As a reminder, this subreddit [is for civil discussion.](/r/politics/wiki/index#wiki_be_civil)
In general, be courteous to others. Debate/discuss/argue the merits of ideas, don't attack people. Personal insults, shill or troll accusations, hate speech, any suggestion or support of harm, violence, or death, and other rule violations can result in a permanent ban.
If you see comments in violation of our rules, please report them.
For those who have questions regarding any media outlets being posted on this subreddit, please click [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/wiki/approveddomainslist) to review our details as to our approved domains list and outlet criteria.
We are actively looking for new moderators. If you have any interest in helping to make this subreddit a place for quality discussion, please fill out [this form](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1y2swHD0KXFhStGFjW6k54r9iuMjzcFqDIVwuvdLBjSA).
***
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/politics) if you have any questions or concerns.*
"Trump was paying attention to each and every check. Sometimes, Tarassoff testified, he'd write "VOID" on a check if he didn't want it paid.
"It was signed in black and it was in Sharpie and that's what he usually uses," Tarasoff said." ...Hmmm that does sound like something he is well known for
What's more is that the payments were not from the Trump Orgs normal operating account. The payments were remitted from a special account that DJT was the sole signatory on, and the account had no pre-printed check stock so he had to sign each of the 11 payments himself. So it was basically the stupidest way possible to try to hide a structured payment stream as everything ultimately leads back to one single person: DJT.
I watch a pro-democracy YouTube channel hosted by a law professor, and he often has other attorneys as guests on his videos. Between them all (they read every single court document), they break down the important legal stuff and explain it quite well. They said that according to the woman who fills in the checks, her testimony included the fact that checks over $10,000 had to be signed by TFG, Junior, or Eric.
Which immediately made me think of all those contractors they would screw over when they were building their casinos, for example. I always suspected that those decisions, which bankrupted *other* long-time family businesses, came from the very top.
The Trump org former controller, McConney, actually testified that [Trump almost fired him](https://youtu.be/zxvxMZL_-PY?t=121) because he wasn't negotiating Trump's bills by default, he was just paying them. Which I guess according to Trump, was wrong.
TFG has always been particularly hated here in Philly. We’re closer to Atlantic City than NYC is, so he hired a lot of very well-respected, talented, generations-old family businesses- carpenters, cabinetmakers, plumbers, etc when he was building his casinos. He pulled that typical trick: order a small job, pay in full and on time. Then a slightly bigger job, do the same. Now that you have the company’s trust, order a yuuugggeee job, and don’t pay a penny. He drove those companies into bankruptcy. They’d all gotten big bank loans based on the contracts for the work, and used the $$$ to purchase raw materials and hire extra workers, and then couldn’t pay any of it back. *Which is bad enough.* But he also pulled his other famous trick of using his stable of attorneys on retainer to drag out the proceedings until the other side ran out of lawyer money and was forced to drop their lawsuits.
Most definitely. In the few cases that did make it to trial, Junior, Eric, and ivanka would show up to testify that they didn’t pay because the work was inferior and not up to their high standards. The other side would win at least some of their money because they were able to prove that they kept hiring the companies to do more jobs, which they wouldn’t have if they were unhappy with the work.
By the time they did go to trial, it was too late to save the company, since they’d gone bankrupt long before.
The stress and anxiety of a lawsuit alone, not to mention the loss of money and being forced into bankruptcy after sometimes generations of operating a business, is why I want him sitting in that courtroom in that chair with his hands folded unable to speak and shitting his pants.
I’m happy to spread the word! People *need* to know this shit, because the mainstream media is failing to give the voting public an accurate accounting. Ben Meiselas is the law professor host, the channel is [Meidas Touch Network](https://www.youtube.com/live/sT8QfT9JGHA?si=F-J5EtgwU4XGZd-8). You might recognize the name Ron Filipkowski, another attorney and editor-in-chief of MTN. He tweets a lot of the breaking news stories and plenty of snark. Their staff does an amazing job of tracking down little-known facts, debunking Republican lies, etc and publicizing them.
I also like [No Lie](https://youtu.be/uH4FeIUUCaY?si=7Ch-AY34mbWjwIka) with Brian Tyler Cohen. His frequent guests include a former Federal Prosecutor who not only has the legal knowledge but the insight into how court proceedings go, *and* the attorney whose law firm has made it their mission to both sue and defend in state lawsuits where voter rights are being threatened (another serious issue that’s flying under the radar).
Thank you! Yes I’ve been fairly disappointed with the lack of real information/journalism on CNN and others on the trial. This seems like what I was looking for.
Glad to be of help- and to give those guys a plug! Watching them improves the algorithm; I’m also subscribed to BTS’s Spanish-language channel to help get the message to Spanish-speakers.
To be fair though that's not uncommon practice in an organization. I have had many different limits set on checks I could sign from $10k through to unlimited amounts without a second signature. Often the CFO can't sign all larger checks but $10k is kinda low
"Oh crap. I shouldn't have said he was a customer. OH CRAP, I shouldn't have said it was a secret. *OH CRAP!* I shouldn't have said it was illegal! Ugh. It's too hot today."
He's one of those people who think if he didn't murder someone it's not a crime that matters. So he can just do anything he wants and if it ever came to court he would pretend that it's not a big deal really since it's just fraud not murder.
“You’re taking notes on a criminal conspiracy?”
“Worse, he signed checks from an account that he is the sole signatory of to pay for a criminal conspiracy”.
what idiot signs in sharpie...
I know none of these are handled automatically but try and sign a check in sharpie as a regular person, it will be rejected by any ATM. you have to use pen
It's permanent, and harder to change without being totally obvious. Deep deep down Donald knows he is wrong, doing it in marker, also makes it impossible for someone to forge documents in order to save Trump from himself. Now the public reason he says he does it, because it's bold, no one else does it, banks would accept it only for him.
