It’s like a gang initiation or something. That’s the only thing that makes any “sense”.
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They were part of a special crime unit called The Scorpions. The lawyer for the Nichols family says he has had people come forward who claim to have been pulled over and assaulted by that unit. One of the 5 seems to have had previous issues with violence as a prison guard.
My guess is they were looking for someone to fuck with and picked Nichols at random. But, because he got away, they decided to teach him a lesson and ended up killing him. The supervisor at the original stop is recorded saying “I hope they stomp him” as the cops take off after a fleeing Nichols.
What I fear we are going to find is that The Scorpions harassed people routinely, and that it was common practice to give a runner a good going over. Those two things peaked on this one night with this one poor man.
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Back to less horrific things:
Dude is going to jail.
Along with Trump?
Maybe. Reportedly he’s worried about it.
Maybe things are finally going to catch up with him.
The funniest part about the Stormy Daniels mess that is coming back around on Trump, is that a previous six-figure hush money payment to Karen McDougal was made by National Enquirer owner David Pecker, and Trump stiffed him for it.
Apparently, the specialist training for Memphis’ Scorpion unit involved three days of powerpoint presentations and one day on the shooting range.
BREAKING NEWS: The Trumps are liars.
Tish James has filed for sanctions against the Trumps and their lawyers for offering pants-on-fire depositions in the NY civil suit.
The list of things goes on for about 25 pages. Full document here.
My favorite is that they denied the existence of the “Trump Organization”. I’m not kidding.
First rule of Trump Organization is don’t talk about Trump Organization.
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The letter is six pages, the attached excerpts of testimony make up the rest. But the letter is interesting reading for sure. What would the potential ramifications be of this action if the judge grants it? It would seem to retroactively collapse legal defenses and replace bullshit denials and deflections with “Yes” answers.
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I’m no lawyer but, to my reading, the remedy being sought seems to be that bullshit and/or incorrect answers for which the NYAG already has prior evidence to the contrary will default to be as per such prior evidence. This could turn some denials into confessions, presumably.
I didn’t read all the supporting documents, but in Trump’s deposition extract it is stated and acknowledged that his deposition will be his testimony at trial. Reversing any number of responses could be crushingly bad for the Trumps.
A few things are going on… I’m going to oversimplify based on a very quick skimming of the letter:
First, Trump/Defendants did not deny the existence of the Trump Organization… they objected to the definition of the Trump Organization that was used in the OAG’s pleadings. Speculating here, but the OAG may not have differentiated between “The Trump Organization, Inc.” (the specific corporate entity) and the Trump Organization (the shorthand term for the conglomerate of companies). It’s ticky-tack, and the letter says the Court has already rejected that distinction as made by the defendants, but it may not be completely inappropriate. The court can just overrule the objection and/or order defendants to replead.
In the “Answer” pleading, you will typically have a (1) “general denial” - requiring the plaintiff/prosecution to prove each element of their claim, and (2) a list of “affirmative defenses” - which the defendant has to plead and prove - and if successful, essentially preempt the plaintiff’s claim. There are a set of recognized affirmative defenses to certain claims, and those defenses must be pleaded using specific language and factual allegations. First, that letter says defendants pleaded about 40 different affirmative defenses (which is a LOT), and it looks like several were just complete bullshit - not even actual “affirmative defenses” - just tossed into the affirmative defenses section of the Answer. It sounds like the OAG is trying to knock out a big chunk of the “bullshit” affirmative defenses.
As for the factual allegation denials, it appears that the court could strike the denials and deem as admitted those facts (which defendants had previously admitted in sworn testimony) . Each of those potentially “deemed admitted” facts could be used to establish one or more elements of the OAG’s claims. I doubt any of those facts would make for a complete “win” on any given claim. However, it would simplify the OAG’s case, as they don’t have to put on evidence or prove any of those admitted facts in their case in chief.
I interpret the “sanctions” part as mostly chest-thumping. The Court may grant the request for sanctions, but they would most likely be measured by the amount of time/fees incurred in seeking the remedy.
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Video is out of Trump pleading the 5th in his deposition, and it is as low energy as it is glorious. I also saw clips of him whining his rally greatest hits, which is ridiculous and part of the NYAG’s petition to have it struck for being bullshit. Who the fuck did he think he was talking to?
Fun Fact: Because Trump’s deposition was in a civil case, the video of him pleading the 5th can be played to the jury and a negative inference can be taken.
Q: "Mr. Trump, did you commit financial fraud?
A: “Fif!”
Prosecutor looks at jury and shrugs.
Enjoy the sadness.
So he can read. At least that clears that up.
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