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Rudy Giuliani

Rudy and the Donald: The Downward Spirals

December 28, 2023
by Peter Feinman
Soul mates, cell mates (Rose Hartman/Getty Images)

We have the opportunity to witness live the deterioration of the former America’s Mayor and the former American President. These two senior citizens approaching the ninth decade of their lives are putting on a degeneration display that is astonishing to behold. It also shows no sign of ending either.

RUDY GIULIANI

Many people have already commented on the decline of the former America’s Mayor. There is no point in rehashing what he was as a Federal attorney or as Mayor both before and after 9/11. There also is no point in rehashing his batting average of .000 as he scurried around the country trying one court after another to buy into the wishful thinking of the bogus evidence presented so the loser could steal the election and return to the White House. The images of hair dye dripping down his face or his press conference at the Four Seasons Total Landscaping parking lot will replace the images of him on 9/11 as the defining ones of his career.

What is important to note is that he is not capable of stopping his deterioration. The old adage about when you are in a hole stop digging does not seem to have registered in his brain. His conviction for the defamation Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss was no surprise. The amount of $148 million certainly was a shocker. While there is no chance of him paying that amount, the verdict can be parlayed into the criminal charges against him. His conviction there will mean time in prison. While there probably are 80-year-olds already in prison, there are probably even fewer who were first imprisoned as an 80-year old.

His language and mindset are what are important here. When he described the actions of Freeman and Moss on election night he was back in his glory days as Mayor waging a war against street crime. Only this time the stakes were much higher. Clearly he revels in the language he used to denounce them. He has no intention of apologizing to them or retracting his words. When he had the opportunity in court to present the supposed evidence against them, he chose at the last minute not to appear. That did not stop him outside of court from claiming he spoke the truth against Freeman and Moss and has no reason to apologize. In fact, he went on to malign them even after the case had concluded. That tirade simply means he can be subject to additional penalty.

So why is he acting this way? “Glory Days” by Bruce Springsteen is as good a place as any to start. Back on June 20, 2022, I wrote a blog Giuliani’s Indictment: Previewing the President’s, a sequence that is slowing becoming true. In that blog I cited Elaina Plott Calabro in her article from 2019 in The Atlantic:

Rudy Giuliani: ‘You Should Be Happy for Your Country That I Uncovered This’

President Trump’s personal attorney unleashes in a new phone call with The Atlantic while Trump allies turn on him.

Even among the president’s closest allies, Giuliani is now the subject of scorn. When I reached him by phone this morning, following House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff’s release of the full whistle-blower complaint at the center of the Ukraine scandal, he was, put simply, very angry.

“It is impossible that the whistle-blower is a hero and I’m not. And I will be the hero! These morons—when this is over, I will be the hero,” Giuliani told me.

“I’m not acting as a lawyer. I’m acting as someone who has devoted most of his life to straightening out government,” he continued, sounding out of breath. “Anything I did should be praised.”

Here you see the dilemma Giuliani faces. In his mind, he could still be the hero who is going to save the country just as he had been on 9/11. The stolen election fraud provided him with an opportunity to salvage his life. A court ruling, perhaps the first of many, takes that belief away from him. His stark choices are to admit his life was a lie or to continue wallowing in that lie. So far he has chosen the latter. Hence the continued deterioration by someone who is no longer capable of living in the real world. The ultimate moment of truth would be his imprisonment as a result of his criminal actions on behalf of The Donald. One has to wonder then if it will be safe to leave him alone.

DONALD TRUMP 

Never admit defeat or that you lost. Trump is a few years behind Rudy. This is due to his ability to DELAY DELAY DELAY the criminal and civil proceedings against him. His hope, of course, is to run out the clock so he can have the federal charges against him dropped. That will not work in Georgia or Michigan or whichever other state charges him and/or his allies in the fake elector scheme. So the odds are there will at least be state trials where there are a parade of Republican witnesses testify against him. These fake elector schemes were in battleground states. In those much contested states there will be a daily barrage of charges, testimony that he will not have the opportunity to refute if he is not charged at all or charged separately.

At this point, he needs an army of lawyers to put out the fires which seem to be increasing and not snuffed out. Soon we will be hearing about the penalty related to his criminal business operations in New York. As with 9/11 for Giuliani, the image of The Donald as a successful businessman has been integral to his political success and his self-identity. Now he will be exposed as a business failure even when he cheated. That decision will be a blow to him personally.

I confess, I can’t keep track of all the trials both criminal and civil in the works against him. Despite all the attention on March 4 for his Insurrection trial, January looms as a busy month. There will be civil trials on the Insurrection by the Capitol police, 14th Amendment rulings, and round 2 of the E. Jean Carroll civil case. The point is that there will always be something going on with some trial that demands his attention especially as he appeals every decision. He needs an army of lawyers to keep up.

We should not overlook the impact of stress on his life despite his “witch-hunt” bravado. While Biden may stumble now and then, Trump is the one whose mental necessities show signs of deterioration. His repeating of errors are not the signs of a “senior moment” or slip of the tongue. They are the signs of a loss of mental acuity, of a person who keeps thinking a deceased spouse is still alive or he still lives at home and not in a facility. Regardless of any normal deterioration in his mind, the constant stress of the legal cases even before a parade of Republicans start testifying against him will make Giuliani seem normal by comparison.

