Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A New York Grand Jury empaneled by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has indicted the former president, Donald John Trump. So report Ilya Marritz, Andrea Bernstein, Bill Chappell and Vanessa Romo at NPR. I gave all three of Trump’s names because that is usually how felons are referred to in the press.
Some have complained that of all the illegal and destructive things Trump did, this indictment focuses on a relatively minor and tawdry little crime. This complaint derives from a failure to realize that everything about Trump is trivial and always has been.
Just Security has the timeline. Trump was concerned in October 2016 that Stephanie Clifford a.k.a. Stormy Daniels might go to the tabloid press for a big payout for her story about how she and Trump had sex in July 2006 at Lake Tahoe. Ms. Clifford has acted in pornography films, and Trump promised her an appearance on his Apprentice television show. Trump appears to have gone outside his home for sex in 2006 when his wife Melania was pregnant with their son, Baron. That June, he had also approached Playboy model Karen McDougal for sex, and she agreed but says she declined a proffered payment, saying “I’m not that kind of girl.” So that liaison, which continued for some time, probably falls under the heading of an affair. Trump was wary of her telling her story, too. Cifford had attempted to sell her story before, but had been thwarted when Trump threatened to sue for libel. Her story became potentially a big draw after the leaked Billy Bush tape of Trump talking about grabbing random women by their genitals…
After the truth-shower 