Trump supporters and conspiracy theory - Part 2

[Rick Plant]

It's a horror show': Bill Barr slams Trump when asked if his ex-boss is 'fit' for presidency



Former Attorney General Bill Barr slammed Former President Donald Trump when asked by Geraldo Rivera whether Trump is "fit" to be president.

Rivera begins by telling Barr, who previously served in the Trump administration, that he is the most "honest" person in Washington, and that he trusts him. Rivera then asks, "Do you think he is emotionally fit to be President of the United States? Is he fit to be president of the United States?"

"This is the way I'll answer that, Geraldo," Barr says to laughter in the crowd. He adds, "If you believe in his policies, what he's advertising as his policies, he's the last person who could actually execute them and achieve them."

"He does not have the discipline. He does not have the ability for strategic thinking and linear thinking or setting priorities, or how to get things done in the system," Barr said. "It's a horror show when he's left to his own devices."

"You may want his policies, but Trump will not deliver Trump policies. He will deliver chaos and, if anything, lead to a backlash that will set his policies much further back than they otherwise would be."

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

Trump’s bizarre deposition may have blown his entire case: CNN analyst



Donald Trump made a bizarre statement in his videotaped deposition that may have blown up his entire case, a CNN analyst said Friday.

During his deposition in the civil case over allegations he raped author E. Jean Carroll in a Manhattan dressing room in the 1990s, Trump appeared to lean into his remarks in the explosive Access Hollywood tape that “when you’re a star they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab them by the (expletive).”

In video of Trump's deposition released Friday, Roberta Kaplan, an attorney representing Carroll, is heard asking the former president that for stars if “it’s true, that they can grab women by the (expletive)?”

Trump replies: “Well if you look over the last million years that’s been largely true. Not always, but largely true. Unfortunately or fortunately.”

CNN political analyst Gloria Borger said Friday during an appearance on The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer that Trump’s statement suggests the behavior he described in the Access Hollywood tape is acceptable.

“Well, he excused it, I mean, he effectively said in the Access Hollywood tape, I was just telling the truth, because that's exactly what the truth is, and it kind of reminded me of after Charlottesville when Donald Trump said, ‘Well, you know, there are good people on both sides,’ Borger said.

“Well, there weren't good people on both sides in Charlottesville, and there's no ‘fortunately’ here. There's just an unfortunately, if it's true.”

Borger wasn’t done.

“What is he saying? That it's okay for some people to do this because they're stars. And by the way, I guess you could say that I'm a star too,” she said.

“So it undermined, I think, the entire case here, and I'm not an attorney, but if I were his attorney, I'd be cringing at what Donald Trump just admitted to in this in this deposition, because he kind of said, ‘well, you know, it's what happens and it's not so bad and by the way.’

“I would never, you know…this is all a big hoax, but you know, I'm a star and it's been true for the last million years that stars can do this kind of thing.”

Watch:

Lackluster deposition': former prosecutor says Trump is losing 'credibility' fight with E. Jean Carroll



Former president Donald Trump's "lackluster deposition performance" could help his accuser in a civil rape and defamation case win a "credibility battle" between the two parties, a former United States Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama said on Friday.

Joyce Vance, who served as a U.S. Attorney from 2009 to 2017, was speaking to Joy Reid of The ReidOut on MSNBC Friday when Reid asked whether it will hurt Trump's case to include a deposition in which he misremembers details. Trump's attorneys emphasized their questioning of alleged victim E. Jean Carroll on minute details that she likely wouldn't remember.

"I mean, this is about a credibility battle between two witnesses, one of whom did not come to the courthouse, did not sit in the courtroom during the trial, did not testify. And then gave this really lackluster deposition performance," Vance said. "So if you're E. Jean Carroll's attorney, Roberta Kaplan, you are likely very content to play this deposition and to let the jury see for themselves that this is an individual who has a bad memory when it serves him."

Vance added that it will be "up to the jury" to determine what really happened in this case.

Reid asked Vance if the judge is protecting himself by ensuring Trump still has the opportunity to testify, despite the fact that his lawyers have claimed he will not be presenting testimony on his own behalf.

"This is the judge making every effort to hold Trump accountable. In a civil case, E. Jean Carroll could have subpoenaed Trump to testify," Vance said. "Her lawyers chose not to, I think likely because the deposition testimony is just so startlingly good for them. Trump can voluntarily choose to testify if he wants to. He did not. He relinquished that right, but after he made those comments on the golf course in Ireland, it was almost as though you could."