He is on a one-way track downhill. He can’t admit he was a failure in business. He can’t admit he was a crooked failure in business. He can’t admit he lost the election. He can’t admit he was the one who tried to steal the election. It is easier for some of his codefendants to reach plea deals. They still have a life to lead free of Trump. He has no such luxury. He is in this until the end because the alternative of facing and living the truth is a threat to entire life and self-identity. It’s no wonder the prospect of prison frightens him. One has to wonder then if it will be safe to leave him alone.

For months now, Anthony Scaramucci has predicted that the “stressed” out Trump over the indictments will drop out of race. Lately he has tempered his prediction about a pre-Iowa caucus withdrawal. The change was due to the slow pace of the cases. While it is possible he might go to jail for contempt of court in 2024, there is little likelihood that he will go to prison in 2024. Still one should not discount the impact of the constant stress due to the various cases. Think of how much he has to lose if he loses to Joe Biden again this coming November. Care to take bets on when he will start claiming rigged election this time around too?

Giuliani’s Indictment: Previewing the President’s

June 30, 2022
by Peter Feinman
Soul mates, cell mates (Rose Hartman/Getty Images)

At this point in time, it is becoming easier to determine who will be indicted for sedition and the attempt to overthrow the government. The words of Eric Herschmann to John Eastman remain the best free advice a range of people should take: “Get a great effing criminal lawyer.” The Department of Justice has its work cut out for them if all the conspirators are to be indicted before the fall political campaigns. Others may only need to be subpoenaed by that time.

High on that list will be the country’s one-time mayor, Rudy Giuliani. It may be hard for younger people to realize that once upon a time not so long ago Giuliani was a true hero and not some inebriated clown peddling criminal nonsense. Still there are lessons to be learned that shed light on his client and his state of mind.

CENTER OF ATTENTION RUDY

Back in the 1980s and 1990s in New York City and through 9/11, Rudy was a center of attention in the Big Apple. He was a legendary prosecutor in the Southern District of New York and a mayor of renown when crime really was bad. Looking back, this time period probably was the high point of his life.

During these years, his path crossed with another figure of perpetual media prominence who eventually would become President and seek to overthrow the government with Giuliani. The prosecuting attorney and career criminal were not friends then but they traveled in the same media circles. I think it is safe to say that no one in the 1980s-1990s predicted these futures for either one of them.

DOWNHILL RUDY

Leaving the center stage is a challenge. Prominent athletes may have trouble retiring. One moment the camera is on you and the next moment you are yesterday’s news. The abrupt change can be traumatic. Call it post-celebrity stress disorder (PCSD).

For Giuliani it was all downhill during the first decade of the new century and millennium. From being a short-lived Senate candidate to a failed Presidential candidate, he soon was a nothingburger. The camera was never on him and nobody cared what he had to say. It was as if he had disappeared.

A similar fate seemed to be in store for his perpetually-bankrupted soul brother. He had gone from being a media figure to being an afterthought if anyone ever thought of him at all. Then when he was on the brink of disappearing forever, he was rescued from oblivion from a totally unexpected source:

How Mark Burnett Resurrected Donald Trump as an Icon of American Success
With “The Apprentice,” the TV producer mythologized Trump—then a floundering D-lister—as the ultimate titan, paving his way to the Presidency. (New Yorker, January 7, 2019)

So whereas Rudy faded from sight, Trump gained enough national notoriety to exploit the opportunity presented by Obama in the 2008 presidential election.

RUDY AND THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY

It was not until a decade later in Ukraine of all places did Giuliani return to the national spotlight. He had been entrusted by the President of the United States to do very important work. He operated almost as an independent Secretary of State and not the actual one he had wanted to be. Mow he was tasked with a supremely important mission. He was determined to find dirt on Hunter Biden, undermine Joe Biden, and pave the way for the re-election of a person he should have prosecuted in the old days. He was important again. He was with the most powerful person in the world.

Rudy Giuliani: ‘You Should Be Happy for Your Country That I Uncovered This’
President Trump’s personal attorney unleashes in a new phone call with The Atlantic while Trump allies turn on him. By Elaina Plott (The Atlantic, September 26, 2019)

Rudy was back where he belonged. He was saving the country.

“It is impossible that the whistle-blower is a hero and I’m not. And I will be the hero! These morons—when this is over, I will be the hero.”

Rudy was going to be hero again just as he had been on 9/11. He was back on center stage. The spotlight would be on him.

RUDY THE INSURRECTIONIST

This same attitude carried over into the insurrection. Throughout the course of the insurrection there is probably no one more consistently ridiculous than Rudy. Séance Sydney, Pillowhead, and General Fifth have been one trick ponies. By contrast, Ridiculous Rudy has been everywhere. Let us count the ways.

1. Legal challenges – He traveled the country in one bogus case after another compiling a near perfect record not only for defeat but for absurdity. It got to the point where he was practically laughed out of the court and only welcomed on Foxhub. His antics resulted in his being sued along with others by Dominion and Smartmatic. He expressed another legal idea destined to mark him as a fool forever: “It’s not my job in a fast-moving case to go out and investigate every piece of evidence that’s given to me.” How about even one? He even had his law license suspended in New York although that not may be due to his insurrection activities. It would seem that there was only one person who believed the nonsense he was peddling and that was enough.

2. State Vote – Another technique deployed by the insurrectionists was to have voter recounts in swing states and/or fraud investigations. In the previous blog, I addressed his efforts in Arizona which led to the extraordinary line “We’ve got lots of theories, we just don’t have the evidence.”  His efforts in Georgia also in the Day 4 testimony included a video showing an extensive diatribe of great impassioned conviction about criminal behavior by the state election workers. His racist-based attacks comparing election workers to drug dealers probably will not help him when he is brought to trial.

