As the Americans clammier to "hang" Julian Assange for telling the truth, some seem to be content for Donald Trump to walk free for lying, and committing other crimes.

Paul Rosenzweig, 'The Atlantic';

"The chances that the criminal cases against the former president (Trump) will be successful are slim to none, and that will only embolden him and his followers."

http://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/03/why-criminal-cases-against-trump-are-doomed/627113/

The best bid is No Trump.

Hi Paul,

Personally I very much doubt that former US President
Donald Trump will ever be charged or see any jail time.

Now that he's out of office he can't claim presidential
immunity.

Currently he's facing two investigations into
possible criminal conduct. In the state of Georgia they're
investigating his efforts to change the state's election
results and the larger investigation is taking place by
Manhattan's District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. into Trump's
financial business practices examining the possibility that
Trump and his organization engaged in tax and insurance fraud.

If Trump is charged he'll become the first US former president
charged with a criminal offence and he could end up doing
prison time. Personally I think that this is unlikely to
happen. Of course this case will be a test of the US criminal
justice system - if charges are ever laid. If that happens
many are predicting that Trump will flee - that he'll leave
the country.

Interesting times ahead

"Could Donald Trump Face Prison"

No.....next question, please.

Could he be the next president? Possibly... http://townhall.com/columnists/kurtschlichter/2022/06/20/the-case-for-donald-trump-2024-n2608957?200

What a load of bullshite. Only a person who doesn’t go beyond the lying, manipulative media - particularly the US variety, which is even worse than ours, could believe such rubbush.

Hi Paul,

The former US president Donald Trump made US
history in becoming the first president to be impeached
twice by the House of Representatives. However he was never
convicted at either trial - however he did lose the election
to Joe Biden in November 2020.

Losing may have dented the one term president's pride and
fuelled 18 months of lies about rigged ballot boxes. And it now
seems that the man may run again in 2024 for the White House.

Would indicting a former US president be good for American
democracy? As I stated earlier - interesting times ahead.

Here's an interesting perspective:

http://politico.com/news/magazine/2022/06/23/dont-indict-trump-00041712

..."and fuelled 18 months of lies about rigged ballot boxes."

Lies? http://2000mules.com/

Another interesting perspective:

http://edition.cnn.com/2022/06/16/politics/fact-check-trump-officials-testimony-debunking-election-lies/index.html

Interesting official perspective from just one state....

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/washington-secrets/ariz-ag-elections-crimes-in-maricopa-vote-raises-questions-about-2020

http://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/athena-thorne/2022/05/22/arizona-sheriffs-office-investigating-active-organized-voter-fraud-in-yuma-county-n1599853

The democrats have always been committing voter fraud in the US
But it's too late for any of this petty crap to even matter.
The US is in 30 trillion dollars of debt, there's no way back for them.
And both the US and Russia are committed to win in Ukraine.
It's an each way bet that it will end in nuclear war.
History will judge the west and it's allies for being the cause of whatever happens.

Ukraine war | An unmitigated disaster | John Mearsheimer
http://youtu.be/FRDt2NWmlV4

Dear mhaze,

Yup lies.

And why on earth are you foisting Dinesh D'Souza on us? What a rightwing drop kick this bloke is. A person who was convicted of a form of election fraud himself is hardly in a place to protest anything.

Even if he somehow weasels his way out of the coup incident he's still facing a multitude of financial crimes due to his dodgy business dealings.

He has some huge loan balloon payments due soon to Deutsche Bank and others and no longer has his Russian buddies standing by to bail him out (again).

Chances are he would find that matter more humiliating than politics and I doubt that his Trumper-Loomper supporters would be bailing him out in the way they did with the "legal fighting fund" he's been skimming, especially of they find out he's been lying about his supposed wealth and dodging taxes. Chances are his family won't sacrifice themselves for his sake any more either.

As well as the 7 pending insurrection cases there are 6 financial ones, 2 for electoral interference, 1 for sexual misconduct and a few law suits.

Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon but Biden is highly unlikely to do the same.

