BREAKING NEWS: Trump May Be Planning to Leave Country 24 Hours Before He Loses Immunity From Prosecution

"Prestwick Airport has been told to expect the arrival of a US military Boeing 757 aircraft which has been occasionally used by Trump, on January 19."

(PS) With Scotland going into lockdown, I don't know if this is a realistic option for Trump. But every major media report we've gotten for the last 2 months has said that Trump is almost *preternaturally* obsessed with losing his immunity from criminal prosecution on January 20.
(PS2) I've repeatedly said that—based upon my experience with 2,000+ criminal defendants—I don't believe that Trump would flee the country unless he believed he was facing imminent arrest (which, to be very clear, I don't think he believes). But this story is real and intriguing.
(PS3) The proper course of action now is for media to find out if Trump will be leaving the country at the moment that he loses his immunity from criminal prosecution. That is *also* the proper frame for the story—given what we know to be Trump's state of mind and preoccupations.
(PS4) The other, concurrent news story to at least keep in mind here is that Trump is in a legal dispute with his neighbors in Florida over whether he can reside at Mar-A-Lago. It gives him the perfect excuse to say that he needs to spend a few months at his property in Scotland.
(PS5) To those wondering about the legal implications of Trump being in Scotland as or when a state indictment is issued against him—yes, of course Scotland has an extradition agreement with the United States. But getting Trump here would take much longer and forestall an arrest.
(PS6) I ask folks to please not misquote anything I have said in this thread. I am merely noting the confluence of several major media stories that require follow-up from American journalists. I make no prognostications here about the future whatsoever, nor do I aim to speculate.
(PS7) To those wondering why Trump would fly on a military plane on January 19 rather than January 20, of course Trump may lose access to certain military flights at noon on January 20. And—in theory—such a flight may be necessary to penetrate Scotland's new coronavirus lockdown.
(PS8) I'm an Occam's Razor analyst—so my assumption is that if indeed Trump is planning a trip to Scotland, it's simply so he can be out of the country as Biden is being feted as our new POTUS. I *don't* presume it is an extradition issue. But this story must be pursued by media.
(PS9) As for how a hypothetical extradition issue would be affected by the pandemic, Scotland being in lockdown, and global travel restrictions, I've no idea. As to whether Scotland could be a temporary waystation for Trump before he visits other (e.g. UAE) properties, who knows.
(PS10) The takeaway is that the possibility of state felony indictments against Trump in New York (James, Vance), Georgia (Willis) or elsewhere is real. And Trump's terror at this prospect is real and widely reported. So this story must be taken seriously. https://t.co/5nmXeVfV3W
(MAJOR UPDATE) THE DAILY BEAST: "According to a report from the Sunday Post, a lot of unusual US military activity has been recorded at one [Scottish] airport that just so happens to be very close to President Donald Trump’s flagship Scottish golf resort." https://t.co/AUVhnHcS5h
(NOTE) While likely no indictment will issue against Trump before January 19, state investigators could publicly request he not leave the country during the period he is under investigation. It's not binding—but would underscore him going to Scotland as a potentially dubious act.
(MORE) UK media is blowing up with this story. Here's more: https://t.co/BlyR3Z8APa
(MORE2) Per an INDEPENDENT (UK) source, the unusual U.S. military movements near Trump's property in Scotland are "usually a sign Trump is going to be somewhere [abroad] for an extended period." I don't know what "extended" means in this context, but it'll get a lot of attention.
(NOTE2) I've never been in the camp that thought MBS, MBZ, Erdogan, or Putin would shelter Trump against a federal case—angering Biden's administration is a no-go for all four. Letting Trump stay abroad while he domestically fights local prosecutors via his lawyers? Sure—why not.

More from Seth Abramson

As I know from my many years as a criminal defense attorney, GP, inmates can usually get books if they're sent directly from the publisher. What is your inmate number going to be? I will try to get you a copy of PROOF OF COLLUSION to help you pass the time while you're in prison.


2/ As GP rails against Mueller to help sell movie rights to his story (or whatever), here's what his attorneys actually said in court: "Our firm would in a second stand up if we saw prosecutorial or governmental misconduct. We have seen no such thing." But they didn't stop there.

3/ George's attorneys added, "We have seen no entrapment. We have seen no set-up by U.S. intelligence people. Everything we saw, they’ve been on the square." So apparently on the same day my world "collapses," George's lawyers will *also* experience a massive temporal distortion.

More from Politics

"3 million people are estimated not to have official photo ID, with ethnic minorities more at risk". They will "have to contact their council to confirm their ID if they want to vote"

This is shameful legislation, that does nothing to tackle the problems with UK elections.THREAD


There is no evidence in-person voter fraud is a problem, and it wd be near-impossible to organise on an effective scale. Campaign finance violations, digital disinformation & manipulation of postal voting are bigger issues, but these are crimes of the powerful, not the powerless.

In a democracy, anything that makes it harder to vote - in particular, anything that disadvantages one group of voters - should face an extremely high bar. Compulsory voter ID takes a hammer to 3 million legitimate voters (disproportionately poor & BAME) to crack an imaginary nut

If the government is concerned about the purity of elections, it should reflect on its own conduct. In 2019 it circulated doctored news footage of an opponent, disguised its twitter feed as a fake fact-checking site, and ran adverts so dishonest that even Facebook took them down.

Britain's electoral law largely predates the internet. There is little serious regulation of online campaigning or the cash that pays for it. That allows unscrupulous campaigners to ignore much of the legal framework erected since the C19th to guard against electoral misconduct.

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1/“What would need to be true for you to….X”

Why is this the most powerful question you can ask when attempting to reach an agreement with another human being or organization?

A thread, co-written by @deanmbrody:


2/ First, “X” could be lots of things. Examples: What would need to be true for you to

- “Feel it's in our best interest for me to be CMO"
- “Feel that we’re in a good place as a company”
- “Feel that we’re on the same page”
- “Feel that we both got what we wanted from this deal

3/ Normally, we aren’t that direct. Example from startup/VC land:

Founders leave VC meetings thinking that every VC will invest, but they rarely do.

Worse over, the founders don’t know what they need to do in order to be fundable.

4/ So why should you ask the magic Q?

To get clarity.

You want to know where you stand, and what it takes to get what you want in a way that also gets them what they want.

It also holds them (mentally) accountable once the thing they need becomes true.

5/ Staying in the context of soliciting investors, the question is “what would need to be true for you to want to invest (or partner with us on this journey, etc)?”

Multiple responses to this question are likely to deliver a positive result.
I'm going to do two history threads on Ethiopia, one on its ancient history, one on its modern story (1800 to today). 🇪🇹

I'll begin with the ancient history ... and it goes way back. Because modern humans - and before that, the ancestors of humans - almost certainly originated in Ethiopia. 🇪🇹 (sub-thread):


The first likely historical reference to Ethiopia is ancient Egyptian records of trade expeditions to the "Land of Punt" in search of gold, ebony, ivory, incense, and wild animals, starting in c 2500 BC 🇪🇹


Ethiopians themselves believe that the Queen of Sheba, who visited Israel's King Solomon in the Bible (c 950 BC), came from Ethiopia (not Yemen, as others believe). Here she is meeting Solomon in a stain-glassed window in Addis Ababa's Holy Trinity Church. 🇪🇹


References to the Queen of Sheba are everywhere in Ethiopia. The national airline's frequent flier miles are even called "ShebaMiles". 🇪🇹