It really is onerous. California’s bar exam is known to be very tough, possibly tougher than any other state’s, partly because you are allowed to apply to the CA bar even if you don’t have a law degree. You can apply simply by reading law, which works out to basically sort of apprenticing to a lawyer. This is the route Kim Kardashian is taking and she’s finding simple doesn’t mean easy.
There are also, IIRC, some very New Agey “law schools” in California that are happy to take your tuition money but don’t really prepare you to take the bar exam. I’ve heard of applicants standing up and walking out within minutes of sitting down to take the exam, when they realize how tough it is and how utterly unprepared they are.
#3 son took (and passed (yay!)) the CA bar in the spring. If they didn’t take a bar prep course, they were idiots. And I guess if their law school told them that they didn’t need to, that’s probably some form of malpractice on the schools part. If only those applicants could pass the bar so that they could sue . . .
Agreed. Lifting a 2,000 lb boulder unassisted is also pretty simple.
Trump org. is looking at charges coming next week.
once the organization is charged banks will cut off money flow and call in any loans.
They may not be able to get to trump without his accountant, but a lot of damage can be done to his standard of living. Trump and his 3 oldest will be feeling quite the squeeze next week.
I’ll believe it if it happens.
I had some beefs with that article, though. They provided all sorts of expert opinions on fringe benefits and the murkiness of the taxation of fringe benefits and how failing to pay taxes on fringe benefits was seldom prosecuted, even making a comparison to company cars.
It seemed to ignore one thing………
The things Trump is accused of giving his employees were not normal fringe benefits. They were not even close to being normal fringe benefits. Words mean things, dammit. The article linked to an IRS guide to fringe benefits, with the rules for things like cars and phones and continuing education, things that are all a universe away from the things Trump allegedly gave his employees.
If Trump had paid for Allen Weisselberg to go to night school for an accounting course, that would be a normal fringe benefit.
If Trump had paid for Allen Weisselberg to go to cooking school and claimed it was because he needed him to be able to whip up appealing snacks for important clients, that would be in the murky area.
But Trump paying for Allen Weisselberg’s children’s education is not a “fringe benefit”. It’s straight up tax evasion, as is Trump paying Ivanka large non-taxable (payroll tax) sums as a consultant when she was also a full time employee.
Obviously there will be much schadenfreude throughout the land if Trump (AND his relatives and associates) finally face both criminal and civil consequences for their blatant disregard for the law.
But assuming this succeeds, NY and other states as well will have a template for holding other wealthy miscreants liable for their lawbreaking—lawbreaking that has been going on for many decades, in some cases.
Pursuing wealthy tax cheats could become a source of substantial income for some states. Politicians have long promised to take such action, but after a successful prosecution of Trump Org malefactors, they will have no excuses for neglecting to make the attempts.
Gosh, wouldn’t that be sad for all those arrogant "only little people pay taxes" Lords of the Earth???
- grips torch and pitchfork *
It sure is fun to think about while we wait.
Well, of course they’ll still ignore it whenever possible. Remember those same wealthy tax cheats are the ones that grease palms and make large donations to political campaigns in exchange for being ignored on certain things.
And Ann_Hedonia, I agree about that article. It’s been updated with new details, but I expect there’s some things being considered in the charges that the NYT doesn’t know about. I also wonder if there’s a game of chicken going on here - Weisselberg is currently not cooperating and I wonder if the threat of charges against the entire org is designed to pressure him some more.
I also remember when I signed up for one of the fringe benefits that exists where I work - one tuition-free college class per semester. After I was approved to take the classes I wanted, the very next day I got an email warning me of possible extra tax I might have to pay along with questions I needed to answer to determine if that was the case or not. I bet the Trump Org folks never saw any such thing.
One thing I especially appreciate about when this news broke: It’s the day before the evil, corrupt twit takes his shakedown show back on the road in Ohio. Might could maybe throw him off his grifting game.
(Emphasis added)
They might have, since I’d be (almost) willing to bet that TrumpCo don’t give a rotten fig about their employees’ tax liability as long as theirs is zero. So it would make sense for them to write off the education expenses — including classes taken by the water coolers and toilet paper dispensers — while leaving the employees on the hook.
What I’ve been hearing on the MSNBC commentary shows ( if I’m watching them, you know the Trump and/or Republicans had a bad day) is that the news about the charges against the Trump Org was leaked by Trump’s people in an attempt to get ahead of the story and put their own spin on it.
We’ll see if anything happens next week. Frankly, I dont know if they’ll ever get enough on Trump directly to file criminal charges against him. He doesn’t use email, doesn’t put things in writing, doesn’t let people take notes on anything and doesn’t give direct instructions.
However, I would not be at all surprised if they charge his kids criminally. While Trump doesn’t use e-mail, his children have a history of incriminating themselves via email that’s downright comical.
Don Jr’s blunder with the Russian posing as a government agent wasn’t his first, or even worst, email Darwin Award moment.
Back in 2006, he and his sister discussed defrauding potential purchasers in the godawful Trump Soho building - which was literally built on a slave era African American burial ground ,also a immigrant construction worker fell off the building and died because Trump doesn’t believe in safety. I worked a few blocks from that monstrosity while it was being built and it’s not even really in Soho, it’s sort of in the middle of the Holland Tunnel entrance/exit ramp system, it’s a coin flip as to whether you’ll be hit by a tractor trailer or choke on exhaust fumes before you reach the lobby —— but anyway, those two brain surgeons not only emailed about how to defraud the purchasers, they emailed about how they could discuss their fraud via email and never get caught as long as they were the only people on the email chain.
Then they got caught and daddy had to give everyone their money back and make them sign non-disclosure agreements, which pissed off the prosecutors so daddy had to give money to their campaign, all because his kids are stupid.
Yet after all that, Don Jr. went and fell for a Russian scheme to obtain kompromat. Think about how incredibly stupid he is.
But Trump and his cronies have had a really bad couple of days. Guiliani losing his license, the upcoming indictment, the Supreme Court ruling on the ACA and even the Chauvin verdict. Oh, yeah….Joint Chief of Staff Mark Milley’s impassioned defense of literacy. I’m sure Trump’s seething.
Am I the only one that’s a little bit concerned that pissed off Trumpie is going to whip up a crowd tomorrow night and set them loose on Ohio?
I mean, this rally isn’t going to be fun for Trump supporters like the rallies were when they were winning and pwning the libs. This is going to be a big grievance filled loser rally, two hours of Trump ranting about dead voters and rigged machines. This people are going to be pissed-off.
I hope there’s plenty of extra security to keep the press safe. Seriously.
I’m sorry, I’ve googled, but I’ve not found anything about this. Could you elaborate? thanks.
It happened at a Senate hearing. It was epic, the right-wing is going full on anti-military because of it.
Here’s a good story on it.
Oh, good. @Ann_Hedonia’s NPR link contains a youtube video of Milley’s statement. Epic, and worth watching. He definitely got under Matt Gaetz’s skin. Plus when you’re right, you’re right.
Thank you. I especially like this comment from the General:
Seems a fair question, for those charged with defending the Constitution from enemies, domestic and foreign.
Sidebar please: what are all those white bars on the forearm of his jacket? Service years?
It can’t the number of stupid questions from Republican Congress critters or it would cover the entire uniform.
Yes, they indicate a term of service. It’s on the right sleeve, so I think that means in active overseas service and there are differences depending on the branch (US Army in this case), but somebody more knowledgeable than I can probably step in and give the actual details.