Robert Reich, Former US Secretary of Labor, is Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley - The Guardian (U.K.)
Stephan: It is my opinion that Robert Reich is spot on. The fact that Trump continues to operate politically while being held accountable for nothing is going to be seen in the future as a historic miscalculation and failure on the part of the Democratic Party, the President, and the Attorney General. You do not let a villain continue to exercise his villainy.
Arch-villain Donald Trump
On Friday, Trump endorsed JD Vance in the Ohio Senate Republican primary. This follows his endorsement of Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania’s Senate Republican primary and Herschel Walker in the Georgia Senate race.
The media has framed these endorsements as long-shot bets that “could put [Trump’s] desired image as a kingmaker at risk”. But this misses the point. What’s really at stake for Trump is the selling of Trump and his big lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
To get a strong endorsement from Trump, a candidate apparently must fulfill three prerequisites – run in a swing state whose primaries and general election will attract lots of media attention, be totally committed to Trump and his big lie, and be capable of promoting Trump and his lie with the kind of celebrity pizzaz that sells well on television.
Vance – celebrity author of Hillbilly Elegy – was originally appalled by Trump and his lie, and said so. But now that he’s running for the Senate, Vance has become one of the most forceful promoters of Trump […]
Stephan: Every day the news is dominated by two stories, Russia's evil war in Ukraine, and the rampant criminality of the Republican Party and its complete uninterest in behaving lawfully or supporting democracy. Just the naked greed for power. I picked four stories out of a large pool illustrating this, and could have picked a dozen more. I have never seen anything in politics as blatant as what is going on now.
(There is no click-through, just this to introduce today's edition.
Stephan: It's amazing, Trump breaks the law day in and day out, and only rarely is held accountable for what he does. This is a happy exception.
Michael Cohen
A New York judge is holding Donald Trump in civil contempt after the state’s attorney general’s office said he did not comply with a subpoena for documents as part of its investigation into the former President’s company.Judge Arthur Engoron said Trump failed to abide by his order to comply with the subpoena, and that his attorneys failed to show how a search of materials held by Trump was conducted. Engoron said Trump would be fined $10,000 a day until he complies.
“Mr. Trump, I know you take your business seriously and I take mine seriously. I hereby hold you in civil contempt and fine you $10,000 per day until you purge that contempt,” Engoron said at a hearing Monday. A written decision with a start date for fines is expected Tuesday.
Trump plans to appeal the decision, his attorney Alina Habba told reporters.
“We respectfully disagree with the court’s decision today,” Habba said. “All documents, as I explained, responsive to the subpoena were already produced to the attorney general months ago.”
KELCIE MOSELEY-MORRIS, Reporter - Idaho Capital Sun
Stephan: One of the things that stands out, for me, in all the arrests and indictments of Republican officials is their male dominance obsession. Trump has 26 -- 26! -- women who have registered complaints about his attempts to molest and dominate them. But he is far from alone in this. Here is an obscure Republican now former state representative. It's the same Trumpian story.
Rep. Aaron von Ehlinger, R-Lewiston (left), and his attorney, Edward Dindinger, seated in the Lincoln Auditorium at the Idaho Capitol before the House Ethics Committee hearing in April 2021. Credit: Kelcie Moseley-Morris/Idaho Capital Sun
Fourth District Judge Michael Reardon denied a request to postpone the trial date for former state Rep. Aaron von Ehlinger, who is charged with felony rape and forcible penetration of a foreign object, and the trial will still go forward on April 26.
Von Ehlinger, 39, is accused of raping a 19-year-old legislative intern in March 2021, when the former intern said the two went to dinner and then his apartment. Von Ehlinger has pleaded not guilty to the charges and has said the sexual activity was consensual.
Von Ehlinger’s attorney in the case, Jon Cox, told the court Monday he expected the trial would be delayed based on his understanding of the priority the courts assigned to jury trials when COVID-19 case numbers were high. In past cases, the court was giving first priority to criminal trials involving a defendant […]
Stephan: This is another Republican. I cannot imagine affiliating with an organization that has this level of criminality.
Former Republican Representative of Nebraska Jeff Fortenberry
Former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE), who resigned March 31 after being convicted of lying to the FBI about and falsifying campaign finance documents, had to sell his campaign vehicle to raise cash in a hurry to pay his legal bills.
The Daily Beast is reporting that and other details from the former representative’s recently filed campaign disclosure form. Fortenberry personally paid $13,500 for his own campaign vehicle the day of his conviction, and he also took out a home loan and burned through hundred of thousands of dollars of donors’ money as his legal defense costs climbed to almost $1 million in just the first three months of 2022.
“Had Fortenberry not taken personal steps” The Daily Beast writes, “those expenses would have busted the campaign before bills came due at the end of March, coincidentally just days after a Los Angeles jury convicted him of lying to the FBI about illegal campaign contributions.”
The campaign started the year with about $895,000 on hand. In addition to the legal […]
