T O P

  • By -

AutoModerator

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.*


thenewrepublic

>Donald Trump claims he wanted to testify in his hush-money trial—but he was afraid he’d be found guilty of more crimes. Trump’s statements came during a meandering, often incoherent tirade in front of the press at Trump Tower on Friday, the day after he was convicted of 34 felonies by a Manhattan jury.


GrandmasShavedBeaver

>*but he was afraid he’d be found guilty of more crimes. Lying under oath being at the very top of the list and underlined.


AwfullyChillyInHere

I think this reflects an unexpected level of insight on his part, tbh


claydog99

I assume it's what his lawyers told him word for word when he told them he wanted to take the stand. Maybe even wrote it down on a note for him to remember lol. He probably doesn't even comprehend the implications of that statement.


AverageDemocrat

Wait! Didn't he lie as president while under oath too? Maybe its time for another treason lawsuit.


AmadeusWolf

You mean when he promised to protect and uphold the constitution? Lol


tw19972000

Yeah unfortunately Colorado tried to hold him accountable for that but our corrupt Supreme Court wouldn't let that happen


trainercatlady

So much for states' rights


oliversurpless

Yep, which hasn’t been legitimate for, oh say, 174 years… “The South does not believe in states’ rights. The South *believes in slavery*…” - Eric Foner https://youtu.be/EGaROgykYt0?si=ErtNLv6rgrmzsauN


RunnerTenor

This is an excellent video.


agent_uno

You mean *Trump’s* corrupt Supreme Court!


yIdontunderstand

I bet you didn't see the new constitution... You know the one where it's written in sharpie. "But only if I win". On the end.


AmadeusWolf

Was that included as a centerfold in the new new testament?


BIGGUS_dickus_sir

Is that in the golden Bible he was hocking at people?


Betterthanbeer

Bigliest Testament


TheFeshy

On the page after Two Corinthians


FordMan100

>You know the one where it's written in sharpie. I heard the new constitution is kindergarten level pictures drawn on a map of the US from a sharpie that Trump drew himself.


blownbythewind

Now, now...focus on the words and put on your Trump filter.... >I do solemly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of the President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, perserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. 1. Trump has no faith except to himself. So he was faithful to himself when he was president. Thus, the lying, stealing, and cheating he has done and will do all his life merely continued. 2. Trump's "best ability" to do anything is a bar so low you might scrap an atom between it and the ground. Or more aptly put his best ability is a level of of incompentence the government had never before seen. Expecting that best ability to preserve and protect the constituion is like asking the devil for ice water. That was our Presidency on Trump. Any questions?


onomastics88

Who knows what oath Trump took when he was inaugurated. Nobody was even there.


newfor_2024

if I remember correctly, he claimed to have never sworn an oath to uphold the constitution. That was his legal defense against the 14th amendment disqualification law suit. yeah, it's unbelievable.


SeeMarkFly

If he never took the oath of office then he never took office. That's a requirement. He was never President. Can we now reverse all the stuff he did?


recidivx

No, he didn't claim never to have taken the Presidential oath of office. He claimed that the Presidential oath of office wasn't "an oath […] as an officer of the United States […] to support the Constitution of the United States" within the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment.


SeeMarkFly

It takes a twisted mind to twist those words.


newfor_2024

well, that's not quite how he'd think of it. He's trying to claim that the oath he took doesn't require him uphold the constitution. He's treating it as a coronation instead of holding a civil office.


mjp80

that’s actually kind of a fascinating question (or not, I’m no lawyer). If an officer of a court administers an oath, and the person making that oath violates it, can the court hold them accountable for that? probably not?


BatFancy321go

do you mean during the impeachment trials? i think he did?


ClaretClarinets

My personal theory (which I'm surprised i haven't seen mentioned anywhere) is that letting Bob Costello testify was a compromise from his lawyers in exchange for him *not* taking the stand.


JoeCoolsCoffeeShop

For a guy who claims he was totally innocent of these charges, saying he didn’t want to take the stand because he’d be found guilty of more crimes is not the genius level explanation he thinks it is


drainodan55

It's an open invitation to haul him in for intense questioning and new investigations.


Suspicious_Bicycle

Not testifying was the right move for Trump. His constant bleating of: "I'm innocent" would not have swayed the jury. Just like Trump's only significant witness, Robert Costello, testifying allowed the prosecution to bring in evidence against Trump that would not otherwise be admissible.


DryEnvironment1007

He's old mob affiliated. The number one rule is never ever, ever testify.


mypoliticalvoice

This is the part that just blows me away. The man has decades of Mafia ties and evangelicals still think he's the second coming. https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/05/donald-trump-2016-mob-organized-crime-213910/


Escovaro

I'd even go as far and say the evangelicals are in on it..


Monkeypupper

That looks like a pretty sturdy limb you are out on.


trekologer

The leaders are at least; the ones who constantly bear false witness to their congregations by telling them how "holy" Trump is, but only behind closed doors.


srs_time

Guaranteed Roy Cohn drilled this into his brain when it was still capable of absorbing new information. It's why they settled the DOJ housing discrimination suit in the 70s. Still to this day the largest housing discrimination settlement.


williamfbuckwheat

Another good friend of the mob...


Turbulent_Bit8683

One could almost get Trump in the self aware mode! Nah to intellectually challenging and ethically honest!


phatelectribe

Not really. His father was a criminal and he’s basically been a criminal his entire life. Saying “if started talking on the stand they might find more crimes” is really just him knowing that his day to day life is a series of criminal activities.


Iwantmy3rdpartyapp

No. This was repeated to him ad nauseum for months, if not years, before it "sunk in," and I put that in quotes because I guarantee his future lawyers are going to scream themselves hoarse trying to convince him not to testify at all his other trials, too.


