Hong Kong mogul and pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai convicted in landmark national security case - Nikkei Asia

Bad news! Give this man a break! He is 78 years old! What has Jimmy Lai done to deserve this repression? What kind of Stalin like show trial was this?

He was already held in solitary confinement for over 1,800 days (or five years)! What a shame!

When the Communist Party of China illegally overtook Hong Kong. It is a stark warning sign for Taiwan!

Hong Kong mogul Jimmy Lai convicted in landmark national security case - Nikkei Asia "Court rules in globally criticized trial that drew Trump's attention"

WSJ Reporter Evan Gershkovich Sentenced to 16 Years in Russian Prison After Wrongful Espionage Conviction

Putin the Terrible at work!

When will the lethargic, apathetic, and slavish Russian people finally get rid of their last czar, the megalomaniac and war criminal Putin the Terrible!

WSJ Reporter Evan Gershkovich Sentenced to 16 Years in Russian Prison After Wrongful Espionage Conviction - WSJ Sentencing came after a secret trial that the U.S. has condemned as a sham

Were the jury instructions in Trump's New York trial unconstitutional? Quite possible

This conflicted judge Juan Merchan did not inspire much confidence during the entire trial!

Caveat: I am not intimately familiar with the details of this trial

"A New York jury acquitted publisher John Peter Zenger of seditious libel in 1735 in what the National Constitution Center correctly calls “an early example of jury nullification.” Three centuries later, another New York jury was falsely instructed that it lacked that power, thereby rendering its guilty verdict against another high‐​profile defendant, former President Donald Trump, constitutionally infirm.

Juries have always had the power to acquit against the evidence, and telling them otherwise violates the Sixth Amendment and due process. ...

The founders [fathers and mothers] would not have approved, and neither should we."

A Glaring Error in Trump's Hush Money Trial | Cato Institute However one feels about Trump, he has the same right to due process and an impartial jury as the rest of us. And he was denied that right by instructions that falsely advised his jury that it had no discretion to acquit him for reasons other than a failure of proof.

Lawsuits against Hunter Biden and Donald Trump

Was this a tit-for-tat? I don't think so!

But some (e.g. dimocratic party members) may think otherwise that there was some equivalence of the sort you go after my guy, we go after your guy! Son of a sitting president has been found guilty in a federal criminal court for the first time versus first former president convicted as a felon.

The lawsuit against Hunter Biden should have ended several years ago, but enormous efforts shielded this drug addict and son of a prominent dimocratic politician! A double standard was applied. Hunter was convicted on the lowest possible offense. What about his taking bribes for the Biden clan or violating the foreign agents registration act (FARA) act, tax evasion and so forth.

The several lawsuits against Donald Trump were coordinated by the administration of the 46th President and timed to coincide with the election year 2024. Thus it is lawfare to get rid of a political opponent. These are show trials worth of a banana republic! A very dangerous gamble by the Dimocratic Party!

U.S. District Court Judge in Trump's classified docs case sets hearing on legality of Special Counsel Jack Smith's appointment

Hopefully, we will soon learn more about it! I bet there could be something wrong with this too!

It was reported that the prosecutor Jack Smith was second rate and unaccomplished! I am sorry, but to me he looks like a thug or useful idiot!

"Judge Aileen M. Cannon who is overseeing former President Trump’s criminal case over allegedly mishandling classified documents after his term in the White House set a hearing for June 21 over the legality of special counsel Jack Smith’s appointment. ...

Some conservative lawyers have argued that Smith is not able to bring forth criminal charges against a former president as a private citizen, given that Smith has not been confirmed by the Senate. ..."

Judge in Trump's classified docs case sets hearing on legality of Jack Smith's appointment | Just The News

Mug shot of Special Counsel Jack Smith

Greg Kelly: On how the White House coordinated the Trump show trial

Very recommendable!

Trump's 'banana republic' conviction won't be Democrats' last — unless there is 'retaliation in kind': UC Berkeley law prof John Yoo

Very recommendable! John Yoo said it well!

"... "The superficiality of the facts and the vagueness of the crimes magnify the harm that Democrats have inflicted on our political norms," wrote the former deputy assistant attorney general. "Make no mistake, Democrats have crossed a constitutional Rubicon." ...

Yoo issued a note of caution: The "weakness of the case against Trump lowers the bar for prosecuting future presidents below that for prosecuting garden-variety criminals in New York City." ...

