As we were all waiting for the preordained decision from the Supreme Court that insurrectionist Donald Trump could remain on the ballot in Colorado, we got some news we didn’t know would break today. We learned that Trump CFO Allen Weisselberg had surrendered for processing on new charges brought by the Manhattan DA. The charges had previously been rumored.
It feels like the threats to our Democracy increase daily. And the attacks on Biden by members of his own party aren’t helping. Let’s be united and pledge to do whatever it takes to keep that hateful man from the oval office.
It seems that the Members of the Supreme Court are too afraid of Treacherous-treasonous-traitor-Trump's crazed followers to do their jobs properly. If they are so afraid that they cannot follow the law, they should resign. I am hoping that the judge Kaplan finds against Trump the day before the judgement to E. Jean Carroll is due. I also want to say, with Trump taking over the Republican National Committee campaign funds, he may end up cutting everyone else off of vital monies needed for their campaigns to be successful! More power to fewer Republicans in Congress and local offices.
The Roberts Court continues to play its part in the Republican Party’s crucible to overthrow the constitution, and attain a new level of ignominy and infamy for the court far out passing The Taney (Dred Scott) and Fuller (Plessy) Courts.
Roberts began his constitutional assassination by eviscerating the Voting rights in Shelby County, emasculating Article 4 §4, with Citizens United, and declaring Article V, the amendment article, as invalid. Article V states, “ The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress;(emphasis added) Congressman John Bingham from Ohio, Sen Thaddeus Stevens from Pennsylvania and Senator Charles Sumner of Mass., were the principal architects of the 14th Amendment and they scrupulously followed the rules of Article V. Our constitution is not a code and as such does not break down every Article and Amendment in detail, but relies on an honest and deliberative democratic congress to act fairly on behalf of all of the people in the United States.
Today, Robert’s court apparently did not believe that Article V applied to the 14th Amendment, I don’t care what they said or how they attempted to justify it. However, they did toss us a solid gold bone when they specifically said, “We conclude that States may disqualify persons holding or attempting to hold state office.” (page 6) In other words, all of the Republicans who serve or want to serve in a state legislature or hold another state office can be disqualified under the 14th Amendment §3, the insurrection clause. The Supreme Court has given us the opportunity to eliminate numerous Republican seats in State Legislatures by their specific ruling today! We need to take advantage of this ruling. I intend to test that ruling by here in Pennsylvania against Republican legislators who signed and/or cooperated with the National Republican Party’s fake elector scheme, supported the Texas’s action to challenge the Pennsylvania right to hold our own election, and conspired to disenfranchise their own voters. Moreover, at a meeting here in Gettysburg Pa., on November 25, Trump, acting in concert with and facilitated by Jenna Ellis and Rudy Guiliani conspired with the Pennsylvania Senate Republican Policy Committee five days after Judge Brann threw out Trump’s challenge to the Pennsylvania vote to overthrow the election.
All of the arguments, legal briefs and Amici Briefs that were filed in the official record in an attempt to keep trump off the ballots in the states, can be used against Republicans to throw them off of the ballots for primary or general elections for the same reasons. Even using Trump’s own words. In every state where Republicans used nefarious schemes to unlawfully throw out election results for President and somehow not entirely throw out the whole ballot in which the Republicans would have voided their own elections, as well as other down ballot candidates. The crime is Conspiracy and conspiracies do not have to be successful to be charged. (Anderson v. U.S.) 417 US 211, 1974. It is enough that two or more persons agreed to commit the act as noted in Anderson to interfere in an election. We should bring state charges, commensurate with the Federal Conspiracy charge at 18 USC 371, to keep out of Article III Courts. SCOTUS has ruled and Article VI , the supremacy clause, prevails at every level of state court, including any State’s Supreme Court.
I believe there are several reasons not to be afraid of Trump and his sycophantic minions.
1) The modern version of tabloid journalism is alive and well with what is commonly referred to as “social media”. These people were and still are the people who support The Star, The Globe, the National enquirer and the like. These tabloid publications are full of equal parts lies, a splash of half-truths, and equally generous portions of just plain ignorance, stupidity, and nonsense. They only appeal to each other and as surly as night must follow day they will tire of the repetition and as stupid ignorant people are wont to do, will become bored and will move on to the next salacious and scatological diversion; like Trump’s trial with a porn star.
