WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.120 --> 00:00:03.680 It's honestly a little unfair of power talk to make 2 00:00:03.759 --> 00:00:07.200 me do a radio show the day after the Notre 3 00:00:07.320 --> 00:00:12.240 Dame Fighting Irish win their college football semi final playoff 4 00:00:12.279 --> 00:00:15.480 game and are going to the national Championship, going to 5 00:00:15.519 --> 00:00:21.039 be facing off in the National Championship game on January twentieth. 6 00:00:21.920 --> 00:00:25.000 So excited, so amped, I'm not even sure that I'll 7 00:00:25.000 --> 00:00:27.079 be able to talk about anything else. But there is 8 00:00:27.160 --> 00:00:32.159 other news happening, the California wildfire, President Trump's sentencing, So 9 00:00:32.200 --> 00:00:34.000 we're going to get to all these things, but just 10 00:00:34.200 --> 00:00:37.840 know that ninety nine percent of my brain capacity is 11 00:00:37.960 --> 00:00:40.679 overwhelmed with Notre Dame football at the moment, So you'll 12 00:00:40.759 --> 00:00:45.600 just have to bear with me in that regard. Let's 13 00:00:45.679 --> 00:00:52.679 talk about Trump's sentencing. Trump was sentenced today by Judge 14 00:00:52.759 --> 00:00:58.840 Murchon for his guilt for his having been found guilty 15 00:00:58.920 --> 00:01:03.719 in Manhattan for the case, as every media outlet is 16 00:01:03.759 --> 00:01:09.799 incorrectly saying, for his hush money case. No, Trump wasn't 17 00:01:10.159 --> 00:01:16.599 found guilty for hush money, whatever that means. It is 18 00:01:16.760 --> 00:01:21.359 legal to pay someone money in exchange for a non 19 00:01:21.400 --> 00:01:27.400 disclosure agreement. The actual thing that he was found guilty 20 00:01:27.480 --> 00:01:33.200 of was allegedly, I would say, I don't think it's clear, 21 00:01:34.239 --> 00:01:36.079 and I frankly just disagree with the jury on this 22 00:01:36.439 --> 00:01:43.959 falsifying business records in furtherance of another felony. What that 23 00:01:44.040 --> 00:01:48.519 other felony is, you know, it was a name your own, 24 00:01:48.640 --> 00:01:56.879 decide your own adventure question. Now I want to talk 25 00:01:56.920 --> 00:02:00.319 about the sentencing and what the significance of it is 26 00:02:00.519 --> 00:02:06.879 and why for the left it matters so dramatically. So 27 00:02:08.039 --> 00:02:14.759 here's a thing about being a convicted felon. Quote. Ever 28 00:02:14.800 --> 00:02:18.960 since Trump was found guilty by the jury in this 29 00:02:19.039 --> 00:02:24.000 Manhattan case, which I believe was in May, the left 30 00:02:24.039 --> 00:02:26.639 has been referring to him as a convicted felon. A 31 00:02:26.639 --> 00:02:28.439 lot of people on the left have been referring to 32 00:02:28.479 --> 00:02:31.039 him as a convicted felon. But that is not, strictly 33 00:02:31.080 --> 00:02:36.080 speaking true. Trump had not up to this point been 34 00:02:36.599 --> 00:02:44.159 a convicted felon. You are only convicted after the judge 35 00:02:44.159 --> 00:02:49.879 has entered a sentence against you. The jury has found 36 00:02:49.919 --> 00:02:53.680 you guilty. They said, okay, these were the charges, we've 37 00:02:53.719 --> 00:02:58.520 had the trial, we have found you guilty. But you're 38 00:02:58.560 --> 00:03:05.000 not actually a convicted felon. You are not actually convicted 39 00:03:05.280 --> 00:03:07.639 of whatever the charges your felon or your misdemeanor, whatever 40 00:03:07.680 --> 00:03:13.159 it is, until the judge enters a sentence against you, 41 00:03:17.800 --> 00:03:27.639 and that rhetoric, that wording, that rhetorical point of being 42 00:03:27.800 --> 00:03:34.360 able legitimately in the media to refer to Donald Trump 43 00:03:34.599 --> 00:03:40.319 as a convicted felon. That is the point of this. 44 00:03:42.319 --> 00:03:46.479 Here you have Judge murch On an actual, honest to God, 45 00:03:47.199 --> 00:03:52.960 Joe Biden donor, I'm not exaggerating there, and honest to God, 46 00:03:53.080 --> 00:03:56.719 Joe Biden donor in Judge Juan Merchon, who is the 47 00:03:56.759 --> 00:04:00.520 New York State judge who has overseen this trial, whose 48 00:04:00.680 --> 00:04:06.560 daughter was a major fundraiser bundler working on behalf of 49 00:04:06.599 --> 00:04:12.800 a number of Democratic campaigns, including Kamala Harris's, who never 50 00:04:12.840 --> 00:04:16.480 accused himself from the case in spite of those obvious 51 00:04:16.560 --> 00:04:23.920 appearance of conflicts, and has ruled against Trump consistently every 52 