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When Contempt Is Necessary
Steyn Online ^ | 16 Apr 2023 | Mark Steyn

Posted on 04/20/2024 12:55:36 PM PDT by Rummyfan

The eminent barrister (and later Lord Chancellor) F E Smith was famously asked by an irritated judge: "Are you trying to show contempt for this court, Mr Smith?" To which he replied: "No, my Lord, I am trying to conceal it."

We have all been there. Well, I certainly have - rather recently, as it happens.

There are times, however, when it is necessary not to conceal it. This week's Trump Trial of the Week is the bazillionth attempt by the ruling party to nail the leader of the opposition on ...something, anything, whatever's to hand. So naturally a certain artfulness is required. In this case, if one accepts as true the charges of corrupt prosecutor Alvin Bragg, Trump paid former crony Michael Cohen to pay off Stormy Daniels. Which would be a falsification of business records. Which is, under the "laws" of New York, a misdemeanour - albeit one in which the statute of supposed limitations has already kicked in. So Bragg is arguing that the expired misdemeanour is actually a non-expired felony, because it was used to cover up another crime.

What other crime he has not said. And, as is now familiar in the State of New York, the corrupt judge Juan Manuel Merchan has been happy to indulge him.

So we are in the quintessentially American realm of the Higher Bollocks. That means so-called conservative legal scholars fill the airwaves conceding that yes, it's an almighty stretch but, in the fullness of time (which, as I can attest after twelve years in the choked septic tank of DC justice, can be very full indeed), Judge Merchan's whims and caprices will likely be overturned on appeal.

So the system works - eventually.

By my count, this is Merchan's third Trump-related "case" in eighteen months...

(Excerpt) Read more at steynonline.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS:

Biden donor Judge Merchan and his daughter, Democrat consultant Loren Merchan.

1 posted on 04/20/2024 12:55:36 PM PDT by Rummyfan
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To: Rummyfan
Smug, sanctimonious commies.
2 posted on 04/20/2024 12:59:13 PM PDT by Fungi
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To: Rummyfan

Deport them both.

“Which would be a falsification of business records”

It’s not even that. Was the labeling of the accounting record a lie? No. It was a legal expense. There is no accounting category for “extortion payment” unless you want to be dramatic.


3 posted on 04/20/2024 1:19:21 PM PDT by Regulator (It's fraud, Jim)
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To: Rummyfan

The author is spot on, it’s time to start kicking back and let these abusers of the law go as far as they will. Trumps real problem is to figure out over what and when. This has totally been allow to get out of hand. Knowing how to back up and give ground is essential to getting along in a civil society. Knowing when to stand and fight is equally necessary.


4 posted on 04/20/2024 1:20:39 PM PDT by TalBlack (I We have a Christian duty and a patriotic duty. God help us.)
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To: marcusmaximus

Stop killing Ukrainians.


5 posted on 04/20/2024 1:22:14 PM PDT by Lazamataz (To anyone who also wants to see the Stealth Liberal "joesbucks" banned, contact me by Freepmail. )
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To: Rummyfan

If President Trump goes to jail it will be time for much more than just showing mere contempt for Democrat kangaroo courts and their Kafkaesque show trials.


6 posted on 04/20/2024 1:38:42 PM PDT by MeganC ("Russians are subhuman" - posted by Kazan 8 March 2024)
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To: Rummyfan
Speaking of contempt, the first thing Trump should do if he wins and Republicans control Congress again is dissolve the DC Circuit court. That way you can remove those corrupt DC judges who have condemned patriots to long prison terms in the utterly biased show trials.

There is precedent for this. William Matthews Merrick had his court popped from under him in order to remove this human pimple.

7 posted on 04/20/2024 1:42:33 PM PDT by Nateman (Democrats did not strive for fraud friendly voting merely to continue honest elections.)
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To: Rummyfan

I thought that quote was from Mae West. It was in “My Little Chickadee” with W. C. Fields. Maybe Mae was quoting somebody else, but it was so “HER”.

Stein is such a movie fan, so I’m surprised he didn’t attribute it to Mae West, as it was the funniest line in the whole movie.


8 posted on 04/20/2024 2:12:51 PM PDT by left that other site (For what is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed ...to be brought out. Mk 4:22)
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To: left that other site

Steyn, not Stein. Sorry.


9 posted on 04/20/2024 2:15:03 PM PDT by left that other site (For what is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed ...to be brought out. Mk 4:22)
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To: left that other site

F E Smith was before Mae West’s movie career, so she might have lifted it from him.


10 posted on 04/20/2024 3:03:11 PM PDT by Dr. Sivana
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To: Dr. Sivana

Well, her “delivery” was probably funnier. LOL. :-)

I remember laughing out loud when I saw her say it in the movie.


11 posted on 04/20/2024 3:59:18 PM PDT by left that other site (For what is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed ...to be brought out. Mk 4:22)
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To: Rummyfan

p


12 posted on 04/21/2024 7:02:23 AM PDT by wintertime ( Behind every government school teacher stand armed police.( Real bullets in those guns on the hip!))
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