June 10, 2023

Late Morning/Evening Update:

** Bad News. Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "The criminal case against ... Donald J. Trump over his hoarding of classified documents was randomly assigned to Judge Aileen M. Cannon, a court official for the Southern District of Florida said on Saturday. The chief clerk of the federal court system there, Angela E. Noble, also confirmed that Judge Cannon would continue to oversee the case unless she recused herself. The news of Judge Cannon's assignment raised eyebrows because of her role in an earlier lawsuit filed by Mr. Trump challenging the F.B.I.'s search of his Florida club and estate, Mar-a-Lago. In issuing a series of rulings favorable to him, Judge Cannon, a Trump appointee, effectively disrupted the investigation until a conservative appeals court ruled she never had legitimate legal authority to intervene."

Maureen Dowd of the New York Times has some thoughts about the federal indictment of Donald Trump: "The indictment -- charging Trump with violating the Espionage Act and other laws -- offered devastating photos of America's secrets stacked up like something on 'Hoarders,' spilling out under the dry cleaning, a guitar case and other items.... During the 2016 campaign, Trump was always boasting about his devotion to protecting classified information, to mock Hillary. The prosecutors thoughtfully included some of his old comments, like this one: 'In my administration I'm going to enforce all laws concerning the protection of classified information. No one will be above the law.'... What an utter phony."

~~~~~~~~~~

Special Counsel Jack Smith made a statement Friday afternoon:

** The indictments of Donald Trump and Walt Nauta have been unsealed. ~~~

     ~~~ ** Marie: You can read the indictment via PBS News (pdf). (If the link doesn't work [and I think it does], there's another PBS link here.) The New York Times has an annotated version here. Wow, Wow and Wow! BTW, there are not seven counts against Trump; there are thirty-seven counts against him. Smith recommended you read the indictment. So do I. It's 49 pages long, but the pages have a lot of white space. ~~~

     ~~~ The indictment includes a number of photos of piles of boxes of documents Trump & Nauta had stashed in various places around Mar-a-Lago, including the ballroom, where thousands of guests and foreign spies could access them. Trump's staff, including Nuata, took the pictures. The photos are difficult to see in the indictment itself, but NBC5-Dallas has reproduced color versions of the photos here. MB: If you look closely at the photo of the boxes stored in a bathroom, you can see in the upper-righthand corner of the picture that boxes are stacked in the shower up to the ceiling. This bathroom is described as being "in the Lake Room." It is unclear whether or not the bathroom was unlocked & accessible to random visitors to the Lake Room. In any event, a exterior window to the room provides a means of access. I guess if I were a foreign spy, I'd waltz in, lock the door & look at leisure through the boxes for useful info.

Josh Gerstein of Politico: "Here are some of the most notable revelations [of the indictment].

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "... if [Donald Trump] winds up in the dock in front of a jury, it is no exaggeration to suggest that American justice will be on trial as well. Historys first federal indictment against a former president poses one of the gravest challenges to democracy the country has ever faced.... Few if any [Republicans] bothered to wait to read the indictment before backing Mr. Trump's all-caps assertion that it was merely part of the 'GREATEST WITCH HUNT OF ALL TIME.'... Mr. Trump ... is holding nothing back as he assails 'the "Thugs" from the Department of Injustice' and calls [Jack] Smith a 'deranged lunatic.' Republicans like Representative Andy Biggs of Arizona have called for dismantling the F.B.I. 'We have now reached a war phase,' he wrote on Twitter on Friday. 'Eye for an eye.'" Read on. MB: Baker argues that the justice system is on trial. In fact, it's Republican party "leaders" who are on trial. And the verdict is already "guilty." Moreover, Baker never mentions that a significant test of the justice system is whether or not Aileen Cannon is allowed to remain the judge presiding over the case.

The New York Times' live updates of developments Friday in the Trump stolen documents case is here.

Alan Feuer & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "The indictment of former President Donald J. Trump that was unsealed on Friday provided compelling evidence that Mr. Trump's handling of classified documents was more cavalier, and his efforts to obstruct the government's attempts to retrieve them more blatant, than previously known. On nearly every one of its 49 pages, the indictment revealed yet another example of Mr. Trump's indifference toward the country's most sensitive secrets and of his persistent willfulness in having his aides and lawyers stymie government attempts to get the records back.... The indictment also showcased the bedrock elements of the former president's personality: his sense of bombast and vengeance, his belief that everything he touches belongs to him and his admiration of people for their underhanded craftiness and gamesmanship with the authorities."

** Devlin Barrett, et al., of the Washington Post: "Former president Donald Trump stashed sensitive intelligence secrets in a bathroom, his bedroom and a ballroom at Mar-a-Lago, according to a scathing 49-page indictment unsealed Friday against him and a loyal servant who is accused of lying to cover up his boss's alleged crimes. The grand jury indictment tells a story of hubris and hypocrisy, describing a wealthy former president living among neck-high stacks of boxes with classified documents scattered inside them, sometimes literally spilling out of their containers. In the prosecutors' telling, neither Trump nor any of his aides or lawyers appeared bothered by the sprawl of sensitive papers until government agents came calling. Then, the former commander in chief allegedly set out to hide some of what he had....

"'Wouldn't it be better if we just told them we don't have anything here?' Trump allegedly asked when his lawyers told him in May 2022 that they had to comply with a grand jury subpoena seeking the return of any documents marked classified. In that same conversation, he praised a lawyer for Hillary Clinton for what he claimed was the act of deleting 30,000 of her emails when she was in government. 'He did a great job,' Trump allegedly said." (An earlier version of the story was linked yesterday.)