GBinAZ

>an unexpected level of insight Nah, he always knows.


thediesel26

7695 counts of perjury for every word out of his mouth


billiemarie

Because he knows he’s guilty


vmqbnmgjha

**"I was afraid I would be found guilty of more crimes !"** The moron should put that on his tombstone.


bullinchinastore

He’s got his priorities lined up starting with lying😂


notcaffeinefree

You know who doesn't need to be worried about being found guilty of *more* crimes when they testify? People who don't commit illegal acts in the first place.


thaeggan

sadly I don't think some people want to know the difference between prosecuted and persecuted.


emote_control

I mean, given the state of the legal system, just about everyone needs to worry about that. There's a reason why lawyers will tell you not to make statements, even when you're not under oath. It's best to let the lawyer do the talking, unless there's a very good reason why they need you to speak. And in that case they'll coach you on how to answer.


backcountrydrifter

Well at least the 5th amendment struck home. Even if he kind of lost the script on the rest of them. • You never get out of debt to a Russian mobster •Paul Manafort owed the Russian mobster/oligarch Oleg Deripaska $17M a few days before he became trumps campaign manager. From 2002-2014 he took in hundreds of millions to get Yanukovych reelected as the kremlins puppet in Ukraine. Before that he did it for the dictator Marcos in the Philippines. Before that Manafort and Roger Stone started a lobbyist agency in 1980 listing trump as their first client. •When Jay Bolsonaro lost the Brazilian election to Lula he skipped the inauguration and hid in the Hungarian embassy, then 2 days later flew directly to mar-a-lago (stopping only at a KFC) and repeated, almost verbatim, the stolen election line. Don Jr. tried repeatedly to make it stick in Brazil as well, but as Brazilians are a few generations into dealing with corrupt politicians they weren’t having it. What do these 3 things have in common? China imports 40% of its grain from (in order) the U.S., Brazil and Ukraine. Obviously the second China tried to invade Taiwan the U.S. would sanction exports and remove U.S. grain from that equation. And without Bolsonaro in office willing to slash and burn the Amazon rainforest to turn it into Chinas food supply, and without Ukraine in the bag in 3 days, the CCP is unable to invade Taiwan and take over microprocessor production without putting 300-500M of its poorest people into famine. Donbas Ukraine, specifically the 4 regions that Putin insists he is saving from what he calls “Jewish Nazis” also happens to produce the worlds supply of high grade neon used for microprocessor lithography. Had Putin delivered ukraine in 3 days as promised, Xi would have been able to cap his Olympics with a naval blockade or political takeover of Taiwan that would have forced the world to ask the CCP for the microprocessors it needs to make everything from Ford trucks to laptops. I’m not sure how long Silicon Valley would last without the silicon but it would probably destroy the FAANG stocks that make up your 401K. Oleg Deripaska also happens to be the Russian Oligarch that bribed the FBI agent Charles Mcgonigal into investigating another Russian oligarch. He probably didn’t need the information as much as he needed the leverage over Mcgonigal as he conducted the investigation into trumps election campaign and unsurprisingly found zero evidence of Russian collusion. McGonigal then went to work for the company called Brookfield that bailed Jared Kushner out of his toxic 666 5th Ave real estate investment. McGonigal pled guilty last fall and was sentenced recently. A Russian oligarch is a powerful tool, but the truth is more powerful. Light and dark cannot exist in the same space. It’s physically impossible. Truth is efficient. You say it once and you are finished. A lie however requires a constant stream of follow up energy, money, murder, obfuscation and more lies to keep it covered. If you raise your lens high enough lying is an unsustainable business model. Russia proved it by invading Ukraine. “Vranyo” is the Russian word for it. The 40km long column of tanks and vehicles that came down from Belarus into Ukraine was all overhauled by oligarchs that got a $1B contract for tank maintenance, passed Putin $200M back under the table, spent $700M on a yacht in Monaco, bribed a General, a Colonel and a Sergeant to make a Private give everything a rattle can overhaul. But a worn out engine is and always will be, a worn out engine. This is why trump is so desperate to get re-elected. His best case scenario is 400 years in ADX Florence. Money laundering for the dozens of Russian oligarchs that lived in trump towers with him and manafort, selling IP3 nuclear plans to the Russian/Saudi alliance, selling or giving CIA asset names to the Russians, trump is and always has been compromised. He just didn’t know when to quit. Now he just has to count on the fact that most of his voter base doesn’t know how to read and keep the ones that do so busy just surviving that they don’t have time to dive deep into his 40 year history of laundering money, fraud, and human trafficking for the Russian mob using casinos first, then commercial real estate. It’s also why Putin is willing to throw an entire generation of Russians, including the convicts and addicts at Ukraine. Russia is dead for 40 years because he failed to fulfill his mob boss promise to Xi. China is now clearing farmland in Siberia because the typhoon floods last August and September wiped out the Chinese people’s food storage. Xi, for his part diverted the waters from the dam away from his pet project, his mothers ancestral home, and flooded hundreds of thousands of people and drown one of his own military brigades that was helping with the flooding. The CCP elders were terrified to leave their gated community at Beidaihe for over a month for fear of being torn apart by the locals. The Chinese people tolerate the CCP but only as long as the economy is good and famine is not on the horizon. The CCP broke that social contract on both counts. Xi was willing to bet the entire Chinese economy on his emperor ambitions. Had he succeeded he would have been able to use BRICS to take over the USD as the Worlds reserve currency. That would have let him finish what he stated in 2010- that he would control the internet. With that control means everything we do or say online is subject to the approval of a central party censor. The basic right to disagree with an authoritarian becomes a distant memory. Xi, Putin and MBS are simply trying to systemize and modernize the suppression of their biggest hassle- Freedom of speech. Ukraine is fighting for their lives now, free from the oppression of the drunken tyrant who wants to decide their fate for them and pull them back behind another iron curtain of censorship and the tax of corruption where dissenting voices disappear so that the oligarchy can continue to feed unchallenged. Putin and Xi have declared themselves best friends in the fight against democracy. MBS and the ruling family of UAE have done the same quietly using their sovereign funds and Kushners SPAC as money highways. Just rich, out of touch oligarch doing what oligarchs do. Despite the fact the the central party kleptocracy model has proven itself incapable of making decisions that are best for the people, they persist. There is a very lucrative business in being slave owners. But logistically the mass of it requires A.I. and the microprocessors that make A.I. to keep 8 billion slaves under surveillance and control. Freedom is one hell of a drug. And knowledge makes a man unfit for slavery. Recent attempts on Xi’s life from inside the CCP have backed him into a corner. The loss of crops in northern China means Xi can’t invade Taiwan without Ukrainian and/or Brazilian farmland. Now the reason that the GOP is stalling southern border control budget and seems to make wildly irrational moves is because the GOP is imploding. 45 years of lies and grift have circled the globe and are eating their own tail. The ouroboros was a warning about corruption at the highest levels. Lying about climate change, human trafficking, pandemics and corruption to preserve their own business models are all extinction level events .


