury likely on Friday."

"The grand jury appearances are related to the Special Counsel Jack Smith probe into the handling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago," Baier tweeted on Monday.

A Fox News report gave no further details about the apparent upcoming testimonies from the Secret Service, other than to say they are scheduled to take place on April 7. ABC News also reported that multiple Secret Service agents had been subpoenaed, citing a source familiar with the situation. Newsweek reached out to the Secret Service via email for comment.

Trump is being investigated over allegations he mishandled sensitive materials retrieved from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida last August, then attempted to obstruct federal attempts to retrieve them.

Trump denies all wrongdoing in connection to the top-secret materials found at his home.

The reports of Secret Service subpoenas arrive after there have been other indications that Smith's investigation into Trump's handling of classified materials is ramping up.

On Sunday, The Washington Post reported the Department of Justice and the FBI have heard further evidence indicating possible obstruction was committed by the former president during his alleged attempts to hold on to then-sensitive materials removed from the White House in January 2021.

In a statement, Trump spokesman Steven Cheung hit out at the "witch-hunts" against the former president that "have no basis in facts or law."

The Post, citing unnamed sources, reported that investigators have evidence that Trump looked through some of the boxes of government documents in an apparent attempt to hold onto certain materials after receiving a federal subpoena to have them all returned in May 2022.

Trump is accused of telling people to mislead government officials who were trying to recover the materials, as well as instructing his lawyers to release statements that said he had returned them all to the National Archives and Records Administration.

It was previously reported that Walt Nauta, a valet driver at Mar-a-Lago, was allegedly ordered by Trump to move boxes of documents into a storage room at Mar-a-Lago after the former president received the government subpoena to return the classified materials.

In June 2022, Trump's legal team is said to have "explicitly prohibited" federal agents from looking inside a storage room at Mar-a-Lago during their first attempt to recover the long-sought-after materials from Trump's Florida home

The FBI raided Mar-a-Lago two months later and seized more than 100 classified and top-secret documents, including some found in the storage room.

In late March, one of Trump's lawyers, Evan Corcoran, was also ordered to testify and hand over documents such as transcripts of personal audio recordings in the classified materials probe.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Corcoran can answer questions after it supported a previous ruling from D.C. District Court Judge Beryl Howell, who said there is evidence former president may have used Corcoran's services to carry out a crime.

Corcoran previously testified to the classified document grand jury but declined to answer some questions while citing attorney-client privilege. The usually absolute privilege can be voided under what is known as the crime-fraud exception, meaning it cannot be invoked if a lawyer and their client are allegedly attempting to cover up or engage in a crime.

Corcoran is believed to have testified before the federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., on March 24.

"You can't get better evidence than a defendant's attorney's file. Defendants have to be candid with their attorney so their attorney can do their job," attorney Andrew Lieb, of the Lieb at Law firm, told Newsweek.

"If there is smoking gun evidence that will convict Trump, Corcoran has it, and the fact that an appellate court panel applied the Crime Fraud Exception to Privilege in a matter of hours, after reviewing that smoking gun evidence, indicates that we are in for a doozy on this one."

Trump is already set to be the first U.S. president to be charged with a crime when he surrenders in New York on Tuesday as part of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's hush money probe. Trump also denies all wrongdoing in connection to that investigation.

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-secret-service-agents-testify-against-him-1792195

[Rick Plant]

Wow!!

National security officials have already testified under oath that Trump repeatedly pushed them to seize voting machines in the 2020 election.

[Rick Plant]

Laurence Tribe @tribeLaw

Espionage, anyone?

Game, set, match.

Trump on Hannity gave away the ENTIRE game in the classified documents case:

**HE DID IT FOR PERSONAL PROFIT**

Why has no one jumped on this?

TRUMP: “I have the right to take stuff. You know they ended up paying Nixon $18 million for what he had.”

Watch Here: https://twitter.com/i/status/1642623915980619776

https://twitter.com/tribelaw/status/1643215266539528193

[Rick Plant]

A couple of days ago on Twitter, I tweeted out to my followers to watch and see how fast Trump's stooge supporters in Congress start to dump Trump after his arrest and arraignment. That will have a good indication of how they see him no longer viable in the party.

