A proposal by U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Tanya Chutkan that she might be willing to postpone her European vacation so that she can proceed with what is being called a 'mini-trial" of Donald Trump to satisfy a ruling from the Supreme Court is bad news for the ex-president who already has multiple felony convictions hovering over him like a dark cloud.
That is the opinion of State Attorney for Palm Beach County Dave Aronberg who appeared on MSNBC's "The Weekend" on Saturday morning. With the Supreme Court punting their presidential immunity ruling back to the lower courts which must define what constitutes official presidential duties and what does not, Chutkan has an opening to give the evidence about his conduct before and during the Jan. 6 insurrection a public airing.
ALSO READ: Trump’s ‘secretary of retribution’ has a ‘target list’ of 350 people he wants arrested Calling it a "silver lining," Aronberg told the hosts, "In Washington, D.C., I think Judge Chutkan is going to hold a mini-trial and is going to able to just present evidence and to show the world Donald Trump's activities before, during and after January 6th.
" "Trump does not want that to happen," he asserted. "That mini-trial will expose his conduct, even though there will not be a trial before the election. " He later added, "I don't know the exact date, but she said she would be willing to cancel her European vacation to get this thing going, so I think it will happen before the election.
She doesn't want to be played for a fool, she doesn't want to be used as a tool for delay. I think she wants something to be out there ." Watch below or at the link .
MSNBC 07 13 2024 09 29 04 youtu.be On MSNBC on Saturday morning, a political analyst laughed at Donald Trump and called him a "slumlord" over recent comments he made when attacking President Joe Biden . Speaking with the co-hosts of "The Weekend," MSNBC's Richard Stengel compared Biden meeting with NATO leaders while the former president hosted Hungarian strongman Viktor Orbán at his Mar-a-Lago luxury resort in Florida.
As he noted, there are rumblings that NATO nations will refuse to share important intel with the Trump administration should the convicted felon return to power over fears of what he will do with it. That, in a roundabout way, led New Yorker Stengel to remind viewers about Trump's history as a real estate developer and his history, as reported by CNN, when he cut off heat and water to tenants in one of his properties that led to lawsuits and a settlement. With regard to Trump's strained relationship with NATO, Stengel stated, "The Europeans are appalled.
They see Donald Trump as the greatest security risk on the planet. They are not going to be sharing their information with the U.S.
" "This idea of weakening NATO, you guys mentioned it, it makes me laugh too when I hear Donald Trump say, those NATO nations are delinquent, like they are paying rent," he added before joking, "Once a slumlord, always a slumlord. He does not understand it is about contributing 2% of their GDP for their military budget." Stengel was citing Trump saying this week, "NATO members 'were delinquent, having paid very little.
'” You can watch here or at the link. MSNBC 07 13 2024 08 51 04 youtu.be CONTINUE READING Show less The rivalry between Marco Rubio and Donald Trump was one of the most contentious and personal in recent political history.
As the 2016 Republican primary campaign intensified, Rubio became one of Trump's most vocal and persistent critics, launching a barrage of attacks that went well beyond policy disagreements. Personal Attacks and Insults Rubio repeatedly mocked Trump's physical appearance, dubbing him " Donald Trump, the con artist " and making references to the size of his hands and other body parts. In one instance, Rubio suggested that Trump had wet himself during a debate, saying, "You know what they say, ' When they're not sweating, they're not lying .
'" This line of attack aimed to undermine Trump's strongman persona and portray him as weak and unprepared for the presidency. The personal nature of the feud reached a new low when the two men engaged in a series of insults and taunts during a televised debate. Trump mocked Rubio's sweating and even suggested that the senator had a small penis, saying, "He referred to my hands — 'if they're small, something else must be small.
' I guarantee you there's no problem. I guarantee." Rubio responded in kind, saying, "You know what they say about men with small hands? You can't trust them.
" The exchange was widely criticized as a descent into juvenile name-calling. READ: Project 2025 group makes immediate splash at Republican National Convention Attacks on Trump's Business Record Rubio frequently criticized Trump's business record , accusing him of "sticking it to the little guy" and exploiting workers. "You know, his businesses have gone bankrupt not once, not twice, but four times," Rubio said during a debate.
"And every time he filed for bankruptcy, he stuck it to the little guys, the contractors, the employees." Rubio was particularly critical of Trump's handling of the 2008 financial crisis, arguing that the real estate mogul had profited off the misery of others. "He talked about how he made a lot of money because of the housing crisis," Rubio said.
"He actually said, and I quote, 'And that's called business, by the way.'" Questioning Trump's Fitness for Office Rubio's attacks extended beyond Trump's personal and professional conduct, as he also sought to question the former president's fitness for office . During one debate, Rubio declared, "If he hadn't inherited $200 million, you know where Donald Trump would be right now? Selling watches in Manhattan.
