I had the impression from my brother in law, who lives here in Green Bay, that this is hardline R. But looking online it seems that isn’t the case. Could just be his colleagues and neighbours. He’s not a hard D, but he was telling me yesterday that he was shocked how much of a political statement it seemed to be to own a Tesla and be into “green tech”. His neighbors scoffed at his reasoning for not having a sprinkler system in his yard (water waste, not cost).
Either way, I fully expect some conversation at the wedding tonight to get spirited with at least a few drunken R’s.
you said "a hard D"...
lol
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.- Hemingway
Business leaders sounded off following former President Trump's conviction in his New York criminal trial.
Billionaire Elon Musk and other mega-wealthy Americans threw their support behind Trump after the verdict came down on Thursday, with one donating $300,000 alone.
"I just donated $300k to Trump. I’m prepared to lose friends. Here’s why," Sequoia founder Shaun Maguire wrote in an extended post on X.
"Back in 2016 I had drunk the media Kool-Aid and was scared out of my mind about Trump. As such I donated to Hilary Clinton’s campaign and voted for her. By 2020 I was disillusioned and didn’t vote – I didn’t like either option. Now, in 2024, I believe this is one of the most important elections of my lifetime, and I’m supporting Trump," he added.
Musk responded to Maguire on social media, saying simply, "I think you're right."
Musk also responded to criticism of the ruling, arguing that Trump's conviction caused "great damage" to the U.S. justice system.
"Indeed, great damage was done today to the public’s faith in the American legal system. If a former President can be criminally convicted over such a trivial matter – motivated by politics, rather than justice – then anyone is at risk of a similar fate," he wrote.
Craft Ventures executive David Sacks described Maguire's donation as an "act of courage." He argued that Trump has "a lot of supporters in Silicon Valley" but "many are just afraid to admit it."
"With each act of courage, like this one, the dam begins to break," he added.
Trump himself described the trial's verdict as a "disgrace" on Thursday. He is expected to appeal the ruling.
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mickeyrat
up my ass, like Chadwick was up his Posts: 36,378
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Whoa! Is it tax cuts? Shaun for the win with that detailed explanation. Whoa! I’m voting POOTWH now too! Seals the deal. In fact, I’m donating $17.46 to the POOTWH victory fund!
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
He should have taken the stand & cried like a baby.
"should not of" should probably be "should not have been".
dummy.
stay in school, kids.
You can't expect our children to go to school with vaccinated, non-white, LGBTQ+, queer, atheists, Besides, they'll just learn lies from a "woke" curriculum! (Just to be clear: that was satire.)
Business leaders sounded off following former President Trump's conviction in his New York criminal trial.
Billionaire Elon Musk and other mega-wealthy Americans threw their support behind Trump after the verdict came down on Thursday, with one donating $300,000 alone.
"I just donated $300k to Trump. I’m prepared to lose friends. Here’s why," Sequoia founder Shaun Maguire wrote in an extended post on X.
"Back in 2016 I had drunk the media Kool-Aid and was scared out of my mind about Trump. As such I donated to Hilary Clinton’s campaign and voted for her. By 2020 I was disillusioned and didn’t vote – I didn’t like either option. Now, in 2024, I believe this is one of the most important elections of my lifetime, and I’m supporting Trump," he added.
Musk responded to Maguire on social media, saying simply, "I think you're right."
Musk also responded to criticism of the ruling, arguing that Trump's conviction caused "great damage" to the U.S. justice system.
"Indeed, great damage was done today to the public’s faith in the American legal system. If a former President can be criminally convicted over such a trivial matter – motivated by politics, rather than justice – then anyone is at risk of a similar fate," he wrote.
Craft Ventures executive David Sacks described Maguire's donation as an "act of courage." He argued that Trump has "a lot of supporters in Silicon Valley" but "many are just afraid to admit it."
"With each act of courage, like this one, the dam begins to break," he added.
Trump himself described the trial's verdict as a "disgrace" on Thursday. He is expected to appeal the ruling.
Rich white conservatives are beside themselves.
This isn’t supposed to happen to them in this country.
Former president Donald Trump's criminal conviction is spurring high-dollar donors to flock to his side, with his campaign estimating that approximately $150 million will be raised in the coming days.