Evan Perez, et al., of CNN: "An aide to ... Donald Trump has been indicted in special counsel Jack Smith's investigation into the mishandling of classified documents from the Trump White House, two sources familiar with the indictment tell CNN. Walt Nauta's indictment is the second in the special counsel's investigation after Trump was indicted on seven counts on Thursday.... Nauta was with Trump at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club this week.... Trump responded to Nauta's indictment on his social media Friday, writing, 'They are trying to destroy his life, like the lives of so many others, hoping that he will say bad things about "Trump." He is strong, brave, and a Great Patriot. The FBI and DOJ are CORRUPT!'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Two of Donald Trump's top lawyers abruptly resigned from his defense team on Friday, just hours after news broke that he and a close aide were indicted on charges related to their handling of classified documents. Jim Trusty and John Rowley, who helmed Trump's Washington, D.C.-based legal team for months and were seen frequently at the federal courthouse, indicated they would no longer represent Trump in matters being investigated and prosecuted by special counsel Jack Smith.... In their place, Trump indicated that Todd Blanche -- an attorney he recently retained to help fight unrelated felony charges brought by Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg in April -- would lead his legal team, along with a firm to be named later." (Also linked yesterday.) A New York Times story, by Haberman & Feuer, is here.

OMG! Katherine Faulders, et al., of ABC News: "The summons sent to ... Donald Trump and his legal team late Thursday indicates that U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon will be assigned to oversee his case, at least initially, according to sources briefed on the matter.... The 42-year-old judge [-- a Trump appointee --] was appointed last year as a 'special master' to review those materials seized from Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate. Legal experts accused Cannon of handing Trump a series of head-scratching victories over the course of those proceedings.... In one instance..., Cannon's order was ultimately thrown out in its entirety by an 11th Circuit Court of appeals panel, which found she overstepped in exercising her jurisdiction in the probe. In addition to Cannon, Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart's name also appeared on the summons sent to Trump on Thursday, the sources said. Reinhart ... is also familiar with the proceedings against Trump: he signed off on the initial search warrant of Mar-a-Lago last year and later ruled to unseal the search affidavit -- decisions that made him the target of antisemitic jabs on the internet." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Judge Aileen will throw out the whole case with prejudice without even batting an eye. "f this woman is assigned to the Trump case, there will not be a Trump case. The government can't appeal every one of her decisions. Can it? ~~~

     ~~~ Update: In case you think I'm exaggerating, Katy Tur of MSNBC asked Andrew Weissmann what the vulnerabilities of the government's case against Trump were. Instead of talking about some possible weakness in the evidence, Weissmann said, "The judge." ~~~

     ~~~ Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "Even as prosecutors publicly unveiled a deep and detailed array of evidence against ... Donald J. Trump in the documents investigation on Friday, they suffered a potential setback with the surprise assignment of the case to Judge Aileen M. Cannon. Judge Cannon, 42, a Trump appointee in Florida, shocked legal experts across ideological lines last year by intervening in the investigation and issuing rulings favorable to Mr. Trump, only to be rebuked by a conservative appeals court.... [Now] Judge Cannon may have ample opportunity to issue rulings affecting the tempo and outcome of the case. For one, substantial evidence described in the indictment comes from Mr. Trump's own lawyers, raising the likelihood of a fight over whether it should be suppressed as a matter of attorney-client privilege.... Decisions Judge Cannon makes in establishing the pretrial and trial calendar could also be critical." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Some of the most compelling evidence in the indictment comes from Trump attorney Evan Corcoran, whose audio notes recount some of Trump's attempts to get him to deep-six evidence of Trump's crimes. That is, Trump wanted Corcoran to do the obstruction crimes for him, a long-time Trump tactic (see Cohen, Michael). As Savage notes, Cannon could toss this evidence.

NARA Disputes Trump's Imaginary Defense. Jamie Gangel, et al., of CNN: "The National Archives is pushing back on claims made by ... Donald Trump, his lawyers and his allies over his retention of classified documents, for which he now faces a federal indictment. On Friday, the Archives took the rare step of releasing a public statement rebuking claims suggesting that Trump was allowed to keep classified materials under the Presidential Records Act. '... The PRA requires that all records created by Presidents (and Vice-Presidents) be turned over to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) at the end of their administrations,' according to the statement.... Former Trump attorney Tim Parlatore, who worked on the classified documents case before leaving the former President's legal team in recent weeks, mischaracterized the Presidential Records Act repeatedly during TV appearances this week, including on CNN Thursday night. Parlatore said that a President 'is supposed to take the next two years after they leave office to go through all these documents to figure out what's personal and what's presidential.' In its statement Friday, the National Archives flatly disputed that claim, stating, 'There is no history, practice, or provision in law for presidents to take official records with them when they leave office to sort through, such as for a two-year period as described in some reports.'"

David Gilbert of Vice: "In what is becoming a now all-too-familiar trend..., Donald Trump's far-right supporters have threatened civil war after news broke Thursday that the former president was indicted for allegedly taking classified documents from the White House without permission. 'We need to start killing these traitorous fuckstains,' wrote one Trump supporter on The Donald, a rabidly pro-Trump message board that played a key role in planning the January 6 attack on the Capitol. Another user added: 'It's not gonna stop until bodies start stacking up. We are not civilly represented anymore and they'll come for us next. Some of us, they already have.'... Right-wing lawmakers and commentators also pushed the idea that this was a politically-motivated prosecution ordered by Joe Biden.... In a statement..., [Kevin McCarthy] claimed that Biden was directly behind the indictment of Trump in a bid to remove the leading GOP candidate for the 2024 election. On right-wing media, hosts echoed the messages posted on social media, boosting the same baseless claims while using war-related language and providing no evidence to back up their allegations." ~~~