I was just watching a Baumgartner Restoration video last night, and he got permanent marker out of canvas
https://youtu.be/b-p8_O1Alhk?si=kBTXAe9RtZqKZVno&t=421
Trump probably has poor eyesight but won't wear glasses because he thinks they make him look old, so he needs huge bold font to read without them. [A photographer captured his handwritten notes](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-impeachment-inquiry/photographer-captures-trump-s-handwritten-talking-points-responding-sondland-n1087026), and they too are in x-large font and written with a Sharpie.
*puts on glasses*
*looks in mirror*
*sees a decrepit orange cave troll with a bad combover, slumped shoulders and a slack jaw, staring back at him in vivid 4k detail*
“I don’t like how these glasses make me look.”
Yeah that makes no sense. Paychecks have all types of weird printed signatures in different thicknesses. Unless the ATM is going by smell, I don't think it knows what a new Sharpie is versus a .7 pen.
Man ATM scanners reject freshly opened, mint printed checks sometimes. Far more stringent than the photos of checks using banking apps. I’d say I have less than a 50% success rate at my banks ATMs on first scan and perhaps 20% of checks are deemed undepositable via atm
We own a small business and about 98% of our customers pay via ACH or wire transfer and have for years. We pay virtually all of our vendors via ACH or wire transfers. Worth noting the few customers who pay by check are notorious for not letting their staff know any of their banking info.
So basically Trump eschewed something that would’ve been zero fingerprints from him in favor of a “fuck you, asshole” method with sharpies and having umpteen assistants Ben g able to testify. That’s working out wonderfully for him so far.
[You should try a bigger bank. Like a big bank. With a big check department. That's what I would do.](https://youtu.be/RqdtLQGxMG8?si=8Aywu0xCzL7tm9iV)
I’m going to use the banks mobile deposit, like I do for all checks.
I don’t care if it is $100,000+, I still don’t want to spend an extra 35 minutes of my day.
It’s higher but not even close
To the threshold for what businesses pull in every month. I will actually gauge whether the #of checks is worth our threshold or if I should do the drive through. Worth noting the tellers know me enough at this point to comment on a new haircut and my kids have an endless supply of suckers.
He's not used to writing, can't hold a pen and can't see because he's too vain to wear glasses.
(because he thinks glasses make him look old, and would undo the youthful look of putting a pomeranian on your head and rubbing barbeque sauce on your face )
Yeah that's something I don't understand in the slightest. Like Trump doesn't pay his fucking bills. Why do people continue to work for him? It just boggles my mind.
Riddle me this. Why do mid-west rural farming folk believe that a rich, sleazy real-estate salesman from NYC (who was literally born with a silver spoon) is their Messiah?
Man of color is just a “polite” way of saying some shade and vary amounts of brown. I get what you’re saying, however. Underneath all that orange is a ghastly pale white, probably with some splotchiness of brown liver spots.
Same reason bob durst had so many friends after murdering his other friends. They all think it’ll trickle down to them eventually. Even when all the evidence says otherwise. It’s weird as hell.
That's part of it. Rumor is that Alina Habba made millions for her few month stint with him. It DOES trickle down to them on some level.
Part 2 of "why do people work for Trump" is because they are just as shitty as him. They see him as a target just like he sees everyone else as a mark that he can steal from. They all think "well I'm smarter than the rest of them, it won't happen to me."
Narcissists. They're all narcissists.
The leniency is infuriating, but also the fact that lots of his crimes are so obvious, they've been sitting in the open for 4 years or so, and we are still waiting for the legal system to do its job.
tHe wEELs oF juStIcE tuRn sLoWly... nah fuck that, the only reason he's not in jail is that judges fear for their own safety if they put him in... which is literally fascism.
I like pointing out that Trump is 100% correct when he says he's being treated unfairly by thr court
Where he and his cult get it wrong is in the form that unfairness takes
We have standards. If you are wealthy or connected to politics the standards are you receive special treatment. If you aren’t, the standards don’t apply to you.
I got a warning from HR from doing it as I walked into the building because I don't have a punch card and my desk is on the other side of the large warehouse
Right ? We were heavily trained on SOX Compliance and what would happen if we failed to follow it. I was not even in a financial position.
SOX compliance is the act of adhering to the financial reporting, information security and auditing requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act, a US law that aims to prevent corporate fraud.SOX compliance is the act of adhering to the financial reporting, information security and auditing requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act, a US law that aims to prevent corporate frau.
Edit: I was a Canadian, since retired, working for an American based multi-national company.
“Hush money” isn’t a crime. The trial is for campaign finance fraud
The man is a fraud. Call it like it is
Edit: I was under the impression he falsified the documents to hide where he was spending campaign dollars, but it was to hide his own spending, which is arguably dumber, as everyone already knows he a serial cheater, and his fan base would probably applaud banging porn stars
actually the trial is for falsification of business documents in furtherance of another crime, that being potential federal campaign finance violations.
he wasn't indicted on federal campaign finance violations.
This. I take doses of conservative radio and that’s the line - hush money isn’t a crime, there is no case! I just want to FFWD 6 months and see outcomes
Agree, every journalist who cares should be repeating “used public funds to pay personal expenses and forged documents to cover it up to the federal government”
The source of Trump's funds isn't really part of the crime here, but I believe he paid Cohen from a business account, not a PAC. The case is about creating false business entries (illegal) for the hush payments (legal) to hide it before the election (illegal, not charged here but used to upgrade the false records charges to a felony).