"Regardless of the trial's outcome, its consequences will have a profound effect on the presidency. The weaker the Trump cases are, the more open the invitation is to future prosecutors of presidents of the opposite party," wrote Yoo. "After this Trump trial, any city, county, or state prosecutor might be encouraged to prosecute any federal officer for conjured violations of a state's criminal law or other patently partisan reasons." ..."

Trump's 'banana republic' conviction won't be Democrats' last — unless there is 'retaliation in kind': UC Berkeley law prof | Blaze Media John Yoo says it's time to turn the tables and get prosecuting for the sake of the criminal justice system.

What does throw as much mud as possible, so that something will stick mean?

Ask Donald Trump this question!

It is called political lawfare to prevent a political opponent from winning an election fair and square! 

It means the Dimocratic Party put up a show trial like those held in the former Soviet Union or fascist Germany!

It means by which a lifelong pathological and serial liar and senile, demented and corrupt (still not impeached and unindicted) 46th President and his  henchmen/henchwomen/henchtransgenders attempt to be reelected by any means necessary!

It is turning the U.S. into a banana republic for all the world to see! The damage to the reputation of the U.S. as the leader of the free world is enormous!

John Caldara on the Trump travesty of justice

Recommendable! As I said in a previous blog post, Trump should have sued the porn actress for extortion instead of paying $130,000 hush money! Now he can sue her for violating the non disclosure agreement!

"I don't know what this world is coming to when you can't trust a porno actress to uphold her non-disclosure agreement.  ...

But yesterday's verdict against Trump was more than troubling. ... The issue is that if he was anyone else, ANYONE ELSE, this prosecution never would have been started in the first place.

It was purely political. It has a banana republic odor to it. ...

As a sideline, Trump's impressive support from black men and Hispanics is worth noting. No Republican in my lifetime has broken into those demographics like the Don. ...

If Trump is elected, he will have access to the nuclear codes to launch Armageddon, but because now he's technically a felon he won't be able to buy a firearm.

Only in America. ..."

Trump

The Trump Verdict Is a Travesty of Justice

Recommendable!

"... From the moment that Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg chose to indict Trump for nearly decade-old offenses that Bragg himself had previously declined to prosecute, the circus came to town. ...
As I understand it, the business-records violations became felonies because they’re in furtherance of a campaign-finance violation—this is what allowed Bragg even to bring charges, given that the statute of limitations would otherwise have run out on the first, underlying actions. ..."

The Trump Verdict Is a Travesty of Justice | City Journal

Sky News host blasts Biden’s ‘clearly coordinated effort’ to ‘take down Trump’

Very recommendable! It was a show trial worth of a banana republic!

Rob Schmitt: 'Blind justice is dead'

Very recommendable! E.g. he destroys the prosecutor Bragg and exposes who is behind it!

Trump lawyer Alina Habba: If we don't stop this RIGHT NOW we are done!

Very recommendable! She was exasperated and did not mince words! She was also mentioning that critical, exculpatory evidence was intentionally not admitted at court!

Greg Kelly: About the fall guy police officer Derek Chauvin

Very recommendable! Will this police officer ever get a fair trial? Or will a future President pardon him? What was done to Derek Chauvin including the timid U.S. Supreme Court is a huge scandal!

Ex-officer Derek Chauvin, convicted in George Floyd’s killing, stabbed and seriously injured in prison

Life in prison is probably not easy for convicted police officers! Like a double punishment. Other inmates may come after a former police officer.

The timing of his stabbing is very suspicious! Just five days after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal of the police officer. Just when the 2022  book titled "They're Lying: The Media, The Left, and The Death of George Floyd" by Liz Collin appears to get more publicity. 

There is a strong presumption that had there been no riots and had the truth about the career criminal and drug addict George Floyd fully come out, the sentence of this police offer would have been quite different.

In this case, the police officer was made the villain for political expediency! What a mistrial!

"Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd, was stabbed by another inmate and seriously injured Friday at a federal prison in Arizona, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. ...

Chauvin, 47, was sent to FCI Tucson from a maximum-security Minnesota state prison in August 2022 to simultaneously serve a 21-year federal sentence for violating Floyd’s civil rights and a 22½-year state sentence for second-degree murder."

Ex-officer Derek Chauvin, convicted in George Floyd’s killing, stabbed in prison, AP source says

Cassidy Hutchinson Says Trump Demanded to Be Driven to the Capitol on Jan. 6

As the show trial at the U.S. House of Representatives continues! A show trial worse than those held in the former Soviet Union. What a waste of time and tax payers money!

