A Slightly confusing headline . . .
Pluralities of Americans support second Trump indictment, say charges are politically motivated: POLL, ABC News, Brittany Shepherd.
According to Commenter Fred Dobbs; A Slightly confusing headline . . .
ABC News – June 11
There are sharp partisan differences, according to the survey.
A plurality of Americans think that former President Donald Trump should have been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges related to his handling of classified documents, yet a near equal number say the charges are politically motivated, according to a new ABC News/Ipsos poll.
Trump willfully retained documents containing the nation’s most sensitive intelligence after he left office, exhibited some of them on at least two occasions and then tried to obstruct the investigation into their whereabouts, prosecutors allege in the indictment. Trump has repeatedly denied any allegations of wrongdoing.
Nearly half — 48% — of Americans think Trump should have been charged in this case, whereas 35% think he should not have been and 17% saying they do not know, per the ABC News/Ipsos poll conducted using Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel.
Not surprisingly, an overwhelming majority (86%) of self-identified Democrats believe the former president should have been charged. On the other hand, Republicans remain mostly loyal to Trump, with two in three (67%) saying the former president and current frontrunner for the Republican nomination should not have been charged. Independents are more divided, with 45% believing he should have been charged, a third saying he should not have been, and 22% saying they don’t know.
Overall, a solid majority of over three in five Americans find the charges either very (42%) or somewhat serious (19%), while only 28% of the public say it’s not too serious or not serious at all. One in ten say they don’t know. And party splits are expectedly polarized, with about nine in 10 Democrats saying the charges are very or somewhat serious while half of Republicans find them to be not too serious or not serious at all. A majority of independents (63%) find the charges very or somewhat serious, while 38% say they are not too serious or not serious at all.
Related confusing matter.
The judge at Trump’s arraignment today was a different one.
Magistrate to preside over Trump’s arraignment, not controversial Judge Aileen Cannon
Miami Herald – June 13
A magistrate judge (presided) over the momentous Miami federal court hearing on Tuesday afternoon when former President Donald Trump makes his first appearance on charges of keeping classified documents at his Palm Beach estate and obstructing government efforts to reclaim them. Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman — not U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who was randomly assigned Trump’s case — will be handling the former president’s arraignment and bond matters. Cannon, who had been widely reported to be handling those duties, will still remain on the historic case as the lead judge.
Goodman is a well-regarded veteran magistrate who once worked as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and later obtained his law degree and practiced civil litigation, including as a partner with the Akerman law firm in Miami. Goodman, who is on duty as the magistrate judge this week, is known not only for his legal wisdom but also for his wry humor in the courtroom. Cannon is the newest member of the federal bench in South Florida, joining the court system as a judge just days after Trump lost the November 2020 election. Cannon, who was nominated by Trump and previously served in the U.S. Attorney’s Office as a prosecutor, drew widespread criticism for her handling of the former president’s civil case challenging the FBI’s seizure of classified documents from his Mar-a-Lago estate last summer. …
NY Times: Presiding over President Trump’s first court appearance on federal criminal charges will be Jonathan Goodman, a magistrate judge who is not expected to remain involved in the case.
Magistrate judges often handle the routine, procedural aspects of court cases, like the initial appearance on Tuesday by Mr. Trump and his co-defendant, Walt Nauta, in Miami federal court. The trial will be overseen by Judge Aileen M. Cannon, a Trump appointee who has issued favorable rulings to Mr. Trump in the past and was randomly assigned to the case. …
Not confusing, but kind of interesting.
The indictment shows that critical evidence came from one of Trump’s own lawyers.
NY Times: The two indictments filed so far against former President Donald J. Trump — one brought by the Manhattan district attorney, the other by a Justice Department special counsel — charge him with very different crimes but have something in common: Both were based, at least in part, on the words of his own lawyers.
