Pundit Consoomer Newsletter: Trump Indictment Cont.
June 13, 2023
Happy Tuesday! Today’s edition of The Pundit Consoomer Newsletter is 1942 words and takes approximately 8 minutes and 17 seconds to read, saving you 10 hours and 46 minutes of commentary watch time.
1 Big Thing- Trump Indictment- Over the Weekend
Former US President Donald Trump has officially been indicted in the classified documents case, which he nicknames “The Boxes Hoax”. More details have come up over the weekend, and commentators have posted their analyses.
Why it Matters: Trump is the first US President to be indicted on federal criminal charges. The indictment will have huge implications for the 2024 election.
The Gist: In the 49-page indictment, there were numerous damning statements made by Trump, many of which would seemingly undermine his previously made legal arguments.
For example, in one exchange, Trump was quoted to have said the following about a pile of Top-Secret documents in Mar-a-Lago:
“See, as President I could have declassified it. Now, I can’t, you know, but this is still a secret.”
To which his staffer replied, “Yeah. Now we have a problem.”
Pundit Perspectives:
Multiple commentators have pointed out that on the legal merits alone, the indictment seemed to have sufficient evidence to be a huge problem for Trump. These commentators include Saagar Enjeti and Krystal Ball of Breaking Points, Jonathan Turley of Fox News, Ben Shapiro of The Daily Wire, Vaush, and more:
“On the merits itself, it’s a huge problem for Trump.” (7:05) ~ Saagar Enjeti
“He’s on tape, admitting to the crime, and undercutting the only defence that I ever heard them muster for the details of the case. […] If anyone should be prosecuted for willful retention of classified documents obstruction in attempts to retrieve those classified documents, it would be [Trump].” (8:22) ~ Krystal Ball
“It’s overwhelming in detail.” (3:05) ~ Jonathan Turley, Fox News Legal Analyst, clipped on Breaking Points
“It is also true that Trump is going to have a very tough time in a courtroom explaining his behaviour.” (4:42) ~ Ben Shapiro
Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA seems to disagree:
“‘Read the indictment, it’s very serious! It’s a very serious indictment!’ So I’ve read the indictment. This is paperwork stuff.” (9:41) ~ Charlie Kirk
Multiple commentators, including Krystal Ball of Breaking Points, Ben Shapiro of The Daily Wire, and Kyle Kulinski of Secular Talk, believe that Trump’s predicament is self-inflicted:
“Put yourself in Jack Smith's Shoes let's say he didn't really want to prosecute Trump. Trump gave him no choice. When you have this amount of evidence and you know this wasn't an oopsie.” (4:30) ~ Krystal Ball
“I mean this is just- I'm sorry this is a self-inflicted wound. It's a gaping hole.” (27:54) ~ Ben Shapiro, On Trump hiding documents from his own attorney
“The political arguments that he is making are fine. […] However did Donald Trump create this wound for himself? He did. All he had to do was give the documents back, that's literally all he had to do.” (35:05) ~ Ben Shapiro
“His own hubris brought him into this position.” (8:26) ~ Kyle Kulinski
Almost all conservative commentators believe that despite the legal arguments, the indictment was politically motivated in nature:
“No one can credibly deny: That they are going after him for political reasons.” (19:08) ~ Matt Walsh
“The reason that Hillary Clinton for example should have been charged, should have been arrested, is because she actually irrefutably broke the law several times, and they admit it so, whereas with Donald Trump that’s not the case. […] It’s not a double standard, it is a far more harmful standard on one side.” (47:59) ~ Steven Crowder
“Why is he the first? Well because the same people who selectively use the IRS to target conservatives decided to break the law and protocol and indict the President for something that is completely legal.” (52:35) ~ Steven Crowder
“Donald Trump is the first former president to be charged by the DOJ with much less evidence of wrongdoing that we have irrefutably than non-presidents Hilary Clinton and Joe Biden. This is unprecedented. And it just so happens to come down at a time when new evidence emerges of actual criminal activity of the former Vice President.” (1:17:42) ~ Steven Crowder
“I don’t want to hear the bloviation or the lecturing of a paperwork stuff, while our country is being invaded, we are running trillion dollar deficits, we have a hundred ten thousand people drug overdosing, and I have to worry about the criminalisation of paperwork. The criminalisation of paperwork in boxes. While Hillary Clinton deletes emails, and Bill Clinton is on Lolita Express with children, Hillary Clinton is laundering money from foreign countries. We have an outright crook as President of the United States, but I have to go get angry about paperwork. […] These are serious charges if you hate a man.” (55:43) ~ Charlie Kirk
Kyle Kulinski and Vaush believe that Trump may be selling the classified documents to foreign countries:
“This is a man who at best is just a hoarder and is opening the door for foreign spies to go in there and steal our most classified top secret information that should actually be top secret classified. That's best case scenario. Worst case scenario he's corrupt and cutting a deal with the Saudis and whoever the hell else wants to be, probably Israel and others, and giving them top secret classified information because he wants to get paid.” (16:22) ~ Kyle Kulinski
Former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino of the Dan Bongino Show believes that Trump’s life is in danger:
“Trump’s life is in real danger ladies and gentlemen. He does not have a presidential package level of security, but he has a presidential package level of threat. […] I have a really bad feeling right now, that there is political pressure being put on the administration to make sure Trump doesn’t get the security he needs.” (9:30) ~ Dan Bongino
Krystal Ball of Breaking Points points out the danger of storing documents in Mar-a-Lago:
“Mar-A-Lago was like a nest of spies. I mean, Chinese spies have been caught trying to obtain access to the property, there's probably no foreign government with a significant spy agency on the planet that hasn't tried to infiltrate this place and the boxes were casually stored all around in easily accessible areas.” (4:59) ~ Krystal Ball
Trump will appear in Miami today for arraignment. More news and commentary on the indictment will be published tomorrow.