" The Florida senator also mocked Trump's policy positions , particularly his signature proposal to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
"The front-runner in the Republican primary right now has as his main economic policy that he's going to have a trade war with China and cut off all trade with China," Rubio said. "That's not a policy, that's a soundbite." As the campaign wore on, Rubio's attacks only intensified, with the senator even suggesting that Trump was not a true conservative.
"If you want someone who is going to go to Washington, D.C., and ignore the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, then Donald Trump is your guy," Rubio said.
Defending Conservative Principles Rubio positioned himself as the true conservative in the race, contrasting his principled stance with Trump's populist rhetoric and unconventional policy proposals. He argued that Trump's proposals, such as his proposed Muslim ban and his willingness to engage in torture, were antithetical to conservative values and would damage the Republican Party's reputation. "I don't think we're going to be a party that defends torture," Rubio said during a debate.
"I don't think we're going to be a party that engages in trade wars that will undermine our economy. And I don't think we're going to be a party that passes laws that violate the Constitution." Rubio also criticized Trump's lack of political experience and his tendency to make outlandish statements, suggesting that the former reality TV star was more interested in generating headlines than offering substantive solutions to the country's problems.
NOW READ: The risk of dumping Biden CONTINUE READING Show less A leading expert on far-right, oppressive governments around the world is warning that former President Donald Trump would usher in fascism in the United States if he wins a second term this fall. In a detailed interview with Guardian reporter Alice Herman, scholar and author Ruth Ben-Ghiat — a professor of history and Italian studies at New York University whose work focuses on fascism — said November's election represents a "democratic emergency" with Trump as the GOP's presumptive nominee. She said his openly stated plans to be a "dictator" on "day one" combined with the Supreme Court's recent ruling guaranteeing presidents absolute criminal immunity for "official acts" is a recipe for authoritarianism.
"At its most basic, authoritarianism is when the executive branch of government domesticates or overwhelms or politicizes the judiciary, critiques and tries to silence the press, and when the leader has a party that he’s made into his personal tool, and in general, seeks to remove or neutralize any threats to his power," Ben-Ghiat said. "Authoritarianism is about replacing the rule of law with rule by the lawless." RELATED: Trump is grooming his base for 'maximum violence' this year: columnist "Trump is also uniquely dangerous because he has long indulged in fantasies of violence, and he made violence his brand," she continued.
" This is someone who started off his campaign saying he could stand on Fifth Avenue and shoot someone and not lose any followers. And he has used his rallies for almost 10 years now to preach that violence should be seen in a positive light. He’d say in the old days, you could beat up people, and that violence is necessary, sometimes, to 'save the nation'.
" When Trump's lawyers were making the case for him to have absolute immunity before a D.C. Court of Appeals panel, attorney John Sauer posited that Trump would be protected from even assassinating political opponents.
While the D.C. Circuit rejected that argument, the former president successfully got the Supreme Court to overturn it in July's 6-3 Trump v.
United States decision. "This is someone who talks about executions," she added. "The reason he admires foreign leaders such as Xi [Jinping of China] and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is that they have the power to execute people and pay no consequence.
" Ben-Ghiat's assessment is not hyperbolic. In her dissent, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the Court's six conservative appointees effectively legalized extrajudicial murders so long as a president declared it to be an official act. "Today’s decision to grant former Presidents criminal immunity reshapes the institution of the Presidency," Sotomayor wrote.
"Orders the Navy’s Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival? Immune. Organizes a military coup to hold onto power? Immune. Takes a bribe in exchange for a pardon? Immune.
Immune, immune, immune." Ben-Ghiat, who has studied Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini's reign in depth, said Trump is engaging in 'classic authoritarian maneuvers' by demonizing immigrants, attacking the free press and framing himself as a victim of political persecution. She compared him to both previous far-right world leaders, and identified his contemporaries in Hungary and Turkey.
"For Mussolini, the enemy of Italy – which was a poor nation – was the League of Nations. Today, Trump says the enemy is the deep state. [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan talks about witch hunts.
[Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio] Berlusconi talked about witch hunts by the press and prosecutors. It makes people get on board with any aggressive actions that this leader takes, because it becomes self defense," she explained. "From Putin to [Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor] Orbán, all these authoritarians say that democracy is the real tyranny, and they present their way – whether it’s fascism or Trumpism – as the way to free the people.
And so this idea that Biden is a threat to democracy – this is part of it." Click here to read Ben-Ghiat's interview with the Guardian in its entirety. CONTINUE READING Show less.
