Trump's Pants on Fire ... Again
Notified of his potential arrest by the courts, Trump lies ... and incites violence ... yet again.
Warning: Refreshingly Disrespectful, Highly Woke Opinion Rant
As I write this I cannot get the earworm “I fought the law, and the law won”—written by Sonny Curtis of The Crickets—out of my mind. I keep imagining Trump humming it subconsciously whilst he rants that he can’t get his hair dyed orange, have a day out on the links to whack the living bejesus out of something, and get silk pajamas rather than muslin stripes.
Anyhow, back to the news …
On this, the 18th day of March 2023, Donald Trump, who should be given complimentary stock in Orr and Orr—a top US manufacturer of fire extinguishers—lied again. He also, in the minds of many, incited violence should he be hauled off in a paddy wagon, which is likely.
First, the former president said he had been given insider information in an “illegal leak”—which is, of course, a crime to receive as well as to proffer—that he will be arrested this coming Tuesday for paying bribes in the Stormy Daniels case.
But what really happened is this: Prosecutors let Trump know that an indictment was imminent and, out of an abundance of caution, invited Trump to voluntarily sit for a deposition in which he would have an opportunity to counter any claims made by the prosecution, Michael Cohen, and Stormy Daniels and thereby avoid indictment and arrest.
Obviously, Trump didn’t take up the prosecutors’ kind offer. That probably averted more agonizing boredom than most of us could tolerate. I say this because the last time he was deposed he “took the Fifth” 600 times. Not a typo.
So, it is incredibly unlikely that Trump got this information from an “illegal leak.” He probably got it from the New York Times, which notified us that law enforcement had been alerted to this probability—and likely also to the possibility that police need to be prepared for civic violence, which Rachel Maddow points out may be one of Trump’s aims.
In fact, the former leader of the free world admonished his fans to “protest, take our country back.” Is there an echo in here? Isn’t that eerily similar to what he said on January 6th before he sat down to watch the Fox News coverage of the Capitol getting ransacked and law enforcement getting killed?
And then there’s Kevin McCarthy, who instantaneously weaponized every investigative committee in the House, exhorting them to “immediately investigate if federal funds are being used to subvert our democracy by interfering in elections with politically motivated prosecutions.” This is after he just complained that the DOJ was weaponing investigations for political purposes—and with the knowledge that Trump will likely also be indicted by a Georgia grand jury for election tampering in the very near future.
Oh, yes, and Trump is using his I’m-so-misunderstood-and-done-wrong crocodile tears to raise funds on Truth-Challenged Social.
As Trump screams it’s all so, so, so unfair and Republicans try to pretend it’s all so, so, so untrue, the weight of litigations Trump is facing is staggering. Here’s the list, every one with a link. Closed and settled cases have been removed from the list, which was even longer than it is now, and the remainder have been renumbered.
1. E. Jean Carroll 1.0: Defamation and Federal Tort Claims Act Litigation
2. E. Jean Carroll 2.0: Battery and Defamation
3. Mary Trump Fraud Litigation
4. Doe v. The Trump Corporation Class Action
5. Reps. Karen Bass et al. Incitement Suit for Jan. 6 Capitol Attack
6. Eric Swalwell Incitement Suit for Jan. 6 Riots
7. Capitol Police Suit for Jan. 6 Riots
8. Second Capitol Police Suit for Jan. 6 Riots
9. Third Capitol Police Suit over the Jan. 6 Riots
10. Metropolitan Police Suit over the Jan. 6 Riots
11. NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund Voting Rights Case for Post-Election Actions
12. New York Attorney General’s Civil and Criminal Investigations
13. Scotland Unexplained Wealth Orders
14. Michael Cohen Retaliatory Imprisonment Suit
15. Criminal Investigations into Trump’s Finances
16. DC AG Incitement Criminal Investigation
17. Fulton County, Georgia Criminal Election Influence Investigation
18. Westchester, New York Criminal Investigation of Trump Organization Golf Course
19. Mishandling of Classified and other Government Documents
Now, if the Republicans want to stonewall all the courts in the country, well, OK. But it can’t work out for them. There’s just too much here, and half of what is here has to do with classified documents, or January 6th lawsuits (some involving people killed), rape cases, and stunning levels of fraud.
But McCarthy is going to give false malicious litigation tactics the good old college try. On Twitter, he wrote, “Here we go – an outrageous abuse of power by a radical DA who lets violent criminals walk as he pursues political vengeance against President Trump.”
I have several questions for you, Rep. McCarthy:
What does he have on you?
What legal problems in this case against Trump lead to legal problems for you?
If making sure that people on high office aren’t criminals isn’t a big deal for you, what is?
If fixing elections isn’t a big deal for you, what is?
If hoarding classified documents—some of which were SCIF files—isn’t a big deal for you, what is?
If the president of the United States inciting a coup d’etat in which he calls for the vice president to be hanged—and in which several people are killed—isn’t a big deal for you, Kevin, what the hell is?
Did you fight so hard to become Speaker for the same reason Netanyahu wants to gut the Supreme Court of Israel—so you can stop January 6th investigations against yourself?
And if Trump loses his January 6th cases, where does that leave you?
The time for Republicans to wake up is now. And if Trump succeeds in inciting mass civil violence because the judicial system is functioning as it should—and if McCarthy is part of the obstruction or harassment of justice that is clearlyTrump’s intent—then McCarthy can expect to be wearing stripes and humming “I fought the law, and the law won” pretty soon, too.