Charlie Gasparino, a senior correspondent for the FOX Business Network and the Fox News Channel, wrote in an opinion piece for the New York Post that a group of GOP billionaires and multimillionaires were waiting in the wings for the former president following his conviction for falsifying business records on Thursday.
"We spoke for two hours," one attendee told Gasparino. "Everyone explained the need for Trump to win given the dangerous direction of the country under Biden, and they said they were willing to do whatever to support him."
Many showed their support, according to Gasparino, pledging an astounding $30 million to Trump's campaign on Thursday evening.
The Trump campaign said that they believe an estimated $150 million will come in the coming days, Gasparino wrote.
Following the 24-hour fundraising event, Trump's son, Eric Trump, touted the $52.8 million raised on "Jesse Watters Primetime" Friday.
"What’s really amazing, go back to 2016 for a second, the largest fundraising haul in history to that point, we did in one day, you know, $16 million," Eric Trump told Watters.
"And as of a couple of minutes ago, we just announced $52.8 million in 24 hours, and we’re probably another five, six million dollars above that, based on the fact that that was exactly 24 hours from the indictment time, which was about 5:30 [p.m.]," he continued.
Minutes after the verdict was read in the first trial of the former president, the former president's team put out a fundraising appeal to supporters.
"Friend: Is this the end of America?," the presumptive Republican presidential nominee asked in the email. "I was just convicted in a RIGGED political Witch Hunt trial.
"My end-of-month fundraising deadline is just DAYS AWAY!" Trump emphasized in the email, which included a photo of the former president labeling him a "political prisoner.
"Despite a jury finding Donald Trump guilty today, there is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: At the ballot box," the Biden campaign wrote in a fundraising text to supporters Thursday evening.
And it urged that "if you have been waiting for the perfect time to make your first donation to Joe Biden's reelection campaign, we're here to tell you today is the day."
Former president Donald Trump's criminal conviction is spurring high-dollar donors to flock to his side, with his campaign estimating that approximately $150 million will be raised in the coming days.
Charlie Gasparino, a senior correspondent for the FOX Business Network and the Fox News Channel, wrote in an opinion piece for the New York Post that a group of GOP billionaires and multimillionaires were waiting in the wings for the former president following his conviction for falsifying business records on Thursday.
"We spoke for two hours," one attendee told Gasparino. "Everyone explained the need for Trump to win given the dangerous direction of the country under Biden, and they said they were willing to do whatever to support him."
Many showed their support, according to Gasparino, pledging an astounding $30 million to Trump's campaign on Thursday evening.
The Trump campaign said that they believe an estimated $150 million will come in the coming days, Gasparino wrote.
Following the 24-hour fundraising event, Trump's son, Eric Trump, touted the $52.8 million raised on "Jesse Watters Primetime" Friday.
"What’s really amazing, go back to 2016 for a second, the largest fundraising haul in history to that point, we did in one day, you know, $16 million," Eric Trump told Watters.
"And as of a couple of minutes ago, we just announced $52.8 million in 24 hours, and we’re probably another five, six million dollars above that, based on the fact that that was exactly 24 hours from the indictment time, which was about 5:30 [p.m.]," he continued.
Minutes after the verdict was read in the first trial of the former president, the former president's team put out a fundraising appeal to supporters.
"Friend: Is this the end of America?," the presumptive Republican presidential nominee asked in the email. "I was just convicted in a RIGGED political Witch Hunt trial.
"My end-of-month fundraising deadline is just DAYS AWAY!" Trump emphasized in the email, which included a photo of the former president labeling him a "political prisoner.
"Despite a jury finding Donald Trump guilty today, there is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: At the ballot box," the Biden campaign wrote in a fundraising text to supporters Thursday evening.
And it urged that "if you have been waiting for the perfect time to make your first donation to Joe Biden's reelection campaign, we're here to tell you today is the day."
trump lied 30,000 times while in office. he has overinflated and undervalued his property value for tax and loan benefits and is facing trial for that. you are really going to believe him about this?
i would bet he got 20 million tops. tops.
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.- Hemingway
Former president Donald Trump's criminal conviction is spurring high-dollar donors to flock to his side, with his campaign estimating that approximately $150 million will be raised in the coming days.
Charlie Gasparino, a senior correspondent for the FOX Business Network and the Fox News Channel, wrote in an opinion piece for the New York Post that a group of GOP billionaires and multimillionaires were waiting in the wings for the former president following his conviction for falsifying business records on Thursday.
