DL Open Thread: Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024

It Was The Best Of Days For Trump.  It Was The Worst Of Days For Trump.  Both stories illustrate how Trump has avoided being held accountable throughout his career.  Run out the clock.  Offer to settle for pennies on the dollar.

One court bought it:

The Supreme Court that former President Donald J. Trump helped to shape tossed him a legal lifeline on Wednesday night, making a choice that substantially aided his efforts to delay his federal trial on charges of plotting to overturn the 2020 election.

By deciding to take up Mr. Trump’s claim that presidents enjoy almost total immunity from prosecution for any official action while in office — a legal theory rejected by two lower courts and one that few experts think has any basis in the Constitution — the justices bought the former president at least several months before a trial on the election interference charges can start.

One court didn’t:

Donald J. Trump on Wednesday lost his initial bid for a New York appeals court to pause the more than $450 million judgment he faces in a civil fraud case, a decision that could expose him to financial peril.

Mr. Trump’s lawyers had asked the appeals court to allow him to post only a $100 million bond — a promise from an outside company that the judgment eventually will be paid — because securing one for the full amount was “impossible,” they said.

A single appellate court judge assigned to consider Mr. Trump’s request, Anil Singh, turned him down on Wednesday. Mr. Trump will try again next month with a panel of five appellate court judges, but for now, the former president is still on the hook to post a bond for the full amount of more than $450 million.

If Mr. Trump fails to secure the bond, the New York attorney general’s office, which brought the case accusing him of fraudulently inflating his net worth, can collect the $454 million from him. The attorney general, Letitia James, is expected to provide Mr. Trump a 30-day grace period, which will expire on March 25, at which point she could move swiftly to seize Mr. Trump’s bank accounts and perhaps take control of his New York properties.

Trump is happy:

Former President Trump thanked the Supreme Court Wednesday for agreeing to weigh whether he can be criminally prosecuted for efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

“Legal Scholars are extremely thankful for the Supreme Court’s Decision today to take up Presidential Immunity. Without Presidential Immunity, a President will not be able to properly function, or make decisions, in the best interest of the United States of America,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Betcha his lawyers aren’t happy that he wrote that.

The Odious Mitch McConnell Will Step Down From Leadership.  He almost singlehandedly created a judiciary full of right-wing outliers.  Don’t ever forget that, lest you be tempted to feel a scintilla of sympathy for him:

McConnell’s legacy is not that he passed historic laws that transformed American society. It’s that he relegated Congress to second-tier status when it comes to deciding some of the biggest issues of our time. And he did it all while still empowering his Republican Party to dominate the policymaking process.

McConnell achieved this outcome in two ways. The first was a dramatic escalation in filibusters. The second is by filling the federal judiciary with movement conservatives who would bypass Congress altogether and implement Republican policies from the bench.

His legacy will be lasting.

Co-Conspirator #6.  A lot of people think it is Ginny Thomas.  The description fits her:

CBS News has not yet identified Co-Conspirator 6. According to the indictment this individual is “a political consultant who helped implement a plan to submit fraudulent slates of presidential electors to obstruct the certification proceeding.”

Prosecutors say that on Dec. 7, 2020, Co-Conspirator 1 talked with Co-Conspirator 6 about attorneys “who could assist in the fraudulent elector effort in the targeted states, and he received from Co­ Conspirator 6 an email identifying attorneys in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.”

The indictment alleges that on the evening of Jan. 6, as part of Trump’s and Co-Conspirator 1’s efforts to “exploit the violence and chaos at the Capitol by calling lawmakers” and trying to convince them to delay the certification, “Co-Conspirator 6 attempted to confirm phone numbers for six United States Senators whom the Defendant had directed Co-Conspirator 1 to call and attempt to enlist in further delaying the certification.”

I say indict her along with the other five.  I frankly don’t know why the Special Prosecutor hasn’t already done this.

The IVF Blues.  A senator from Mississippi stops effort to keep Rethugs from choking on the political poison pill of IVF:

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans are struggling to respond to an extreme Alabama Supreme Court ruling effectively halting in vitro fertilization in the state as Democrats plan a new effort this week to protect access to IVF and other fertility treatments nationwide.

On the one hand, Republicans maintain that they support the continued use of IVF, calling it both pro-family and pro-life. But on the other hand, many in the GOP agree with the central premise of the ruling that found that frozen embryos are children with equal rights, a contradictory position that now has them on the defensive on an issue that is supported by over 80% of Americans, including a majority of Republicans.

That Miss. Senator?:

Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq War veteran who suffered grave injuries in combat in 2004, sought an immediate vote by the Senate on Wednesday on passage of her “Access to Family Building Act” legislation.

Her move for a vote, which required the consent of all 100 senators, was promptly blocked by Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith.

“The bill before us today is a vast overreach that is full of poison pills that goes way too far, far beyond ensuring legal access to IVF,” Hyde-Smith said.

Duckworth countered that her bill simply would guarantee access to IVF treatments and facilities “without fear of being prosecuted,” while also shielding IVF providers and health insurance companies.

Voters Approve Red Clay Referenda.  I’m thrilled to see such large margins in favor of public education:

Red Clay Consolidated School District voters overwhelmingly supported both parts of a referendum campaign Wednesday night.

Over 77% of district residents voted in favor of a 30 cents per $100 assessed value property tax increase in FY ‘2025, that will expand by another 10 cents in 2026 and 2027.

A slightly higher percentage also voted in favor of the Capital Referendum, which was focused on the local match of 40% of a Department of Education approved plan that includes work on HVAC, electrical, and plumbing work, plus other upgrades.

What do you want to talk about?