Well, it wasn't even 24 hours after Donnie was arrested when right wing MAGA Rep. Thomas Massie from Kentucky jumped ship and defected to DeSantis. Even Massie knows Trump is finished and headed for prison, otherwise he never would have left the cult.

 Looking forward to Trump raging over losing a cult member on "Truth Social". 

Republican Rep. Massie Defects to DeSantis Day After Trump Arrest
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/republican-rep-defects-desantis-day-212210632.html
   

[Rick Plant]

'Caged animal' Trump may need a 'secure padded cell' as trial progresses: psychiatrist



According to noted psychiatrist Dr. Justin Frank of the George Washington University Medical Center, the Donald Trump he watched enter a Manhattan courtroom last week looked completely deflated and aware that he is all alone as his world starts to collapse under investigative scrutiny.

Frank, author of "Trump on the Couch: Inside the Mind of the President," spoke with Salon's Chauncey DeVega, and was asked about Trump's state of mind now that he has been saddled with 34 felony counts that forced him to return to Manhattan to face the music.

Asked about the look on the former president's face as he entered the courtroom and glared at reporters, Frank explained that he saw a "defeated" man.

Saying Trump's initial expression "revealed" the real Trump, Frank explained, "At his core, what we see in that moment with Trump in Manhattan was that he knows he is a criminal who has finally been caught and may be held responsible for his wrongdoing."

"To be even blunter, Trump looked like a predatory animal that had been caged. 'Evil' is not a psychoanalytic term, but that was his affect in the moment," he continued. "What I also saw that was very striking in that moment was that Trump looked like he was full of self-pity, he was defeated and alone; he seemed to realize that nobody feels sorry for him."

With Salon's DeVega pointing out the former president looked like a "predator," Frank suggested the former president has never been more dangerous.

"Predators can massively regress in such circumstances and lose even a modicum of self-control. They lash out and need to be restrained for their safety and that of their caregivers. That's why we have secure padded cells (euphemized as "quiet rooms") inside locked wards in mental hospitals," he explained before adding, "When Trump is cornered, as he is now with this felony case, he will become increasingly paranoid or defeated. I don't know exactly what will happen with the likes of Trump because such human predators are usually denied bail or committed to a hospital for supervision — and medication."

Adding that Trump is "... is a child, emotionally" he continued, "The deep problem with Trump is that he is a bully. Trump is also a coward. The combination of those traits is very dangerous.

Even Trump's wife, let alone the rest of his family, didn't accompany him to his arraignment. Trump imagines that he is loved and supported by the American people. He's a person who is dominated by a need to spoil or attack what's good in other people -- and he does it all without an ounce of guilt. Trump views relationships and the world in a transactional way. Everything is about winning and losing. That is the way of the world for someone like Trump. Trump really does not have any real, honest friendships. You either sycophantically support and agree with him or you're written off.

On a certain level, Trump may know that he is alone and feeling lonely. Because of that deep self-pity, Trump is very happy to use a fake mugshot image as a way of taking advantage of other people and getting money from them — but on his own terms. By selling his own mugshot, Trump is actually reversing, in his mind, the feelings of humiliation he would experience from having his mugshot taken by the police. He's made a choice. It's about having power. As compared to how he looked in court, Trump has control over the fake mugshot. Donald Trump can turn any loss -- in his mind at least — into a gain. In his mind, Trump can do anything he wants.

Trump feeds on the unconditional love and adulation of his audience. It inflates him. He becomes more alive at Mar-a-Lago. Other people's fantasies of Trump make him feel powerful. But even there, Trump did not look as lively as usual. He was defeated on Tuesday. His need for narcissistic fuel was critical after being arraigned and he couldn't be completely satisfied in the usual ways. Trump is desperate.

Read More Here: https://www.salon.com/2023/04/07/he-is-visualizing-burning-things-and-blowing-them-up-how-may-be-coping-with-being-caught/

[Rick Plant]

Republicans locked into an 'escalating civil war' over Trump: report

The war between Donald Trump and the powerful Club for Growth is threatening to undermine the Republican party's plans for the 2024 election and that could blow up endorsement plans.