However the idea that a former President would go to prison would probably be too internationally humiliating for the USA.

Same old , same old.

SR avoids the facts but tries to discredit those who offer the facts. A passing attempt to address the facts? Not a chance.

And Rache, despite all the proof over the years that the stories about Trump and the Russians were lies concocted by HRC/the Dems/the FBI/the legacy media, carries on undeterred, because the facts are subordinate to the feelz - as usual.

Hi rache,

To let criminal behaviour by the nation's chief constitutional
officer go unpunished would be a betrayal of American democracy.
As several members of the committee pointed out - every
president beginning with George Washington co-operated with a
peaceful transition of power - until Trump.

There appears to be a case for prosecuting Donald Trump - with
even his own colleagues and co-workers now testifying against
him - and what they were instructed to do.
However, Trump will throw them under the bus - and distance
himself from them.

I think you're probably right. Punishing a former president
will not sit well with many Americans - they may not respect
the man - but they do respect the position and - setting a
precedent such as this - would be a no-go area for most
Americans.

We shall have to wait and see.

Here's an opinion piece from The Boston Globe:

"Norms in our democracy are only as good as our willingness
to enforce them."

http://apps.bostonglobe.com/opinion/graphics/2021/06/future-proofing-the-presidency/part-6-the-case-for-prosecuting-donald-trump/

mhaze

My comments about Trump and the Russians were nothing to do with the previous election allegations.

They concern the fact that after several disastrous and failed ventures he was conveniently financially bailed out by various Russian businessmen when they bought a series of his condominiums for no apparent reason as well as leasing various other Trump properties. At the time no banks would touch him but the Russian money helped him secure a vital loan with Deutsche Bank.

Likewise his inquiries into building a proposed hotel in Moscow at that time were given special attention, although it's no longer likely to proceed.

It was the same with the Saudis who leased a few floors of his tower but were later repaid during his first overseas trip as President by favourable treatment and reinstating an arms deal that was previously suspended by Obama due to human rights violations in Yemen. They even gave him a medal for that and he later failed to act when an American journalist was murdered and dismembered by the Saudis.

It goes to show that he could be bought politically if the price was right and others seemed to know that too.

So Rache,

Having had one set of false allegations about Trump utterly disproven, you move onto another set of allegations that can't be disproven because they are so flimsy.

BTW, if you're worried about US leaders being in the pay of foreigners, I'm sure you must be apoplectic about all the monies received from Russian oligarchs by Hunter Biden on behalf of the 'Big Guy' and how those same oligarchs somehow avoided being on the Biden's sanctions list

Not at all false allegations but well discussed and published facts.

It tool me about 5 seconds to find just these two articles -
https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/12/21/how-russian-money-helped-save-trumps-business/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/trumps-businesses-are-full-of-dirty-russian-money-the-scandal-is-thats-legal/2019/03/29/11b812da-5171-11e9-88a1-ed346f0ec94f_story.html

There are many many more with varying detail and to believe otherwise is just wilful ignorance and denial.

I remember when he was refused a gambling licence for the Star Casino in Sydney years ago on the grounds of his known connections with the American Mafia and organised crime so this should not come as a surprise.

Maybe one day we'll see his tax returns.

Yes rache, its a fact that Trump was involved with Russian financiers. What isn't a fact, has never been proven and for which there isn't the slightest evidence, is the claim that these decades old connections affected his presidency or any decisions of that presidency in any way, shape or form.

Still you want them to be true and that's all that matters, n'est pas?

OTOH the financial connections between Biden and current Russian oligarchs are well and unambiguously established and the affect of those on decisions of the current president are equally established. But you and millions like you decide to not notice.

Hi rache,

As you stated - Trump's Russian dealings have been well
documented, published, and discussed. There's so much
on the web, in the news, in the media. No one in their
right mind would bother denying any of it.

http://businessinsider.com/trump-russian-business-financial-ties-2018-11

Sorry for the typo rache,

Here's the link again:

http://businessinsider.com/trump-russia-business-fiancial-ties-2018-11

Foxy,

The main problem is that the left whingers are automatically assuming Trump's guilt yet all the analysis has yet to find a single statement of Trump's where he deliberately instructs his followers to storm the Capitol building.

