Tag: christmas
Letitia James

Appeals Court Upholds New York Judge's Finding Of Trump Financial Fraud

Former President Donald Trump was dealt a major blow by the New York Court of Appeals on Thursday in the midst of his ongoing civil fraud trial in the Empire State.

On Thursday afternoon, MSNBC legal reporter Lisa Rubin tweeted that appellate judges denied Trump's request to stay (or halt) Judge Arthur Engoron's ruling in favor of New York Attorney General Letitia James, who won a summary judgment in September in her initial claim that Trump committed "pervasive, widespread fraud in financial statements." She linked to a copy of the appellate judges' ruling in the initial post.


"What that means practically is that the provisions of the below order are enforceable and that if [independent financial monitor Judge Barbara Jones] is the agreed-upon receiver, Trump and his co-defendants owe her a bunch of information and advanced notice about their ownership structure and future activity," Rubin added in a separate tweet, which showed a screenshot of an October order from Judge Engoron.

In September, the Associated Press reported that Judge Engoron ruled that Trump "committed fraud for years while building the real estate empire that catapulted him to fame and the White House." That summary judgment order also ordered that the former president's business licenses in New York be suspended, meaning he would no longer have the legal ability to make decisions on behalf of his businesses anywhere in the state. While Thursday's appellate court ruling upheld Engoron's conclusion that Trump committed fraud, it halted his order suspending Trump's standing as a corporate officer in New York-based businesses.

The ex-president's civil fraud trial may end prior to the Christmas holidays, as both he and his immediate family have already been compelled to testify in the case. Attorney General James is seeking $250 million in financial penalties, and she may still ultimately prevail in her goal of stripping Trump of his ability to do business in New York depending on the final verdict.

Lawyers representing Trump in his New York civil fraud trial have recently tried for a third time to get Engoron to issue a "directed verdict," arguing that the state has failed to bring compelling evidence to justify the allegations against him. A retired New York judge told the Daily Beast that the motion for a directed verdict was akin to a "hail Mary pass," and that she couldn't recall a single instance in which she issued a directed verdict at the defendant's request in her 35 years on the bench.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

We Need More Immigrants -- And Less Lying About Immigration

We Need More Immigrants -- And Less Lying About Immigration

On Christmas eve in Washington, D.C., the temperature plunged to 15 degrees Fahrenheit, the coldest on record. In our neighborhood, people were admonishing their neighbors for leaving dogs outside too long. "It's friggin' 15 degrees!"

And yet, the governor of Texas nonetheless decided to dump another 130 men, women and children — some wearing just T-shirts — on the doorstep of Vice President Kamala Harris' official residence. Three buses arrived between 8 and 10 p.m., and, thanks to the work of volunteers, the dazed and confused migrants were offered blankets and conveyed to local churches. Several restaurants donated food. So the immigrants were OK. But without that intervention, we must assume that the bus drivers were under instructions to leave them there, in a residential neighborhood, on a frigid night, wearing only light clothing, not speaking the language and having no idea where they were.

This brings to 8,700 the number of immigrants Gov. Greg Abbott has shipped to the District this year. Another 6,520 have been bused to New York, Chicago and Philadelphia.

When, in a similar attention-seeking stunt, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis flew a planeload of asylum seekers to Martha's Vineyard, it was at least in September. The two Republican governors are in a heartlessness duel. Perhaps the next step will be to shoot would-be migrants in the legs as Trump demanded in 2019.

Yes, this country is being swamped by would-be immigrants, and a mature polity would address the problem with sensible reforms. But that's not what the governors of Florida and Texas are demanding. They and their right-wing media claque are saying that immigrants are clamoring for admission to the United States only because President Joe Biden has an "open borders" policy.

They repeat this mantra even though it contradicts another of their favorite talking points, namely that the border patrol has experienced record numbers of encounters with would-be crossers. Customs and Border Protection reports that agents had 2.2 million encounters with illegal border crossers in fiscal year 2022 — a new record. (Many are repeat crossers.) If the border were truly open, the border patrol would not be apprehending anyone, right? They'd be standing aside and waving them on in.

In fact, the constant GOP refrain about the border being "open" may actually be aggravating the problem by disseminating the impression around the globe that it's worth making the attempt to get into the United States.

Here is the complicated reality. It is not Biden's fault that so many people want to come to the United States. There was a big jump in border encounters under the Trump administration as well (from 310,531 in fiscal year 2017 to 859,501 in fiscal year 2019 — the numbers plunged temporarily during the COVID-19 pandemic). People want to come here because 1) so many nations around the globe are hellish and a number of those are within walking distance; 2) this is a place where people with a good work ethic can get ahead and enjoy the blessings of liberty; 3) our immigration laws and rules are confusing.