"We spoke for two hours," one attendee told Gasparino. "Everyone explained the need for Trump to win given the dangerous direction of the country under Biden, and they said they were willing to do whatever to support him."
Many showed their support, according to Gasparino, pledging an astounding $30 million to Trump's campaign on Thursday evening.
The Trump campaign said that they believe an estimated $150 million will come in the coming days, Gasparino wrote.
Following the 24-hour fundraising event, Trump's son, Eric Trump, touted the $52.8 million raised on "Jesse Watters Primetime" Friday.
"What’s really amazing, go back to 2016 for a second, the largest fundraising haul in history to that point, we did in one day, you know, $16 million," Eric Trump told Watters.
"And as of a couple of minutes ago, we just announced $52.8 million in 24 hours, and we’re probably another five, six million dollars above that, based on the fact that that was exactly 24 hours from the indictment time, which was about 5:30 [p.m.]," he continued.
Minutes after the verdict was read in the first trial of the former president, the former president's team put out a fundraising appeal to supporters.
"Friend: Is this the end of America?," the presumptive Republican presidential nominee asked in the email. "I was just convicted in a RIGGED political Witch Hunt trial.
"My end-of-month fundraising deadline is just DAYS AWAY!" Trump emphasized in the email, which included a photo of the former president labeling him a "political prisoner.
"Despite a jury finding Donald Trump guilty today, there is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: At the ballot box," the Biden campaign wrote in a fundraising text to supporters Thursday evening.
And it urged that "if you have been waiting for the perfect time to make your first donation to Joe Biden's reelection campaign, we're here to tell you today is the day."
trump lied 30,000 times while in office. he has overinflated and undervalued his property value for tax and loan benefits and is facing trial for that. you are really going to believe him about this?
i would bet he got 20 million tops. tops.
If Trump isn’t legally mandated to be honest on any given topic, he won’t be. Even if he is, it’s a crapshoot.
'05 - TO, '06 - TO 1, '08 - NYC 1 & 2, '09 - TO, Chi 1 & 2, '10 - Buffalo, NYC 1 & 2, '11 - TO 1 & 2, Hamilton, '13 - Buffalo, Brooklyn 1 & 2, '15 - Global Citizen, '16 - TO 1 & 2, Chi 2
EV
Toronto Film Festival 9/11/2007, '08 - Toronto 1 & 2, '09 - Albany 1, '11 - Chicago 1
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mickeyrat
up my ass, like Chadwick was up his Posts: 36,378
“If they can do this to me, they can do this to anyone,” Trump said Friday, speaking from his namesake tower in New York on Friday. Thousands of miles away, Russian President Vladimir Putin was probably “rubbing his hands with glee,” said Fiona Hill, a former senior White House national security adviser to three U.S. presidents, including Trump.
Hill and other analysts say Trump’s attacks could be useful to Putin and other autocrats as they look to boost their standing among their own citizens, potentially sway the upcoming U.S. presidential election in which Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee, and undermine the United States’ global influence.
Some autocratic countries reacted swiftly in support of Trump.
Moscow agreed with Trump's assessment of Thursday's verdict, calling it the “elimination of political rivals by all possible legal or illegal means,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. In September, Putin said the prosecution of Trump was political revenge that “shows the rottenness of the American political system.”
After the verdict, Hungary's populist, pro-Russia prime minister, Viktor Orban, called Trump a “man of honor” and urged him to “keep on fighting.”
China’s state-owned Global Times newspaper suggested Trump’s conviction adds to the “farcical nature” of this year's U.S. presidential election, adding that it will aggravate political extremism and end in “more chaos and social unrest.”
Putin is especially likely to see the latest turmoil as an opportunity, analysts say. He has long sought to widen divisions in Western societies in an attempt to advance a Russian worldview. Since the invasion of Ukraine, and ahead of crucial elections throughout the West this year, Russia has been accused of carrying out multiple attacks of sabotage and of targeting dissidents abroad to stoke anxieties and sow discord.
“What mischief does he have to make when you have people within the American system itself denigrating it and pulling it down?” Hill said of Putin.
