Letitia James’s indictment isn’t about skill, evidence, or brilliance. It’s about a system built to favor the government—and now turning on the very people who once controlled it.
The one place I will disagree is that people cheered Letitia James indicting Trump because he was a political foe. It was because he is a crooked, unethical conman, who had gotten away with far too much for far too many years.
I came here to same thing. It was about Trump being a lying, thieving, grifting conman who finally got caught lying too many times. And although the fine was reversed on appeal, the finding of liability by Judge Engoron was NOT reversed.
Notice the contrast between the two women. The look says it all. The one on the left is self-centered; the one on the right, other-centered. Flash versus authenticity. One seeks a name for herself; the other, truth and justice for all. I choose Tish James every time. She's The Real Deal and has no personal agenda. She works for We the People; the other, for Trump. And this says it all. I believe in you, Tish James. You're my hero!!!
My comment disappeared. So briefly this column was highly misleading on 2 counts. ONE Appeal court upheld the fraud conviction against Trump. Court only disagreed with the amount of damages. TWO James had full backing of her office’s career prosecutors. Halligan did not.
I follow your argument, with this gloss: If prosecutors hold all the cards, how come Donald Trump is in the White House instead of the Big House? (That's basically a rhetorical question - we pretty much know the answers - but they point to a justice system that is both less and more corrupt than you posit.) Trump pulled strings that should not be pullable. I doubt others, even powerful others like Comey and James, will be so fortunate.
Then are all prosecutions of a politician not allowed? Can they ever be held accountable. You were prosecuted bc you committed crimes with trump. He fucked with your prison sentence but your choice to be his fixer led to your downfall. James prosecuted trump bc of your testimony to congress about his regular use of fraud. Not same as looking for a crime against someone. How do we find our way out if we cannot prosecute the crimes of presidents senators and other elected officials?
Agreed - someone here mentioned that Cohen seems bitter, and I have to agree. Yes, he committed crimes on Trump’s behalf, and while I can commend him for “seeing the light,” much of what he says and writes doesn’t really reflect genuine accountability. It’s almost as if he views himself as a “special” kind of criminal who deserves leniency simply because he cooperated with the government — but that’s not how it works, and he should know that. Unfortunately, Cohen still seems angry about the situation he created for himself by getting in bed with Trump. Just my opinion, but if he had an opportunity to re-enter Trump’s orbit, I suspect he would.
I wouldn't bet against it, put it that way. His behavior since Trump got back in office compared to during the Biden era is telling. What happened to "Von Shitzenpants?"
Maybe trump is going to get rid of Bondi and replace it with another girl friend since she didn't consult with the dis"honorable AG. Cat fight on the horizon
While I somewhat agree with Mr Cohen, I also want to say he sounds bitter because he was convicted because of something he did for his boss,the orange hitler, and his boss didn't help him nor did his boss do any jail time. While I appreciate Mr Cohen perspective on how and why orange boy functions, I'm really tired of the self pity party he injects in to most of his writings. While some may disagree with what I have said,I stand by it and am Thankful we still have the first Amendment to be able to voice what we think.
It's important to realize that all of us bring our own experience and positionality to these situations. Sometimes, that gives us a deeper understanding. But, sometimes it compels us to reframe in odd ways. Although there certainly were people who cheered James' inciting Trump for bringing down "a political foe," most of us cheered her for bringing down a highly visible career criminal; one who flaunted his ability to flagrantly break the law. Although that does not invalidate the point about how rigged the system is, it's an absolutely crucial point.
Constitutional Dictatorship and Enemies Within: A Constitutional and Historical Analysis of the Alien and Sedition Acts from John Adams to Donald Trump; (2025) Robert T.F. Downes; The Journal of Int'l Relations, Peace Studies, and Development: Vol. 10: Iss. 1, Article 4. https://tinyurl.com/bdwnwedb
Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. warned of … an imperial presidency, arguing that the steady accretion of presidential power — coupled with the erosion of congressional, and hence representative authority — had pushed the executive far beyond its constitutional limits. FBI Counter Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO) expanded to suppress Vietnam War protests and to undermine Black radical movements like the Black Panther Party, all under the pretext of national security. In actuality, these operations served to suppress political dissent and civil rights activism on the home front by effectively denying activists fundamental constitutional protections.