A 1980 law permits migrants to ask for asylum. Unfortunately, it requires asylum seekers to be physically present in the country — thus the crush at the border. Also, word is out around the world that you can claim fear of persecution and at least get a hearing (though 75 percent of claims are rejected, which may be less well understood). So many have attempted to take advantage of this avenue that the backlog of cases now stands at 1.29 million. Perhaps one way to handle the hordes of people hoping to gain admittance is to clarify the asylum criteria. Another possible reform is to permit people to make an asylum claim at the U.S. embassy in their countries.

Here's another solution to the immigration problem — welcome more legal immigrants!

More immigration is in our national interest. Even aside from the injection of vitality that immigrants always provide, we are suffering from a serious labor shortage. The wait for green cards, even for those who've been fully vetted, can be insanely long because our needlessly complicated law imposes caps by country of origin. Immigrants from India and China, for example, can wait their entire working lives.

We are starved for workers. Americans are paying more for food, housing, and other commodities and services due to the severe labor shortage. We have backlogs of already-vetted immigrants, asylum-seekers with credible claims, and refugees who would gratefully (dare I say tearfully) accept jobs and lives in this country if we could only get out of our own way.

But our politics is poisoned by the demagogues who speak of immigrants as "invaders" and warn of catastrophe if we don't close our border. In contrast to the finest traditions of this country, which at its best has been a haven for the persecuted and a friend to the oppressed, they are treating immigrants as enemies. No — worse. Enemies would be entitled to the protections of the Geneva conventions, which would prohibit what Greg Abbott did on Christmas Eve.

Mona Charen is policy editor of The Bulwark and host of the "Beg to Differ" podcast. Her most recent book is Sex Matters: How Modern Feminism Lost Touch with Science, Love, and Common Sense. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.

Reprinted with permission from Creators.

While Abbott Traffics Migrants, Texas Electric Grid Freezes Again

While Abbott Traffics Migrants, Texas Electric Grid Freezes Again

Before and on Christmas Day 2022, much of the United States suffered extreme weather — from record snowfall and blizzard conditions in Buffalo to severe cold in Colorado and Kansas. Temperatures fell to 9F in Atlanta, 8F in New York City and 12F in Washington, D.C. Thousands of flights had to be canceled, and weather-related fatalities occurred everywhere from upstate New York to Tennessee.

Texas suffered effects from the weather as well, bringing back memories of the February 2021 blackout and once again reminding Texans of the vulnerability of their energy grid.

On Christmas Day, Newsweek’s Fatma Khaled reported, “Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is facing a grid ‘emergency’ this holiday weekend due to an electric energy shortage as an arctic blast causes failures at power plants in the state. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on Friday, (December 23) declared that an emergency exists in Texas ‘due to a shortage of electric energy, a shortage of facilities for the generation of electric energy, and other causes.’”

On December 23, according to Khaled, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) “requested” an “emergency order” that it be allowed to “exceed the usual federal air quality restrictions” that day because of the weather and the energy demands it was facing.

In February 2021, Texas suffered a major crisis when it experienced unusually cold weather and a widespread blackout occurred — leaving millions of Texans without heat or electricity during freezing temperatures. Fox News’ Tucker Carlson and other far-right media pundits claimed that green energy caused the blackout because it couldn’t handle the colder weather, which was nonsense; the vast majority of Texas’ energy comes from fossil fuels, not green energy.

Moreover, Scandinavian countries that typically get much colder than Texas during the winter months use green energy extensively without any problem. Texas’ problem in 2021, rather, was that its power grid had not been properly winterized. Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, Texas’ 2022 Democratic gubernatorial nominee, sounded the alarm about Texas’ energy problems during his campaign and stressed that GOP incumbent Abbott was dropping the ball; regardless, Abbott was reelected, defeating O’Rourke by 11 percent.

Khaled reported that on December 23, “Reliant Energy, which serves over 1.5 million Texans, urged its customers to reduce their energy usage by limiting the use of large appliances. Temperatures in some parts of Texas reached a low of 1 degree by Thursday night, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). Meanwhile, wind gusts reached up to 40 miles per hour in areas in North Texas, The Texas Tribune reported.”