~~~ Kira Lerner of the Guardian: "Two and a half years after the January 6 attack on the Capitol, an estimated 12 million American adults, or 4.4% of the adult population, believe violence is justified to restore Donald Trump to the White House. Though the number of adults who believe this has declined since the insurrection, recent survey data from the University of Chicago reveal alarming and dangerous levels of support for political violence and conspiracy theories across the United States."

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A federal judge on Friday unsealed a potentially landmark ruling that compelled former vice president Mike Pence to testify earlier this year before a grand jury investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack and efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Pence had initially fought the subpoena from special counsel Jack Smith. But in March, Pence hailed what he called a historic decision by Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg of Washington, agreeing that Pence could remain silent on topics that dealt specifically with his role in Congress on Jan. 6.... Boasberg's 18-page opinion, issued in March, reveals that the court allowed Pence the privilege to avoid testifying only in response to very specific questions.... 'The Court holds that, while the Clause does apply to the Vice President, it does not cover the vast majority of what the Special Counsel seeks to ask him about. The Court will thus largely deny the former Vice President's motion,' Boasberg wrote in his ruling." Politico's report, by Kyle Cheney, is here. MB: IOW, pence's claim that the ruling was a big win for him was, well, not true.

MEANWHILE ...

Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times: "President Biden named a new Border Patrol chief on Friday as U.S. immigration policies have come under renewed scrutiny following the end of Title 42, a pandemic-era restriction that allowed the authorities to expel most migrants for more than three years. Jason Owens, who has served in the Border Patrol for more than 20 years, was most recently the leader of the Del Rio division in Texas, which handles one of the busiest areas for illegal crossings. He succeeds Raul Ortiz, who is set to retire at the end of the month after serving 32 years in the Border Patrol. Mr. Owens takes over at a time when illegal crossings have decreased."

