Federal judge goes there, questions why Trump didn't move sooner to tell insurrectionists to go home
Monday January 10, 2022 · 8:24 PM EST
Earlier on Monday, a federal judge did something doesn’t portend very well for The Messiah, Lord Donald Trump, The Most Merciful. In a hearing about three civil suits seeking to hold Trump and others responsible for the insurrection at the Capitol, a federal judge took a line of questioning that ought to have Trump and Trumpworld quaking in their boots.
Specifically, federal district judge Amit Mehta dared to ask whether Trump’s failure to immediately denounce the violence of Jan. 6 was a sign that he approved of the horror that unfolded that day. The fact that a judge is even asking those questions in open court at all is telling, to put it mildly.
During the hearing, Mehta noted that it took Trump some two hours to condemn the violence. From the looks of it, Mehta was hard pressed to find a good-faith explanation for such a long delay.
During a court hearing Monday, Judge Amit Mehta pointed out repeatedly that Trump on January 6 asked the crowd to march to the Capitol, but that he didn't speak up for two hours asking people to stop the violence.
"The words are hard to walk back," Mehta said. "You have an almost two-hour window where the President does not say, 'Stop, get out of the Capitol. This is not what I wanted you to do.'"
"What do I do about the fact the President didn't denounce the conduct immediately ... and sent a tweet that arguably exacerbated things?" the judge asked. "Isn't that, from a plausibility standpoint, that the President plausibly agreed with the conduct of the people inside the Capitol that day?"
It got even worse for Trumpworld from there. Mehta asked one of the lawyers arguing against the lawsuits why Trump remained silent if his calls to go to the Capitol were misinterpreted.
If Trump's call to action at the rally was misinterpreted by the crowd, and they still became violent, "Wouldn't somebody who's a reasonable person say, 'That's not what I meant?'" Mehta asked a lawyer arguing against the insurrection lawsuits. The judge pointed out that even Donald Trump Jr., another defendant in court Monday, texted the White House chief of staff before Trump spoke up, asking for the President to condemn the violence.
Trump lawyer Jesse Binnall claimed that Trump shouldn’t be held liable because everything he said was part of his official duties as president. Mehta came pretty close to telling Binnall that was hogwash.
Mehta not only asked if Binnall expected him to could ignore everything Trump said “in its entirety,” but scoffed at the suggestion that “a speech before Congress is the equivalent of a campaign stump speech.”
more...
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/1/10/20...to-go-home
Monday January 10, 2022 · 8:24 PM EST
Earlier on Monday, a federal judge did something doesn’t portend very well for The Messiah, Lord Donald Trump, The Most Merciful. In a hearing about three civil suits seeking to hold Trump and others responsible for the insurrection at the Capitol, a federal judge took a line of questioning that ought to have Trump and Trumpworld quaking in their boots.
Specifically, federal district judge Amit Mehta dared to ask whether Trump’s failure to immediately denounce the violence of Jan. 6 was a sign that he approved of the horror that unfolded that day. The fact that a judge is even asking those questions in open court at all is telling, to put it mildly.
During the hearing, Mehta noted that it took Trump some two hours to condemn the violence. From the looks of it, Mehta was hard pressed to find a good-faith explanation for such a long delay.
During a court hearing Monday, Judge Amit Mehta pointed out repeatedly that Trump on January 6 asked the crowd to march to the Capitol, but that he didn't speak up for two hours asking people to stop the violence.
"The words are hard to walk back," Mehta said. "You have an almost two-hour window where the President does not say, 'Stop, get out of the Capitol. This is not what I wanted you to do.'"
"What do I do about the fact the President didn't denounce the conduct immediately ... and sent a tweet that arguably exacerbated things?" the judge asked. "Isn't that, from a plausibility standpoint, that the President plausibly agreed with the conduct of the people inside the Capitol that day?"
It got even worse for Trumpworld from there. Mehta asked one of the lawyers arguing against the lawsuits why Trump remained silent if his calls to go to the Capitol were misinterpreted.
If Trump's call to action at the rally was misinterpreted by the crowd, and they still became violent, "Wouldn't somebody who's a reasonable person say, 'That's not what I meant?'" Mehta asked a lawyer arguing against the insurrection lawsuits. The judge pointed out that even Donald Trump Jr., another defendant in court Monday, texted the White House chief of staff before Trump spoke up, asking for the President to condemn the violence.
Trump lawyer Jesse Binnall claimed that Trump shouldn’t be held liable because everything he said was part of his official duties as president. Mehta came pretty close to telling Binnall that was hogwash.
Mehta not only asked if Binnall expected him to could ignore everything Trump said “in its entirety,” but scoffed at the suggestion that “a speech before Congress is the equivalent of a campaign stump speech.”
more...
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/1/10/20...to-go-home
1
