# A Perfectly Reasonable Amount of Schadenfreude about Things Happening to Trump & His Enablers (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 14, 2020, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537 "2020-11-14T00:09:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 296
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/5907 "2022-07-11T14:50:50Z")
Yes, I wrote it. It’s mine. ( At least it’s mine until next week, when Stephen Colbert gets back from vacation, slips it into one of his monologues w/o permission, and makes the whole world think its his. ) ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/5908 "2022-07-11T14:57:51Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > And Trump bootlickers are pretending that King Trump “waived” Bannon’s “executive privilege” and that this allows Bannon to testify. > Delusional fucks. Well, according to my reading of the clipped item above, the NYT also characterized it that way. I have to cop to some confusion, here. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/5909 "2022-07-11T16:27:01Z")
Well, but the NYT kind of sucks. They reflexively repeat political assertions without noting they are merely assertions in order to avoid being judged as partisan. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/5910 "2022-07-11T16:29:44Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Well, according to my reading of the clipped item above, the NYT also characterized it that way. I have also waived executive privilege for any conversations/activities Bannon performed for the President. It has the same effect. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/5911 "2022-07-11T16:42:53Z")
Nu-huh! Me first! _I_ waive privilege! ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/5912 "2022-07-11T17:14:02Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > I have also waived executive privilege for any conversations/activities Bannon performed for the President. It has the same effect. Yes, but he’s trying to offer up “this great gift” in order to get special concessions. He wants something for nothing. Off the hook from all charges? That he gets a live mic to all the networks? That he has his lawyer next to him to counsel him when to stop lying? If it wouldn’t cause an oil slick, Congress should tell him to take a long walk off of a short pier… ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/5913 "2022-07-11T17:36:30Z")
You shouldn’t do that in public! There might be children about! ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/5914 "2022-07-11T18:35:28Z")
I have to admit I’m confused. We have a document (you can see it [here](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22082943-president-trump-letter-07092022pdf), uploaded by Ryan Reilly of NBC) that is a scan of the letter Trump sent to Bannon waiving executive privilege. It reads like a parody piece, so I’d consider it fake, except Trump really would write that kind of bullshit. So I don’t have a reason to doubt it. Even if it does read like something from The Onion. > I write about the Subpoena that you received in September 2021 from the illegally constituted Unselect Committee, the same group of people who created the Russia Russia Russia scam, Impeachment hoax #1, Impeachment hoax #2, the Mueller 'Witch-Hunt (which ended in no “Collusion”), and other fake and never-ending yarns and tales. Last month, Bannon himself tried to claim executive privilege was in effect, and a judge denied the claim because there was no evidence that Trump ever invoked it. > **[Judge rejects Bannon’s effort to dismiss criminal case for defying Jan. 6...](https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/15/judge-rejects-bannons-effort-to-dismiss-criminal-case-for-defying-jan-6-select-committee-00039888)** > > U.S. District Court Judge Carl Nichols rebuffed a series of arguments Bannon had lodged, including that Trump had asserted executive privilege to block his former aide’s testimony. > In an oral ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Carl Nichols rebuffed a series of arguments Bannon had lodged, including that Trump had asserted executive privilege to block his former aide’s testimony. Nichols contended that there’s insufficient evidence that Trump truly did assert privilege or seek to block Bannon from testifying to the panel the House created to investigate the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 and related events. Now Trump’s attorney claims that Trump never did invoke it. > **[Trump never invoked executive privilege over Bannon's Jan. 6 testimony, his...](https://abcnews.go.com/US/doj-reveals-investigators-interviewed-trumps-attorney-connection-bannon/story?id=86588798)** > > Investigators interviewed former President Trump's lawyer two weeks ago in connection with Steve Bannon's criminal contempt case, the DOJ has revealed in a court filing. > The Justice Department revealed in an early Monday morning court filing that federal investigators interviewed former President Donald Trump’s attorney Justin Clark two weeks ago in connection with former Trump adviser Steve Bannon’s criminal contempt case. > > Prosecutors say that Clark confirmed in the interview that at no point did Trump ever invoke executive privilege over Bannon’s testimony – and directly contradicted other claims made by Bannon’s defense team in their case. So, is the letter fake? Did Trump lie in the letter about invoking executive privilege? Is he lying now (through his lawyers)? It’s all pretty much moot, since nobody is currently claiming there is any executive privilege in effect and Bannon is testifying. But it’s still confusing. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/5915 "2022-07-11T18:37:40Z")
