Karen Friedman Agnifilo, a former Chief Assistant DA at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office(under Cy Vance) dropped a bombshell on CNN’s OutFront show (03/13/23), telling host Erin Burnett that she expects former President Donald Trump to be indicted in Manhattan “in the next week or two”, for his role in the hush money case involving adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Interestingly, she added that Trump will also soon be hit with indictments from Fulton County Georgia(2020 election interference) and by the special counsel investigating the classified documents found at his Maralago residence.
Karen Friedman Agnifilo specifically told host Erin Burnett(0:49 ): “All indications are that he’s about to be indicted, I would say, in the next week or two.” She pointed to the statute of limitations, which is about to expire in May, as the reason why she believes an indictment from the Manhattan DA’s office is imminent.
As for other possible indictments against former President Trump, she said( ): “I think you’re going to see Alvin Bragg, who’s the Manhattan DA, bringing the Stormy Daniels’ case first, then I think you’re going to potentially see the Fulton County Fani Willis in Georgia case, then I think[Special Counsel]Jack Smith is going to bring either the Maralago documents case and/or the Jan 6th insurrection.”
Crucially, even though former Assistant DA Agnifilo appears confident that an indictment against former President Trump by the Manhattan DA’s office is imminent, she told host Erin Burnett that given Trump’s litigious nature, it will be at least a year before we see a trial in the case. As host Erin Burnett correctly pointed out, a year from now, we’ll be in the thick and thin of the 2024 presidential nomination primaries.
Will the said indictment(s) from Manhattan DA’s office help or hurt Trump’s chances of securing the 2024 GOP presidential nomination? As Trump famously says, “We’ll see what happens.” The popular wisdom out there is that candidate Trump will benefit from any such indictments, but Yours Truly will go out on a limb and predict that if Trump is indeed criminally indicted, he will not, I repeat, not secure the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. You can take that to the bank.
For those of you very happy with @Emolclause’s activism don’t shy away from the “tip jar” below on your way out. You may also Cash App
You may reach the author via email at administrator@grassrootsdempolitics.com or author@grassrootsdempolitics.com
Rep Liz Cheney(R-WY) sat down for an interview with ABC’s Jonathan Karl, three days after her landslide primary loss to Trump-backed challenger Harriet Hageman, to discuss her future political plans. The interview aired on ABC’s This Week show (08/21/22) and as many expected, Cheney’s lopsided loss was in no way shape or form, an end to her political career, but rather, a beginning of a new political chapter.
Rep Cheney said this moments after her loss to Hagenan on 08/16/22: “We must be very clear-eyed about the threat we face, and about what is required to defeat it. I have said since January 6th, that I will do whatever it takes to ensure Donald Trump is never again anywhere near the Oval Office, and I mean that.”
Asked whether she regretted the fact that her staunch opposition to former President Trump had cost her a leadership position in the House and eventually her seat, Rep Cheney responded (2:51): “No regrets. You know, I feel sad about where my party is, I feel sad about the way that too many of my colleagues have responded to what I think is a great moral test and challenge of our time, a great moment to determine whether or not people are going to stand up on behalf of the democracy, and on behalf of our republic.” Rep Cheney added that she has heard from several prominent leaders after her primary loss, thanking her for putting the country over her party. One such call, she said, came from President Biden.
Asked what Trump’s continuing grip on the GOP says about the party, Rep Cheney said the party, both at the state and national level, “is very sick.” She specifically said(4:11):“I think one, it says that people continue to believe the lie, they continue to believe what he’s saying, which is very dangerous. I think it also tells you that large portions of our party, including the leadership of our party, both at the state level in Wyoming, as well as on a national level with RNC, is very sick, and that we really have got to decide whether or not we are going to be a party based on substance and policy, or whether we are going to remain as so many of our party are today, in the grips of a dangerous former president.”
