patrick.net

Ceffer says

OK, restarting fixed it

My best fix when I was a technician back in the '90's. Closely followed by plugging something in.

One time I had to drive 3 hours from La Jolla to El Segundo in morning traffic to troubleshoot a modem problem. We tried to troubleshoot the issue over the phone to no avail. I finally battle through LA rush hour get to the office only to find that the user has the phone line plugged into the ethernet port.

Yes, I have gotten into some special kind of stupid closed loops. Goes with the territory of having no coding. A bunch of funny letters and symbols rather than pretty pictures and all that.

https://alexberenson.substack.com/p/urgent-update-to-fridays-article

A New York appeals court has reduced the bond Donald Trump must post to appeal the civil fraud judgment against him to $175 million, giving him a crucial victory

Assuming Trump can post the $175 million bond, he will now be able to appeal the insane $464 million (and counting) penalty that Judge Arthur Engeron imposed on him last month. He will not face losing his properties until his appeal is heard.

Recall that Engeron’s ruling came for a “fraud” that Trump committed by taking out loans, then paying them back in full, with interest. Whatever one thinks of Trump, that decision was a travesty of justice and should frighten anyone who does business in New York. I suspect this is the first step in undoing it.

Patrick says

that decision was a travesty of justice and should frighten anyone who does business in New York

Yes, the businesses will be sure to kowtow bigly to Dems and never oppose them. "Want to donate to my campaign, or would you prefer to see my buddy Engoron?"

https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/four-years-tuesday-march-26-2024

And, while the appellate court’s decision was good, it wasn’t great. Even a $175 million dollar bond in this case is outrageous. The good news is the amount — a third of the original — signals the court of appeals is leaning toward lopping the head of Judge Engoran’s ridiculous fine.

The appellate judges are probably thinking about the Constitutional issue.

Under the Constitution and settled Supreme Court law, punitive fines generally can’t exceed three times actual damages. Nor can they be so large as to bankrupt someone, or even “impose an undue financial burden on the individual.” Overlarge fines offend the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of excessive fines. In a major recent case, Timbs v. Indiana (2019), the Court confirmed that the excessive fines clause of the Eighth Amendment applies to the States (not just the federal government), in both civil and criminal cases.

So that’s my best guess as to what the court of appeals had in view. That and politics. If it waived the bond requirement it would have been pilloried. Media doesn’t seem to know what to make of the $175 million bond, which is still a LOT, so they’re mostly ignoring it.

Assuming that Judge Engoran’s fine for “overestimating real estate” stands at all, it seems likely to be greatly reduced.

https://babylonbee.com/cleanArticle/4d-chess-trump-makes-mar-a-lago-worth-500-million-by-hanging-up-3-hunter-biden-paintings

Patrick says

It was worse than that. They have now set a precedence for anyone who gets a HELOC or reverse mortgage based on a home value greater than the tax assessment to be guilty of fraud. What happens when a house is bought with a mortgage that exceeds the tax assessment?

https://slaynews.com/news/judge-engoron-under-investigation-colluding-lawyer-trump-case/

Radical New York Judge Arthur Engoron has come under investigation over allegations that he colluded with a lawyer regarding the case he was overseeing against President Donald Trump.

A New York real estate attorney claims that he coordinated with Engoron in the case against Trump.

The New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct has launched a probe into the claim by Attorney Adam Leitman Bailey.

Bailey told WNBC-TV that he had a secret, off-the-record courthouse conversation with Engoron three weeks before the judge would slap Trump with a $454 million penalty for allegedly inflating the value of his assets.

New York judges are barred from considering outside opinions in such a way when litigating a case.

https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1844426831564505456

Excellent summary of the lawfare case against @realDonaldTrump that was just crushed by the NY Appellate.

Incredibly sensible questions by appellate judges had me in stitches

American justice system for the W.

Probably just like the crypto fuckup, the lawyers get to skate. After all, if lawyers turn on themselves, then all of a sudden, people get the idea that a lot of lawyers are proven scumbags.

Ref: Elzbeth Bathory (the "elite" can't publicly turn on their own, much less allow them to be degraded by the justice of the commoners/peasants).

Patrick says

Excellent summary of the lawfare case against realDonaldTrump that was just crushed by the NY Appellate.

Incredibly sensible questions by appellate judges had me in stitches

American justice system for the W.

It was still lawfare, designed to generate persecution, cost and embarrassment. I imagine Trump will sue for and win legal fees and damages. As the judges pointed out, it was election interference and thus treason. Of course, treason doesn't ring very many bells nowadays. The hideous and sociopathic excuse for a judge will likely be retired if not struck off.

The lawfare perpetrators were ordered to fall on their swords for this one. They should all be struck off and personally and individually sued. Hope the Freemason promotion was worth it.

Now that the appeals court has overturned the conviction, Trump gets his hundreds of millions back with ~8% interest paid by the PRNY. $175,000,000 X 0.08 = $14,000,000; prorate that for less than a year.

stereotomy says

Now that the appeals court has overturned the conviction

When did that happen? I cannot find it in the news.

HeadSet says

When did that happen? I cannot find it in the news.

exactly

Next chapter in this drama is Lietitia James being fined for taking this case to trial.

DemocratsAreTotallyFucked says

HeadSet says

When did that happen? I cannot find it in the news.

exactly

The court hearing did happen but the verdict isn't out yet. The court day ended with the prosecution lawyers asking not to be sanctioned. So it's likey the appellate court will toss the judgement and Trump get his money back.

https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/excessive-fines-friday-august-22

About two days after I noted that Trump’s historic half-billion-dollar New York fine remained stayed, the New York Court of Appeals issued an equally historic blockbuster opinion that completely wiped it out. Big platforms like the New York Times airbrushed the article right out of their front page lineups. But NBC ran the remarkable story under the headline, “New York appeals court throws out Trump's more than $500 million fraud judgment.”

It hardly seems necessary to remind C&C readers that this is one of the most politically-charged cases in history. It’s the only one that offered Democrats any hope of ‘real’ consequences for Trump being Trump. They even built little mantelpiece shrines to corpse-like Judge Arthur Engoran, fondly arranged right next to their Fauci bobbleheads. ...

No bank lost a dime, no lender testified they were duped, and every loan was repaid on time with interest. Instead of admitting those missing elements sank the case, the court waved them away, and invested even more pages in a new doctrine of convenience: in this case, they said, the AG doesn’t need to prove harm and reliance.

At the end of the very long judicial day, even after 120+ pages of Engoron-repair and Trump-bashing, the Justices had no choice but to finally face the Constitution. Citing controlling Supreme Court precedent, they ultimately (and tersely) admitted the disgorgement award was excessively punitive, and struck it down under the Eighth Amendment’s ban on excessive fines. That part they got right — and it’s exactly what SCOTUS will do if the case finally crawls its way up there.

Patrick says

No bank lost a dime, no lender testified they were duped, and every loan was repaid on time with interest. Instead of admitting those missing elements sank the case, the court waved them away,

Horrible precedence. Now anyone can be taken to court for fraud if they have a mortgage amount or sale price greater than the tax assessment.