So far it has produced little if I am not mistaken. I don't claim to follow this show trial closely!

Here is a typical example of what transpired and made it into headlines even of the Wall Street Journal. 

This is indirect hearsay about former President Trump from an aide to the Chief of Staff of Trump. Was she even present and can that be confirmed?

She claims Trump demanded to be taken to the U.S. Capitol. He did not go. Next question is even had he gone to the U.S. Capitol what would he have done? Perhaps, he would have addressed the protesters to go home!

"Cassidy Hutchinson, a onetime top aide to White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, testified that former President Donald Trump was warned that members of the crowd attending his rally on Jan. 6, 2021, were heavily armed and still directed them to march toward the Capitol.

The 25-year-old former White House aide also said she was told that Mr. Trump insisted on going to the Capitol with his supporters, even as officials, ultimately successfully, tried to stop him. ..."

Cassidy Hutchinson Says Trump Demanded to Be Driven to the Capitol on Jan. 6 - WSJ Witness is former top aide to Mark Meadows, who was chief of staff to former President Trump

Tesla Ordered to Pay More Than $130 Million in Damages to Black Former Worker

Is this not extremely excessive for only a single person who was allegedly subjected for only 9 consecutive months to a "racially hostile environment" at the company! It seems absurd! This was a federal trial with 8 jury members? I hope, appeal is available to the company. I hope, the company will continue to fight this order and will appeal!

Ah, it was a San Francisco federal court! Is this some form of progressive justice? A kangaroo court executed a show trial?

In my opinion, already a $1 million order would be on the border of excessive in such a case!

"... Diaz’s lawsuit alleged that employees drew swastikas and left racist graffiti and drawings around the Tesla plant. [Did he draw these graffiti himself?] He also alleged that employees often used the “N-word” [where these employees black American? Quite possible!] and other racist epithets. ...
The jury awarded Diaz $6.9 million in damages for emotional distress and $130 million in punitive damages, according to his attorney, Lawrence Organ of the California Civil Rights Law Group. ...

In court, Tesla’s attorneys argued that it investigated and resolved all incidents reported by Diaz and that it did not intend to disregard the rights and concerns of black workers at the plant.

It’s a rare instance in which Tesla ... has had to publicly defend itself in court against a former worker. ...
Private [mandatory] arbitration often lets companies avoid costly damages or commit to major corrective action. Tesla rarely takes a big hit in arbitration, though it did pay a $1 million award in May in a case brought by another ex-contractor that was similar to Diaz’s. ...
“In addition to Mr. Diaz, three other witnesses (all non-Tesla contract employees) testified at trial that they regularly heard racial slurs (including the n-word) on the Fremont factory floor. While they all agreed that the use of the n-word was not appropriate in the workplace, they also agreed that most of the time they thought the language was used in a ‘friendly’ manner and usually by African-American colleagues,” she wrote."

"... There was no witness testimony or other evidence that anyone ever heard the n-word used toward Mr. Diaz. ...
Mr. Diaz made written complaints to his non-Tesla supervisors. Those were well-documented in the nine months he worked at our factory. But he didn’t make any complaints about the n-word until after he was not hired full-time by Tesla – and after he hired an attorney. ...

The three times that Mr. Diaz did complain about harassment, Tesla stepped in and made sure responsive and timely action was taken by the staffing agencies: two contractors were fired and one was suspended (who had drawn a racially offensive cartoon). Mr. Diaz himself testified that he was “very satisfied” with the results of one of the investigations, and he agreed that there was follow-up on each of his complaints.

Even though Mr. Diaz now complains about racial harassment at Fremont, at the time he said he was being harassed, he recommended to his son and daughter – while they were all living together in the same home – that they work at Tesla with him. ..."

Tesla Ordered to Pay More Than $130 Million in Damages to Black Former Worker - WSJ The company subjected the employee to a racially hostile work environment, jury finds

Tesla ordered to pay $137M to ex-worker over racist work environment

Regarding Today’s Jury Verdict by Valerie Capers Workman, Tesla VP People

The show trial of police officer Derek Chauvin

I am not sure this police officer has the best legal representation possible! I highly doubt it! If I were in his shoes I would fire my attorney and seek a better one!