00:04:23.959 --> 00:04:27.279 single step of the way, ruled in favor of everything 53 00:04:27.319 --> 00:04:29.319 Alvin Bragg wanted to do, every single step of the way, 54 00:04:29.360 --> 00:04:33.319 and even in this sentencing has seemingly been more aggressively 55 00:04:33.319 --> 00:04:36.920 anti Trump, even than Alvin Bragg, the District Attorney of Manhattan, 56 00:04:36.920 --> 00:04:44.160 has been, who's actually the one prosecuting the case, he 57 00:04:44.199 --> 00:04:53.000 has been dismissive at every step of the way of 58 00:04:54.160 --> 00:04:58.360 legal claim of arguments. Trump has advanced arguments. Trump's lawyers 59 00:04:58.360 --> 00:05:00.879 have made that, hey, this evidence should didn't come in. 60 00:05:01.120 --> 00:05:05.360 It's irrelevant, it inflames the jury. It's not and has does. 61 00:05:06.399 --> 00:05:12.959 Every single significant moment of this trial has cited against 62 00:05:12.959 --> 00:05:16.399 Trump and in favor of Alvin Braggett, every single critical juncture. 63 00:05:16.759 --> 00:05:22.399 Letting in evidence that was not relevant, I think maybe 64 00:05:22.759 --> 00:05:25.439 one of the most egregious examples of this. So this 65 00:05:25.480 --> 00:05:27.480 is one of the things a judge has to do. 66 00:05:27.759 --> 00:05:29.759 The sort of gatekeeping that a judge has to do 67 00:05:29.800 --> 00:05:33.439 over the course of the trial is determining what evidence 68 00:05:34.079 --> 00:05:38.759 is relevant to the charges at hand, versus what kind 69 00:05:38.759 --> 00:05:41.680 of evidence is maybe not all that relevant and could 70 00:05:41.720 --> 00:05:52.000 actually be overly prejudicial and influenced the jury for something 71 00:05:52.000 --> 00:05:54.720 that isn't relevant. I think the best example of this 72 00:05:55.560 --> 00:06:02.959 was merch On allowing Stormy Daniels to testify the case 73 00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:07.600 wasn't about whether or not Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels 74 00:06:07.639 --> 00:06:13.519 had an affair that actually wasn't really the case the trial, 75 00:06:13.720 --> 00:06:20.480 The actual allegations against Trump were that he falsified business 76 00:06:20.560 --> 00:06:26.920 records in finalizing the payments that ultimately went to Stormy 77 00:06:27.000 --> 00:06:30.199 Daniels in exchange for her non disclosure agreement that he 78 00:06:31.160 --> 00:06:36.720 characterized those payments that went to his lawyer, Michael Cohen. 79 00:06:36.759 --> 00:06:40.879 So basically, it was Stormy Daniels signs a non disclosure 80 00:06:40.920 --> 00:06:44.519 agreement saying she will not talk about this story about 81 00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:49.160 her affair that she allegedly had with Donald Trump. She 82 00:06:49.279 --> 00:06:52.920 agrees to this before the twenty sixteen election. After the 83 00:06:53.319 --> 00:06:57.079 she then gets paid for signing this non disclosure agreement. 84 00:06:57.399 --> 00:07:01.000 She gets paid directly by Michael Cohen, donald Trump's lawyer. 85 00:07:02.319 --> 00:07:11.000 Trump then reimburses Michael Cohen the Trump organization. In paying 86 00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:16.199 Michael Cohen characterized these payments, which was a set of 87 00:07:16.279 --> 00:07:19.720 it was, I think it was seventeen individual payments that 88 00:07:19.759 --> 00:07:22.199 were made over the course of about a year to 89 00:07:22.399 --> 00:07:31.360 Michael Cohen, and characterized each of those payments as paying quote, 90 00:07:31.560 --> 00:07:39.519 legal fees rather than loan repayment. That's the crime Trump 91 00:07:39.879 --> 00:07:45.199 is accused of calling in his business records those payments 92 00:07:46.439 --> 00:07:54.839 legal fees rather than loan repayment. Now, actually, it's not 93 00:07:54.879 --> 00:07:58.279 like anyone was harmed by this transaction. If I mean, 94 00:07:58.879 --> 00:08:02.160 the taxpayers of New York and federal taxpayers certainly weren't 95 00:08:02.199 --> 00:08:05.959 harmed by it. Because basically, if you pay someone, if 96 00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:09.920 I repay you a loan, the money you get as 97 00:08:09.959 --> 00:08:12.079 repayment for the loan, that does not count as income 98 00:08:12.160 --> 00:08:15.879 to you. But if you're my lawyer and I pay 99 00:08:15.920 --> 00:08:18.759 you something that's called attorney's fees, you have to pay 100 00:08:18.800 --> 00:08:22.959 taxes on it. So actually