Saturday, October 21, 2023. Annette’s News Roundup.
I think the Roundup makes people feel not so alone.
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Joe is always busy.
Remember the 2 hostages released by Hamas yesterday?
American hostages Judith and Natalie Raanan, a mother and daughter from Chicago.
Guess who made that happen!
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Kamala is always busy.
We should have celebrated this yesterday but there was so much other news. Forgive us, Madame Vice President. You are always on our minds.
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For Many Trump and Trumper updates.
BREAKING: Trump campaign legal adviser Kenneth Chesebro becomes the third co-defendant charged in the Georgia election interference case to take a plea deal, striking an agreement as jury selection in his case was getting underway. (NBC News).
ATLANTA — Kenneth Chesebro, a former lawyer for Donald Trump’s campaign, pleaded guilty Friday to illegally conspiring to overturn Trump’s 2020 election loss in Georgia, striking a deal in which he will avoid jail time and agreed to provide evidence that could implicate other defendants, including Trump himself.
Chesebro was the second former Trump lawyer to accept a plea deal in the sprawling conspiracy case in as many days. The guilty plea came in just hours after jury selection began, ahead of an expected trial next month.
Chesebro pleaded guilty to a single felony count of conspiracy to file false documents and accepted a sentence of three to five years of probation, a $1,000 fine, $5,000 in restitution to the state of Georgia, an apology letter, 100 hours of community service and a promise to testify truthfully against any other co-defendants in the case, should they go to trial.
The charge relates to Chesebro’s role organizing slates of pro-Trump electors to meet in seven states where Joe Biden had won. According to details of the amended indictment read in open court, prosecutors allege several other co-defendants were a part of that conspiracy: Trump, four other lawyers including Rudy Giuliani, and one campaign operative. Chesebro signed the amended indictment, though it was not clear if he had offered prosecutors evidence related to the alleged role those other defendants played.
Chesebro’s guilty plea follows that of pro-Trump attorney Sidney Powell on Thursday and made him the third co-defendant to admit guilt in the criminal racketeering case, which alleges Trump and 18 allies broke Georgia law when they sought to overturn Biden’s 2020 victory in the state. In addition to Powell, bail bondsman Scott Hall pleaded guilty earlier this month. All have agreed to testify against others in the case.
The plea is the latest legal victory for Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis (D), whose office is prosecuting the Georgia case. In addition to flipping one of the key members of the alleged conspiracy, prosecutors now avoid a trial in which they would have had to showcase much of their evidence against Trump and others, which might have offered lawyers for other defendants a legal advantage heading into their proceedings.
The potential for incriminating testimony from three of Trump’s co-defendants could have a far-reaching impact on the former president’s legal fortunes, as well as some of the other high-profile defendants, notably Giuliani, who is alleged to have been involved in Powell’s and Chesebro’s efforts to help overturn Trump’s loss.
Chesebro is a Harvard Law School graduate whose past work includes assisting then-Vice President Al Gore’s legal team during the 2000 recount of Florida’s presidential votes.
He had been facing seven charges related to his alleged role as the legal architect of a plan to use Trump electors in Georgia and other key states to undermine legitimate 2020 electoral college votes to swing the election to the Republican nominee.
Chesebro’s guilty plea came after a morning of courtroom intrigue. He was seen entering the courthouse early Friday morning but did not appear along with Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, prosecutors and defense attorneys as the judge spoke about the case to 450 potential jurors who had been summoned to fill out a questionnaire. Around noon, prosecutors entered McAfee’s courtroom and were later joined by Chesebro and his legal team. Chesebro, who had originally pleaded not guilty, was smiling and appeared in good spirits. He was seen writing what his lawyer, Scott Grubman, later identified as the apology letter required as part of his plea agreement.
Grubman later cast the plea deal as a win for his client. If he abides by the terms of probation, the charge will be expunged from his record under the first-offender terms of the deal. In addition, the plea describes the crime to which Chesebro pleaded guilty as not being one of “moral turpitude.”
According to Grubman, that should allow Chesebro to continue practicing law.
Chesebro did not plead guilty to the charge that all 19 defendants in the case initially faced — participating in a racketeering enterprise. He alluded to his unwillingness to admit guilt to some of the allegations in an exchange with the judge. “Are you pleading guilty today because you believe there is a factual basis for moving forward with this charge?” McAfee asked, to which Chesebro pointedly replied: “Yes, this charge.”
After Chesebro pleaded guilty, his lawyer asked McAfee if his client’s probation case could be transferred to Puerto Rico, his current home. McAfee said that could “complicate” the terms of his probation, and Chesebro agreed to stay in Atlanta for a few days to work out the details.
“Was he planning to leave today?” McAfee asked Grubman.
“He was planning to stay here for three to six months,” Grubman replied, prompting laughter at the reference to the now-averted trial that was due to begin early next month.
