Ten Setbacks for the MAGA Crowd

Chipping away

Photo Credit: Pool/Anna Moneymaker/Michael M. Santiago

After becoming the first former occupant oft he Oval Office in history to be found guilty of contempt, Donald’s trial in lower Manhattan continued and, overall, it was another significant day of losses for him and his followers.

1. Kaitlan Collins corners J.D. Vance on live TV

Appearing on Wednesday’s edition of “The Source,” MAGA Senator J.D. Vance was caught like a deer in the headlights after Kaitlan Collins pressed him about whether he’d accept an invitation to be Donald’s running mate — in light of the fact that Donald incited an angry mob against Vice President Mike Pence on January 6th and didn’t lift a finger to stop them.

"The last time I checked, President Biden wasn't approving of the chants to hang his vice president and didn't call his vice president when their life was in danger on Capitol Hill, something that Mike Pence himself has testified to," Collins explained. "So my question is, does it give you any pause to be [Donald's] vice president given how he treated Mike Pence?"

"Kaitlan, I'm extremely skeptical that Mike Pence's life was ever in danger," Vance said before Collins cut him off. "I think Mike Pence would disagree with that part, senator," she insisted. 

Unsurprisingly, Vance attempted to diminish the importance of the insurrection on January 6, which Collins refused to let him get away with: 

“...The idea that Donald Trump endangered anyone's lives when he told them to protest peacefully, it's just absurd,” Vance said.

"But they were chanting that they wanted to hang him," Collins pointed out.

She also didn’t let Vance get away with his absurd assertion that Donald’s New York trial is being orchestrated by President Biden to keep Donald from campaigning: 

"I think the biggest threat to American democracy, Kaitlan, is that the Biden administration is trying to prevent Donald Trump from campaigning and taking his case to the American people,” Vance said.

"It's a judge in New York that's presiding over that case," Collins interrupted. "And the Biden administration is not preventing Donald Trump from campaigning. He just did two events tonight!”

Then, in perhaps the best moment of the segment, when the two were discussing the campus protests, Collins asked Vance, “So you agree that people who break in and vandalize should be prosecuted?”

Vance responded, “Exactly.”

“Okay. I'm just checking because you did help raise money for people who did that on January 6, which was impeding an official proceeding, breaking into and vandalizing the Capitol.”

I think it’s long past time that networks like CNN stop hosting political figures like J.D. Vance who have no interest in the truth. But, if they insist on continuing to have them on, this is a good example of how they should be interviewed.

2. It’s Steve Bannon’s turn

Steve Bannon, Donald’s once close aide and permanent enabler, is set to face his upcoming fraud case in New York related to the “We Build the Wall” campaign in which Bannon is accused of defrauding donors. The trial is scheduled for September. 

It was supposed to take place in May but was recently postponed because the presiding judge will be none other than Juan Merchan.

According to prosecutors, the “Build the Wall” campaign raised $15 million under “false pretenses.” Donors were allegedly told the group’s president, Brian Kolfage, would not be paid a salary; Bannon, however, is alleged to have clandestinely paid him $250,000.

Bannon, who pleaded not guilty to the charges last September, is facing two counts of money laundering, each of which could result in a prison sentence of five to 15 years. He also faces additional felony counts of conspiracy and scheme to defraud, along with one misdemeanor count of conspiracy to defraud.

Bannon was pardoned by Donald on his last night in office, after he was indicted on federal charges related to the same activity. The state charges Bannon now faces were brought by the Manhattan district attorney’s office and will now proceed.

Let’s hope this one sticks.

3. Republican Congressman Mike Kelly exposed for his hypocrisy 

Today it was revealed that the family of  Congressman Mike Kelly (R-PA), who criticized President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act for being “loaded with bad policy and wasteful spending,” received a grant of nearly $315,000 from the program for their car dealership. 

The grant, part of the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), was used to install a solar panel array at the dealership, which is expected to save the business around $27,300 annually.

This isn’t the first time Kelly’s car dealership has benefited from a federal program. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the dealership received a nearly $1 million loan from the Paycheck Protection Program. This loan was, of course, forgiven. Ten bucks if you can tell me where Kelly stands on student loan forgiveness.

4. Trial update: Witness Keith Davidson boosts the prosecution’s claim that Donald wanted to suppress sex scandals

Today is Day 10 of Donald’s election interference and hush money trial, and Los Angeles attorney Keith Davidson took the stand again to discuss the deal he brokered between Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen to keep Donald’s affair with her a secret from voters.

On Tuesday, Davidson delivered key testimony that established that the Stormy Daniels story “became more valuable” after Donald’s “Access Hollywood” tape was released because Donald “and his team became extremely concerned about his reputation among female voters.”

According to reporter Shayna Jacobs, Davidson testified today that Michael Cohen “was always acting on [Donald’s] behalf” as he carried out “tense” and “aggressive” discussions to quash Daniels' story about the affair.

Davidson, with his compelling testimony, has successfully painted a clear picture for the jury. He’s tied the payments directly to a calculated scheme aimed at keeping the affairs under wraps. Sometimes the truth comes to light no matter how hard some people may try to keep us in the dark.

5. Donald faces a new contempt hearing as more gag violations are revealed

After Judge Merchan ruled that Donald had violated his gag order nine times in the first week of his trial and fined Donald $9,000 with a warning that jail could be next, prosecutors submitted four additional violations of the order.