what Trump wound up doing 101 00:08:23.040 --> 00:08:27.800 was paying Cohen more than what Cohen had paid Stormy Daniels, 102 00:08:27.800 --> 00:08:30.720 because Cohen was saying to Trump, Hey, like, I paid 103 00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:33.039 Stormy all these money. If you're giving me this as 104 00:08:33.080 --> 00:08:36.000 attorney's fees, you know you have to give me more 105 00:08:36.039 --> 00:08:37.759 than what I gave Stormy Daniels because I got to 106 00:08:37.799 --> 00:08:43.120 pay taxes on this. So Trump gave him actually more 107 00:08:43.120 --> 00:08:46.000 than that, so that Cohen would, you know, not lose 108 00:08:46.039 --> 00:08:50.679 money in the deal. So actually, the taxpayers of New York, 109 00:08:50.720 --> 00:08:56.039 slash the federal government, the state of New York, and 110 00:08:56.159 --> 00:08:59.039 the federal government actually got more tax revenue out of 111 00:08:59.039 --> 00:09:01.879 the deal based on how this was set up. And 112 00:09:01.919 --> 00:09:04.480 I think, frankly, there's a decent argument to be made 113 00:09:04.559 --> 00:09:11.639 that this isn't really fraudulent or a falsification of business 114 00:09:11.639 --> 00:09:18.039 records to call this payment attorney's fees rather than loan repayment. 115 00:09:19.240 --> 00:09:22.080 Cohen was Trump's lawyer. He was doing this work on 116 00:09:22.159 --> 00:09:26.000 behalf of Trump getting this NBA situation sorted out with 117 00:09:26.120 --> 00:09:38.320 Stormy Daniels. Now regardless, that was the charge. Having Stormy 118 00:09:38.399 --> 00:09:41.720 Daniels come in to testify that she had an affair 119 00:09:41.720 --> 00:09:43.639 with Donald Trump and all of a sudden to change 120 00:09:43.639 --> 00:09:47.039 her story. The whole narrative of her discussion about her 121 00:09:47.080 --> 00:09:48.960 affair with Donald Trump had been that it was consensual, 122 00:09:48.960 --> 00:09:50.840 and all of a sudden in the middle of the 123 00:09:50.919 --> 00:09:55.279 trial to try to allege that maybe it wasn't consensual. 124 00:09:56.919 --> 00:10:00.679 Dropping that bit of knowledge on the jury, of course, 125 00:10:00.759 --> 00:10:05.799 is hugely prejudicial against Trump, but is also completely irrelevant 126 00:10:05.840 --> 00:10:09.320 to the charge. Whether Trump had an affair with Stormy 127 00:10:09.399 --> 00:10:13.519 Daniels or not makes no difference to the charge, which 128 00:10:13.559 --> 00:10:18.360 is did you appropriately label these payments to Michael Cohen? 129 00:10:18.600 --> 00:10:24.799 Are they attorney's fees or are they loan repayment? That's 130 00:10:24.879 --> 00:10:29.159 the trial. Is it attorney's fees or loan repayment. It's 131 00:10:29.200 --> 00:10:33.000 not about whether or not Stormy Daniels had an affair 132 00:10:33.000 --> 00:10:38.399 with Trump. That's actually irrelevant. Bringing her in having her testify, 133 00:10:38.480 --> 00:10:40.600 and then all of a sudden in the trial, changing 134 00:10:40.600 --> 00:10:43.840 her testimony to say that her relationship with Trump may 135 00:10:43.840 --> 00:10:46.720 not have been consensual, that Trump may have kind of 136 00:10:46.720 --> 00:10:53.360 forced himself on her, was wildly prejudicial to Trump, and 137 00:10:53.480 --> 00:10:57.360 merchan just lets it in. And at every step of 138 00:10:57.399 --> 00:11:00.759 the process, Bragg was trying to in introduce more and 139 00:11:00.799 --> 00:11:07.159 more evidence that didn't really advance his actual allegations of 140 00:11:09.200 --> 00:11:14.759 you know, were these business records falsified that were hugely 141 00:11:14.840 --> 00:11:20.679 prejudicial to the jury. He also advanced this novel legal 142 00:11:20.679 --> 00:11:24.240 theory that he didn't have to specifically define what the 143 00:11:24.279 --> 00:11:27.559 felony was. So in New York law, if you just 144 00:11:27.639 --> 00:11:33.600 falsify business records, usually it's a misdemeanor, but it can 145 00:11:33.679 --> 00:11:36.240 be a felony if the falsification of business records is 146 00:11:36.279 --> 00:11:39.559 done in furtherance of another felony. What was the other 147 00:11:39.600 --> 00:11:45.200 felony Bragg didn't say. He said it could have been 148 00:11:46.879 --> 00:11:50.440 in furtherance of violating federal election law, could have been 149 00:11:50.559 --> 00:11:53.480 in furtherance of violating New York election law, could have 150 00:11:53.519 --> 00:11:56.679 been in furtherance of it. He never defined it in 151 00:11:56.720 --> 