Political chaos can benefit autocratic leaders by distracting Washington from key issues, including the war in Ukraine. Russia's goal is to move voices from the "fringes of the political debate to the mainstream,” said David Salvo, Managing Director of the Alliance for Securing Democracy at the German Marshall Fund in Washington, D.C.
The Kremlin does that partly by pushing Russian points of view under the guise of news and social media posts that look like they originate in the West.
Salvo noted that disagreements in Congress that delayed an aid package to Ukraine followed a Russian social media campaign aimed at Americans. That led to Russia gaining the upper hand on the battlefield.
The attacks on the U.S. justice system from Trump and his allies are “perfect fodder" for another "major propaganda and influence operation,” Hill told The Associated Press, suggesting Russia could target swing voters in battleground states ahead of the November election.
For generations, U.S. presidential administrations have depicted America as a bastion of democracy, free speech and human rights and have encouraged other states to adopt those ideals. But Trump suggested the justice system is being used to persecute him — something that happens in some autocratic countries.
Leaders including Putin “must love” that Trump is criticizing “the key institutions of democracy” in the way autocratic states have done for years as it legitimizes them in the eyes of their own people said Graeme Robertson, a political science professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Trump sees himself as a “strongman ruler” and looks to Putin for inspiration, Hill said. His attacks encourage any nation — from those with a mild gripe to the openly hostile — to “have their moment to bring down the colossus,” Hill said.
The message to Chinese and Russian citizens watching the drama unfold in the U.S. is that they are better off at home. The message to countries that Russia and China are courting as they attempt to expand their influence in Africa, Asia and Latin America is that Moscow and Beijing can offer more reliable partnerships.
The threat from the “new axis of authoritarians,” including Russia, China, Iran and North Korea is “daunting,” as those states work more closely together with overlapping interests said Matthew Kroenig, a former defense official and vice president at the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security.
Moscow in particular, Kroenig said, will likely try to use the political turmoil in the U.S. to divide the NATO security alliance. It could try to turn the public in NATO states against the U.S. by encouraging them to question whether they have “shared values” with Americans, he said. If successful, that could lead to a fundamental reshaping of global security architecture — a goal of Russia and China — since the end of the Cold War.
Some Western governments, meanwhile, are caught in a delicate dance between not wanting to ostracize Trump as a potential next U.S. president and the need to respect the U.S. justice system. Others, such as EU member Hungary, openly court him.
“For Putin it must be perfect because it creates a mess that he can try to seek advantage from,” Hill said.
___
Associated Press writer Ken Moritsugu in Hong Kong contributed to this report.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
His jail time (he won't get it in this case) would be like a country club with secret service there. He would never see anything close to the general population.
He also said he never said lock her up. He is just incapable of telling the truth. can't believe people fall for this clown's shit
I know I shouldn't be surprised but the misinformation still being peddled by the GOP on major news shows is just outrageous.
The whole narrative of tRump not knowing what the charges were, not being able to call witnesses, etc., just blows my mind.
I can understand them not wanting to kick him off the ticket but at least be somewhat honest. "The charges are not ideal but we don't think it will influence his ability to lead" or something is acceptable. Just flat out spewing bullshit isn't.
Remember the Thomas Nine !! (10/02/2018)
1998: Noblesville; 2003: Noblesville; 2009: EV Nashville, Chicago, Chicago 2010: St Louis, Columbus, Noblesville; 2011: EV Chicago, East Troy, East Troy 2013: London ON, Chicago; 2014: Cincy, St Louis, Moline (NO CODE) 2016: Lexington, Wrigley #1; 2018: Wrigley, Wrigley, Boston, Boston 2020: Oakland, Oakland:2021: EV Ohana, Ohana, Ohana, Ohana 2022: Oakland, Oakland, Nashville, Louisville; 2023: Chicago, Chicago, Noblesville 2024: Noblesville, Wrigley, Wrigley, Ohana, Ohana
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mickeyrat
up my ass, like Chadwick was up his Posts: 36,378
Witnesses in the various criminal cases against the former president
have gotten pay raises, new jobs and more. If any benefits were intended
to influence testimony, that could be a crime.
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published.
Nine witnesses in the
criminal cases against former President Donald Trump have received
significant financial benefits, including large raises from his
campaign, severance packages, new jobs, and a grant of shares and cash
from Trump’s media company.