According to a report from the Daily Beast, the Club for Growth has made it clear they don't want Donald Trump at the top of the 2024 Republican Party ticket and so they are reportedly pressuring GOP lawmakers to not endorse the now-indicted former president and that could lead Trump to blow up their own runs for office.

The report adds, "The Club, as it’s called in Beltway shorthand, used to work closely with Trump and his political operation. But since the two camps backed different candidates in the 2022 midterm primaries, their relationship has cratered. Trump has openly savaged the Club and its leadership; in turn, the Club has not-so-subtly signaled its opposition to Trump’s third White House bid."

"Some Republicans worry that the power struggle will only cause collateral damage that could contribute to more disappointing election results and needless feuding," the report continues before adding, "The bad blood between Trumpworld and the Club has been obvious for some time—and appears to be getting worse."

According to one GOP operative, "Members of the House are so afraid of Trump turning on them, they are so afraid to step out of line, that they just go along with it,” then adding, "They’re in a small district, generally speaking, and you can’t risk your reelection because you have this guy turn on you. You just don’t have the power to go against him. It’s the fear-driven model.”

You can read more here: https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-gop-civil-war-between-trump-and-club-for-growth-thats-already-making-2024-awkward?ref=home

[Rick Plant]

Republicans suffered through a 'uniformly bad' week following Trump's indictment: analyst



This past Tuesday Donald Trump made history by becoming the first former president to be hauled into court and be indicted on felony charges and, for Republicans, the rest of the week went downhill from that point.

That is the opinion of the Washington Post's longtime analyst Dan Balz, who surveyed the week's damage that included a key election loss in Wisconsin, infighting among the GOP's House leadership and concluded with the terrible optics of the far-right Republican-dominated Tennessee House expelling two Black lawmakers for protesting the carnage being inflicted on America's children due to the easy availability of high-powered weaponry.

As Balz wrote, it was a "uniformly bad' week to be a Republican and many conservatives may not recognize just how bad it was.

According to the analyst, Republicans just watched the man who could be at the top of the 2024 GOP presidential ticket slammed with 34 felony charges while New Yorkers jeered him outside the courtroom.

"Trump’s arraignment last Tuesday in New York on criminal charges — however the case turns out — and his subsequent speech later that evening from his Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida, which was replete with lies, distortions and grievances, highlighted the degree to which the former president remains at once the dominant force in the Republican Party, a threat to democratic norms and institutions, and a compromised candidate for president in 2024," he wrote.

Add to that, in Wisconsin, conservatives suffered a devastating blow with an election loss for a Supreme Court seat, with Balz writing, "Wisconsin voters showed again how damaging the Supreme Court’s decision last year to overturn Roe v. Wade has been to the Republicans, no matter how fervently they had worked to make it happen. Tuesday’s decisive vote in Wisconsin, which flips the balance of power on the state Supreme Court from conservative to liberal, has profound implications not just for the state’s politics but also potentially for the nation."

The ejection of the two Black Tennessee lawmakers capped off the week and outraged the country in light of the fact that a white Democrat, who took part in the same protest, held onto her seat, leading to accusations of racism.

"In Tennessee, meanwhile, the expulsion on Thursday of two young, Black Democratic legislators from the state House took political retribution to a new level and, not incidentally, injected race into the politics of the moment in ways that were inescapable," Balz wrote. "After the March 27 killing of six people, including three children, at a Nashville school, and protests calling for action on guns, Republican legislators found a new way to shock the conscience by punishing two of the protesters by stripping them of their elected offices."

According to the analyst, Donald Trump is at the center of the GOP's problems this week since he emboldened the GOP to move to the far-right over the last six years -- and now it is coming back to haunt them.

"The issues around Trump have been present since he first ran for president eight years ago. His message now as then touches chords of grievance, alienation and racism that had begun to emerge during Barack Obama’s presidency but which have burst out more dangerously since," he concluded.

https://www.rawstory.com/gop-in-disarray-2659757501/