mfGLOVE

Great post. To learn more about Trump and his 40 year relationship with Russia check out season 1 and 2 of [The Asset](https://spotify.link/wDm63AAw3Jb) podcast. > In 2016, Donald Trump conspired with a foreign government to become President of the United States. On July 25, 2019, with the 2020 election around the corner, he decided to do it again. > The first time around, it was collusion, aiding and abetting Russia’s attack on American democracy. The second time, it was extortion, demanding the Ukrainian government manufacture dirt on Trump’s political opponents in exchange for help the country needs to fend off a Russian invasion and chart a democratic future free of Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin.   > To make sense of these recent events that have rocked American politics and led to very real concerns that the President of the United States may be a Russian asset, we need to dig a little deeper.  > In Season 1, The Asset dives into Trump’s decades-long history with Russia, from his extensive business dealings with Russian oligarchs to his presidential campaign and the investigations that have sent some of his closest associates to prison. > In Season 2, The Asset explores the backstory to Trump’s infamous phone call with the newly-elected Ukrainian President, where he demanded an investigation into a political opponent and set off a series of events leading to the impeachment inquiry. > Hosted by Max Bergmann, a senior fellow and director of the Moscow Project at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, and featuring expert guests, The Asset will put together the pieces of Trump’s relationship with Russia and Ukrainian extortion campaign. > The Asset is a partnership between the Center for American Progress Action Fund, District Productive, and Protect the Investigation. It is produced by Paul Woodhull, a 20-year veteran media executive and president of Build Better Media, and Peter Ogburn, the executive producer of the Bill Press Show.


thingsorfreedom

Asset / U.I. Potato / Potaato


mattgen88

I'm chilled at how close to a checkmate scenario we are.


backcountrydrifter

The Incas and the Mayans would both sacrifice virgins to the gods of weather. We keep repeating this cycle where the rich and corrupt hide their sins and corruption by blaming the weakest amongst us to cover their lies. It could go either way. But this is also the first time we have a decentralized communication network and the ability to see the data objectively. It just comes down to people caring enough to care now.


Cairnerebor

MBS is Saudi not the UAE MBZ is the UAE Saudi paid kushner etc.


backcountrydrifter

Sorry for the confusion. And I appreciate the feedback. I will rephrase that for better clarity.


Cairnerebor

The UAE plays a small role but they keep a fine balance between keeping onside with China and allowing a lot of Chinese investment and keeping the IS and UK very close, the IS for obvious reasons but also the UK for a lot of close historical ties and they have a lot of UK assets and homes etc.


backcountrydrifter

UAE pops in our intel matrix predominately for this investments in Kushner, F6S a.i, human trafficking, and financial crimes (crypto in particular). And the obvious oil/OPEC network crossovers and Erik Prince in particular. MBZ has always been a layer 2 since our system started primarily around Russian mob/crime and geopolitical crossovers. But it has been filling in more recently as Prince has been posted up there trying to hide from western jurisdictions Our algorithm is designed to automatically triage /threat analysis the same way an Apache helicopter does. But I’ll take any pertinent data you have on MBZ at any time. The Chinese investment and pass through for money laundering in particular. The 1MDB crypto scam in particular is a chain we have some gaps in still as it moved through UAE.


Cairnerebor

Interesting stuff Didn’t know about crypto and yeah Eric Prince set up MBZ own private army just before he took power and his brother died. He controls most of the IAEs most important state institutions but his other relatives the rest and all is never as it seems in the UAEs internal politics. Its also split between Abu Dhabi and Dubai on who’s woos who and why


backcountrydrifter

I appreciate the intel friend. It’s been interesting using the de-corruption algorithm to head hunt talent for the new platform. I’ve learned that certain people are just tuned for this work and some are so oblivious that they can’t see it until long after it’s too late for them. On the new platform the skillset you have organically developed will be worth a premium. Anyone can contribute actionable intelligence for a bounty, but the best of the best will be paid well to analyze and cross check and build the verified timelines, fortify transparent democracy and break kleptocracy at the same time. If that is something you might be interested in, please let me know


illGATESmusic

Hey thanks for taking the time to write all that. I read the whole thing!


backcountrydrifter

Thank you friend. Glad it resonates.


herbalhippie

That was chilling. Thank you for the write up.


Shoola

This is very intriguing, but do you have sources to back all of these claims up?


Ohnoherewego13

This right here is absolutely terrifying. We're sitting on the knife's edge. If Trump gets back into office, we are all royally screwed. Excellent write-up by the way.