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "Just six days after [Kevin McCarthy's debt ceiling] triumph, a small band of right-wing zealots who opposed the debt deal used parliamentary tactics to bring proceedings on the House floor to a halt, in the first protest of its kind in more than two decades. They shut down the House for a couple of hours, then for the entire day, then for the next day. After 6 p.m. on Wednesday, House GOP leaders surrendered to the saboteurs with a whip notice: 'Members are advised that votes are no longer expected in the House this week.... Thank you all for your patience.' The mutineers were in command of the ship. They blamed McCarthy for betraying them. McCarthy blamed Majority Leader Steve Scalise. Scalise blamed McCarthy. Negotiations went nowhere. And the People's House ceased to function." Milbank recounts the ridiculous if futile GOP attempts to pass what one Democratic wag called "The Appliance Bill of Rights," and segued into evidence that "the Venn diagram of Republican political interests and Russian propaganda interests has shown an uncomfortable amount of overlap."

Ed Mazza of the Huffington Post: "People Sure Think Marjorie Taylor Greene Just Admitted To A Crime On Live TV.... Greene said she read a document inside a SCIF ― a sensitive compartmented information facility ― related to bribery allegations Republicans have made against President Joe Biden but have yet to provide evidence for. Then, she described that document while speaking to Laura Ingraham on Fox News[.]... Greene said the document was 'unclassified,' but a SCIF is typically used only for very sensitive information. Lawmakers generally must check all electronic devices before entering, and cannot take notes while inside. And usually, information revealed in the SCIF can't be repeated outside of it. But Greene ... said she copied as much as she could once she left the SCIF.... 'I wrote down everything that I had just read so that I could come out and tell the American people what I read,' she said." Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. See also his commentary below. Update: Scroll on down to see also Patrick's commentary re: the "Law Enforcement Sensitive" doc Miss Margie shared with Laura & the Foxbots. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Originally (though after extended negotiations) FBI Director Chris Wray allowed the committee chairman Jim Comer (R) & ranking member Jamie Raskin (D) to read the document but not the committee members. For Wray's refusing access to members, Comer drew up a resolution to hold Wray in contempt of Congress. With that, Wray relented (or "caved," as Comer put it), and Comer withdrew his contempt resolution. It took about 24 hours for MTG to prove that Wray was right to withhold the document from a careless, loose-lipped committee member. (Also linked yesterday.)

Grace Ashford & Michael Gold of the New York Times: "Representative George Santos on Friday appealed a federal magistrate judge's decision ordering the release of the names of the people who helped bail him out of federal custody, suggesting that the individuals were family members. The identities of Mr. Santos's guarantors have been the subject of intense interest to both the news media and the House Ethics Committee, which last month requested that Mr. Santos disclose their names so it might assess whether the $500,000 bail guarantee violated House ethics rules regarding gifts. In papers filed with the Eastern District of New York on Friday, Mr. Santos's lawyer, Joseph Murray, argued that Mr. Santos had not violated ethics rules, citing an exception for family members and implying that the guarantors fell into that category."

Beyond the Beltway

Wyoming. Adam Goldman & Mark Mazzetti of the New York Times: "Federal prosecutors are investigating possible campaign finance violations in connection with an undercover operation based in Wyoming that aimed to infiltrate progressive groups, political campaigns and the offices of elected representatives before the 2020 election, according to two people familiar with the matter and documents related to the case. As part of the operation, revealed in 2021 by The New York Times, participants used large campaign donations and cover stories to gain access to their targets and gather dirt to sabotage the reputations of people and organizations considered threats to the agenda of ... Donald J. Trump."

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al.

The New York Times' live updates of developments Saturday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates for Saturday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefing for Saturday is here: "Ukraine made marginal gains on the front lines, advancing nearly a mile near Bakhmut and forcing several dozen Russian troops in the eastern village of Arapivka to flee their positions, according to Ukrainian officials, as Kyiv's counteroffensive continues. Ukrainian forces also inched forward near a southeastern town, according to military analysts.... [Vladimir] Putin stressed that Ukrainian troops still had 'offensive potential,' even as he argued that 'all counteroffensive attempts made so far have failed,' in comments to reporters Friday.... Rescue efforts continued in the Kherson region, which was hit by flooding after the collapse of the Russian-controlled Kakhovka dam."