00:11:59.720 the indictment, and merch On allowed this to go on. 152 00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:10.200 So let's just be clear. Merchon, a Biden donor, a 153 00:12:10.240 --> 00:12:15.279 small dollar Biden donor whose daughter worked for the worked 154 00:12:15.360 --> 00:12:19.279 as a fundraiser for a bunch of Democrats, including Kamala Harris, 155 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:22.879 who at every step of the trial ruled against Donald 156 00:12:22.879 --> 00:12:28.960 Trump in every relevant way, at every critical moment, ruled 157 00:12:28.960 --> 00:12:33.799 against Donald Trump, who refused to delay the sentencing in 158 00:12:33.919 --> 00:12:40.000 light of a Supreme Court decision directly on point, directly 159 00:12:40.080 --> 00:12:43.720 relating to this case, which we're going to talk about 160 00:12:43.759 --> 00:12:47.440 in the next segment, is giving Donald Trump. Gives Donald 161 00:12:47.480 --> 00:12:52.200 Trump a sentence today? Why, Because, as I said at 162 00:12:52.200 --> 00:12:54.720 the start of the segment, you're not actually a convicted 163 00:12:54.759 --> 00:12:58.519 felon until the judge gives you the sentence. Merchon could 164 00:12:58.679 --> 00:13:02.120 very easily have said, listen, this guy is assuming the 165 00:13:02.159 --> 00:13:04.639 office of presidents of the United States. I know that 166 00:13:04.679 --> 00:13:11.320 I'm not giving him any jail time. It's not urgent. Therefore, 167 00:13:11.679 --> 00:13:15.200 he's not some clear and present physical danger to society. 168 00:13:15.360 --> 00:13:17.240 The sense I'm not going to give him the sentence 169 00:13:17.279 --> 00:13:20.080 I'm gonna give him that will not include any incarceration. 170 00:13:20.240 --> 00:13:22.879 It's whatever it is. It'll be like a fine, it'll 171 00:13:22.879 --> 00:13:29.000 be whatever it's gonna be. There are also serious legal 172 00:13:29.440 --> 00:13:33.000 challenges because of a recent Supreme Court decision that Trump's 173 00:13:33.000 --> 00:13:37.399 side has raised and will certainly raise on appeal. So 174 00:13:37.679 --> 00:13:40.320 do I need to sentence him right now? Or maybe 175 00:13:40.360 --> 00:13:42.879 I can just wait four years until this man is 176 00:13:42.919 --> 00:13:46.399 done being the president of the United States. There are 177 00:13:46.639 --> 00:13:52.039 real national interests at play here. That would have been 178 00:13:52.080 --> 00:13:55.679 a totally reasonable thing for merch On to do, to say, listen, like, 179 00:13:57.559 --> 00:14:02.240 let's delay this sentence until after he's done being president. 180 00:14:03.120 --> 00:14:08.960 But no merch On, in this petty little hashtag resistance way, 181 00:14:09.000 --> 00:14:11.759 because this is the one little thing, this one little 182 00:14:11.759 --> 00:14:14.960 man can do to harm Donald Trump is saying no, 183 00:14:15.720 --> 00:14:19.840 you can appeal me, which is an attitude from judges 184 00:14:19.840 --> 00:14:25.200 that I just despise. They know they're wrong. Sometimes judges 185 00:14:25.240 --> 00:14:28.279 will do this. Judges will know they're wrong, but they'll 186 00:14:28.279 --> 00:14:30.960 feel so secure in their job they'll just say, ah, 187 00:14:31.679 --> 00:14:34.440 you can just appeal me if you don't like my decision. 188 00:14:34.519 --> 00:14:40.039 Appeal it, which for someone who's not you know, for 189 00:14:40.120 --> 00:14:42.840 a defendant who's not Donald Trump. You know, Donald Trump's 190 00:14:42.840 --> 00:14:46.240 got a lot of money. You know, a lot of 191 00:14:46.240 --> 00:14:56.240 defendants can't afford appellate attorneys. That's really expensive. Eh. If 192 00:14:56.240 --> 00:14:58.519 you don't like it, just appeal me. Judge murch On 193 00:14:58.639 --> 00:15:04.840 is basically, I want the media to be able to 194 00:15:04.840 --> 00:15:10.120 call Donald Trump on inauguration Day, the first convicted felon 195 00:15:10.480 --> 00:15:14.600 to ever be sworn in as president. It's that little petty, 196 00:15:16.600 --> 00:15:20.559 little rhetorical thing that the media wants to be able 197 00:15:20.600 --> 00:15:23.200 to do, that the Left wants to be able to say, 198 00:15:23.919 --> 00:15:28.320 and Merchon's giving that to them. That's all. This is 199 00:15:29.840 --> 00:15:34.240 when we return the massive Supreme Court decision about presidential immunity, 200 00:15:35.559 --> 00:15:38.759 which is the reason why Murchon should not be sentencing 201 00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:43.360 