The problem with a criminal trial is that there is the assumption of innocence and guilt needs to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. That democratic politicians have on many occasions made more obvious calls to action would mean that prosecuting Trump would expose a dozen or so Democrats to the same treatment.

Like your man Donald, GIVE EM' HELL shonky.

If you need a lawyer never engage shonky, 'Cry Baby' Porter did, and look where he ended up. No $10 million+,no grovelling appoligy, no 100 ABC staff sacked, just the big A from parliament, well called shonky.

Pauliar,

Like your man Putin you are a liar and a fraud.

Pauliar,

How are your Green mates convicted of paedophilia or your neighbour Brendon Tarrant?

shonky.

Unlike you I have no empathy with these people you mention, so I'll leave that to you. Judging by your time of posting 2:49:49 AM, you are either still hiding out in Christchurch as you claimed, or you lie awake thinking of those smart and snappy replies you are going to hit me with. You are failing on both accounts.

Pauliar,

Your lack of empathy, is it because your green comrades mates are Paedophiles or killers or because they got caught?

Hey shaadowminister,

"How are your Green mates convicted of paedophilia or your neighbour Brendon Tarrant?"

Umm for starters it's Brenton not Brendon.
You do know he's connected to the Azov Battallion in Ukraine right?
They praise him as a hero, your Ukrainian NAZI mates who you support?

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-10/christchurch-shooting-far-right-groups-in-ukraine-eastern-europe/10983542
- 10 April 2019

"But there's another country mentioned in the manifesto, the one I'm in right now: Ukraine.
Ukraine is home to a resurgent far-right that uses the same symbolism as the Christchurch shooter, but it hasn't been mentioned much over the past few weeks."

"Ukraine is home to the Azov movement, a far-right movement originally formed in 2014 as the Azov Battalion to fight Russian-led forces in eastern Ukraine. It quickly earned controversy as a place that accepted open neo-Nazis into its ranks."

"In the manifesto, I saw so much of what I've become used to seeing from writing about the Azov movement."

"And that black sun once again; its dozen of what look like lightning bolts springing out from the middle.
I see it on Azov's patches, being worn by soldiers, and even used as decoration in one of their social centres.
I saw it last night as several hundred Azov movement members, many of them teenagers, marched through the Ukrainian capital; I lost count of how many black sun patches and tattoos I saw."

Foxy et al,

Midterm elections are due in about 4 months at which the expected Republican majority will ditch this witch hunt to impeach Biden at least once.

shadowminister,

Ill winds are definitely blowing in Washington and the
Democrats' majority in Congress is razor-thin.
I'm not sure if the January 6th hearings will make a
difference.

However President Joe Biden according to Sky News has
hired Richard Sauber, a long-time white-collar defence
lawyer and veteran Justice Department prosecutor to
oversee responses to subpoenas and other oversight efforts.

Sauber, who will have the title " Special Council to the
President" has form.

A lawyer with an excellent reputation with decades of
experience, the Special Council's main job is to protect
the President, or at the least keep him out of jail.

Interesting times ahead.

Michael Strenger was going to testify in relation to Jan 6 events at Capitol Hill,
- but died in what could be mysterious circumstances.
Some interesting info here.
http://georgewebb.substack.com/p/murder-on-the-senate-steps

Dear mhaze,

You wrote: “SR avoids the facts but tries to discredit those who offer the facts. A passing attempt to address the facts? Not a chance.”

Back to the third person I see which inevitably means you feel on shaky ground.

And indeed you should.

You didn't present any facts rather a website with a trailer to a film by a bloke who is a convicted election fraudster and one who ended up needing a pardon from Trump to avoid further punishment.

This is the bloke we are supposed to assume is feeding us facts? Idiocy. It would be hard to find a less trustworthy on unbiased source.

Just stop it mate, you are really looking silly now.

Of course Trump could face prison, with his money he could face anything.