Schlesinger argued that presidents have repeatedly invoked wartime crises to normalize their extralegal and unilateral exercises of power. [P]residents increasingly rely on the emergency authority conferred by what he described as a “perpetual crisis” often manufactured by the administration itself [, in effect] continually exploit real or manufactured emergencies as a means to exercise the executive’s right to exception and, in turn, retain extraordinary powers even during ordinary times, transgressing democratic norms and eroding constitutional checks and balances in the process.
Such impunity … signals the potential for a worst-case scenario in which the president manufactures a domestic crisis to justify declaring a ...state of exception and indefinitely suspending the Constitution. [The] perpetuated state of emergency becomes a pretext for claiming the prerogative to rule by decree — exercising unilateral, unchecked executive authority through a form of emergency constitutionalism.
[The] Trump administration has retooled crisis governance and emergency constitutionalism for domestic application during peacetime, [with a] material reconfiguration of executive authority in the United States, consolidating immigration and criminal law enforcement, national security, and domestic policing under a unified regime of unilateral presidential action.
The Supreme Court’s complicity in … Trump v. United States (2024) …held that a former president enjoys absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions taken within his “core constitutional powers,” and at least presumptive immunity for all official acts. [In] Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s words, trending toward a “catch me if you can” theory of executive power. The Court’s ruling explicitly advances a maximalist unitary executive theory, shielding presidents from legal accountability even when they employ extralegal means under the aegis of legitimate authority.
The Court’s presidential immunity doctrine effectively endorses a sovereign whose word defines the boundaries of the law itself. It confirms that constitutional governance in the United States is drifting toward the very model the Framers feared: an empowered, unrestrained, quasi-monarchical executive ruling by edict and decree, constrained only by nominal checks and lacking meaningful institutional balances. [See, First Inaugural Address of James Monroe, March 4, 1817 https://tinyurl.com/a89jym29]
Let’s not write off the 12 Americans who will decide guilt or innocence. Juries have an uncanny way of getting it right, powerful and resourceful government steering the case or not.
Well, Mr. Cohen. Did you do the crime you were convicted of?Or you were an innocent man, unjustly accused and convicted? Indicted Republicans were actually convicted, because THEY WERE GUILTY. Comey and James are guilty of nothing, except opposing dictator Trump. Get your facts straight, you money grubbing shrill.
Thanks for the long monologue, which doesn’t address my comment whatsoever. Now reread his column that I replied to, and focus on that one only. I’m a paid subscriber. And I am sure he is not working for free. He sure doesn’t sound fully rehabilitated to me. Just saying…
Yes, sorry, I used your comment as a venue for my rant. I didn't think about it again, until I reviewed your comment. Thanks for being kind about it to me.
I don't think of Cohen as a money grubbing shrill. He does have the right to get paid for his work. He admitted he did the crimes in the past. He served his time. In addition, he was further targeted by the president unfairly using Bill Barr to interfere with prison treatment because he wrote a book. Cohen was tortured in isolation for weeks or months, was put back inside because he refused to sign over his personal rights.
I've heard isolation in prison is tough on the mind, as I imagine are personal attacks by the President and his henchmen, traumatic. Yes he did the crime but he deserves respect too for his efforts to correct his mistakes. I do like and respect Lev Parnas too. I think both men rehabilitated.
I value Cohen, Comey, and James equally. None of these good people deserve these attacks.
I'm sorry this is long again. I can't summarise so much info as well as you.
Leticia James IS skilled, IS brilliant and trump IS crooked, unethical, a liar, a cheat, a terrorist and a conman. It seems you can't get over no longer "being at his side".
I honestly can not stand reading Cohen anymore. He was guilty. These people who are being indicted now are NOT. Disclosure: I do not read his substack columns anymore but I started reading this one from Meidas without checking the author and after about 5 lines I realized yes the doomsayer is indeed Cohen.
The difference is that, although you were politically targeted, and re-targeted, you actually did what they accused you of doing. It’s not clear at all that James did, and it’s pretty clear that Comey didn’t.
The one place I will disagree is that people cheered Letitia James indicting Trump because he was a political foe. It was because he is a crooked, unethical conman, who had gotten away with far too much for far too many years.
Political foe, my big blue butt. It was because he was the same liar, cheat, thief, and conniving con artist, he had been all his adult life.
Absolutely agree.
That too
Karen didn't say Trump was a political foe - just that Trumpers say that!
I understood that. And agreed with it.
I came here to same thing. It was about Trump being a lying, thieving, grifting conman who finally got caught lying too many times. And although the fine was reversed on appeal, the finding of liability by Judge Engoron was NOT reversed.
