Rapist Felon and subhuman dirtbag Trump belongs in a prison cell until he
dies.

Once Top Advisers to Trump, They Now Call Him �Liar,� �Fascist� and �Unfit�

Many of those who served in former President Donald J. Trump�s
administration � especially his generals, ambassadors and other national
security officials � have since turned on Mr. Trump.

By Michael D. Shear and June Kim Oct. 30, 2024

Former President Donald J. Trump often brags about hiring �the best
people.� But the breadth of the criticism aimed at Mr. Trump, especially
from his own former military and national security officials, sets him
apart from any modern president.
John Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general who served as Mr. Trump�s chief
of staff, recently called his former boss �an authoritarian,� saying he
�admires people who are dictators � he has said that. So he certainly falls
into the general definition of fascist, for sure.�

Mark Milley, the country�s top military official during the last two years
of Mr. Trump�s presidency, privately told the journalist Bob Woodward that
Mr. Trump is a �fascist to the core� and said his pursuit of another four
years in office makes him �the most dangerous person to this country,� Mr.
Woodward revealed in a recent book.

Mr. Trump and those around him rejected the criticism as little more than
sour grapes. The former president has called General Milley a �loser� and
worse, and has suggested that the decorated military officer should be
executed for treason because of efforts to ease concerns among foreign
leaders after the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol by Mr. Trump�s supporters.

But the comments from Mr. Kelly and General Milley denigrating Mr. Trump�s
capacity to serve as commander in chief are particularly striking, even as
they echo the sentiments from others across his government and many
Republicans outside of his administration.

Former generals, admirals, diplomats, intelligence officers and security
strategists have publicly or privately accused Mr. Trump of being a liar
who lacks basic knowledge about the world and represents a danger to
democracy. Members of his cabinet have questioned his loyalty to the
country and testified to his chaotic behavior. His press aides have talked
about his lack of integrity and his tendency to attack others.

And Mike Pence, his own vice president, has accused him of being reckless
and putting himself over the Constitution. And Mr. Pence said he walked
away from the agenda backed by conservatives. Mr. Pence ran against Mr.
Trump and refused to endorse him.

Only a few of the former president�s advisers have played an active role in
trying to defeat Mr. Trump�s bid for another four years in power, often
citing their belief that military and national security officials should
not meddle in partisan politics. Most have not appeared in ads or sat for
recent TV interviews. Just a handful have endorsed Mr. Trump�s opponent,
Vice President Kamala Harris.

But they have not disowned their comments about the former president and
the danger he poses if he returns to the Oval Office. In recent weeks, Ms.
Harris has begun running campaign ads citing the comments from some of the
former Trump officials as evidence that he is unfit to serve again.

Mr. Trump could regain power soon, and those who advised him the first time
have said he is �
A Threat to Democracy
Mr. Trump�s national security aides repeatedly described him as a danger to
the country and to democracy. Many cited the Jan. 6 violence and his
reaction to it as evidence of how he posed a threat to the country�s laws
and norms. Others predicted a return to the White House would damage the
country�s national security.

�Surely you can�t mean Hitler�s generals? And he said, �Yeah, yeah,
Hitler�s generals.��
John Kelly
Chief of staff, said in a recent interview, recalling when Mr. Trump
praised the loyalty shown by German generals.

�Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to
unite the American people � does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries
to divide us.�
James Mattis
Secretary of defense

�Donald Trump will cause a lot of damage if he is elected in a second
term.�
John Bolton
National security adviser

�The American people deserve to know that President Trump asked me to
put him over my oath to the Constitution, but I kept my oath and I always
will. I�m running for president in part because I think that anyone who
puts himself over the Constitution should never be president of the United
States.�
Mike Pence
Vice president

Ill-Informed and Incurious
Several officials have publicly questioned Mr. Trump�s intelligence,
accusing him of knowing little about history and saying they observed him
struggling to understand the complexities of the presidency. Some said he
appeared not to be interested in learning about the issues he confronted.

