Yes, Arizona is an embarrassment that keeps getting worse. I find it funny that people were shocked when I said there were shenanigans in the election influence by the Arizona GOP. Sadly, the whole GOP has gone GQP, and it is just bizarre how far each state legislature is going to out crazy each other right now. Mexico is looking better all the time.
I mean, you're always welcome to come to Florida where it's only slightly less crazy. If you live in the democratic strongholds in south Florida and never leave, you'd never know the rest of the state is bat#### insane.
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I mean, you're always welcome to come to Florida where it's only slightly less crazy. If you live in the democratic strongholds in south Florida and never leave, you'd never know the rest of the state is bat#### insane.
It must be like having a moat full of alligators around your castle.
With guns and voting rights.
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A Manhattan grand jury on Wednesday indicted the Trump Organization and its chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, according to people familiar with the matter.
The charges, which people familiar with the matter told CNN earlier Wednesday are related to alleged tax crimes in connection with an array of perks and benefits awarded to employees, are expected to be unsealed Thursday. It was not immediately clear how many charges are in the indictments.
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Weisselberg is expected to turn himself into prosecutors Thursday morning, two sources with knowledge told CNN.
Depending on the amount of time Weisselberg could do, he might end up making a deal and throwing Trump under the bus.
Weisselberg is reported worth a billion bucks, when the extent of the grand jury indictments come out I can't imagine a 73 year old willing to do any jail time for Trump.
So Allen Weisselberg is charged with 15 felony counts of various tax fraud, the counts include a scheme to defraud, conspiracy, criminal tax fraud, offering a false instrument for filing and falsifying business records for the Trump organization.
Plus he's charged with evading $1.76 million in personal taxes over the period beginning in 2005 and that he concealed for years that he was a resident of New York City, thereby avoiding paying city income taxes. Weisselberg pleaded not guilty Thursday afternoon.
Location: A simple man leading a complicated life....
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Originally Posted by Snuffleupagus
So Allen Weisselberg is charged with 15 felony counts of various tax fraud, the counts include a scheme to defraud, conspiracy, criminal tax fraud, offering a false instrument for filing and falsifying business records for the Trump organization.
Plus he's charged with evading $1.76 million in personal taxes over the period beginning in 2005 and that he concealed for years that he was a resident of New York City, thereby avoiding paying city income taxes. Weisselberg pleaded not guilty Thursday afternoon.
If he doesn't flip on his boss now he's the biggest idiot ever.
There was never any paper trail to link Trump to all of this. Micheal Cohen didn't flip on Trump but I hope Weisselberg has enough sense to cop a deal and bring down Trump and his companies.
Plus there's all the unsecured loans that Trump has and if the banks called them all in it could bankrupt him.
Location: A simple man leading a complicated life....
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Weisselberg will be able to remain free in the short term, out on bail as the case winds along. But assuming Weisselberg has competent counsel, he will be told that his chances at trial are very poor and that he faces the likelihood of conviction and incarceration for at least several years. This is not an inviting prospect for anyone, and particularly for a 73 year-old defendant like Weisselberg who has been enjoying life as a rent-free resident at Trump Tower for the past 15 years. Prudence and commonsense suggests that cooperating against Trump is clearly the most intelligent option. And because these are state and not federal charges, even if Trump were to once again be elected president, he could not pardon Weisselberg for any of this conduct.
But, of course, people frequently do not do the sensible or logical thing. And there are many other factors that are no doubt impacting Weisselberg’s calculations. Chief among those concerns would have to be fear of retaliation from Trump and the MAGA crowd. That is no small matter; anyone who points the finger at Trump is going to be subjected to almost unimaginable levels of abuse, threats and, very possibly, physical violence. The pressure on Weisselberg not to flip will also be immense, and much of it will no doubt be orchestrated by Trump himself.
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The other wildcard is whether there are more shoes to drop. The DA’s investigation reportedly has focused on the Trump Organization’s undervaluation of properties in order to evade taxes. These abuses reportedly involved millions of dollars in underreporting. The best witness to this conduct is no doubt Weisselberg himself and it is likely the government is starting small with this straight-forward case against Weisselberg in the hopes that he will cooperate regarding these other strands of the investigation. If he refuses, the government may decide to indict anyway or stick with what they have: straight-forward tax fraud. Not a particularly sexy charge but enough to take down Al Capone and more than enough to deal a devastating blow to the Trump Organization.
Weisselberg will flip on Trump for a reduced sentence. He’s wealthy and at his age why would he want to spend perhaps the rest of his life in prison for a boss who doesn’t give a sh1t about him?
Weisselberg will flip on Trump for a reduced sentence. He’s wealthy and at his age why would he want to spend perhaps the rest of his life in prison for a boss who doesn’t give a sh1t about him?
Releasing dirt on him and/or his family that to him, may be worse.
Arizona Senate Republicans’ extraordinarily partisan and controversial ballot review again extended their lease this week, adding at least two more weeks to the already delayed operation.
The contractors, led by cybersecurity firm Cyber Ninjas, had planned to pack up and finish their review remotely, Ken Bennett, the Arizona Senate liaison to the audit, said as recently as last week. But on Thursday he said auditors had decided to seek more time to review ballots and machinery in person.
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Barry Burden, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor and director of the school's Elections Research Center, said the latest extension was "yet another sign that the Cyber Ninjas are in over their heads and didn't really have the experience or qualifications to do the review that they're doing."
Burden was a co-author of a recent report that sharply criticized the processes of the Arizona audit.
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The third extension is the latest in a review process that's been marked by procedural snafus, repeated delays, and blown deadlines. The audit was supposed to wrap up in the middle of May, but the hand recount took longer than expected and the contractors were forced to move out of the arena temporarily for pre-scheduled high school graduations.
During the temporary break, the ballots were also housed in the Wesley Bolin Building. After that, the auditors returned to the arena and had been scheduled to pack up on Wednesday, June 30.
Burden warned that the new space poses another risk: swamp coolers act like humidifiers, he said, which may damage the ballots or make them look different from the other ballots.
"Dragging ballots back and forth between the climates is going to change the paper," he said.
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Massachusetts police arrest group of 'heavily armed men' claiming to 'not recognize our laws'
They told officials they were on their way to Maine for "training,"
Massachusetts police arrest group of 'heavily armed men' claiming to 'not recognize our laws'
They told officials they were on their way to Maine for "training,"
Sounds like a well organized militia. This is the type of thing that was actually supposed to be protected. It’s kind of insane that it would be today but it’s a lot closer to the intent then people just buying weapons they like and walking around with them.
Sounds like a well organized militia. This is the type of thing that was actually supposed to be protected. It’s kind of insane that it would be today but it’s a lot closer to the intent then people just buying weapons they like and walking around with them.
I guess it depends on which laws they choose not to recognize.
Are they just ignoring the menial ones like jaywalking, or are we talking about an armed militia that doesn't recognize the laws that govern rape, murder, kidnapping, armed robbery, etc.
The S.A. says "well regulated militia". If they don't recognize laws, then they can't really be considered regulated.
Madison’s concept of the 2nd amendment was these well regulated militias could oppose the federal military so long as they recognize the constitution in some way then they are doing what the amendment set out to do. Now his concept was state militias but the concept here is the same.
I think with textualists on the Supreme Court this will eventually make an interesting criminal case if all they are charged with are weapons charges
