A lawyer can’t abandon a client during litigation for not paying his bills.
So, we will probably never learn the true reason Joseph Tacopina walked away on the eve of Trial.
Still it would be interesting to learn how soon Trump, notorious for manipulating and hiding his finances, settles his account with Mr. Tacopina.
Perhaps The New York Post will dig up the dirt and post a scoop on Mr. Tacopina’s sudden departure.
Excerpted from The New York Times 1.15.2024
Joseph Tacopina questions Trump accuser on the witness stand – 2023
Joseph Tacopina, the trial lawyer on Donald J. Trump’s legal team with the most successes defending high-profile clients, will no longer represent the former president in his criminal trial in Manhattan, according to a notice sent to the court on Monday.
Mr. Tacopina also withdrew on Monday from another case in which he was still legally representing Mr. Trump: an appeal of the verdict in a lawsuit brought by the writer E. Jean Carroll. Mr. Trump was found liable for sexual abuse and defamation last year and was ordered to pay Ms. Carroll $5 million.
Donald Trump gives a final glare at his now former attorney.
It was not clear why Mr. Tacopina decided to withdraw, and he declined to comment.
His departure from the two cases comes as Mr. Trump enters a year of legal uncertainty. He faces four criminal indictments, and trials with dates that are up in the air. The trial in Manhattan, in which he is accused of falsifying business records to hide hush-money payments to a porn star during the 2016 election, could begin as early as March.
Top photo: Donald Trump in New York courtroom with Joseph Tacopina at is arraignment in the Stormy Daniels hush money prosecution. 2023
I just spent much of Sunday being entertained by National Football League (NFL) playoff games on network television. The games are interspersed with commercials which tout America’s most beloved assets: Cars. Junk Food. Wireless communication companies.Mindless mind numbing television programs.
However there is one product I did not see amongst all the noise and bombast on network television. An American export which has come to prominence since Donald Trump entered the blood stream of American politics.
AMERICAN HATRED GOES GLOBAL.
Excerpted from Foreign Affairs Magazine – 9.19.2023
In its decades-long fight against terrorism, the United States regularly criticized countries such as Iran, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia for exporting extremist ideologies and violence. Ironically, today the United States stands accused of doing the same.
The spread of homegrown American conspiracy theories, beliefs in racial superiority, antigovernment extremism, and other manifestations of hate and intolerance has become such a problem that some of the United States’ closest allies—Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom—have designated both American groups and citizens as foreign terrorists.
Although little reported by the U.S. press, the October 2022 killing of two people at a gay bar in Bratislava, Slovakia, by a man espousing racist and homophobic views is an example of the pernicious effects of this “made in America” ideology.
In a now all-too-common pattern, the gunman posted a manifesto explaining his intent just before the attack. Written in English, the document displayed all the racist, anti-Semitic, and homophobic justifications that have become de rigueur for this type of hate-filled violence. More significant, the manifesto expressed a solidarity and affinity with a U.S.-centric white supremacist ideology that has gained greater currency in both the United States and other countries in recent years. “The number of non-White invaders in America continues to grow and grow, unchecked,” the killer wrote.
The gunman also cited a white supremacist terrorist attack earlier that year on a supermarket in a Black community in Buffalo, New York, as having inspired him. After decades of insufficient and ineffective efforts to suppress a racist antigovernment fringe, the United States has become the exemplar of far-right extremism and terrorism.
Far-right violence today is increasingly fueled by a deadly combination of ideology and strategy imported from the United States.
The “great replacement” theory, which claims that nonwhite individuals are purposefully being brought into Western countries to undermine the political power of white voters, got its start in France, but this kind of thinking has long been a fixture of American white supremacism.
The Atomwaffen Division (Atomwaffen meaning “nuclear weapons” in German), also known as the National Socialist Resistance Front, is an international far-right extremist and neo-Naziterrorist network. Formed in 2013 and based in the Southern United States, it has since expanded across the United States and it has also expanded into the United Kingdom, Argentina, Canada, Germany, the Baltic states, and other European countries. The group is described as a part of the alt-right by some journalists, but it rejects the label and it is considered extreme even within that movement. It is listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), and it is also designated as a terrorist group by multiple governments, including the United Kingdom and Canada. Members of the Atomwaffen Division have been held responsible for a number of murders, bombings, planned terrorist attacks, and other criminal actions.