I previously blogged here, here, here, here about this show trial! Just the fact that the family of the deceased received $27 million in pretrial settlement from the city or that the demented 46th President invited the family of the deceased to the White House after the jury was sequestered were both incredibly prejudicial! The 46th President should perhaps be impeached for that actually! The apparently feeble judge in this case could have dismissed the case for these two reasons and other reasons as a mistrial!

What we have witnessed is a form of modern video incited near mob lynching aided by prosecutors and courts! If I were a police officer, I would think hard what I do next time when I have to carry out my job! As a young person would I think twice choosing a professional career as a police officer.

There is little doubt in my mind that the members of the jury were under tremendous and totally unacceptable duress to come up with a verdict! Unfortunately, there was a serious lack of courage among the members of the jury!

I bet, the Founding Fathers and Mothers in heaven were following this show trial in horror and disgust! A republic, if you can keep it! With show trials like this ... This show trial ought to go down in U.S. history as a very dark moment. Future generations are advised to learn from what not to do! Such show trials you would expect to happen in totalitarian dictatorships or a tyranny but not in the United States!

"Prosecutors are seeking a 30-year sentence for the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd, while Chauvin's attorney, who has been pushing for a retrial, has asked for less than 15 years [what!!!!] or probation. The sentencing is scheduled for Friday [6/25/2021]." (Source)

"... The trial was held at the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis, and it ran from March 8, 2021, through April 20. It was the first criminal trial in Minnesota to be entirely televised and the first in state court to be broadcast live. ..."

Trial of Derek Chauvin - Wikipedia

Will the police officer in the George Floyd case get a fair trail?

It appears some of the witnesses called by the prosecution have become consumed with a cause and their testimony appears to be tainted!

The police officer will need very good defense lawyers!

Here is some of what the Wall Street Journal reported:

"Throughout initial proceedings in the former Minneapolis police officer’s murder trial over the death of George Floyd last May, prosecutors have used raw-video footage and emotionally jarring witness testimonies to make their case. The prosecution alleges that Chauvin is guilty of charges including second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Some witnesses recounted Floyd's final moments as he begged for his life and described emotional trauma they've been left with after his killing. Darnella Frazier, then a 17-year-old who recorded a video of Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck, spoke tearfully about experiencing many sleepless nights where "I’ve stayed up apologizing to George Floyd for not doing more and not physically interacting and not saving his life." Genevieve Hansen, an off-duty firefighter who was at the scene, recounted trying to give aid to Floyd but said police blocked her from doing so. "I don’t know if you’ve ever seen anybody being killed but it’s upsetting," the 27-year-old said, noting that she was swearing at the officers. ..."

What happened in the first week of Derek Chauvin's murder trial.

Who and What Killed George Floyd?

Will the truth come out during the jury trial or will the jury be tainted by among other things the outrageous $27 million pre-trial settlement by the city of Minneapolis? Will this be a fair trial or become a travesty of justice?

The widespread demagoguery surrounding the death of Mr. Floyd is disgusting! 

I presume, the following account is backed by facts:

"... An autopsy showed Floyd's neck muscles were not even bruised. Floyd died when his heart stopped. Yet, he was already suffering from an enlarged heart with constricted arteries, one of five of which was 90 percent blocked and two others were 75 percent blocked.
An autopsy found heavy concentrations of fentanyl in Floyd's system and traces of methamphetamines. If Floyd had collapsed and died in the street while being wrested into the squad car, his death would have been attributed to a drug overdose and a bad heart. ...
Also, a videotape of the minutes prior to Floyd's being put on the pavement, his neck under Chauvin's knee, shows Floyd crying, repeatedly, "I can't breathe," while resisting the two rookie cops trying to put him in the patrol car. Moreover, there is testimony from those with Floyd when he was stopped for passing an allegedly phony $20 bill, that he had passed out in the car before the cops arrived. And the arresting cops claim he was foaming at the mouth before being restrained. ...
What was Chauvin trying to do when he arrived to see two rookie cops trying to cope with a powerfully built, six-foot-four-inch, 220-pound man violently resisting arrest? ...
In a motion to dismiss the charges he himself faces in the death of Floyd, former police officer Thomas Lane included 30 pages of Minneapolis PD training materials including information on the "maximal restraint technique." Lane included a photo of an officer with a knee on a suspect's neck, similar to the hold used by Chauvin. ..."

Who and What Killed George Floyd? | Intellectual Takeout