48 Comments

Joyce, What bothers me is the class privilege in our legal system. There is so much evidence of guilt by any reasonable person's mind. Yet, there are so many elite folks are out slimming up the world, deferred sentencing, delayed prosecutions, delayed lock up... it goes on and on. While some average citizens is sitting in jail awaiting their trial. The people who wish to destroy our democracy are winning points by this factor alone. If these elites are judged not guilty they can be freed, just like I would be, to deal with it. 'Justice delayed is justice denied.' Thanks again for great article.

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Justice delayed in this case is a coup in other countries around the world helped by Americans.

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If one has money they can post a 10% cash or secured asset bail, but how many of us have that plus attorneys fees . . . plus what mine needs for daily life.

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What we need is another good Dickens novel on the social abuse of our bail system and the wealthy flaunting same from their yachts. tfg is just the most egregious example.

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founding

Reading the TFG’s comments to Georgia’s Brad Ratffensperger makes me laugh out loud. How ridiculous! Lock this fool up, please. I am looking at you Fani Willis. Waiting here with anticipation and bated breath.

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Good profile of Fani Willis and her efforts here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/01/09/fani-willis-fulton-county-georgia-trump-investigation/

No wonder the former guy and some of the other skunks in his orbit are scared spitless. That lady is tough as nails and not even a little bit afraid to go after lawbreakers, regardless of rank or station.

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Its hard to do more than shake one’s head some days (many days). Comparing peanuts to watermelons is what republicans need to do right now because it’s their boy way of defending the indefensible. I’m n this case, they will attempt to compare confidential docts fully turned over when discovered (as Biden counsel did) to stealing, hiding, refusing to return, lying about having and potentially monetizing (as trump did). America needs to be smart enough to recognize the difference. And media needs to make clear.

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The key audience is Jack Smith's sitting jury hearing admissible & substantial evidence of crimes.

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Thanks for that reminder that I heard last night and forgot and read in Professor Vance's morning breakdown. That's good news. But coffee and time will help, I hope.

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I do not understand the finance laws. I was under the understanding that even though Trump was not using the money he collected for his campaign, that he can do whatever he wants with the campaign money once he has collected it. Same with Representative Santos. Now it hear Santos is getting investigated for not properly declaring the sources of his money. I assume that is different than what you are saying here about Trump, which is that he was not honest with his supporters about what he was using the money for. So, it is not that buyer beware, once you have given it is out of your hands? I hope you can clarify what the laws are on this. Secondly, it seems like we go after anyone who funds ISIS or Muslim terrorism. Why are we not going after anyone who has funded the people behind the attempted insurrection by Trump? Shouldn't we be prosecuting the funders themselves because they are supporting a terrorist organization. Trump called for his vice president to be killed by an angry mob, and Pelosi as well. How is that not acting as a terrorist? Anyone who funds him should be charged with funding a terrorist organization. I guess we are going to have to commit to seeing White Supremacist terrorists as just as bad as Muslim terrorists. That seems to be a concept many Americans cannot grasp.

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The Trump case is a specific type of intentional fraud called "fraud in the inducement". A judge reads a jury instructions that details the specific elements. The Santos fraud in Brazil is well developed with a stark Brazil admission by Santos about his check kiting scheme in a small town outside of Rio de Janiero. The Santos handling of around $700K in the US is still under investigation such as the source of the Big Bucks.

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So, in "fraud in the inducement" does inducement stand for solicitation or something else? Do we know the sources of all of Trump's money and whether it is all legitimate? I hope someone has the presence of mind to say that getting money from anyone in any country we have sanctions on is not acceptable. That would even mean money from any company that is still doing business in that country. Are all USA businesses out of Russia? Iran? Is money from the Chinese government acceptable? Is money from Tiktokers who are paid by China, North Korea, Iran, or Russia acceptable for candidates? How does this with the funding work? I am hoping that Santos will end up being out. If he is found to have gotten in fraudulently, what happens then? Will someone appoint his replacement or will there be a quick special election? The most promising thing of the day is that one Republican in Texas voted with the Democrats. They better jump on that relationship and cultivate it. Start picking off the ones who can be persuaded. It would be a good idea for the Democratic Party to look at who is living off of social security and medicare and directly target them with messages about living on welfare once the Republicans get rid of their sole source of income. My commercials for that would be to show a lot of elderly White people buying cat food at the grocery store and then going home and opening a can and eating from it (true story by the way). Follow that up with one that shows the life we can have with Social Security and Medicare.

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"Solicitation" is close but, the fraudulent act is an express misrepresentation to grift from targeted victims for one reason only for the marks' money to be used by the Perp for a different purpose. I am not clear on New York state law for possible temporary appointments or a formal procedure for a "Special Election".

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Bryan, thank you ever so much for the time and care you take to make things clear...

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I do believe in civil discourse as "we are in this together". :)

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wouldn't it be wonderful if that feeling became universal along with the desire to learn... If we could imagine we are "all" in this together as indeed we are.. 😉

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Ditto!