The benefits have flowed
from Trump’s businesses and campaign committees, according to a
ProPublica analysis of public disclosures, court records and securities
filings. One campaign aide had his average monthly pay double, from
$26,000 to $53,500. Another employee got a $2 million severance package
barring him from voluntarily cooperating with law enforcement. And one
of the campaign’s top officials had her daughter hired onto the campaign
staff, where she is now the fourth-highest-paid employee.
Get Our Top Investigations
Subscribe to the Big Story newsletter.
Email address:
These pay increases and
other benefits often came at delicate moments in the legal proceedings
against Trump. One aide who was given a plum position on the board of
Trump’s social media company, for example, got the seat after he was
subpoenaed but before he testified.
Significant changes to a
staffer’s work situation, such as bonuses, pay raises, firings or
promotions, can be evidence of a crime if they come outside the normal
course of business. To prove witness tampering, prosecutors would need to show that perks or punishments were intended to influence testimony.
White-collar defense
lawyers say the situation Trump finds himself in — in the dual role of
defendant and boss of many of the people who are the primary witnesses
to his alleged crimes — is not uncommon. Their standard advice is not to
provide any unusual benefits or penalties to such employees. Ideally,
decisions about employees slated to give evidence should be made by an
independent body such as a board, not the boss who is under investigation.cinvestigation.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Comments
dummy.
stay in school, kids.
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
lol
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
- AR Moxon
https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/watch-ai-trump-sing-about-his-innocence/
Business leaders speak out about Trump guilty verdict, with one immediately donating $300K
Sequoia founder Shaun Maguire donated $300,000 on his own
Business leaders sounded off following former President Trump's conviction in his New York criminal trial.
Billionaire Elon Musk and other mega-wealthy Americans threw their support behind Trump after the verdict came down on Thursday, with one donating $300,000 alone.
"I just donated $300k to Trump. I’m prepared to lose friends. Here’s why," Sequoia founder Shaun Maguire wrote in an extended post on X.
"Back in 2016 I had drunk the media Kool-Aid and was scared out of my mind about Trump. As such I donated to Hilary Clinton’s campaign and voted for her. By 2020 I was disillusioned and didn’t vote – I didn’t like either option. Now, in 2024, I believe this is one of the most important elections of my lifetime, and I’m supporting Trump," he added.
Musk responded to Maguire on social media, saying simply, "I think you're right."
Musk also responded to criticism of the ruling, arguing that Trump's conviction caused "great damage" to the U.S. justice system.
"Indeed, great damage was done today to the public’s faith in the American legal system. If a former President can be criminally convicted over such a trivial matter – motivated by politics, rather than justice – then anyone is at risk of a similar fate," he wrote.
Craft Ventures executive David Sacks described Maguire's donation as an "act of courage." He argued that Trump has "a lot of supporters in Silicon Valley" but "many are just afraid to admit it."
"With each act of courage, like this one, the dam begins to break," he added.
Trump himself described the trial's verdict as a "disgrace" on Thursday. He is expected to appeal the ruling.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
yes. Rep out of California
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Lol. Whatever thar was, I'm pretty sure I agree with it.
Trump's criminal conviction is spurring big-dollar campaign contributions as son touts record 24-hour haul
The Trump campaign says it believes approximately $150 million could roll in the coming days
Former president Donald Trump's criminal conviction is spurring high-dollar donors to flock to his side, with his campaign estimating that approximately $150 million will be raised in the coming days.
Charlie Gasparino, a senior correspondent for the FOX Business Network and the Fox News Channel, wrote in an opinion piece for the New York Post that a group of GOP billionaires and multimillionaires were waiting in the wings for the former president following his conviction for falsifying business records on Thursday.
"We spoke for two hours," one attendee told Gasparino. "Everyone explained the need for Trump to win given the dangerous direction of the country under Biden, and they said they were willing to do whatever to support him."
Many showed their support, according to Gasparino, pledging an astounding $30 million to Trump's campaign on Thursday evening.
The Trump campaign said that they believe an estimated $150 million will come in the coming days, Gasparino wrote.
Following the 24-hour fundraising event, Trump's son, Eric Trump, touted the $52.8 million raised on "Jesse Watters Primetime" Friday.
"What’s really amazing, go back to 2016 for a second, the largest fundraising haul in history to that point, we did in one day, you know, $16 million," Eric Trump told Watters.
