What do you think of Trump's latest donation request?

[AviatorTom]

Now that Donald Trump has been found guilty of all 34 counts in his New York hush-money trial, he is sending out bulk text messages claiming he is a political prisoner, and asking for donations. The picture above is the start of the text message.

What do you think of this? Especially interested in what non-Americans think.

Updates

+1 y

The Trump campaign reported raising US$53 million after his guilty verdict was announced. It could have been more but the Internet site crashed.

[purplepoppy]

It's mind boggling that so many Americans are still supporting him. Over hear even your own party members would be demanding you do the honourable thing and resign so you don't drag them into the gutter. Even here in little wales our prime minister faces a no confidence vote next week over a donation and he's barely had time to warm his seat. They booted Boris out because he went to a party, so for us the idea of a politician with a string of convictions and a reputation like Trump is just not done.

I wonder what the legality of raising funds to pay for a crime is. Are we going to see crowd funding of other crimes in the future? He could offer to commit crimes if donations reach a certain figure.

[abc3643]

Trump doesn't have honor and most of the GOP doesn't now either. They used to be an honorable party 50 years ago.

[WhiteBoyChill]

No offense but we kinda stopped caring about what you think in 1776

[purplepoppy]

No one cares about 1776 the world's moved on

[exitseven]

More people than where are supporting Trump. Americans can see the injustice in a rigged shoemaker trial and realize that ufctge democrats can put Trump in jail for no reason they can put anyone in jail. Trump raised over 30 million dollars in the 24 hours after the verdict. Most from small donors. Clearly the democrats underestinate the intelligence of the American people

[WhiteBoyChill]

But you haven’t apparently. You still seem to think your opinion is somehow relevant in American politics

[purplepoppy]

My opinion on a global site is as valid as anyone elses

[WhiteBoyChill]

Your opinion comes across as extremely baseless and uninformed.

And like I said we just don’t care what you think and will vote accordingly.

[SaoirseS]

Isn't sending money to the wealthy like sending sand to the beach?

[DryGermanGuy]

True! Which in this case tells us he isn’t actually that wealthy. It’s all mortgaged, leveraged, lended against… to the extreme. Trump is more like a fat garden gnome sitting on a pile of cat‘s gold.

[SaoirseS]

Good way to put it.

[exitseven]

I heard that his website crashed because there were so many people donating. If there was any doubt that this was election interference this sort of puts them all to rest. All but the most deluded knows it is a Soviet style show trial.

[abc3643]

Don't be ridiculous. It's very unbecoming.
And it's disrespectful to the 12+ jurors and alternates who had over 5 weeks of their lived disrupted.
... and these were jurors who were deemed acceptable to Trump and his legal team during the voir dire process; if Trump or his lawyers wanted a prospective juror gone during voir dire, that juror gone.
These folks listened to witnesses and lawyers. They viewed and reviewed evidence, testimony, and, if they had legal questions, asked the judge. Together, they spent almost 2 days to determine a verdict. They did their job.

If the powers that be wanted a show trial, they'd have put him in prison for the duration of the trial for any of the 10 times Trump violated his gag order. And then he would have been conveniently killed by another inmate.

[abc3643]

For you personal edification:

www.nytimes.com/.../...oney-trial-transcripts.html
Read Transcripts From Trump’s Manhattan Criminal Trial

The New York Times published the court system’s transcripts from the Manhattan criminal trial of Donald J. Trump, who is charged with 34 felonies in the case.

By The New York Times
May 30, 2024
Update on May 30: New York State’s court system released transcripts from the Manhattan criminal trial against former President Donald J. Trump, who was convicted on May 30 on 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal that threatened to derail his 2016 presidential campaign.

The transcripts covered each day of the trial, beginning April 22, when lawyers on both sides delivered opening statements. The New York Times published the transcripts, which you can look through below.
...
(hyperlinks to transcripts for each day's testimony)

[exitseven]

@abc3643 Trump wanted a change of venue because he knew he could not get a fair trial in a district that 95% voted for Biden. He wanted a different judge because the judge contributed to Biden and his daughter was benefiting from the case. Both these reasonable requests were denied. This was rigged from the start and those jurors lack both honor and integrity.

[exitseven]

@abc3643 what the transcripts do not include is an actual crime. All it says is falsify business recorde, a misdemeanor if he really did it. It was listed as a legal expense. I think having a lawyer draw up a non disclosure agreement would qualify.

[abc3643]

He got a fair trial. He and his team approved the jurors.
We can't shop for venues and judges. You (and your legal team) need to make persuasive cases for these. And, if you don't like it, appeal. If what you say is true, maybe that's grounds for appeal. I doubt he'd be successful on a change of venue.

Meanwhile, should Federal Prosecutor Jack Smith request a different judge than Aileen Cannon in the documents case? After all, she's a Trump appointee. By your reasoning, how could Jack Smith get a fair trial with her?

>>> You get what you get in the criminal justice system. To get a better situation really needs to a burden of persuasion to change things like venue and judge.

[abc3643]

In New York, ...
The crime of Falsifying Business Records in the Second Degree is a misdemeanor.
The crime of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree is a felony.

www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PEN/175.05
§ 175.05 Falsifying business records in the second degree.

A person is guilty of falsifying business records in the second degree
when, with intent to defraud, he:

1. Makes or causes a false entry in the business records of an enterprise; or

2. Alters, erases, obliterates, deletes, removes or destroys a true entry in the business records of an enterprise; or

3. Omits to make a true entry in the business records of an enterprise in violation of a duty to do so which he knows to be imposed upon him by law or by the nature of his position; or

4. Prevents the making of a true entry or causes the omission thereof in the business records of an enterprise.

Falsifying business records in the second degree is a class A
misdemeanor.

www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PEN/175.10
§ 175.10 Falsifying business records in the first degree.

A person is guilty of falsifying business records in the first degree when he commits the crime of falsifying business records in the second degree, and when his intent to defraud includes an intent to commit another crime or to aid or conceal the commission thereof.

Falsifying business records in the first degree is a class E felony.

=============
(more)

[abc3643]

The "intent to commit another crime" would be associated with this statute:

SECTION 17-152
Conspiracy to promote or prevent election
Election (ELN) CHAPTER 17, ARTICLE 17, TITLE 1
§ 17-152. Conspiracy to promote or prevent election. Any two or more persons who conspire to promote or prevent the election of any person to a public office by unlawful means and which conspiracy is acted upon by one or more of the parties thereto, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

=====================
Trump has yet to be charged with that, but could be. The Prosecution is not required to though. All that is necessary in the this trail was that there was an intent to violate that election law. They successfully showed that.

In a way, it's unfortunate. Trump is convicted of a felony when what he really did was commit misdemeanors. But, because the first misdemeanor (falsifying business records 2nd deg) was geared toward the second misdemeanor, that elevated the first misdemeanor in the 1st degree felony.

He should have just paid with personal cash and not of this would have mattered.

[exitseven]

@abc3643 The simple fact that the judge contributed to Biden's campaign should have been enough to disqualify him. That is New York law. But Democrats are above the law. The fix was in before the trial even started.

[abc3643]

Well, no, it's not sufficient grounds. However, I agree that too much would be an unacceptable level and violate the appearance of impartiality.

Here's an article about it from 2 weeks ago:

www.nytimes.com/.../...udge-merchan-donations.html

===

TITLE: Ethics Panel Cautions Judge in Trump Trial Over Political Donations
SUBTITLE: Justice Juan M. Merchan, the judge overseeing Donald J. Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan, donated modest amounts to Democratic groups in 2020.

PICTURE CAPTION: Justice Juan M. Merchan declined to recuse himself over the donations, which totaled $35. Credit... Seth Wenig/Associated Press

By William K. Rashbaum, Jonah E. Bromwich and Ben Protess
May 17, 2024

A state ethics panel quietly dismissed a complaint last summer against the New York judge presiding over the criminal trial of Donald J. Trump, issuing a warning over small donations the judge had made to groups supporting Democrats, including the campaign of Joseph R. Biden Jr.

The judge, Juan M. Merchan, donated a total of $35 to the groups in 2020, including a $15 donation earmarked for the Biden campaign, and $10 to a group called “Stop Republicans.”

Political contributions of any kind are prohibited under state judicial ethics rules.

(more)

[abc3643]

“Justice Merchan said the complaint, from more than a year ago, was dismissed in July with a caution,” the spokesman for the court system, Al Baker, said in a statement.

A caution does not include any penalty, but it can be considered in any future cases reviewed by the state’s Commission on Judicial Conduct. A letter outlining the caution was not released because of the commission’s rules, and Justice Merchan did not make the letter available.

“The Commission on Judicial Conduct is governed by a confidentiality statute and cannot comment on nonpublic dispositions,” said Robert Tembeckjian, the commission’s administrator.
...
In its 2024 annual report, the commission said it was made aware of dozens of New York judges who had violated the rules against political contributions in recent years. Most were modest amounts, the report said, and many appeared to stem from the misperception that the rules only apply to state campaigns. In fact, judges are prohibited from contributing to any campaigns, including for federal office.

“Like so much of the misconduct the Commission encounters, making a prohibited political contribution is a self-inflicted mistake,” the commission wrote in the report.

For Justice Merchan, the stakes of such a mistake are considerably higher than most: He is the first judge in American history to preside over the criminal trial of a former president.

The donations in part fueled Mr. Trump’s unsuccessful efforts to have Justice Merchan removed from the case before the trial began. Mr. Trump’s lawyers also focused on Justice Merchan’s adult daughter and her work at a Democratic consulting firm.

