GOP operatives are now reconsidering working on Trump's 2024 bid: report
November 09, 2022
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There is a good reason for Trump's 'irate' freakout over an impending Manhattan indictment: analyst
March 20, 2023
The belief that Donald Trump will reap political capital if he is indicted by a Manhattan grand jury may be whistling past the graveyard for a wide swath of pundits who weighed in over the weekend after the former president used his Truth Social platform to rant that he will be arrested on Tuesday.
According to political analyst David Graham, writing for The Atlantic, it is an article of faith among the punditry that anything that appears bad for the former president is actually a good thing in the long run because it keeps him in the public's attention. But Graham argued that there is a substantial amount of historical evidence to the contrary.
Citing Trump's boasting about his controversial achievements before the 2018 midterms that led in part to substantial Republican losses in the House and Senate, and a second impeachment, which was supposed to motivate his supporters, only for him to lose his re-election bid, Graham wrote that the knee-jerk response to find good news for Trump in his setbacks needs to be put out to pasture.
"The assumption that Trump will profit seems to spring from hubris (among his allies) and self-protective fear (on the part of his critics and rivals). They are operating on a shared, obsolete conclusion that nothing can ever harm the former president" he wrote before adding that the former president's outraged response and calls for protests is a tip-off that he realizes how badly the proceedings could go.
RELATED: Trump indictment is 'expected late Monday or Wednesday'
"Any suggestion that he’s delighted by this fight is belied not only by his irate response but by common sense," Graham wrote before suggesting that the former president has good reason to not want to enter a courtroom where an explanation about a 2016 payment to an adult film star would front and center.
"Trump doesn’t want to discuss the underlying facts of this case—there’s a reason, after all, that Cohen paid Daniels six figures to buy her silence in the first place," he wrote. "Beyond that, several other probes - - which look from the outside to be more perilous to Trump - - are still on deck, regardless of the outcome in Manhattan."
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Law enforcement officials are meeting at New York City police headquarters to plan for the possible indictment of Donald Trump.
An indictment by the grand jury is expected late Monday or Wednesday, three sources involved with the deliberations told Politico.
“We’ll be discussing how we bring Trump in,” said the person involved in the planning. “No decisions have been made yet.”
Officials from Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg's office met with NYPD, the U.S. Secret Service and court officers to discuss what happens next after a sealed indictment is delivered to the judge.
RELATED: Right-wing broadcaster calls for Barack Obama and others to be executed if Trump is arrested
“The NYPD’s state of readiness remains a constant at all times, for all contingencies,” said an NYPD spokesperson. “Our communications and coordination with our partners in government and in law enforcement are fundamental tenets of our commitment to public safety.”
The DA's office would discuss Trump's surrender with his attorneys after the indictment is delivered, and a warrant would be issued for his arrest if he refuses, and it's up to the district attorney to decide whether the former president would be handcuffed, although he's not expected to face a public "perp walk" and few demonstrations are expected.
“You’ll get the same crazy couple dozen people and that’s it,” said the Republican official. “There’ll probably more counter protestors than protestors."
Trump would become the first former or sitting president to ever be charged with a crime if an indictment is filed -- a move that would send shockwaves through the 2024 White House race, in which Trump is running to regain office.
IN OTHER NEWS: Judge denies mistrial request by Oath Keepers members after trial descends 'into chaos'
The 76-year-old former Republican president said over the weekend that he expects to be "arrested" on Tuesday and urged supporters to "Protest, take our nation back!"
"They are MANY years beyond the Statute of Limitations which, in this instance, is TWO YEARS. More importantly, THERE WAS NO CRIME!!!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform Monday.
Bragg's inquiry centers on $130,000 paid weeks before the 2016 polls to stop Daniels from going public about an affair she says she had with Trump years earlier.
Trump's ex-lawyer-turned enemy Michael Cohen alleges that he made the payment and was later reimbursed.
The payment to Daniels, if not properly accounted for, could result in a misdemeanor charge for falsifying business records.
That might be raised to a felony if the false accounting was intended to cover up a second crime, such as a campaign finance violation.
With additional reporting by AFP
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Florida to punish theater for drag show even though undercover agents said no 'lewd' acts occurred
March 20, 2023
A theater that held an all-ages Christmas drag show last year is being punished by officials in Florida even though undercover agents who attended the event reported seeing no "lewd" acts while there.
The Miami Herald reports that undercover agents last year were sent to the "Drag Queen Christmas" event held last year at Orlando's Plaza Live theater.
The agents recorded what the Miami Herald describes as "campy" skits such as "Screwdolph the Red-Nippled Man Deer," they also acknowledged that they "did not witness any lewd acts such as exposure of genital organs," while adding that "performers did not have any physical contact while performing to the rhythm of the music with any patrons."
The agents recorded that at least three underage children were at the event, although all of them were accompanied by adults.
IN OTHER NEWS: 'Pure weakness': Trump Jr hammers DeSantis for being 'silent' on father's potential indictment
However, this is not stopping the Department of Business and Professional Regulation from attempting to strip the Plaza Live of its liquor license, which the Herald notes would all but certainly put it out of business.
Carlos Guillermo Smith, a former Democratic state lawmaker who now works with LGBTQ advocacy organization Equality Florida, tells the Miami Herald that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration is simply being vindictive in going after the theater when the state's own report says it did not break decency laws.
"It’s more evidence that all of this... is contrived, it’s politically motivated," he said. "And it’s not about protecting children. It’s part of an ongoing effort to marginalize LGBT people and their allies because that’s the vehicle that will get him to … the GOP nomination.”
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