They’re all clowns. Nothing they say, or even write, apparently, can be taken seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/5916 "2022-07-11T19:17:16Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > So, is the letter fake? Did Trump lie in the letter about invoking executive privilege? Is he lying now (through his lawyers)? It’s all pretty much moot, since nobody is currently claiming there is any executive privilege in effect and Bannon is testifying. But it’s still confusing. Trump’s new letter is real. And no, I don’t believe that it’s new news that Bannon never had a leg to stand on. Trump’s lawyer sent out advice to people saying that they should not share any documents or information protected by executive privilege: > **[Trump tells 4 former aides to defy Jan. 6 committee's subpoena](https://www.politico.com/news/2021/10/07/trump-jan-6-committees-subpoena-515593)** > > The House panel probing the Capitol attack had demanded documents and testimony from the former president's former aides by Thursday. That is a very specific notification, of limited scope. What constitutes “executive privilege” and does not would be the question for Bannon’s lawyer - if following the guidance of Trump’s lawyers - not whether to show up for questioning. > **['Every Event Involved Attorney Advice': Steve Bannon's Lawyers Press to Use...](https://www.law.com/nationallawjournal/2022/02/25/every-event-involved-attorney-advice-steve-bannons-lawyers-press-to-use-advice-of-counsel-defense-at-trial/?slreturn=20231127033529)** > > The government alleges that Mr. Bannon committed a crime. Every act that they intend to rely upon as proof involved Mr. Bannon’s reliance upon legal advice,” Bannon’s lawyers wrote. Plausibly, Bannon’s lawyer was an idiot who read far too much into Trump’s lawyer’s letter. Bannon isn’t allowed to make that case and he’d be best served by getting comfortable jumping through hoops to please the Committee and the DOJ (IMHO). ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/5917 "2022-07-11T20:10:04Z")
An actual question asked by an actual $400/hour attorney to an actual Federal Judge: > > > Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/5918 "2022-07-11T20:12:23Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > An actual question asked by an actual $400/hour attorney to an actual Federal Judge: Now, if the attorney asked that question to their **client** , it’s a great rhetorical question, and a strong argument to get them to agree to a plea deal. Why the fuck would you ask that of a _judge_? ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/5919 "2022-07-11T20:20:20Z")
(Raises hand) I know! I know! ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/5920 "2022-07-11T20:40:57Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Bannon’s lawyer David Schoen just now: “What’s the point of going to trial here if there are no defenses?” So, I guess, straight to prison for you. I mean, WTF? The attorney well must be getting very, very dry. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/5921 "2022-07-11T20:44:27Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > [https://twitter.com/cryanbarber/status/1546561556514742279?t=bRc5-BMTzRLqOHlMJf5OwA&s=19](https://twitter.com/cryanbarber/status/1546561556514742279?t=bRc5-BMTzRLqOHlMJf5OwA&s=19) “I’m not actually getting paid for this bullshit, so how about if we just skip to the chase and put my client in jail?” ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/5922 "2022-07-11T20:48:44Z")
Defense/offence, what’s the difference? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/5923 "2022-07-11T20:49:11Z")
I think the next step - if you’ve been denied a defense - is to try to change your pleading and to strike a deal with the prosecution. I’m not a lawyer, but it would seem strange that you’d be compelled to continue on to trial regardless of the outcome of the judge’s review of the permissibility of various arguments. Even if the judge didn’t strike every argument, I could still see some lawyers wanting to go back and revise the pleading after the judge’s review. I have to assume that there’s an offramp available, still, at this stage. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/5924 "2022-07-11T21:14:27Z")
And you, my friend, have now proved yourself sharper than any Far-Right-Nutjob-Who’s-Okay-With-Probably-Getting-Stiffed lawyer. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/5925 "2022-07-11T22:19:39Z")
Lindsey Graham has now been ordered to testify before the Georgia grand jury on August 2. Graham had attempted use executive privilege to avoid giving testimony. > **[Judge orders Sen. Lindsey Graham to testify for special grand jury in Trump...](https://news.yahoo.com/sen-lindsey-graham-ordered-testify-184934823.html)** > > Graham tried to fight the subpoena to testify, citing executive privilege. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/5926 "2022-07-11T22:29:03Z")
The entitled belief in privilege runs deep in these motherfuckers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537.md?page=295) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537.md?page=297)