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[Rick Plant]

Judge in E. Jean Carroll case didn't bite on Trump's 'bait' that would have led to trial turmoil



According to longtime conservative political observer Andrew McCarthy, Donald Trump's attempt to bait the judge overseeing the E. Jean Carroll rape and defamation trial fell flat which led to the former president's attorney being put on the spot.

Writing for the National Review, McCarthy -- who recently wrote he sees no path for Trump to return to the Oval Office — noted that the former president and his lawyer have been warned by Judge Lewis Kaplan of the Southern District of New York in Manhattan, about attacks on the trial proceedings and Carroll with the threat of contempt of court charges.

Undeterred, Trump once again lashed out at Kaplan as "extremely hostile” to him and boasted that he would be returning from a Scotland golf expedition to "confront" Carroll before calling the Manhattan trial a "disgrace."

According to McCarthy, Trump's attack put Kaplan in a bind where the trial could have gone off the rails if he sanctioned the former president.

Instead, McCarthy wrote, Kaplan is too smart for Trump and didn't take the bait.

"Kaplan has also been trying to move the trial to a conclusion consistent with what he told the jury would be its length, and thus he gave Tacopina a deadline by which Trump was to announce his intentions; Tacopina duly told Kaplan his client would not be testifying (or even attending the trial)," McCarthy wrote before adding, "Kaplan is a smart guy. He knows that Trump is trying to bait him into a public dressing-down, a contempt citation, and/or an order that it is too late for the defendant to change his mind about testifying, which Trump would then fold into his public-relations effort to portray the trial as a travesty if the jury finds him liable."

McCarthy added, "That Trump’s outrage was performative is clear."

"Rather than respond angrily, the judge told Tacopina late Thursday that he was aware of reports about Trump’s statements, and the lawyer assured the court that he had spoken with his client before announcing that Trump would not testify, " McCarthy wrote.

He then predicted, "Assuming that deadline passes, Kaplan will consider the evidentiary phase of the trial complete and proceed to summations, as scheduled. If Trump squawks after that, it will be clear that he’s just trying to spin what has actually been his carefully considered decision not to attend or testify at the trial."

You can read more here: https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/trumps-civil-rape-trial-headed-for-summations-monday-probably/



The amount is up to the jury': Trump could face a massive blow if he's found guilty in E. Jean Carroll trial



Should Donald Trump be found guilty by the Manhattan jury hearing E. Jean Carroll's case alleging rape and defamation, they will have "wide latitude" over how far they can go in punishing the former president.

According to a report from ABC, jurors are expected to hear instructions from U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan after closing arguments in the middle of the week after which they will begin their deliberations on a case that could brand Trump as a rapist as he runs for president a third time.

According to Larry Neumeister, reporting for the Associated Press, "Kaplan instructed the nine jurors at the trial's start that the central claim pertains to 'battery.' He said that in a civil case, battery can result from even the slightest unlawful touching of another person."

He elaborated, "The jurors will be asked to decide whether Carroll has proven that Trump committed battery. If they decide that Trump committed battery, they are expected to be asked to what degree. After that, Carroll's attorney has proposed that jurors be asked separately whether Carroll has proven that Trump engaged in forcible touching, abuse and rape. The judge has yet to make a decision on that proposal."

When it comes to the defamation accusation, jurors "will be asked if Carroll had proven that Trump's statement was defamatory and whether clear and convincing evidence had proven that Trump made the statement maliciously."

Should they rule against Trump, they are allowed to decide for themselves what the monetary penalty will, be with the report stating, "If a jury agrees that Carroll has proven her claims of battery and defamation, they can award compensatory and punitive damages. The amount is up to the jury."

The report that since the Carroll case is a civil trial, jail time is not part of the equation.

You can read more here: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/ny-jury-wide-latitude-decide-civil-trump-claims-99125957



Trump's 'devastating and damaging' words have come back to haunt him in E. Jean Carroll trial: former prosecutor



According to former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade, Donald Trump's filmed deposition that was played for jurors in the E. Jean Carroll trial likely sealed the deal for his accuser in her defamation and rape case.