�Trump lacked basic knowledge of how the government runs, and his
impatience with learning about the roles of his senior officials and about
alternative models for decision-making limited his ability to lead. When
there was conflict, he avoided it or, at times, stoked it.�
Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster
National security adviser

�His understanding of global events, his understanding of global
history, his understanding of U.S. history was really limited. It�s really
hard to have a conversation with someone who doesn�t even understand the
concept for why we�re talking about this.�
Rex Tillerson
Secretary of state

�His short attention span (except on matters of personal advantage)
renders coherent foreign policy almost unattainable. The United States
missed an incalculable number of opportunities in Trump�s first term
because senior officials necessarily concentrated on keeping a few key
policies on track.�
John Bolton
National security adviser

Dishonest
Some members of Mr. Trump�s national security team accused him of lying
while he was president. Several said he fabricated stories or willingly
ignored facts. Others said they witnessed him lying about the results of
the 2020 election despite knowing the truth.

�Trump was caught in a vortex created by the interaction of those
narratives with the fragility of his ego and his deep sense of
aggrievement.�
Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster
National security adviser

�Our president must embody respect and adhere to the values that are at
the core of this country. The most important being truth. This president is
not able to do that.�
James Comey
F.B.I. director, said after Mr. Trump fired him from his job

�So many people who had access to his ear who were telling him things,
most of which were untrue, and then he began to listen to those voices and
form a view that had no basis in fact.�
Rex Tillerson
Secretary of state

Misplaced in His Loyalty
Some former aides said Mr. Trump was not loyal to his constituents because
he failed to follow a standard conservative agenda. Many questioned his
loyalty to the country after witnessing his actions after the election of
2020. Others said he proved disloyal by ignoring rules that govern how
sensitive documents are handled.

�His ego and love of self distorted his perception of the 2020
presidential election. His sense of betrayal drove him to abandon his oath
to �support and defend the Constitution,� a president�s highest
obligation.�
Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster
National security adviser

�He thought I would be loyal and obedient to him. I told him we were
loyal to our oath to the Constitution. If he told you to slit someone�s
throat, he thought you would go out and do it.�
John Kelly
White House chief of staff

�The president has very little understanding of what it means to be in
the military, to fight ethically or to be governed by a uniform set of
rules and practices.�
Richard Spencer
Secretary of the Navy

Disorderly and Undisciplined
National security advisers and military officials working for Mr. Trump
said he created political and diplomatic chaos while in office. Some said
they believed he enjoyed causing discord, while others said he pursued
policies that triggered strife and disagreement among global allies. Some
said he had a temper that added to the sense of chaos.

�He acts on his instincts. In some respects, that looks like
impulsiveness, but it�s not his intent to act on impulse. I think he really
is trying to act on his instincts.�
Rex Tillerson
Secretary of state

�He�s getting meaner and more offensive by the day. He�s trying to
bully me and anyone who supports me.�
Nikki Haley
U.N. ambassador, said while she was running against Mr. Trump for the
Republican nomination

�A person that has nothing but contempt for our democratic
institutions, our Constitution, and the rule of law.�
John Kelly
White House chief of staff

A Baltimore County jury found a day care van driver accused of sexually abusing a girl guilty of second-degree rape and other charges Friday evening.

Police arrested retired Baltimore Police officer James Weems Jr., 59, in July 2022, after his then-wife Shanteari Weems shot him in a Washington, D.C., hotel room when authorities shut down her Owings Mills daycare, Lil Kidz Kastle.

After five hours of deliberations Friday, jurors found Weems guilty on all six counts: two counts of second-degree rape, three counts of sexual abuse of a minor and one count of displaying obscene matter to a minor between March 2020 and July 2022.

He will return to the Baltimore County Detention Center until his Jan. 8 sentencing.

Prosecutors filed for enhanced penalties in the case because of the victim’s age, meaning he faces a minimum of 15 years without the possibility of parole.

The trial began Tuesday in Baltimore County Circuit Court.

Jurors didn’t hear that grand juries had indicted Weems on another 33 counts, including similar charges related to the alleged sexual abuse of three other children. This week’s trial dealt only with charges related to a single victim.

Attorneys for Weems could not be reached immediately for comment on the verdict.

