Current Events > Trump says he was "Just Asking Questions" about the 2020 election...

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https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2023/aug/09/donald-trump/trump-says-doj-is-trying-to-criminalize-asking-que/

Former President Donald Trump framed the latest federal indictment against him as an attempt to criminalize disputes of election results.

"The fake charges put forth in their sham indictment are an outrageous criminalization of political speech," Trump said at an Alabama Republican Party dinner Aug. 4, the day after his arraignment in a federal Washington, D.C., courthouse. "They are trying to make it illegal to question the results of a bad election."

Trump did much more than question results. If he had stopped there or at lawful strategies such as filing lawsuits or requesting audits, he wouldnt be in this situation. The Aug. 1 indictment introduction says, "The defendant had a right, like every American, to speak publicly about the election and even to claim, falsely, that there had been outcome-determinative fraud during the election and that he won."

The four charges against Trump are about actions meant to overturn results.

The indictment says Trump "pursued unlawful means of discounting legitimate votes and subverting the election results," amounting to criminal conspiracies. In paragraph after paragraph, the indictment details actions Trump took to achieve the goal of the conspiracy.

"This is all conduct, not speech," said E. Danya Perry, a white-collar criminal defense attorney and former federal prosecutor in New York.

The indictment alleges Trump took specific actions to further the conspiracy, including:

His call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger imploring him to "find" more votes to put Trump in the winning column.
His role in the pressure campaign on legislators in battleground states he had lost as he sought to sway them to overturn the election.
Along with his campaign and co-conspirators, seeking to establish fake electors and have them transmit certificates showing Trump won in states he lost.
Attempting to "leverage the Justice Department to use deceit" to replace legitimate electors with fake Trump electors.
Seeking to enlist Vice President Mike Pence to "fraudulently alter the election results" on Jan. 6.

When contacted for comment, a Trump campaign spokesperson pointed to the First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech and the right of people to "petition the government for a redress of grievances."

The indictment uses scathing criticism of Trumps speech after the 2020 election, saying he "spread lies" about election fraud and "knew that they were false." Trump created an "intense national atmosphere of mistrust and anger," it says.

However, the allegations detailed in the indictment were not a matter of free speech, lawyers said.

"He can say whatever he wants. He can even lie. He can even tell people that the election was stolen, when he knew better," Bill Barr, a former attorney general under Trump who is a critic of his former boss, said on CNN. "But that does not protect you from entering into a conspiracy."

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He was asking questions like "Can you find me 11,780 votes?"

Today's defense: Trump was just JAQing off
Tomorrow's defense: It was just a prank, bro!

This is probably going to be the next major right wing talking point. Trump's not smart enough to have come up with this by himself.

If you tell your friends you think the bank robbed you because of fees, that is one thing. Going to the bank and demanding money is not okay.

There is a huge difference.

So which banned account from here belongs to Trump?

We have trolls here that are less obvious.

mystic_belmont posted...

If you tell your friends you think the bank robbed you because of fees, that is one thing. Going to the bank and demanding money is not okay.

There is a huge difference.

This. He wasn't just asking questions on the account that he said the election was stolen. That's not a question.

Tyranthraxus posted...

He was asking questions like "Can you find me 11,780 votes?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeYDPjT5zTg

And he got answers, the answers he got were that he lost, and fairly too. The election was stolen. He refused to accept those answers.

Trump, babe. I'm asking you nicely to shut the fuck up. You wouldn't be in this predicament if you could just keep your gob shut. Or, you can keep being belligerent and incriminate yourself further. I'm okay with that as well. Fucking moron.

ArtiRock posted...

This. He wasn't just asking questions on the account that he said the election was stolen. That's not a question.

He also asked, and was told over and over and over and over and over again that it wasn't. He lost every court case related to it. The USSC ruled against him.

So he chose violence. He riled up his base, had them attend his Jan. 6th rally armed, told them to march to the Capital, and said that when they steal the election you can go by different set of rules. He said if you don't fight like hell, you are going to lose your country.

It's typical Trump to claim over and over and over that the indictments are about the very thing the indictments clearly state they are NOT about

Euripides posted...

It's typical Trump to claim over and over and over that the indictments are about the very thing the indictments clearly state they are NOT about

He knows his supporters won't read them and FOX, et. al, will spin the shit sideways.