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the trump election lawsuit thread of dominance


henrygandorf

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Lin Wood has a few more problems.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/secret-service-investigative-death-threats-against-pence

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The U.S. Secret Service is investigating death threats against Vice President Mike Pence made by pro-Trump lawyer Lin Wood, Fox News has learned.

Wood, who was banned from Twitter last week, is suspected of writing a now-deleted post on Parler: "Get the firing squads ready. Pence goes FIRST."

"We are aware of the comments and take all threats against our protectees seriously," a Secret Service spokesman told Fox News on Saturday.

The Secret Service and other federal agencies also are investigating others seen on a video inside the U.S. Capitol yelling "Hang Pence."

 

 

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10 minutes ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

I think Lin's defense should be "I didn't say 'Well, Hang Pence', what I said 'Pence is Well Hung."   That's about the best he can do at this point.  

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3 minutes ago, HenryJames said:

 

Responded to this elsewhere, but NYSBA is not the lawyer licensing entity in NY.  It's a club, basically.

It's probably going to take a bit for the NY licensing entity, which is an arm of the court system, to move against Giuliani.

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46 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

That's an interesting point about how not all of the various electronic voting machines are under scrutiny.

I think Dominion stuff tends to be more "cutting edge" than some of the others.  There seem to be legitimate, if theoretical, objections to any of them.  Like in Texas, some potential security issues were noted, but it seems like the real objection was to paper jams and the security of the physical ballot boxes (suitcases!!!), moreso than vulnerability to hacking, that got them disapproved.

But it is most curious that there seem to be more Dominion machines in the contested states than perhaps in other places.  That may just be another fictitious aspect of the whole thing.

 

My completely uninformed guess would be that there was a push in those states to update and improve their election infrastructure since they knew they'd be potential swing states. 

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1 hour ago, TwiceHorn said:

That's an interesting point about how not all of the various electronic voting machines are under scrutiny.

I think Dominion stuff tends to be more "cutting edge" than some of the others.  There seem to be legitimate, if theoretical, objections to any of them.  Like in Texas, some potential security issues were noted, but it seems like the real objection was to paper jams and the security of the physical ballot boxes (suitcases!!!), moreso than vulnerability to hacking, that got them disapproved.

But it is most curious that there seem to be more Dominion machines in the contested states than perhaps in other places.  That may just be another fictitious aspect of the whole thing.

 

IIRC, you were the one who set me straight on Ivanka's whole Chinese trademark 'voting' machine thing and how the word could be used as a placeholder for something else and it wasn't necessarily out of the ordinary. With this group, and what has transpired, I still wonder if that underestimating the long game (not of Trump-he's as good as done) but some other smarter people may or may not come into play here. Not necessarily with the trademark worry I had, but a push toward one type of product over another. It's all business and competition at one level, but on another level it becomes strategic and criminal if not on the up and up. The guardrails of election integrity were tested, but they need a little reinforcement.

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Trump threatened "big lawsuit" against Twitter. Keep in mind this was during the 12 hour suspension.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/15/trump-campaign-twitter-suspended-429579

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Trump, who appeared surprised by the news of his campaign account being locked, told Fox Business in an interview Thursday morning that “it’s going to all end up in a big lawsuit.”

Kamala Harris Meme GIF by Ari Spool - Find & Share on GIPHY

 

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“And there are things that can happen that are very severe that I’d rather not see happen,” the president added. “But it’s probably going to have to.”

One thing that happened: Got his fat ass permanently suspended.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-pence-breakuo-capitol-riot/2021/01/11/6a6aa052-5357-11eb-89bc-7f51ceb6bd57_story.html

 

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Vice President Pence was in hiding from a violent mob of Trump supporters in the Capitol last Wednesday when the presidential tweet attacking him posted.

“Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!” President Trump wrote at 2:24 p.m.

Trump never called him that day or in the days following to make sure Pence was okay — or to discuss a governmental response to the deadly riots the president incited.