Trump today. That's next on the John Gurwardy Show. I 202 00:15:43.399 --> 00:15:49.159 think the main reason why it's so wrong for Judge 203 00:15:49.200 --> 00:15:55.159 Murchon to have entered this criminal sentence against Donald Trump today, 204 00:15:55.200 --> 00:15:57.679 this no jail time sentence which is being done, I 205 00:15:57.679 --> 00:16:01.279 think purely for the rhetorical effect that the media is 206 00:16:01.320 --> 00:16:04.200 now going to be allowed to call Donald Trump on 207 00:16:04.279 --> 00:16:08.080 inauguration Day, the first convicted felon in history to be 208 00:16:08.080 --> 00:16:13.879 elected president, to be sworn in as president. I think 209 00:16:14.240 --> 00:16:20.279 maybe the chief reason why it's ridiculous is the Supreme 210 00:16:20.320 --> 00:16:26.600 Court's decision on immunity. Now in between the jury in 211 00:16:26.679 --> 00:16:29.759 the Manhattan Trump case, which again is not a hush 212 00:16:29.840 --> 00:16:35.799 money case. The charge was that Trump falsified business records, 213 00:16:36.399 --> 00:16:40.799 characterized the money he paid back to Michael Cohen. Colin 214 00:16:41.320 --> 00:16:44.159 paid Stormy Daniel's money in exchange for a non disclosure agreement. 215 00:16:44.240 --> 00:16:45.799 Not illegal, not illegal. 216 00:16:45.840 --> 00:16:46.039 To do. 217 00:16:47.559 --> 00:16:49.919 Might be CD not a thing I do, but not illegal. 218 00:16:51.919 --> 00:16:55.960 Trump characterized his payments to Michael Cohen as attorney's fees. 219 00:16:57.279 --> 00:17:00.440 The contention is that, no, these are loan repayment, and 220 00:17:00.480 --> 00:17:06.160 you characterizing them as attorney's fees is a basically a 221 00:17:06.200 --> 00:17:12.160 mischaracterization of this business transaction. Falsification of business records. All right. 222 00:17:14.680 --> 00:17:19.720 The reason why that maybe the most significant reason why 223 00:17:20.039 --> 00:17:24.039 Merchon's sentencing of Trump should not happen today is because 224 00:17:24.079 --> 00:17:29.359 of the Supreme Court's immunity decision, which came down in 225 00:17:29.559 --> 00:17:34.119 between the jury in Manhattan finding Trump guilty and this 226 00:17:34.240 --> 00:17:38.440 sentencing today. So about a month after Trump was found guilty, 227 00:17:38.759 --> 00:17:45.279 the Supreme Court issued this decision about presidential immunity. So 228 00:17:45.599 --> 00:17:50.720 the idea is basically as a function of separation of powers, 229 00:17:50.759 --> 00:17:56.920 allowing the president, as the executive of the federal government, 230 00:17:57.000 --> 00:18:01.240 the head of the executive branch to allow the president 231 00:18:03.000 --> 00:18:08.160 to function in that role, to perform the critical duties 232 00:18:08.200 --> 00:18:12.319 of his role. He needs. Sorry, he's going through you know, 233 00:18:12.359 --> 00:18:14.440 I was yelling so much last night during the Notre 234 00:18:14.480 --> 00:18:17.039 Dame game. I'm completely horse on the radio. Here we go. 235 00:18:18.319 --> 00:18:22.519 The president needs to have the ability to do the 236 00:18:22.559 --> 00:18:26.920 work of the presidency without the constant fear that he 237 00:18:27.000 --> 00:18:32.160 is going to be subject to prosecution later on for 238 00:18:32.359 --> 00:18:38.319 his official acts. Okay, Congress has that kind of protection. 239 00:18:38.599 --> 00:18:42.359 It's sort of explicitly built into the Constitution that you 240 00:18:42.519 --> 00:18:46.640 can't hold a member of Congress liable for something they're 241 00:18:46.720 --> 00:18:50.000 saying on the floor of the House of Representatives as 242 00:18:50.039 --> 00:18:55.559 part of their job. Okay, you're not going to hold 243 00:18:55.680 --> 00:19:00.920 members of Congress liable because they passed a law that 244 00:19:00.960 --> 00:19:03.960 the Supreme Court later struck down as unconstitutional that might 245 00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:06.519 have harmed you. Members of Congress have the sort of 246 00:19:06.519 --> 00:19:10.720 immunity knowing they're not going to be subject to criminal 247 00:19:11.119 --> 00:19:14.599 trials or civil trials as a result of doing their jobs. 248 00:19:16.200 --> 00:19:18.759 What the Supreme Court basically determined this was in the 249 00:19:18.759 --> 00:19:25.519 context of various other Trump trials, specifically arising out of 250 00:19:25.519 --> 00:19:30.240 the January sixth litigation, but applying now to this Manhattan 