Aamer Madhani of the AP: "Iran is providing Russia with materials to build a drone manufacturing plant east of Moscow as the Kremlin looks to lock in a steady supply of weaponry for its ongoing invasion of Ukraine, according to a U.S. intelligence finding released by the White House on Friday. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that U.S. intelligence officials believe a plant in Russia's Alabuga special economic zone could be operational early next year. The White House also released satellite imagery taken in April of the industrial location, several hundred miles east of Moscow, where it believes the plant 'will probably be built.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

U.K. Buh-bye. Stephen Castle & Mark Landler of the New York Times: "Britain's former prime minister, Boris Johnson, abruptly resigned his parliamentary seat on Friday, another dramatic twist in the career of one of the country's most flamboyant and divisive politicians. Mr. Johnson has been under investigation from a committee of the House of Commons that was looking into whether he had lied to Parliament over lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street during the Covid-19 pandemic. On Friday, having received a confidential copy of their findings, he accused the committee of attempting to drive him out, adding: 'They have still not produced a shred of evidence that I knowingly or recklessly misled the Commons.' The committee had the power to recommend a sanction that could have led to Mr. Johnson being forced into an election to hold onto his constituency just outside London -- a contest he might well have lost." The Guardian's report is here.

News Ledes

New York Times: "Theodore J. Kaczynski, the so-called Unabomber, who attacked academics, businessmen and random civilians with homemade bombs from 1978 to 1995, killing three people and injuring 23 with the stated goal of fomenting the collapse of the modern social order -- a violent spree that ended after what was often described as the longest and most costly manhunt in American history -- died on Saturday in a federal prison medical center in Butner, N.C. He was 81." ~~~

     ~~~ New York Times Update: "Theodore J. Kaczynski, the 'Unabomber,' who killed three people and injured 23 in a bombing spree stretching from 1978 to 1995, died by suicide at a federal prison medical center in North Carolina early Saturday, according to three people familiar with the situation.... The self-inflicted death of another high-profile inmate, four years after the accused sex offender Jeffrey Epstein hanged himself at a Manhattan federal detention center, is certain to raise fresh questions about the quality of security, oversight and health care in the troubled, chronically understaffed federal prison system."

New York Times: "After 40 days in the Colombian rainforest, all four children who had been missing since the plane they were traveling in crashed on May 1 have been found alive, according to Colombia's president [Gustavo Petro].... When rescuers reached the site of the plane's wreckage last month, the bodies of the three adults on board were found, but there was no sign of the four children known to have been on the plane. In a case that captivated the nation, local Indigenous communities from the remote region, along with the Colombian military, began scouring the jungle for the children, aged 13, 9, 4 and 1.... It was unclear as of Saturday morning who found the children or how they managed to survive for so long in a thick jungle that is prone to heavy rains and contains jaguars and poisonous snakes."

Comments

[Akhilleus]

King Midas in Reverse

Don’t know much about this Walt Nauta guy, the bringer of Diet Cokes, mover of secret document boxes, valet, and general gofer to the Fat Traitor He might be a good guy caught up in something way above his pay grade, a poor sap, or he might be a MAGA true believer, but it doesn’t matter. Like hundreds (thousands) before him, getting close to Fuckface Von Clownstick is a one way ticket down the toilet bowl. Everyone he uses gets it right in the neck.

Here’s what he says:

“They are trying to destroy his life, like the lives of so many others, hoping that he will say bad things about ‘Trump’. He is strong, brave, and a Great Patriot. The FBI and DOJ are CORRUPT!”

A not so veiled message to Nauta not to cooperate. Under indictment and he’s still at it! In fact, it’s Trump who destroyed his life, and the lives of so many others. Everything and everyone he touches turns to shit. He’ll gladly throw this guy into the dumpster if he thinks he can try to pin it all on him.

Walt Nauta, no matter where he goes or what he does with the rest of his life (after prison, that is, unless he rolls on Fatty), he’ll forever be linked to this horrible person. His obit will begin “Walt Nauta, who was indicted for federal crimes helping Donald Trump…” It won’t matter if the guy discovers the cure for cancer. He’ll always be Trump’s co-conspirator.

Those two lawyers who quit were smart enough to get out fast, but they might still find themselves in some kind of legal jeopardy. No one who works for Trump or stays with him for any length of time escapes the Fatty Crapper Trap. A more despicable prick you’d have a hard time finding. King Midas in reverse.

[Akhilleus]

The House that Jack Built

I’ve plowed my way through a few legal documents over the years, turgid and impenetrable are two adjectives that spring to mind.