The amended indictment detailed a range of activities by Chesebro for which the state said it would present evidence in a trial, including a central role devising a plan to convene Trump electors, an intent to disrupt the congressional proceedings on Jan. 6, 2021 as well as Chesebro’s own attendance at the protest at the U.S. Capitol that day.
Chesebro nodded as the details of the indictment were read and later signed the document. (Washington Post).
Republicans drop Jim Jordan's US House speaker bid after third failed vote.
25 Republicans refused to support Jordan in the third vote. In the second vote, 22 Republicans refused to support him. In retrospect, the first vote now looks good for Jordan. Only 20 Republicans voted against him.
Republicans drop Jim Jordan's US House speaker bid after third failed vote. (Same headline, new article).
Support for Jordan's candidacy faded over the course of the week. He received 194 votes in a third round of balloting on Friday, down from the 200 votes he received on Tuesday and well short of the majority he needed to claim the speaker's gavel.
Republicans then voted 112-86 to revoke Jordan's nomination in a closed-door meeting.
"It was an honor to be their speaker designee," Jordan told reporters after the meeting. "We need to come together to figure out who our speaker is going to be. I’m going to work as hard as I can to help that individual."
It is not clear who Republicans might turn to next.
"We'll have to go back to the drawing board," said Representative Kevin McCarthy, who was ousted as speaker by a small faction of his fellow Republicans on Oct. 3.
McCarthy later endorsed Representative Tom Emmer, the No. 3 House Republican. At least four other lawmakers have said they would run for the job, with possibly more to come.
Republicans control the House by a narrow 221-212 majority and can afford few defections on party-line votes, a vulnerability highlighted by the current display of legislative dysfunction.(Reuters)
Trump Fined $5,000 for Breaking Gag Order by Leaving Abusive Post Online.
The former president used social media to attack a clerk for the judge in his civil fraud case, and left a copy of the post online for weeks.
The judge presiding over the civil fraud trial of Donald J. Trump fined the former president $5,000 on Friday for a “blatant violation” of a gag order imposed this month.
The judge, Arthur F. Engoron, stopped short of holding Mr. Trump in contempt but warned that the former president still could face harsher punishments, even jail time, if he ran afoul of the order again.
In the trial’s opening days, Justice Engoron had barred Mr. Trump from attacking his court staff after the former president posted a picture on social media of Justice Engoron’s law clerk, Allison Greenfield, with Senator Chuck Schumer, the majority leader. Mr. Trump labeled Ms. Greenfield “Schumer’s girlfriend” and said she was “running this case against me.”
A spokeswoman for Mr. Schumer this month called the social media post “ridiculous, absurd, and false,” adding that the senator did not know Ms. Greenfield.
Mr. Trump’s post was removed from his social media platform, Truth Social, on Oct. 3, the day Justice Engoron imposed the gag order, but a copy of the post remained visible on his campaign website.
The post was finally removed from the website around 10 p.m. on Thursday, after Justice Engoron learned of it and contacted Mr. Trump’s legal team. A lawyer for Mr. Trump, Christopher M. Kise, said in court on Friday that the failure to remove the post sooner was “inadvertent.” He apologized on behalf of Mr. Trump.
In a new order on Friday, Justice Engoron said he had imposed only a “nominal” $5,000 fine because it was Mr. Trump’s first violation and an unintentional error, but he warned that additional infractions would merit harsher punishments.
“Make no mistake: future violations, whether intentional or unintentional, will subject the violator to far more severe sanctions,” Justice Engoron wrote. He said possible punishments included steeper fines, holding Mr. Trump in contempt of court and “possibly imprisoning him.” (New York Times).
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In NYC this weekend.
A flock of 1,000 drones will fly over Central Park this weekend.
This upcoming Saturday night, October 21, folks hanging out by the Lake at Central Park will be treated to an astounding celestial spectacle when 1,000 drones will fly over the area and illuminate the night sky.
Dubbed "Franchise Freedom," the open-air public art performance is created by Dutch studio DRIFT, seeking to, according to an official press release, "explore the relationship between humans, nature and technology."
There will be three 10-minutes shows in total throughout the night—the first at 7pm, the second at 8pm and the final at 9pm. Each will be completely free and open to the public.
Attendees will get to gaze at the extravaganza from multiple sightlines, but the organizers recommend setting up camp at the following locations for prime viewing opportunities:
- Bethesda Fountain
- Dead Road, Bandshell and Frisbee Hill
- Boat Landing and drive overpass on west 77th Street
Clearly an ambitious project, the open-air performance took five years to complete and is now the largest public art work to take over Central Park since the installment of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s iconic "The Gates" in 2005. Back then, 7,500 16-foot-high vinyl gates featuring saffron-colored fabric panels were set up to line the park's paths.
"Franchise Freedom" organizers are also advising would-be guests to download the show's accompanying soundtrack by Joep Beving and listen to it to properly enjoy the shindig in all of its glory. You can find that music right here. (Timeout).
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