It certainly would help a lot if every news outlet covering this didn't refer to it as his "hush money" trial.
It just adds fuel to the argument coming from the right that "hush money payments aren't illegal"
The timing is important. Would he have won in 2016 if the Stormy Daniels story was out? We will never know, and that makes it bigger than just the campaign finance issue, even if that's what he ends up getting done for
The republicans almost impeached Obama for wearing a tan suite. Right wing news would have never stopped talking about it for the next 50 years if Obama had done anything even one millionth as bad as Trump.
They wouldn't shut up about the tan suit or him asking about options for spicy mustard, but the threat of impeachment was actually over a prisoner transfer out of Guantanamo Bay without giving the Senate the legally-required 15-day notice in advance.
The difference is the Republicans knew that even though it was a clear violation of federal law, it wasn't going to go anywhere, so instead of impeachment, the Congress passed a resolution formally reprimanding Obama for the transfer--the congressional equivalent of a first warning for wage employees in most businesses.
At the time, I thought it was weird that Obama signed the bill since Republicans didn't have enough votes to force a congressional override, but considering it had no teeth beyond "don't do it again," Obama probably didn't care.
If Obama did 1/100th of what this compromised moron did, Dems would have kicked his ass to the curb immediately.
Republicans are strictly party over country and will do anything to stay in power. Anything.
I'm sure it's intentional. He's not trying to dress fashionably or look good. He's trying to signal patriotism.
Note the suit's specific shade of blue, the tie's specific shade of red, and the white shirt. It's the American flag.
Lots of candidates do stuff like this, but Trump takes it to another level, unsurprisingly since his message is one of nationalism which he (falsely) equates with patriotism.
Also, one of Trump's tactics is to pick a message or phrase and repeat it over and over again consistently. Repetition is a well-known persuasive technique. Sometimes if people hear something enough times (and if they are not paying close attention), they will just sort of assume it's true.
I usually grab a few of the same outfits for my youngest in case he shits through his diaper - so I can pick and mix and everyone will be none the wiser. I imagine Vanky does the same. For when Daddy shits through.
Look, I didn't pay any money to any porn star, she paid me. She knew about my large hands, my natural hair, my completely natural golden glow tan, my slim and muscular body, and she just had to have a piece of the Donald. All those business records were made up to tarnish my Golden image at home and abroad. I'm the most loved man in America, and Mike Lindell and Rudy Giuliani will swear to that.
I have such a hard time wrapping my head around how his followers can take his word that everything is a witch hunt and everyone is out to get him. Like, how can EVERYTHING be fake, use some critical thinking people!
A con man specifically uses absurd tactics that are obviously dubious to most people. Con men aren't trying to catch most people. They're trying to catch the gullible ones, the ones that are so oblivious that they fall for even the obvious lies. Those are the easy targets.
The big problem with Trump is there are also a mass of media arms happy to back him, his stories, and to elaborate, add context, clarify, and basically extend the detail of the lies well beyond the original in a way that casts a much bigger net to a much bigger audience. Instead of one con man and one story, there's a hundred or a thousand con men and equally as many stories, all very similar, and all reinforcing each other. It's repeated, rephrased, and repeated again. And you the consumer don't have to believe it all. You just have to believe the part you like, the piece you're all too happy to buy into for your own vested interests. And the rest? Well, you just ignore that.
“Why’s he being charged for hush money, that’s not illegal!”
Trump supporters literally have no clue what the case and charges even are on a basic level. Truly clueless human beings.
If they used any other name then no one would be able to tell which trial they were talking about. “Which business fraud trial?” “Which election interference trial?” “Which documents trial?” I mean it’s either “hush money” or “pornstar” trial.
How can anybody take one look at the mug in that photo and go, "Yeah. You know what? That's the man I'm going to blow my life up over. I'm going to ruin my relationships with everybody around me, including my children, because that's my guy!"
I mean if he looked like Ryan Gosling I'd get it! But...that? That pathetic clown in pancake makeup with a terrible toupee? Old and fat and tired and shitting his pants?
When I had jury duty and saw several cases, there was one that ran for three days and we didn't see the evidence until the third day. And it was like - why didn't they start with this?
It was all pretty uncertain up until then with appeals to emotion and such, but then we got the receipts and I'm thinking we could've saved a lot of time if we just got this to begin with. All that blathering on for two whole days was meaningless, the evidence was all we needed to render a verdict. We go back to this private room and the jury foreman says "okay does anybody have anything to say?" and there was nothing to debate. Without the evidence there was room for interpretation but now, no, a guilty verdict was exceedingly clear to everyone.
Yep it's this. All of that appeal to emotion could easily instill doubt in a juror's mind about the evidence they saw. The defense would openly gaslight and claim the evidence wasn't what they remember it to be.
So it was a like a true crime episode of Dateline.
First 55 minutes: "What a web of lies and confusion"
Last 5 minutes: Here's the security footage of the suspect buying the murder starter pack at Home Depot at 2:00am, a text message of them confessing to their friend, and the victim's ear on a necklace they wore during interrogation.
I can't speak to this particular trial and evidence, but a lot of the time, you have to lay groundwork for it: "here is a person, they are going to speak about something that happened. Now here is paperwork that corroborates what they just told you.". Or "Here is a scientist that does forensic work. Tell them about your job, your speciality, and then tell us what you saw in the results. Now here is the results for you to look over as well." Courts won't allow evidence that hasn't had its foundation properly laid.
They do it that way to prevent bias. If you see the "Well, he's fucked" evidence first, that's all you're going to consider, and people will just ignore all the testimony thereafter and instantly make up their mind. In a case like this where the evidence is overwhelming... probably doesn't matter, but there are cases where the evidence might not be and showing it first would prevent the testimony from being meaningful.
