Post by t-bob on Aug 11, 2022 13:08:21 GMT -5
The Fifth: Former President Donald Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination in his interview with the New York State Attorney general’s office yesterday. Reports say he did it as many as 400 times.
Trump released a statement that was largely an attack on New York Attorney General Letitia James in which he said he’s done nothing wrong. The former President said, “I once asked, ‘If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?’ Now I know the answer to that question. When your family, your company, and all the people in your orbit have become the targets of an unfounded, politically motivated Witch Hunt supported by lawyers, prosecutors, and the Fake News Media, you have no choice.”
The former president has previously castigated people who invoke the Fifth. He once said at a rally, “You see the mob takes the Fifth.”
The attorney general’s investigation into Trump’s property valuations and money borrowing is a civil one … she can’t bring criminal charges … but anything Trump says could be used against him in the criminal investigation being conducted by the Manhattan District Attorney.
Unlike a criminal procedure, if the state attorney general takes Trump to trial in a civil case, the jury would be allowed to weigh his taking of the Fifth Amendment as a strike against him.
Whatever happens, one thing is certain. If he runs for president again, he’ll be a candidate who’s taken the Fifth.
Inside Line: The Wall Street Journal reports that a Trump insider tipped the Justice Department to the existence of classified documents that still held in his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, leading to the recent raid.
Procedural Differences: Eric Trump may have accidentally revealed how things worked in his father’s White House when he tweeted about the search of his father’s Florida home. He said, “I know the White House as well as anyone. I know the system. This did not happen without Joe Biden's explicit approval.”
Probably not so. Most if not all presidents have insisted on the Justice Department being independent. Biden said he learned of the Trump search when the rest of the world did.
So it’s possible that Eric Trump revealed that his father used the Justice Department for political purposes.
Muslim Murders Arrest: Authorities have arrested 51-year-old Muhammad Syed as a suspect in the killings of two Muslim men in Albuquerque, New Mexico and investigators say he may be linked to two more murders. Syed was driving to Texas when he was stopped. He told police officers he was looking for a new place for his family to live because with the recent killings, things were “bad” in Albuquerque.
Police said they found a handgun and bullet casing in Syed’s car that matched those found at one of four crime scenes around the city. They also found a gun in his home that may have been used in two of the killings.
Police officials in a press conference said they consider Syed to be the “most likely” suspect in the November 2021 killing of Mohammad Ahmadi, 62, as well as that of 25-year-old Naeem Hussain last Friday. They say they do not know a motive.
The War Zone: Satellite images show that at least eight Russian warplanes were destroyed by explosions at an air base in Crimea. A Ukrainian military official said destruction was the result of an attack by Ukrainian forces and partisan fighters.
Ukraine President Volodomyr Zelensky in his nightly address said the number of lost Russian warplanes destroyed in that attack was nine, plus another in a different attack. “In just one day, the occupiers lost 10 combat aircraft: nine in Crimea and one more in the direction of Zaporizhzhia,” he said last night.
The before and after satellite images clearly show that planes were destroyed. Russia’s Defense Ministry says that a munitions blast didn’t injure anyone and that no equipment had been lost.
The Los Angeles Times reports that Russia is struggling to replenish its personnel losses in Ukraine, even offering to grant amnesty to prisoners in a penal colony if they agree to sign up for the war.
The Russians are conducting advertising campaigns with the slogan, “This is the job.” The British military says Russia has formed a new ground force called the 3rd Army Corps out of “volunteer battalions,” seeking men up to age 50 and requiring only a middle-school education.
The Obit Page: Raymond Briggs, the children’s author and cartoonist who created the wordless yet emotionally loaded escapades of “The Snowman,” died on Tuesday in Brighton, England. He was 88.
“The Snowman” (1978), which was adapted into one of England’s most popular Christmas films, focused on a fleeting friendship between a boy and a snowman.
The Spin Rack: The Labor Department reported that inflation in July dropped to an annualized rate of 8.5 percent from 9.1 percent in June, largely because of a steep drop in the price of gasoline. The national average price of a gallon of regular gasoline is now $3.99, according to AAA. --- Elon Musk has sold $7 billion worth of Tesla stock in case he is forced to complete a purchase of Twitter. --- The Justice Department charged a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards with planning to assassinate former national security adviser John Bolton as revenge for the killing of a senior Iranian official. The suspect is in Iran and won’t be able to leave the country if he doesn’t want to get grabbed. --- The Denver Broncos football franchise has sold for $4.65 billion, more than doubling the previous record high for a football team when the Carolina Panthers went for $2.28 billion in 2018.