2) Statistics, for instance Michigan has a population of a little over ten million people upon which dictates the number of representatives (electoral votes) Michigan is allotted. There are a total of seven million, seven hundred twenty one thousand, and four hundred and eighty two total registered voters. Democratic voters with uncommitted and others totaled 767,851, and for Republicans 1,114,151 with uncommitted and others, for a total number of voters 1,882,002 who showed up to vote. .099443 or about 10% for Dems and .144292 for Republicans, about 15% of the TOTAL NUMBER OF REGISTERED VOTERS out of almost 8 million. The mass media played up the big numbers of 81% for Biden and 68% for Trump. I think the important number is that only about 25% of voters or 0.0182 % approx. 2% of the total population of the entire state is making a decision for ten million people.
The results for South Carolina are similar. Out of 5.5 million residents, and 3.25 million registered voters only a little over 800 thousand registered voters turned out in toto for percentage of approx., .246153, almost 25% of registered voters and .148148, approx., 15% of the total population of South Carolina. In Michigan and South Carolina almost 75% of the electorate stayed home. Lots of room and time for people to settle down and between now and November. I believe these are the important numbers for us to know and not the inflated numbers portrayed by the mass media attributed to one particular candidate.
3) Trump may suffer a medical disaster or some type of misadventure, end up in jail or worse—he has managed to insult just about every special interest group, women, handicapped, veterans, secret service, CIA, FBI, not to mention foreign friends, all who have plenty of time to “intervene” on behalf of their own special interests.
4) An aggressive use of the Supreme Court’s ruling today in which states may disqualify persons holding office or attempting to hold state office, are vulnerable to the 14th Amendment §3 Insurrection Clause. Effective use of this tool could dramatically impact the make up of the house and senate of every state and put the brakes on some of the pending anti voting legislation. It would also help if enough states used the tactic to gain control of the state legislature to ratify a constitutional amendment. Simply stated we should elect every Democratic and Independent candidate we can for every office at every level to elect a majority in the state and federal legislature to impeach and convict all of the Mitch McConnell and Leonard Leo Republican members of the Supreme Court in order to overrule all of the violence done to voting rights, women, etc., and Trump, if he wins the election.
Part of my legal complaint and the banner which will I place at the top of my soon to be launched online paper every day until the election, is provided thru the courtesy of Jonathan Karl, quoting a high ranking Trump White house official,
The above citation describes in detail the character of the man that the Republican party wants to follow and obey. He is an adjudicated liar, cheat, thief and sexual pervert and has created a Republican Party that has devolved into a sadistic, terroristic amalgam of political usurpers who want to kill our country, our government and as of Jan 6, 2021, us.
The Constitution says an oath-breaking insurrectionist must be banned from a ballot and never to hold office...a five-Justice majority didn't want to throw tRump off the ballot, so...they didn't. "Textualism"? "Originalism"? Nah, how about "We decided we didn't want to boot the bastard per §3, so we confected an addendum to the 14th Amendment"...now, THAT'S "original"!
Thank you, Joyce, for this detailed explanation over the Court's decision in the 14th Amendment case. Though I am somewhat disappointed, I am also sort of glad because come November when 45 is decisively beaten at the polls, he will not be able to use the excuse that his name was withheld from the ballot.
Tonight, I got to see you, Joyce, and Barb McQuade via YouTube, because you’re both in San Francisco promoting Barb’s book “Attack From Within”. It was a lively discussion (fun too) but also, I learned quite a bit about disinformation vs. misinformation. It was notable that you brought up the fact that Barb had been a journalist before becoming an attorney, and that the two of you had known each other for a long time.
I feel bad for us too but I also learned today that Trump is saying he can’t come up with the money to pay E Jean. You know what that means? He certainly hasn’t been able to secure a surety bond for the almost $500 million he owes in addition to what he owes to E Jean. And you know what that means? It means that Letitia James has every right to seize his properties. So let’s not flounder any further about the illegitimate court justices because they are not going to save us or toss us a life raft. We will have our say at the ballot boxes as we vote. November will be ours…I just feel it in my bones.
I feel very sad for our country today. Hopefully tomorrow and the days that follow will give me more hope. Maybe pictures of your chickens will make me feel better. Just saying.
Thanks Joyce, how can a criminal rapist run for president but a criminal released from prison cannot. The GOP selected judges are bent. They have given themselves to the devil for a paid excursion to hell!!!!
Good for the French. To those still thinking reasonably, we should, for once be following their example. It’s good to see the spirit of the Marquis de Lafayette is still alive.
Thank you again Joyce for your cogent analysis. As you say, there are aspects of this Supreme Court that need some serious ethics reforms.
