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The blockbuster CNN report earlier this week that federal prosecutors are in possession of an audio recording of Donald Trump in which he admits to keeping a classified document describing a potential attack on Iran, could have major legal implications for the former president, The Bulwark reports.
According to the CNN report, Trump is heard on the recording suggesting that, although he wishes to share the information, he’s aware that as a former president he can’t declassify them, multiple sources told the cable news channel, indicating he understood he was in possession of classified material.
Kim Wehle writes for the Bulwark that, if reports of the recording are true, it could provide compelling evidence for special counsel Jack Smith, who took over two sprawling investigations of the former president; the handling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Smith in the Mar-a-Lago case will have to prove what in legal circles is called “mens rea,” which is Latin for proof of a guilty mind.
Wehle writes that “Smith’s team would have to prove in some fashion that Trump acted willfully, knowingly, or intentionally and not just out of hubris, ignorance, or neglect in taking the materials and then repeatedly blowing off the FBI. In general, prosecutors can prove mens rea using circumstantial evidence, which relies on inferences. But direct evidence is better.”
Wehle notes the typical example of indirect evidence would be determining whether it had been raining through inference.
“The Bedminster audio recording, if authentic, is of the direct kind—it presumably reflects Trump’s own words in his own voice expressing his knowledge or belief that he possessed classified information, that he isn’t supposed to share it, and that he does not have the authority anymore to declassify it,” Wehle writes.
“Coupled with his preposterous public talking point that ‘If you’re the president of the United States, you can declassify just by saying ‘it’s declassified,’ even by thinking about it,’ the audiotaped meeting suggests that Trump knew he had stuff that he had no legal authority to have.”
Wehle believes the audio may provide the “mens rea.”
IN OTHER NEWS: Another blow to DeSantis: Disney tourism numbers expected to be unaffected by his crusade
“Given how cavalier Trump is about saying the quiet stuff out loud (his town hall attacks on E. Jean Carroll after her $5 million jury verdict produced a request for even more punitive damages), it would be surprising if, Lordy, there aren’t more tapes out there,” Wehle writes.
“So far, the Mar-a-Lago scandal hasn’t weakened Trump’s hold on the GOP base. But as Carroll’s case showed, juries are different. Assuming the reports about this audio recording are accurate, it seems ever more likely that Trump will be held to account, and the American public will have its day in court.”
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Another blow to DeSantis: Disney tourism numbers expected to be unaffected by his crusade
June 02, 2023
Disney is reportedly expected to be largely unaffected by the repeated attacks of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).
DeSantis has turned all his political guns blazing on Disney after the entertainment giant dared to criticize his legislation prohibiting any mention of LGBTQ people in most elementary school classrooms. He has repeatedly attacked the corporation in speeches, took over the board that administers their special taxing district, and threatened to toll the roads into the Walt Disney World resort complex, or even build a state prison next to it.
But it doesn't seem like his threats are having much effect on Disney's bottom line, or tourism numbers, reported Orlando Weekly on Friday.
"In a recent interview with Travel Weekly, [Dana] Young, the president and CEO of Visit Florida, was asked about several topics that could have a negative bearing on the state," reported Jim Turner. "Included were the legal and political battles that sprung up after Disney opposed a controversial 2022 law that restricts instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in schools. The law was titled by supporters as the 'Parental Rights in Education' bill but is derided by critics as 'don’t say gay.'"
“That is a business decision that we don't feel impacts the tourism product that Disney has,” said Young. “Disney has been a longtime partner of Visit Florida. They continue to be a valued partner of Visit Florida, buying into a lot of our programs. People love Disney, they love visiting Disney, and they will continue to go to Disney.”
IN OTHER NEWS: Donald Trump wants to retire the term ‘woke’ and his reasoning might surprise you
While Disney tourism may be expected to continue to thrive, Disney itself has still responded with a lawsuit against DeSantis, arguing the governor's actions have discriminated against their freedom of speech.
However, in a wrinkle this week, the judge overseeing that case recused himself due to owning stock in Disney, resulting in the case being reassigned to another judge appointed by former President Donald Trump.
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Donald Trump wants to put “woke” to rest.
The former president earlier this week said that he’s “sick” of the catch-all phrase that's used to rile up the conservative base.
“It’s gotten sick, and I don’t like the term woke, because I hear woke, woke, woke,” Trump said Thursday at a Westside Conservative Breakfast in Urbandale, Iowa.
“You know it’s like just a term they use half the people can’t even define it. They don’t know what it is.”
Trump’s assertion can easily be dismissed as a jab at his chief political rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has made his “war on woke” the focus of his agenda.
But MSNBC’s Zeeshan Aleem suggests that it may be a rare moment in which the former president is being insightful.
“It’s not exactly clear who was he referring to when he said “they,” but it’s likely he meant people on the right who use the term to discredit or fearmonger about any policy vaguely associated with the principle of social equality or inclusiveness. It could even be a jab at DeSantis, who has made opposing ‘wokeness’ one of the animating principles of his presidential campaign," Aleem writes for MSNBC in a column published under the headline “What Trump's claim that he's over the term 'woke' reveals.”
“It was also one of those rare moments in which Trump said something true, and maybe even slightly introspective.”
Recent polling data backs Trump’s assertion.
A USA Today/Ipsos poll, the findings of which were published in March, suggests that no broad consensus over the term’s meaning exists, and that Americans are divided over whether they view “wokeness” as a compliment or an insult.
The poll shows a split between those who view “woke” to mean being aware of social injustice, which is considered the Democratic party view of the term, and others who associate the term with political correctness taken to an extreme, which is how Republicans typically characterize “wokeness.”
According to the poll, 56 percent of Americans view the term to mean “to be informed, educated on, and aware of social injustices,” and 39 percent consider it to be “overly politically correct and police others’ words.”
Republicans, according to the poll, are not monolithic in their view of “wokeness,” with more than a third (37 percent) of respondents associating the term with being aware of social injustice, and 56 percent describing it to mean being overly politically correct.
IN OTHER NEWS: Elliot Page accuses big-name actor of hurling homophobic threats
Aleem writes that, “The term 'woke' dates back to at least the early 20th century, and was originally used by people who positively affiliated with the term as a shorthand for awareness of social injustice and bigotry. But in recent years, the right has appropriated the term and rendered it unintelligible.”
“DeSantis’ 2024 campaign launch last week was so packed with jargon tied to the anti-woke crusade that it was hard to understand what he was really saying. Trump is right: The term doesn’t mean much anymore when used by the right.”
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