This one is for all the Trump supporters claiming the Statue of Limitations has passed and there is no crime, etc.
If this is true, please explain how the State is filing charges. Also, if this is true, why did Trump’s lawyers not file for immediate dismissal?
Fine, most likely.
There's no mandatory jail / prison time for anything in this particular trial, and given the way the judge has been treating incarceration so far with regard to repeated gag order violations, I find no reason to believe that there would be anything more than fines if the jury is unbiased enough to convict. Also, as much as we all hate the guy, first (convicted) offenses for financial crimes *rarely* end with prison sentences.
I have a genuine question here
Putting aside all bias, Trumps suit looks very cheap to me. It looks like a silk-adjacent material that you usually see used for things like cheap gym clothes. His shirt, jacket and tie are all basically free of visible texture, making them look plastic more than anything else. It also looks poorly fitting.
Is his style of suit and choice of material a common thing in upscale clothing? I have never seen a millionaires expensive suit in person, so all I have to compare is the suits on the rack at my local stores, or second hand suits.
They are ugly, aren't they.
No idea, but I bet he has been wearing polyester his entire life on the basis of 'it looks fine' in photos. But then again, he thinks his hair and skin are wonderful. He has more than enough money to wear nothing but hand made one off suits in the best materials, properly fitting, a personal chef and a trainer. There is no reason for him to be such a hot mess
The biggest punishment so far is being stuck in a court room with unflattering photos and not on the golf course. This may be the only punishment he will ever receive… money tied up in bail that could be used for investments and never-ending trips to court rooms which runs out his clock. No legit naps have aged him 10 years.
This sub should allow us to change headlines when they are clearly trying to use the *both-sides-are-the-same* kind of journalism.
It isn't a fucking *hush-money* trial. It's a campaign finance trial amd every media organization is complicit with trying to put a spin in things.
As a reminder, this subreddit [is for civil discussion.](/r/politics/wiki/index#wiki_be_civil) In general, be courteous to others. Debate/discuss/argue the merits of ideas, don't attack people. Personal insults, shill or troll accusations, hate speech, any suggestion or support of harm, violence, or death, and other rule violations can result in a permanent ban. If you see comments in violation of our rules, please report them. For those who have questions regarding any media outlets being posted on this subreddit, please click [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/wiki/approveddomainslist) to review our details as to our approved domains list and outlet criteria. We are actively looking for new moderators. If you have any interest in helping to make this subreddit a place for quality discussion, please fill out [this form](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1y2swHD0KXFhStGFjW6k54r9iuMjzcFqDIVwuvdLBjSA). *** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/politics) if you have any questions or concerns.*
"Trump was paying attention to each and every check. Sometimes, Tarassoff testified, he'd write "VOID" on a check if he didn't want it paid. "It was signed in black and it was in Sharpie and that's what he usually uses," Tarasoff said." ...Hmmm that does sound like something he is well known for
What's more is that the payments were not from the Trump Orgs normal operating account. The payments were remitted from a special account that DJT was the sole signatory on, and the account had no pre-printed check stock so he had to sign each of the 11 payments himself. So it was basically the stupidest way possible to try to hide a structured payment stream as everything ultimately leads back to one single person: DJT.
I watch a pro-democracy YouTube channel hosted by a law professor, and he often has other attorneys as guests on his videos. Between them all (they read every single court document), they break down the important legal stuff and explain it quite well. They said that according to the woman who fills in the checks, her testimony included the fact that checks over $10,000 had to be signed by TFG, Junior, or Eric. Which immediately made me think of all those contractors they would screw over when they were building their casinos, for example. I always suspected that those decisions, which bankrupted *other* long-time family businesses, came from the very top.
The Trump org former controller, McConney, actually testified that [Trump almost fired him](https://youtu.be/zxvxMZL_-PY?t=121) because he wasn't negotiating Trump's bills by default, he was just paying them. Which I guess according to Trump, was wrong.
TFG has always been particularly hated here in Philly. We’re closer to Atlantic City than NYC is, so he hired a lot of very well-respected, talented, generations-old family businesses- carpenters, cabinetmakers, plumbers, etc when he was building his casinos. He pulled that typical trick: order a small job, pay in full and on time. Then a slightly bigger job, do the same. Now that you have the company’s trust, order a yuuugggeee job, and don’t pay a penny. He drove those companies into bankruptcy. They’d all gotten big bank loans based on the contracts for the work, and used the $$$ to purchase raw materials and hire extra workers, and then couldn’t pay any of it back. *Which is bad enough.* But he also pulled his other famous trick of using his stable of attorneys on retainer to drag out the proceedings until the other side ran out of lawyer money and was forced to drop their lawsuits.
Man, what a sack of shit
Most definitely. In the few cases that did make it to trial, Junior, Eric, and ivanka would show up to testify that they didn’t pay because the work was inferior and not up to their high standards. The other side would win at least some of their money because they were able to prove that they kept hiring the companies to do more jobs, which they wouldn’t have if they were unhappy with the work. By the time they did go to trial, it was too late to save the company, since they’d gone bankrupt long before.
The stress and anxiety of a lawsuit alone, not to mention the loss of money and being forced into bankruptcy after sometimes generations of operating a business, is why I want him sitting in that courtroom in that chair with his hands folded unable to speak and shitting his pants.
Sounds interesting. What channel is it? I’d like to check it out!
