Trump hush-money trial deliberations: Jury requested key testimonies, indicating a possible unfavorable sign for Trump. Trump criticized the trial, calling it rigged. Misinformation spread about Judge's instructions about unanimity.
Alito's response to recusal request: Alito refuses to recuse himself, dismissing the request as politically motivated.
NOT NEWS NEWS
Rising debt impact: CBO warns that increasing debt could significantly reduce income growth by 2054.
North Korean IT workers infiltrate US companies: DOJ unsealed charges against individuals aiding North Korean IT workers in defrauding US companies, compromising national security.
Alaskan rivers turning orange: Thawing permafrost is releasing toxic metals, changing river colors.
Young voters' despair: Poll shows young voters are deeply cynical about US politics, viewing leaders as corrupt and ineffective.
Spencer Meads' case: Meads' appeal delays DOJ access to phone content, stalling related prosecutions, including that of James O’Keefe.
Trump boasted about Stormy Daniels: An athlete claims Trump boasted about his affair with Stormy Daniels to other celebrities.
Trump's attacks on media: Trump’s recent posts suggest a potential abuse of state power against critics if re-elected.
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1.) Trump hush-money jury deliberations (Day 1)
The jury deliberated for four (4) hours yesterday.
They will be back today at 9:30am ET.
The only notable thing to happen during deliberations:
Jurors handed Merchan a note containing 4 requests:
1.) Pizza [TS] Just kidding…
1.) Pecker's testimony (re phone call with Trump)
2.) Pecker's testimony regarding decision not to finalize and fund McDougal's life rights
3.) Pecker's testimony on Trump Tower meeting
4.) Cohen on Trump Tower meeting
How to interpret this?
Consensus is: Not a good sign for the Defense/Trump.
Apply all the caveats here, but first instinct is this is not welcome news for Trump. Prosecutors spent a lot of their lengthy close focusing on value of Pecker's testimony. This is the roadmap they asked jurors to follow.
[RELATED]
Trump had a bit of a meltdown on Truth Social prior to deliberations. During deliberations Trump sent:
[CONTEXT]. On Apr 4th, 2023 Trump was in court for his arraignment:
Leaving the courtroom after the jury got the case, Trump spoke for about five minutes, railing against the prosecution and claiming his conviction is a foregone conclusion.
"Mother Teresa could not beat these charges. These charges are rigged. The whole thing is rigged," he said.
"The whole country is a mess between the borders and fake elections and you have a trial like this, where the judge is so conflicted, he can't breathe. He's got to do his job. And it's not for me, that I can tell you," Trump continued. "It's a disgrace and I mean that. Mother Teresa could not beat those charges, but we'll see. We'll see how we do."
He also said “A lot of key witnesses were not called."
[TS] This is a ridiculous lie. They could have called whatever witness he wanted. In the above, he’s referring to Weisselberg (Trump’s former CFO, now a convicted criminal - 5 mos in jail after pleading guilty to tax fraud charges in ‘23). And, of course, he could have taken the stand himself.
[RELATED 2]
John Roberts from Fox News tweeted that:
Judge Merchan just told the jury that they do not need unanimity to convict. 4 could agree on one crime, 4 on a different one, and the other 4 on another. He said he would treat 4-4-4 as a unanimous verdict.
[TS] This falsehood created a firestorm within the Conservative base. Everyone hopped on to talk about how crazy it was that the jury didn’t have to vote unanimously. Siting Senators like Marco Rubio tweeted:
[TS] This is disgraceful. Attacking the judge for correctly instructing jurors on New York State law and comparing it to Soviet sham trials. It’s no wonder genpop (especially those on the right) have lost such faith in institutions and respect for the law.
First, what were Merchan’s actual instructions about unanimity (re: the underlying crime)
What exactly does Merchan mean?
The jury must vote unanimously to convict. The jurors don’t have to agree on which specific crimes Trump wanted to conceal.
If a law says NO VEHICLES IN THE PARK and the list of vehicles includes mopeds and motorcycles, all the instruction means is that you need unanimous conclusion of vehicle but not a unanimous conclusion on whether the vehicle was moped or harley.
[TS] Also, notably, the defense did not contest that unanimity was not required.
Just hours after former police officer Michael Fanone called Trump "an authoritarian" with "a violence fetish" outside of the NYC courthouse where Trump's criminal trial is taking place, Fanone's mother was swatted at her home in Virginia.