What we have witnessed today is nothing short of a shocking abdication of judicial responsibility by the highest court in the land. In a ruling that will be remembered as a dark day in American history, five Justices of the Supreme Court have taken it upon themselves to reach far beyond the narrow question presented to them and instead, have chosen to issue a sweeping and unprecedented decision that will have profound consequences for the future of our democracy.
These five Justices, with a stroke of their pen, have effectively granted immunity to anyone who would seek to undermine the very foundation of our Constitution. They have sent a message, loud and clear, that insurrection against the United States will not be punished, that those who would seek to tear down our democratic institutions will face no consequences for their actions.
This is not just a matter of legal interpretation. This is a matter of moral courage, of standing up for the principles that define us as a nation. And yet, these five Justices have chosen to turn a blind eye to the gravity of the situation, to ignore the urgent warnings of their colleagues, Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson, who have laid bare the dangerous implications of this ruling in their scathing dissent.
Let me be very, very clear: this decision is a betrayal of the trust placed in the Supreme Court by the American people. It is a betrayal of the sacrifices made by countless generations who have fought and died to defend our Constitution. And it is a betrayal of the very idea of justice itself.
Roberts is famous for having made a baseball analogy in his Senate confirmation hearing—"My job is to call balls and strikes and not to pitch or bat.” But with this case the majority went way beyond what was necessary to allow Trump to remain on the Colorado ballot. By deciding issues that were not even argued, the majority opinion effectively said: “Ball four, take your base! And, by the way, we hereby repeal the infield fly rule and declare catcher interference to be legal.”
Ex-Trump CEO Allen Weisselberg is taking another bullet for his boss. He is pleading to two felonies and is likely to spend more months in Riker’s jail.
Weisselberg for many years was the ‘money man’ for Donald and father Fred. He knows all the dirt about Donald’s financial finagling.
He refused to spill the beans on Trump earlier. Subsequently he has chosen jail rather than cut a deal with prosecutors. By contrast, Trump’s former attorney cut a deal with prosecutors that cost him years in jail and now will be a tarnished star witness in the forthcoming ‘hush money’ trial.
Before beatifying Weisselberg for his ‘loyalty’ to Donald, one should remember that Allen got a severance payment of $2,000,000 from Donald with the stipulation that Allen would not testify against Trump. These payments are scheduled over a number of years and could be stopped whenever Trump chose.
As a non-lawyer this court often confuses me, but NEVER surprises me. The Section 3 decision came down just as I (and most everyone else) expected - the judges who claim to be "textualists" and "originalists" found a way to do more than "kick the can down the road" - they suggested the appropriate place to decide issues regarding "Oathbreaking INSURRECTIONISTS" is the Congress where "kicking the can down the road" is their modus operandi. To me, the way this SHOULD work is the issue begins in the state (see: Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health) and the Court decides for the nation. For example, in the case of Trump V Colorado (or whatever it's called) was Trump born in America (check) he is older than 35 (check) HOWEVER, Is he an "oathbreaking INSURRECTIONIST" (oops! if he is, he's OFF THE BALLOT because the TEXT of our Constitution has set the requirements for anyone who would seek to be our President - what's the saying? PERIOD, full stop! (It appears to me this court WANTS to sacrifice our republic to this "oathbreaking INSURRECTIONIST") While I was not surprised by this decision (including Thomas participating in it) I was a bit surprised by the Court granting "cert" (Thanks Joyce for teaching me that term) for the ABSURD claim that Trump is "absolutely IMMUNE" from facing justice for his CRIMINAL conduct. They've rewarded his STALLING tactics and, it appears to me, they don't understand that CAVING to this serial CRIMINAL is like giving their constitutional power away. If they're AFRAID of the backlash of them actually JUST ruling on the TEXT of the Constitution because of the Trump crazies - well, they're just putting off the inevitable and maybe some retirements are appropriate!
Lessons I have taken away from this ruling: 1) Justice Thomas has no grounds for arguing that he is worthy to be ruling on J/6 adjacent issues, 2) Ginni Thomas can apply for a job in a future Trump DOJ, 3) only an impeachment could have kept Trump away from the oval office a second time and the cards were dealt by Mitch McConnell and Leonard Leo to their eternal shame, and 4) Judicial Activism is alive and well.
It feels like the threats to our Democracy increase daily. And the attacks on Biden by members of his own party aren’t helping. Let’s be united and pledge to do whatever it takes to keep that hateful man from the oval office.
And it’s good to be in France today.