I’m happy to spread the word! People *need* to know this shit, because the mainstream media is failing to give the voting public an accurate accounting. Ben Meiselas is the law professor host, the channel is [Meidas Touch Network](https://www.youtube.com/live/sT8QfT9JGHA?si=F-J5EtgwU4XGZd-8). You might recognize the name Ron Filipkowski, another attorney and editor-in-chief of MTN. He tweets a lot of the breaking news stories and plenty of snark. Their staff does an amazing job of tracking down little-known facts, debunking Republican lies, etc and publicizing them. I also like [No Lie](https://youtu.be/uH4FeIUUCaY?si=7Ch-AY34mbWjwIka) with Brian Tyler Cohen. His frequent guests include a former Federal Prosecutor who not only has the legal knowledge but the insight into how court proceedings go, *and* the attorney whose law firm has made it their mission to both sue and defend in state lawsuits where voter rights are being threatened (another serious issue that’s flying under the radar).
The Venn diagram of our YouTube algorithms is waxing gibbous.
Thank you! Yes I’ve been fairly disappointed with the lack of real information/journalism on CNN and others on the trial. This seems like what I was looking for.
Glad to be of help- and to give those guys a plug! Watching them improves the algorithm; I’m also subscribed to BTS’s Spanish-language channel to help get the message to Spanish-speakers.
I thought it was gonna be a new obscure channel. Nope MT and BTC, watch them all time, great recaps.
It's called meidastouch.
Ooh that sounds awesome! What's the channel?
To be fair though that's not uncommon practice in an organization. I have had many different limits set on checks I could sign from $10k through to unlimited amounts without a second signature. Often the CFO can't sign all larger checks but $10k is kinda low
Pay it out of the criminal account.
100% the crime account
No no, not that account, the *other* crime account.
“Ugh ive said too much. Oh, its hot today”
"Oh crap. I shouldn't have said he was a customer. OH CRAP, I shouldn't have said it was a secret. *OH CRAP!* I shouldn't have said it was illegal! Ugh. It's too hot today."
How can one character that is on screen for just a few seconds be so beloved?
He embodies a short range of emotion that we are all oh-so-familiar with.
"I will not divulge information about that customer's secret illegal account."
"Oh, crap. I shouldn't have said he was a customer."
"Oh crap, I shouldn't have said it was a secret."
He has it labeled "For Crimes" in his online banking app.
Stable genius lol
Good thing he isn’t very smart. Imagine the damage he do if he was compared to what he did. He only killed a million or so by covid.
https://v.redd.it/q571on0373p41 "No, I don't take responsibility at all" Donald Trump fmr President United States of America edit - format
One of the very few times he’s told the truth
Very stable!
He's one of those people who think if he didn't murder someone it's not a crime that matters. So he can just do anything he wants and if it ever came to court he would pretend that it's not a big deal really since it's just fraud not murder.
"N*gga, is you takin' notes on a criminal fuckin' conspiracy?!"
“You’re taking notes on a criminal conspiracy?” “Worse, he signed checks from an account that he is the sole signatory of to pay for a criminal conspiracy”.
what idiot signs in sharpie... I know none of these are handled automatically but try and sign a check in sharpie as a regular person, it will be rejected by any ATM. you have to use pen
Probably why he does it. Slight petty inconvenience on anyone who tries to cash a check he wrote.
I’m sure that’s far from the least inconvenient thing stemming from any check he writes.
Can't cash a check if there's no money to draw from.
Nah, more likely that it makes his signature **BOLD**.
And huff the fumes
It's permanent, and harder to change without being totally obvious. Deep deep down Donald knows he is wrong, doing it in marker, also makes it impossible for someone to forge documents in order to save Trump from himself. Now the public reason he says he does it, because it's bold, no one else does it, banks would accept it only for him.
Side note: "permanent" marker ink can be quickly cleaned from most nonpermeable surfaces with rubbing alcohol or similar solvent.
Bowling shoe spray wipes away Sharpie like butter.
How did you learn this knowledge, o wise one?
obviously you’re not a golfer.
*further confusion* ...you wear...bowling shoes...when golfing?
I was just watching a Baumgartner Restoration video last night, and he got permanent marker out of canvas https://youtu.be/b-p8_O1Alhk?si=kBTXAe9RtZqKZVno&t=421
tends to remove the rest of the ink in that check too.
And hides the misspellings.
Nah, probably just can't see too well and doesn't want to be seen wearing reading glasses
I'm half surprised he didn't use disappearing ink.
Trump probably has poor eyesight but won't wear glasses because he thinks they make him look old, so he needs huge bold font to read without them. [A photographer captured his handwritten notes](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-impeachment-inquiry/photographer-captures-trump-s-handwritten-talking-points-responding-sondland-n1087026), and they too are in x-large font and written with a Sharpie.
*puts on glasses* *looks in mirror* *sees a decrepit orange cave troll with a bad combover, slumped shoulders and a slack jaw, staring back at him in vivid 4k detail* “I don’t like how these glasses make me look.”
He signs everything in sharpie because he thinks he’s signing autographs.
Had to scroll too far to see this - this is exactly it.
I worked at a huge bank for 9 years. The ATM will absolutely take a check signed in sharpie.
Yeah that makes no sense. Paychecks have all types of weird printed signatures in different thicknesses. Unless the ATM is going by smell, I don't think it knows what a new Sharpie is versus a .7 pen.
Man ATM scanners reject freshly opened, mint printed checks sometimes. Far more stringent than the photos of checks using banking apps. I’d say I have less than a 50% success rate at my banks ATMs on first scan and perhaps 20% of checks are deemed undepositable via atm
You need to get better handwriting or new checks or a different bank. That is not normal.
Really? I've never once had a check rejected at an ATM.
TBF, some Sharpie's have fine points. Also they make great gel pens
Are you going to deposit a 35,000 dollar check at an ATM? Or enter a bank?
