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Johan's avatar

The indictment is a joke. “8647” is restaurant slang for cutting someone off, not a death threat. Watts and the rest of the case law make this dead on arrival. But that’s almost beside the point.

The real story is a justice system that prosecutes the innocent and protects the guilty. They’re not trying to win, they’re trying to grind him down. Years of legal fees, lawyers, hearings, stress, time he’ll never get back. That’s the punishment. The verdict is irrelevant. This is what Russia does, Hungary and Poland did this too. The point is to make people suffer.

On staying: I get the instinct to fight, but fighting on their terms is the trap. They have unlimited money and unlimited time, it’s not theirs, it’s yours.

Every dollar he spends defending himself is a dollar fed back into a system that’s already rotted through. Leaving isn’t surrender; it’s refusing to subsidize your own prosecution. If everyone with options left, the machine would have nothing to chew on.

David J. Sharp's avatar

Restaurant slang (as noted above) perhaps, but to “86” is better known as slang for tossing an unruly drunk out of a bar—one tosses, not kills. This is what power does to your brain.

Thomas Locatell's avatar

The saying came from a bar, #86 on a street in New York City that I can't remember. It was known for tossing out unruly drunks.

David J. Sharp's avatar

Excellent! Great history—thanks!

You know, I think I remember that number as I flew through the saloon doors.

Douglas Mackay's avatar

According to Trump, knowing the law and legal process is less important than knowing movies, screenwriting, and so-called gangster talk. Maybe Martin Scorsese should have lunch with him (in an Italian restaurant).

Hannah's avatar

The worst part of this fascist regime is that I have to know more about the law than ever, and I wrote law for a living.

Thomas Locatell's avatar

It's projection, pure and simple. Roy Cohn had an apt pupil.

David J. Sharp's avatar

And let’s not forget that said pupil ran out the door when Cohn was diagnosed with AIDS—such is the loyalty of an unbrave man.

David Beaven's avatar

The main point of this and other similar lawsuits is not necessarily to win, but to harass and intimidate. The target must now pay an attorney, spend time in court, and be subjected to threats from MAGA neanderthals across the country. And the American taxpayers are footing the bill! :(

Mark In Colorado's avatar

Blanche, referring to the buckshot: “It’s not an exact science. It scatters everywhere. Sometimes it just disappears actually.” Hmmm, what other evidence will disappear? Further, the Secret Service agent fired five times and missed. It is stupefying irresponsible for anyone to shoot without being highly confident and competent about striking a perpetrator AND not striking innocent people. A bullet from a handgun easily is lethal for 50 yards.

Stu Janis's avatar

The Comey indictment strikes me as analogous to charging someone with intent or incitement to commit sexual assault for wearing FJB gear.

David J. Sharp's avatar

Perhaps a more survivable charge - at least before SCOTUS on “emergency” appeal - would be if Comey encouraged African Americans to vote.