Pyrian on 23/9/2022 at 04:21
Personally betting on "we'll never know". The specifics of the classified documents won't be disclosed because classified, and while I would never accuse Trump of being particularly bright, covering his tracks is a habit for him; I'll be surprised if the DoJ can find proof that he sold info to, say, the Saudis (he totally sold something to the Saudis, they don't hand out $2b for nothin').
demagogue on 23/9/2022 at 09:25
I think his worldview is so transactional that I take it as a matter of course that he sold US intelligence & policy (within his meager capacity) to the highest bidder and went to extra lengths to ensure that there wasn't a paper trail because that's the Roy Cohn playbook.
It's strange that someone would even think his interest wasn't in cashing in on his presidential power. Why else would he even become president? There's nothing else in it for him after the pomp and circumstance.
Cipheron on 23/9/2022 at 09:42
Apparently there's a thing called consequences:
(
https://www.newsweek.com/special-masters-proposed-helper-could-cost-trump-500-per-hour-1745581)
Quote:
Raymond Dearie, the special master overseeing documents seized from Donald Trump's home, says he'll need help sifting through the more than 11,000 records—and it could come at a hefty financial cost to the former president.
Dearie, a New York-based federal judge, laid out his plan for the review of the documents in a court filing Thursday. The plan signed by Dearie proposes that he'll require help from James Orenstein, a retired magistrate judge, who will bill Trump at a rate of $500 per hour. The potential added legal fees come after a series of recent court setbacks for Trump.
I'm assuming the retired judge will put in something like 12 hours a week into this, so that's an extra $6000 a week Trump needs to cough up to keep that going. It certainly makes you feel a bit better about how things are going.
Pyrian on 23/9/2022 at 15:41
Quote Posted by demagogue
Why else would he even become president? There's nothing else in it for him after the pomp and circumstance.
I think feeding his ego is even more important to him than his money. Indeed, his money seems to be important to him primarily
for feeding his ego. Guy's in trouble now for inflating the value of his properties; Letitia claims it was for profit, but Cohen says it was so he'd score higher on Forbes.
demagogue on 23/9/2022 at 16:14
Yes, I didn't add that part, but I've heard that also (it's also textbook NPD) and it's what I was thinking too.
It's built into what I was thinking a "transactional only" worldview is.
He only cares about the dopamine hit and numbing his paper thin ego from the terror of its exposure as a fraud (cf. the network between the amygdala/limbic system & medial prefrontal cortex) that only a power grab can do for him, which one can get in a few ways familiar to pwNPD profiles ... (1) cruelty signaling to people he perceives as weak and (2) easy cash grabs that stoke his narrative that he's "savvy" & "virile", especially if it preys on, or is at the cost of, or is over the heads of, or is unstoppable by people he perceives as weak (see #1).
Staying on the Forbes list and getting away with a cheap con that would drive communitarian types up the wall -- thus, all the better if they know about it but can't stop it (see #1 again); I don't think it works its intended effect if the public doesn't know about it, at least as rumor -- seem like they'd be right at the top of the list. It's a good point to keep in mind. The fact that selling US intelligence for a profit also includes the public perception of open treason that no one can stop seems like a feature he'd get off on than a bug or oversight, part of the reason why it's worth doing and why it getting reported on only adds to the effect, so not something he's gonna be too careful to hide.
Dia on 23/9/2022 at 18:18
Quote Posted by heywood
The main focus of the investigation should be looking into motive. Was it just a matter of ignoring and disregarding the law, or did he take them for nefarious reasons? I never bought into the theory that Trump was groomed by Russian intelligence. I think he envied Putin's control over Russia, particularly with the media, and while in office he envied it badly. But I don't think he's a traitor. So I welcome the DoJ investigation to dig into why he retained these particular documents.
Not a traitor, hmmmm? Then where are those 100 documents that are still missing from the
empty folders marked 'Classified';
empty folders found in Trump's resort and resort office?? Those documents, according to the NARA, should have been in their folders, folders that were found to be empty. We all know by now that Trump only cared about two things: power and money, with emphasis on money. Any rocket scientist could tell you that a person stands to make billions of dollars by selling those documents or the intel contained therein. Why did President Biden revoke Trump's right to executive privilege after we fired that orange megalomaniac? Why did President Biden revoke Trump's entitlement as a former president to receive daily intelligence briefings, a first in our nation's history as all other former presidents still retain that privilege? President Biden justified both actions by saying that he considered Trump a threat to our national security, that's why. Consider also the opportunities Trump had to strike deals for the intel contained in those documents; it's a proven fact that Trump received all manor of 'guests' in his resort office and some of those guests are and have been long-suspected of being espionage agents for our country's adversaries. Then there's the fact that his staff have already testified that Trump always took a box or two of documents with him whenever he'd fly somewhere. I believe that where there's smoke, there's fire.
It sure doesn't help that during the past six years, Trump has repeatedly sung the praises of Putin, Xi and Jong Un and while in office did his best to alienate the leaders of our allied countries. He's
still spewing praise of Putin (regarding Putin's invasion of Ukraine this time). Yeah, I think you're in the minority here; the majority of citizens in this country believe that Trump really
is a traitor. And while it's still only speculation, the proof seems to be mounting against #45.
Cipheron on 24/9/2022 at 10:20
Lauren Boebert mentions a bunch of real actual problems the Republicans could tackle if they win the House in November, such a inflation, border security, energy crisis etc.
So what actual proposal does she come up with as an example of how this is gonna work?
A law requiring Biblical citizenship classes in school.
[video=youtube;oDQyj8C8PoE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDQyj8C8PoE[/video]
Cipheron on 28/9/2022 at 01:55
This one actually got me laughing in disbelief:
(
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-raised-just-40-b2173924.html)
Quote:
Former president Donald Trump's super PAC raised only $40 in the month of August, in a sign that his name doesn't have the fundraising pull it once did.
Along with the low August numbers, the Make America Great Again, Again! super PAC only raised $351,000 in July and nothing in June. By comparison, in the final fundraising quarter of last year, the super PAC raised $4m to $5m.
Even in April and May, it raised $864,000. Among the merchandise Mr Trump's political action committees are selling include his son-in-law Jared Kushner's memoir of his time working in the Trump White House, Trump wine glasses, a rally speech signed by the former president and the opportunity have their name engraved on the “donor wall”.
$40! For a whole month! How is that a thing now?
Maybe ya think that the scandal where Bannon is in prison now because of ripping off MAGA donors is finally paying consequences?
Pyrian on 28/9/2022 at 04:20
Maybe Trump's urging his patrons to donate to his legal defense fund instead of his super pac?
heywood on 28/9/2022 at 13:49
Don't worry, Trump is still the biggest fundraiser around.
The MAGA, Again! PAC has been defunct for a while now. The Save America PAC is where most of the donations have been going recently. That's the PAC that just paid a $3M retainer for Trump's new lawyer. Since it's Trump's leadership PAC, it has restrictions on fundraising and spending.
Finally, a new super PAC was just created just last week, called MAGA, Inc. (not to be confused with MAGA, Again!) This PAC is independent from Trump and can raise and spend with minimal restrictions. I suspect donors will immediately switch over from Save America to MAGA, Inc. because they want money to get out to Republican mid-term candidates NOW. A lot of Republican donors are frustrated that Trump has been using the midterms to strengthen his position within the party and build up his war chest for 2024, to the detriment of winning Republican control of the Senate.
It's also possible that donors are worried the Save America PAC will get hamstrung by legal action. With Trump in charge, what are the chances that all campaign finance laws have been followed?