(Trump posted his own mug shot from the Fulton County jail to mark his return to his X-Twitter account.)

Proud Boy in 1/6 Gets 17 Years -- Proud Boy Joe Biggs convicted for sedition and other charges was sentenced Thursday to 17 years in prison, second-highest for anyone convicted in connection with the January 6 Capitol attacks, The Hill reports.

Biggs said he was "sick and tired of left versus right" and added, "I know I messed up that day, but I'm not a terrorist."

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly applied a terrorism enhancement to the sentence, which means the defendant committed an offense that "was calculated to influence or affect the conduct of government by intimidation or coercion, or to retaliate against government conduct." On January 6, Biggs tried to tear down a fence that would have brought the mob "one step closer" to their objective of disrupting Congress' certification of 2020 election results, the court found.

Biggs, who is 38 or 39 according to Wikipedia, had asked for a sentence between 27 and 33 months long, while prosecutors sought 33 years.

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Trump Pleads Not Guilty -- Donald J. Trump has entered a not guilty plea to charges he tried to overturn Georgia's 2020 presidential election results (NPR). The former president entered his plea in a court filing, thus waiving his right to appear at an arraignment in Fulton County scheduled for next Wednesday. Some of his 18 co-defendants have done the same, including former Trump attorney Sidney Powell.

•••

Russia to Buy Arms from North Korea – Russia is trying to purchase weapons from North Korea to support its invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said Wednesday (NPR’s Morning Edition).

“Russia is negotiating potential deals for significant quantities and multiple types of munitions from the PDRK to be used against Ukraine,” she told the UN, referring to the People’s Democratic Republic of Korea. Thomas-Greenfield cited U.S. intelligence that indicates recent visits by Russian defense ministers to North Korea set up deals to purchase arms from the country, which violates UN resolutions.

Meanwhile… Three months into its counter-offensive, Ukrainian forces have pierced Russia’s defensive line in Southeast Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal reports in an exclusive Thursday.

•••

Trump Inflated Values by $2.2b, NY AG Says – Donald J. Trump (see mug shot) and the Trump Organization propped up its property values by as much as $2.2 billion, New York Attorney Gen. Letitia James says. She has asked a judge to issue a summary judgment without a trial on the case (The New York Times). Trump attorneys have called for dismissal of the $250 million lawsuit, while James says there is a “mountain of undisputed evidence” of false and misleading statements over the course of a decade. 

The suit alleges that the Trump Organization over-valued its properties for loan procurements and under-valued them for tax purposes. Trial of the civil suit of the ex-president, his sons Donald Jr. and Eric, and of the Trump Organization is scheduled to begin in two months.

•••

Another McConnell Health Scare – After Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) suffered a 30-second pause at a presser in Kentucky Wednesday, he held calls with close Senate allies, Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD), Conference Chair John Barrasso (R-WY) and John Cornyn (R-TX), Politico reports. The three also are top candidates to replace McConnell, 81, should he step down from GOP leadership or the Senate altogether before his current term ends in 2026. 

McConnell’s office said the minority leader became lightheaded in the episode, his second since a similar pause at the Capitol in late July, and that he will consult a physician. 

In the case of most vacancies in the Senate and House, the state’s governor chooses a replacement. But Kentucky has a popular Democratic governor, Andy Beshear, who is up for re-election this fall, and the state also has a special provision in such instances in which the governor must choose an interim senator from a small group recommended by the Kentucky GOP.

McConnell remains an anti-Trump force on Capitol Hill, refusing to refer to the GOP presidential frontrunner by name. 

The full Senate reconvenes Tuesday, September 5.

•••

Giuliani Liable -- Former "America's Mayor" Rudy Giuliani has been ruled liable by U.S. Judge Beryl A. Howell for defaming two Georgia election workers he falsely accused of tampering with votes in the 2020 presidential election (The Washington Post). The judge ruled against Giuliani without a trial, saying he deliberately shirked his obligation to turn over discovery material in the case, which stems from former President Trump's attempt to overturn the election. Howell suggested Giuliani's payment to the two workers, who faced harassment and death threats, will be "significant." The former New York mayor and Trump ally already has been ordered to pay $132,000 in sanctions for failure to comply with a court order.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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Trump's Fed 1/6 Trial is Next March

Tuesday 8/29/23

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkin has set March 4, 2024 in the federal case alleging ex-President Trump tried to retain power via the January 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol, one day before Super Tuesday. Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith had asked for a start date of January 2, 2024, while Donald J. Trump’s attorneys said the case should start no earlier than April 2026. 

“While Mr. Trump has the right to prepare, the public has a right to prompt and efficient resolution of this matter,” Chutkin said.

Meanwhile: Trump is due in a Georgia court at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, September 6, for his arraignment on a Fulton County grand jury’s charges he and 18 others conspired to overturn that state’s November 2020 election results. 

(Both news items via The Hill.)

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Booked Again

Friday 8/25/23

Despite indications before Wednesday’s GOP presidential debate that Donald J. Trump would appear by midday Thursday to be booked at the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office for charges he tried to overturn the 2020 election, the ex-president’s Boeing 737 did not even leave Newark International Airport until after business hours. Fulton County inmate no. P01135809 was booked, fingerprinted and had his mug shot about 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Trump was released on $200,000 bond.

The Fulton County booking records Trump’s height at six-foot three inches and his weight at 215 pounds – about 25 pounds lighter than recorded by his last physical as president, though The New York Times reports that the sheriff’s office allowed his team to enter his own stats.

Prior to the booking, Trump replaced attorney Drew Fielding with prominent criminal defense lawyer Steve Sadow, according to the NYT. Fielding, along with attorneys Jennifer Little (who reportedly will remain on his team) and Marissa Goldberg were reportedly key in negotiating the former president’s bond.

By flying to Atlanta for booking Thursday, a day ahead of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ deadline, Trump sought to upstage that Wednesday GOP presidential candidates’ debate. But Thursday afternoon, Trump was upstaged himself with latest news on the apparent death of Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin in an airplane crash some two months after an apparent coup on Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin. 

In the context the plane crash timing versus Trump Perp Walk IV, a line in a piece by Brian Klas in The Atlantic could stand out for its unintended irony: “Coup plotters rarely die of old age.”

Willis’ trial date: D.A. Fani Willis has requested a start date for the trial of all 19 defendants, including Trump, of October 23. Trump’s attorneys have begun procedures to delay.

Meanwhile: House Republicans have begun an investigation into D.A. Willis.

And so it goes.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa