patrick.net

The comparisons to Trump’s trial are not going very well so far. Judge Noreika, presiding over the trial, has already ruled that, unlike in Trump’s case, Hunter’s prosecutors cannot use salacious evidence, like Hunter’s dishonorable Navy discharge, his pending tax evasion trial, or his deadbeat-dad child support case for his out-of-wedlock daughter in Arkansas.

They must only focus on the relevant facts.

Judge Noreika also ruled that, to prove the charges, prosecutor David Weiss must also prove Hunter Biden was addicted to drugs, which he denies, despite extensively discussing his addiction in his poorly received but highly profitable biography, and despite the many distressing pictures on Hunter’s laptop of the Resident’s son covered in cocaine like a piece of raw chicken rolled in flour.

But of course, we have been assured the laptop is just Russian disinformation. We’ll see what the jury thinks.

What do you want to bet the sitting president’s son’s trial gets a tiny fraction of the coverage that Trump’s trial got? We will find out soon.

If there was any doubt about why Hunter was prosecuted on the flimsiest charge that could have been brought — the charge of failing to check the addiction box on his federal firearms form — rather than much more serious FARA violations, or bribery, or human trafficking, et cetera, all doubt has now been erased. Hunter’s trial is meant to reveal that no one is above the law...

In fact, that was the very first point the government made in its opening statement, to make sure you dummies didn’t miss the point...

See? Hunter is being prosecuted just like Trump. Therefore, we can all conclude that Trump’s persecution is also not political. In other words, Hunter is the democrat fall guy, polished up and propped up to prove the DOJ is a totally apolitical institution that blindly follows justice wherever it leads. Nevermind that Hunter isn’t running for any office, has never run for office, least of all being a current candidate, and nevermind that the DOJ’s magic shrink ray has already miniaturized his criminal charges.

Nevermind all that. Now it’s even Steven. I mean, even Hunter.

The hot takes this morning are burning brightly again, but keep your cool. Politico reported the developing story, headlined “Judge in Trump's hush money trial flags Facebook post that claimed insight into jury deliberations.”

The news was lawyers in Trump’s Manhattan case got a letter from Judge Merchan yesterday, informing them of a scandalous post to the court’s Facebook comment section that popped up the day before the jury rendered its verdict finding Trump guilty:




That’s all we know for sure. The post has since been deleted, we don’t know by whom (the Court, Facebook, or the original poster). The media has so far been unable to figure out who “Michael Anderson” is. Nobody knows whether Anderson is actually related to a Trump juror or was just “sh— posting.”

Anderson’s account is still active. Responding to the controversy, he described himself as “professional sh— poster:”




It’s awkward when your defense is “I was just lying.” Nobody knows yet whether this amounts to anything, and to be honest, the odds favor Michael Anderson is just a stupid internet troll.

Problems with jurors sometimes crop up. Sometimes it’s just one sleepy juror, somebody seen on a device during deliberations, or it could be something affecting the whole group. What normally happens is the judge brings the jurors back, together or one at a time, and interviews them about what happened. The lawyers may or may not be invited to watch. They may or may not be allowed to ask questions. The judge then decides whether anything inappropriate happened.

It’s way too early to say anything for sure, and there’s nothing yet to get excited about. Most alleged juror irregularities get resolved without needing a retrial. We’ll see.

Hunter found guilty on all counts.

Yep, now no investigations into any influence selling

Of course, Biden can now pardon Hunter and Trump to "get all this behind us and work for the American people."

he can't pardon Trump on state matters

coordinate with Gov Hochel to pardon Trump while Biden pardons Hunter.

The vice president’s son was among several of the Biden family business associates and entities subpoenaed by the SEC in March 2016 to hand over relevant evidence about the scheme, specifically “concerning Rosemont Seneca Bohai, LLC,” by the end of the month.

When the time came for Hunter to hand over key documents and communications to the SEC, he delayed. Nearly one month after the subpoena deadline on April 20, 2016, Hunter’s lawyers responded to the SEC, begging the agency to “treat this matter with the highest degree of confidentiality, consistent with Commission policy and applicable law.”

“The confidential nature of this investigation is very important to our client and it would be unfair, not just to our client, but also to his father, the Vice President of the United States, if his involvement in an SEC investigation and parallel criminal probe were to become the subject of any media attention,” Hunter’s legal counsel wrote.

A few weeks later on May 11, 2016, the SEC publicly announced charges against several of Hunter’s business partners but did not mention the Second Son. ...