 

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The remarkable break between the two men — played out over a tense few days as the country convulsed from a riot spurred on by the president — is a startling capstone to a relationship long defined by Pence’s loyalty and subservience. The vice president who once spent hours a day with Trump, defended some of his most incendiary comments and was careful to not speak ill of him, even to his own closest advisers, now may be largely estranged from him.

Pence has committed to attending the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala D. Harris, even though Trump is not going. The vice president has begun telling staff goodbye, posing for pictures and having sentimental moments with key aides in his Executive Office suite.

 

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A senior administration official said Trump and Pence finally met in the Oval Office on Monday night and “had a good conversation, discussing the week ahead and reflecting on the last four years of the administration’s work and accomplishments.” Pence is under pressure from Democrats to invoke the 25th Amendment, a process to remove the president from office, but he is not expected to do so, aides said.

Trump’s treatment of Pence has reverberated badly in the White House and among campaign aides, many of whom see it as unseemly and unfair. One senior administration official described it as “unconscionable, even for the president.”

 

Spoiler

“We’re very lucky that Mike Pence is a decent guy and rational and levelheaded,” said Joe Grogan, the former head of the Domestic Policy Council under Trump. “If he had been replaced by someone as nuts as the people who have been surrounding the president as the primary advice givers for the last few months, we could have had even more of a bloodbath. Imagine what would have happened if Pence was devious and vile and didn’t stand up for the Constitution.”

Judd Deere, a White House spokesman, declined to comment on the president’s current views of Pence or why Trump pressured him to such lengths to overturn the election.

“Vice President Pence has been a critical part of this Administration and helped President Trump achieve unprecedented successes on behalf of the American people. We are all grateful for the vice president’s service to the country,” Deere said.

Critics say Pence deserves less credit after standing by the president too long — not forcefully speaking out against child separation at the border, Trump’s calls with Ukraine’s president and his numerous attacks. Many note that he chose to serve Trump for four years and was the head of the administration’s badly mangled coronavirus response; more than 375,000 have died.

“Republicans have said for decades that you can’t negotiate with terrorists, and Trump is a terrorist and Pence decided to negotiate with him because he thought it was in his best interest, and this was inevitable,” said Stuart Stevens, a longtime GOP consultant and Trump critic. “Mike Pence threw aside everything he said he believed in — everything — I mean, here is a guy who railed against adultery on his radio show, and then teams up with Donald Trump and of course it was going to end this way.”

Pence also now faces serious opprobrium from Trump’s supporters, including some who chanted for his hanging during last Wednesday’s siege and yelled in the Capitol, “Where’s Mike Pence?”

“He has no future in the Republican Party,” Stevens said. “When the base of the party is not booing you, but chanting hang you, that’s a bad sign.”

Asked about the chants, Deere did not mention the vice president by name in his response. “We strongly condemn all calls to violence, including those against any member of this administration,” Deere said.

For Pence, it is an uncomfortable and unfamiliar position. One former senior administration official said Pence had previously described his job as doing most anything Trump had asked him to do.

“The president could say, ‘Mike I want you to go fly to Asia,’ and he would do it, or ‘Mike, I want you take over the coronavirus task force,’ and he would do it, never questioned a thing,” said a former senior administration official, who like some others spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly. “Pence would spend hours in the Oval. Pence would come in, he’d get his daily brief and then he’d get word of when the president would be coming into the Oval and then he’d go over there and they’d spend hours together. For them to not speak anymore is a paradigm I just never would have imagined.”

The rupture began on Dec. 15, when Trump decided erroneously that Pence was his last resort to block his election loss. The president began telling others to pressure his vice president to object to the final counting of electoral college results by Congress, and the topic came up regularly in conversation between the president and the vice president, officials said.