These days, it is making its way into mainstream rhetoric in the United Statesand is acquiring an increasingly international audience.
These American extremists have also adopted from Marxism the strategic goal of “accelerationism,” meaning hastening the collapse of society by fomenting chaos and bloodshed. The United States’ exportation of these two ideas is radicalizing men and women across the globe, prompting foreign governments to take steps to protect their citizens. But at base, this is an American problem, and it therefore requires American leadership to solve it.
Today’s post comes under the “Better late than never” category.
Just today Liz pointed out an article which appeared in The New Yorker last October which took Mayor London Breed to the political woodshed. Blasting her “cynical” right wing turn as a political ploy to gain favor with the ascendant law and order venture capital crowd burrowing its way into Breed’s City Hall with deep pockets. Into the political life of San Francisco.
The Lede in the piece came at the end.
It’s something San Franciscans who watch the action know all too well.
Excerpted from The New Yorker 10.2.2023
Mayor Breed points the finger. At whom?
There is no question that homelessness and addiction in the state should be the top priorities for any elected official—not just because voters care but because the crises deserve real solutions.
Blaming people battling addiction and threatening them with potential financial ruin might satisfy someone like Elon Musk, but the game that San Francisco Mayor London Breed is playing now is both cynical and a waste of everyone’s time.
Maybe all of this will teach Breed the lesson that she should have learned when she cheered on the recall of Chesa Boudin: if the problems—homelessness, crime—stay the same once you’ve disposed of your political enemies, the next backlash is coming straight for you.
Top photo: San Francisco Mayor London Breed takes a knee for eight minutes and 46 seconds in honor of George Floyd at City Hall, Tuesday, June 9, 2020, in San Francisco, Calif. Black Lives Matter demonstrations in the Bay Area and protesters in the nation continued following the death of George Floyd, who died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers on Memorial Day. Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for the death of Floyd. Chauvin had kept his knee on Floyd’s neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds. Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle
San Francisco has been swept by law and order paranoia.
Mayor London Breed’s leadership in the political lynching of progressive District Attorney Chesa Boudin in June 2022 is the most blatant event to date in her push to accommodate the cops and feed the citizen’s paranoia.
Now comes something worse. Proposition E on the March 2024 ballot. It would hamstring the one oversight body keeping the cops in check. The Police Commission. It would also loosen the reins on how the cops perform their work. It would reduce police accountability.
The American Civil Liberties Union has just published a statement which cuts to the chase on the true impact of Proposition E on the citizens of San Francisco.
It must be defeated.
American Civil Liberties Union 1.10.2024
The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California opposes Proposition E, a measure on the March 2024 San Francisco ballot.
Proposition E is a dangerous and misleading proposal that knocks down three pillars of police reform: oversight, accountability, and transparency. The policies it targets are hard-won, community-supported initiatives that directly address SFPD’s ongoing pattern of violence, misconduct, and discrimination against communities of color.
Proposition E would let the San Francisco Police Department hide officer violence by reducing the information police collect when reporting use-of-force incidents. A review of SFPD data found that in the last quarter of 2022, the department was 25 times more likely to use force on Black people than on white people.
Cops would have more surveillance discretion if Prop E passes in March 2024
Proposition E also dramatically increases secret surveillance by allowing the police to track and monitor San Francisco residents without safety policies, public input, or oversight to protect our rights. It eliminates guardrails and lets police use highly invasive surveillance technology – even face-scanning drones, according to the City Attorney.
And Proposition E takes power away from the independent police commission and hands it to the mayor’s appointed police chief — an obvious power grab by Mayor London Breed that puts her short-term political interests over good governance and public safety.
San Franciscans deserve better than this cynical proposition. To improve community safety, we urge San Francisco’s leaders to commit to and follow through on evidence-based solutions such as affordable housing, mental health care, and substance use treatment. Proposition E will only create more problems for a city that desperately needs serious answers.
Mayor Breed with SFPD Chief Bill Scott wants to give the cops more power and less accountability through passage of Prop E
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors, 7419 miles from Gaza City, have added its voice to legislative bodiespartaking in foreign affairs.
Weighing in on the Israeli three month long murderous assault on Gaza.
Over 22,000 children, women and men have perished by Israeli firepower. Most of it supplied by America.
The ongoing Israeli military reaction.
Which the Israelis have no intention of slowing down or stopping.
