Wednesday, January 15, 2025

TIME: How Trump Got Away with It, According to Jack Smith

"As set forth in the original and superseding indictments, when it became clear that Mr. Trump had lost the election and that lawful means of challenging the election results had failed, he resorted to a series of criminal efforts to retain power," the report says."

Posted by Corky at 10:30 PM | 20 COMMENTS | permalink

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"But for Mr. Trump's election and imminent return to the presidency, the office assessed that the admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial," the document says.

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"Smith's team interviewed more than 250 people, obtained grand jury testimony from more than 55 witnesses, and said the findings of the House committee that probed the attack constituted "a small part of the office's investigative record."

In the sprawling 137-page report, Smith unspools Trump's efforts to block the peaceful transfer of power, from pressuring state and federal officials to nullify the election outcome to inciting a mob to ransack the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Smith accuses Trump of trying to obstruct the certification of Biden's election "through fraud and deceit," including by encouraging "violence against his perceived opponents" in the days and weeks leading up to the insurrectionist riot."

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Funny how Trumpers don't want to talk about Facts, either. They prefer the lies that old orange turd tells them.

#1 | Posted by Corky at 2025-01-14 04:43 PM

Here's a more sober analysis:

" Trump did deserve to be impeached, removed, and disqualified over: (a) the baseless claims of outcome-determinative voting fraud; (b) the unseemly executive pressure on state officials, Congress, and the vice-president to endorse the baseless claims; (c) the encouragement of a mob to descend on Capitol Hill (and even though Trump half-heartedly encouraged his supporters to be "peaceful" and "patriotic," it is impeachable conduct for the chief executive to encourage a rambunctious political protest on Congress's turf); (d) Trump's persisting in public messaging about Pence's supposed betrayal after the riot started; and (e) the then-president's failure, for hours, to use his undeniable influence to induce the rioters to stand down and leave the Capitol grounds.

Smith's problem was not that evidence of egregious presidential misconduct was lacking. It was that he is (or was) a prosecutor, not Congress. He could not address political wrongs in a political forum, as the Constitution empowers the Article I political branch to strip power from the chief executive of the Article II political branch. Smith could only address Trump's wrongs in the criminal-justice process. In that non-political forum, unlike in impeachment, Trump was presumed innocent and entitled to every bounce of the ball."

Read the whole thing:

www.nationalreview.com

#2 | Posted by BellRinger at 2025-01-14 04:55 PM

Saying that Republicans in Congress failed to do their jobs to defend the Constitution isn't an excuse to dismiss the findings of the Investigation.... that relied mostly on Trumpers in the Admin admitting to witnessing and or participating in crimes concerning DJT to overturn the election.

They must all be Dem Crisis Actors, right?

#3 | Posted by Corky at 2025-01-14 05:59 PM

" Smith's problem was ... "

Did you get that?

Bellringer's central problem with Trump's behavior is ...
... his prosecutor.

Hackers gotta hack, I guess.

You have no right to investigate my wrongs!!!

#4 | Posted by Danforth at 2025-01-14 06:30 PM

Congrats, Trumpers. You were conned again to vote for someone who willfully tried to subvert our Constitutional system.

#5 | Posted by jpw at 2025-01-14 06:53 PM

Congrats, Trumpers. You were conned again to vote for someone who willfully tried to subvert our Constitutional system.

Posted by jpw at 2025-01-14 06:53 PM | Reply

Many of them just don't care. Several here at the Retort have shown that they don't either.

#6 | Posted by LauraMohr at 2025-01-14 06:57 PM

Your shoulders must be exhausted shoveling that much straw.

#7 | Posted by BellRinger at 2025-01-14 07:00 PM

#7

Saying that much nothing mustn't be easy, either.

#8 | Posted by Corky at 2025-01-14 07:24 PM

It's biased because the facts go against Trump

#9 | Posted by hamburglar at 2025-01-14 07:36 PM

@#2 ... Smith's problem was not that evidence of egregious presidential misconduct was lacking. It was that he is (or was) a prosecutor, not Congress. He could not address political wrongs in a political forum ...

The problem with that viewpoint is that it tries to look at what SC Smith found as things then Pres Trump did as part of his office duties.

But the evidence shows differently.

... egregious presidential misconduct was lacking ...

That's not what SC Smith documents in his report.

For example, that much-publicized rally on Jan6. as I have cited in the past, looked to be paid for by the the Trump campaign and donors. It was a campaign act, not an official act of the Presidency.

Yeah, that viewpoint seems to be quite off-base.



#10 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-01-14 08:41 PM

Trump got away with it because republicans don't care and democrats tried to form bipartisanship with people who hate them because they view politics is a team sport.

#11 | Posted by ClownShack at 2025-01-14 08:45 PM

@#4 ... Did you get that?

Bellringer's central problem with Trump's behavior is ...
... his prosecutor. ...

Probably the mist succinct summary I've seen so far.

#12 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-01-14 09:52 PM

Trump was exonerated by a jury of 78 million voters.

#13 | Posted by visitor_ at 2025-01-15 11:28 AM

...was exonerated...
#13 | Posted by visitor_

I don't think you quite know what that word means.

#14 | Posted by TFDNihilist at 2025-01-15 03:32 PM

It's biased because the facts go against Trump

#9 | Posted by hamburglar

Reality has a well known liberal bias.

#15 | Posted by gtbritishskull at 2025-01-16 06:31 AM

No one is above the law

~ Brandon Rumpelstiltskin Biden

#16 | Posted by lfthndthrds at 2025-01-16 01:03 PM

Deserved to be impeached: Correct.

GOP: Lack Balls.

2025: Here we are with a guy who is President who in no way deserves to be anywhere near the White House.

#17 | Posted by brass30 at 2025-01-16 02:29 PM

Trump was exonerated by a jury of 78 million voters

Ehhhh.

A lot of those voters where voting him regardless of what he did to be perfectly honest.

And - as a whole - Americans are really the most forgetful and forgiving when it comes stuff like this.

We can all agree - including Bellinger - that Trump should have been impeached for his conduct up to, including, and following Jan 6. That's a big key. UP TO, INCLUDING, and FOLLOWING Jan 6.

People get roped into just Jan 6 - no, that's wrong. There was a ton of impeachable offenses by DJT.

#18 | Posted by brass30 at 2025-01-16 02:40 PM

Americans are really the most forgetful

Bunch of goldfish, swimming around, eating their own poop.

#19 | Posted by ClownShack at 2025-01-16 02:54 PM

A lot of those voters just wanted to break stuff... to throw a childish tantrum by putting an incompetent con artist in Office.

Problem is, his Owners the Oligarchs are not incompetent, they are greedy for whatever the voters have left for them to steal.

#20 | Posted by Corky at 2025-01-16 03:06 PM

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