The grown-ups have left the building - Trump thread #136

[Spandauer]

As we descend into 4 years of madness...

(thanks @Jaichangecentfoisdenom and* *@AcrossthePond55 for the suggestions)

Previous thread:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5200273-hands-across-the-water-trump-thread-135

President-elect Donald Trump's transition team is reportedly having conversations with far-right militia groups in border states as it plans sweeping immigration raids and mass deportations.

They could be called the SA ? Just a thought.

Breaking news - Gaetz has withdrawn himself as nominee for AG!

Gaetz resigns his house seat days before an ethics investigation report is due for release… realises it’ll come out if he presses ahead to become AG… and drops his bid for the role.

And now presumably evades prosecution for alleged crimes?

Popcorn company shares slump !
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gxy2qxxpzo

Well maybe so.

Elsewhere in the universe (the c-word) things are slightly surreal. BTC looking like it'll hit the $100,000 mark. At some point the "lost drive guy" could buy Newport outright 😀

Does this mean he gets his house seat back, or is he now unemployed? Which would be a) the best possible outcome and b) very funny.

I don't believe you can rescind a resignation from the House.

So, Gaetz has already resigned from Congress. Can he 'unresign'? Apparently we're once again in uncharted territory;

"Legally, it is ambiguous because the right to resign isn't in the Constitution," he said. "It is conceivable that the House could refuse the resignation." (Newsweek)

www.newsweek.com/matt-gaetz-return-congress-senate-1989636

Rumour has it that this whole AG thing was a ploy to allow him to resign 'for a good reason' rather than being forced to resign due to his sexual peccadillos OR having the investigation into them made public. Rumour also says that Trump will appoint him to a position for which he does not need Senate Confirmation.

I saw someone musing on Blueskies that Gaetz has only resigned from this current session of the House and so could possibly turn up to take his place for the new session as he was just re-elected. (Or something like that...!)

Also saw a post saying Gaetz is big mates with De Santis so maybe Ron could appoint Gaetz to the senate to fill Rubio's Florida seat...

but surely that would bring the investigation back into play (on both counts)? I have no idea whether either is remotely possible. As Across rightly says - everything is 'uncharted territory'...

@Spandauer

I'd say 'yes' to both. If he gets sworn in for the 2025/26 House session OR is appointed to fill Rubio's Senate seat the whole investigation could be reopened/restarted.

I didn't think about the fact that he'd just been reelected. So was his resignation for the current session only OR did he resign from Congress 'for all eternity'? Who the fuck knows.

I feel you reflecting my current approach to life, the universe, and everything.I used to think the answer was 42 (Douglas Adams) but now I am with you on "who the fuck knows?".

You know @Jaichangecentfoisdenom I'm good with us having a "Who the fuck knows?" attitude. It'll likely keep us sane for the next 4 years.

I just don't want to slide into "Who the fuck cares?" if things get too bad. Gotta keep fighting, even if only figuratively.

New AG nom:

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-announces-pam-bondi-attorney-general-pick-gaetz-withdraws-rcna181279

Another good TRIP US today, recorded before Gaetz withdrew. Scaramucci says he now thinks Vance is a lot smarter than he previously thought - he’s keeping his head down and making sure all eyes are on Trump.

He's back to picking blonde women, isn't he?

Vance seems to have disappeared, yes good move, head down, ready for the kill.

Definitely the smartest thing to do. As they say, if (as everyone expects) he is eyeing a run for GOP nominee in 2028 then he needs to make sure he walks the line of supporting Trump whilst not tying himself to closely to the administration in case it all blows up.

Of course if Trump himself has plans for Don Jr or Eric to step into his shoes then JD will need to watch his back.

No comment - for my own sanity.

