Trump's myriad legal battles (would you believe it?) continue

Tuesday, July 18, 2023
BY JULIA CLAIRE & CROOKED MEDIA

- Conservative vlogger Matt Walsh ([link removed]) —a middle-aged adult—getting Big Mad over a Disney movie (are we really doing this again)

Well folks, it may be coming a couple years late, but it looks like disgraced former president Donald Trump will finally be indicted for the crimes he committed when he tried to steal the 2020 election.

* Trump announced on Tuesday that he had received a letter from DOJ Special Counsel Jack Smith ([link removed]) stating that he is the target of a grand jury investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the subsequent January 6 insurrection—that’s Smith’s other grand jury, not the one that charged Trump with stealing and concealing classified documents. Trump’s lawyers declined to answer questions about the target letter as they were leaving the Florida courtroom.

* A target letter almost alway means an indictment is coming, which means Trump (and not just his #StopTheSteal cronies) will be charged. Obviously, Trump very publicly freaked the fuck out in response ([link removed]) , taking to Truth Social to say, “Deranged Jack Smith, the prosecutor with Joe Biden’s DOJ, sent a letter (again, it was Sunday night!) stating that I am a TARGET of the January 6th Grand Jury investigation, and giving me a very short 4 days to report to the Grand Jury, which almost always means an Arrest and Indictment [sic].”

* Now we must wait: The letter reportedly offered Trump four days to tell the grand jury his side of the story, which means it probably won’t return an indictment until Friday at the earliest. And then there’s the question of who will be charged, for what crimes. Trump’s fellow coup plotters Rudy Giuliani and Jeffrey Clark both insist they have not received target letters, fanning speculation that one or both of them might have agreed to cooperate with Smith. Rolling Stone reports ([link removed]) the target letter cites statutes governing conspiracy to defraud the U.S., witness tampering, and civil rights violations. Yes, yes, and yes.

At least Trump still has Judge Aileen Cannon to help him out in that OTHER criminal case.

* Justice Department attorneys met with Trump’s legal counsel in Florida today for a pretrial hearing to determine the timing of his classified documents trial ([link removed]) Cannon reportedly seemed skeptical of DOJ’s request to begin the trial as early as December ([link removed]) , but ultimately came to no decision, saying only that she would issue a written order “promptly.” Any further delay would risk holding the trial in the middle of the 2024 election, which is why Trump has asked Cannon to postpone the trial until the elction’s over

* Jack Smith’s lead prosecutor David Harbach pushed back aggressively when Trump’s attorney Christopher Kise insinuated that the classified documents investigation was a political hit job ([link removed]) , and claimed the 2024 election would make it impossible to have a fair trial. Kise argued that the public would view the trial as the top GOP candidate “squaring off” with the Biden administration. Harbach called the claim “flat-out false.”

Members of the lobotomized Republican Party faithful will continue to cry “Witch Hunt!” about the myriad criminal charges leveled against the (somehow) 45th president of the United States, but there may come a time when Trump is more of a political liability to the GOP than he’s worth. There’s also a not-insignificant chance that the MAGA disciples will ride-or-die with their favorite crook all the way to the bottom, until the Republican Party is a heap of ash drenched in Saudi oil money. Happy Tuesday!

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Hey, so, the weather’s getting pretty scary, huh? Phoenix, AZ, broke a record on Tuesday, with 19 consecutive days of temperatures at or above 110 degrees ([link removed]) Fahrenheit. On Sunday, a suffocating heat descended on Death Valley National Park in California, which reached an eye-popping 128 degrees, close to the hottest temperature ever recorded on the planet. Death Valley is a long, narrow basin significantly below sea level, making it naturally predisposed to scorching heat. These staggering temperatures continue as a high-pressure heat dome encases the American Southwest, creating what the National Weather Service called “NOT YOUR TYPICAL DESERT HEAT,” so there’s no mistaking the severity. In the Middle East, the heat index reached 152 degrees ([link removed]) , near or above the highest levels the human body
can withstand. The heat index is usually designed to max out at 136 degrees Fahrenheit.