Asked about the argument by former President Trump and others, that her landslide primary loss is proof that the principles she is fighting for are not shared by the GOP, Rep Cheney responded (5:03): “Well, doesn’t that tell you something? What I’m fighting for is the Constitution. What I’m fighting for is the perpetuation of the republic, what I’m fighting for is the fact that elections have to matter, and that when the election is over and the courts have ruled, and the electoral college has met, that the president of the United States has to respect the results of the election, and if Donald Trump’s spokesman says that those are principles that are inconsistent with Donald Trump’s views, and inconsistent with the Republican Party’s views, I think that ought to give every American pause about who Donald Trump is, and about what the Republican Party stands for today.”
Asked about what her new political organization is going to focus on, Rep Cheney said one of her primary objectives will be to campaign against “election deniers”.
Asked about her views on House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and specifically, whether he should become Speaker if the GOP takes over the House, Rep Cheney said (6:22): “My views about Kevin McCarthy are very clear. The Speaker of the House is the second in line for the presidency. It requires somebody who understands and recognizes their duty, their oath, their obligation, and he’s been completely unfaithful to the constitution, and demonstrated a total lack of understanding of the significance and importance of the role of Speaker, so I don’t believe he should be Speaker of the House, and I think that’s been very clear.”
Asked whether she would support Trump’s acolytes like Senator Ted Cruz(R-TX) or Josh Hawley(R-MO) if one of them secured the GOP presidential nomination in 2024, Rep Cheney responded (9:50): “It would be very difficult when you look at somebody like Josh Hawley, or somebody like Ted Cruz, both of whom know better, both of whom know exactly what the role of Congress is in terms of our constitutional obligations with respect to presidential elections, and yet both of whom took steps that fundamentally threatened the constitutional order and structure in the aftermath of the last election, so in my view, they both have made themselves unfit for future office.”
Asked about Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who many view as the number two contender for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination after Trump, Rep Cheney said(10:28): “DeSantis is somebody who is right now campaigning for election deniers, and I think that is something that people have to have real pause about. Either you fundamentally believe in and will support our constitutional structure, or you don’t.”
Asked whether if she runs for president in 2024, it will be out of a genuine desire to win, or simply sending a pro-democracy message, Rep Cheney responded in relevant part(10:59):“Any decision that I make about doing something that significant and that serious, would be with the intention of winning, and because I think I would be the best candidate.” She punted when asked whether running as an Independent remained an option for her saying(11:19), “I’m not going to go down that path anymore in terms of speculating.”
Bottom line folks, Rep Liz Cheney is not going anywhere. Her primary loss will free her from the bondage that is Trump’s GOP, and allow her to pursue loftier goals–the fight for democracy. She said one of her primary goals will be to defeat “election deniers”, which Yours Truly hopes includes one Senator Ted Cruz, who is up for reelection in 2024. We’re going to need you Liz, in the Lone Star state.
For those of you very happy with @Emolclause’s activism don’t shy away from the “tip jar” below on your way out. You may also Cash App
You may reach the author via email at administrator@grassrootsdempolitics.com or author@grassrootsdempolitics.com
Former President Trump’s Attorney Christina Bobb appeared on Fox News’ Ingraham Angle (08/11/22) to address the bombshell revelation by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, that among the documents sought by the FBI at Trump’s Maralago residence, were classified documents related to our nuclear capabilities, which of course have serious national security implications.
Asked to confirm whether there were classified nuclear documents at Maralago, Christina Bobb said she didn’t think so, but wasn’t sure because she had not spoken to former President Trump about the issue–a strange answer indeed.
Host Ingraham(1:18): “Okay Christina, just so I’m clear about this, I want to be really clear. Is it your understanding that there were not documents related to our nuclear capabilities, or nuclear issues that had national security implications in the president’s possession when the agents showed up at Maralago?”
Christina Bobb:“That’s correct, I don’t believe they were…”
Ingraham: “Well, do you know for a fact? Do you know for a fact they weren’t? Have you spoken to the president about it?”
Bobb: “I have not specifically spoken to the president about what nuclear materials may or may not have been in there. I do not believe there were any in there. The legal team had done a very thorough search, and had turned over…everything that we found, that we had, so it’s my understanding on very good belief, based on a thorough investigation, that there was nothing there.”