"And as of a couple of minutes ago, we just announced $52.8 million in 24 hours, and we’re probably another five, six million dollars above that, based on the fact that that was exactly 24 hours from the indictment time, which was about 5:30 [p.m.]," he continued.
Minutes after the verdict was read in the first trial of the former president, the former president's team put out a fundraising appeal to supporters.
"Friend: Is this the end of America?," the presumptive Republican presidential nominee asked in the email. "I was just convicted in a RIGGED political Witch Hunt trial.
"My end-of-month fundraising deadline is just DAYS AWAY!" Trump emphasized in the email, which included a photo of the former president labeling him a "political prisoner.
Meanwhile, Biden's re-election campaign also quickly sent out fundraising appeals following the verdict.
"Despite a jury finding Donald Trump guilty today, there is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: At the ballot box," the Biden campaign wrote in a fundraising text to supporters Thursday evening.
And it urged that "if you have been waiting for the perfect time to make your first donation to Joe Biden's reelection campaign, we're here to tell you today is the day."
i would bet he got 20 million tops. tops.
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
EV
Toronto Film Festival 9/11/2007, '08 - Toronto 1 & 2, '09 - Albany 1, '11 - Chicago 1
After his historic guilty verdict in his hush money case, Donald Trump attacked the U.S. criminal justice system, making unfounded claims of a “rigged” trial that echoed remarks from the Kremlin.
“If they can do this to me, they can do this to anyone,” Trump said Friday, speaking from his namesake tower in New York on Friday. Thousands of miles away, Russian President Vladimir Putin was probably “rubbing his hands with glee,” said Fiona Hill, a former senior White House national security adviser to three U.S. presidents, including Trump.
Hill and other analysts say Trump’s attacks could be useful to Putin and other autocrats as they look to boost their standing among their own citizens, potentially sway the upcoming U.S. presidential election in which Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee, and undermine the United States’ global influence.
Some autocratic countries reacted swiftly in support of Trump.
DONALD TRUMP
Trump joins TikTok and calls it 'an honor.' As president he once tried to ban the video-sharing app
Read the 34 charges Donald Trump faces in his hush money trial
Republicans join Trump's attacks on justice system and campaign of vengeance after guilty verdict
Black leaders call out Trump's criminal justice contradictions as he rails against guilty verdict
Moscow agreed with Trump's assessment of Thursday's verdict, calling it the “elimination of political rivals by all possible legal or illegal means,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. In September, Putin said the prosecution of Trump was political revenge that “shows the rottenness of the American political system.”
After the verdict, Hungary's populist, pro-Russia prime minister, Viktor Orban, called Trump a “man of honor” and urged him to “keep on fighting.”
China’s state-owned Global Times newspaper suggested Trump’s conviction adds to the “farcical nature” of this year's U.S. presidential election, adding that it will aggravate political extremism and end in “more chaos and social unrest.”
Putin is especially likely to see the latest turmoil as an opportunity, analysts say. He has long sought to widen divisions in Western societies in an attempt to advance a Russian worldview. Since the invasion of Ukraine, and ahead of crucial elections throughout the West this year, Russia has been accused of carrying out multiple attacks of sabotage and of targeting dissidents abroad to stoke anxieties and sow discord.
Moscow was accused of meddling in the 2016 U.S. election that Trump won by creating a troll factory, hacking Hillary Clinton's campaign, spreading fake news and trying to influence Trump-linked officials.
“What mischief does he have to make when you have people within the American system itself denigrating it and pulling it down?” Hill said of Putin.
Political chaos can benefit autocratic leaders by distracting Washington from key issues, including the war in Ukraine. Russia's goal is to move voices from the "fringes of the political debate to the mainstream,” said David Salvo, Managing Director of the Alliance for Securing Democracy at the German Marshall Fund in Washington, D.C.
The Kremlin does that partly by pushing Russian points of view under the guise of news and social media posts that look like they originate in the West.
Salvo noted that disagreements in Congress that delayed an aid package to Ukraine followed a Russian social media campaign aimed at Americans. That led to Russia gaining the upper hand on the battlefield.
The attacks on the U.S. justice system from Trump and his allies are “perfect fodder" for another "major propaganda and influence operation,” Hill told The Associated Press, suggesting Russia could target swing voters in battleground states ahead of the November election.