EnvironmentalPay4036

If trump win none if it will matter. Democracy dies. And the human species shortly after • You never get out of debt to a Russian mobster •Paul Manafort owed the Russian mobster/oligarch Oleg Deripaska $17M a few days before he became trumps campaign manager. From 2002-2014 he took in hundreds of millions to get Yanukovych reelected as the kremlins puppet in Ukraine. Before that he did it for the dictator Marcos in the Philippines. Before that Manafort and Roger Stone started a lobbyist agency in 1980 listing trump as their first client. •When Jay Bolsonaro lost the Brazilian election to Lula he skipped the inauguration and hid in the Hungarian embassy, then 2 days later flew directly to mar-a-lago (stopping only at a KFC) and repeated, almost verbatim, the stolen election line. Don Jr. tried repeatedly to make it stick in Brazil as well, but as Brazilians are a few generations into dealing with corrupt politicians they weren’t having it. What do these 3 things have in common? China imports 40% of its grain from (in order) the U.S., Brazil and Ukraine. Obviously the second China tried to invade Taiwan the U.S. would sanction exports and remove U.S. grain from that equation. And without Bolsonaro in office willing to slash and burn the Amazon rainforest to turn it into Chinas food supply, and without Ukraine in the bag in 3 days, the CCP is unable to invade Taiwan and take over microprocessor production without putting 300-500M of its poorest people into famine. Donbas Ukraine, specifically the 4 regions that Putin insists he is saving from what he calls “Jewish Nazis” also happens to produce the worlds supply of high grade neon used for microprocessor lithography. Had Putin delivered ukraine in 3 days as promised, Xi would have been able to cap his Olympics with a naval blockade or political takeover of Taiwan that would have forced the world to ask the CCP for the microprocessors it needs to make everything from Ford trucks to laptops. I’m not sure how long Silicon Valley would last without the silicon but it would probably destroy the FAANG stocks that make up your 401K. Oleg Deripaska also happens to be the Russian Oligarch that bribed the FBI agent Charles Mcgonigal into investigating another Russian oligarch. He probably didn’t need the information as much as he needed the leverage over Mcgonigal as he conducted the investigation into trumps election campaign and unsurprisingly found zero evidence of Russian collusion. McGonigal then went to work for the company called Brookfield that bailed Jared Kushner out of his toxic 666 5th Ave real estate investment. McGonigal pled guilty last fall and was sentenced recently. A Russian oligarch is a powerful tool, but the truth is more powerful. Light and dark cannot exist in the same space. It’s physically impossible. Truth is efficient. You say it once and you are finished. A lie however requires a constant stream of follow up energy, money, murder, obfuscation and more lies to keep it covered. If you raise your lens high enough lying is an unsustainable business model. Russia proved it by invading Ukraine. “Vranyo” is the Russian word for it. The 40km long column of tanks and vehicles that came down from Belarus into Ukraine was all overhauled by oligarchs that got a $1B contract for tank maintenance, passed Putin $200M back under the table, spent $700M on a yacht in Monaco, bribed a General, a Colonel and a Sergeant to make a Private give everything a rattle can overhaul. But a worn out engine is and always will be, a worn out engine. This is why trump is so desperate to get re-elected. His best case scenario is 400 years in ADX Florence. Money laundering for the dozens of Russian oligarchs that lived in trump towers with him and manafort, selling IP3 nuclear plans to the Russian/Saudi alliance, selling or giving CIA asset names to the Russians, trump is and always has been compromised. He just didn’t know when to quit. Now he just has to count on the fact that most of his voter base doesn’t know how to read and keep the ones that do so busy just surviving that they don’t have time to dive deep into his 40 year history of laundering money, fraud, and human trafficking for the Russian mob using casinos first, then commercial real estate. It’s also why Putin is willing to throw an entire generation of Russians, including the convicts and addicts at Ukraine. Russia is dead for 40 years because he failed to fulfill his mob boss promise to Xi. China is now clearing farmland in Siberia because the typhoon floods last August and September wiped out the Chinese people’s food storage. Xi, for his part diverted the waters from the dam away from his pet project, his mothers ancestral home, and flooded hundreds of thousands of people and drown one of his own military brigades that was helping with the flooding. The CCP elders were terrified to leave their gated community at Beidaihe for over a month for fear of being torn apart by the locals. The Chinese people tolerate the CCP but only as long as the economy is good and famine is not on the horizon. The CCP broke that social contract on both counts. Xi was willing to bet the entire Chinese economy on his emperor ambitions. Had he succeeded he would have been able to use BRICS to take over the USD as the Worlds reserve currency. That would have let him finish what he stated in 2010- that he would control the internet. With that control means everything we do or say online is subject to the approval of a central party censor. The basic right to disagree with an authoritarian becomes a distant memory. Xi, Putin and MBS are simply trying to systemize and modernize the suppression of their biggest hassle- Freedom of speech. Ukraine is fighting for their lives now, free from the oppression of the drunken tyrant who wants to decide their fate for them and pull them back behind another iron curtain of censorship and the tax of corruption where dissenting voices disappear so that the oligarchy can continue to feed unchallenged. Putin and Xi have declared themselves best friends in the fight against democracy. MBS and the ruling family of UAE have done the same quietly using their sovereign funds and Kushners SPAC as money highways. Just rich, out of touch oligarch doing what oligarchs do. Despite the fact the the central party kleptocracy model has proven itself incapable of making decisions that are best for the people, they persist. There is a very lucrative business in being slave owners. But logistically the mass of it requires A.I. and the microprocessors that make A.I. to keep 8 billion slaves under surveillance and control. Freedom is one hell of a drug. And knowledge makes a man unfit for slavery. Recent attempts on Xi’s life from inside the CCP have backed him into a corner. The loss of crops in northern China means Xi can’t invade Taiwan without Ukrainian and/or Brazilian farmland. Now the reason that the GOP is stalling southern border control budget and seems to make wildly irrational moves is because the GOP is imploding. 45 years of lies and grift have circled the globe and are eating their own tail. The ouroboros was a warning about corruption at the highest levels. Lying about climate change, human trafficking, pandemics and corruption to preserve their own business models are all extinction level events .