These scary-high temperatures are exacerbated by the continued emission of greenhouse gasses, and the return of El Niño, a cyclical weather phenomenon. (Seems important to note that Republicans not only do not want to divest from fossil fuels, they want to increase domestic fossil fuel production ([link removed]) !) And they show no signs of abating. Over 20 major American cities are already expected to see dangerous temperatures every day next week. Most Americans have few legal protections against being forced to work in extreme heat ([link removed]) , and there are no federal protections guaranteeing laborers access to water, rest, and shade—the three critical elements for preventing heat-related illness. As heatwaves intensify across the globe, the World Meteorological Organization warned of an increased risk of deaths due to the
extreme temperatures ([link removed]) .

Michigan Attorney General Nana Nessel has filed charges against 16 people who participated in the “fake electors” scheme in the state ([link removed]) . Those charged falsely attested that disgraced former president Donald Trump won the 2020 election in an attempt to try to overturn the national result. These are the first charges filed against fake electors. Democratic women are getting it done in Michigan!!


Thousands of Israelis braved extreme heat (that heat, again!) to hold rallies across the country in protest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial coup ([link removed]) currently being finalized in parliament.


Amid protests in Israel and boycotts from many progressive members of the House and Senate, President Biden hosted Israeli President Isaac Herzog at the White House on Tuesday ([link removed]) .


British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s hotly-contested (read: barbaric) plan to make it easier for the U.K. government to send asylum seekers to Rwanda is set to become law ([link removed]) after the House of Lords (parliament’s upper chamber) tried and failed to make changes to the legislation.


No Labels founder and president Nancy Jacobson went on Meet the Press and said that the party wouldn’t help Trump win (as—it cannot be stressed enough—the group’s own polling shows it will) but she would not give any indication of how the organization would determine whether to pull its candidate from the race ([link removed]) , nor would she answer any questions about the group’s funding. Love these guys!


Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA) has ruled out joining the GOP presidential primary field ([link removed]) , and called on all of those in the race to stop spreading the Big Lie or risk losing the election.


Just one day after pulling out of the U.N.-brokered Black Sea grain deal, Russia struck Ukrainian ports on Tuesday ([link removed]) , hitting a fuel-storage facility in Odessa as well as a drone production plant there.

Israeli antiquities intended for an exhibition in Washington, DC, in 2019 turned up at Mar-a-Lago ([link removed]) , and senior Israeli officials have not been able to retrieve them from Trump’s estate. #OnBrand

In a newly-uncovered email, a trooper-medic in Texas’ department of public safety expressed concern over “inhumane” actions towards migrants by his fellow Texas troopers ([link removed]) taking orders from Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX). The email details several cases of migrants being caught or injured by barbed wire in Eagles Pass, a Texas border city. The unnamed trooper also referenced an apparent order that troopers were instructed to withhold water from migrants even in the current extreme heat baking the Southwest (again with the heat!). The email details one instance in which the trooper treated a four-year-old girl who went unconscious from heat exhaustion after she attempted to pass through the maze of razor wire dividing the border in 100-degree conditions. The little girl and her group were pushed back towards Mexico. In a separate instance, troopers discovered a group of 120 migrants along
a fence on the Rio Grande river. A commanding officer ordered troopers to “push the people back into the water to go to Mexico” including small children and infants who were nursing. The troopers ultimately made the risky decision to refuse their supervisor’s orders, citing “the very real potential of exhausted people drowning.” The email also reveals previously-unreported drownings in the Rio Grande. Responding to requests for comment, a Texas department of safety spokesperson said that the state inspector general was investigating the allegations.
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U.S. consumers increased or maintained their spending in June, allowing the economy to continue on a path of growth ([link removed]) in the year’s second fiscal quarter.

The head of engineering for disgraced former president Donald Trump’s social media network/personal bullhorn Truth Social resigned ([link removed]) , in a big blow to the company.
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