Appearing on MSNBC's "The SaPersonay Show" with host Jonathan Capehart, Barbara McQuade was as stunned as the host that the former president doubled down on his belief that celebrities are allowed to take advantage of women, one time stating, "Well, historically, that’s true with stars," and then later adding, "... if you look over the last million years I guess that’s been largely true. Not always, but largely true. Unfortunately or fortunately."

Turning to McQuade, Capehart prompted, "I'm sorry, this is only the second time I have heard that sound bite from Trump's deposition. How damaging was that, or is that?"

"I think it's devastating to his case," McQuade quickly answered. "He affirms the sentiments that he made in that [Access Hollywood] recording. There are 1000 ways you can deflect that recording; you can say, it was an offensive and ill-advised joke. You can say we were just puffing, it was just locker room talk, all these kinds of things."

"Not only did he repeat it, he defended it and said yes, he's the kind of person who is entitled to this sort of behavior," she elaborated. "I think it's devastating and damaging. It appears to be a rare moment of candor for Donald Trump."

"I think it certainly supports the claims of E. Jean Carroll," she added.

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

Report: Donald Trump’s Legal Outlook Does Not Appear to Be Improving
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/05/donald-trump-jack-smith-classified-documents-probe

[Rick Plant]

E. Jean Carrol judge 'called Trump's bluff' and forced his lawyer's hand: former prosecutor



Appearing on MSNBC on Sunday afternoon, former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance said Donald Trump's attempt to set up the judge in the E. Jean Carroll trial for attacks should the jury rule against the former president blew up in his face.

Speaking with fill-in host Michael Steele, Vance said U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan effectively outmaneuvered Trump after the former president suggested he would testify before the Manhattan jury and that created a problem for Trump's legal team.

By extending a deadline to late Sunday for Trump to commit to testify, Vance claimed the judge "called Trump's bluff."

"The judge has called Trump's bluff because Trump makes this overblown statement on a golf course in Ireland, telling people I have to cut my trip short early and go back home to defend myself against these terrible allegations," the attorney began. "Literally within hours of him doing that, his lawyer is in court, telling the judge that he is done presenting his evidence, that's sort of a lock in a trial."

"Once you close, everything is over, no more evidence comes in," she continued. "Judge Kaplan, I think, does the smart thing here; he calls Trump's bluff. He says okay, your client says he's going to testify, he says he has to leave Europe early and fly home. I'm gonna bend over backward and give him every opportunity. And ultimately, what the judge does by doing this, and I suspect Trump will not testify, if he does, that would be an entirely different situation for his lawyers to try to deal with, but what the judge does here is he forecloses Trump's opportunity to tell everybody what a terrible biased judge he had."

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[Rick Plant]

It’s not a surprise that Jack Smith has a cooperating witness inside Mar-a-Lago. It would be a surprise if he didn’t. He’s reportedly subpoenaed nearly everyone who works there. How many waiters or gardeners are really willing to go to prison for obstruction of justice just to help Trump? Smith likely has several inside witnesses at Mar-a-Lago by now. What is newsworthy is that we’re learning about this, because such things are kept super quiet, until we get to the end of the process.

The New York Times now knows that Jack Smith has inside help at Mar-a-Lago – something it would be almost impossible for the New York Times to know unless it came from Smith’s team. Smith appears to be putting it out there that he has an anonymous inside witness, in order to scare certain other Mar-a-Lago employees into also cooperating.

The intriguing part is that right after the New York Times article reveals that Smith has inside help, the article then states that Smith believes one specific Mar-a-Lago witness named Walt Nauta is being dishonest in his testimony. It feels like prosecutors are letting Nauta know that they have other Mar-a-Lago witnesses who can nail him for perjury, in an effort to motivate him to come clean.

So why not just call up Nauta and tell him that they have him nailed? Why put it in the news? This approach lets every Mar-a-Lago witness know that if they also “forgot” to say something important in their testimony, now is the time to get back in there and fully cooperate, while they still can.

In other words, this feels like the kind of “all call” you issue when you’re about to start indicting everyone, and you want to give holdouts one last chance to immediately come in and cooperate so they don’t get indicted.

This doesn’t mean Jack Smith is issuing indictments tomorrow. But it does suggest we’re close enough that this is the very last chance for people to amend their testimony before indictments drop – which would mean we’re not far off at all.