It seems that the Members of the Supreme Court are too afraid of Treacherous-treasonous-traitor-Trump's crazed followers to do their jobs properly. If they are so afraid that they cannot follow the law, they should resign. I am hoping that the judge Kaplan finds against Trump the day before the judgement to E. Jean Carroll is due. I also want to say, with Trump taking over the Republican National Committee campaign funds, he may end up cutting everyone else off of vital monies needed for their campaigns to be successful! More power to fewer Republicans in Congress and local offices.
The Roberts Court continues to play its part in the Republican Party’s crucible to overthrow the constitution, and attain a new level of ignominy and infamy for the court far out passing The Taney (Dred Scott) and Fuller (Plessy) Courts.
Roberts began his constitutional assassination by eviscerating the Voting rights in Shelby County, emasculating Article 4 §4, with Citizens United, and declaring Article V, the amendment article, as invalid. Article V states, “ The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress;(emphasis added) Congressman John Bingham from Ohio, Sen Thaddeus Stevens from Pennsylvania and Senator Charles Sumner of Mass., were the principal architects of the 14th Amendment and they scrupulously followed the rules of Article V. Our constitution is not a code and as such does not break down every Article and Amendment in detail, but relies on an honest and deliberative democratic congress to act fairly on behalf of all of the people in the United States.
Today, Robert’s court apparently did not believe that Article V applied to the 14th Amendment, I don’t care what they said or how they attempted to justify it. However, they did toss us a solid gold bone when they specifically said, “We conclude that States may disqualify persons holding or attempting to hold state office.” (page 6) In other words, all of the Republicans who serve or want to serve in a state legislature or hold another state office can be disqualified under the 14th Amendment §3, the insurrection clause. The Supreme Court has given us the opportunity to eliminate numerous Republican seats in State Legislatures by their specific ruling today! We need to take advantage of this ruling. I intend to test that ruling by here in Pennsylvania against Republican legislators who signed and/or cooperated with the National Republican Party’s fake elector scheme, supported the Texas’s action to challenge the Pennsylvania right to hold our own election, and conspired to disenfranchise their own voters. Moreover, at a meeting here in Gettysburg Pa., on November 25, Trump, acting in concert with and facilitated by Jenna Ellis and Rudy Guiliani conspired with the Pennsylvania Senate Republican Policy Committee five days after Judge Brann threw out Trump’s challenge to the Pennsylvania vote to overthrow the election.
All of the arguments, legal briefs and Amici Briefs that were filed in the official record in an attempt to keep trump off the ballots in the states, can be used against Republicans to throw them off of the ballots for primary or general elections for the same reasons. Even using Trump’s own words. In every state where Republicans used nefarious schemes to unlawfully throw out election results for President and somehow not entirely throw out the whole ballot in which the Republicans would have voided their own elections, as well as other down ballot candidates. The crime is Conspiracy and conspiracies do not have to be successful to be charged. (Anderson v. U.S.) 417 US 211, 1974. It is enough that two or more persons agreed to commit the act as noted in Anderson to interfere in an election. We should bring state charges, commensurate with the Federal Conspiracy charge at 18 USC 371, to keep out of Article III Courts. SCOTUS has ruled and Article VI , the supremacy clause, prevails at every level of state court, including any State’s Supreme Court.
I believe there are several reasons not to be afraid of Trump and his sycophantic minions.
1) The modern version of tabloid journalism is alive and well with what is commonly referred to as “social media”. These people were and still are the people who support The Star, The Globe, the National enquirer and the like. These tabloid publications are full of equal parts lies, a splash of half-truths, and equally generous portions of just plain ignorance, stupidity, and nonsense. They only appeal to each other and as surly as night must follow day they will tire of the repetition and as stupid ignorant people are wont to do, will become bored and will move on to the next salacious and scatological diversion; like Trump’s trial with a porn star.
2) Statistics, for instance Michigan has a population of a little over ten million people upon which dictates the number of representatives (electoral votes) Michigan is allotted. There are a total of seven million, seven hundred twenty one thousand, and four hundred and eighty two total registered voters. Democratic voters with uncommitted and others totaled 767,851, and for Republicans 1,114,151 with uncommitted and others, for a total number of voters 1,882,002 who showed up to vote. .099443 or about 10% for Dems and .144292 for Republicans, about 15% of the TOTAL NUMBER OF REGISTERED VOTERS out of almost 8 million. The mass media played up the big numbers of 81% for Biden and 68% for Trump. I think the important number is that only about 25% of voters or 0.0182 % approx. 2% of the total population of the entire state is making a decision for ten million people.
