June 12, 2023

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Former US Attorney General Bill Barr may have said it clearest:P “If even half of it is true, then he’s toast. It’s a very detailed indictment and it’s very, very damning." Barr was responding to a 37-count indictment handed down by a Florida grand jury in a stunning denouement to the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump.

Department of Justice Special Counsel Jack Smith dropped the hammer on Trump in the 49-page indictment after Trump, 76, took more than 11,000 classified documents, including Secret and Top-Secret documents and related material to his home in Florida.

The charges substantiate that Trump violated the Espionage Act, illegally withheld national security secrets, lied about it and obstructed the DOJ investigation, according to the Justice Department. Despite pleas and multiple requests from the National Archives, Trump refused to return the documents until the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided Mar a Lago last August and seized the critical papers.

Through it all, Trump continued to argue that he had the right and executive privilege as a former president, to hold on to these and other government documents, including documents holding America’s most critical and sensitive military and nuclear secrets. Trump is now the first U.S president to face federal charges.

“I’m not seeing evidence from all the past issues that he’ll be held to accountable. The list of Trump’s wrongdoings is like a receipt from CVS. Much of the wrongdoings were done well before he became president and he’s untouched,” said political consultant and commentator, Michele Watley. “Call me when he’s convicted. I would be surprised if he is convicted. Chalk it up to White privilege, wealth, his network and family connections. All of these have shielded him.”

Watley, a Kansas City, Missouri resident and founder and owner of The Griot Group LLC, a strategic communications and political advocacy consulting practice, said “no one Black that I know of would not be held accountable or killed or had their careers desecrated for the things he’s done.”

At his age, she said, Trump has spent three quarters of a century doing all the illegal, illicit and questionable things he’s done and he’s never being held accountable or responsible. With Trump facing his first indictment and unresolved cases in the District of Columbia and Georgia, there are a host of uncertainties.

“When you look at all the charges, it will be interesting to see how this plays out with his base. And how other candidates will treat him and his presence in the race,” said Watley, who has more than 15 years’ experience in public affairs, political strategy and advocacy, and governmental processes.

“Our laws that protect national defense information are critical to the safety and security of the United States and must be enforced,” said Smith, who encouraged everyone to read the document in full. “Violation of these laws put us at risk. Americans put their lives at risk. We have one set of laws in this country, and they apply to everyone.” 

Bill Berlow, a retired writer and associate editor at The Tallahassee Democrat said he was aghast at Trump’s treasonous behavior.

“Given Trump's well-documented laziness and haphazard attitude toward securing highly sensitive classified information, during and after his presidency, one can only guess how much of that information fell into the hands of agents of foreign governments, especially since access to Mar-A-Lago was not difficult,” he said. “I would be extremely surprised if this fiasco has not already cost the lives of some U.S. and foreign agents and other assets who provided our intelligence services with sensitive information.”

“… Not only because of the breaches described in the indictment but, perhaps more importantly, those dozens of examples left out of the indictment at the behest of U.S. intelligence agencies. I can think of only one word to appropriately describe this: treason."

David Cannady, senior partner at Cannady & Associates, offered an unusual scenario that would nullify the clear and present danger Trump still poses to the safety and security of the United States, whether it be his alleged cavalier treatment of state secrets, his involvement and instigation of the Jan 6 coup and riot and his reputed fascist and authoritarian leanings.

“It’s pretty significant. They did not pull any punches,” Cannady said of Smith’s investigative findings. “They made sure that unlike Hillary and other cases, that they can’t say they don’t know if he did or didn’t do it. It was conclusive. That was extremely important to protect the political process.”

This might be why Trump wants to run – to have fodder for his campaign run, said Cannady, a former assistant state attorney with the Broward State Attorney’s Office.

“These are felonies. If he’s convicted of these crimes, this will prohibit him from ever becoming president again,” he said. “The question is do you, are you, can you indict a former president? If you say no one is above the law, then you have to go through this process. This is not something that people haven’t been indicted for in the past. It’s so jarring because of who it is and the political climate.”

Cannady said the claims made against Trump are legitimate and the indictment is pretty boiler plate, but if convicted, Trump could be looking at a long stretch.

“Did he do it? Yeah, he did it,” Cannady asserted. “He’s so brazen, he thinks he can flout and disregard any and all laws. If he’s convicted, what are the implications to his presidency? All the things inside of me say he will be indicted. They’re showing him they can reach out and touch him. He faces 90 years in prison. I think if he’s convicted, he would serve something minimal and be pardoned by whoever is president, Democrat or Republican.”

Cannady’s reasoning was simple.