The four breaches are as follows:

1. On April 22, Donald called Michael Cohen a liar in his remarks outside the courtroom. “When are they going to look at all the lies that Cohen did in the last trial?” Donald said. “He got caught lying in the last trial.”

2. On the evening of April 22, Donald complained about the jury in an interview with Real America’s Voice: “The jury was picked so fast — 95 percent Democrats. The area’s mostly all Democrat. You think of it as a — just a purely Democrat area. It’s a very unfair situation, that I can tell you,” Donald said.

3. On April 23, Donald again criticized Michael Cohen during an interview with ABC in Pennsylvania, saying, “Michael Cohen is a convicted liar and he’s got no credibility whatsoever.”

4. On April 26, Donald discussed witness David Pecker at a media event only hours before Pecker was back on the stand. “He’s been very nice,” Donald said. According to journalist Perry Stein, who witnessed the hearing, even though Donald did not say “anything bad about Pecker, prosecutors say even mentioning witnesses violates the gag order and can influence testimony.”

It’s very likely that Merchan will hold Donald in contempt again — but given that these four latest occurrences happened before Donald was held in contempt, jail time will likely be postponed when and if another violation occurs. 

In the last hearing, the prosecution suggested that Donald was actually angling to go to jail. I find that hard to believe. He may like to portray himself as a tough guy, but imagine him alone in a cell, cut off from the world, without his phone. He couldn’t handle it for one night.

It remains to be seen whether or not he can control himself in the face of an “incarceratory penalty.” 

6. One of Donald’s legal teams wants to quit

Considering what I know of Donald, and everything publicly available, I can’t understand how anyone would want to be near Donald, much less take him on as a client. But it seems some people need to come to this realization through first hand experience:

Donald’s legal team representing his presidential campaign for a 2016 incident has expressed their desire to drop him as a client.

The law firm, LaRocca, Hornik, Greenberg, Kittredge, Carlin & McPartland, cited an “irreparable breakdown in the attorney-client relationship” as the reason for their request to withdraw. They have now met with the judge to discuss the details of this breakdown and the decision to allow them to drop Donald is pending.

The discrimination case was initiated by Arlene “A.J.” Delgado, a former senior adviser to Donald’s 2016 campaign, who says she was sidelined from her role as director of Hispanic outreach after revealing her pregnancy.

7. Lindsey Graham says the FBI has his phone after possible hack

Senator Lindsey Graham finds himself at the center of a potential security breach. The Republican from South Carolina reported that he was the target of a scam caller who was impersonating Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. As a result, his phone is now with the FBI for investigation.

The incident has raised concerns that a hacking attempt was made on the senator’s phone. 

Taylor Reidy, Graham’s spokesperson, confirmed that the Senate Sergeant at Arms is currently investigating the potential hack. The incident has underscored the vulnerability of digital communications, even for high-ranking officials.

A Democratic aide pointed out that Schumer is known for using an old-school LG flip phone, a device not typically associated with texting:

“Chuck Schumer isn’t texting you from his flip phone,” the source said. “If you get a text message from Schumer, it probably isn’t real.”

Now that the FBI has Graham’s phone, it would be nice if they looked into what he and his Republican colleagues were up to concerning their alleged efforts to overturn Georgia's election results in 2020. Maybe they could take a look at his call log for January 6 as well.

8. A Judge rejected John Eastman’s bid to retain his law practice while fighting disbarment

Donald’s former attorney John Eastman, who is accused of plotting to help Donald overturn the 2020 election, just had his request to reactivate his law license denied.

The decision was made by Judge Yvette Roland, who recommended Eastman’s disbarment in March due to his repeated violations of legal ethics.

Eastman is also facing criminal charges in Georgia, where he, Donald, and 13 others are co-defendants. He was among 18 individuals charged last year by Arizona prosecutors for their involvement in efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Despite the suspension, Eastman had asked to be allowed to continue practicing law; he argued that the suspension jeopardizes his ability to earn a living while he faces legal fees as high as $3 million.

This judgment is a long time coming but let’s take a minute to marvel at how extraordinary it is that so many people around Donald are finally paying the price while he continues to roam free.

9. Donald own lawyer disgusts him

During the gag order hearing, Donald’s attorney, Todd Blanche argued that Donald should be able to respond to comments made about him by the journalists who are covering the trial. 

Judge Merchan interrupted Blanche to remind him that Donald was the one approaching the microphones.

“Nobody's forcing him to talk to the press in the hall. The entire area has been set up the way it has been set up so that your client, who is a candidate for president, can exercise his political speech rights,” Merchan said.

Blanche responded, “Judge, I agree with that.”

Reporters in the overflow room laughed while Donald, according to legal analyst Norm Eisen, shook his head in disgust.

“He always turns on his lawyers,” Eisen added.

So far, it looks like this trial is going great–for the prosecution.

10. Katie Hobbs signed the abortion ban REPEAL in Arizona

The law from 1864 is no more. 

Instead of an antiquated law that forbade doctors from performing any abortions unless the mother’s life was in danger, Hobbs’ signature ensures that a 2022 law that allows abortions through the first 15 weeks will come back into effect.

This is a big deal.