2.) Alito Responds to Senate Dems letter asking for recusal. (Hint: No).
[TS] Keep in mind, this letter comes after the new timeline in the upside-down-flag controversy which called into question the Alito family's version of events.
Alito insisted his wife raised the flag in reaction to a neighbor targeting her. But NYT's Jodi Kantor found the heated exchange happened LONG AFTER the upside-down flag flew outside their house.
Furthermore, the neighbors said, none of the signs posted attacked either of the Alitos personally.
[TS] He says “I am confident that a reasonable person who is not motivated by political or idealogical considerations or a desire to affect the outcome of Supreme Court cases would conclude that the events recounted above do not meet the applicable standard for recusal.” Essentially saying that he’s above criticism.
[UPDATE]
Trump thanks Alito for not recusing himself from cases pending about Trump after Alito’s being criticized for a flag flying at his house that has been interpreted as a sign of support for Trump:
[TS] We’ve come to just accept this as “Wednesday.”
3.) Rising debt could reduce income growth by one-third.
Under the CBO’s “Rising Debt” scenario, real GDP per person in 2054 would be almost $15,000 lower than the “Stable Debt” scenario, due to higher debt levels crowding out private investment and slowing growth
4.) DOJ : North Korean IT Workers Infiltrated More than 300 U.S. Companies, Earning Millions
The Justice Department unsealed charges against individuals for aiding North Korean IT workers posing as U.S. citizens, defrauding over 300 U.S. companies to generate revenue for North Korea. The charges involved wire fraud, identity theft, and money laundering. Chapman ran a "laptop farm" in Arizona, facilitating IT workers' schemes. Ukrainian Didenko sold fake identities for remote IT work. These actions violated U.S. laws and compromised national security. The FBI and IRS led the investigation, resulting in multiple arrests and seizures.
If you’re looking for a better breakdown, see Matt Johansen.
5.) CNN: Rivers in Alaska are turning orange. The reason surprised even scientists
Rivers and streams in Alaska are changing color – from a clean, clear blue to a rusty orange – because of the toxic metals released by thawing permafrost, according to a new study.
6.) SEMAFOR: ‘A dying empire led by bad people’: Poll finds young voters despairing over US politics
Notable excerpt:
A whopping 65% agreed either strongly or somewhat that “nearly all politicians are corrupt, and make money from their political power” — only 7% disagreed.
[TS] What’s funny is the “they’re all bad” postering/messaging is actually straight out of the Koch brothers and a lot of right-wing think tanks who want less government. The pitch is: Everyone is corrupt, the government is corrupt — therefore you should want little to no government. Less government = better.
Also, perhaps not coincidentally, this is the core message of a lot of the content made by short-form politics video creators. I wonder if China and their algorithms support this message?
7.) Spencer Meads gets his stay pending appeal of warrant and Special Master for his phones.
DOJ has been trying to get that content since November 2021.
CONTEXT
Meads is one of the people suspected of transporting Ashley Biden's stolen diary across state lines. He is a longtime operative with Project Veritas, closely associated with its founder, James O’Keefe.
This is also stalling any prosecution of James O’Keefe.
Who’s James O’Keefe?
He is an American political activist and founder of Project Veritas, an organization known for its undercover video investigations targeting liberal and mainstream media organizations. He has been a controversial figure, often criticized for using deceptive tactics and selective editing in his videos to promote conservative viewpoints.
8.) DAILY BEAST: Trump Boasted About Sex With Stormy in Tahoe, Athlete Says
Donald Trump has repeatedly denied having sex with Stormy Daniels—but it turns out he boasted about it to other celebs at the time, according to an athlete who was there.
9.) NEW REPUBLIC: Trump’s Ugly, Hateful Attacks on Media Suddenly Take a Dangerous Turn
His posting of a video of a man cursing at Joe Scarborough sends a broader message: If elected, he’ll use state power to come after countless other Americans.
[TS] Trump is plainly endorsing these sentiments:
[TS] How is this not bigger news? Again, the normalization of this behavior by the media is astounding. It’s “just another day.”
I want to drive this home with a comparison involving the hush-money case:
Just imagine, for a second, the media's reaction if democratic nominee Obama, 6 months before the election, was on trial for trying to hide hush money payments to the porn star he fucked while his 3rd wife was pregnant. I suspect it might be very different.
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