With New York judge Juan Merchan indefinitely postponing Donald Trump’s criminal hush money case, attorneys on both sides are debating over its future.
Victoria Bekiempis reports for the Guardian:
Trump’s lawyers on Tuesday asked Merchan to throw out the case, contending that dismissal was necessary “in order to facilitate the orderly transition of executive power”.
Todd Blanche, Trump’s lead attorney and choice for deputy US attorney general, and Emil Bove, the president-elect’s pick for principal associate deputy attorney general, complained that Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg’s team “appears to not yet be ready to dismiss this politically motivated and fatally flawed case, which is what is mandated by the law and will happen as justice takes its course”…
Prosecutors disagreed that Trump’s case should be dismissed simply because appeals wouldn’t be decided before his inauguration. While they respected the presidency and understood the logistical issues, “no current law establishes that a president’s temporary immunity from prosecution requires dismissal of a post-trial criminal proceeding that was initiated at a time when the defendant was not immune from criminal prosecution, and that is based on unofficial conduct from which the defendant is also not immune.”

More explanation from Washington Post

The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s hush money case has given his lawyers more than a week to argue that his conviction should be thrown out because he was reelected as president, and officially called off Trump’s sentencing that was scheduled for next week.


It remained unclear whether the judge would sentence Trump before he takes office Jan. 20, but the schedule that was ordered Friday potentially leaves room for it. The judge’s one-page order canceled next week’s proceeding but did not schedule a new one or reference the possibility of a new date.


New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan is allowing Trump’s lawyers to make a new set of immunity-related arguments related to his conviction in May on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments to an adult film actress ahead of the 2016 election. Those arguments will focus on whether further proceedings, including a sentencing, would interfere with Trump’s ongoing presidential transition and his presidency.

The suspicion is that all of the Federal cases against Trump will simply go away (either by Trump pardoning himself or the cases being dropped due to pressure/fear). The one he can’t get rid of is the Georgia case as it is a State prosecution, not a Federal one. I guess it will all come down to how nice he is to Brian Kemp 🙄

Latest on Gaetz
https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/22/politics/gaetz-not-rejoining-congress/index.html

Trump is dumb and nasty
Vance is smart and nasty

If anything happens to Trump in the next 4 years, Vance gets to be President and then the chance at another term.

If nothing happens to Trump in the next four years, Vance needs his hands clean enough to run as his own man in 2028

This was Mooch’s piece on Vance this morning (ignore the weird spelling in places, it’s an AI transcript that obviously can’t understand a New Jersey accent!)

“JD Vance, to me, I have totally and wholly underestimated whatever IQ points I thought he had, I'm adding 30 IQ points. Where is JD Vance? Let me hold on a second, let me just look under the desk.
^^
JD, JD, are you down there? JD, where is this guy? It's unbelievable how smart this guy is.
^^
This guy is like, you know what? This is the Trump show. He won the election.
^^
He's basking in the glory. They're throwing laurel reefs at him. I got to get out of the way.
^^
JD, do you want to do CBS Morning News? I don't. JD, do you want to do Face the Nation?
^^
Not me. JD, meet the press? No, no, no.
^^
I'm good. My man, I know you don't listen to The Rest Is Politics US with Katty Kay, okay, and her sidekick, Anthony Scaramucci. But let me tell you something, my man.
^^
That is some brilliant stuff that you're doing. Stay out of it for right now. Low profile.
^^
I am so impressed with that. I had him at a 10 out of 10 going into the Trump woodchipper and ending up like Mike Pence. But I'm now 8.5 out of 10.
^^
He has impressed me with his disappearance.
^^
Listen, at some point, as everybody recognizes, and even Republicans are saying, this could go sideways because the people that have been nominated to the cabinet are being called the island of misfit toys in the Wall Street Journal. So this could not work out very well for Donald Trump. And if you want to be JD Vant, who wants to run for president, which he absolutely does in 2028, he's going to face the Kamala Harris problem.
^^
If this does not work out, if there's inflation, if the tariffs hit, if there's chaos in the bureaucracy and people don't get their prices down, then how is JD Vant going to run against the Trump administration of which he's part? He's going to face exactly the Harris Biden issue in 2028. So he's smart.”

it’s an AI transcript that obviously can’t understand a New Jersey accent

And people wonder why I am less then excited about "AI" ...

"Did the president call ?"
"No ma'am."