Those putting pressure included lawyers Rudolph W. Giuliani and John Eastman, trade adviser Peter Navarro and conspiracy-minded Trump ally Sidney Powell, officials said, along with other lawyers and outside advisers sent by Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. Trump told “almost anyone who called to tell him he could still win to call Pence,” one senior administration official said. Pence at times was in the Oval Office when Trump called people to try to convince the vice president, an official said.

Pence was subjected to repeated phone calls from Trump, including one as late as last Wednesday morning — and to implicit threats from the president that he would attack him if he didn’t object to Biden’s victory, officials said.

“Do the courageous thing, Mike,” Trump said in one meeting, according to a person present.

“It will be bad for you and for the country if you don’t,” Trump said at another time, according to an official describing the meeting.

Some of the arguments were spurious, officials said. One included the certification of the electoral college votes in 1801, when Vice President Thomas Jefferson ruled electors from Georgia as defective. Another was that Pence could disregard some states because they sent in multiple electoral ballots. When the vice president’s team met with the parliamentarian, they learned that people send fake electoral college votes every year, including one sender who signs them “GeneralMagnifico,” a senior administration official said. The 1800 election had nothing to do with the current election, officials said.

“There was never any sort of convincing case that the president or any of the lawyers around him made,” a senior administration official said. Pence tried to be respectful and listen to everyone but told his team to conduct an independent analysis of the laws.

Pence was uncomfortable with the arguments, and asked his team to conduct its own analysis.

Marc Short, the vice president’s chief of staff, began preparing for an inevitable rupture, a person who talked to him said, and never considered that Pence could please the president.

Pence’s team became convinced that Trump was behind a lawsuit against the vice president, and that it was also the work of Powell, two officials said.

The White House declined to comment. Powell did not respond to a request for comment.

Trump grew livid when learning Pence moved to dismiss the suit with the help of Justice Department attorneys — and won, according to administration officials.

Senators regularly told the vice president they didn’t have evidence to support the president’s claims and they wanted to be supportive, but they needed evidence, a Pence adviser said. Pence told them he’d pass along the messages, but the White House never provided any evidence to many of the senators, the adviser said.

The day before the certification, Trump was extremely angry, a person present in the Oval Office said, venting at Pence, lawyer Pat Cipollone and others as Pence told him he was planning to certify the results. Pence was not involved in any of the planning of the Ellipse event and had no idea Trump was planning to incite a mob to the Capitol.

Pence met with Trump multiple times in advance of Wednesday to talk him through the dynamic and explain why he couldn’t do what Trump wanted, advisers said. After Wednesday’s final pitch did not go well, Trump went to the Ellipse and gave a fiery, falsehood-laden speech, where he repeatedly pressured Pence to a bloodthirsty crowd.

Pence went to the Capitol, where his decision to certify enraged the president. Soon, the mob descended, and Trump verbally attacked the vice president.

Pence declined to leave the Capitol after protesters breached the compound, even though his security detail on three occasions suggested it would be a good idea to do so, a senior administration official said. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and others left. While Trump was watching TV and resisting entreaties to tell the mob to go home, Pence repeatedly called military officials and others in the government to expedite the National Guard’s deployment, officials said. He talked with McConnell about reinstating the certification vote that evening and met with Capitol Police officials, even as Trump and lawyers continued to call others to try and slow down the certification. Neither Trump nor anyone in the White House checked on Pence, though Short eventually called Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to update him on their safety.

“Although the Vice President and I were not together during the evacuation, he personally got very involved and stayed in close contact with me as we worked to secure urgently needed resources to thwart the mob and I appreciate those efforts greatly,” McConnell said in a statement to The Washington Post. McConnell told others he was enraged with Trump and planned to never speak to him again.

Pence skipped his speech to the Republican National Committee meeting, scheduled for the next day, and did not come to the White House. He returned on Friday.

Pence’s aides say he needs to make money in the private sector and may write a book. He is keeping his options open for a potential 2024 presidential bid, an adviser said, and feels at peace with what he did.