In the 49-page federal indictment accusing him of retaining classified documents after leaving the White House and scheming to block government efforts to retrieve them, some of the most potentially damning evidence came from notes made by one of those lawyers, M. Evan Corcoran. …
Earlier this year, over Mr. Trump’s objections, the special counsel overseeing the investigation, Jack Smith, obtained the notes through an invocation of the crime-fraud exception. That exception is a provision of the law that allows prosecutors to work around the normal protections of attorney-client privilege if they have reason to believe and can demonstrate to a judge that a client used legal advice to further a crime. …
Democrats Celebrate and Fear the Indictment of a ‘Chaos Machine’
NY Times – June 14
The satisfaction is nearly universal, but comes with a queasy aftertaste: Democrats are relishing the possibility that Donald J. Trump will get his comeuppance at last. But when the mocking laughter fades, in its place remains a much more lasting anxiety. What will this do to the country? …
Top of mind for many Democrats is the possibility of another outbreak of civil unrest resembling the riot by Mr. Trump’s supporters at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. While Mr. Trump’s first appearance in federal court on Tuesday took place without problems outside the building, there is no shortage of Democrats who predict that at some point, Mr. Trump’s candidacy will lead to more chaos. …
The indictment itself served as a conversation starter for Democrats across the political spectrum. They have so many questions: Will the charges that Mr. Trump mishandled national security secrets finally be the thing that separates him from his hard-core supporters? Does the indictment make it more or less likely Mr. Trump will be the Republican presidential nominee? What would happen if he were convicted and still running next year? …
The Biden presidential campaign, its closest allies and Democrats who expect to face tight re-election battles next year appear to have collectively decided it is best to say as little as possible and avoid becoming part of any news cycle about the Trump indictment.
The Democratic National Committee produced nine news releases about former Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey during his CNN town-hall event on Monday night, but released nothing on Tuesday about Mr. Trump. …
While President Biden and his top allies have largely stayed silent about Mr. Trump’s indictment, rank-and-file Democrats were far more eager to talk, responding with a mix of jubilation and deep apprehension about how the federal prosecution of a former president and current White House candidate could convulse American politics.
Interviews this week with more than 60 Democratic members of Congress, state legislators, liberal activists and party officials found near-universal agreement that Mr. Trump deserved to face federal charges for his handling of classified documents, but a notable divide over whether the indictment was good for the country or even for their party. …
Egregious ‘projection’ from the GOP and their media outlets continues.
Fox News Chyron Calls Biden a ‘Wannabe Dictator’
NY Times – just in
The onscreen text appeared Tuesday beneath split-screen footage of President Biden and former President Donald J. Trump, who had been charged with federal crimes hours earlier.
A Fox News chyron appeared to refer to President Biden as a “wannabe dictator” during footage of his remarks from the White House on Tuesday, the same day that former President Donald J. Trump was charged with federal crimes in a Miami courtroom.
The onscreen text appeared briefly at the bottom of a split-screen broadcast that showed President Biden and former President Trump speaking from respective podiums, at the White House and a Trump golf club in Bedminster, N.J.
“Wannabe dictator speaks at the White House after having his political rival arrested,” the chyron read. It did not refer to Mr. Biden by name, but the implication was clear. …
As if!
Scaramucci says Trump ‘stressed’ over indictment, predicts he will drop out of 2024 race
USA Today – just in
Anthony Scaramucci, a former White House communications director for ex-President Donald Trump, said on Monday that Trump is “stressed” about his indictment on federal charges and predicted the Republican frontrunner will eventually end his 2024 presidential campaign over his legal woes. …
Scaramucci, who served just 11 days as Trump’s communications director before he was fired by the former president, said he believes his old boss is concerned about the federal indictment.
“I know President Trump’s personality reasonably well. Remember it wasn’t just 11 days for me, it was 71 campaign stops and a full year’s worth of work,” Scaramucci said. “He does not like this, he is stressed about it.”
While Scaramucci acknowledged that some Trump supporters will back the former president no matter what, he said there is currently an “opening” in the race for the 2024 Republican nomination.
“There’s more Republican criticism and that indictment is very damning,” Scaramucci said.
A USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll released Tuesday found that 34% of Republican and Independent voters said that Trump’s indictments make them less likely to support the former president in 2024. But the poll also found that 11% of Republican and Independent voters are more likely to support Trump due to his indictments. …
Bill Barr, who served as attorney general during the Trump presidency, said on Fox News Sunday that the indictment against Trump is “damning” and that “if even half of it is true, then he’s toast.”