Thank you for your clear voice on the legalities of the moment. When people ask me where do i get my “News,” i point to independent writers, and especially you, as to my trusted sources. Thank you for publishing on Substack. Happy to support your scholarship.
Thanks, Joyce. I hope there will be cameras in the courtroom. We can be sure Trump will spin the proceedings inaccurately and I'd like to know there will be video evidence for us to see with our own eyes.
'Judge Juan Merchan, who will handle the Trump prosecution, also heard the criminal tax fraud case against Trump’s company last year (Trump himself was not a defendant), in which Trump CFO Allen Weisselberg pled guilty and the company was convicted. In that case, Merchan refused to let the defendants argue that the prosecution was politically motivated and directed the attorneys to focus on the charges at hand. ' (Joyce)
Two key points in the above paragraph. Judge Juan Merchan REFUSHED TO LET THE DEFENDENTS ARGUE THAT THE PROSECUTION WAS POLITICALLY MOTIVATED. That is key; may the judge do the same in this case? That seems likely to me. Second key point, FOCUS ON THE CHARGES AT HAND. We need to thoroughly understand the charges. Joyce will be back to review those. How might charges in this case be helpful to other prosecutors readying cases against Trump?
Joyce, surely you know: the common denominator of our culture, our history, our politics and our current societal dysfunction is racism, is prejudice, the dynamics of which are fear and ignorance. Education and tolerance are missing in America. Our schools are increasingly crippled. Whites are nervous. Blacks once trashed are slowly doing better. Tuesday’s reading will demonstrate the lows President Trump penetrated. Tuesday’s news will call for the GOP to grow up or perish. Dress rehearsal is over.
Thank you for this clear and helpful summary. It’s going to be a week, alright. I SO want Trump brought to justice. He is an evil and dangerous man and our national attention needs to be elsewhere. He has CONSUMED it.
Thank you, Joyce. I'm particularly impressed that, as you point out, there has not been any leaks as we head toward Tuesday. Good to know, also, that the judge is up to the challenge!
Love your week ahead blogs most of all Joyce! Thank you again for the concise explanation. I always breathe a sigh of relief when I read them.
I think TFG will relish the extended “perp walk” from PBC airport to NYC, then again to his hotel on 5th Ave(?) on Monday night. Another spectacle on Tuesday from his hotel to the DA’s office and back again. It’s just what his “brand” is all about. The more time in front of the cameras the better. The topping will
Be his news conference at the end of the day on Tuesday at Mar-a-Lago. Boo hiss.... Let the games begin and as they say in baseball. One, Two, Three strikes your out! 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
Bragg wouldn't have indicted unless every 'I' was dotted, every 't' crossed. I'm feeling a bit of sympathy for TFG's lawyer if this goes to trial. This attorney is facing a buzzsaw of a career ender. His client is more than willing to sabotage his own defense with his verbal diarrhea and outrageous behavior. There is no amount of money that makes this case worth worth it.
The media, even that media we might deem still mostly worthy of our trust and attention appear predisposed to the idiotic notion of “both-sides-isn”. There is no equivalence. There is right, and there is wrong. The vast majority of us support the rule of law. We support our democracy.
We will be tested in these coming weeks. We must hold tight and remember, no matter how much attention, and concomitant legitimacy the media lend to the fascist minority, it is a minority, and we still retain the ultimate legitimacy... because we are the majority. We are the VAST majority!
No matter how many hurdles they throw in front of us, we must VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! No more GD Republicans! Anywhere! Ever! And, we must help our sisters and brothers to do likewise.
The circus begins. I don’t love that he didn’t surrender Friday and everyone got to spin. This may be the first time we get to see live… Justice delayed, Justice served!!!
All in all except for the last section about new voter suppression tactics, the rest is excellent analysis of the overall situation and major players in this legal process of holding the orange 🍊 behemoth accountable.
Trump's been able to squirm his way out of everything the last 50 years, thanks to the legal tricks his lawyer buddy Cohn taught him. Hopefully he's going to find out that dog 🐕 don't hunt anymore!!
Like the old Beatles song 🎵 says "it's getting better all the time ".
Notwithstanding Professor Vance’s justified caveats, I write mostly to test my understanding of what we might learn when Bragg’s indictment is unsealed on Tuesday. While I contend it’s a given that Trump’s office violated New York State law by falsifying business records, I also understand that the statute of limitations for that misdemeanor has expired. Accordingly, we can expect Bragg’s office to argue that the misdemeanor is tied to a felony. Were that felony to be a violation of federal election laws, two questions come to mind: 1) Can a local prosecutor issue an indictment for a federal crime? and 2) Why didn’t Biden’s Justice Department determine back in 2021 that there was sufficient factual predication to indict?
Though I imagine all of us are eager for whatever amount of clarification is unveiled this Tuesday, I wish, at this moment, to close with an immeasurably timely statement advanced by journalist Fareed Zakaria, who asserted, “The rule of law is not pursued simply to punish people, but to create a system of self-government that is widely viewed as legitimate and fair.” While, admittedly, the law should not care about the political affect of an indictment, in my view, Zakaria’s statement induces us to consider whether we should care if indictment and prosecution create more or less faith in our judicial and democratic system.
This week in Christianity is “Passion Week” and this may be the most “passionate” week in memory. We not only have “Good Friday” but now we will have “Good Tuesday”. Thanks Joyce!
Thank you for your clear voice on the legalities of the moment. When people ask me where do i get my “News,” i point to independent writers, and especially you, as to my trusted sources. Thank you for publishing on Substack. Happy to support your scholarship.