“If he is convicted, I believe a president will pardon him. It’s important for people like him to know they can be touched,” he said. “We’ll be seeing the judiciary and criminal justice aspects of the system play out. If he’s ultimately indicted and sentenced, he will know that anybody can be touched. Trump may negotiate and offer, through a plea deal, not to run again.”

There is considerable angst among law enforcement, Democrats and political observers that Trump’s Tuesday appearance may trigger violence from his devoted and rabid followers. Trump has been coaxing his followers to react to this latest indictment and social media has been abuzz with anger and threats against the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Biden administration and Democratic members of Congress.

It is clear that even if Trump isn’t re-elected president, during his time in the White House he ignited a wildfire of white grievance, self-pity, persecution and retribution that excites his base and is scaring the hell out of what used to be the Republican Party.

One thing is clear: Conviction, sentencing or not, Donald John Trump isn’t going away. And it appears that those most concerned about the considerable blast radius caused by Trump and Trumpism still have no idea how to defuse what he’s selling and what he has come to represent.

May 6, 2023

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Over the next few weeks, the manufactured crisis over the “debt ceiling” will reach its boiling point. But this is pure melodrama, badly overacted with the outcome already known. The real question is about our priorities – and about who gets the gold and who gets the shaft.

On the debt ceiling, President Biden says he won’t negotiate over raising it. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy says Republicans won’t raise it without negotiations. This is like teenagers playing chicken in cars racing toward each other – only in this case a crash would blow up the world economy. That can’t happen – and so it won’t. The United States will pay the debts it owes. Our full faith and credit will not be trashed.

That will still leave the question about our priorities and the national budget. Who pays and who benefits? Here – beneath the posturing – is the real deal. Here’s a handy guide to what’s in the deck.

First on our annual deficits. The best solution to the deficit is economic growth. When the economy grows, more people get jobs and raises. As wages and profits rise, the government collects more in taxes and pays out less in support – on everything from unemployment insurance to welfare to food stamps. Deficits come down.

How do we get growth? For years, Republicans have passed tax cuts – largely for the rich and corporations – saying that would lead to more investment and more jobs. Turns out it mostly led to more inequality, slower growth and thus more deficits.

Biden argues that we need to invest in areas vital to our economy – in modern infrastructure, in research and development, in subsidies that get companies to locate plants in the U.S. and not abroad. Although his program has just begun, it seems to be working – with unemployment down, wages up, and deficits getting reduced.

That said, politicians in both parties still want even faster deficit reduction. The big question is one of priorities. Here common sense should apply.

Over the past years, the richest Americans have captured more and more of the nation’s income and wealth. The middle class has struggled, and the poor haven’t kept up. Common sense would suggest that the wealthy should pay more in taxes, rather than the middle class or the poor.

On the spending side, the military budget has been rising – and now is at levels not seen since the height of the Cold War. We spend as much on the military as the next 10 nations combined. Health care costs have been rising even as life expectancy has been declining. We spend nearly two times per capita than other advanced countries with far worse results.

We can reduce our military budget and still have the most powerful military in the world. And we can transform our medical system – moving as other advanced countries have done to the equivalent of Medicare for All, providing more service for less cost. Biden has taken a small step by controlling the price gouging on some prescription drugs, but much more can be done.

But common sense rarely surfaces in the Washington debate. Consider the Republican debt ceiling “proposal” that passed the House. Republicans oppose asking the rich and corporations to pay more. They oppose cutting the military budget (and in fact want to raise it substantially). They oppose controlling drug prices, or moving to Medicare for All or even having a public option in health care that would limit insurance company excesses. Trump and Biden have convinced them that they shouldn’t touch Social Security or Medicare – at least before the election.

That leaves all the cuts to come from domestic programs – and the pain to be borne primarily by the most vulnerable – and by the middle class. Low-income families will see cuts in food support, in affordable housing, in health care through Medicaid, in infant nutrition, in childcare. The poor and middle-income families will suffer cuts in public education, in clean water and air, in safe workplaces, in childcare. The country will suffer with the slashing of investments in renewable energy, energy efficiency and electric vehicles. All of us will pay more from extreme weather as climate change goes unaddressed.

All the fulminations about the debt ceiling come down to this. Will the wealthy pay a little more in taxes or the poor a lot more in pain and hunger? Will we invest in more smart missiles or more smart children? Will we support the obscene profits of the private health insurance companies or the essential health care Americans need? Will we fund wars abroad or curb the extreme weather that threatens our communities at home? Don’t be misled by the sound and fury over the debt ceiling. The real question is who pays and who benefits.

April 3, 2023

 Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and former President Donald Trump

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from BlackMansStreet.Today

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Former President Donald Trump has been indicted today by a Manhattan grand jury, making him the first former president in American history to face criminal charges.

Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan District Attorney, did not say what charges would be brought against Trump, but New York City where he is expected to surrender is on high alert.