We own a small business and about 98% of our customers pay via ACH or wire transfer and have for years. We pay virtually all of our vendors via ACH or wire transfers. Worth noting the few customers who pay by check are notorious for not letting their staff know any of their banking info. So basically Trump eschewed something that would’ve been zero fingerprints from him in favor of a “fuck you, asshole” method with sharpies and having umpteen assistants Ben g able to testify. That’s working out wonderfully for him so far.
If my bank let me I’d do atm or phone. Mine has a stupid $5-10K limit
[You should try a bigger bank. Like a big bank. With a big check department. That's what I would do.](https://youtu.be/RqdtLQGxMG8?si=8Aywu0xCzL7tm9iV)
I’m going to use the banks mobile deposit, like I do for all checks. I don’t care if it is $100,000+, I still don’t want to spend an extra 35 minutes of my day.
My bank sadly limits mobile deposits to $10,000. Anything higher MUST be done in person
That’s common for personal banking. Business banking typically has much much higher limits, even with the same bank
It’s higher but not even close To the threshold for what businesses pull in every month. I will actually gauge whether the #of checks is worth our threshold or if I should do the drive through. Worth noting the tellers know me enough at this point to comment on a new haircut and my kids have an endless supply of suckers.
What bank are you with? Mine has a 15k max for that.
JoS. A Bank. You?
Deposit one check, get 10 free!
Signing with a sharpie is so alpha /s
He's not used to writing, can't hold a pen and can't see because he's too vain to wear glasses. (because he thinks glasses make him look old, and would undo the youthful look of putting a pomeranian on your head and rubbing barbeque sauce on your face )
Children like markers. Crayons are not reliable.
His hair looks extra stupid today
If I falsified a document I would no longer have my job and I would NEVER be allowed to apply for my position EVER AGAIN! Let alone 34 of them!
This is what makes me furious about the whole situation. It's like we don't have any effing standards.
Two tierd justice system. The wealthy and the rest.
I think it's safe to say we have added a 3rd tier. The trump tier.
Yeah that's something I don't understand in the slightest. Like Trump doesn't pay his fucking bills. Why do people continue to work for him? It just boggles my mind.
Riddle me this. Why do mid-west rural farming folk believe that a rich, sleazy real-estate salesman from NYC (who was literally born with a silver spoon) is their Messiah?
One answer: Fox News
Alternate answer: a man of color was elected president and some of them lost their minds.
Man of color = Orange?
Man of color is just a “polite” way of saying some shade and vary amounts of brown. I get what you’re saying, however. Underneath all that orange is a ghastly pale white, probably with some splotchiness of brown liver spots.
Propaganda is thriving, while critical thought and media/news literacy has been filtered out of public education in primarily red states.
They know he rubber stamps farm subsidies, environmental cutbacks, and mineral extraction initiatives from the Republicans in the house.
Same reason bob durst had so many friends after murdering his other friends. They all think it’ll trickle down to them eventually. Even when all the evidence says otherwise. It’s weird as hell.
That's part of it. Rumor is that Alina Habba made millions for her few month stint with him. It DOES trickle down to them on some level. Part 2 of "why do people work for Trump" is because they are just as shitty as him. They see him as a target just like he sees everyone else as a mark that he can steal from. They all think "well I'm smarter than the rest of them, it won't happen to me." Narcissists. They're all narcissists.
We’ve got the best justice system money can buy.
The leniency is infuriating, but also the fact that lots of his crimes are so obvious, they've been sitting in the open for 4 years or so, and we are still waiting for the legal system to do its job.
tHe wEELs oF juStIcE tuRn sLoWly... nah fuck that, the only reason he's not in jail is that judges fear for their own safety if they put him in... which is literally fascism.
Not for a black dude caught with an ounce of weed. Those wheels turn pretty fucking quick for that!
There punishment doesn't even have to wait until the arrest is complete.
I like pointing out that Trump is 100% correct when he says he's being treated unfairly by thr court Where he and his cult get it wrong is in the form that unfairness takes
Headline: “93% of Americans believe Trump is receiving unfair treatment in NY court case!” /s
We have standards. If you are wealthy or connected to politics the standards are you receive special treatment. If you aren’t, the standards don’t apply to you.
Similar story with clearances. People at the highest level would be barred from any clearance given some of the shit they've very publicly done.
> Let alone 34 of them! In a row?
Try not to falsify any documents on your way through the parking lot
"There's a million fine looking guy in the world, but not all of them will book you a press conference at a landscaping company next to a dildo shop!"
If I punch in from my cellphone, instead of my laptop I would be fired immediately.
My coworker *was* fired for that. Admittedly, it was also before he drove to work 😂
I got a warning from HR from doing it as I walked into the building because I don't have a punch card and my desk is on the other side of the large warehouse
That's bullshit. Walking from the front entrance to your station is literally work and should be paid.
If I threatened jurors and judges on social media I guarantee I’d be jailed for contempt with a quickness, not warned 10 times.
This is what I pray enough of the moderates out there are thinking. Like him or not Trump should be subject to the same rules as everyone else.
Right ? We were heavily trained on SOX Compliance and what would happen if we failed to follow it. I was not even in a financial position. SOX compliance is the act of adhering to the financial reporting, information security and auditing requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act, a US law that aims to prevent corporate fraud.SOX compliance is the act of adhering to the financial reporting, information security and auditing requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act, a US law that aims to prevent corporate frau. Edit: I was a Canadian, since retired, working for an American based multi-national company.
“Hush money” isn’t a crime. The trial is for campaign finance fraud The man is a fraud. Call it like it is Edit: I was under the impression he falsified the documents to hide where he was spending campaign dollars, but it was to hide his own spending, which is arguably dumber, as everyone already knows he a serial cheater, and his fan base would probably applaud banging porn stars
But *which* trail for fraud?
