by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
Yesterday was not Donald Trump's best day since the Electoral College handed him the keys to the White House nearly four years ago. In fact, yesterday was pretty much a wipe-out for the usual blustery Trump.
First of all the United States Supreme Court, a judicial body Trump sometimes refers to as "my," handed the blowhard-in-chief a pair of losses in cases that were of a personal nature to Trump. One case involved congressional committees seeking access to Trump's business and tax records, and the other involved the Manhattan District Attorney's Office seeking many of the same materials. Trump argued that, as President, he was protected from congressional nosiness into his personal affairs by the Constitution's separation of powers, and that as a sitting president, he was exempt from prosecution by state and local governments.
The Court did not buy Trump's logic in either case, but did send the congressional case back to the lower courts for more clarification - and it ruled in favor of the position of the Manhattan District Attorney, but gave Trump an opportunity to go back and file some stalling procedures in that matter.
The bottom line is that the Manhattan District Attorney will eventually be able to access the Trump business records that it seeks, but that is unlikely to happen before he leaves office in January. Congress, too, is likely to prevail and get access to the records - but again, that would be after Trump leaves office in January.
The Court did establish clearly that a sitting President is not above the law, and it reached that decision on a pair of 7-2 votes in which both Trump justices, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, voted with the majority and against their benefactor, Donald John Trump.
The other stain on Trump's day came in the form of a New York City block party that happened outside of Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue. There city employees and a few celebrities - and many onlookers - gathered to paint the words "Black Lives Matter" on the street in front of the building that not only bears Trump's name but also has one of his homes as well as his business office. Trump had tried to goad the New York City Police Department into stopping the Mayor's plans to paint the street in front of his building, but the police wisely chose to stay out of the pissing contest between Donald Trump and Mayor De Blasio.
Trump recently described the words "Black Lives Matter" as "hate speech," and he has said that painting those words on the "luxury" avenue would "denigrate" it.
Mayor De Blasio showed up at yesterday's street party in front of Trump Tower where he grabbed a paint roller and joined in the painting. The mayor's wife, who is black, also helped to paint the street as did political activist Reverend Al Sharpton.
Other notables who helped the city paint it's new sign were some of the original members of the Central Park Five, a group who, as teens, were coerced by police, without benefit of lawyers, into pleading guilty to the assault and rape of a female jogger in Central Park in 1989. All five later withdrew their guilty pleas but were found guilty anyway. They each served several years in prison before another individual came forth and admitted to the crimes - and that confession was backed up by DNA evidence.
At the time of the arrest of the Central Park Five, private citizen Donald Trump bought full-page ads in four New York city newspapers with the headline: "Bring Back the Death Penalty, Bring Back Our Police!" During the subsequent publicity blitz that Trump got following the big newspaper ad buys, he stated that he "hates anyone who commits a crime such as rape" and noted that "hatred could also be a key for change."
Donald Trump has, himself, been accused of sexual assault by multiple women.
As late as 2016, long after the young men had been exonerated, Trump was still displaying anger toward the Central Park Five who by then he was calling "muggers," and railing because they had received cash payouts form the City of New York and New York state for the time that they had wrongfully spent behind bars.
But yesterday some members of the Central Park Five finally had their say - in big, bold, yellow letters on Fifth Avenue out in front of Trump Tower - where they proved before the whole world that it is possible for a sitting president to be humiliated in his own front yard.
New York City, you make us proud!
Citizen Journalist
Yesterday was not Donald Trump's best day since the Electoral College handed him the keys to the White House nearly four years ago. In fact, yesterday was pretty much a wipe-out for the usual blustery Trump.
First of all the United States Supreme Court, a judicial body Trump sometimes refers to as "my," handed the blowhard-in-chief a pair of losses in cases that were of a personal nature to Trump. One case involved congressional committees seeking access to Trump's business and tax records, and the other involved the Manhattan District Attorney's Office seeking many of the same materials. Trump argued that, as President, he was protected from congressional nosiness into his personal affairs by the Constitution's separation of powers, and that as a sitting president, he was exempt from prosecution by state and local governments.
The Court did not buy Trump's logic in either case, but did send the congressional case back to the lower courts for more clarification - and it ruled in favor of the position of the Manhattan District Attorney, but gave Trump an opportunity to go back and file some stalling procedures in that matter.
The bottom line is that the Manhattan District Attorney will eventually be able to access the Trump business records that it seeks, but that is unlikely to happen before he leaves office in January. Congress, too, is likely to prevail and get access to the records - but again, that would be after Trump leaves office in January.
The Court did establish clearly that a sitting President is not above the law, and it reached that decision on a pair of 7-2 votes in which both Trump justices, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, voted with the majority and against their benefactor, Donald John Trump.
The other stain on Trump's day came in the form of a New York City block party that happened outside of Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue. There city employees and a few celebrities - and many onlookers - gathered to paint the words "Black Lives Matter" on the street in front of the building that not only bears Trump's name but also has one of his homes as well as his business office. Trump had tried to goad the New York City Police Department into stopping the Mayor's plans to paint the street in front of his building, but the police wisely chose to stay out of the pissing contest between Donald Trump and Mayor De Blasio.
Trump recently described the words "Black Lives Matter" as "hate speech," and he has said that painting those words on the "luxury" avenue would "denigrate" it.
Mayor De Blasio showed up at yesterday's street party in front of Trump Tower where he grabbed a paint roller and joined in the painting. The mayor's wife, who is black, also helped to paint the street as did political activist Reverend Al Sharpton.
Other notables who helped the city paint it's new sign were some of the original members of the Central Park Five, a group who, as teens, were coerced by police, without benefit of lawyers, into pleading guilty to the assault and rape of a female jogger in Central Park in 1989. All five later withdrew their guilty pleas but were found guilty anyway. They each served several years in prison before another individual came forth and admitted to the crimes - and that confession was backed up by DNA evidence.
At the time of the arrest of the Central Park Five, private citizen Donald Trump bought full-page ads in four New York city newspapers with the headline: "Bring Back the Death Penalty, Bring Back Our Police!" During the subsequent publicity blitz that Trump got following the big newspaper ad buys, he stated that he "hates anyone who commits a crime such as rape" and noted that "hatred could also be a key for change."
Donald Trump has, himself, been accused of sexual assault by multiple women.
As late as 2016, long after the young men had been exonerated, Trump was still displaying anger toward the Central Park Five who by then he was calling "muggers," and railing because they had received cash payouts form the City of New York and New York state for the time that they had wrongfully spent behind bars.
But yesterday some members of the Central Park Five finally had their say - in big, bold, yellow letters on Fifth Avenue out in front of Trump Tower - where they proved before the whole world that it is possible for a sitting president to be humiliated in his own front yard.
New York City, you make us proud!
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