Feckless Joe, It Wasn’t Hush Money & Extortion - Top 3 Takeaways

Feckless Joe, It Wasn’t Hush Money & Extortion - Top 3 Takeaways – May 3rd, 2024  

1. Feckless. There are a lot of words you could use to describe Joe Biden but if deduced to one, feckless is a good choice. Finally on Thursday, after 16 days of illegal antisemitic protests on over 70 college campuses, across 34 states, resulting in the arrests of over 1,700 people President Biden finally decided he had something to say. He stepped up to a microphone in the Roosevelt Room in the White House and said: We've all seen images, and they put to the test two fundamental American principles, excuse me (cough). The first is the right to free speech and for people to peacefully assemble and make their voices heard. The second is the rule of law. Both must be upheld. We’re not an authoritarian nation where we silence people, and we squash descent (unless of course you’re Donald Trump in which case will we weaponize the justice system against you and will have a judge all but literally gag you). The American people are heard. In fact peaceful protest is in the best tradition of how Americans respond to consequential issues. But, but, neither are we a lawless country (It appeared at that point he was struggling with the teleprompter – which likely explains the but, but, neither sequence). (Cough) We are a civil society and order must prevail (unless it’s at our southern border in which case the only order we’re concerned with is the order you board the planes and buses we put you on along with lots of taxpayer funded goodies when you get to where you want to go). We've often faced moments like this because we are a big, diverse, free-thinking and freedom-loving nation (unless there’s a virus going around in which case you lose all of your constitutional rights and are to love not having freedom except that which is given to you by the government). In moments like this there are always those who rush in to score political points (because apparently unless you wait for 16 days of illegal protests to spread across more than 70 college campuses in 34 states that’s considered “rushing”). But this isn’t a moment for politics. This is a moment for clarity. So let me be clear. Peaceful protest in America. Violent Protest is not protected in America. Peaceful protest is. It’s against the law when violence occurs. Destroying property is not peaceful protest. It’s against the law. Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations. None of this is a peaceful protest. Threatening people. Intimidating people. Instilling fear in people is not peaceful protest. It’s against the law. Descent is essential to democracy (unless you’re Donald Trump or a supporter of his in which case you’re a threat to democracy). But descent must never lead to disorder or to denying the rights of others so students can finish the semester and their college education. Look, it’s basically a matter of fairness, it’s a matter of what’s right. There’s the right to protest but not the right to cause chaos. People have the right to get an education. The right to get a degree. The right to walk across a campus safely without the fear of being attacked. Let’s be clear about this as well. There should be no place in any campus, no place in America for antisemitism or threats of violence against Jewish students. There is no place for hate speech or violence of any kind whether it’s antisemitism, Islamophobia, or discrimination against Arab Americans or Palestinian Americans (because apparently President Biden or perhaps his speech writer, or maybe both aren’t aware that Palestinians are Arabs). It’s simply wrong. There’s no place for racism in America. It’s all wrong. It's unAmerican. I understand people have strong feelings and deep convictions. In America we respect the right and protect the right for them to express that, but it doesn’t mean anything goes. It needs to be done without violence, without destruction, without hate and within the law. Now make no mistake as President I will always defend free speech (except for Trump’s and the mega MAGA’s) and I will always be just as strong in standing up for the rule of law (which explains the lawless border situation). That’s my responsibility to you the American people. My obligation to the Constitution. Thank you very much. That brief 3-minute speech, including how and when it was delivered, is the epitome of Joe Biden’s presidency. Feckless. After two and a half weeks he couldn’t even bring himself to directly call out the perpetrators of antisemitism without also talking about Islamophobia and Arab discrimination – which is the anthesis of what’s happened here. Everday that Joe Biden is President of the United States, it’s not just students and faculty at college campuses that are less safe. It’s the entire country and the entire world that’s less safe. We have 263 more days before this country and the world will be a safer place. Meanwhile, 
2. It wasn’t hush money. In the banana republic that is New York, with the resumption of the Trump trial on Thursday the big news was that it wasn’t hush money. During the testimony of Stormy Daniels’ attorney Keith Davidson, he testified that the $130,000 payment made by former Trump attorney turned convicted liar Michael Cohen, to Stormy Daniels “wasn’t a payoff”. While testifying that he received $10,000 of the $130,000 payout, he said that he would never use the term “hush money” to characterize the financial transaction. He called it a “consideration”. Now on the surface this might seem like semantics and whether the attorney for Stormy Daniels says it wasn’t a payoff or not, and whether he likes the term “hush money” or not, that’s in reality what it was. After all an NDA is an NDA. But then consider this. It’s already been testified to in this case by David Pecker that he paid $30,000 around the same time on behalf of Donald Trump to the Trump Tower doorman who claimed he’d spill the beans that Trump had fathered a child with an employee at Trump Tower. A claim that’s long been debunked. On that note consider this. Back to what Davidson said in the courtroom yesterday. Quoting him: Rumors that I have received hush money from Donald Trump are completely false. I don’t believe that Stormy ever alleged that any interaction with Trump was romantic. As always there are two sides to stories and one side to facts. If a doorman invents a story and threatens to sell the rights to it in order to harm your presidential campaign isn’t that blackmail?  
3. Is that extortion? Notice how you never hear the news media discuss how Donald Trump was extorted? Notice how prosecutors weren’t interested in holding a person known to have extorted the former president accountable? Now, in a world in which a doorman can invent a story to extort Donald Trump, can one envision a situation in which a porn actress might do the same? A lot of people have wondered why the payoff to the doorman was “only” $30,000 given someone of Trump’s means. Many more wondered why the payout to Stormy Daniels, was only $130,000 for similar reasons. Could it be that effectively it’s because Trump was being extorted and those payments were what he was willing to pay to simply make them go away? We know that’s what happened with the doorman. That's one point. And here’s why that matters in the context of the hush money case. The entire premise of the state’s case against Trump is that Trump committed fraud by labeling reimbursement payments to Cohen and Pecker as “legal fees”. The legal definition of “consideration” which is what Stormy’s attorney said the payment was, is this: a promise, performance, or forbearance bargained by a promisor in exchange for their promise. Consideration is the main element of a contract. Now, if a doorman blackmails you and you pay them $30,000 to go away does that sound more like a legal expense or more like Trump committing fraud? If Stormy Daniels is paid $130,000 to go away does that sound more like a legal expense or more like Trump committing fraud? Ultimately the jury will decide, but the irony is that in the banana republic that is New York, Trump may not only be a victim of the system but of the people he paid to go away.