80 Comments

Terrific follow-up, Judd. This is the kind of story that needs reiteration and broadcast so that people understand the consequences of irresponsible government and incompetent leadership.

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Thank you for this!!! How do we get major news outlets to cover Donald's Willie Horton's?!

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I forwarded this excellent example of journalism to the BBC and The Guardian, who do an amazing job of covering the US. The world needs to know, and they want to know about the scumbaggery of Trump. The WaPost and the NY times are no longer reliable papers of record, and Substack and these foreign journalists have been picking up the humiliating American slack.

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A day later: notice that we can thank Nicole Wallace of MSNBC of enrolling her husband, Michael Schmidt, to do an investigative piece and give credit to Popular Information, later the same day. They appeared on her show around 5pm! CNN's Dana Basch happened to be there to promote her new book. Later, Judd appeared on The Joy Reid Show, and a CNN show.

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The sludge just gets deeper! Thank you PI! So much information I've not seen in the mainstream media.

' Trump also commuted the 24-year prison sentence of Eliyahu Weinstein, who was convicted of running a Ponzi scheme that defrauded "investors of a total of $230 million." ' No surprise here: this is Trump's fantasy idea of a business, the guy will owe Trump big-time, and just so happens to have plenty of cash...

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Yes. This is Trump’s idea of a business.

Well said!

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Wall Street's, too, they just have better smoke and mirrors.

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Here is a video that NowThisImpact has made about Trump being a big proponent of executing the kind of person this man is. https://youtu.be/kuemPmsXpsQ?si=WMlpeoeTtM42kls_

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Don the con made money off the pardons.

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Of course he did.

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There are people rotting in prison who truly deserve to be let out after so many years, whether innocent or not. Our system of incarceration is so lopsided and unfair that anytime a long time convict is released it is a mercy done. But there are some who should never be released or certainly not before serving their time. For Trump to inject his no-nothing, devil may care practices on this delicate institution of pardons, is another crack in the presidential veneer.

What more can he do to destroy our respect for the office? Please do not answer that.

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Let's hear some more about how you're tough on crime, though, Republicans. The gall.

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Donny Convict seems to get off on freeing some of the worst people, just because he can. The pardoning of Joe Arpaio early in Agent Orange's presidency set a hideous tone.

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I won’t rehash the multiple excellent comments here, but only wish to add that the slime ball Jared Kushner never seems to get called out by the corporate sheep media. He is neck-deep in so much of the family crime business (oh, wait, that was Biden, right?).

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Another master class in how not to normalize Trump's narcissistic depravity. I can just see him in a second term pulling a Putin and freeing murderers and other dangerous criminals to form a loyal army to keep him in office. The corp media continues to be his willing enabler. But as real news outlets like yours get stronger, their power and Trump's diminishes. There's hope for democracy.

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Yep, MAGAts are tough on criminals when their initials are ANTIFA who are “burning the city down” but if you’re a lawyer in the WH and your other client is a convicted killer i guess THAT doesn’t matter. Can you say double standard of justice?

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Even when there is no actual, organized ANTIFA (other than the US Military in WWII), and no cities actually burned down.

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Thank you for keeping us informed. This story does not change my opinion of Trump for the worse, because he can sink no lower in my eyes. I also suspect that the people who support Trump will not care, but this is the kind of information that lifelong Republicans who want law and order and suspect they won't get that with Trump need to help them make their decision. For the rest of us, we just have to do what we can to help win this election up until and perhaps after the election day. This video called Stress by the Lincoln Project sums up how many may be feeling. https://youtu.be/B9XTNcneynw?si=Pdh7MRlFP65HPwW2

Viva la Kamala!

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Hopefully, the MSM will soon be all over this story. Or at the very least, MSNBC. Great reporting!

Failing that, there are no doubt officials with the Harris-Walz campaign that would love to work the Davidson part of this piece, as it perfectly reinforces the Trump anti-woman narrative. Once the campaign runs with it, makes some public announcements, any MSM outfits that haven't already covered it will be bending over backwards to play catch up.