Bragg has been investigating Trump for paying $130,000 in hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels, whose birth name is Stephanie Clifford, prior to or at the time of the 2016 presidential election. The money was intended to ensure that Daniels would never disclose that she and Trump engaged in a sexual liaison.

Trump was set to be arraigned on April 4.

“This evening we contacted Mr. Trump’s attorney to coordinate his surrender to the Manhattan D.A.’s office for arraignment on a Supreme Court indictment, which remains under seal. Guidance will be provided when the arraignment date is selected,” a spokesman for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement, referring to the state Supreme Court.

But law enforcement officials in New York were ready for a showdown with Trump followers.

Trump, who is running for president in 2024, said he expected to be arrested on Tuesday of last week and called on his most fervent supporters to come out in force and “take back America.”

Trump’s team would engage in negotiations for a surrender.

Besides Trump who anticipates being arrested, Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy called the possible arrest of Trump “an outrageous abuse of power” by Bragg.

Mike Pence, who served under Trump as vice president, said Bragg’s actions “reek” of “political prosecution.”

But former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said Trump wants to incite violence.

The FBI and NYPD are investigating a letter containing a death threat and white powder that was mailed to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, law-enforcement sources told NBC News.

The letter was addressed to Bragg and said, "ALVIN: I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!” It contained a small amount of white powder that was tested and found to be harmless.

There were no evacuations or injuries, officials said.

It was the latest in what a senior law enforcement source described as "several hundred threats" aimed at Bragg and his office in recent weeks.

March 16, 2023
By Julianne Malveaux

The Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the 16^th largest bank in the United States, failed because its leaders used poor judgment in making ill-advised investments. They invested heavily in long-term Treasury bonds that had low-interest rate returns. As interest rates rose (which meant SVB was losing money), they didn't have the required reserves to cover their outstanding loans. Instability in the tech industries, where they were heavily invested, contributed to the bank’s denouement. While the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation usually insures deposits up to $250,000, President Biden agreed that the federal government would cover deposits "at no cost to taxpayers." Because SVB primarily served start-ups and heavy hitters, about 85 percent of its deposits were uninsured. Ordinary Americans don't get the bailout that SVB depositors got, but Biden and others justified it by saying they wanted to avoid further instability in the banking industry. While the president says that taxpayer dollars won't be used in the SVB bailout, that remains to be seen.

Financial experts will examine the reasons for the SVB failure for months, if not years. Daft Republican legislators, with absolutely no facts, have concluded that the failure of the bank is a result of "woke" business policies. They've not defined what they mean by such policies, but some see their vacuous rhetoric as a swipe at diversity practices to which most banks adhere. The intellectually challenged Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green (R-GA) wrote, "the fools running the bank were woke and almost because broke ."Donald Trump, Jr., the business icon whose daddy's companies have regularly declared bankruptcy, also weighed in on this matter. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is pinning his presidential hopes on making anti-wokeness a national mantra, said the bank was “so concerned with DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) that they got diverted from their core mission." Wall Street Journal writer Andy Kessler suggested that the SVB board, primarily white male, may have failed because its 12-persin board – 45 percent women, with one African American and one GBLTQ+ member – was diverse.

Florida’s DeSantis is a leader among those who decry consciousness. His 2022 "Stop Woke Act" prohibits instruction on race or diversity that makes white folks feel "remorse or guilt ."The law prevents employers with more than 15 employees from mandating diversity training. DeSantis has rejected the Advanced Placement Black Studies curriculum for Florida public schools. These aren't dog whistles but outright shouts of racism and anti-blackness. These rabid Republicans will blame anything – bank failures, derailed trains, and more – on so-called "wokeness," and non-critical thinkers are perfectly willing to go along with those distortions. Would a bank with all white male directors have acted differently than the current directors of SVB did? One might argue that an all-white male board might have performed even worse. The financial press offers many reasons why SVB failed, and throwing "wokeness" into the equation is a distraction.

Though I get the concept, I've never been fond of "woke" rhetoric. It's been used as shorthand to describe conscious, racially and politically aware people, who are often progressive. A dear friend and diversity consultant, Howard Ross, says, "It doesn't matter whether you are woke or not; it's what you do when you get out of bed." In other words, anyone can mouth the rhetoric, but actions speak louder than words. It is unfathomable that a profit-making, predatory-capitalist bank led by white men can be described as mistakenly "woke" after its failure. Marjorie Taylor Green and her ilk are looking for excuses in the face of their stumbles, which include the loosening of Dodd-Frank regulation that might have prevented the SVB bank failure.

Dr. Julianne Malveaux is an economist, author and Dean of the College of Ethnic Studies at Cal State LA.