Weems’ ex-wife, Shanteari, also testified earlier this week. Jurors weren’t told that she shot him in a D.C. hotel room in July 2022, shortly after the state closed her day care center, or that she is serving a prison sentence in a federal facility in Kentucky.

The investigation into James Weems began after relatives of a then-10-year-old girl noticed she was watching pornography on her aunt’s iPad on July 2, 2022, the girl’s mother and grandmother testified this week.

Alarmed, the adults loudly questioned her about who had shown her the videos. The girl told them that “Mr. James,” the van driver at Lil Kidz Kastle, had shown the pornography to her.

Now 12, the girl testified earlier this week that James Weems had also forced her to perform oral sex on him, both at the day care and in the van that dropped her off at school and picked her up in the afternoons.

The Baltimore Sun does not identify people who have been sexually abused without their consent.

In closing arguments, Deputy State’s Attorney Lisa Fox Dever described how she said James Weems took “slow, progressive steps” to gain the trust of a vulnerable girl and take advantage of her. Weems gave the girl snacks no one else received and gave her the coveted job of opening the van’s door, Weems’ ex-wife and family members testified.

In a rebuttal, Assistant State’s Attorney Zarena Sita said that Weems “groomed” the girl, the term experts use to describe how abusers form a relationship with a child before assaulting them.

“Many people warn their children to beware of strangers,” Dever said. “The reality is the person who is going to hurt your children isn’t going to be a stranger, it’s going to be someone they know, someone they like, someone they admire.”

Weems admitted on the stand Thursday that he watched pornography, including while children were inside the van, according to a clip prosecutors played Friday. He denied sexually abusing the girl.

“Why are you gonna show pornography to a child? Why are you gonna be watching it on a bus with kids?” Dever said.

She explained that even if jurors didn’t believe Weems had touched the girl, they could still find him guilty of sex abuse for having knowingly shown her the pornography and exploited her for his own benefit.

Dever argued that the girl had no reason to lie about the abuse. In a forensic interview on July 3, 2022, after she told her family Weems had abused her, the girl didn’t provide many details. But she did tell the interviewer that “Mr. James” had told her not to tell anyone and that she could go to jail, Dever said.

Dever said that while the girl wasn’t ready to talk during that early interview, after two years of therapy she was ready to share more details in court.

Thomas Pavlinic, one of Weems’ attorneys, argued that the girl had lied about the abuse when her family caught her watching pornography and that her accusations didn’t make logical sense.

“You can’t be swayed by emotions,” he told jurors.

Pavlinic said it didn’t make sense that Weems would sexually abuse the girl both in the van, where other children were nearby, and in the day care, with teachers present in the building. He acknowledged that the girl might have seen the pornography on Weems’ phone in the car, but argued that the state hadn’t proven that he showed it to her on purpose.

As an “honorably discharged Marine,” a former Baltimore Police officer and the father of two children who admitted to his addiction to pornography, jurors should believe Weems’ testimony, Pavlinic said.

He also criticized aspects of the police investigation, saying that investigators should have tried harder to access the day care’s camera system after an initial passcode Shanteari Weems provided didn’t work. Pavlinic also said police should’ve taken possession of the aunt’s tablet sooner.

He identified what he called “contradictions” in the girl’s testimony and suggested she was either repeating a 2-year-old lie or that her relatives or prosecutors had nudged her into telling a certain story.

“I have empathy for [the victim]. I think she’s a victim in this case, not of Mr. Weems, but of the system that put her through this,” Pavlinic said.

Have a news tip? Contact Cassidy Jensen at cjensen@baltsun.com, 443-515-2165 and x.com/@cassidymjensen.

Originally Published: November 1, 2024 at 4:41 PM EDT

https://www.baltimoresun.com/2024/11/01/james-weems-closings-sex-abuse-trial/

The Baltimore County jury in the sex abuse trial of James Weems Jr. reached a guilty verdict Friday on all six counts. Jurors had six charges to consider, all involving sexual abuse of a minor, second-degree rape and displaying obscene matter to a minor. Weems was arrested on the charges in July 2022. A preliminary sentencing date has been set for Jan. 8, during which time, Weems faces two life sentences.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/jury-convicts-retired-officer-sex-030914732.html