His totally bogus claims leading to the disruption of the lives of two civic-minded Americans working to make the election work will not help either. Helping people to vote, especially older people, was an act of great personal satisfaction to Shaye Moss. Her mother Ruby Freeman testified: “There is nowhere [now] I feel safe. The president of the United States is supposed to represent every American. Not to target one.” From standing up to Osama bin-Laden to targeting Ruby Freeman through lies — how much lower could he degenerate?

3. State Insurrection Electors – Rudy also peddled the effort to create insurrection electors, an effort which already is being investigated by the DOJ.

4. January 6 – The full story of what transpired in the Willard War Room has yet to be told. Some of it will be revealed in future hearings by the House Select Committee. Some of it will remain hidden as Steve Bannon, Roger Stone, Rudy Giuliani, and Mark Meadows present by phone refuse to testify. In the meantime we have this tidbit courtesy of Cassidy Hutchinson.

As Mr. Giuliani and I were walking to his vehicle that evening, he looked at me and said something to the effect of “Cass, are you excited for the sixth? It’s going to be a great day.” I remember looking at him and saying, “Rudy, can you explain what’s happening on the sixth?” And he responded something to the effect of “we’re going to the Capitol. It’s going to be great. The President’s going to be there. He’s going to look powerful. He’s going to be with the members. He’s going to be with the senators. Talk to the chief about it. Talk to the chief about it. He knows about it.”

Rudy’s going to be the hero again. At the center of the action. The President is going to trump his domination of Lafayette Park. I’ll be walking with Rambo. We are going to seize the moment when weak Mike Pence fails us. It will be like 9/11 all over again.

In Giuliani’s desperate and pathetic need to be the hero again, we gain insight into the mind of Donald Trump. Time was running out on him. Even with his limited grasp of the real world he knew that January 6 was critical. Everything done so far had failed. He knew his Vice President would fail him.

Even though BoneSpur Boy is a weak person who limits himself to being mean, nasty, and insulting and fighting in the professional wrestling arena only when it is rigged, he knew that this time he would have to be the one to take the lead (Suppose He Had Led His People to the Capitol on January 6… January 12, 2022). This was his last chance at remaining President. He was not going to let some car driver or Secret Service agent prevent him from remaining President. This was his chance to go into the arena for real. Oh, to be deprived of his moment of glory and end up in a prison cell with Rudy.

Day 4 The House Select Committee and the American Revolution 250th

June 29, 2022
by Peter Feinman
Don't throw ketchup on my wall! - The true testimony of President Harrison Ford

The actions of the House Select Committee have ripple effects beyond the simple “who done it?” investigations. Before turning to its meaning for the American Revolution 250th, I must digress to an image from the sixth and most recent session. When you heard the story of the President of the United States grabbing for first the steering wheel of the car and then the clavicle of the Secret Agent sworn to protect him, what images crossed your mind?

The first image that came to my mind was not of the immature child-president who throws ketchup on the wall but the heroic President Harrison Ford in Air Force One. He memorably says “Get off of my plane” as he dispatches the Russian foe who had been aided by a traitor Secret Service agent. The other image was of Clint Eastwood wrestling with a renegade Secret Service agent who placed loyalty to the President over loyalty to the Constitution in Absolute Power. I know The Godfather was mentioned numerous times by commentators. When I wrote my first political thriller blog back on January 3, 2021, I had no idea what was to happen.

JIMMY STEWART

Another movie image which has been mentioned was the comparison to Jimmy Stewart in Day 4 of the hearings. The actual person testifying was Rusty Bowers, Republic Speaker of the House of Representatives in Arizona. He came across as a tall dignified taciturn person who delivered the plain-spoken truth. His delivery was to the point of the questions posed to him. He spared no one and nothing in his answers.

Bowers did prove the value of bringing a gun to a gun fight rather than a plastic spoon as the Democrats do. One of his exchanges involved Rudy Giuliani, one the people sure to be indicted by the Department of Justice for his role in the insurrection. Giuliani professed to have information about voter fraud in Arizona. Bowers calmly replied words to the effect of “Show me the evidence.” Bowers called for Giuliani to present the names of the alleged fraudulent voters. Needless to say, Giuliani never provided such evidence because there is no such evidence.

This exchange illustrates the exact technique Democrats should deploy against every claim of a stolen election. Democrats should be challenging every individual Trumpican to “show me the names” every time any of them say the election was stolen. Then they should repeat the charge the next day. Everyone who claims the election was stolen and who is an elected official or running for office should be challenged every day to “show me names” until they shut up or decide to name names as Trump did twice in Georgia.

Bowers elicited two unexpected responses in his exchange with Giuliani. The first is the destined to be repeated in legal and political circles for years to come:

We’ve got lots of theories, we just don’t have the evidence.

The second is one that has been overlooked as far as I can tell. The President then urged his lawyer to comply with the request of Bowers. Why did he do that? Did he think that Giuliani really had such evidence and that it would be routine to provide it? In other words, had he fallen for his own con and convinced himself that such evidence really existed? Was he completely susceptible to every claim Giuliani made whereas he repeatedly rejected the words of Barr and everyone else who told him truth? I think a case can be made that by that time he had drunk his own Kool Aid and had become a permanent resident of Coo Coo Land.

One other comment of Bowers stands out for non-legal reasons. Bowers believes the Constitution is “divinely inspired.”

I do not want to be a winner by cheating. I will not play with laws I swore allegiance to.

For Bowers to be asked to violate his oath to this sacred document was “foreign to my very being.” Even though Donald Trump asked him to violate his oath to the Constitution, Bowers still said he would vote for Trump in 2024 (although he apparently hopes he has an alternative in a robust primary).

Back home, local papers reported on the reaction to the testimony by the Republican Speaker of the House.

Thank Rusty Bowers, but remember these Arizona politicians who tried to thwart democracy
Laurie Roberts Arizona Republic June 21 2022

On one hand, Bowers has been the recipient of cheers in the airport for standing up to Trump. In Arizona the politicians who were complicit in the fake electors scheme and who support Trump’s effort to steal the election denounce him as a RINO. As we just saw in elections last night in Colorado and Mississippi, in some districts at least there still are enough Republicans to outvote Trumpicans in primaries. We will have to wait and see if Arizona is an insurrection state that will rig the vote in 2024.

AMERICAN REVOLUTION 250th CELEBRATION/COMMEMORATION

In a blog on the American Revolution 250th (American Revolution 250th Update June 24, 2022), I wrote about “Foundations of Independence Protest and Communication in Revolutionary America, 1770-2020” conference by Iona College and the Institute for Thomas Paine Studies. I reported that one concept gaining traction is to view the 250th as a time of commemoration and not celebration. There is a need to include the negative aspects of the American Revolution that have been marginalized. What is not clear is why living in a society that can face negative aspects in its history and revise a national narrative is not cause for celebration as presenter Zara Anishanslin, University of Delaware, had suggested. Exactly how many countries do this anyway – expand this national narrative to be more inclusive? The story of the American Revolution should be contextualized. It would be disappointing if the 250th ended up only being a series of parades according to one speaker.

One hopes that part of the contextualization will include comparing the United States at its birth with the rest of the world. How many large multi-racial, multi-ethnic, multi-religious countries with no slavery and where all adults could vote and live freely based on their sexual orientation were there in 1776 or 1787 or today? How much did the Declaration of Independence contribute to the very words and ideals later expressed in subsequent social and political movements?

At this point I am drawn to the comments of Bowers. He referred to the Constitution as “divinely inspired.”

Did any of the presenters as this conference share that perception?
Do academics have any sympathy, empathy, or sensitivity for Americans who share such views?
Are academics more likely to refer to the shortcomings in the American Revolution? That America was born in sin? That America needs to redeem itself?

As best I recall, in all the conferences I have attended online or in-person or lectures I have heard both by individuals and history organizations including national ones, there is no one who is reaching out to people who think the Constitution is divinely inspired. My prediction is that the 250th will be weaponized into another culture war conflict between the Woke who disparage America and the Trumpicans who abuse it with the people on Team Normal being ignored.

The Three Taxeteers: Al Capone, Leona Helmsley, and Donald Trump

July 8, 2021
by Peter Feinman

This image of Al Capone, Leona Helmsley, and Donald Trump comes from a blog dated October 2, 2016. While I would love to take credit for it, the author was Jordan Zoot. At that time he wrote:

Helmsley….perhaps the most notorious and self righteous criminal tax evader in the history of the United States. I will never forget her quote “We don’t pay taxes, only little people pay taxes” which rightfully caused her to get “hung by her own tongue” and sent to prison….which is more likely than not the proper answer for Donald Trump.

As a CPA with thirty five years of involvement with our tax system, the disclosures in the New York Times make me want to throw up. I would absolutely no [sic] respect of anyone that would actually vote for this mentally defective, vile animal to be POTUS. Why would we elect a person that is truly a hater of our government and way of life.

Donald Trump joins Leona Helmsley and Al Capone on the list of the WORST CRIMINAL TAX CHEATS IN US HISTORY

Jordan Zoot was ahead of his time.

We know that once upon a time, Helmsley’s real estate rival, Donald Trump, castigated her in his usual delicate manner as scum of the earth and rejoiced in her conviction. His comments about her undoubtedly will be played at the upcoming trial(s) where he and others will be charged with doing the same.

Those trials and his legal shenanigans are sure to provide continuous humor and outrage for months if not years to come. He is firm believer that when you are in a hole, keep digging.

THROWN UNDER THE BUS

Michael Cohen, the attorney who did not take a bullet for the client he still calls “Mr. Trump,” has been consistent on this point. The accused always looks out for himself first, foremost, and only and he will throw everyone else under the bus. Apparently, Cohen has seen a mighty long bus in his career serving Person #1.

Recently, we have seen another lawyer of the unindicted conspirator thrown under the bus. Rudy Giuliani has received the “treatment” and not the money he needs. He has mounting legal expenses and minimal income. Naturally he turned to the person he served for assistance and naturally he was rebuffed.

His actions on behalf of his client have rendered him a permanent laughingstock on path to being disbarred. In exchange for making the most ridiculous claims in court he has received nothing. Obviously his client has complete confidence that he can stiff Giuliani and suffer no consequences.

The former hero of 9/11 claimed during the Ukrainian extortion attempt that in the end he would be the hero. So far it has not worked out that way. Instead he is alone, losing his money, his law license, and his freedom. As it turns out he does have the opportunity to be the hero. He could do what Michael Cohen did – tell the truth.

