TRUMP’S BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK

Bad day yesterday for Tump. He took a double hit. A jury convicting Manafort and Cohen pleading guilty. A day where the fury of hell befell the President.

Manafort faced 18 counts. A federal jury convicted him of 8. The remaining 10 resulting in a hung jury.

I have a few thoughts re the trial.

The prosecution did a poor job. The defense attorneys an excellent job.

You have to experience the federal government on the other side of a case. The government has the power, money, time and top attorneys representing the U.S. Difficult to defend against. The government should have had a clean sweep. Eighteen convictions. Sixteen at the worse.

The defense attorneys have to be complimented. They did a top notch job. With little to work with. It is reported the defense’s cross examination of Rick Gates was outstanding.

The government will probably drop the 10 counts where there was no unanimous decision.

Manafort not done. He has another trial next month. This one involved to a significant degree with Russian connections.

Manafort would be smart to make a deal. Flip on the President. Trump would have done so already were he in Manafort’s shoes.

It was a double header for Trump.  Mighty Casey struck out. Cohen pled to 8 counts. In 2 of the counts, he indicated he was directed by Trump.

I would not say Cohen has flipped. He wants too. However apparently Mueller is not budging. Yet. In a federal criminal case, the best option where there are multiple defendants is to get to the prosecutor first and make a deal. Become the government’s witness.

Cohen may have waited too long. Mueller probably does not need his testimony at this stage to impeach the President. Or, Mueller may be making Cohen sweat a little before accepting his willingness to be a witness.

The deal, if any, makes me suspicious. Cohen pled guilty. Without reservation. His plea agreement does not contain a cooperation clause.

After pleading, Cohen allocuted. Spelled out in detail the crimes as he committed them and with who. Allocution is normally done at the time of sentencing. Cohen is not scheduled to be sentenced till December.

My gut feeling is Mueller has turned his back on Cohen. Cohen waited too long. Cohen now wants to play ball. Time will tell if Mueller will let him on the team.

Another unusual aspect involves money. Cohen’s attorney Lanny Davis announced on Morning Joe this morning that Cohen needs financial help. An account has been opened on GoFundMe. A further indication that there is no deal yet with Mueller. Cohen needs money to defend, not cooperate.

The world has not heard from Trump in any significant degree regarding yesterday’s results. Not normal for him. He retaliates. Brutally. He deflects. Changes the news issue to another.

It would be something like Erik Prince taking over the U.S. war in Afghanistan with contractor soldiers and all our military persons coming home. A bad deal for the U.S. Trump is excited by the concept, however.

Irma hit on September 10. The one year anniversary around the corner. Many Irma problems remain. One is food. There are still those without work, homes, etc. who cannot put food on the table.

The American Red Cross announced a $200,000 grant to Star of the Sea Foundation. The Foundation is non-profit and has been providing food to those still recovering.

The money was much needed. The Foundation a good place for it. Besides having heart, the Foundation as a practical matter has 20 sites throughout Monroe County for food distribution.

Before humans, the Keys belonged to animals, fish, mammals, and most type living creature. Man came and crocodiles as a group moved elsewhere. Back now. The crocodile has been seen with increasing frequency in recent years. This last time with a degree of humor.

A photo appeared in the South Florida Sun Sentinel. A crocodile floating on a yellow noodle in a canal near Key Largo.

Crocodiles are learning man’s habits. Perhaps one day, the crocs will take over and Earth will be the Planet of the Crocodiles.

On this day in 1992, Hurricane Andrew hit the Bahamas. A category 4. Two days later, Florida City, Kendall and Homestead. Now a category 5.

In Homestead, Andrew uprooted every tree, destroyed 90 percent of the homes, and completely demolished the Homestead Air Base.

I drove through Homestead 3 weeks after Andrew. Neither before nor since have I seen such destruction. Homestead was as if an atomic bomb had been dropped on it. Nothing left standing.

Trump went to Washington promising to clean the swamp. He has failed. He and his continue to contribute to scandals of every nature.

Last week, Representative Chris Collins, a New York Republican, was charged with insider trading. He has announced he will not run again. Collins was the first House member to support Trump.

The second House member to announce support for Trump was California Republican Duncan Hunter. It was announced yesterday he and his wife had been indicted for misusing $250,000 in campaign funds. The funds were taken to pay personal expenses. Like luxury vacations, kids’ lunches, dental bills, golf course clothes. Lavish spending. The couple were living way beyond their means.

The swamp is filling up. Trump and members of his personal family may cause it to overflow.

An interesting evening ahead. Dinner with a new found friend. Mary. At La Trattoria.

Enjoy your day!

7 comments on “TRUMP’S BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK

  1. I drove up through Florida City a few days after Andrew. It looked a lot like Hiroshima after the bomb. I remember the high rise Holiday Inn with all the drapes blowing out from the missing windows.

  2. The prosecution did poorly? I don’t know about that but I do know Trump did everything he could to diminish the governments case. Water under the bridge, Manafort is done and soon gone. Next trial for him and next criminal on deck!

  3. As it turns out, it was a ONE person hold out that kept the Manafort jury from a guilty conviction on ALL eighteen accounts.

    • Not a big surprised considering this was basically a mob trial. Probably not to hard to get to at least one juror, especially where the jury wasn’t sequestered.

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