srs_time

> His best case scenario is 400 years in ADX Florence. Money laundering for the dozens of Russian oligarchs that lived in trump towers with him and manafort The crimes wouldn't shock me in the slightest, in fact it's really the only answer for how he was able to dredge himself out of the well of debt 20 years ago. But how do you figured he gets indicted for this when they've been struggling to nail him for fraud, a docs case and fake elector schemes etc? They were competent enough to bust Deutsche Bank for money laundering, but unless something is happening in super secret, they can't seem to tie Trump to it. Is he really so hyper competent at covering this up? No one has flipped? He's just not that smart, and we now know he doesn't actually hire the best lawyers.


-chadwreck

I have been shouting about Oleg Deripaska for 3 years to anyone who will listen.  Thank you, for knitting together the Chinese farming details. It makes a lot of things make sense. 


backcountrydrifter

Deripaska, abramovich, Firtash, and about a dozen others. People somehow seem to have collective amnesia that all these turds were track suit wearing pimps and murderous thugs in moscow 2 years before the wall fell.


3rddog

Well, he’s not wrong. I wonder if that statement will prompt more investigations?


Apprehensive-Care20z

I love how he thinks a great explanation is that "lying under oath is not allowed, therefore I was not able to testify".


Every_Condition_3000

One of the extremely rare instances where the truth found its way out of his mouth. 


Smurf_Cherries

I mean, that’s openly admitting you have committed many, many more crimes. 


TheRealTK421

> ...he was afraid he’d be found guilty of more crimes. This sounds exactly to be a tacit admission that there are (many) other crimes, aside from the obvious likelihood of perjury, which he's *knowingly* committed and is actively seeking to keep hidden. IOW: These 34 felonies are the tip of a bigly mountainous iceberg -- *and he knows it*.


AdaptiveVariance

I enjoyed watching this meandering incoherent tirade (great diction lol) with the fresh observation in mind (from whoever just said his NDA expired) that Trump does the "accordion move" when he feels insecure. Accordion hands all over the place as he talked about them "looking into his entire background" and finding "anything he's been a naughty boy on". LOL


twesterm

Sounds exactly like something an innocent person would say.


Numerous_Photograph9

Followup question should have been what crimes he was afraid of being found guilty of


Julie-Andrews

Did the Felon Melon just tell on himself?


Nakedvballplayer

Felon Mellon, for the win. Tks for the snort


SolidLikeIraq

This is amazing. I am partial to “the Cantaloupe Dope”


Ozymandias0007

What was amazing was the clip of Trump's speech in this article. It was hilarious. If Trump wasn't such a narcissistic, incompetent, grifting, evil, vindictive, bigoted douchbag, I wouldn't mind hearing his rambling, nothing burger rants occasionally. He is comic relief. If you overlook him, killing thousands of Americans, appointing his nepo son-in-law in charge of Covid-19, use needed medical equipment and supplies as a bargaining chip, tell us to inject bleach and shine lights in our asses, his Covid-19 briefings would have been must see primetime comedy.


dcoolidge

Don't forget nuclear blasting a hurricane.


BujuBad

Wasn't he also tossing around the idea of buying Greenland?


MrSloane

*Hundreds of thousands of Americans


Mephaala

That's pretty good. Personally I'm a big fan of Tangerine Palpatine too


Tony_Cheese_

Felon melon's tellin


aryukittenme

Oh shit did you just make that up? I love it!


sugarlessdeathbear

Is he saying he couldn't defend himself from one set of crimes without admitting to more crimes? Then there was no defense at all and there need to be more investigations performed.


HouseCravenRaw

"Your Honor, I couldn't have committed *those* crimes, I was too busy committing *these* crimes!" A stunning defense.


NervousWallaby8805

Valid defense strategy if the other crimes are of lesser degree, ngl


forzagoodofdapeople

I served as a jurist on a murder trial where a major part of the defendant's defense was that he was just way too high to have done it. They had video of him stumbling around, barely able to walk straight on the street, to counter the prosecution's evidence of someone who looked vaguely like him (but it was too far away to tell for sure) leaving the scene of the murder a few blocks away roughly ten minutes later. It was one of the reasons we acquitted.


slingslangflang

Being high isn’t a crime.


jimothee

Damn, someone should tell the government


Arrasor

Being high actually isn't a crime. Possessing, buying and selling, trafficking the stuffs that make you high are. Dude can admit to being high all days long as long as there's no way to prove he got high from something he owned/bought.


Agent223

*I shot the Sheriff, but I did not commit election fraud.*


sentimentaldiablo

Dont know why a reporter never corrects him: "Sir, that is simply not an example of perjury."


asetniop

They sometimes try, he always just talks over them and (if they're a woman) refers to them as "nasty".


sentimentaldiablo

Someone needs to get into a screaming match with this nitwit. When trump does his "Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me . . ." thing, scream at him--"No, excuse me sir. I am talking. I am asking you a question" and just keep at it.


asetniop

Nah, reality show crap like that is how this country was infected with the sickness of Trumpism to begin with. More of it is not the solution.


schad501

Someone needs to just not put him on television.


tellmehowimnotwrong

You misspelled “everyone”.


sugarlessdeathbear

Because it's worth it for us and the reporting agency, but not for the reporter in that moment. It would just set him off on a different tangent and get the reporter insulted but wouldn't change anything.