Any reasonable person presented with Attorney Christina Bobb’s remarks on the Ingraham Angle show, would find it very strange that she went on the show to discuss the bombshell news of possible nuclear documents at Maralago without first discussing the matter with her client(Trump). That just doesn’t add up, and to her credit, host Laura Ingraham’s tone suggested that she wasn’t buying it either.
The interview then moved on to the other big topic as to whether the feds provided Trump’s attorneys with a copy of the items taken from Maralago, the so-called “inventory list”. This is important because another Trump attorney, Lindsey Halligan, had stated on Fox News’ Hannity show the day before, that the feds never provided the inventory list. Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara, had also said on various TV shows that Trump’s attorneys told her, they were not shown the warrant during the FBI raid.
Asked about her on-scene interaction with the feds, Christina Bobb responded(8:17): “Well, initially, it started out a little heated. I was upset and they were not excited to see me, so we had a little bit of an incident initially, just me wanting access to the warrant. They didn’t believe they needed to even show me the warrant so we fought about that, not for very long, maybe a minute, not more than two, and I did have an opportunity to see it. They didn’t give it to me…”
So she clearly admits that she was shown the warrant(read it), something the other lawyer and Lara Trump say never happened. Also, crucially, the fact that she was shown the warrant means that she knows exactly what criminal statute is at play here.
Then this interesting exchange took place. Host Ingraham(9:13): “Did they give you the inventory list before they left, or while they were doing the raid that they don’t want to call a raid?”
Christina Bobb:“Yes…we do have the inventory list as you can expect, it’s not particularly helpful so, yes, I kind of have the inventory list, they gave me the official receipt…”
So Christina Bobb clearly admits that she was shown the warrant, which means she knows exactly what the applicable criminal statutes are, plus she admits to having a copy of the inventory list, something Lara Trump and the other attorney(Lindsey Halligan) maintain they were not given. Folks, a total mess.
Bottom line folks, there’s a lot of confusion coming from Team Trump regarding the Maralago raid. First they said they were not shown the warrant, which apparently they were, then they said they were not given the inventory list, which apparently they were, and now they are denying that the search had anything to do with nuclear-related documents, something that must have been very clear to Attorney Christina Bobb from the warrant she was shown. Is this a case of innocent incompetence, or willful lying to the public? Hmm, as Trump famously used to say, “We’ll see what happens.”
For those of you very happy with @Emolclause’s activism don’t shy away from the “tip jar” below on your way out. You may also Cash App
You may reach the author via email at administrator@grassrootsdempolitics.com or author@grassrootsdempolitics.com
Former President Trump’s Attorney, Lindsey Halligan, appeared on Fox News’ Hannity show (08/10/22) to discuss the recent FBI raid of his Maralago residence in Palm Beach, Florida. Halligan, who called the FBI raid “an appalling display of abuse of power”, further accused the feds of using a sealed warrant for the express purpose of concealing what it is they were taking from Maralago, or the specific criminal statute(s) Trump is suspected to have violated.
Hannity (video at 0:56): “Did you ever get a chance to read the warrant. Did you ever get a copy of it, did you ever get any other information, do you know, are you aware of what they took out of Maralago?”
Lindsey Halligan: “That’s the thing, they had unfettered access to the property. They looked at God knows what in there, and did God knows what in there. We have no idea. What the FBI did was an appalling display of abuse of power. All documents requested were previously handed over. President Trump and his team painstakingly reviewed every single document at Maralago, and gave the government what they requested. If they needed any other documents they could have just asked. The warrant was secured under seal, so they tried to get away with concealing this overreach by obtaining a warrant under seal. Nobody knew about it, they knew that President Trump was in Bedminster, hasn’t been at Maralago for some time. They thought they could sneak in, snoop around without attorneys present in case they walked out with nothing so that nobody would know they snooped to this degree, and it’s unprecedented in United States history. The government seems to be out of control. It’s plagued with manipulation, corruption, greed, deceit and fraud.”