251 00:19:30.279 --> 00:19:35.519 case is that the president is immune from criminal prosecution 252 00:19:36.039 --> 00:19:39.759 for anything involving his official acts as president. Now, what 253 00:19:39.799 --> 00:19:43.079 are a president's official acts. Well, the court didn't one 254 00:19:43.200 --> 00:19:46.119 hundred percent define it, but clearly there are some things 255 00:19:46.119 --> 00:19:49.960 that are core to being president. Having conversations with your 256 00:19:49.960 --> 00:19:54.359 attorney general, about having conversations with your attorney general, working 257 00:19:54.400 --> 00:19:59.880 on policy things, discussions with other members of your cabinet. 258 00:20:00.079 --> 00:20:02.799 Of these things are part and parcel of your core 259 00:20:02.839 --> 00:20:09.400 presidential responsibilities. Now, doing a campaign thing maybe not necessarily 260 00:20:09.440 --> 00:20:12.319 part of your official duties. There's a difference between a 261 00:20:12.359 --> 00:20:16.079 president who's, you know, campaigning for reelection, who's talking with 262 00:20:16.119 --> 00:20:19.839 his campaign staff, versus the president talking with the attorney 263 00:20:19.920 --> 00:20:26.119 general about DJ matters. So the Supreme Court said the 264 00:20:26.160 --> 00:20:31.799 president is immune from prosecution for his official acts, and furthermore, 265 00:20:33.119 --> 00:20:37.720 is insulated from having evidence of his official acts used 266 00:20:37.799 --> 00:20:45.799 against him in criminal trials. Clearly, this prosecution by Merchon 267 00:20:47.079 --> 00:20:51.960 relied upon a whole bunch of evidence of what was 268 00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:58.559 clearly Trump's official acts. Alvin Bragg's attorneys entered into evidence 269 00:20:58.640 --> 00:21:02.000 during Trump's trial conversations he was having with the Attorney 270 00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:04.359 general conversations he was having with members of his cabinet, 271 00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:08.680 and he called some of that evidence quote devastating. His 272 00:21:08.799 --> 00:21:13.200 lawyers called some of that evidence devastating. Brad can't turn 273 00:21:13.279 --> 00:21:16.359 around reasonably and say, oh, well, it wasn't actually that devastating. 274 00:21:17.799 --> 00:21:21.160 A lot of that evidence was entered against Trump during 275 00:21:21.640 --> 00:21:25.519 this Manhattan trial, and the Supreme Court said, no, you 276 00:21:25.720 --> 00:21:28.759 can't use that kind of evidence against a president of 277 00:21:28.799 --> 00:21:38.000 the United States. And furthermore, when we talk about immunity, 278 00:21:38.960 --> 00:21:42.240 there are various kinds of legal immunity that exists. There's 279 00:21:42.359 --> 00:21:48.039 qualified immunity, for qualified immunity for government officials for certain 280 00:21:48.119 --> 00:21:51.839 kinds of conduct. There's the immunity that members of Congress have, 281 00:21:51.880 --> 00:21:55.160 et cetera, et cetera. What immunity means is not immunity 282 00:21:55.200 --> 00:22:00.400 from getting convicted, from getting sentenced. It's way beyond that. 283 00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:05.279 Immunity means immunity from being indicted in the first place, 284 00:22:05.599 --> 00:22:07.440 from having to go through a trial at all, from 285 00:22:07.440 --> 00:22:11.680 having to be subject to any kind of legal process whatsoever. 286 00:22:12.640 --> 00:22:16.000 Immunity is something you raised. As soon as someone sues you, 287 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:18.720 you immediately move to dismiss it on the grounds of immunity. 288 00:22:18.720 --> 00:22:22.240 If you've got some kind of immunity defense for someone 289 00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:24.920 who's being sued at, like a public officials being sued, 290 00:22:24.920 --> 00:22:27.160 and you're able to raise qualified immunity as a defense. 