“Pence withstood enormous public and private pressure at an historic moment. He followed the Constitution, upheld the rule of law and treated people on all sides with civility. Those who know him well are not surprised,” said Tim Phillips, who leads Americans for Prosperity, a Koch-affiliated group.

Trump told aides that he wanted to ban Short, the vice president’s chief of staff, from the West Wing, for giving Pence advice to certify, and that he was not interested in seeing Pence. But no one carried out the ban and Short continued to come to work, officials said, and scheduled a going-away event for Pence on Friday.

On Friday evening, Pence came to his office suite with wife Karen Pence and his daughter Charlotte Pence for a farewell ceremony. He told the room of aides that he hoped they were proud of what they’d accomplished in the administration and encouraged them to continue to work in public service, a person present at the meeting said. He was given a four-minute standing ovation and presented with his Cabinet chair.

He told the room that early on Thursday morning as he left the Capitol, after certifying the results from Biden, he received a text message from Marc Short, his chief of staff.

“2 Timothy 4:7,” the text said. The Bible verse reads: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

 

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20 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

100% he tries to self pardon. Pence won’t do it now. 

A self pardon not only wont work, it will basically force the federal government to charge him with a crime. Otherwise the feds likely just let him slink off to Russia.

It would be very stupid to do,so of course Trump will do it.

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20 minutes ago, JimmyJames said:

A self pardon not only wont work, it will basically force the federal government to charge him with a crime. Otherwise the feds likely just let him slink off to Russia.

It would be very stupid to do,so of course Trump will do it.

I think it really does guarantee that he would be charged with a crime.

The question might be is it one of the serious ones on the table, or some chickenshit deal just to test the pardon power.

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6 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

I think it really does guarantee that he would be charged with a crime.

The question might be is it one of the serious ones on the table, or some chickenshit deal just to test the pardon power.

They would go with the most serious one they think they can prove. Maybe the insurrection but I’m not a criminal prosecutor so I really don’t know. The bribery/threats in Georgia over the election votes seems pretty clear cut to me.

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33 minutes ago, JimmyJames said:

They would go with the most serious one they think they can prove. Maybe the insurrection but I’m not a criminal prosecutor so I really don’t know. The bribery/threats in Georgia over the election votes seems pretty clear cut to me.

I think @TwiceHorn is wondering which crimes Trump would try to pardon himself for. 

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1 hour ago, Huckleberry said:

I think @TwiceHorn is wondering which crimes Trump would try to pardon himself for. 

No, I think he would pardon himself for every federal offense committed prior to 1/20/21.

Then, at Main Justice, they are probably going to decide that is a precedent that needs to be tested.

So they have two choices.  Find any old chickenshit offense with which to charge him in order to create a case or controversy irrespective of any other federal criminal cases that come down the pike.  Or, wait for or expedite a pending investigation for one of his "Presidential" or other crimes, and bring that case that will be a serious case beyond being a test case for the self-pardon.

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1 hour ago, TwiceHorn said:

No, I think he would pardon himself for every federal offense committed prior to 1/20/21.

Then, at Main Justice, they are probably going to decide that is a precedent that needs to be tested.

So they have two choices.  Find any old chickenshit offense with which to charge him in order to create a case or controversy irrespective of any other federal criminal cases that come down the pike.  Or, wait for or expedite a pending investigation for one of his "Presidential" or other crimes, and bring that case that will be a serious case beyond being a test case for the self-pardon.

What about ongoing crimes? Say he made a deal 2 weeks ago where he gets Moscow real estate in exchange for giving Putin information. He gives Putin the information prior to the pardon yet doesn't receive the real estate until February. A lot of his financial crimes are years in the making. They arent just going to come to a halt on the 20th. What if on January 19, he tweets "attack Biden on February 7?"  Is he in the clear?  