Furiousreprisal for the murderous Hamas attack on Israel last October 7 during which over 1200 children, women and men were slaughtered.
Excerpted from The Jewish Weekly 1.9.2024
A supporter of the Gaza cease fire resolution waves the Palestinian flag at San Francisco City Hall.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday adopted a shortened version of a resolution calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war that represented a compromise among board members.
The resolution urges the Biden administration to do the same, denounces antisemitism and Islamophobia and condemns the “Netanyahu government’s attacks resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza.”
Aaron Peskin, who is Jewish and whose mother was born in Tel Aviv during the British Mandate period, said he was up at 3 a.m. Tuesday thinking about the measure. Preston and Ronen are also Jewish, as are Supervisors Myrna Melgar and Rafael Mandelman.
Citing angry public meetings and frequent disruptions leading up to Tuesday’s vote, Peskin said he was “saddened” that in San Francisco, “we have not succeeded — arguably we have failed — to use this as an opportunity to bring our people on both sides of this divide together.”
Supporters of the cease fire resolution pack the marble staircase in front of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors chambers in City Hall.
The contentious resolution was introduced in December by Supervisor Dean Preston and co-sponsored by Supervisor Hillary Ronen. Despite last-minute revisions, the measure failed to gain unanimous support and passed 8-3.
Several cities across the Bay Area have taken up measures calling for a cease-fire since the war began on Oct. 7, often leading to heartfelt pleas for an end to the violence, alongside vitriolic accusations against Israel and bizarre conspiracy theories during public comment periods. Oakland, Richmond and now San Francisco have passed cease-fire calls.
Top photo: Supervisor Dean Preston, co-sponsor of the cease-fire resolution with supporters.
It was four years ago today that progressive Chesa Boudin was sworn in by Mayor London Breed as San Francisco District Attorney. In a joyous ceremony at Herbst Auditorium across the street from City Hall. Little did we realize that even as Chesa was being sworn in, the knives were being sharpened to bring him down. In a vicious political lynching funded with over 7M in reactionary venture capital money 29 months later.
Mayor London Breed, who smiled her way through the evening of January 8, 2020, was already scheming on how to rid herself of this dedicated intellectual justice reformer. One of the chief myrmidons in this political coup d’etat is the powerful and well funded San Francisco Police Officers Association.
Angela Davis gives it up at Chesa Boudin’s inaugural
We fast forward to January 2024 and the POA is now engaging in THE BIG LIE. The same POA which spent over 700K in 2019 attacking, vilifying and smearing then candidate Boudin.
“After being quiet for years, and sitting out a high-profile recall of District Attorney Chesa Boudin in 2022, San Francisco’s police union is back on the political stage.”
That is the statement published in Michael Moritz’ San Francisco Standard earlier today in an article titled, “Police Union Wades Back Into San Francisco Politics After Years of Sitting on the Sidelines.”
The whole notion that the SF POA sat out the political lynching of Chesa Boudin is absurd on its face. It is common knowledge on the street that the SFPD engaged in a work slowdown when Chesa was in office. By failing to pursue wrong-doers, the SFPD, whose members bankroll the POA, led the false narrative that crime was running rampant in San Francisco.
The truth is the SF POA has never exited the political stage.
DA Chesa Boudin plays kickball with the kids as the SFPD films the scene.
Moritz is a well known venture capitalist who opposed Chesa Boudin’s policies and is outspoken in his law and order rhetoric. Rhetoric which he backs up politically with his deep pockets. Supporting law and order candidates and ballot measures.
The SF POA never sat out Chesa’s Recall. The SF POA was a prime instigator and participant in Chesa’s political demise. An obscene act of political evil which was promoted and led by Mayor London Breed.
SF POA hit piece in 2019. Part of the 700K the police union spent trying to defeat candidate Boudin. A campaign which continued non-stop the day he took office on January 8, 2020.
The SF POA has been handsomely rewarded for its treachery. The current DA Brooke Jenkins, named Chesa’s successor by Mayor Breed, has effectively ceased all prosecutions of dirty cops and is effectively doing their bidding.
Top photo: DA Chesa Boudin greets a crush of his enthusiastic supporters the evening of his inaugural at Herbst Theater in San Francisco – January 8, 2020.
I spent several hours in downtown San Francisco capturing the street life which I wouldn’t necessarily describe as vibrant. Struggling is a more apt description.