291 00:22:27.599 --> 00:22:30.720 You raise that as a threshold issue that No, I 292 00:22:30.720 --> 00:22:33.160 shouldn't be subject to any part of this litigation. I 293 00:22:33.160 --> 00:22:34.799 don't want to have to go through discovery. I don't 294 00:22:34.799 --> 00:22:36.039 want to have to go through a trial. I don't 295 00:22:36.079 --> 00:22:37.799 want to have to go through a sentencing argument. No, 296 00:22:38.240 --> 00:22:45.240 I'm immune. And for merch On to have so little 297 00:22:45.519 --> 00:22:49.119 humility to say, hey, like I let in a lot 298 00:22:49.119 --> 00:22:55.720 of evidence that is very arguably presidential official acts, he's 299 00:22:55.759 --> 00:23:01.640 gonna raise this on appeal, Maybe I need to delay 300 00:23:01.680 --> 00:23:04.440 my sense, I maybe need to delay the sentencing here, 301 00:23:04.480 --> 00:23:06.759 and maybe I should just let the appeals process play out. 302 00:23:06.880 --> 00:23:09.519 If merch On, I think, had a shred of humility 303 00:23:10.240 --> 00:23:14.480 and a shred of non political hackery in him, that's 304 00:23:14.480 --> 00:23:18.799 what he would have done. Because Trump shouldn't be subject. 305 00:23:18.920 --> 00:23:23.400 If Trump has a real immunity defense, he shouldn't be 306 00:23:23.519 --> 00:23:28.960 subject to the real harm that there's a real reputational 307 00:23:29.039 --> 00:23:31.920 harm to being labeled a convicted felon, even though he's 308 00:23:31.960 --> 00:23:34.400 not going to go to jail. He's not going to 309 00:23:34.440 --> 00:23:38.240 go to jail, but having that label convicted felon is 310 00:23:38.319 --> 00:23:41.359 a thing that is going to be harmful to him 311 00:23:41.799 --> 00:23:44.279 as far as interacting with world leaders. It's going to 312 00:23:44.359 --> 00:23:48.599 interfere with his doing his official duties as president. I 313 00:23:48.640 --> 00:23:51.599 think I think it's very relevant. It's why the media 314 00:23:51.759 --> 00:23:53.720 wants it so bad. It's why the Democrats want it 315 00:23:53.759 --> 00:23:55.720 so bad. It's why merch On wants it so bad 316 00:23:56.000 --> 00:24:03.200 because he's a hack. So, in short, I think this 317 00:24:03.480 --> 00:24:05.920 sentencing of Trump is ridiculous. When we return, we'll talk 318 00:24:05.920 --> 00:24:09.839 about California wildfire stuff. Such a terrible story. We'll dig 319 00:24:09.839 --> 00:24:13.759 into it next. This is the John Jirbardi Show. I'm 320 00:24:13.799 --> 00:24:17.960 sure if you've listened to talk radio today you've probably 321 00:24:18.000 --> 00:24:21.319 wound up hearing this clip, but I'm gonna play it anyway. 322 00:24:22.160 --> 00:24:27.359 This is a clip from Los Angeles Fire Department Assistant 323 00:24:27.440 --> 00:24:32.599 Chief Christine Larson. It's a little twenty five second clip. 324 00:24:33.759 --> 00:24:38.559 So this is a guess and not You know, I 325 00:24:38.680 --> 00:24:41.000 was felt bad about assuming that someone was a lesbian 326 00:24:41.319 --> 00:24:44.079 or gay, but then as I grew up, I was like, oh, well, 327 00:24:44.440 --> 00:24:46.599 people who are gay and lesbian like kind of don't 328 00:24:46.759 --> 00:24:49.440 mind letting people know that they're gay and lesbian very often, 329 00:24:49.440 --> 00:24:52.720 and they kind of make distinctive choices about how they 330 00:24:52.720 --> 00:24:56.799 present themselves specifically to message that. So this is clearly 331 00:24:56.839 --> 00:25:03.640 a lesbian woman who is the Los Angeles Fire Department 332 00:25:03.680 --> 00:25:08.359 assistant chief. The actual fire chief is also a lesbian woman. 333 00:25:10.400 --> 00:25:13.839 And here's what she has to say about the idea 334 00:25:13.880 --> 00:25:18.480 of having a female firefighter who maybe might not be 335 00:25:18.559 --> 00:25:21.519 as strong as a male firefighter coming to save you. 336 00:25:21.759 --> 00:25:26.400 And I think it's really illustrative of the problem that 337 00:25:26.440 --> 00:25:32.599 the left is going to face following the disastrous collapse 338 00:25:33.400 --> 00:25:37.200 of government resources here in California, that maybe such a 339 00:25:37.200 --> 00:25:41.000 disastrous collapse it could reshape the whole political dynamic here 340 00:25:41.000 --> 00:25:43.640 in California. Let's listen to what she has to say. 341 00:25:44.200 --> 00:25:47.000 You want to see somebody that responds to your house, 342 00:25:47.119 --> 00:25:49.759 your emergency, whether it's a medical call or a fire call, 343 00:25:50.039 --> 00:25:52.440 that looks like you. It gives that person a little 344 00:25:52.440 --> 00:25:56.000 bit more ease knowing that somebody might understand their situation better. 