Author: tourist_yp6g7u

In a historic verdict, 12 jurors decided former President Donald Trump was guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying records in his criminal hush-money trial. It took the jury around a dozen hours to stamp Trump as the first ex-president to become a felon. He is to be sentenced July 11, and speculation abounds on how Judge Juan Merchan handles this unprecedented development.

According to those who witnessed the proceedings, Trump never looked up but, as expected, outside the courtroom he raged, calling the verdict a “disgrace,” that the “judge was corrupt,” and that the “trial never should have occurred…It was rigged.” 

He said the real verdict would come from the people on Nov. 5 during the presidential election. But in advance of that date, a microcosm of the American voters have assessed the evidence, heard the witnesses, the closing arguments of the prosecution, and the defense of an outcome that most likely will be appealed.

Todd Blanche, Trump’s attorney, said during an appearance on CNN they would appeal the verdict “as soon as we can.” During the trial, they had tried several times to have the judge call it a mistrial or insist on a change of venue, some of which will probably be the basis of the appeal.

RELATED: Trump’s guilty on all 34 counts, but he can still run for President?!

The appeal process could take months, possibly years, to complete, which means the sentencing process could be in limbo long after the election is over. What this all could mean for Trump’s fate is unclear, as is the impact it would have on his presidential quest.

Several publications have recalled the presidential bids of Eugene V. Debs (1920) and Lyndon LaRouche (1992), both of whom were behind bars when they ran, and thus Trump, a convicted felon, could do the same. Later there could be developments that defy constitutional authority.

“12 everyday jurors vowed to make a decision based on the evidence and the law and the evidence and the law alone,” Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg said. “Their deliberations led them to a unanimous conclusion beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant Donald J. Trump is guilty.”

Bragg added: “While this defendant might be unlike any other in American history, we arrived  at this trial ultimately in the same manner as every other case.” (Even as this story was being posted, Trump held a press conference Friday morning, and it would be redundant to repeat what he has said since the case and trial began—most of it rambling lies and misinformation.)

Attorney Michael Cohen, Trump’s former “fixer,” and whose testimony may have been decisive for the jurors, said in a statement that it was “an important day for accountability and the rule of law. While it has been a difficult journey for me and my family, the truth always matters.”  

The post Guilty–Trump the felon! appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.

* This article was originally published here

(GIN) – Nigerian President Bola Tinubu hardly anticipated a dust up when he signed a law restoring the country’s 1960 anthem “Nigeria We Hail Thee” and deleting “Arise O Compatriots,” a tune written by a group of Nigerians in 1978 in the aftermath of a brutal civil war.

But the move was met with disappointment and frustration. Critics said the president’s priorities were “mixed up” and insensitive to the plight of people dealing with inflation and insecurity.

The bill to restore the old anthem was introduced in parliament and passed within one week—exceptionally fast for Nigeria, where most bills take months to be considered.

The speedy amendment rankled many Nigerians. Approved on the day of the president’s first year anniversary, the anthem came off as a hasty attempt at contriving a feel-good moment to distract from a difficult year for residents. Inflation in the country, for example, has reached a 28-year high of 33.2%.

“What do we need a national anthem for?” asked Lukeman Ademola, a resident. “What is the national anthem doing in our lives; how does it even help the masses? Look at people suffering; the prices of commodities, the prices of goods and services are just going higher. How is this going to help us?”

On Twitter (now X), Fola Folarin said, “Changing the Nigerian national anthem written by a Nigerian, to the song written by colonizers is a stupid decision and it’s shameful that nobody in the National Assembly thought to stand against it.”

The new anthem was played publicly for the first time at a legislative session attended by Tinubu, who marked his one year in office as president on Wednesday.

Many Nigerians, however, took to social media to say they won’t be singing the new anthem, among them Oby Ezekwesili, a former education minister and presidential aspirant.

“In a 21st century Nigeria, the country’s political class found a colonial national anthem that has pejorative words like “native land” and “tribes” to be admirable enough to foist on our citizens without their consent,” Ezekwesili posted on X.

Words to the former anthem, first stanza:

“Arise, O Compatriots, Nigeria’s call obey. To serve our fatherland. With love and strength and faith. The labor of our heroes past, shall never be in vain. To serve with heart and might. One nation bound in freedom, peace and unity.”

Words to the new anthem: first stanza:

“Nigeria we hail thee. Our own dear native land. Though tribes and tongue may differ. In brotherhood we stand. Nigerians all, are proud to serve. Our sovereign motherland.”

The post Debate brews over national anthem adopted by Nigerian press appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.

* This article was originally published here