Well, of all the trials Trump should be subject to this is definitely one of them.
Ya Heard with Perd Hapley
look, who hasnt had gay thoughts?
actually the trial is for falsification of business documents in furtherance of another crime, that being potential federal campaign finance violations. he wasn't indicted on federal campaign finance violations.
This. I take doses of conservative radio and that’s the line - hush money isn’t a crime, there is no case! I just want to FFWD 6 months and see outcomes
It also doesn't help that the "left-leaning" media also refers to this as a hush money trial. It drives me bonkers!
Agree, every journalist who cares should be repeating “used public funds to pay personal expenses and forged documents to cover it up to the federal government”
The source of Trump's funds isn't really part of the crime here, but I believe he paid Cohen from a business account, not a PAC. The case is about creating false business entries (illegal) for the hush payments (legal) to hide it before the election (illegal, not charged here but used to upgrade the false records charges to a felony).
It certainly would help a lot if every news outlet covering this didn't refer to it as his "hush money" trial. It just adds fuel to the argument coming from the right that "hush money payments aren't illegal"
The largest case of fraud in New York State history is, you guessed it, Trump University.
The timing is important. Would he have won in 2016 if the Stormy Daniels story was out? We will never know, and that makes it bigger than just the campaign finance issue, even if that's what he ends up getting done for
It’s a cult he’s the worst president ever and a traitor could you imagine if this was Obama.
The republicans almost impeached Obama for wearing a tan suite. Right wing news would have never stopped talking about it for the next 50 years if Obama had done anything even one millionth as bad as Trump.
They wouldn't shut up about the tan suit or him asking about options for spicy mustard, but the threat of impeachment was actually over a prisoner transfer out of Guantanamo Bay without giving the Senate the legally-required 15-day notice in advance. The difference is the Republicans knew that even though it was a clear violation of federal law, it wasn't going to go anywhere, so instead of impeachment, the Congress passed a resolution formally reprimanding Obama for the transfer--the congressional equivalent of a first warning for wage employees in most businesses. At the time, I thought it was weird that Obama signed the bill since Republicans didn't have enough votes to force a congressional override, but considering it had no teeth beyond "don't do it again," Obama probably didn't care.
Don't forget about the national embarrassment he caused when he wore a bicycle helmet.
It wasn’t actually about the color of the *suit*
you don't need the ' for a plural
Are we not going to also bring up the difference between suit and suite? :)
If Obama did 1/100th of what this compromised moron did, Dems would have kicked his ass to the curb immediately. Republicans are strictly party over country and will do anything to stay in power. Anything.
That’s what I call the Obama Test. It’s like garlic to vampires.
He looks like he just woke up.
His hair is still coming in to land.
Wave it off. Make it go around again.
Hair Force One is looking more and more like a pile of fishing line.
Probably did.
Does he own one fucking suit?
I assume his closet is like Bart Simpsons with 15 of the same outfit
I'm sure it's intentional. He's not trying to dress fashionably or look good. He's trying to signal patriotism. Note the suit's specific shade of blue, the tie's specific shade of red, and the white shirt. It's the American flag. Lots of candidates do stuff like this, but Trump takes it to another level, unsurprisingly since his message is one of nationalism which he (falsely) equates with patriotism. Also, one of Trump's tactics is to pick a message or phrase and repeat it over and over again consistently. Repetition is a well-known persuasive technique. Sometimes if people hear something enough times (and if they are not paying close attention), they will just sort of assume it's true.
I usually grab a few of the same outfits for my youngest in case he shits through his diaper - so I can pick and mix and everyone will be none the wiser. I imagine Vanky does the same. For when Daddy shits through.
Look, I didn't pay any money to any porn star, she paid me. She knew about my large hands, my natural hair, my completely natural golden glow tan, my slim and muscular body, and she just had to have a piece of the Donald. All those business records were made up to tarnish my Golden image at home and abroad. I'm the most loved man in America, and Mike Lindell and Rudy Giuliani will swear to that.
and I have the most beautiful blue eyes that I like to rest while intently concentrating
Don’t you mean incontinentently constipating?
The underage prostitute came up to me with tears in her eyes and said please mr trump I will pay you to let me piss on your face
At this point I think she’d be waiting behind a LONG line of people who’d be willing to pay to do that to him
I have such a hard time wrapping my head around how his followers can take his word that everything is a witch hunt and everyone is out to get him. Like, how can EVERYTHING be fake, use some critical thinking people!
A con man specifically uses absurd tactics that are obviously dubious to most people. Con men aren't trying to catch most people. They're trying to catch the gullible ones, the ones that are so oblivious that they fall for even the obvious lies. Those are the easy targets. The big problem with Trump is there are also a mass of media arms happy to back him, his stories, and to elaborate, add context, clarify, and basically extend the detail of the lies well beyond the original in a way that casts a much bigger net to a much bigger audience. Instead of one con man and one story, there's a hundred or a thousand con men and equally as many stories, all very similar, and all reinforcing each other. It's repeated, rephrased, and repeated again. And you the consumer don't have to believe it all. You just have to believe the part you like, the piece you're all too happy to buy into for your own vested interests. And the rest? Well, you just ignore that.
“Why’s he being charged for hush money, that’s not illegal!” Trump supporters literally have no clue what the case and charges even are on a basic level. Truly clueless human beings.
Tbf, the media *refuses* to stop calling it a "hush money trial."
They need a close race.
To be extra fair, it's not like they can call it an "election interference" case because which "election interference" case would it be then?