Khaled added, “Many Texans experienced power outages on Friday amid strong winds and the brutally cold temperatures, with more than 77,000 customers losing power, according to PowerOutage.us. As of Sunday afternoon, a little more than 5000 customers were without power. Still, Texas officials assured residents that the power grid is up and running despite the challenges, and that the grid will not be severely impacted as it was in February 2021 when three severe winter storms and frigid temperatures stressed the grid.”

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Trump's Holiday Trading Card Grift Enrages Shrinking MAGA Base

Surprise! Trump's Trading Card Grift Enrages His Shrinking MAGA Base

Donald Trump's 'major announcement' Thursday truly exceeded the already exceedingly low expectations.

Trump digital trading cards! Priced to sell at just $99! An exclusive series of 'really incredible artwork' (i.e. hilarious parody) depicting, for instance, Trump as a strapping superhero bearing his sculpted chest, as a cowboy brandishing an American flag atop a white horse, and as an aviator-clad astronaut.

But wait, there's more! Each card comes with a raffle ticket, giving lucky winners the chance to perhaps dine with Trump, hit the links on one of his glorious golf courses, or land an exclusive 1-on-1 Zoom meeting with the man, the myth, the legend!

"Remember, Christmas is coming and this makes a great Christmas gift," Trump said in the video introduction of his new collectibles. The ultimate Holiday grift.

But the most amazing thing about the announcement wasn’t how perfectly pathetic it is for Trump to be hawking digital trading cards online just before Christmas. It’s the fact that some of his MAGA cultists actually whiffed the stench wafting off Trump’s steaming pile of B.S. It was so bad, the Kool-Aid drinkers started setting down their cups to head for the hills.

After right-wing journalist and noted Trump shill John Solomon tweeted out Trump's announcement, a number of his pro-Trump followers responded with dismay, disgust, and even anger (as documented by former Republican and right-wing tracker Ron Filipkowski).

"Trump is becoming a joke," said someone with the handle @PowerDownMedia. "Sad. I really hoped he could live up to his hype. But, he can't."

"are you f(&King kidding me?" seethed @RollTide_2022.

@rtcollins wrote, "Pretty sure I just fell off the Trump train. Unbelievable."

"Has Trump lost his mind really trading cards how the f*** is that going to help our country," wondered @gunner6314.

Over at reddit, conservative commenters were equally as brutal, calling Trump's trading card gambit "one of the cringiest things" ever and incredulously asking "Is... is this a joke?"

Another reddit user responded, "It is a joke, and it's real."

Filipkowski marveled at the fallout, writing, "I have never seen MAGA react like this to anything Trump has ever done."

Apparently Filipkowski wasn't the only one blown away by the savage response. A little over an hour later, Team Trump rushed out a platform of supposed First Amendment reforms, framing them as the real announcement.

"BREAKING: President Trump announces free speech policy plan for 2024," Don Jr. tweeted.

@MAGAIncWarRoom tweeted out Trump’s slap-dash video announcement of the platform, prefacing it with "MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT."

The bottom line here is that Trump couldn’t have picked a better time to make a fool of himself. He is perhaps at his weakest moment politically since just before he won the 2016 election. And he is vulnerable and showing signs of desperation—enough so that he rolled out a gloriously mockable and transparent grift and then launched a coverup a little over an hour later.

Two polls this week showed Trump on the rails: Quinnipiac, which found put his approval rating at a 7-year low of 31%; and a USA Today/Suffolk University poll found that just 31% of Republicans and GOP leaners want Trump to run in 2024. Trump was also dragging among Republican voters, just 47% of whom support him making a third bid—down from 60% in July.

Trump's favorability rating in Civiqs tracking has likewise hit a 6-year low at 35%.

The USA Today/Suffolk poll also found Trump losing in a hypothetical head-to-head with Biden, 47% - 40%. Republican voters and GOP leaners also prefer Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over Trump by double digits, 56% - 33%. Ouch.

Trump’s entire con has always been that he’s omnipotent and invincible—nothing can take him down. But it’s all beginning to unravel in such an obvious way that even his cultists are starting to see him as the pitiful carnival barker he has always been. And if Trump’s MAGA support really does collapse, he’s toast.

Wouldn’t it be a fitting end if Trump’s cultists stuck with him through his treasonous Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol but finally cut him loose over a set of digital trading cards. What if that actually turns out to be the moment the light bulb came on?

The grift:

The cover up:

Jenifer Fernandez Ancona from Way to Win is our guest on this week’s Daily Kos’ The Brief. When we spoke with Jenifer back in April, she was right about Democratic messaging—and had the data to prove it. More election data has been rolling in from the midterms, and Jenifer is back to talk about what worked and what needs to change in order for the Democratic Party to keep winning.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.