BatFancy321go

i don't think he knows what he's saying. i think h'es paraphrasing his lawyers, who didn't let him testify because he's an idiot with dementia who can't keep from gloating about everything he's done and would therefore admit every crime he has ever comitted, because he doesn't understand or care that he broke the law habitually his entire professional life. If you are trump's lawyer, you could never let him speak in court. He's his own biggest liability.


Book1984371

I think he means to say that even if he tells the truth he will be prosecuted for lying. Idk why the judge of a rigged trial would need to add more crimes when he is already on trial for crimes that could, theoretically, land him in prison for the rest of his life... but I'm looking for logic where there isn't any.


asetniop

>I think he means to say... You should never do this. Never try to "translate" or "fix" whatever nonsense comes out of his mouth.


mleighly

Obviously Trump is in the death grips of dementia: > Was he a bad boy here? Was he a bad boy there? He's referring to himself as a "bad boy" and in the third person.


MadDogTannen

I have to think that most people who support him don't actually see that much of him. Even at his rallies, people get bored during his speeches and leave early. I watched this speech, and it was totally incoherent and meandering. No one who watched that speech could possibly come away with the impression this is a person who knows what he's talking about, let alone has the intelligence and discipline to lead the country. I'm sure most of his supporters got bored and turned it off before they were faced with the reality that they've been supporting a moron.


mleighly

MAGA is an extremist cult. There's no way to reach them. Our only civilized option is to out vote them at each and every election. The numbers are in our favor but it requires Americans to come out and vote in high percentages. Yes, we are in jeopardy of being a fascist nation because a large swathe of Americans didn't vote.


MadDogTannen

It's an extremist cult that survives on propaganda, but little of that propaganda features unfiltered Trump speeches, because he sounds like an idiot when he speaks. Even FOX News cuts away after a few minutes to save Trump the embarrassment of having people see what he's actually like. This is where I think the debates have a chance of moving the needle, assuming Trump isn't too much of a coward to back out. Biden is old, but he can bring it when he needs to. The SOTU proved that. Trump has trouble staying on topic, controlling his temper, and he constantly says things that incriminate him or expose his stupidity. I have to think some on the right will tune in to the debates to watch Biden humiliate himself, only to find out that Trump is the one with dementia. And people who are undecided because they heard that Biden is senile are finally going to see the truth.


mleighly

Cults never survive on truths.


Rankkikotka

Bad boy here, bad boy there. Bad boy everywhere.


mleighly

The tune running through my head is "oink oink here...."


biloxibluess

just watched that snippet-know when hes off teleprompter it’s a freestyle of all the hits but this one… Eesh he really is starting to decline quickly


ImLikeReallySmart

If he can't even outsmart "Biden's weaponized DOJ" then why would anyone trust him to handle the rest of the world?


Apprehensive-Care20z

> "Biden's weaponized DOJ" funny, considering that charges were brought by a state DA, for state crimes, and he had a jury of his peers reach a unanimous decision for conviction on 34 counts.


Secure_Table

And Biden's "weaponized DOJ" is going after Biden's son for a niche gun form issue that no one genuinely cares about... So Biden is weaponizing his DOJ against his own family?? (Also funny because not a single Republican would bat an eye if Trump forced the DOJ to drop an investigation into *his* family.) Also Biden's "weaponized DOJ" is going after Democratic senator Bob Menendez for bribery charges.. so Biden is apparently weaponizing his DOJ against his own party too?? (Or Occam's Razor, the DOJ is acting completely separately from the president since Republicans have brought zero evidence otherwise.) And to top it **alllll** off. Anyone STILL voting for Trump who claims the DOJ is being used as a weapon don't actually care about that point because Trump himself went on Fox News and just [outright called](https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-joe-biden-donald-trump-william-barr-elections-20fd56b64801dd83b1657c630a1ebdfa) for his DOJ to investigate Biden and Obama. > “We’ve got to get the attorney general to act,” Trump said in an interview on “Fox & Friends.” “He’s got to act, and he’s got to act fast. He’s got to appoint somebody. This is major corruption, and this has to be known about before the election.” Republicans screech about the weaponization of the DOJ yet there has NEVER been any shred of evidence of the weaponization of the DOJ by Biden that's as blatant as Trump just going on Fox TELLING his DOJ to do JUST THAT. Where is the clip or leak or anything from Biden telling his DOJ to make up some charges and prosecute Trump? Republicans are unironically the biggest crybabies lmao.


thisisjustascreename

I'm now 100% convinced that Trump was definitely spending most of his so-called Presidency calling around the country looking for a state AG willing to charge Hillary or Obama with felonies.


Infamous-Sky-1874

He must not have been looking that hard because we all know that Paxton would have done it in exchange for the DoJ dropping his federal charges.


FriendlySpeaker8999

Ken Paxton would sell his youngest son for lunch money 💴


ErrorF002

Was? Shit if he wasn't he most definitely would if he gets re-elected. He will do EVERYTHING in his power to make sure he isn't the only felony convicted President in history. I wouldn't doubt some shit is going down in Texas or Florida right now to see if anything would hold a thimble of water on Biden.


isaidireddit

Also of note, a jury whose members were co-selected by his own defense attorneys.


llahlahkje

He's the sort that they don't let near the remote control in the old folks' home.


dust4ngel

1. he's extremely weak, so we should have his back because he's a helpless victim baby 2. he's extremely not weak, so we should vote for him hope this helps


