Trump Charged With 37 counts of Espionage, Obstruction and related crimes

[Voronwë the Faithful]

And an even bigger sign.

[Dave_LF]

Speculation that this is related to an imminent announcement (4401 is "reserved for federal law enforcement"). Though it seems to me that you might expect something like that anytime the guy flies anywhere.
.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Speculation by whom, Dave?

The meeting is over.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Posted within minutes of the meeting ending.

[Dave_LF]

Speculation by whom, Dave?

Oh, random (to me) "open source intelligence"-type Twitter accounts. Probably routine and/or unrelated, but everyone's trying to read the tea leaves...

[Voronwë the Faithful]

With all due respect, I don't think that there is any chance that there is any relevance of that to this. But of course I could be wrong.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Reportedly, Special Counsel Jack Smith was present at the meeting with Trump's attorneys today, but neither Attorney General Merrick Garland nor Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monco were present.

[N.E. Brigand]

Yesterday on one of the Sunday morning news shows, former FBI director James Comey commented on this story and also said that former president Donald Trump might be in the position of wearing an "ankle bracelet" (i.e., a court-ordered electronic location monitoring device) next summer while officially accepting the Republican nomination for president at his party's convention. It appears increasingly likely that Trump soon will be charged with further federal or state crimes (beyond the New York state charges he already faces), but those trials are unlikely to start before the 2024 election, and Trump surely won't be jailed pending trial. Trump's New York trial is scheduled for March 2024, in the midst of next year's primary schedule, but I believe that, even if he's convicted, he's unlikely as a first offender to face any prison time.

Comey is not the first to make this prediction, but by virtue of his prominence, the quote is attracting a lot of attention. David Frum wrote almost the exact same thing nearly a month ago in the Atlantic, but Comey also may have picked up the idea from this column at the Bulwark by conservative commentator Charlie Sykes, who, building from Frum's suggestion, repeated the prediction he'd offered during a television appearance the previous day:

It is Milwaukee. It is the summer of 2024. And Donald Trump, who is a convicted felon out of New York, steps from behind the podium at the Republican National Convention, pulls up his pants leg, shows the ankle bracelet and says, "I wear this as a badge of honor. I wear this for you."

The crowd would go f***ing out of their minds.

I fear Sykes is correct. Even though it's nonsense. Most of us don't fear prosecution for paying hush money to porn stars or stealing classified documents.

It's interesting that Trump, per his social media post as cited by V, thinks that Joe Biden won't be charged. While that may be the consensus view, we just don't know yet. Obviously neither he nor his lawyers know for sure, but I wonder if the Dept. of Justice has said something to Trump's lawyers that suggest to them how prosecutors view Trump's case such that his lawyers can see how Biden's case (as publicly known) is less like Trump's case than like Mike Pence's case. Speaking of which, it's interesting that Trump doesn't mention Pence having just been informed that he's in the clear.

[N.E. Brigand]

I'm hysterical, and I'm wet! (CNN: "Mar-a-Lago pool flood raises suspicions among prosecutors in Trump classified documents case.")

[Voronwë the Faithful]

And once again the line between reality and satire become blurred.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

This is speculation, but informed speculation.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Meanwhile, in a similar case in which there was a plea deal:

Retired Air Force officer gets 3 years in prison for keeping classified documents

[N.E. Brigand]

Finally, Allison Gill thinks this is significant: "One of the previously unreported subpoenas to the Trump Organization sought records pertaining to Mr. Trump’s dealings with a Saudi-backed professional golf venture known as LIV Golf, which is holding tournaments at some of Mr. Trump’s golf resorts. It is unclear what bearing Mr. Trump’s relationship with LIV Golf has on the broader investigation, but it suggests that the prosecutors are examining certain elements of Mr. Trump’s family business."

LIV, the Saudi-owned international golf tournament circuit that was founded in 2021, has just announced it is merging with the PGA Tour, the organization which heretofore has hosted most golf tournaments in North America. (LIV had filed an antitrust suit against the PGA.)

[Voronwë the Faithful]

As part of the merger deal, all of the various lawsuits that the two sides have filed against each other are being dismissed.

[N.E. Brigand]

It's interesting that Trump, per his social media post as cited by V, thinks that Joe Biden won't be charged. While that may be the consensus view, we just don't know yet. Obviously neither he nor his lawyers know for sure, but I wonder if the Dept. of Justice has said something to Trump's lawyers that suggest to them how prosecutors view Trump's case such that his lawyers can see how Biden's case (as publicly known) is less like Trump's case than like Mike Pence's case. Speaking of which, it's interesting that Trump doesn't mention Pence having just been informed that he's in the clear.

Donald Trump did mention Mike Pence in a post this morning, saying he was "correctly exonerated."

[Voronwë the Faithful]

But incorrectly stating that he was investigated by the same prosecutor that is investigating Biden.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

A sign that indictments are not as imminent as some seem to think.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I'm still skeptical that the flooded server-room will proof to have any real significance, but there is this.

[N.E. Brigand]

I'm still skeptical that the flooded server-room will proof to have any real significance, but there is this.

It is interesting that two days in a row yielded two different stories about Donald Trump's allies causing floods.

Meanwhile, Trump's pliable attorney general, Bill Barr, today repeated his expectation that Trump will be charged in this case:

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I think at this point everyone agrees that it is purely a question of when*, not if.


* One could say that there is also a question of where, as there is some debate as to whether the proper venue would be in Washington, D.C. or Florida, though as I mentioned yesterday, those who know about these things seem to think that there might be an indictment charging Trump (and possibly others) in D.C. and a separate indictment charging those who helped obstruct the investigation in Florida.