There’s no other way to interpret Attorney Halligan’s remarks on Hannity other than, (I’ll be happy to stand corrected of course) because the feds got the warrant under seal, neither Trump nor his attorneys, know what documents were taken from Maralago, or what criminal statute formed the basis for the search warrant. As a matter of fact, Halligan accuses the feds of seeking a sealed warrant for the express purpose of keeping Trump and his attorneys in the dark as to what was being taken from Maralago, or the criminal statute he is alleged to have violated, conduct she describes as “an appalling display of abuse of power.”
Bottom line folks, the FBI’s raid on Maralago has created a firestorm among conservatives, who have always characterized former President Trump as a victim of the “deep state”— a supposed bipartisan cabal of establishment elites (both elected and unelected) who are terrified he is out to shake up the status quo in Washington, and dislodge them from their entrenched positions of power.
The counter narrative proffered by liberals for the FBI raid, has been that Trump and his attorneys know exactly what was taken from Maralago because he had to have been given a copy of exactly what the feds took from his residence–the so-called “inventory list”.
Seems like there’s a really simple way to clear all of this up, wouldn’t you say?#ShowUsTheWarrant
Where, as here, Trump’s attorney claims she has no idea what was removed from his residence, or the criminal statute he is suspected of having violated, reasonable people will agree that given the fact that the subject of the raid is the immediate former President of the United States, some kind of explanation of the raid by the Department of Justice, is in order.
For those of you very happy with @Emolclause’s activism don’t shy away from the “tip jar” below on your way out. You may also Cash App
You may reach the author via email at administrator@grassrootsdempolitics.com or author@grassrootsdempolitics.com
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo appeared on MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show (09/24/2021), where she blasted elected Republicans in Texas for giving in to former President Trump’s baseless demands for an audit into the state’s 2020 election results. The decision by the Texas Secretary of State’s office to conduct an audit into the election results of Collin, Dallas, Harris and Tarrant counties, came literally a few hours after Trump’s demand, which led a visibly upset Judge Hidalgo to tell host Maddow that Texas was “being run from Maralago.”
Judge Hidalgo told Maddow:“We have to remember we had incredibly successful elections here in Harris County in 2020. We had innovations that led to record turnouts from both parties, the highest in 30 years, I mean it was beautiful, and since then, no evidence has come out that would in any way cause the need for this kind of audit. All we’ve seen is [former]President Trump exhorting the state, or [Governor]Abbott, to have this audit…The reality of it is Texas is being run from Maralago, and that is dangerous, and it’s not appropriate…it’s extremely concerning.”
Judge Hidalgo added that time had come for politicians in Washington to get off the sidelines, and actively join the fight against voter suppression in the states, telling host Maddow, “We need the federal government to act, I mean, this has gone too far… This should be another call to action. We’ve got the writing on the wall. We’ve got to get off our chairs and get moving on all this.”
Bottom line folks, as Judge Hidalgo correctly pointed out, time has come for some decisive action to be taken against these naked efforts by Republicans at the state level, to restrict the voting rights of minorities. Democrats in Washington cannot just sit on the sidelines, and watch their counterparts in Republican-led states like Texas, go to war against GOP’s efforts to restrict minority voting rights. Simply put, time has come for Democrats in Washington to finally do away with the filibuster, and institute a national voting standard geared towards making it easier for people to vote, as opposed to GOP’s scheme of limiting access to the ballot box. As Judge Hidalgo correctly put it, congressional Democrats need to “get off their chairs and get moving” on a comprehensive federal voting rights law.
For those of you very happy with @Emolclause’s activism don’t shy away from the “tip jar” below on your way out. You may also Cash App
You may reach the author via email at administrator@grassrootsdempolitics.com or author@emolumentsclause.com
A YouTube video that was apparently uploaded way back in November 2016 is getting renewed attention in light of Jeffrey Epstein’s recent indictment for child sex trafficking. The video advances a provocative theory that Trump is hiding his tax returns because they contain details of numerous financial settlements he made to young female victims of sexual assault at his properties. Up until now the running narrative, at least the one espoused by the cable TV punditry class, is that Trump is hiding his tax returns because he doesn’t want details of his failed business ventures to become public. The troubling allegations in this video therefore represent a dramatic twist in the Trump tax return debate, one that begs for serious scrutiny especially in light of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
The list of troubling allegations against Trump in this video is long but here are a few of them;
That in 1989, Trump entered into a $1 million settlement with the family of then 12 year old Kelly Feuer over an alleged sexual assault that happened at Trump Tower, New York.