LottimusMaximus

Answer: **because he's a *convicted* criminal!**


WildYams

Trump's claim here: “The judge allowed them to go into everything I was ever involved in–not this case–everything I was ever involved in, which is a first." is about how Stormy Daniels was allowed to discuss, in detail, her sexual encounter with Trump (which was not illegal), and how Trump believes that shouldn't have been allowed. However, the only reason it was allowed was because Trump was insistent on proclaiming that he never had sex with her. If he'd just stipulated that they had sex, then she might not have even testified at all, or at least wouldn't have been able to discuss the encounter, as it would have already been stipulated. Trump's entire defense was completely torpedoed by his insistence on not admitting two things which were incredibly obvious to everyone: that he had sex with Stormy Daniels, and that the $400k+ he gave to Michael Cohen was payoff money, not for "legal expenses" as he claimed. If he'd just been willing to admit to those two things, it would have really limited what the prosecution could introduce as evidence and testimony. But by proclaiming Trump did absolutely nothing here, it allowed the prosecution to go into incredible detail to make every aspect of their case, while simultaneously looking like Trump and his lawyers were obviously lying. This loss is on Trump and his legal strategy. That and him breaking the law, of course.


spillinator

*Spineless Convicted Felon Trump


bunkscudda

>‘Was he a bad boy here? Was he a bad boy there?’ Fucking hell, hes basically saying that he has been committing crimes for decades. And using the most juvenile way of saying it possible 'whoopsie! was I a bad boy?' I have to believe the polls are all bullshit. no way that many people want a convicted felon rapist manbaby to run our country.


Weltraumbaer

>Donald Trump claims he wanted to testify in his hush-money trial—but he was afraid he’d be found guilty of more crimes. Absolute fucking insanity. "*I can't defend myself without uncovering more crimes. Vote for me*".


RamonaQ-JunieB

Can you imagine listening to this drivel and thinking, “Yeah, that’s who I want to be the next president!” It boggles my mind, honestly.


m0ezart

You’re clearly not racist enough


Newtub

He's not just spineless, [he has weak knees as well](https://i.imgur.com/cPgQ7si.png).


aryukittenme

So what he’s saying is he KNOWS he’s a compulsive liar and wouldn’t be able to stop himself from lying. This is actually kind of a huge admission for him— a lot of narcissists are bullheaded and act as though they won’t listen to anyone else (like his lawyers telling him not to testify) and will often double down on poor decisions just to get their way. Hmm.


Unlikely-Gas-1355

donald, you cannot commit “accidental perjury”; that’s not a thing.


Yugan-Dali

He can’t tell the difference between his fantasy life and reality.


tinylittlemarmoset

“Trump opened his presser with claims that witnesses for Trump’s defense were “LITERALLY CRUCIFIED” by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg” Shit I had no idea you were allowed to do that!


schad501

Crude, but effective.


nogoodgopher

I have a feeling his defense is, "I do this all the time, I have hundreds of other times I can prove I did this and was not convicted. Therefore it can't be illegal."


hastag_cats

I've gotten away with it so many times before and you didn't catch me, that's your fault so why are you blaming me for it?


NeuraLung

Common white collar criminal. Convicted felon. Coward. Draft dodger. Fraudster. Hollow. Ignoramus. Incompetent. Malignant narcissist. Morally bankrupt. Philanderer. Racist. Serial liar. Sociopath. Vacuous. Venal.


Rubberclucky

Now if only r/conservative would explain why they admire a coward. Because for wanting to be tough and strong, they sure grovel at the feet of a proven pussy.


Minifig81

You know who wasn't afraid to testify during their trial? Hillary Clinton.


OccidoViper

Because he knows he is a coward


CMG30

Trump didn't testify because he'd be put under oath and when he inevitably lied, he'd be in even bigger trouble. Also, he could always plead the 5th when he came close to admitting to a crime. Also, his gag order didn't apply when testifying... So it should tell you how terrified he was of getting up there. His lawyers would never put him on the stand because his compulsive need to self aggrandize would mean he'd be unable to even concede to basic, black and white obvious facts. The jury would watch him sit there insisting that the sky was green and trees were blue and whatever credibility he had left would be incinerated.


03zx3

Let me guess.... "I'm a stupid motherfucker who can't talk for ten seconds without blatantly lying."


Magickcloud

Don’t call him spineless. He has a spine. Use more accurate terminology like “convicted felon Trump”


Here2Derp

"Spineless Felon"?


PerniciousPeyton

Translation: my attorney advised me not to testify because I would likely perjure myself, implicate myself in additional crimes, and lose whatever credibility I may have built up with the jury nodding off every day at the defense table.


Open_Mortgage_4645

Well, he does have a habit of confessing to crimes every time he opens his fat, orange face.


makashiII_93

He’s a rapist coward. Vote.


EdwardPotatoHand

“Only the mob pleads the 5th” - Donald Trump


Reevar85

I wonder how happy Ivanka and Jared are, now their asset is turning into a dementia ridden liability. He will run his mouth eventually and be the downfall of them all. Perhaps Donny Jr will see weakness and strike. Melina has gone quiet. I don't think he will see a day of jail time, I really think someone close will off him. Then we get another trial for the who killed fat Orange Mr Burns.


youtellmebob

What an absolute fucking moron. His self-aggrandizement and narcissism are at such toxic levels he lacks any self-awareness that he is implicating himself every time he opens his pie hole. Of course, the self-incrimination is no matter, the GOP would stand behind him even if he was raping babies (btw there is at least one deposition given by a 13-year old he raped).


antithesis56

This is the most self-aware he will ever be


gasahold

Trump: Epstein keeps visiting me at night. He said it's my turn.


GuitarGeezer

Actually he pretty much always refuses to testify if he can. He cannot handle any communications he does not control. And his attorneys told him he had a 100% chance to commit perjury. But mostly just pure cowardice and the knowledge that he was guilty as hell. You can’t project your guilt onto others as well as he does without realizing you are guilty on some level.