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2 hours ago, DigglerontheHoof said:

What makes you think Pence has any kind of spine?  The only reason he didn't try to block the electors is he knew he actually could not.  Had there been any wiggle room, he would've.  He's a complete cuck to Trump.

You are right, but I’m hoping the fact that he was the target of a presidentially ordered murder might give him a change of heart. But hope is a dangerous thing. 

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1 minute ago, Biff Tannen said:

You are right, but I’m hoping the fact that he was the target of a presidentially ordered murder might give him a change of heart. But hope is a dangerous thing. 

I get it, just don't have any confidence in it.  Pence is Trump's Martin Borman.  He'll go down on....er with the ship. 

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Rudy is busy wondering how he went from having a tri-state area law school named after him for all his legal/political accomplishments from 1981-2015 to now hoping he gets some royalties from the Four Seasons Lawn & Order t-shirts to help make ends meet now that Trump's family has completed depleted their legal fund.  

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I just read "a toxic stew or prevarication and mendacity."  and...

I'm laughing out loud in a waiting room because of Forest Whittaker in "Good Morning Vietnam" when he reads the letter to Lt. Haulk.

"Lieutenant Haulk sucks the sweat off a dead man's balls.  I have no idea what that means sir, but it sounds very negative to me."  

Seriously, I went to law school and I have no idea what that sentence means but I'm fucking cracking up.  Thanks Lin! 

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"demand that he personally approve any reimbursements for the expenses Giuliani incurred while traveling on the president’s behalf to challenge election results in key states"

Well, I can tell you right now Mr. President...if Rudy turns in any expense account charges for a very high-end, expensive hotel in Philadelphia...it's a scam.  He didn't really stay there, nor eat there, not conduct any events there.  

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9 minutes ago, Gil Bang said:

 

Fun fact, Chapman University...an early adopter of going largely online (even though they are a solidly respected private college in California) is one of the reasons Trump University went under in the first place (both from a competitive standpoint and a legal opposition standpoint).  I love it when Trump's last ten friends in the world either die or end up fucking him legally.  

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13 hours ago, bluto said:

So wtf happened to Rudy and kraken? Have they just given up on the steal? Run out of legal road? Haven’t heard a peep outside of an occasional Rudy rally

Was wondering, and if Trump closed the purse strings when it comes to Giuliani, that explains it all.  Rooti ain't going to be out there for Trump if he ain't getting paid.

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6 minutes ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

It’s January 14 and dotard still lost. 

Just to REALLY piss him and the remaining Trumpkins who lurk -

Joe Biden will be President in 6 days. This is the last Thursday that Donald Trump will be President 

Edited by Js1
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40 minutes ago, Js1 said:

Just to REALLY piss him and the remaining Trumpkins who lurk -

Joe Biden will be President in 6 days. This is the last Thursday that Donald Trump will be President 

That brings back fond memories of my days working rotational assignments. Things were always better when you were down to your last Monday, Tuesday etc.  Counting down the remaining number of wake ups is a long and storied tradition. 

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23 hours ago, Lobo said:

I just read "a toxic stew or prevarication and mendacity."  and...

I'm laughing out loud in a waiting room because of Forest Whittaker in "Good Morning Vietnam" when he reads the letter to Lt. Haulk.

"Lieutenant Haulk sucks the sweat off a dead man's balls.  I have no idea what that means sir, but it sounds very negative to me."  

Seriously, I went to law school and I have no idea what that sentence means but I'm fucking cracking up.  Thanks Lin! 

BIG DADDY: If I give you a drink, will you tell me what it is you're disgusted with, Brick?

BRICK: Yes, sir, I will try to. Have you ever heard the word 'mendacity'?

BIG DADDY: Sure. Mendacity is one of them five-dollar words that cheap politicians throw back and forth at each other.

BRICK: You know what it means?

BIG DADDY: Don't it mean lying and liars?

BRICK: Yes, sir, lying and liars.

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