Thread by @rparloff

Trump apologists now argue that Trump’s 34 crimes were wrongly upped to felonies—as if 34 misdemeanors are A-OK, on top of civil judgments for persistent fraud on lenders, charity fraud, sex abuse, 3 defamations, his company’s 17 felony convictions for tax fraud, etc. ...
1/15

... But what of the simple scumminess of this candidate, as evinced by the NY trial evidence? Let’s look at a few examples. E.g., remember that one component of the Trump-Cohen-Pecker deal was to smear Trump’s primary opponents. ...
/2

... According to AMI CEO David Pecker’s testimony, Cohen would say “we would like a negative article on, let’s say, Ted Cruz” or Ben Carson or Marco Rubio. After a primary debate, Cohen would direct the National Enquirer on “which direction we should go,” Pecker testified ...
/3

... So between 10/17/15 & 12/7/15, the Enquirer ran 6 hatchet jobs that plastered Carson with epithets like “bungling surgeon,” “brain butcherer,” “Ben the butcher” & accused him of “ ‘lies’ over military & violent past." (Trump later named him his HUD Sec’y.) ...
/4

... And between 2/12/16 & 7/25/16, the Trump-Cohen-Pecker deal smeared Ted Cruz 18 times, dubbing him “boozin’” & “pervy”; linking him to a “porn star”; “5 secret mistresses”; an “alleged prostitution secret”; & linking his father to JFK assassin Lee Harvey Oswald ...
/5

... And between 12/16/15 & 2/2/16, the trio, per their deal, allegedly smeared Marco Rubio in 3 headlines, suggesting a “love child” scandal; a “cocaine connection”; & a “cheating scandal.” ...
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.. Remember when a political party might have recoiled from a candidate who, when he was 60, allegedly pressured a 27-yr-old to have sex with him, saying, “I thought you were serious about what you wanted. If you ever want to get out of that trailer park—” ...
/7

... Or by loyalist Hope Hicks’ testimony that when confronted with the Access Hollywood tape transcript on 10/7/16, instructed Trump’s team to “deny, deny, deny.” The lie was “reflex,” she said. She wasn’t embarrassed about the lie on the stand—only about its inefficacy ...
/8

... And when the WSJ came to Hicks on 11/4/16 with its info about AMI having bought Karen McDougal’s silence about her alleged affair with Trump, you see the whole Trump lie factory reflexively kick into operation once again. ...
/9

... Hicks instantly drafts four potential statements blaming “the liberal elite” & “a publicity hungry individual with a get rich and famous quick scheme.”...
/10

... She shows her 4 proposals to Trump & then to Cohen, who know they’re false ...
/11

... Cohen then proposes an alternative false statement. He blames “the liberal media” and “Clinton machine.” ...
/12

... Hicks then shows Cohen’s proposed lie to Trump, & informs him of a proposed lie by Pecker, admitting paying McDougal but claiming it was just a legitimate contract for her to write health columns. ...
/13

... Finally, Trump instructs Hicks to adopt a vaguer lie—to just deny everything and deny knowledge of any payment—the approach she takes.
/14

... When choosing a presidential candidate, the crucial question isn’t whether, on appeal, he can persuade an appellate court that his crimes should have been charged only as misdemeanors. The question is whether the candidate is a pathological liar with no moral compass. ...
/15

... If you doubt the fairness of my descriptions, you can review the full context of Pecker’s testimony in this Dispatch by my @lawfare colleagues @annabower, @tylermcbrien & Ben Wittes ...
/16
lawfaremedia.org/article/catch-…

@lawfare @AnnaBower @TylerMcBrien ... and, similarly, if you want to see the full context of
Stormy Daniels’ testimony, see this dispatch by my @lawfare colleagues @annabower, @tylermcbrien, Ben Wittes, & @quintajurecic here:
/17
lawfaremedia.org/article/stormy…

@lawfare @AnnaBower @TylerMcBrien ... There are similar dispatches for every day of the trial. Finally, please consider a donation to the @lawfare crew to continue covering the Trump trials below. Thanks!
/end
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