Funny Money

You know, all of this news about the election is wearing me down . . .

It looks like Monday (March 25) will be a red-letter day for the American justice system as far as Donald Trump is concerned.  New York State Attorney General Letitia James has demanded that pay a bond penalty totalling the nearly half a billion dollars that he owes the state and he had until Monday to pay it.  Trump has indicated that he has the cash, even though there's no evidence that he has that sort of cash available to him. While it won't happen overnight, James could start the process as early as then to seize some of Trump's properties.

It's nice to think that a possible seizure of buildings like Trump Tower (above) and other real estate holdings could start happening very,very soon, but in fact it could take awhile.  And if that weren't enough, Trump may end up having a white knight - possibly a Saudi or Russian interest - that bails him out literally and figuratively and then demands a quid pro quo from Trump should he end up backing the WHite House.   And I think the laws are such that Trump doesn't have to disclose where he gets his sudden cash infusion.    

I hope Attorney General James gets hold of Trump Tower, because, as with Hitler's Chancellery, I would have to see it demolished, the ground underneath salted, and the plot never to be developed. again.

If the Suit Fits . . .

 I want to kiss Letitia James.

And it's not because I'm an interracially inclined white male (which I am), or because I have a thing for Brooklyn women (I have a thing for all sorts of women, where they're from Brooklyn or not).  No, I want to kiss the New York State Attorney General because she just sued Donald Trump and three of his four adult children (Tiffany, honey, you're the smartest of the lot!) for committing real estate fraud by inflating the values of the Trump Organization's properties to get more favorable loan and insurance deals and get tax breaks for the government.  Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg is also named in the suit.

James demanded in her civil suit on behalf of the State of New York that Trump pay $250 million, a quarter of a billion (which he can afford; I mean, he's billionaire, right? 😉) to the state, and she hopes to bar Trump from acquiring New York real estate, bar the Trumps from serving as corporate officers of any established company in New York, and permanently ban the Donald's companies from doing business in New York State.

An example of Trump inflating the value of his properties is 40 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan (below), which was worth $220 million in 2013 but was claimed by the Trump Organization to be worth $530 million.  This is one of many facts James and her office found out over an investigation lasting three years.

Trump, his family, and his supporters will claim that this is all political, given that James is a Democrat holding elective office and that Trump is deeply unpopular in his native state.  And if New Jersey attorney General Matthew Platkin, who is not elected by serves at the pleasure of Governor Murphy, were to file a similar suit, Trump would dismiss that as political because Murphy is a Democrat.  But maybe the state of New Jersey should look into Trump's dealings in a state he obviously considers New York City's sixth borough.  Trump has a record of activity going back decades that, in addition to his Bedminster golf course, includes foul play involving his casinos in Atlantic City and a high-rise senior apartment in East Orange, perpetrated not just by Donald but his father Fred and his siblings.  You can read all about it here.

I'm sure Donald Trump will want to kiss Letitia James, too - if he gets COVID again.  And he'll just say it's the flu. 😠 

Trump: The Hunted

The U.S. House of Representatives select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol is really getting into high gear now.  The panel requested records from four key witnesses and demanded their testimony by the middle of October.  They are former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows, former top White House strategist Steve Bannon, former Trump deputy chief of staff and director of social media Dan Scavino, and former Pentagon official and Trump loyalist Kashyap Patel.  Meadows and Bannon are wanted for their direct communications with Trump and with state and local pro-Trump officials plotting to undermine election results throughout the country to stop Joe Biden's installation in the Presidency.  Scavino is wanted for having been present "during a discussion of how to convince members of Congress not to certify the election for Joe Biden," while Patel is a person of interest regarding his participation in "discussions among senior Pentagon officials prior to and on January 6, 2021, regarding 'security at the Capitol.'" 