The same choices are or will face other people involved in the audacious 15-year tax fraud. The CFO, the children, and the CEO all will have moments of truth. No one can say for sure what these people will do when that time comes. Actually we can say. The CEO already has said that everyone (including Capone and Helmsley) does it. Yes, the actions the Trump Organization are accused of did happen, but so what? Only fools pay taxes and serve in the military. What are you going to do about it? I am sure that Weisselberg is comforted by the fact that his Hitler-admiring boss just threw him under the bus. It’s almost as if Trump is working for the prosecution.

SUING SOCIAL MEDIA

One can only hope and pray that the stunt of suing social media companies proceeds through the legal system. Over the past few years, the most corrupt President in the history of the United States has done everything he can to avoid testifying under oath. He is not capable of telling the truth except by accident. Therefore his own lawyers wisely attempt to prevent him from entering a perjury trap.

That approach works well when you are a defendant but not so well when you are the one who initiates the prosecution. Then the process of discovery occurs. Since he was removed from social media for his actions instigating the assault on America on January 6, guess what evidence the defendants are going to request? Everything that Congressional Trumpicans have sought to squash and keep hidden from being investigated by Congress now will become fair game if the lawsuit is allowed to proceed. Most likely it was just a stunt that was not thought through. But such stunts can take on a life of their own.

IDES OF MARCH

In a previous blog, I suggested that the Howard Baker moment from Watergate would be an “Et tu Brute” moment instead. Everyone knows who Brutus will be. For that moment to occur, Ron DeSantis has to win re-election for governor in Florida. To be elected, DeSantis required the assistance of the then-President. To be re-elected, he does not. After the 2022 election he will be in the driver’s seat.

The exact details of the transition depend in part on the election results elsewhere. If Democrats retain control of the Senate that in itself will not be a game changer. If Democrats retain control of the House despite voter suppression, rigging the certification process, gerrymandering, Congressional reapportionment of House seats, and the traditional out-of-power party pickup in the first mid-term election, then there will be hell to pay. At that point, the Loser will be the one thrown under the bus.

A lot will happen between now and the 2022 elections. There will be more lawsuits. Investigations will continue. The economy will continue to get better. The unvaccinated red-states will continue to experience coronavirus variants. Many of his followers admire him precisely as a potential American Hitler who will execute all those Jewish Satan-worshiping pedophile globalists when he is returned to power, jurors may not. Then he may get to join Capone and Helmsley not under the bus but up the river and in the slammer.

Impeach, Indict, Investigate or Ignore?: This Is Not a Gerry Ford Situation

November 30, 2020
by Peter Feinman
"I will be the hero!" (The Atlantic interview 9/26/19)

President Gerry Ford is back in the news… and not in a Chevy Chase way. He is in the news because of an act he did to heal the nation: he pardoned a President who had resigned in disgrace. That action is hailed as a way of moving forward from our current impeached president and sore loser today. Biden is asked not to inflict any more emotional turmoil and angst on an exhausted country that wants the nightmare to end and life to get back to normal.

Unfortunately we are not living in a Gerry-Ford moment.

This time the President was impeached.
This time the President has not admitted guilt or even conceded that he lost the election.
This time the President is planning to be politically active after he leaves office.
This time the President is planning to run again.
This time the President has a cult following who will continue to accept him as their Lord and Savior, the Chosen One, Blessed Be his Name for the indefinite future.
This time the President has $421 million in debts to pay.
This time the President is facing multiple lawsuits and indictments.
This time the President is an immature child and sore loser.
This time the President is creating the “Stop the Steal” myth as the new “Lost Cause.”

As a country we don’t have the option of putting our heads in sand and pretending the most corrupt President in the history of United States is part of our past. Who knows what parting gifts he will give the alpha-male who dominates him as part of the effort to Make Russia Great Again.

What then should We the People do? Last July, I wrote (Who Will Be Biden’s Attorney General?):

If Joe Biden is sworn in as the new President, where will the former President be at that moment? He will not be there to watch the sleepy-creepy-corrupt person who has lost his mental faculties take office. It will be difficult enough for the current President to accept the concept that THE DONALD is a loser. Especially if he is a loser to someone who received more than 306 Electoral College votes… He will not have the image of him as a loser become a defining one for him.

Well, Biden didn’t receive more Electoral votes than THE DONALD had in 2016 but he did receive 6 million votes than THE LOSER did in 2020. As gratifying as it might be to handcuff the Sore Loser on the golf course on January 20, 2021, or before he announces his candidacy for 2024, that action probably is not the best way to go. It is better to take it one step at a time and build a public case rather than to abruptly dive into the depths of his depravity the moment he leaves the White House for good. Ironically, 2021 may be remembered as the year the American people gained their immunity and the year the Sore Loser lost his.

STEP 1 RELEASE THE DOCUMENTS

During the various hearings and investigations, Congress requested documents be released. For the most part, the Criminal in-chief declined to do so and instructed all employees in the Executive branch of the government not to comply with the duly authorized subpoenas or requests. President Biden should publicly release all such documents except when there are national security concerns. Those security documents should only be released to the Congressional committees or Department of Justice. Considering how narrow the Democratic majority is, the House may not be the best venue for discovering the truth.

STEP 2 INTERVIEW THE PEOPLE

During the various hearings and investigations, Congress subpoenaed people to testify. For the most part, the Criminal in-chief declined to allow them to do so and instructed all employees in the Executive branch of the government not to comply with the duly authorized requests. The people who were willing to cooperate and were prevented from doing so should be interviewed in this step. This also includes people such as Inspectors General who have lost their jobs. The people here will not need to be subpoenaed because they are willing and eager to talk. They may even have written books about their experiences in the White House. The testimony of these people in conjunction with the documents released in Step 1 will help build a public case in the effort to determine what really happened.