Agree!
Notice the contrast between the two women. The look says it all. The one on the left is self-centered; the one on the right, other-centered. Flash versus authenticity. One seeks a name for herself; the other, truth and justice for all. I choose Tish James every time. She's The Real Deal and has no personal agenda. She works for We the People; the other, for Trump. And this says it all. I believe in you, Tish James. You're my hero!!!
Comparing Trish James to Halligan........thats like comparing Nicole Kidman to a Skibidi Toilet character.
Very funny. Reminds me of the Trump toilet brush.
Ha! I received one of those!!!!!!! 🤣
Well put.
Amen Deli!! My hero, too!!!!!
Sweet!!! Together we stand as one.
It’s time to restore JUSTICE and improve what we have known as justice. We are better than this mess
But how will you do it, with words on the internet?
TIME TO CLEAN HOUSE!!! 👍💙🇺🇸
My comment disappeared. So briefly this column was highly misleading on 2 counts. ONE Appeal court upheld the fraud conviction against Trump. Court only disagreed with the amount of damages. TWO James had full backing of her office’s career prosecutors. Halligan did not.
Exactly.
Truth.
I follow your argument, with this gloss: If prosecutors hold all the cards, how come Donald Trump is in the White House instead of the Big House? (That's basically a rhetorical question - we pretty much know the answers - but they point to a justice system that is both less and more corrupt than you posit.) Trump pulled strings that should not be pullable. I doubt others, even powerful others like Comey and James, will be so fortunate.
Then are all prosecutions of a politician not allowed? Can they ever be held accountable. You were prosecuted bc you committed crimes with trump. He fucked with your prison sentence but your choice to be his fixer led to your downfall. James prosecuted trump bc of your testimony to congress about his regular use of fraud. Not same as looking for a crime against someone. How do we find our way out if we cannot prosecute the crimes of presidents senators and other elected officials?
Agreed - someone here mentioned that Cohen seems bitter, and I have to agree. Yes, he committed crimes on Trump’s behalf, and while I can commend him for “seeing the light,” much of what he says and writes doesn’t really reflect genuine accountability. It’s almost as if he views himself as a “special” kind of criminal who deserves leniency simply because he cooperated with the government — but that’s not how it works, and he should know that. Unfortunately, Cohen still seems angry about the situation he created for himself by getting in bed with Trump. Just my opinion, but if he had an opportunity to re-enter Trump’s orbit, I suspect he would.
I wouldn't bet against it, put it that way. His behavior since Trump got back in office compared to during the Biden era is telling. What happened to "Von Shitzenpants?"
Maybe trump is going to get rid of Bondi and replace it with another girl friend since she didn't consult with the dis"honorable AG. Cat fight on the horizon
I haven't seen a good cat fight in a long, long time.😂 But, just imagine...two women fighting over tRumpster's old arse!! 😂😄Ewwww!
Good one, Beverly!
While I somewhat agree with Mr Cohen, I also want to say he sounds bitter because he was convicted because of something he did for his boss,the orange hitler, and his boss didn't help him nor did his boss do any jail time. While I appreciate Mr Cohen perspective on how and why orange boy functions, I'm really tired of the self pity party he injects in to most of his writings. While some may disagree with what I have said,I stand by it and am Thankful we still have the first Amendment to be able to voice what we think.
What's up with the beauty queen nonsense? The Epstein files please.
Taco's limited edtion "Satanic Barbie Collection" .......... they keep adding more all the time.
It's important to realize that all of us bring our own experience and positionality to these situations. Sometimes, that gives us a deeper understanding. But, sometimes it compels us to reframe in odd ways. Although there certainly were people who cheered James' inciting Trump for bringing down "a political foe," most of us cheered her for bringing down a highly visible career criminal; one who flaunted his ability to flagrantly break the law. Although that does not invalidate the point about how rigged the system is, it's an absolutely crucial point.
Exactly. You said it.
Constitutional Dictatorship and Enemies Within: A Constitutional and Historical Analysis of the Alien and Sedition Acts from John Adams to Donald Trump; (2025) Robert T.F. Downes; The Journal of Int'l Relations, Peace Studies, and Development: Vol. 10: Iss. 1, Article 4. https://tinyurl.com/bdwnwedb
Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. warned of … an imperial presidency, arguing that the steady accretion of presidential power — coupled with the erosion of congressional, and hence representative authority — had pushed the executive far beyond its constitutional limits. FBI Counter Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO) expanded to suppress Vietnam War protests and to undermine Black radical movements like the Black Panther Party, all under the pretext of national security. In actuality, these operations served to suppress political dissent and civil rights activism on the home front by effectively denying activists fundamental constitutional protections.