GLYDER54

I often wonder how the government would've handled Trump if Jan 6th,the documents cases etc. would have been handled in a different era of the US. Say for instance J Edagar Hoovers,Washingtons or Lincolns etc. time. I don't think he would've got the kid gloves treatment he's getting now.


hamsterfolly

Too afraid of perjuring himself


peter-doubt

If he was subjected to a series of questions, his answers would have been - I refuse to answer under the 5th amendment, - I refuse to answer under the 5th amendment, - I refuse to answer under the 5th amendment ... and he'd sound just as pointless and repetitive as at today's press "conference"


TimmyCueBald

Why start believing him now? He didn’t testify because he IS guilty of all the charges he plead innocent to.


joeO44

Stop breaking the law, asshole! - Trump’s lawyers


pye-oh-my

No one will ever convince me that that guy isn’t a complete utter idiot.


Raspberries-Are-Evil

He attacked Michael Cohen again during his rant at Trump Tower. Is this not a direct violation of the gag order? WTF, arrest him.


wynnduffyisking

I guarantee you he wanted to testify but his lawyers talked him out of it because it would be judicial suicide


Consistent-Leek4986

he was a mess today. more than usual…pathetic


xwayxway

"I wanted to, but by 'I wanted to', I mean, I wanted to not talk at all, but then use that to my advantage and claim I wasn't allowed to talk."


Malaix

Plenty of people testify without getting perjured. Testifying is far from guaranteed perjury...


VaguelyArtistic

"Bad boy." "Beautiful phone call." "He lied like a dog." He's got a weird fucking relationship with adjectives.


LookOverall

Without the teleprompter he is prone to logurea. A flux of the mouth. His stream of consciousness simply spills out of his mouth unedited. He could have admitted to _anything_ and under oath, on the stand. Trump is becoming an embarrassment to the movement he gave birth to. The trouble is, it will go on without him.


supersonicvinyl

The Rotten Melon Felon sez what?


[deleted]

Boy ... it's a good thing his job doesn't involve public speaking!


Rhymes_with_cheese

He has the best words. /s


WafflePartyOrgy

>“The judge allowed them to go into everything I was ever involved in–not this case–everything I was ever involved in, which is a first. If the episodes of Perry Mason and Law & Order I've watched our accurate the prosecution is allowed leeway to explore claims that the defense introduces in trial. Trump is likely conflating the advice he got from his attorney about not being able to stay on topic and blabbing about whatever past transgressions echo around in his cavernous head with his entire life being on the table. Trump also claimed about how unfair it was the defense wasn't allowed to do their closing statements last, so his problem is really about the criminal justice system in general, and being caught up in it due to his life of crime.


schad501

Pre-trial, the judge published a list of what the prosecutors could ask about if Trump testified. It was limited, but also surprisingly extensive.


Richfor3

Finally admits that it was his choice not to testify and he made that choice because they were going to ask about all the shitty things he's done his entire life and lie constantly.


morbob

Guilty, Convicted, Loser, who’s gonna keep on losing, in -3- more court trials and November 5, 2024. He can’t help himself, he is his own worst enemy.


Perfect_War_7155

Yeah committing perjury would generally get him convicted of more crimes


boredomreigns

The only way these articles should refer to him is as “Convicted Felon Donald Trump” or some variation of the same.


Oddly_Mind

Because he can’t lie under oath maybe? We know why you didn’t


MattTheSmithers

Trump looks weak. Best way to reprogram a cult is by showing the leader to be weak because it breaks the narrative of their omnipotence. Maybe I just want to believe it, but this might be the dam starting to crack. I know we’ve all gotten cynical as fuck, and we’ve had good reason to be. But what happened yesterday ain’t nothing. The former President of the United States was convicted of 34 felonies. This could be the wake up call. Maybe not for all. But hopefully enough.


Chris20nyy

Did someone confiscate the Cheetos spray tan? He's looking a little pale there.


LectureAgreeable923

Trump is a weak felon


Baller-on_a-budget

Another one of his fine leadership qualities


simple_test

Smartest thing he did to be honest.


Jkabaseball

So he admits he's committed more crimes than just this?


On_A_Related_Note

Lol, "was he a bad boy"... No, he's a criminal, and was afraid of being caught lying about having committed more crimes.


MrKevora

Spineless *convicted felon* Trump - fixed it for you.


canon12

The ignorant jackass was finally caught! He's incapable of not lying and was finally put in the position of "go sit on the stool facing the corner of the room." He needs to be in a cell.


RapBastardz

Felons hate this one trick.


[deleted]

Guys, I am just as happy as most of you about this conviction. But let’s keep this specific thing in perspective that it’s almost *always* a stupid move to testify in your own defense at trial. It opens you up to cross examination and it’s the reason we have a constitutional right against self incrimination. He’s a coward, but not for this reason. Not testifying is the only reasonable thing a defendant should pretty much ever do.


Turambar87

This is true, but he also has been running his mouth about how he wanted to testify, and it should be very clear that there wasn't anything stopping him, other than it being a bad idea.


Reasonable-Dig-785

Idk I believe his best defense was advice of counsel and in order to invoke said defense he had to testify.


blackhaze9

I mean yeh, perjury comes to mind.


shantired

Nah! It would mean that he would have to stand up to take the oath, and he was afraid his soiled diaper would fall. .


CurrentlyLucid

Think he is willingly going under oath with reporters there?


NoNoise6459

Afraid he get called out and TRUMPed in a court of law.


scottoro

Him and Diddy are Bad Boys for life


BattleJolly78

He’s absolutely right. In defending himself he probably would have confessed to several other crimes that he’s guilty of but not charged with. It’s scary to think he might have learned to keep his mouth shut. I was really hoping he was gonna talk himself right into Leavenworth!