Go Deeper: Read the full indictment here.
2. White House Pride Flag
The Biden Administration has decided to fly the Pride Flag on the White House.
Why it Matters: The Pride Flag remains controversial among many conservatives, many of whom are arguing that this violates the US Flag Code.
Pundit Perspectives:
Tim Pool of Timcast wonders why an ideological flag is being flown.
“I honestly don't care all that much about the placement of the flag, I care about the placing of the flag in its entirety, the ideological capture of a nation. Why is a flag that represents a political ideology being flown?” (6:07) ~ Tim Pool
Gerald Morgan Jr., co-host of Louder with Crowder believes that the flag symbolises conquest, Steven Crowder agrees:
“You know what flags typically get to fly at the White House? None. And when they do it’s typically because it’s a conqueror. Conquerors run their flags up and hang them out.” (31:33) ~ Gerald Morgan Jr. on Louder with Crowder
Matt Walsh of the Daily Wire believes that the flag is a “grotesque display” and that, alongside the toppling of a historic statue that happened recently, this symbolises an erasure of history:
“The White House is also properly representing its own nation, which is not our nation. We are two nations in one, there is the old United States that the conservatives still cling to and cherish; and there is a new country with its own flag, its own tradition, its own heroes and foundational myth etc. That’s the nation of the Biden regime, the media, academia, Hollywood all speak to and represent. […] The nation we had before is being replaced. It’s not just the demographics are changing, though they are. The activists that are leading this revolution, like all totalitarians, understand that to take full control, they need to erase our shared history.” (12:19) ~ Matt Walsh
3. Unabomber Dead
Theodore J. Kaczynski, also known as the Unabomber, died on Saturday in a federal prison medical center at the age of 81. Three people familiar with the situation said he died by suicide.
Why it Matters: The Unabomber has a stubborn foothold of influence in a not-insignificant population of Gen Z.
Pundit Perspectives:
Krystal Ball of Breaking Points analyses his recent growing influence:
“In fact, you could easily argue that Kaczynski's analysis of the ills of modernity and threat of tech is actually at the peak of its relevance after all we just watched Humanity be ravaged and our individual freedom further curtailed by a pandemic that was in all likelihood unleashed by an arrogant scientific establishment.” (2:36) ~ Krystal Ball
Steven Crowder of Louder with Crowder makes a half-joke and a statement:
“Today is obviously a somber day. Lost too soon, the Unabomber guy.” (3:26) ~ Steven Crowder
“All of us are affected by the death of this, for better or worse, American icon. […] I say worse.” (17:11) ~ Steven Crowder
4. Aliens Continued
After the Air Force whistleblower, a family in Las Vegas called 911 and reported a sighting of an alien being in their backyard. Police body-camera footage shows a strange light in the sky when officers showed up.
Why it Matters: It’s aliens. Big if true.
Pundit Perspectives:
Self-admitted believers of UFOs, Saagar Enjeti of Breaking Points, and Kim Iversen of The Kim Iversen Show, display skepticism:
“On the one hand, [their] explanation out there is that they want to remain anonymous and shown attention, but then also one of the alleged witnesses is starring a YouTube channel and calls it alien Society 51.” (4:44) ~ Saagar Enjeti
“There’s a lot of holes in this particular story. First of all, a crash landing by some sort of UFO would not just leave a circle in the backyard, it would actually cause a crater, and there would be massive amount of damage. […] I do believe in aliens. […] This one in particular I just don’t believe.” (32:08) ~ Kim Iversen
Eric Weinstein and J.B. Shurk provides some not-so-pleasant explanations:
“Given the obvious coordination of the UAP disclosures these last few weeks, only two scenarios seem plausible:
Either a group of scientists, intelligence operatives, military personnel, legal sharks, and politicians are working together behind the scenes to deliver enough corroborated information to the public to pierce through a near-century of State-imposed secrecy, or
This diverse collection of professionals is part of an elaborate disinformation campaign being used to manipulate public perception and opinion.” ~ J.B. Shurk, featured on The Dan Bongino Show (52:40)
“We either have a paranormal cult running around our nuclear strategy, a disinformation campaign targeting our own people, or something unprecedented kept away from our own scientists. You don’t need to know which is true to know that this needs to be cleaned up pronto. As I’ve been saying…” ~ Eric Weinstein Twitter
Other Stories & News
Jordan Peterson hints at a Mike Pence endorsement
“A Pence Presidency would restore some normalcy @Mike_Pence. That could be a relief.” ~ Jordan Peterson Twitter
The US is preparing evacuation plans for American citizens in Taiwan
UK court rejects Julian Assange’s appeal of extradition order to the US
Thanks for reading today’s edition of The Pundit Consoomer Newsletter.
Written by Joshua C.K. Chang.
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