The City is definitely having a tough time recovering from the Pandemic. There were a large number of tourists waiting to ride the iconic cable cars at Powell and Market streets.
Thereare a large number of unoccupied business sites. Even some of the still open business sites are boarded up which certainly isn’t conducive to customer traffic.
Waiting to board the cable car at Powell and Market streets.
An iconic cable car heads up Powell Street.
A street person holds a dollar bill given to him at the cable car turnaround
Walgreens on Powell Street. Boarded up yet still open for business. There weren’t many customers.
Boarded up Walgreens on Market Street. Site where Banko Brown was shot and killed by a store security guard in 2023. The Market Street area was rocked by protests after the killing. Particularly when the cozy relationship between DA Brooke Jenkins and Walgreens was made public.
A sad sign of the state of life on Market Street.
One of San Francisco’s unique street people holding aloft his sign.
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and Thou Shalt be Saved.“
Sitting on Market Street in front of the Westfield Center.
The historic Flood Building on Market Street.
Two guys and their dog.
Street vendors selling 49ers gear prior to the upcoming playoffs.
The traffic on Fourth Street in front of Trader Joe’s
A couple on Fourth Street.
Heading slowly up Fourth Street.
The Metreon at Fourth and Mission Streets.
Out of sight. But not far from the masses at The Metreon.
Wednesday afternoon I traveled to City Hall on the 5R-Fulton line, again. For yet another go around with the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force (SOTF).
The reason I went for the fourth time since last July is to have SOTF waive the privilege and make public a Privileged and Confidential Memorandum written by the City Attorney in 2021. Which dissects the inner workings of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF) and its two non-profit entities joined at the proverbial hip.
Political power broker Dede Wilsey is on the governing Board of all three entities involved with the FAMSF
The request to make the Memorandum public was approved on an 8-2 vote.
But. Nothing is ever finished in San Francisco.
The discussion between the 10 members of the Task Force droned on for nearly 90 minutes. While I stood at the speaker’s podium in room 428 and was afforded the opportunity to speak several times. I was the person who sought to have the Privileged and Confidential Memorandum made public.
Diane “Dede” Wilsey Center for Opera. Directly across the street from San Francisco City Hall
I reached this point after prevailing in my Complaint against the FAMSF. I filed the Complaint in May 2022 to force this politically connected and wealthy organization to release its communication regarding its attempt to destroy JFK Promenade, a 1.5 mile car free sanctuary in Golden Gate Park.
Car-Free JFK Drive supporters enjoy sunset while celebrating the Prop J victory and continuation of Car-free JFK Promenade in Golden Gate Park San Francisco Calif., Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022. | Camille Cohen/The Standard
At the Board of Supervisors, the ballot box in November 2022 and through the courts. The FAMSF lost in all three venues.
I presumably prevailed last summer. The Task Force ordered that the documents be released. But the FAMSF argued it does not have to produce many documents because its two non-profit entities are exempt from public records disclosure requirements.
Regrettably the SOTF lacks subpoena power.
The Memorandum I want made public goes into detail about FAMSF and its two non-profits.
The meeting on Wednesday night got to the point of absurdity. At the beginning the Deputy City Attorney told the Task Force his office, led by City Attorney David Chiu, had no problem with making the document public. But, when it became apparent the Task Force was going make the document public the Deputy City Attorney did a complete 180 degree turn.
The historic dome at San Francisco City Hall where the power elite exerts its influence.
He amazingly told the group he thought it was not going to be voted upon at the meeting. And his office needs more time to review it before saying “Yes. Make it public.” The Deputy City Attorney was arguably the only one in the room with that opinion.
Nonetheless, the Task Force accommodated the City Attorney even though several panelists pushed back on his assertion. What will happen next is either the 2021 Memorandum will be ok’ed for release in a few days or it will be on the Agenda, again, in February.And I will make another trip to City Hall.
Given one last opportunity to speak I told the group I was frustrated with the manner my request to have this Memorandum be made public is being handled. It is very disrespectful. It proves to me, once again, that the powerful monied interests at San Francisco City Hall will only exhibit some transparency kicking and screaming at every step in the process.
Top Photo: Dede Wilsey and Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco CEO Thomas Campbell
Liz Heidhues enjoys the view of JFK Promenade from the rooftop of the DeYoung Museum showing off her bling from the Patrick Kelly exhibit – May 7,2022.
Lee's Perspective 