Random News: June 10, 2023

DISCLAIMER: Zak's Random News is very random and doesn't cover many things, and not everything may be accurate, because I'm just some guy. Go find a real news source.

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Good morning. It’s June 10, 2023, and it’s a Saturday. It’s been a super crazy week in many ways, so I’m going to relax here in my trusty bathrobe, sip delicious coffee, and summon some news that will flow through my very orifices, or something…

• Pride note of the day: if having lots of money is impressive to you, did you know a good number of the world’s billionaires are LGBT people? It’s true.
• The most wealthy is easily Giorgio Armani, the iconic fashion designer with a net worth of over $8 billion. Entrepreneur and activist Peter Thiel is worth in excess of $3 billion.
• Investor and philanthropist Jennifer Pritzker is part of the incredibly wealthy Pritzker family, with a personal worth well north of a billion. Both Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana of their namesake fashion house are gay and amazingly rich. Apple CEO Tim Cook is in the billionaire club too.
• The world’s richest lesbian, you ask? That’s the multiple Oscar-nominated film producer Megan Ellison, daughter of multibillionaire Larry Ellison.
• Those are just a few examples. LGBTQIA+ people make positive contributions to the world in every aspect and on every level, including via their considerable economic influence.
• Okay, let’s do this crazy news…
• Yesterday, I’d told you that former president and current federal felony suspect Donald Trump had been indicted on seven serious charges. I was wrong; I apologize.
• Once the indictment was unsealed, we learned that he was actually indicted on 37 serious federal felony charges, including 31 counts of willful retention of national defense information.
• The classified documents that Trump stored in boxes at Mar-a-Lago included information regarding defense and weapons capabilities, US nuclear programs and potential vulnerabilities of the US and its allies to a military attack. Some were classified at the highest levels and some were so sensitive they required special handling.
• Trump is accused of showing classified documents on two occasions to others.
• There is evidence that Trump had the boxes moved to avoid their detection, , and that he told his attorney to tell the Justice Department that he didn’t have the documents sought by the subpoena, and even suggested to his lawyer to “hide or destroy documents”.
• In all, we now know that Trump is facing the following specific charges…
• Willful retention of national defense information.
• Conspiracy to obstruct justice.
• Withholding a document or a record.
• Corruptly concealing a document or record.
• Concealing a document in a federal investigation.
• Scheme to conceal.
• False statements and representations.
• If you want to dig in some more, you can look up all the details of all these charges under 18 U.S. Code § 793, 18 U.S. Code § 1512, 18 U.S. Code § 1519, 18 U.S. Code § 1001, and 18 U.S. Code § 2.
• And if you really want to learn it all, the entire 49-page indictment is available for online viewing via many news sites. Let me know if you need a link.
• What are the possible penalties for these charges, if someone was tried and found guilty? According to the indictment, each one of those charges carries a maximum fine of $250,000, with maximum prison sentences between five and 20 years.
• Gets out calculator… um… got it.
• If a typical person, like you or me or almost anyone else in the entire world did these things, we’d be looking at well over a 100-year sentence and a fine of many millions. Trump would be about 178 when he gets out.
• If you’re counting on Trump going to prison to bring joy to your life, forget that shit right now.
• I’m serious. That guy will never, ever go to prison. Not for one second. Stop thinking he will. He won’t.
• I’m not saying that if found guilty, there won’t be some kind of punitive action. It might have to be something invented just for him, which is appropriate for history’s saddest narcissist.
• Let’s cross that bridge way, way later. Back to the present…
• Immediately after the unsealing of the indictments, two of Trump’s top lawyers abruptly resigned from his defense team.
• Jim Trusty and John Rowley, who helmed Trump’s Washington, D.C.-based legal team, indicated they would no longer represent Trump in matters being investigated and prosecuted by special counsel Jack Smith.
• Yesterday afternoon at 3PM ET, special counsel Jack Smith had a very concise press conference that lasted just over two minutes. He took no questions.
• Smith’s main points were that Trump was charged with felony violations of our national security laws, and participated in a conspiracy to obstruct justice.
• He stared that, "Our laws that protect national defense information are critical to the safety and security of the United States and they must be enforced.”
• Most importantly, Smith stated, "We have one set of laws in this country, and they apply to everyone. Applying those laws, collecting facts, that's what determines the outcome of an investigation. Nothing more, nothing less.”
• Smith also very correctly added, "It's very important for me to note that the defendants in this case must be presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.”
• He ended by expressing his deep pride in standing shoulder to shoulder with the FBI in their tireless work.
• So, how is Trump himself taking all this? Not well at all.
• Among some 35+ social posts he spent spewing hate at everyone from all former Presidents to the current special prosecutor handling his case, Trump also decided that another January 6 event would be appropriate.
• He’s summoning his MAGA troops to “rally” for him at the federal courthouse in Miami on June 13, the day of his scheduled formal arraignment. The “rally” is scheduled from 10am-5pm, with Trump’s arraignment set for 3pm.
• This could get incredibly ugly. An advance team of Secret Service agents began meeting yesterday morning with federal court marshals and Miami police officials to assess how to create a security bubble around Trump.
• I am certain that major security measures are being taken not only for the courthouse itself, but also to be ready to identify any person who comes there with the intent of being violent.
