Does conflict of interest really enter into it? I’m not sure who Merchan wants to win the election.
However, he says he doesn’t want to be seen as influencing the election. It’s too late for that, Your Honor. Delaying sentencing will have an influence. Choosing to do nothing is still a choice.
Well first, it’s the appearance, see all the Team Trump’s attacks on his daughter’s Democratic support. Second, if you aren’t for Trump and making up stuff for him as a judge (see Florida), of course you’re against him by Trumpian standards. As for the third point, yeah, there’s the point where being apolitical is political. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
The statements of Trump, and those who work for him, are noise without meaning. I don’t care who the Judge’s daughter supported. Conflict of interest depends on who Merchan wants to win the election, and I don’t know who that is.
Yeah, but we now have a precedent that things will be delayed until after elections. Which means if I am in trouble, I can file to run for School board, and they have to wait until after the election, apparently.
No, there is another issue before the Court that must be heard and decided before the matter can proceed to sentencing, thanks to the immunity ruling. Trump’s lawyers have said that if Merchan rules against them in that issue, they will pursue their appellate remedies. That would delay the sentencing beyond September 18th no matter what.
Justice Merchan is only doing what was going to be done either way. He can’t ignore Trump’s pending motion to set aside the jury’s verdict based on the stupid immunity ruling – no matter how much he may have personally wished to.
There’s no new precedent being set here. Except by the Supreme Court.
Possible, but if this is the case it is false confidence. In terms of ordinary human perceptions (not including superforecasters) the odds of a Trump victory are basically 50:50, based on betting markets (range: 50-53), Nate Silver’s model (clocking in at 60%, likely due to an over-estimation of Harris’ convention bounce), and The Economist’s model (49%). Hope for the best, plan for the worst.
Trump has played the US justice system like a fiddle for most of his life. Post 2020 his antics posed some unique issues but pre-2016 they really didn’t. SCOTUS is corrupt, and the US legal system goes easy on white collar criminals. That said, I suspect that lenient penalties for the rich are generally the rule worldwide.
“Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made.” We should all write that on a post-it and attach it to our monitor.
I find myself in complete agreement with this.
Sounds good except that, until the actual election results are out, this is nothing more than opinion and speculation.
Well here’s an idea. He should simply dismiss all charges in order to not be seen to influence the election. /s
Sadly, we’re fucking fucked.
Which is why I noted it was… speculation.
That’s what Geddy Lee said!
Sadly the whole thing pissed me off to the extent that I didn’t really notice. My apologies as it wasn’t my intention to correct you in some fashion.
No, it’s ok. I do understand your frustration. But honestly, this outcome was going to happen one way or another because of the immunity ruling.
I think it will end up in a way of which you ultimately approve. At least, I hope so.
Indeed. Frustrating and scary times
What I would ultimately approve would be the America-hating fuckstick being taken into custody, and instead of putting handcuffs on him, they use plastic zip ties, the kind that were used on the J6 rioters.
Well that makes sense, because he’d slip out of normal sized handcuffs.
Some of the rioters, IIRC, had zip ties, which they were going to use on their victims.
Yeah, I remember. Another layer of ironic symbolism FTW!
I saw in another thread that the GOP congress has opened up a totally bogus investigation into Walz.
Hey Mister Judge? If they do that sort of crap to interfere in the election, then treating trump like any other felon is the right thing.
Just a little update on Trump’s efforts to appeal the Gag Order portion of this case (had to check to make sure I had the RIGHT Trump case!)
[ in case the CNN link doesn’t load, or loads incorrectly, the New York appeals court rejected two more Trump attempts to lift the gag order, including the modified one from June]
The Court of Appeals judges wrote that they declined to hear the case about the modified gag order because “no substantial constitutional question is directly involved.”