STEP 3 INTERVIEW THE PARDONED PEOPLE

In that same July 2019 blog, I wrote:

If he resigns an hour before so his Vice President who is now President can pardon him, he is still subject to state law. He also still can be subpoenaed for investigations at the federal level. That means he will subject to contempt charges if he is a no-show and be confronted with a perjury trap if he does.

Now with the Flynn pardon and more to come, we are moving beyond the theoretical to the actual. This admonition applies to any and all pardoned people including himself if he deploys the Pence maneuver. The information gathered in Steps I and 2 mean the people who don’t want to tell the truth have lost the option of pleading the Fifth Amendment. Some of them still won’t tell the truth in the hope that they never will be indicted, convicted, sentenced, and jailed. Still they all should be required to testify.

STEP 4 INTERVIEW THE UNPARDONED AND UNCOOPERATIVE PEOPLE    

Theoretically, this category could include the former Vice President, the former Attorney General, the former Secretary of State, the former Postal Inspector, former multiple people from Homeland Security, the still-current son-in-law, the Fox triplets, and who knows how many others. These people may take the Fifth. That is why it is essential to go through Steps 1-3 first to lay the groundwork for the testimony of these people.

There should be a standing invitation to the Sore Loser to testify under oath at any time he wants.

The purposes of the investigations are twofold:

1. To determine for the record what actually happened.
2. To determine what regulatory and legal changes are needed so they can’t happened again.

The purpose is not to indict people except when they lie under oath.

The areas to be covered are:

1. Russian collusion and submission to Putin.
2. The cover-up including related obstruction and abuse of power in the previous investigations.
3. Ukrainian extortion.
4. The cover-up including related obstruction and abuse of power in the impeachment.
5. The assault on the election process both before and after the election.
6. The incompetence and ineptitude in the management of the coronavirus pandemic.

The actions identified under #1 may be considered treasonous. That will be determined when the investigation is complete. Technically the assault on the democratic process, the rule of law, and freedom of the press are not acts of treason done on behalf of foreign adversaries even if those actions aid his once-hoped-for business partners Russia and China. Still We the People need to know what happened. I will leave it to others to determine what to call these actions to undermine the United States of America.

This investigation will provide an opportunity for Rudy Giuliani to rise to the occasion. He said in an interview with The Atlantic in September 2019:

“It is impossible that the whistle-blower is a hero and I’m not. And I will be the hero! These morons—when this is over, I will be the hero. “I’m not acting as a lawyer. I’m acting as someone who has devoted most of his life to straightening out government,” he continued, sounding out of breath. “Anything I did should be praised …. You should be happy for your country that I uncovered this.”

Once upon a time nearly 20 years ago, Giuliani was an American hero. Like those high-school athletes remembering their glory days, he has been trying desperately to regain that status to the point where he has become a joke. He has one last chance to be the hero. I doubt he will take it even when subpoenaed to testify.

Running on Air off a Cliff: The Coronavirus and the Real World

March 11, 2020
by Peter Feinman
If Only We Lived in a World of No Gravity!

Here is what I wrote last June 19:

There is a longstanding cartoon routine of someone running off a cliff. The figure may be human or an animal and it is almost always male. The figure runs straight off a cliff and then appears to be running on air. The laws of gravity are suspended and the figure remains aloft, legs churning. Finally comes the moment of truth. He realizes his predicament and looks down. There below him, far, far below him, is the hard ground. Suddenly reality takes over. The result is SPLAT! Actually, since the fall does not kill him, it’s not too real.

So far that moment of truth has not yet arrived for the current cartoon character running on air. He has managed to maintain his illusions for far longer than I would have anticipated. There has been no Cuban Missile Crisis. No 9/11. And his hurricane failure occurred in Puerto Rico and not Louisiana. Thanks to John McCain and a few others he was not able to strip Trumpicans of their healthcare otherwise the Trump really would have hit the fan.  Is it really possible to sustain his delusions for an entire four-year term?…

There are a few simple tests to monitor his grasp of the real world, his willingness to operate it, and his success if he tries. We don’t need to wait to see how he deploys his campaign resources to know if he is operating based on real polls or his fake polls. We’ll know in a month because of health care.

“You’ll see that in a month when we introduce it. We’re going to have a plan. That’s subject to winning the House, Senate, and presidency, which hopefully we’ll win all three. We’ll have phenomenal health care.” 

 So claims the very stable genius who is the smartest person in the room and the only one who can solve America’s problems.

That month of waiting for his “phenomenal health care” plan has long come and gone.

Now he says

“the people are getting better, they are all getting better”

“You may ask about the coronavirus, which is very well under control in our country.”

“We’re doing a great job with it. And it will go away. Just stay calm. It will go away.”

And there will be a miracle. Now it is the vaccine which will be ready soon, soon, very soon. Imagine if we did have a “phenomenal health care” plan as promised last June and people didn’t have to be worried about the cost of coronavirus healthcare.

Playtime is over for our immature child president. Try as he might with his Fox assistants, ignoring, denying, and insulting the real world doesn’t cut with the coronavirus. When it first appeared, mainland China tried the Trump approach. It suppressed whistleblowers. It ignored the facts on the ground. It stood by while people died.  And then its leader took credit for solving the problem and being an example to the world of what every other country should do. So besides in trade, the Middle Kingdom and the City on a Hill now are competing as to who should be recognized as the world savior.