• Live and learn. Peaceful protest is legal. But they won’t put up with any sort of violent insurrection against the rule of law.
• One personal note. My father, who died in 2017, recognized Trump right away for what he was… a grifting narcissist who never at any point had anything but his own interests in mind.
• My dad and I would talk about the direction of the country under the Trump presidency and how it would take an army of people behind the scenes to stop him from causing irreparable harm to the USA.
• There have only been a few times where I really wish my dad had been around to see something since he passed… mostly sporting events, frankly.
• But I know with all my heart and soul that Pops would be a happy man today, now that Trump is finally at the start of having to answer for having led one of the most selfish lives that any human ever had.
• At this point, I don’t want Trump to die and become some kind of twisted, sick martyr to these people. I don’t even want him to drop out of the presidential race. I want every Republican to have to be fully aware of the horrible crimes this guy has committed against our country, crimes that have likely already caused the deaths of members of our military and intelligence community, and have to choose whether or not to vote for him anyway.
• I guess that’s it for now.
• Is that enough? I think that’s enough. And I know more details but this is all… too much.
• Let’s move on.
• The House Ethics Committee has quietly reopened a probe into Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL). The committee's investigators have begun re-examining allegations surrounding allegations that the 41-year-old Gaetz had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old and paid her to travel with him
• It’s unknown for now whether they will move forward with a special investigative subcommittee. We’ll wait and see.
• Speaking of waiting, we still don’t know who backed the half-million-dollar bond that got Rep. George Santos (R-NY) out of jail.
• His attorney filed an appeal yesterday arguing that if the people who co-signed the $500,000 bond are identified it could put them at risk of "attacks and harassment.” Yeah, I’ll bet.
• As you are aware, Santos was arrested last month on federal fraud, money-laundering and theft charges. He pleaded not guilty.
• Moving on…
• Yesterday, New York passed their “Clean Slate” bill that would automatically seal criminal records as long as they remain out of trouble for a certain number of years… three years after serving time or parole for a misdemeanor, and eight years for felony convictions. Sex crimes and most Class A felonies, such as murder, will not be eligible for sealing.
• I agree with this. Good for NY. The bill now goes to Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) for her signature.
• In other good news, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) vetoed a bill this week that would have prevented students in public schools from using a bathroom or changing facility for a sex different from their gender assigned at birth. 
• The bill would have also provided anyone who encounters someone of the opposite sex in their bathroom, changing facility or sleeping quarters the ability to sue the school. Jesus.
• Hobbs said in her veto message on Thursday that she will veto every bill that “aims to attack and harm children,” as she said when vetoing another bill last month that would have restricted the use of a student’s pronouns consistent with their gender identity. 
• Every election is important and has consequences that affect us all. Leaders like Hochul and Hobbs are doing great work for the folks of their respective states.
• And now, The Weather: “Spring Bug” by Helena Deland
• From the Sports Desk… the Denver Nuggets beat the Miami Heat in a hard-fought NBA Finals game 4 last night. They now lead the series 3-1 and could close out the championship with a win in Denver on Monday night.
• In other sports news, Iga Swiatek outlasted Karolina Muchova 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 to win her third French Open.
• The 22-year-old from Poland has won the French Open twice in a row now, along with her 2020 title there and her triumph at the US Open last September. That makes Swiatek the youngest woman with four Grand Slam trophies since Serena Williams was 20 when she got to that number at the 2002 US Open.
• Well done.
• Today in history… Bridget Bishop is hanged at Gallows Hill near Salem, Massachusetts, for "certaine Detestable Arts called Witchcraft and Sorceries” (1692). The first Boat Race between the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge takes place on the Thames in London (1829). The United States Naval Academy graduates its first class of students (1854). In the Battle of Guantánamo Bay, U.S. Marines begin the American invasion of Spanish-held Cuba (1898). Dr. Robert Smith takes his last drink, and Alcoholics Anonymous is founded in Akron, Ohio, United States, by him and Bill Wilson (1935). In baseball, 15-year-old Joe Nuxhall of the Cincinnati Reds becomes the youngest player ever in a major-league game (1944). Saab produces its first automobile (1947). The Equal Pay Act of 1963, aimed at abolishing wage disparity based on sex, was signed into law by John F. Kennedy as part of his New Frontier Program (1963). The Spirit rover is launched, beginning NASA's Mars Exploration Rover mission (2003). Opportunity rover sends it last message back to Earth (2018).
• June 10 is the birthday of Japan emperor Uda (867), actress Hattie McDaniel (1895), singer-songwriter Howlin’ Wolf (1910), novelist Saul Bellow (1915), actress/singer Judy Garland (1922), author/illustrator Maurice Sendak (1928), singer-songwriter/guitarist João Gilberto (1931), NFL player Dan Fouts (1951), musician Kim Deal (1961), actress Gina Gershon (1962), model/actress Elizabeth Hurley (1965), comedian/actor Bill Burr (1968), politician Bobby Jindal (1971), figure skater Tara Lipinski (1982), and model/actress Kate Upton (1992).

Okay, that’s way too much shit for a Saturday morning. There will be a lot more to discuss regarding the Trump indictment, arraignment, trial, and all that in upcoming days, weeks, and months. For now, I’m going to drink more coffee and eat breakfast and shower and dress and be happy that I live somewhere that no one is above the law. Enjoy your day.