The results for South Carolina are similar. Out of 5.5 million residents, and 3.25 million registered voters only a little over 800 thousand registered voters turned out in toto for percentage of approx., .246153, almost 25% of registered voters and .148148, approx., 15% of the total population of South Carolina. In Michigan and South Carolina almost 75% of the electorate stayed home. Lots of room and time for people to settle down and between now and November. I believe these are the important numbers for us to know and not the inflated numbers portrayed by the mass media attributed to one particular candidate.
3) Trump may suffer a medical disaster or some type of misadventure, end up in jail or worse—he has managed to insult just about every special interest group, women, handicapped, veterans, secret service, CIA, FBI, not to mention foreign friends, all who have plenty of time to “intervene” on behalf of their own special interests.
4) An aggressive use of the Supreme Court’s ruling today in which states may disqualify persons holding office or attempting to hold state office, are vulnerable to the 14th Amendment §3 Insurrection Clause. Effective use of this tool could dramatically impact the make up of the house and senate of every state and put the brakes on some of the pending anti voting legislation. It would also help if enough states used the tactic to gain control of the state legislature to ratify a constitutional amendment. Simply stated we should elect every Democratic and Independent candidate we can for every office at every level to elect a majority in the state and federal legislature to impeach and convict all of the Mitch McConnell and Leonard Leo Republican members of the Supreme Court in order to overrule all of the violence done to voting rights, women, etc., and Trump, if he wins the election.
Part of my legal complaint and the banner which will I place at the top of my soon to be launched online paper every day until the election, is provided thru the courtesy of Jonathan Karl, quoting a high ranking Trump White house official,
“He lacks any shred of human decency, humility or caring. He is morally bankrupt, breathtakingly dishonest, lethally incompetent, and stunningly ignorant of virtually anything related to governing, history, geography, human events or world affairs. He is a traitor and a malignancy in our nation and represents a clear and present danger to our democracy and the rule of law.” (pg. 263) “Tired of Winning” ©2023 Jonathan Karl, -- DUTTON Penguin Random House LLC
The above citation describes in detail the character of the man that the Republican party wants to follow and obey. He is an adjudicated liar, cheat, thief and sexual pervert and has created a Republican Party that has devolved into a sadistic, terroristic amalgam of political usurpers who want to kill our country, our government and as of Jan 6, 2021, us.
The Constitution says an oath-breaking insurrectionist must be banned from a ballot and never to hold office...a five-Justice majority didn't want to throw tRump off the ballot, so...they didn't. "Textualism"? "Originalism"? Nah, how about "We decided we didn't want to boot the bastard per §3, so we confected an addendum to the 14th Amendment"...now, THAT'S "original"!
Thank you, Joyce, for this detailed explanation over the Court's decision in the 14th Amendment case. Though I am somewhat disappointed, I am also sort of glad because come November when 45 is decisively beaten at the polls, he will not be able to use the excuse that his name was withheld from the ballot.
Tonight, I got to see you, Joyce, and Barb McQuade via YouTube, because you’re both in San Francisco promoting Barb’s book “Attack From Within”. It was a lively discussion (fun too) but also, I learned quite a bit about disinformation vs. misinformation. It was notable that you brought up the fact that Barb had been a journalist before becoming an attorney, and that the two of you had known each other for a long time.
I feel bad for us too but I also learned today that Trump is saying he can’t come up with the money to pay E Jean. You know what that means? He certainly hasn’t been able to secure a surety bond for the almost $500 million he owes in addition to what he owes to E Jean. And you know what that means? It means that Letitia James has every right to seize his properties. So let’s not flounder any further about the illegitimate court justices because they are not going to save us or toss us a life raft. We will have our say at the ballot boxes as we vote. November will be ours…I just feel it in my bones.
I feel very sad for our country today. Hopefully tomorrow and the days that follow will give me more hope. Maybe pictures of your chickens will make me feel better. Just saying.
One interesting statement in the SCOTUS ruling is this:
"We conclude that states may disqualify persons holding or attempting to hold State office."
Goodbye MAGA Oathbreaking Insurrectionist Representatives!
Trump v. Anderson, Part II-B para. 1, page 6.
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/slipopinion/23
Apply the vote liberally. Ha!
Thanks Joyce, how can a criminal rapist run for president but a criminal released from prison cannot. The GOP selected judges are bent. They have given themselves to the devil for a paid excursion to hell!!!!