The select committee isn't working its way to the top in investigating the effort to stop a Biden Presidency and stage a coup; it's starting there.  Going after the four most important players in this attempted coup is the fastest way to get to the truth and the surest way to prevent Bannon, Meadows, Scavino and Patel from stalling. The sooner the mostly Democratic committee, which includes two Republicans, Illinois congressman Adam Kinzinger (below) and Wyoming congresswoman Liz Cheney, gets to the bottom of this, the better, because it could save our democracy in the absence of federal voting-rights legislation by retarding Trumpism.

And while the January 6 committee goes after Trumpism, New York State Attorney General Letitia James is going after Trump.  James has warned that Trump Organization must hand over relevant documents subpoenaed by her office in its case against Trump's company.  A judge has followed suit and demanded that the company comply by this Thursday.    
While James may have the luxury of her time in her pursuit - for now, at least - the January 6 committee in the House has an expiration date of January 3, 2023, with no chance of a renewal thanks to the all-but-inevitable Republican takeover of the House expected in the 2022 midterms, infrastructure legislation. or no infrastructure legislation.  Once Kevin McCarthy is sworn in as House Speaker, the committee will be gone, and so will Kinzinger and Cheney. 

Trump: The Criminal

Many people fear that Donald Trump could pull a Grover Cleveland and get re-elected to a second nonconsecutive presidential term in 2024, thanks to voter suppression and electoral rigging, but his path back to the White House just got a wee bit more complicated.

New York State Attorney General Letitia James (above) is now conducting a criminal investigation parallel to the criminal investigation led by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. into "potential financial crimes" at Trump's business, including tax fraud and banking fraud. Vance's office is looking into charges as to whether the Trump Organization inflated the value of his properties to get good loans but then artificially lowered said property values to evade taxes. Vance has Trump's tax returns for the past eight years and is now connecting the dots to see whether all that in fact is the case, but he will be leaving office soon.  Ms. James' announcement means that prosecutors are going to go full tilt boogie to push this investigation to the end.  It could not only being down Trump but also his family. 

MSNBC's Zerlina Maxwell has suggested on occasion that it's ultimately up to black women to save America from itself.  Letitia James seems to be proof positive of that. 

Show Trial

When Trump finally left the White House, I thought Republicans would react to Trump's departure the way the Wicked Witch of the West's soldiers in The Wizard of Oz reacted when the Wicked Witch melted after Dorothy accidentally spilled water on her while trying to put out a fire.  When they told Dorothy she killed her, Dorothy grew very sacred . . . until the witch's soldiers started cheering and celebrating, knowing they didn't have to deal with the mean old broom-rider anymore.

Nothing could have prepared me for how loyal the GOP has remained to Trump since President Biden began his term last week.  With the article of impeachment against Trump for inciting an insurrection having been delivered to the Senate, only five Senate Republicans voted to accept and allow the trial to go forward.  Mitch McConnell, who has made no secret of wanting to find a way to get rid of Trump for good, was not one of them.  The 45 Republican Senators who voted against having a trial said that a trial was unnecessary because Trump is no longer in the White House (not true!), and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) even called the trial a "stupid" idea.

Trump still scares Republicans who fear a possible Trump comeback in 2024 or, if they vote to convict Trump and then allow a vote to bar him from holding office again, fear being primaried by QAnon/Trumpist candidates in Congress in 2022.  Trump doesn't have access to Twitter any more, but all he has to do is stick his thumb up or down like Nero to send a signal to have his base go after those who cross him.  Even if all of the Republicans in the Senate vote against barring Trump from holding public office again after he's been convicted and let the ban be passed by Democratic votes only, the fact they let it get that far in the first place by enough of them voting to convict would destroy them.  Someone had better figure out how to destroy Trump, or he'll destroy the country.

So the U.S. Senate chamber (below) is going to be the scene of a show trial - nay, a mock trial - that will be all sound and fury but will result in nothing.  Root for the success of New York State Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. in their efforts to prosecute Trump in court.    

One day, someone will pull the curtain back on Senate Republicans and realize there's nothing there.