Not Jack Smith’s indictment. This thing is brilliant. He avoids getting bogged down in opaque legalese. It’s very well written. A page turner. He lays out the facts and the evidence in a clear, direct fashion, building a strong case against a treasonous liar.

Now we’ll see if the house that jack built can withstand the coming corrupt MAGA storm: Hurricane Aileen.

[Ken Winkes]

Again, last night when I heard Jack Smith say those words about equal justice under the law, I had the same hollow feeling I get when others (Representative Raskin prominent among them) I admire say the same thing.

I sure hope the earnest pleasings about how the law treats all people equally proves to be true in the Pretender's case, but I'd feel much better when I hear this foundational principle religiously pronounced if there were not so many obvious exceptions to it in the way our laws are actually applied.

[P.D.Pepe]

I agree that Jack Smith has given us a brilliant document, one that even a fourth grader could digest. Will the lemmings in the Republican log jam cotton to the clarity of Fatty's criminal maneuvers or join the bastard in screaming negativities.

I had a hard time getting to sleep last night thinking about how a man like Trump has become, on the one hand, the beloved god of thousands, while on the other hand, the most corrupt president in our history. Have we learned anything here? I feel we are on the brink and am not sure where we are heading.

[Akhilleus]

PD,

The answer to your question, whither the traitors, is an affirmative to the negative. It’s a cult clan. If the revered leader is a crook, they all must be crooks, and since MAGAts never make mistakes and are never wrong, it must be gigantic, Biden controlled overreach to hide his own cupidity and corruption, an obvious attempt by deep state devils to tear down their idol.

But it could get worse. From the likes of MTG, we ‘ll likely hear “Had I been president and done all those things, I’d be smarter about it and never get caught!”

And the likes of dictator in waiting, DeSantolini thinks the same, but unlike MTG is not stupid enough to say so.

[P.D.Pepe]

AK: Yeah, here's an example right out of the barn: Our fist boy from the " Show Me" state, Josh Haley was irate about all this on Fox news and said this:

"If the president in power can just jail his political opponents ― which is what Joe Biden is trying to do tonight ― we don’t have a republic anymore” Hawley told Fox News host Laura Ingraham. “Joe Biden and his cronies are trying to take out their chief political opponent.”

Ted Lieu *D-Calif) linked to the exchange and delivered a surgical strike of a rebuttal:

“The below assertions on Fox are incorrect. Some facts: 1. Presidents don’t jail or indict anyone. Grand juries indict. 2. The Trump Indictment is just that, an indictment. Trump is entitled to presumption of innocence. A jury would decide if Trump is guilty and goes to prison.”

One wonders whether those like Hawley are that ignorant or play the game on Fox for all those hens who keep laying bad eggs and the roosters who have their way with them on a daily basis.

[Marie Burns]

@P.D.Pepe: Josh Run-Run-Run Hawley is a graduate of Stanford & of Yale Law. He clerked for CJ John Roberts. He was a professor at the Missouri School of Law & was Missouri's attorney general. He knows damned well all that Ted Lieu laid out there.

I presume (but don't know) that most "public servants" (ha ha ha) like Hawley keep on paying their bar association dues & remain lawyers. When Hawley goes on national teevee and lies to the ignorant public about basic facts on how the law works, when he knows perfectly well he's lying, it seems to me his state bar association should move to revoke his law license. Certainly there's something in whatever passes in Missouri for a lawyers' code of ethics.

[Akhilleus]

A thought about the Cannon the DOJ will be running into. Her previous illegal attempts to screw with the early part of this documents case, although overridden by judges in the 11th Circuit, were so egregious and obviously partisan as to warrant some kind of disciplinary action if not outright disbarment, but not once, ever, to my knowledge, has she indicated that she understands the grounds for reversing her outrageously pro-Trump activism.

Trump never apologizes and I doubt he’d appoint anyone who would or would ever admit that they were anything but perfectly in the right.

This is by way of addressing something I read today about her possibly recusing herself in this case.

Nope. I don’t see it. But there are manifold ways she can fuck with the proceedings, place her Trumpy thumb on the scale, delay, delay, delay, and attack the prosecution, serving more as a lawyer for Trump than as an impartial judge.

Don’t forget. Trump is first and foremost a transactional character. I do this for you, you better come through for me. So he appoints people he believe share his contingency view of the law. It might be illegal for everyone else, but not for Trump.