America initially followed a similar path as mainland China. The impact of the coronavirus was downplayed. Democrats and the media were insulted. It was all a hoax. Still the stock market tanked and the numbers of infected and died rose. These past few days I have received too many emails about conferences cancelled, lectures postponed, and places closed.

This morning I woke up to see the street where I grew up on the front page of the newspaper. For most of my life, New Rochelle was best known for Dick Van Dyke. Now the National Guard will be enforcing a containment area in New Rochelle that looks like it includes the house where Carl Reiner once lived. It is a strange feeling to see your childhood community on the front page with the words “National Guard” and “containment.”

At this point, no one knows what is going to happen. Eventually, of course, the coronavirus one day will pass as an imminent threat. No one knows when that day will or how much damage it will cause. No one knows how long it will take for normalcy to return.

Think back now to the ancient crisis of the targeted killing of Iranian Major General Qassim Suleimani. Today, March 11, would have been his birthday. On a personal note, March 11 also was the birthday of my father and of a neighbor around the corner from us in New Rochelle, Benjamin Ferenz, the Nuremberg lawyer. Today he is celebrating his 100th birthday. I hope he is in Florida and not at his home in New Rochelle or else he would be caught in the lockdown too.

It was only two months ago when Suleimani died but in Trump time that is eons of crises ago. At the time, Peter Baker (New York Times, January 6, 2020), began an article with:

For three years, President Trump’s critics have expressed concern over how he would handle a genuine international crisis, warning that a commander in chief known for impulsive action might overreach with dangerous consequences.

But this time the crisis is not self-induced. This time it can’t be solved by behaving like a seventh-grade-smart-aleck-dumb-aleck. This time it can’t be solved by Hannity and his parade of Flying Monkeys who have sworn to defend the Wicked Witch of the White House. Iran and mainland China have their own Hannitys, too, and saying “Death to America” won’t solve their problems either. “Lock her up” and “Build a wall” aren’t enough. We need real leadership.

Part of the challenge is coping with the uncertainty. It is no secret that stress aggravates all other physical conditions. Our mental health pays a price for ongoing stress whether it is the abused wife who never knows when she will be struck again, the workers who never knows when they will be laid off or what time their next shift will be, or the kid who never knows when he will stopped by the police. Now We the People know that uncertainty and stress. Where will the coronavirus strike next. If I get it, will it kill me? Besides any specific legislative action, We the People need our Comforter in Chief to tell us not that everything is alright since we know better but that everything will be alright.

No one is less qualified to be America and world’s Comforter in Chief than our current President. He can’t do sympathy. He can’t do empathy. He can’t tell the truth. It’s always about him. It’s always about what he has done. If he tried to be Rudy Giuliani on 9/11, the results would be frightening. He cannot understand why in a moment of crisis, Americans would prefer the calmness of Joe Biden to the ongoing stress of what will this President say, tweet, or do next. Fortunately the coronavirus crisis is not like the Cuban Missile Crisis where a single action might destroy the world. Fortunately he hasn’t eliminated all the government employees with professional abilities in health care and who will speak truth to power. Fortunately these health professionals can be the adults in the room.

This is one crisis where the solution will be despite the President instead of because of the President since on his own our immature child President would drive We the People over a cliff while yelling how great he was.

Can anything get through to him?

Maybe the plunging Dow Jones. Wall Street knows better than to believe him or Fox. After all it was in New York where America’s biggest individual financial loser first made his mark as a con artist who could not be trusted.

Maybe the rich people he helped get richer know the truth and share with him the true situation including how poorly his performance is playing in Peoria.

Maybe watching some of the leading Congressional Trumpicans self-quarantine, including people who were in direct physical contact with him will bring the real world home to him.

Maybe Tucker Carlson will get through to him in a way Sean Hannity hasn’t:

“In crisis, it’s more important than ever to be calm. But staying calm is not the same as remaining complacent. It does not mean assuring people that everything will be fine. We don’t know that. Instead, it’s better to tell the truth. That is always the surest sign of strength.”

Maybe it will be the senior White House official said, “The gravity of the moment was pretty clear.”

Does he at last understand the gravity of the situation? Does he at last understand that real leadership is needed? Does he at last understand that Fox can’t solve the problem? We may know in 60 minutes.

Hoax Claims 5000 Dow Jones Points: No Miracle in Sight

March 9, 2020
by Peter Feinman
The Presidential Plan for the Coronavirus

White House press spokesperson Sean Spicer today announced that President Trump’s Dow Jones drop was bigger than Barack Obama’s. In fact the biggest individual financial loser in American history now may be the biggest stock market loser in American history as well.

White House fabulist Kellyanne Conway said you do not even need alternative facts to realize how great a loser the current President is.

President Trump twitted that he has authorized Attorney General Bill Barr to investigate the Deep State and its Wall Street allies for the ongoing drop in the stock market. The disloyal traitors responsible for the decline will be identified and held accountable.

President Trump twitted that the coronavirus was a Fake News hoax that was being weaponized by the Democrats to do what the Russian and the Ukrainian hoaxes had failed to do: undo the election of 2016.