Good for the French. To those still thinking reasonably, we should, for once be following their example. It’s good to see the spirit of the Marquis de Lafayette is still alive.
Thank you again Joyce for your cogent analysis. As you say, there are aspects of this Supreme Court that need some serious ethics reforms.
What we have witnessed today is nothing short of a shocking abdication of judicial responsibility by the highest court in the land. In a ruling that will be remembered as a dark day in American history, five Justices of the Supreme Court have taken it upon themselves to reach far beyond the narrow question presented to them and instead, have chosen to issue a sweeping and unprecedented decision that will have profound consequences for the future of our democracy.
These five Justices, with a stroke of their pen, have effectively granted immunity to anyone who would seek to undermine the very foundation of our Constitution. They have sent a message, loud and clear, that insurrection against the United States will not be punished, that those who would seek to tear down our democratic institutions will face no consequences for their actions.
This is not just a matter of legal interpretation. This is a matter of moral courage, of standing up for the principles that define us as a nation. And yet, these five Justices have chosen to turn a blind eye to the gravity of the situation, to ignore the urgent warnings of their colleagues, Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson, who have laid bare the dangerous implications of this ruling in their scathing dissent.
Let me be very, very clear: this decision is a betrayal of the trust placed in the Supreme Court by the American people. It is a betrayal of the sacrifices made by countless generations who have fought and died to defend our Constitution. And it is a betrayal of the very idea of justice itself.
Roberts is famous for having made a baseball analogy in his Senate confirmation hearing—"My job is to call balls and strikes and not to pitch or bat.” But with this case the majority went way beyond what was necessary to allow Trump to remain on the Colorado ballot. By deciding issues that were not even argued, the majority opinion effectively said: “Ball four, take your base! And, by the way, we hereby repeal the infield fly rule and declare catcher interference to be legal.”
Ex-Trump CEO Allen Weisselberg is taking another bullet for his boss. He is pleading to two felonies and is likely to spend more months in Riker’s jail.
Weisselberg for many years was the ‘money man’ for Donald and father Fred. He knows all the dirt about Donald’s financial finagling.
He refused to spill the beans on Trump earlier. Subsequently he has chosen jail rather than cut a deal with prosecutors. By contrast, Trump’s former attorney cut a deal with prosecutors that cost him years in jail and now will be a tarnished star witness in the forthcoming ‘hush money’ trial.
Before beatifying Weisselberg for his ‘loyalty’ to Donald, one should remember that Allen got a severance payment of $2,000,000 from Donald with the stipulation that Allen would not testify against Trump. These payments are scheduled over a number of years and could be stopped whenever Trump chose.
As a non-lawyer this court often confuses me, but NEVER surprises me. The Section 3 decision came down just as I (and most everyone else) expected - the judges who claim to be "textualists" and "originalists" found a way to do more than "kick the can down the road" - they suggested the appropriate place to decide issues regarding "Oathbreaking INSURRECTIONISTS" is the Congress where "kicking the can down the road" is their modus operandi. To me, the way this SHOULD work is the issue begins in the state (see: Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health) and the Court decides for the nation. For example, in the case of Trump V Colorado (or whatever it's called) was Trump born in America (check) he is older than 35 (check) HOWEVER, Is he an "oathbreaking INSURRECTIONIST" (oops! if he is, he's OFF THE BALLOT because the TEXT of our Constitution has set the requirements for anyone who would seek to be our President - what's the saying? PERIOD, full stop! (It appears to me this court WANTS to sacrifice our republic to this "oathbreaking INSURRECTIONIST") While I was not surprised by this decision (including Thomas participating in it) I was a bit surprised by the Court granting "cert" (Thanks Joyce for teaching me that term) for the ABSURD claim that Trump is "absolutely IMMUNE" from facing justice for his CRIMINAL conduct. They've rewarded his STALLING tactics and, it appears to me, they don't understand that CAVING to this serial CRIMINAL is like giving their constitutional power away. If they're AFRAID of the backlash of them actually JUST ruling on the TEXT of the Constitution because of the Trump crazies - well, they're just putting off the inevitable and maybe some retirements are appropriate!
Lessons I have taken away from this ruling: 1) Justice Thomas has no grounds for arguing that he is worthy to be ruling on J/6 adjacent issues, 2) Ginni Thomas can apply for a job in a future Trump DOJ, 3) only an impeachment could have kept Trump away from the oval office a second time and the cards were dealt by Mitch McConnell and Leonard Leo to their eternal shame, and 4) Judicial Activism is alive and well.