Trump gets gagged, McCarthy gets booted. What's next in Trumpworld?

[AcrossthePond55]

Roll up, roll up for the GOP Mystery Tour!! Trump thread lost-the-count!!!

The story no one is talking about

Imagine a foreign leader having to visit POTUS in prison

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/donald-trump-president-election-biden-2024-politics-b2473073.html

@SerendipityJane, I think I heard mention of this on the BBC last night.

And what do these people emphasise? That any action must be taken in secret; that if the Americans are told about it that will increase Trump's chances of being elected; that it needs to be a covert operation.

What damn fool told the media?

and the answer about how foreign heads of state visit POTUS in prison ?

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/jan/05/donald-trump-president-white-house-damage

No, I didn't hear the piece in detail. Have you a link?

No link - I just wondered if that had covered that question.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-67899435

https://www.rawstory.com/mark-mccloskey-2666879198

@SerendipityJane

A 'purity' test? And just how are they going to verify who someone voted for? What an eejit!! That guy is just as much a whack job as the rest of the MAGA cult.

There was a pretty good 'debate' between Ari Melber & the CO Secty of State on the legal grounds for and against being able to remove Doofus from the ballot. TBH both sides made good points based on their own interpretation of the 14th Amendment as far as 'engaging in insurrection' vs 'convicted of insurrection' being grounds for disqualification. But it's how SCOTUS is going to interpret it that counts. We already pretty much know where Thomas, Barrett, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh are going to land. IMHO it all hinges on Roberts.

From what I understand, 14th has never been tested on a 'non-combatant'. None of the elected officials of the former Confederacy ever ran for elective office after the War. But it apparently WAS used on 'armed combatants' after the end of the war. That is, men who actually took up arms as part of the Confederate military. But most of them were pardoned anyway. So once again, Doofus has put us in uncharted territory.

I suspect SCOTUS will declare the 14th amendment - maybe all amendments they don't like - invalid. After all, t5he founding fathers didn't write it did they ?

@SerendipityJane

They may try to at least. I don't know how many of them are Constitutional Originalists. According to COs, if the FF didn't put it in themselves, then it doesn't belong. That would work, right? Bye bye women's rights, equal rights, end of slavery, citizenship for minorities, etc, etc. Sounds like just what they'd want.

More informed legal opinion seems to suggest that SCOTUS "could" strike out the CO motion that prevents Trump running on the basis that the 14th specifically is intended to prevent someone who has engaged in insurrection from taking office. It doesn't say they can't run.

Which is probably the worst possible outcome for the GOP, since it puts the onus on them to ensure whoever they put forwards can actually take up POTUS.

The legal argument would be you can't rule on what hasn't happened.

I wonder what would happen if someone who was not eligible to be POTUS was elected ? Can "the will of the people" (a phrase that should strike terror into the hearts of anyone who is a fan of due process) literally Trump the constitution ?

I suspect in 50 years time, people will be saying God was giving us all the clues.

SerendipityJane
I suspect in 50 years time, people will be saying God was giving us all the clues.

Robert Heinlein turned the USA into a theocracy under The Prophet in one of his stories, If This Goes On—, described in Wikipedia as showing "what might happen to Christianity in the United States with mass communications, applied psychology, and a hysterical populace." Apparently it served as the vehicle for Heinlein to criticise the authoritarian potential of Protestant Christian fundamentalism, which does seem very like him: the man was an anarchist really. But "the authoritarian potential of Protestant Christian fundamentalism" is straight into the black: that's what I see when I look in the right places, just at the moment.

I've tried to listed to the audio of the Trump immunity hearing but its unbearable as his lead lawyer seems to have the voice of a cartoon mobster

I was just thinking that or he was talking through a voice box!

Why is he talking so fast?? seems panicky

He's talking quickly cos he's on a flat rate not an hourly rate!

Maybe he's speaking thru a voice distorter to conceal his identity?

Not sign of Trump making an appearance despite him saying yesterday he would attend.
Clearly can't be arsed

😂😂

Love the way he kept saying 'if there are no more questions' and the judges kept pulling him back. He was really trying to end the ordeal.

He tried 4 times to wriggle out of the direct question on impeachment then criminal prosecution process. That judge was determined to nail his rear to the barn door on that one. You could almost hear him physically squirming.

From the NYT:

Here’s what the scene was like inside the courtroom: Former President Trump entered the courtroom just before the hearing began, escorted by several lawyers — and Walt Nauta, his longtime personal aide, who is a co-defendant in the other federal case against Trump, over his handling of government documents. Trump was mostly still and stone-faced for the start of the hearing, as his lawyer, John Sauer, made his case and was pressed by the skeptical judges. That changed when James Pearce, the lawyer for the special counsel, began to speak. Trump leaned forward, took notes for several minutes, and whispered to one of his lawyers. At one point — when Sauer offered a response to Pearce’s argument and talked of a “frightening future” of frequent presidential prosecutions if the case went forward — Trump nodded along.

I wrongly assumed he wasn't there because of the lack of ad hoc press conference

Please can Trump explain why if he "did nothing wrong" he so desperately needs immunity...

This is the first time I have noticed anyone asking that question!

If Trump wins, then surely Biden can just order Seal Team 6 in to take care of the problem? After all, he'd have presidential immunity.