“Mr. Biden’s response gratuitously invoked his father’s position as the Vice President in what could be interpreted as an effort to discourage further SEC scrutiny,” the Republicans wrote.

... Edward Lawrence noted Biden’s constant warnings about alleged threats to democracy on the campaign trail.

Lawrence then observed that Bragg – one of Biden’s fellow Democrats – waited until an election year to pursue a case against Biden’s chief opponent.

“How is it not a threat to democracy when you have a prosecutor from the same political party as the president waiting seven years … to prosecute in an election year a former president who is now an opponent?” Lawrence asked. ...

As evidence of coordination, President Trump and his defenders have cited the fact that Biden’s third-highest-ranking DOJ official, Matthew Colangelo, left the department to work on Bragg’s case.

Alvin Bragg Drops Charges against Leftist Columbia University Students Arrested for Pro-Hamas Protests

Manhattan’s George Soros-funded District Attorney Alvin Bragg has dropped all charges against dozens of Columbia University students who were arrested during pro-Hamas protests.

The students occupied and barricaded themselves in buildings on the college campus in April.

On Thursday, the anti-Trump Democrat prosecutor dropped all charges.

DA Bragg dropped cases against 30 students and staff members who were arrested during the campus unrest.

In the courtroom, Judge Kevin McGrath announced:

“All these matters are dismissed and sealed in the interest of justice.”

All the protesters were arrested on April 30.

They were taken into custody by NYPD hours after taking over Hamilton Hall, an academic building.

How much immunity should Presidents get? It’s an insanely difficult question, fraught with future consequence. But after closely observing the farcical fractured fairy tale of Fani “Gimme a G” Willis and the Love Bunnies, and having endured Stalinesque Judge Engoran’s appalling Soviet show trial, I’m leaning toward maximum immunity.

The tipline was reportedly created in response to a recent controversy in which a nurse at Texas Children's Hospital blew the whistle on the illegal use of taxpayer funds to perform transgender surgeries on minors.

https://babylonbee.com/cleanArticle/doj-opens-new-tipline-for-criminals-to-report-whistleblowers

The tipline was reportedly created in response to a recent controversy in which a nurse at Texas Children's Hospital blew the whistle on the illegal use of taxpayer funds to perform transgender surgeries on minors.

Bannon, 70, must report to federal prison this Monday, July 1st, for not cooperating enthusiastically enough with the democrats’ stupid January 6th Committee and “avoiding” a January 6th subpoena. ...

In unrelated news, DOJ chief Merrick Garland is currently defying a Congressional subpoena that didn’t come from an unlawfully constituted committee. And unlike Steve Bannon, Grandma Garland is flying around free as a bird.

On Wednesday, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey filed a lawsuit at the Supreme Court against the State of New York over its “check stub” conviction of President Trump. AG Bailey’s press release was titled, “Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey Files Suit Against New York for Election Interference.”

AG Bailey invoked a rare process allowing the Supreme Court to take original jurisdiction of certain types of cases purely between states, bypassing the need to first litigate through the lower courts. Specifically, Missouri seeks a Supreme Court injunction against New York that would do two things: lift Judge Merchan’s gag order and delay Trump’s sentencing until after the election.

Missouri’s main argument is that New York is improperly interfering with its citizens’ ability to participate fully in the presidential election, by prosecuting a major presidential candidate. In other words, it is election interference. Insurrection! A crime which, as you well know, is literally one million times worse than pickled cabbage, which scientists have determined is a superfood, a category including all plants that, though barely edible, show strong commercial prospects.

Here’s a link to Missouri’s election interference motion. The good news is it’s legible to non-lawyers, so feel free to dive in if you’re interested in more. The motion includes maybe the best current summary yet of all the foibles and problems attached to insurrectionist Alvin Bragg’s misguided prosecution.

It’s 2024, and anything could happen. I won’t speculate about whether the Supreme Court will take the case or what it might do after that. If Judge Merchan were smart, he’d drop the gag order and stay Trump’s sentencing pending the appeals. But, if he were smart, he’d never have taken the case to begin with. So.

Bob Woodward, the famous Watergate journalist who now writes for the Washington Post, has predicted that President Joe Biden will pardon his son Hunter before leaving office in January.

Woodward says he expects Biden to issue the pardon despite saying repeatedly that he would not do so.

Hunter Biden will be sentenced next month on drug and gun charges and faces tax charges in an upcoming trial.

But what about the BIG issue: the wholesale bribery scheme where Hunter collected the money foreign governments and oligarchs used to bribe Joe?