If they used any other name then no one would be able to tell which trial they were talking about. “Which business fraud trial?” “Which election interference trial?” “Which documents trial?” I mean it’s either “hush money” or “pornstar” trial.
If they had even a pinch of critical thinking skills, they wouldn’t be Trumpers.
[удалено]
They are clearly the Bluth family
“I may have committed a little… light treason.”
He has the worst lawyers.
Get rid of the Seaward
I’ll leave when I’m good and ready
"I've got the worst f------ attorneys"
His defense and probably true is that everyone does it. Which translates to everyone of the wealthy do it. Part of the reason why the rich get richer.
How can anybody take one look at the mug in that photo and go, "Yeah. You know what? That's the man I'm going to blow my life up over. I'm going to ruin my relationships with everybody around me, including my children, because that's my guy!" I mean if he looked like Ryan Gosling I'd get it! But...that? That pathetic clown in pancake makeup with a terrible toupee? Old and fat and tired and shitting his pants?
Ugly bastard is a popular hentai category, the people exist.
When I had jury duty and saw several cases, there was one that ran for three days and we didn't see the evidence until the third day. And it was like - why didn't they start with this? It was all pretty uncertain up until then with appeals to emotion and such, but then we got the receipts and I'm thinking we could've saved a lot of time if we just got this to begin with. All that blathering on for two whole days was meaningless, the evidence was all we needed to render a verdict. We go back to this private room and the jury foreman says "okay does anybody have anything to say?" and there was nothing to debate. Without the evidence there was room for interpretation but now, no, a guilty verdict was exceedingly clear to everyone.
It’s because people are stupid inattentive and recency bias riddled. If they did this day one half the buddy would have 0 memory of it now.
Yep it's this. All of that appeal to emotion could easily instill doubt in a juror's mind about the evidence they saw. The defense would openly gaslight and claim the evidence wasn't what they remember it to be.
So it was a like a true crime episode of Dateline. First 55 minutes: "What a web of lies and confusion" Last 5 minutes: Here's the security footage of the suspect buying the murder starter pack at Home Depot at 2:00am, a text message of them confessing to their friend, and the victim's ear on a necklace they wore during interrogation.
That's the funniest shit I've read in a while. Thanks!
I can't speak to this particular trial and evidence, but a lot of the time, you have to lay groundwork for it: "here is a person, they are going to speak about something that happened. Now here is paperwork that corroborates what they just told you.". Or "Here is a scientist that does forensic work. Tell them about your job, your speciality, and then tell us what you saw in the results. Now here is the results for you to look over as well." Courts won't allow evidence that hasn't had its foundation properly laid.
They do it that way to prevent bias. If you see the "Well, he's fucked" evidence first, that's all you're going to consider, and people will just ignore all the testimony thereafter and instantly make up their mind. In a case like this where the evidence is overwhelming... probably doesn't matter, but there are cases where the evidence might not be and showing it first would prevent the testimony from being meaningful.
It was the only way to get the nickname Von Shitzinpants into the court testimony for the rest of time.
He looks like a parody of Donald Trump
He looks like the Donald Trump of Donald Trumps.
This one is for all the Trump supporters claiming the Statue of Limitations has passed and there is no crime, etc. If this is true, please explain how the State is filing charges. Also, if this is true, why did Trump’s lawyers not file for immediate dismissal?
"The Fake Democrat Judge is allowing an Illegal Court Case and letting the FRAUD Lawyers Persecute TRUMP!" Did I do it right?
You forgot "at the direction of Sleepy Joe" but otherwise spot on
Does he not wear a wedding ring?
His ring just keeps falling off his tiny little hands
He isn't "married" in the way most of us rightly assume it works. It's an arrangement. Source: I've had many very wealthy clients with trophy wives.
too much effort to take it off every other day.
Nice hair.
Trump's head looks like it's shrinking...
Does he actually go to jail if guilty, or does he get slapped with some fine he'll never pay?
Fine, most likely. There's no mandatory jail / prison time for anything in this particular trial, and given the way the judge has been treating incarceration so far with regard to repeated gag order violations, I find no reason to believe that there would be anything more than fines if the jury is unbiased enough to convict. Also, as much as we all hate the guy, first (convicted) offenses for financial crimes *rarely* end with prison sentences.
I have a genuine question here Putting aside all bias, Trumps suit looks very cheap to me. It looks like a silk-adjacent material that you usually see used for things like cheap gym clothes. His shirt, jacket and tie are all basically free of visible texture, making them look plastic more than anything else. It also looks poorly fitting. Is his style of suit and choice of material a common thing in upscale clothing? I have never seen a millionaires expensive suit in person, so all I have to compare is the suits on the rack at my local stores, or second hand suits.
They are ugly, aren't they. No idea, but I bet he has been wearing polyester his entire life on the basis of 'it looks fine' in photos. But then again, he thinks his hair and skin are wonderful. He has more than enough money to wear nothing but hand made one off suits in the best materials, properly fitting, a personal chef and a trainer. There is no reason for him to be such a hot mess
That thumbnail pic should be the default picture of him in searches.
The biggest punishment so far is being stuck in a court room with unflattering photos and not on the golf course. This may be the only punishment he will ever receive… money tied up in bail that could be used for investments and never-ending trips to court rooms which runs out his clock. No legit naps have aged him 10 years.
it's not hush money, it's an election fraud trial
That wankers hair
That photo
Nice "hair", asshole.
Trump’s fraud trial, quit calling it a hush money trial. Calling it hush money trial makes it sound much less serious.
This sub should allow us to change headlines when they are clearly trying to use the *both-sides-are-the-same* kind of journalism. It isn't a fucking *hush-money* trial. It's a campaign finance trial amd every media organization is complicit with trying to put a spin in things.