Schlesinger argued that presidents have repeatedly invoked wartime crises to normalize their extralegal and unilateral exercises of power. [P]residents increasingly rely on the emergency authority conferred by what he described as a “perpetual crisis” often manufactured by the administration itself [, in effect] continually exploit real or manufactured emergencies as a means to exercise the executive’s right to exception and, in turn, retain extraordinary powers even during ordinary times, transgressing democratic norms and eroding constitutional checks and balances in the process.
Such impunity … signals the potential for a worst-case scenario in which the president manufactures a domestic crisis to justify declaring a ...state of exception and indefinitely suspending the Constitution. [The] perpetuated state of emergency becomes a pretext for claiming the prerogative to rule by decree — exercising unilateral, unchecked executive authority through a form of emergency constitutionalism.
[The] Trump administration has retooled crisis governance and emergency constitutionalism for domestic application during peacetime, [with a] material reconfiguration of executive authority in the United States, consolidating immigration and criminal law enforcement, national security, and domestic policing under a unified regime of unilateral presidential action.
The Supreme Court’s complicity in … Trump v. United States (2024) …held that a former president enjoys absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions taken within his “core constitutional powers,” and at least presumptive immunity for all official acts. [In] Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s words, trending toward a “catch me if you can” theory of executive power. The Court’s ruling explicitly advances a maximalist unitary executive theory, shielding presidents from legal accountability even when they employ extralegal means under the aegis of legitimate authority.
The Court’s presidential immunity doctrine effectively endorses a sovereign whose word defines the boundaries of the law itself. It confirms that constitutional governance in the United States is drifting toward the very model the Framers feared: an empowered, unrestrained, quasi-monarchical executive ruling by edict and decree, constrained only by nominal checks and lacking meaningful institutional balances. [See, First Inaugural Address of James Monroe, March 4, 1817 https://tinyurl.com/a89jym29]
Let’s not write off the 12 Americans who will decide guilt or innocence. Juries have an uncanny way of getting it right, powerful and resourceful government steering the case or not.
Well, Mr. Cohen. Did you do the crime you were convicted of?Or you were an innocent man, unjustly accused and convicted? Indicted Republicans were actually convicted, because THEY WERE GUILTY. Comey and James are guilty of nothing, except opposing dictator Trump. Get your facts straight, you money grubbing shrill.
Thanks for the long monologue, which doesn’t address my comment whatsoever. Now reread his column that I replied to, and focus on that one only. I’m a paid subscriber. And I am sure he is not working for free. He sure doesn’t sound fully rehabilitated to me. Just saying…
Fair enough. I agree it was longer than I wanted, it was all over the place. Thanks for letting me know.
We ARE on the same team.
Yes, sorry, I used your comment as a venue for my rant. I didn't think about it again, until I reviewed your comment. Thanks for being kind about it to me.
I don't think of Cohen as a money grubbing shrill. He does have the right to get paid for his work. He admitted he did the crimes in the past. He served his time. In addition, he was further targeted by the president unfairly using Bill Barr to interfere with prison treatment because he wrote a book. Cohen was tortured in isolation for weeks or months, was put back inside because he refused to sign over his personal rights.
I've heard isolation in prison is tough on the mind, as I imagine are personal attacks by the President and his henchmen, traumatic. Yes he did the crime but he deserves respect too for his efforts to correct his mistakes. I do like and respect Lev Parnas too. I think both men rehabilitated.
I value Cohen, Comey, and James equally. None of these good people deserve these attacks.
I'm sorry this is long again. I can't summarise so much info as well as you.
Leticia James IS skilled, IS brilliant and trump IS crooked, unethical, a liar, a cheat, a terrorist and a conman. It seems you can't get over no longer "being at his side".
I honestly can not stand reading Cohen anymore. He was guilty. These people who are being indicted now are NOT. Disclosure: I do not read his substack columns anymore but I started reading this one from Meidas without checking the author and after about 5 lines I realized yes the doomsayer is indeed Cohen.
The difference is that, although you were politically targeted, and re-targeted, you actually did what they accused you of doing. It’s not clear at all that James did, and it’s pretty clear that Comey didn’t.