Thanks, Joyce. I hope there will be cameras in the courtroom. We can be sure Trump will spin the proceedings inaccurately and I'd like to know there will be video evidence for us to see with our own eyes.
'Judge Juan Merchan, who will handle the Trump prosecution, also heard the criminal tax fraud case against Trump’s company last year (Trump himself was not a defendant), in which Trump CFO Allen Weisselberg pled guilty and the company was convicted. In that case, Merchan refused to let the defendants argue that the prosecution was politically motivated and directed the attorneys to focus on the charges at hand. ' (Joyce)
Two key points in the above paragraph. Judge Juan Merchan REFUSHED TO LET THE DEFENDENTS ARGUE THAT THE PROSECUTION WAS POLITICALLY MOTIVATED. That is key; may the judge do the same in this case? That seems likely to me. Second key point, FOCUS ON THE CHARGES AT HAND. We need to thoroughly understand the charges. Joyce will be back to review those. How might charges in this case be helpful to other prosecutors readying cases against Trump?
Joyce, surely you know: the common denominator of our culture, our history, our politics and our current societal dysfunction is racism, is prejudice, the dynamics of which are fear and ignorance. Education and tolerance are missing in America. Our schools are increasingly crippled. Whites are nervous. Blacks once trashed are slowly doing better. Tuesday’s reading will demonstrate the lows President Trump penetrated. Tuesday’s news will call for the GOP to grow up or perish. Dress rehearsal is over.
Thank you for this clear and helpful summary. It’s going to be a week, alright. I SO want Trump brought to justice. He is an evil and dangerous man and our national attention needs to be elsewhere. He has CONSUMED it.
I'm glad they didn't unseal the indictment early. We will all find out Tuesday, when it is supposed to happen!
As my sister said when I forwarded your last Civil Discourse “ She’s wonderful “ and that you are.
(She subscribed)
if they can’t put a gag order on Tfg could they maybe put one on the house GOP? Just a thought.
Thank you, Joyce. I'm particularly impressed that, as you point out, there has not been any leaks as we head toward Tuesday. Good to know, also, that the judge is up to the challenge!
I laugh at your, "it's going to be a week". Since 2008, when hasn't it been 'a week'?
Love your week ahead blogs most of all Joyce! Thank you again for the concise explanation. I always breathe a sigh of relief when I read them.
I think TFG will relish the extended “perp walk” from PBC airport to NYC, then again to his hotel on 5th Ave(?) on Monday night. Another spectacle on Tuesday from his hotel to the DA’s office and back again. It’s just what his “brand” is all about. The more time in front of the cameras the better. The topping will
Be his news conference at the end of the day on Tuesday at Mar-a-Lago. Boo hiss.... Let the games begin and as they say in baseball. One, Two, Three strikes your out! 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
Bragg wouldn't have indicted unless every 'I' was dotted, every 't' crossed. I'm feeling a bit of sympathy for TFG's lawyer if this goes to trial. This attorney is facing a buzzsaw of a career ender. His client is more than willing to sabotage his own defense with his verbal diarrhea and outrageous behavior. There is no amount of money that makes this case worth worth it.
The media, even that media we might deem still mostly worthy of our trust and attention appear predisposed to the idiotic notion of “both-sides-isn”. There is no equivalence. There is right, and there is wrong. The vast majority of us support the rule of law. We support our democracy.
We will be tested in these coming weeks. We must hold tight and remember, no matter how much attention, and concomitant legitimacy the media lend to the fascist minority, it is a minority, and we still retain the ultimate legitimacy... because we are the majority. We are the VAST majority!
No matter how many hurdles they throw in front of us, we must VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! No more GD Republicans! Anywhere! Ever! And, we must help our sisters and brothers to do likewise.
The circus begins. I don’t love that he didn’t surrender Friday and everyone got to spin. This may be the first time we get to see live… Justice delayed, Justice served!!!
All in all except for the last section about new voter suppression tactics, the rest is excellent analysis of the overall situation and major players in this legal process of holding the orange 🍊 behemoth accountable.
Trump's been able to squirm his way out of everything the last 50 years, thanks to the legal tricks his lawyer buddy Cohn taught him. Hopefully he's going to find out that dog 🐕 don't hunt anymore!!
Like the old Beatles song 🎵 says "it's getting better all the time ".
Notwithstanding Professor Vance’s justified caveats, I write mostly to test my understanding of what we might learn when Bragg’s indictment is unsealed on Tuesday. While I contend it’s a given that Trump’s office violated New York State law by falsifying business records, I also understand that the statute of limitations for that misdemeanor has expired. Accordingly, we can expect Bragg’s office to argue that the misdemeanor is tied to a felony. Were that felony to be a violation of federal election laws, two questions come to mind: 1) Can a local prosecutor issue an indictment for a federal crime? and 2) Why didn’t Biden’s Justice Department determine back in 2021 that there was sufficient factual predication to indict?
Though I imagine all of us are eager for whatever amount of clarification is unveiled this Tuesday, I wish, at this moment, to close with an immeasurably timely statement advanced by journalist Fareed Zakaria, who asserted, “The rule of law is not pursued simply to punish people, but to create a system of self-government that is widely viewed as legitimate and fair.” While, admittedly, the law should not care about the political affect of an indictment, in my view, Zakaria’s statement induces us to consider whether we should care if indictment and prosecution create more or less faith in our judicial and democratic system.
This week in Christianity is “Passion Week” and this may be the most “passionate” week in memory. We not only have “Good Friday” but now we will have “Good Tuesday”. Thanks Joyce!