Wait, didn't they get Capone for tax evasion?

Pointed at this by Taegan Goddard's Political Wire.

Like Cheeto, he did a lot of bad things, most them far worse than tax evasion, but the pragmatic part of me says "hey, whatever works."

From The Messenger -

Trump’s Tax Representative Said in 2020 He ‘Agrees’ With $26.6 Million Appraisal of Mar-a-Lago (Exclusive)

Former President Donald Trump has sought to discredit a New York judge’s blockbuster ruling threatening his business empire by arguing that Mar-a-Lago alone is worth more than a billion dollars.

But less than three years ago, his tax representative told Palm Beach County officials that Trump “agrees” his private club in South Florida is worth just $26.6 million, according to records obtained by The Messenger.

“The petitioner agrees with the determination of the property appraiser or tax collector,” Michael Corbiciero, the CEO of the tax consulting firm Marvin F. Poer & Co., attested in a letter dated Nov. 16, 2020.

Maybe the next time that Cheeto, he should enter to a song.  Of course, that song should be Fortunate Son, written by John Fogerty, and performed by Creedence Clearwater Revival.

From Austin Community College -

[snip]

But when the tax man comes to the door,
Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale.

A court ruling may remove the core of Cheeto's self identity

Before he committed treason...before he bankrupted a casino...even before he was a media "personality"...he was a a real estate developer in New York City.

For most folks in that line of work, their favorite building materials seem to be concrete, wood, and drywall; based on the judge's ruling, it seems that Cheeto's were smoke, mirrors, and bullshit.

From The Hill -

Trump could lose control of famed properties under New York fraud ruling

A major loss Tuesday in former President Trump’s New York civil fraud case raises the potential for him to lose control of some of his famed properties and ability to do business in the state.

A New York judge ruled Tuesday that state Attorney General Letitia James (D) proved core elements of her far-reaching case, narrowing the scope of the trial that is set to begin as soon as Monday.

The decision finds Trump, two of his adult children — Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. — and their businesses liable for fraud after James’s office sued them last September. They have denied any wrongdoing and vowed to appeal.

"Smoke, mirrors, and bullshit."

Those are the basic building materials in his political career, too.

Alan Dershowitz, one of Kari Lake's lawyers, invokes the idiot defense

It's BS.

He may be an alleged predator, but he's not a *stupid* one.

From AZMirror, written by Caitlin Sievers -

Attorneys: Alan Dershowitz should have known better

Alan Dershowitz, the famed civil liberties attorney, is asking not to be sanctioned alongside other attorneys for Kari Lake and Mark Finchem after he signed onto a lawsuit that the judge called a “frivolous complaint.”

Dershowitz claimed during a telephone hearing on Wednesday that he only participated in the case, which aimed to stop Arizona from using any type of electronic voting machines to tally ballots, in a limited capacity and should therefore not be held responsible for the false claims in the suit. 

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But two Arizona attorneys told the Arizona Mirror that because Dershowitz was listed as counsel in the case and signed his name to many of the filings, he was legally just as responsible for its content as the other lawyers who represented Lake and Finchem. 

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Dershowitz made it a point to tell the judge that he doesn’t know either Lake or Finchem personally. 

“I do not like Ms. Lake,” Dershowitz said. “I would never have voted for her.” 

While Dershowitz told the judge on Wednesday that he only consulted on the case as a constitutional law expert and was not involved in any other way, he agreed to be admitted to be an attorney in the case “pro hac vice,” which allows an attorney who isn’t licensed in a state to work on a specific case in that state. 

“Everyone knows those rules, that when you appear in a case, you accept responsibility for the case,” Stirling said. “If he consented to appear in the case, he knows the responsibility he was taking on.”

 

Dershowitz has tried to get out of paying his penalty before this plea.  Guess being one of Cheeto's lackeys isn't so lucrative.

Does Kari Lake drive a car or a whaaaaambulance?

She loses in elections and in court...and then whines about both.

From Howard Fischer of Capitol Media Services, published by the Arizona Capitol Times -

Lake says she will appeal judge’s ruling confirming she lost election

Kari Lake said Tuesday she will appeal Monday’s ruling confirming the election of Katie Hobbs as governor, brushing aside the fact that the judge said her key evidence in seeking to overturn the result was legally irrelevant.

In a press conference outside her Phoenix headquarters, Lake said she has been denied the ability to put on a case showing she actually won the race. She said that is because of the rulings about state elections laws from Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson all the way up through the Arizona Supreme Court about what she needed to prove.

All of them went against her.

GQP to courts: "Your orders are irrelevant to our desire to hurt people"

From NBC -

Montana defies order on transgender birth certificates

Just hours after a Montana judge blocked health officials from enforcing a state rule that would prevent transgender people from changing the gender on their birth certificate, the Republican-run state on Thursday said it would defy the order.

District Court Judge Michael Moses chided attorneys for the state during a hearing in Billings for circumventing his April order that temporarily blocked a 2021 Montana law that made it harder to change birth certificates.

Moses said there was no question that state officials violated his earlier order by creating the new rule. Moses said his order reinstates a 2017 Department of Public Health and Human Services rule that allowed people to update the gender on their birth certificate by filing an affidavit with the department.

However, the state said it would disregard the ruling.

Is contempt of court a felony?  If not, it should be, at least for elected officials and public employees.

If an election doesn't go how you like, just sue

And for once, I'm not talking about Cheeto and his minions and their efforts to overturn the election results of 2020.

From Community Impact (Gilbert edition) -

Gilbert resident takes lawsuit disputing bond election results to Arizona Supreme Court

Having struck out in Maricopa County Superior Court and with the Arizona Court of Appeals, a Gilbert resident will make a final attempt to get the results of Gilbert’s street bond election thrown out.

The attorney for sign maker Jim Torgeson has appealed the decision to the Arizona Supreme Court, though no hearing date has been set.

The case number in Maricopa County Superior Court is CV2021-017974.