I understand why Jack Smith chose Florida, but he’s gonna be fighting a battle against both Trump’s team and the judge. It doesn’t matter that his evidence is laughably rock solid.

One possible bit of preventative maneuvering would be to put the entire trial on television. Slimy shenanigans from the bench look a lot worse if you can see them play out in real time, with legal experts standing by for commentary.

Just an idea.

[Marie Burns]

@Akhilleus: I agree. The Trump Trial -- if there is one -- should be on CSPAN & any teevee networks that wish to run the livefeed. The teevee is not going to show some of Cannon's tricks -- like disallowing testimony from Trump lawyer Evan Corcoran -- but it will showcase what evidence she allows in, and that evidence will be more compelling coming from witness speaking on the stand than from dry excerpts of transcripts appearing on the printed page.

The federal courts don't allow cameras (still or moving) in the courtroom. It would be a good idea for networks and First Amendment advocacy groups to start lobbying Johnny & the Dwarfs to make an exception for the trial of a former POTUS*.

[RockyGirl]

Despite Jack Smith’s desire for a speedy trial (approx 70 days per the SDFL rocket docket rules), we all know that ain’t gonna happen. Trump is trying to slow things down already by changing lawyers, with his new ones needing “time to get up to speed” on the case. Plus, as the most excellent Marcy Wheeler & Co have noted, there will be significant time involved just in “to the fight over what classified evidence would be available and how it would be presented at trial, [which] would last at least six months.”

https://www.emptywheel.net/2023/06/10/the-mar-a-lago-indictment-is-a-love-bunny/#comments

Nevertheless, I am still hoping that the stress causes Idiotstick to have a massive stroke, with him drooling in a corner, shitting into a diaper. Having him do that in an orange jumpsuit would just be gravy.

[Akhilleus]

Marie,

Quite. If there were any instance for which the ban on television cameras in federal court should be lifted, it’s this one, a former president on trial for committing acts forbidden by the Espionage Act, among many other charges?

But I seriously doubt the dwarfs and Little Johnny will go along with providing the public access to THE biggest trial in US history. They only recently allowed audio taping of their proceedings. They hate anyone knowing what they’re doing. They rely on shadow dockets and unsigned decisions to keep the public in the dark. If any court proceedings should be on TV, it would be those of the SCOTUS. That way viewers can see the smirks and the contempt in which Alito and Thomas hold petitioners they hate.

[RockyGirl]

Two additional points re any possible speedy trial.

Many years ago I was on a litigation team for a federal patent trial on the EDVA rocket docket. It was hell. Motion filed on Monday, opposition due by Thursday, reply on Friday, hearing and decision the following Monday. While the DOJ attorneys will be fine with such a schedule, I doubt that Trump’s K-Mart cadre of lawyers will be able to keep up.

Which leads to my second point, which is that Judge Aileen is gonna issue a highly non-expedited scheduling order, no matter what the SDFL rules say, and is gonna grant every request they make for extension of time, which you know they’re gonna do for every single deadline.

70 days? We’ll be lucky if it’s less than a year.

[Akhilleus]

RockyGirl,

I would be stunned if Cannon allowed the word “expeditious” to be uttered once in her presence. With Trump making demands for delays and Cannon calling the shots, I’m thinking that between them, the make sure no jury in impaneled much before the election at which point Fatty will scream “interference” and Merrick Garland will say, “Okay, we’ll put the trial off until 2025”.

[Akhilleus]

One other thought about the upcoming (2025?) Trial of Traitor Trump.

Another reason to make sure the whole magillah unspools on national (and international) TV screens, phones, and social media feeds (although I can see Zuckerberg tabulating how much he might lose by pissing off white supremacy and racist extremists.—I’m sorry, but I simply cannot rid myself of the image of Zuckerberg as a Kapo in Nazi death camps, a Jewwho herded other Jews into the ovens so he could make out better himself; the difference, of course, is that those Kapos were trying to keep from being murdered…Zuckerberg is doing it to buy a seventh vacation mansion on some South Pacific island) is the fact that Fatty will have to be there, unlike in the E. Jean Carroll case where he said “Fuck off. I have better things to do.” In this trial he HAS to show up.

Musk, in contrast will just let his bigot-traitor freak flag fly. He’s a First Amendment absolutist, right? Those Nazis are good people too. Heil Trump!

Oh, except in cases where people are criticizing him.