Tag: trump lawsuits
Danziger Draws

Danziger Draws

Jeff Danziger lives in New York City and Vermont. He is a long time cartoonist for The Rutland Herald and is represented by Counterpoint Syndicate. He is a recipient of the Herblock Prize and the Thomas Nast (Landau) Prize. He served in the US Army in Vietnam and was awarded the Bronze Star and the Air Medal. He has published eleven books of cartoons, a novel and a memoir. Visit him at DanzigerCartoons.

Judge Mehta Handed Trump A Major Defeat On January 6 Lawsuits

Judge Mehta Handed Trump A Major Defeat On January 6 Lawsuits

Former "defeated" President Trump's bigly bad week concluded with US District Judge Amit Mehta flatly rejecting his motion to dismiss three cases regarding his conduct on January 6, 2021, thus allowing the major suits to proceed. And assuming the ruling holds amid a Supreme Court stuffed with Trump goons, it's almost inevitable that Mr. Fifth Amendment will be forced to go under oath during discovery.

The three cases consist of Swalwell v. Trump, in which Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell sued Trump, Rudy Giuliani, Don Jr. and GOP Rep. Mo Brooks; Thompson v. Trump, in which 11 Democratic representatives sued the former president, his lawyer, and both the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers; and Blassingame v. Trump, in which two Capitol Police officers are looking to hold Trump accountable for their injuries on January 6. Most important, all the plaintiffs sued under the premise that Trump and the other defendants conspired to violate the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, a Reconstruction Era statute that makes it illegal to impede a government official carrying out his or her official duty. Moreover, impeding the transfer of power to Joe Biden.

Trump has vigorously (and poorly) argued that he was simply exercising his First Amendment right in summoning the mob to DC, in which he instigated their violent reaction with election lie after lie. In order to chip away at this defense, the plaintiffs have alleged trump engaged in illegal incitement. In other words, his speech was “directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action,” and that it was “likely to incite or produce such action," which is known as the Brandenberg standard.

According to Judge Mehta, the plaintiffs appear to have satisfied that need.

"The prospect of violence had become so likely that a former aide to the President predicted in a widely publicized statement that “there will be violence on January 6th because the President himself encourages it.” Thus, when the President stepped to the podium on January 6th, it is reasonable to infer that he would have known that some in the audience were prepared for violence," wrote Mehta.

"Yet, the President delivered a speech he understood would only aggravate an already volatile situation. For 75 uninterrupted minutes, he told rally-goers that the election was “rigged” and “stolen,” at one point asserting that “Third World Countries” had more honest elections. He identified who the culprits were of the election fraud: “radical Left Democrats” and “weak” Republicans. They were the ones who had stolen their election victory, he told them. He directed them not to “concede,” and urged them to show “strength” and be “strong.” They would not be able to “take back [their] country with weakness.” He told them that the rules did not apply: “When you catch somebody in a fraud, you’re allowed to go by very different rules.” And they would have an “illegitimate President” if the Vice President did not act, and “we can’t let that happen.” These words stoked an already inflamed crowd, which had heard for months that the election was stolen and that “weak politicians” had failed to help the President."

With the legal ramifications and ruling that Trump and his spawn must respond to questions about the Trump Organization, the possibility of Trump being tried for stealing classified documents, and now a DC judge's ruling rejecting Trump's desire to dismiss lawsuits pertaining to the violent DC insurrection, the walls appear to be closing in on the twice-impeached, one term, con man.

Michael Hayne is a comedian, writer, voice artist, podcaster, and impressionist. Follow his work on Facebook and TikTok

Trump Lawsuit Against Omarosa Gets Tossed In Arbitration

Trump Lawsuit Against Omarosa Gets Tossed In Arbitration

Reprinted with permission from AlterNet

Donald Trump has lost his case against Omarosa Manigault Newman, his former White House aide and a former reality TV star on several "Apprentice" seasons

The case was decided in arbitration, with the arbitrator declaring that it was "certainly unreasonable" for Omarosa "to never say anything remotely critical of Mr. Trump, his family or his or his family members' businesses for the rest of her life," The New York Times reports.

"Donald has used this type of vexatious litigation to intimidate, harass and bully for years," Manigault Newman said in a statement. "Finally the bully has met his match!"

In 2018 Trump had sued Manigault Newman, who frequently uses the mononymous "Omarosa," for what he claimed were violations of a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) she had signed after the publication of her book, Unhinged about President Trump. That NDA was signed in 2016 while she was with his presidential campaign.

The Times adds that Omarosa's book "paints a picture of an out-of-control president who is in a state of mental decline and is prone to racist and misogynistic behavior. Ms. Manigault Newman's book also casts the former president's daughter Ivanka Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, in a negative light. When Trump advisers tried to cast doubt on Ms. Manigault Newman's accounts, she released audio recordings that backed up several of her claims."

Omarosa released four of what she claimed were about 200 tapes she had secretly recorded of Trump and others in his administration. One of those released was recorded in the White House's Situation Room, which is believed to have been "one of the worst White House security breaches ever."

Trump reportedly had wanted his then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions to arrest Manigault Newman over the book.

President Donald Trump

Latest Trump Lawsuit Demands Court Cancel Georgia Vote

Reprinted with permission from American Independent

Donald Trump filed a lawsuit on New Year's Eve demanding that a federal judge decertify the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, alleging without any evidence that "illegal voting" occurred and therefore the results were invalid.

The suit, filed with the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia against Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in their official capacities, claims the existence of violations of election law that "have resulted in more than 11,779 'illegal' votes to be counted in the State of Georgia which is sufficient to change the outcome of the election or place the outcome in doubt."

President-elect Joe Biden won the state by exactly 11,779 votes.

The lawsuit is similar to dozens of other lawsuits the Trump campaign and Trump's GOP allies have filed since the election. They have lost 60 of those lawsuits, with judges tossing many of them due to a lack of any proof.

Multiple federal fudges have chastised Trump's lawyers and his GOP defenders for filing the lawsuits, accusing them of trying to subvert the will of the voters by getting judges to overturn a free and fair election.

"Voters, not lawyers, choose the president," wrote U.S. Circuit Judge Stephanos Bibas, a Trump appointee, in a decision in November tossing out a Trump campaign lawsuit seeking to overturn election results in Pennsylvania. "Ballots, not briefs, decide elections."

Ballots in Georgia have been counted three times, each time with the same conclusion: Biden defeated Trump in the state.

Nevertheless, Trump is still trying to overturn the state's result, even though if Georgia's 16 Electoral College votes were removed from Biden's column, Biden would still have 290, more than the 270 needed to win.

Trump is continuing to go to extraordinary lengths to overturn the will of the voters in Georgia.

He called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Saturday to demand that Raffensperger "find" just enough votes to make Trump the winner in the state.

The phone call could lead to criminal charges against Trump, as experts say it's a violation of both state and federal election law to engage in a conspiracy to commit election fraud.

Georgia has already certified its election results; the electors in the state cast their ballots on Dec. 14; and the election is over. What's more, the so-called safe harbor deadline to resolve disputes about the election results in the courts passed on Dec. 8.

The last step in the process is for Congress to certify the results of the Electoral College vote, which it is scheduled to do on Wednesday. More than 140 Republican lawmakers plan to object to the certification, but their stunt will fail, as the Democratic-controlled House will not vote to overturn Biden's win.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.