For generations, U.S. presidential administrations have depicted America as a bastion of democracy, free speech and human rights and have encouraged other states to adopt those ideals. But Trump suggested the justice system is being used to persecute him — something that happens in some autocratic countries.
Leaders including Putin “must love” that Trump is criticizing “the key institutions of democracy” in the way autocratic states have done for years as it legitimizes them in the eyes of their own people said Graeme Robertson, a political science professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Trump sees himself as a “strongman ruler” and looks to Putin for inspiration, Hill said. His attacks encourage any nation — from those with a mild gripe to the openly hostile — to “have their moment to bring down the colossus,” Hill said.
The message to Chinese and Russian citizens watching the drama unfold in the U.S. is that they are better off at home. The message to countries that Russia and China are courting as they attempt to expand their influence in Africa, Asia and Latin America is that Moscow and Beijing can offer more reliable partnerships.
The threat from the “new axis of authoritarians,” including Russia, China, Iran and North Korea is “daunting,” as those states work more closely together with overlapping interests said Matthew Kroenig, a former defense official and vice president at the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security.
Moscow in particular, Kroenig said, will likely try to use the political turmoil in the U.S. to divide the NATO security alliance. It could try to turn the public in NATO states against the U.S. by encouraging them to question whether they have “shared values” with Americans, he said. If successful, that could lead to a fundamental reshaping of global security architecture — a goal of Russia and China — since the end of the Cold War.
Some Western governments, meanwhile, are caught in a delicate dance between not wanting to ostracize Trump as a potential next U.S. president and the need to respect the U.S. justice system. Others, such as EU member Hungary, openly court him.
“For Putin it must be perfect because it creates a mess that he can try to seek advantage from,” Hill said.
___
Associated Press writer Ken Moritsugu in Hong Kong contributed to this report.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
sorryassed motherfuckers.
Trump says he’s ‘OK’ with serving potential jail time or house arrest after historic conviction
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
He also said he never said lock her up. He is just incapable of telling the truth. can't believe people fall for this clown's shit
The whole narrative of tRump not knowing what the charges were, not being able to call witnesses, etc., just blows my mind.
I can understand them not wanting to kick him off the ticket but at least be somewhat honest. "The charges are not ideal but we don't think it will influence his ability to lead" or something is acceptable. Just flat out spewing bullshit isn't.
1998: Noblesville; 2003: Noblesville; 2009: EV Nashville, Chicago, Chicago
2010: St Louis, Columbus, Noblesville; 2011: EV Chicago, East Troy, East Troy
2013: London ON, Chicago; 2014: Cincy, St Louis, Moline (NO CODE)
2016: Lexington, Wrigley #1; 2018: Wrigley, Wrigley, Boston, Boston
2020: Oakland, Oakland: 2021: EV Ohana, Ohana, Ohana, Ohana
2022: Oakland, Oakland, Nashville, Louisville; 2023: Chicago, Chicago, Noblesville
2024: Noblesville, Wrigley, Wrigley, Ohana, Ohana
Multiple Trump Witnesses Have Received Significant Financial Benefits From His Businesses, Campaign
Witnesses in the various criminal cases against the former president have gotten pay raises, new jobs and more. If any benefits were intended to influence testimony, that could be a crime.
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Nine witnesses in the criminal cases against former President Donald Trump have received significant financial benefits, including large raises from his campaign, severance packages, new jobs, and a grant of shares and cash from Trump’s media company.
The benefits have flowed from Trump’s businesses and campaign committees, according to a ProPublica analysis of public disclosures, court records and securities filings. One campaign aide had his average monthly pay double, from $26,000 to $53,500. Another employee got a $2 million severance package barring him from voluntarily cooperating with law enforcement. And one of the campaign’s top officials had her daughter hired onto the campaign staff, where she is now the fourth-highest-paid employee.
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These pay increases and other benefits often came at delicate moments in the legal proceedings against Trump. One aide who was given a plum position on the board of Trump’s social media company, for example, got the seat after he was subpoenaed but before he testified.
Significant changes to a staffer’s work situation, such as bonuses, pay raises, firings or promotions, can be evidence of a crime if they come outside the normal course of business. To prove witness tampering, prosecutors would need to show that perks or punishments were intended to influence testimony.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14