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MSNBC reported it.

It’s not the first wife-beater drug dealer who got a Trump the Chump reprieve to be re-arrested. Last month’s headline: Jonathan Braun, convicted NY loan shark pardoned by Trump, is arrested for assaulting wife, father-in-law

— President Trump commuted the sentence of Jonathan Braun. Mr. Braun has served 5 years of a 10-year sentence for conspiracy to import marijuana and to commit money laundering,” the explainer statement reads in part. …

… He also made a fortune heading up sketchy finance companies that charged usurious interest rates on loans made to small businesses — sometimes as high as 1,000% — often bullying or threatening customers with physical violence to collect on their debts. —

Sample threats:

“I know where you live. I know where mother lives. I will take your daughters from you. You have no idea what I’m going to do.”

To a different customer: “Be thankful you’re not in New York, because your family would find you floating in the Hudson.”

https://nypost.com/2024/08/22/us-news/jonathan-braun-convicted-ny-loan-shark-pardoned-by-trump-is-arrested-for-assaulting-wife-father-in-law/

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Do you really think that the MSM will care? I doubt it. This will never see the light of day -- other than in PI.

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If the Harris campaign makes reference to the cases in the article, the MSM will have no choice.

Otherwise--with the exception of MSNBC--you're likely right.

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Wrong. This one is being reported and a different one last month was reported.

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Which MSM is reporting this? Thanks.

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I saw it on MSNBC. NYT, TMZ, a couple small newspapers have headlines. There are a few others. There probably will be more tomorrow.

If you google and select news: jaime a davidson convicted misdemeanor.

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Thanks so much!

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Should a president be able to have someone commit a federal crime (outside "official duties") with the understanding that they will be pardoned by the president after the fact?

I think not. Like many constitutional powers of the president, the pardon power should be defined by appropriate legislation like many state pardon powers.

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Nice idea but not something that can be accomplished without a Constitutional Amendment.

“ Article II, Section 2, Clause 1:

The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.”

SCOTUS has made some rulings on this indicating the pardon power is not under Legislative authority. Although the last paragraph on this page goes on to give some procedural changes that could be possible. Of course those would only apply to a president who follows law & processes.

https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/artII-S2-C1-3-1/ALDE_00013316/

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Can you imagine what Republicans would do if a Democratic President had abused his/her discretion for even one of these individuals? Of course you can.

Even worse, thanks to Trump’s lackeys on the Supreme Court, this kind of corruption is protected. Unbelievable.

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The one last month was a wealthy wife beater drug dealer loan shark. Re-arrested for beating his wife & assaulting his father in law. The NY Post had a photo of the guy with Trump the Chump on a golf course.

https://nypost.com/2024/08/22/us-news/jonathan-braun-convicted-ny-loan-shark-pardoned-by-trump-is-arrested-for-assaulting-wife-father-in-law/

I should also say - to tell the whole story - the Constitution does not limit his power except only federal cases & not impeachments.

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The problem is how to get this across to all the people who are still bewitched and bedazzled by the shameless Trump. So it's not simply the usual mainstream media, but everywhere else that his acolytes get their information.

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Jimmy McCain (John McCain’s son) was perturbed over the Arlington fiasco. He is voting for Harris / Walz. Folks who get military news got the Arlington story … He’s giving them a little more “permission”. https://www.military.com/daily-news/2024/08/28/trump-campaign-had-incident-arlington-cemetery-staff-during-visit-abbey-gate-bombing-anniversary.html

Voters who are on the fence, not just the ‘betwitched and bedazzled’, have a variety groups reaching out like Haley Supporters for Harris (which is being sued by Haley), veterans groups and issue related groups. The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) which is the largest of such coalitions had never endorsed a candidate for president in its 100 yrs, before it endorsed Harris. All these groups will match the issues their folks care about to how they reach out to them & the couch sitters to motivate them to vote.

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Davidson told the court that... "there's no bone in my body as a violent person." UNBELIEVABLE!!! And: 3 MONTHS in jail?!!!

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