Trump released a statement that was largely an attack on New York Attorney General Letitia James in which he said he’s done nothing wrong. The former President said, “I once asked, ‘If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?’ Now I know the answer to that question. When your family, your company, and all the people in your orbit have become the targets of an unfounded, politically motivated Witch Hunt supported by lawyers, prosecutors, and the Fake News Media, you have no choice.”
The former president has previously castigated people who invoke the Fifth. He once said at a rally, “You see the mob takes the Fifth.”
The attorney general’s investigation into Trump’s property valuations and money borrowing is a civil one … she can’t bring criminal charges … but anything Trump says could be used against him in the criminal investigation being conducted by the Manhattan District Attorney.
Unlike a criminal procedure, if the state attorney general takes Trump to trial in a civil case, the jury would be allowed to weigh his taking of the Fifth Amendment as a strike against him.
Whatever happens, one thing is certain. If he runs for president again, he’ll be a candidate who’s taken the Fifth.
Inside Line: The Wall Street Journal reports that a Trump insider tipped the Justice Department to the existence of classified documents that still held in his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, leading to the recent raid.
Procedural Differences: Eric Trump may have accidentally revealed how things worked in his father’s White House when he tweeted about the search of his father’s Florida home. He said, “I know the White House as well as anyone. I know the system. This did not happen without Joe Biden's explicit approval.”
Probably not so. Most if not all presidents have insisted on the Justice Department being independent. Biden said he learned of the Trump search when the rest of the world did.
So it’s possible that Eric Trump revealed that his father used the Justice Department for political purposes.
Muslim Murders Arrest: Authorities have arrested 51-year-old Muhammad Syed as a suspect in the killings of two Muslim men in Albuquerque, New Mexico and investigators say he may be linked to two more murders. Syed was driving to Texas when he was stopped. He told police officers he was looking for a new place for his family to live because with the recent killings, things were “bad” in Albuquerque.
Police said they found a handgun and bullet casing in Syed’s car that matched those found at one of four crime scenes around the city. They also found a gun in his home that may have been used in two of the killings.
Police officials in a press conference said they consider Syed to be the “most likely” suspect in the November 2021 killing of Mohammad Ahmadi, 62, as well as that of 25-year-old Naeem Hussain last Friday. They say they do not know a motive.
The War Zone: Satellite images show that at least eight Russian warplanes were destroyed by explosions at an air base in Crimea. A Ukrainian military official said destruction was the result of an attack by Ukrainian forces and partisan fighters.
Ukraine President Volodomyr Zelensky in his nightly address said the number of lost Russian warplanes destroyed in that attack was nine, plus another in a different attack. “In just one day, the occupiers lost 10 combat aircraft: nine in Crimea and one more in the direction of Zaporizhzhia,” he said last night.
The before and after satellite images clearly show that planes were destroyed. Russia’s Defense Ministry says that a munitions blast didn’t injure anyone and that no equipment had been lost.
The Los Angeles Times reports that Russia is struggling to replenish its personnel losses in Ukraine, even offering to grant amnesty to prisoners in a penal colony if they agree to sign up for the war.
The Russians are conducting advertising campaigns with the slogan, “This is the job.” The British military says Russia has formed a new ground force called the 3rd Army Corps out of “volunteer battalions,” seeking men up to age 50 and requiring only a middle-school education.
The Obit Page: Raymond Briggs, the children’s author and cartoonist who created the wordless yet emotionally loaded escapades of “The Snowman,” died on Tuesday in Brighton, England. He was 88.
“The Snowman” (1978), which was adapted into one of England’s most popular Christmas films, focused on a fleeting friendship between a boy and a snowman.
The Spin Rack: The Labor Department reported that inflation in July dropped to an annualized rate of 8.5 percent from 9.1 percent in June, largely because of a steep drop in the price of gasoline. The national average price of a gallon of regular gasoline is now $3.99, according to AAA. --- Elon Musk has sold $7 billion worth of Tesla stock in case he is forced to complete a purchase of Twitter. --- The Justice Department charged a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards with planning to assassinate former national security adviser John Bolton as revenge for the killing of a senior Iranian official. The suspect is in Iran and won’t be able to leave the country if he doesn’t want to get grabbed. --- The Denver Broncos football franchise has sold for $4.65 billion, more than doubling the previous record high for a football team when the Carolina Panthers went for $2.28 billion in 2018.