[Rick Plant]

The jury 'knows when he's cornered he lies': former prosecutor on Trump's damaging deposition



MSNBC host Ayman Mohyeldin showed some of the clips of Donald Trump's deposition in the E. Jean Carroll case and wondered how the jury might react in the trial based on what has been revealed from the tape.

"What do you make of that?" he asked former federal prosecutor Cynthia Alksne. "I mean, based on what you've seen from that day, those three clips we've played for you, the inability to recognize his ex-wife, the stupidity of the second comment about stars have been doing it for a million years, and then that bit where his defense is 'you're not my type,' and attacking the attorney there. Did Trump seemingly make the right decision not to take the stand?"

Alksne laughed: "Yes! That's for sure. But let's remember this when he takes the stand of that deposition; he's talking to the jury. And what we know from the first point, not only does he not identify Carroll, thinking she's Marla Maples, when he is confronted with that, and leaving aside his lawyers' improper coaching of him, when he is confronted with it."

The reference she is making is a moment in the deposition in which Trump is asked about a photo of E. Jean Carroll in which he mistakes her for his second wife.

"It's Marla," Trump says, pointing to the photo. "That's Marla, yeah. That's my wife."

They looked at who Trump was pointing to, and it was Carroll.

"The woman you just pointed to is E. Jean Carroll. And the woman on the right is your wife, Marla," Trump's lawyer coached off camera.

"And when he is cornered like a rat, what does he do?" Alksne continued. "What does he say? He lies. He says, 'Oh, it's blurry.' And here's why that's important: that's because the jury has the photograph. And they know when he is cornered, he lies. Because he lied to them, that's what the deposition is. It's him talking to the jury. And in this case, not only did he not have the guts to come talk to them, he didn't even have the guts to come sit in the courtroom. Instead, he sent a bully to cross-examine this woman. And on the one occasion he was talking to them and was cornered, he lied to them. And I think it's important, and my guess is, in closing, it is highlighted."

Legal analyst Lisa Rubin has sat in on the trial since the start. Speaking on the panel, she recalled, "You could hear a pin drop during that deposition" when it was shown in court.

"And he did not just lie about the photograph being blurry," Rubin explained. "And by the way, the jury has seen that photograph multiple times throughout the trial. I can even tell you what plaintiff's exhibit number it is: it's 1:12. But you could hear a pin drop because he didn't just lie about that. He lied about all sorts of things, big and small, including whether or not he cheated on his first wife, Ivana Trump, when he was seeing Marla Maples. He claimed not to know whether those relationships overlap. He was seen escorting Marla Maples as early as 1989. He wasn't divorced from Ivana Trump until 1992. He couldn't even give [Carroll lawyer] Robbie Kaplan, the lawyer, the dates he was married to Marla Maples. He just continued a pattern of mendacity all throughout that deposition, that the jury is really going to have to think about in confronting whether or not this is a person about whom E. Jean Carroll was telling the truth."

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

Trump isn't testifying in New York E. Jean Carroll case despite saying he would

From the very beginning of the trial, Donald Trump's lawyer Joe Tacopina made it clear that former President Donald Trump wouldn't testify before the jury in the E. Jean Carroll case. But on Thursday, Trump claimed he was leaving his trip early, claiming that it was because he needed to testify in his own defense in the case.

As it turns out, his emergency trip back to the U.S. wasn't related, according to Tacopina.

The New York Daily News revealed Sunday evening that despite his "vow" Trump wouldn't be speaking in the civil rape trial.

"Manhattan Federal Judge Lewis Kaplan gave Trump until 5 p.m. on Sunday to request the case be reopened so that he could testify," the report said. "The judge’s eleventh-hour courtesy came after learning Trump told reporters last week that he’d cut his golfing trip in Ireland short so he could come back and attend the trial, unbeknown to his lawyer."

When 5 p.m. EST came, nothing was updated on the docket site indicating the trial would be reopened, and Trump would be testifying.

Trump claimed he had to “go back and confront this woman," the Irish Examiner reported Thursday.

Trump has been "confronting" Carroll on his social media site, but thus far he hasn't confronted her in court or in person.

The Trump legal team didn't put up any witnesses. The only defense was through cross-examination during the petitioner's side of the case.

Closing statements will happen Monday and close the trial.

Read More Here: https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ny-trump-not-testifying-carroll-trial-20230507-l6s3gzuebzc43jjriywzdefw6u-story.html