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So, it is a kind of Madoff move.

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I just can't anymore. Really. I want any of them to just do something.

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founding

Amen, Sabrina.

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The Biden story is helpful in defining a good citizen’s response to a security issue. There’s a long history to be taken of the documents. For all we know, they could have been declassified ten years ago, but never marked so on the actual documents. There’s no story, just a clockwork response by honest leaders to a problem. The Biden story will exemplify the turpitude of Trump.

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No one should be surprised by a far right uproar over this. There is no moral compass for these people. Just noise, and an attempt at evading responsibility.

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Thanks for the excellent wrap up Joyce. I watched CNN’s disgraceful coverage of the Biden files this evening. The sounded like FOX lite. Total false equivalency as you point out and they didn’t. CNN’s move to the right on hard news is very evident. MSNBC’s coverage was in line with your analysis and much closer to the very different facts in the two cases. The missing “plus” as you put it. Excellent coverage and analysis.

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I'm not surprised. I flip between CNN (less) and MSNBC (more) knowing CNN has had a turnover and are moving to the crazy (fox) side of events. They keep having too many liars on. I'm ready to call it quits and stick with MSNBC and my reading supplements. I don't need more lies, I want the truth ...

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I certainly agree that we owe a debt of gratitude (more than that, really…) to the very brave Brad Raffensberger whose integrity, it would seem, is in a class by itself. That being the case, my moral compass takes slight issue with: “It takes a lot for a mere secretary of state, backed up only by his lawyer, to stand up to the President of the United States, his chief of staff, and three of his lawyers.”

Telling the truth is what a “mere” someone with integrity does.

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Good evening Joyce. I’m already worn out for this week but grateful you are not. I still cannot fathom 45’s nerve and blatant disregard for the law when he tried to intimidate Raffensberger into complying with his request and expected him to. It is like a bad dream that we all want to forget but we can’t because he needs to be held accountable. I’m done for the night. That’s all I’ve got but I will be watching and listening this week. Thanks for your review and diligent reporting tonight on the beginning of this supercharged week.

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Didn't Bannon get indicted for taking funding to build the wall and then use it for personal things.... Why can't trump be charged the same? And speaking of Bannon why in the hell is he still running around continuing to cause problems..... It appears that there is only a true justice system if your black/ brown

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I would be shocked if they decide there isn’t enough evidence to convict Trump for the Big Lie fundraising fraud. He held a rally almost every other day after seeing how much money he was bringing in. I was so glad the Jan 6 committee brought forth the details of the scam. And how the money was.moved around. Thank you for all the new info Joyce. Good work!

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I'll take all the noise you've got Joyce since it appears progress is being made.

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Crazyland strikes again and super prosecutor/translator for us common folks flies in and clarifies it again. This remains in-sane to me.

I noticed the link to hear the lies between Raffs and the ML. I have it memorized and unfortunately, even with little hearing, I can still hear the voice in my head and I'd like to have surgery to filter out that voice.

Saw the Biden classified doc thing and immediately felt a little ill. The fascists already have the use of photoshop to help lie about issues. I know it's different from crimes by the ML but the fascists will blow this up into, "He had thousands of Top-Secret and Classified documents! Many had Hunter's initials on it!" So, it's not the truth that bugs me because it was all taken care of, it's giving the traitors more manure to spread.

Last, “Not only was there the Big Lie,” Lofgren said during the hearing, “there was the Big Rip-Off.” Yeah, that's why Bannon's nose, finger, and mouths should be behind bars instead of being allowed to participate in a coup in Brazil. along with all the griffin buddies.

Oy vey. Thanks for today's lessons.

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It seems as every days has a high likelihood of bringing more. Joyce May need a new lede. Maybe we could have a contest and GOP like speaker vote for kicks. Seriously, we are only skimming the surface

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Wow, what a day! Thanks for all of this news. I've only been a paid member for three days, and it's extraordinary how much valuable information you already have provided. And, you were terrific today on The Beat. In terms of your question about the comparison between the material that was found in President Biden's former office, and what TFG did, as you stated, there is no comparison. Yes, it was an unfortunate mistake. But President Biden didn't purposely remove the documents, and when the box was discovered, his attorneys immediately returned it to the National Archives.

Of course, the Fox News disinformation pundits, and Jim Jordan and the rest of Trump's acolytes will lie about this, say it is just like what Trump did, and threaten an investigation, if not an impeachment. You undoubtedly know better than I do what the best way to handle this would be. I think President Biden should hold a press conference tomorrow before the Joint Press Conference, and say he has volunteered to be deposed, or whatever it is called, and announce it will take place when he returns from his trip. That is another way to show how an innocent person behaves as opposed to someone who is guilty. It is unfortunate that President Biden doesn't have a first-rate press secretary, with years of experience, and the gravitas to handle this.

Finally, I just wanted to you to know that about twenty minutes ago, I answered the question (in comments) that you posed about how I feel about Republican's ability to govern.

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😃😃😃😃😃😃

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Thanks for the clear wrap up! Off to 😴

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