But Justice Merchan declined to recuse himself, appeals court judges declined to step in, and the trial is now nearing its conclusion.
...

[exitseven]

@abc3643 What Trump did was have his attorney pay somebody some money and sign a Non Disclosure Agreement This is often done in business. The publisher of the National Enquirer testified that they do it all the time.. Trump's bookkeeper made this entry as a Legal expense. I do not know how else to describe it. Also it was never explained how they could just ignore the fact that this was done 8 years ago which was past the statute of limitations which in New York is between 2 and 6 years. The basically made this up as they went along. democrats. How they presented the trial never actually articulated the actual crime because there was none and the judge instructed the handpicked jury that they do not need to see proof of a crime but if they just had a feeling that President Trump was guilty of something they could vote to find him guilty.. Since Trump had millions of donors donate over 50 million to his campaign the democrats have probably figured out that even conviction Trump of a crime will not slow him down and he is currently on track to be the next President they are sure to put him in prison next month and hope against hope that somebody sticks a shiv in him.

[abc3643]

You know, this charge of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree may be something of a stretch, but it is legitimate and the jury agreed with that. Trump, the micromanager with money (as he stated so in his books), made payments to silence the story. OK, that's a misdemeanor (... in the Second Degree). But, the Prosecution was able to show that the reason for this was to do damage control for the election which is an interpretation of a violation of NY's Election Law (SECTION 17-152, Conspiracy to promote or prevent election). The jury agreed with that and that's why it was elevated to the First Degree (which is a felony).

This is that law:
§ 17-152. Conspiracy to promote or prevent election. Any two or more
persons who conspire to promote or prevent the election of any person to
a public office by unlawful means and which conspiracy is acted upon by
one or more of the parties thereto, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

It is this law and its interpretation where Trump's team needs to focus on an appeal. All the other stuff, he's not going to win as grounds for an appeal.

If Trump's team can show in appellate court that paying hush money for damage control is a normal part of the political process, then they would be able to show that this is not really a violation of 17-152. In that case, Trump's conviction would be downgraded to 34 counts of the Second Degree, all misdemeanors.

[exitseven]

Thanks for the MHO😎

[exitseven]

@abc3643 The key word here is "quietly" it was hushed up because they did not want the public to know that the judge was a Biden contributor. The fake news was complicit in the coverup too.

[abc3643]

And that's just it...
"it was hushed up because they did not want the public to know"
The Trump campaign didn't want the public to know. That influences the election and that's why this became a felony.

[exitseven]

@abc3643 the Trump campaign wanted the public to know. I am sure I heard about it on Newsmax And not a peep on CBS.

[abc3643]

You missed what I wrote. The Trump campaign didn't want known Trump's infidelities with the pornstar.

Anyway this is all moot. What Trump's new team needs to do is two things:
1. Concentrate on the appeal. He has a shot of winning that eventually.
2. Started allocating resources in case Trump is accused of violating New York election law, the one I listed above.
3. Prepare for the very real possibility that Trump actually may spend time in prison by August. I don't think it'll be much, but I do think he is going to have a prison sentence of at least a month. This is because of Trump's previous convictions and other lawsuit that he has lost and that he shows no contrition and has been on the attack both before the verdict and since. All of these character issues are permitted to be applied in determining the sentence. I think the judge realizes like most functionally adult Americans that nothing will stop Trump from being the profound asshole that he is until he spend some time in self-reflection behind bars away from his handlers and his social media and his adoring throngs.

[DryGermanGuy]

"A fool and his money are lucky enough to get together in the first place."

- Gordon Gekko, Wallstreet

[Anonymous]

And if they said not guilty, he'd ask for money. If anyone is stupid enough to give money to an alleged BILLIONAIRE, they deserve to never see it again

[ManInChains]

He's become a martyr and that isn't his fault that is the democrats fault. He is indeed a political prisoner and people should protest outside of the jail holding him telling them to free Trump

[exitseven]

According to a poll by the Daily Mail Prwsident Trump went up 6 points in rhe last 24 hours over his opponent

[CAROSSA]

No matter who it is, as long as the donated money is used for things that benefit humanity, it deserves support.

[chrissykerdock]

joe biden is the real felon so is hilary

[handsomelad70]

Disgusting, as is ANYTHING involving Donald John Trump !!!

[exitseven]

Whatvisxdisgustingvis how crooked the democrats are. And they are actually allowed to reproduce.

[handsomelad70]

@exitseven Better than REPIGLIKSCAM reproducing !!!

[MysticDevice]

He's a billionaire. He can bail himself out.

[msc545]

Hyperbole.

[Sabretooth]

yup.

[Sabretooth]

Trump makes me think of this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecAJH2Z5e8Q not the same context but the exact same sentiment.

[dustybiker2]

He has bills to pay.