345 00:25:56.319 --> 00:25:58.640 Is she strong enough to do this? Or you couldn't 346 00:25:58.640 --> 00:26:01.319 carry my husband out of a fire, which my response 347 00:26:01.440 --> 00:26:03.200 is he got himself in the wrong place. If I 348 00:26:03.240 --> 00:26:04.440 have to carryhim out of a fire. 349 00:26:06.759 --> 00:26:14.640 So this is a fire fighter who is responding to 350 00:26:14.839 --> 00:26:19.599 the quite legitimate fear, Hey, are you, as a woman 351 00:26:20.319 --> 00:26:25.799 physically strong enough to carry my husband out of a fire. 352 00:26:27.240 --> 00:26:36.240 And her response is basically sucks for you get wrecked. Sorry, 353 00:26:36.319 --> 00:26:41.440 you're gonna burn in a fiery inferno. I can't lift you. Oh, yes, 354 00:26:41.519 --> 00:26:44.039 you shouldn't have been in that situation to begin with. Yeah, 355 00:26:44.079 --> 00:26:49.119 no kidding. That's the whole point of firefighters to get 356 00:26:49.160 --> 00:26:53.400 people out of situations they shouldn't be in, i e. 357 00:26:54.039 --> 00:26:58.920 A fire. It's why we have have always had for 358 00:26:59.039 --> 00:27:07.240 firefighters certain baseline levels of physical preparedness. If you're a firefighter, 359 00:27:08.039 --> 00:27:12.400 you should probably be big and tough and strong. You 360 00:27:12.400 --> 00:27:14.400 should probably be able to do a bunch of push 361 00:27:14.480 --> 00:27:16.440 ups and pull ups and sit ups and lift a 362 00:27:16.440 --> 00:27:20.039 bunch of heavy weights. We should probably have a little 363 00:27:20.039 --> 00:27:24.640 weight room in fire stations. This is, by the way, 364 00:27:24.839 --> 00:27:28.480 this is a constant pet peeve of mine with now, 365 00:27:29.240 --> 00:27:31.880 the nature of a firefighter's job is that you need 366 00:27:31.920 --> 00:27:37.319 them desperately when you do need them, and I do 367 00:27:37.640 --> 00:27:40.559 sort of wonder sometimes if firefighters have a lot of 368 00:27:40.599 --> 00:27:45.319 downtime though, when emergencies aren't happening. It always makes me laugh. 369 00:27:46.400 --> 00:27:48.799 Clovis Fire Department. If you guys want to come on 370 00:27:48.839 --> 00:27:51.200 the show and tell me I'm a moron, you have 371 00:27:51.839 --> 00:27:54.759 every right to come on. It sort of drives me 372 00:27:54.839 --> 00:28:00.319 crazy when I see a whole fire truck going to 373 00:28:01.079 --> 00:28:03.839 like a grocery store like say Marty Vaughan's or whatever 374 00:28:04.240 --> 00:28:07.440 to get I guess groceries for the fire station, which 375 00:28:07.480 --> 00:28:10.799 I see all the time, And I'm like, why are 376 00:28:10.839 --> 00:28:15.920 you driving a whole fire truck to save Mart? This 377 00:28:16.000 --> 00:28:19.960 is clearly not an emergency. You're driving the whole fire 378 00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:25.799 truck to a grocery store to get grocery. Really that 379 00:28:25.880 --> 00:28:29.799 there's no other like you don't have like an F 380 00:28:29.880 --> 00:28:32.119 one fifty or something at the station that you could 381 00:28:32.200 --> 00:28:34.359 drive to do this. But why are you doing this? Why? 382 00:28:34.519 --> 00:28:37.839 Why am I spending the taxpayer money for the gas 383 00:28:37.839 --> 00:28:39.519 for a fire truck for you guys to make a 384 00:28:39.599 --> 00:28:44.799 run to save Mart. It drives me insane regardless, I 385 00:28:44.839 --> 00:28:47.440 got completely off task here. Thank God we have all 386 00:28:47.440 --> 00:28:51.279 the firefighters we have who are doing heroic work fighting 387 00:28:51.359 --> 00:28:53.000 these fires. And then a lot of the stories have 388 00:28:53.039 --> 00:28:56.440 read about the stuff they've been doing has been incredible 389 00:28:56.480 --> 00:28:58.759 and the problem has not been with firefighters at all. 390 00:28:58.920 --> 00:29:00.839 So anyway, if any of you firefighters want to come 391 00:29:00.880 --> 00:29:02.960 on the show and tell me I'm a jerk for 392 00:29:03.480 --> 00:29:05.200 you know, making fun of you guys, for you know, 393 00:29:05.279 --> 00:29:08.240 driving your whole truck to save Mark, feel free, all right. 394 00:29:10.319 --> 00:29:13.799 The problem is the firefighters don't have enough resources, or 395 00:29:14.000 --> 00:29:17.319 I guess because the leadership of these various fire departments 396 00:29:17.759 --> 00:29:23.279 is run by lunatics like this. Yes, the idea of 397 00:29:23.319 --> 00:29:31.599 the left that people engaged in public services need to 398 00:29:32.000 --> 00:29:34.759 look like the people they serve. And this is part 399 00:29:34.759 --> 00:29:44.519 of the whole equity insanity. If the outcomes, whether it's 400 00:29:44.559 --> 00:29:50.000 of criminal law enforcement, the makeup of hiring in a 401 00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:57.240