President Trump twitted that Kris Kobach was being brought back to the White House. He will be investigating the FAKE NEWS reports of deaths allegedly due to the coronavirus beyond the 15 people first identified by the President. The same people who were responsible for millions of fraudulent votes in the 2016 election are back to their old dirty tricks falsifying medical records to provide a dishonest picture of what is really happening. And if there is any President who knows about the falsification of medical records it is Bonespur Boy. The dishonest traitors who are harming our country will pay the price for their actions.

Mike Pence announced that all efforts to develop a vaccine have been stopped. Our Lord and Savior, the Chosen One, Blessed Be his Name, has declared that with the warming in April the coronavirus will die a natural death. And thanks to global warming that warming will evcen occur earlier. Therefore there is no need to develop a vaccine. And it was going to be ready for distribution in a few days anyway. Furthermore the coronavirus is just like the flu and the flu never killed anyone. Pence also announced that his head is not on the chopping block. There is no truth to the rumor that he will be replaced by Nikki Haley especially if the Democrats nominate a woman for Vice President.

President Trump twitted that just as he said there were 15 people who had the coronavirus, they were getting well, and the number of infected was dropping to zero (and not because they all died either).

The Secretary of Health and Human Services has contacted former members of the military and intelligence services for advice on how to prepare simple briefing cartoons and pictures for Little Donee Waney since he lacks the attention skills to read an adult briefing book. Elementary school reading and science teachers have been retained to develop the necessary “Dick and Jane” briefing books.

President Trump twitted that he could have been a Nobel-award-winning scientist if he had followed in the footsteps of his super genius uncle. Remember how he solved the problem of the California fires through his analysis leading to the admonition to “Make America Rake Again.” Remember how he solved the problems of Puerto Rico after the hurricane by throwing rolls of paper towels to people. Wasn’t that fun! Remember how he asked Michael Bloomberg for advice after the 2016 election. Remember how Bloomberg suggested he hire people smarter than him. Remember how he replied to Bloomberg that he was the smartest person he knew. Aren’t we lucky that in our moment of need that we have a very stable genius in charge?

Think of all the actions the world’s worst manger took to prepare for this crisis.

He ensured that all critical departments were led by acting department heads often with no professional expertise except for lobbying to help rich people get richer.

He ensured that the funding for critical departments like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the global health security unit of the National Security Council were slashed or eliminated since why waste money where it wasn’t needed. Why fund the World Health Organization or the Pan American Health Organization for their work in trump-hole countries?

He ensured that all allies had been alienated and that no would expect American leadership in a FAKE NEWS crisis like climate change or the coronavirus.

What a superb job he did and the voters in 2020 will be sure to praise him for his foresight and managerial expertise.

Who can forget his calm words of patience to soothe the troubled mind?

“The market’s in great shape.”

On a positive note, the President did order a box of Sharpies so he could doctor the medical charts to provide the American people with accurate information about the path of the coronavirus which he predicted would hit Alabama.

It isn’t as if we haven’t heard this story before. In The Andromeda Strain, it only took four days for a small team of scientists to solve the mystery of this deadly contagion from space. We should be so lucky. The ending rings true today:

At the Senate Hearing, one of the hero doctor postulates that another biological crisis can occur. The senator tartly asks, “What do we do about that?” The doctor grimly redirects the question with, “Precisely, Senator. What do we do?”

In Outbreak, the Centers for Disease Control contributed to the curing of a deadly virus that had crossed over from a monkey to humans similar to ebola.

In Contagion, the Centers for Disease Control helped save the world after millions had died and anarchy had prevailed due to deadly pathogen. The cause of the outbreak of the contagion:

A final flashback occurs. We finally see what caused the global epidemic. A construction crew from Beth’s company AIMM was cutting down trees in a forest in China. That caused some bats to fly out. One bat was infected with the virus. It grabbed a piece of banana and perched above a pig’s pen. It dropped the banana piece which we are to assume had the virus on it. A pig eats it and is eventually slaughtered at market for food. A chef handles the dead pig, touching the inside of the infected pig’s mouth with his bare hands. He goes out to dining room and poses in a picture with Beth holding hands, transferring the virus to her and starting the chain of events.

But these were movies. If only there had been some real world example in recent history involving a pathogen that crossed from animal to human that we could learn from instead of having to reinvent the wheel! Something that even the current President was familiar with and had twitted about, but no such luck!

Benchmarks for Crisis

1. Have more Americans died from the coronavirus than from the flu? Then what’s the big deal?

2. Are the people who died from the coronavirus Trumpicans? Then what’s the big deal?

3. Are gas prices lower now? Isn’t that a good thing?

4. Are the people losing money in the stock market people who voted for me? That’s a big deal!

Ultimately in a time of crisis, it helps to have a voice of authority who can speak the truth to us in a way that can comfort us and provide hope. If only there had been some real world example in recent history of a person rising to the occasion to calm the country at a time when it was terrorized.

Rudy Giuliani said he would be the hero again during the Ukrainian impeachment hoax. Perhaps now that his country is in danger he could abandon the nonsense that has made him a joke and return to the real world. He could offer to show Little Donee Waney the crisis management skills that he had used in 9/11 that calmed the nation and enabled us to go on.

But even if Giuliani did try we know what would happen. The President of the United States would tell him to stick to the Ukraine and leave the current crisis to the real leader. After all, by the time all this fuss is over he will win the Nobel Peace prize for saving the world just as he already had for denuclearizing North Korea. Life is so much easier and more fun when your world is one of childish play and you are an immature child who lacks the mental necessities and cognitive skills to understand the adult world.