That in 1993, Trump entered into a $16 million settlement with the family of then 12 year old Maria Olivera over an allegation of sexual assault that happened at Mar-a-Lago.
There is also an allegation of sexual assault by Trump and Epstein in 1994 against then 13 year old Katie Johnson at Epstein’s mansion in New York.
Whether the allegations contained in this bombshell video are true or not is another matter altogether and Yours Truly certainly is not putting them out there as proven facts. The point Yours Truly is making, which all reasonable people would agree with, is that if prosecutors at the Southern District of New York (SDNY) are currently pursuing Jeffrey Epstein for child sex trafficking and there are allegations like the ones above that seem to suggest that Trump may have engaged in similar conduct, then SDNY necessarily has to investigate the allegations in this video.
Why should the public believe in the time-honored legal principle of “equal justice under law” proudly emblazoned on courts across the country including the U.S. Supreme Court, if SDNY chooses to Pursue Epstein on charges that threaten to imprison him for life while at the same time totally overlooking similar allegations in the same New York jurisdiction made against his old friend Trump? Don’t the allegations contained in this video compel the good folks at SDNY to pore through Trump’s tax returns and verify whether (a) such settlements did indeed take place and (b) whether they were for the alleged criminal acts?
Bottom line, Americans are losing confidence in the ability of the criminal justice system to pursue rich and powerful people for conduct that regular people would never get away with, in this case sexual assault/trafficking of minors. The news that SDNY has decided to pursue rich and powerful Epstein is a welcome breath of fresh air and represents a slight uptick in the people’s confidence in the justice system. One only hopes that prosecutors at SDNY will further solidify the people’s confidence in the justice system by also looking into the Epstein-like conduct alleged against Trump in this troubling YouTube video, and specifically, that they will pore through Trump’s elusive tax returns to see whether (a) the alleged financial settlements took place and (b) whether they were for the alleged criminal conduct. The interests of justice dictate that these troubling questions be resolved once and for all instead of being left to rumors/speculation on social media. The innocent victims of these horrific crimes deserve no less from SDNY.
For those of you very happy with @Emolclause’s activism don’t shy away from the “tip jar” below on your way out.
You may reach the author via email at author@grassrootsdempolitics.com or author@emolumentsclause.com
In the midst of Jeffrey Epstein’s child sex trafficking scandal and the growing questions about his ties to President Trump, a New York Times bombshell today revealed that in 1992, Trump and Epstein hosted an exclusive “Calendar Girls” party at Maralago that had 30 attendees, with Trump and Epstein being the only men.
At any other time this could have been dismissed as just another irrelevant story about Trump’s well known past. However given recent revelations in Epstein’s indictment by the Southern District of New York which portray him as someone who serially sought out under age girls for sex, this “Calendar Girls” party at Maralago takes a whole new meaning. Specifically, it is now incumbent upon the New York Times journalists who wrote this bombshell piece to go back and find out who these “Calendar Girls” were and more importantly, what Trump and Epstein did at this party.
All too often the mainstream media stumbles upon a very good story only to walk away from it without sufficient follow up. This “Calendar Girls” story is a perfect example of a consequential story that deserves a follow up.
Bottom line, given Epstein’s troubling record of molesting young girls, the public deserves to know whether the 1992 “Calendar Girls” party at Maralago was yet another scene of Epstein’s numerous crimes.
For those of you very happy with @Emolclause’s activism don’t shy away from the “tip jar” below on your way out.
You may reach the author via email at author@grassrootsdempolitics.com or author@emolumentsclause.com
