The Conversation -- August 7, 2023

The defense in the Trump coup indictment has submitted its response to the prosecutors' protective order proposal. I'll get up a story when one is published. The response is apparently a cantankerous delay tactic.

Another Loss for the Biggest Loser. Kara Scannell of CNN: "A federal judge has dismissed Donald Trump's counter defamation lawsuit against E. Jean Carroll, dealing another legal blow to the former president. In an order Monday, Judge Lewis Kaplan said that Trump had not proven that Carroll's statements on CNN the day after the jury awarded her $5 million after finding that Trump sexually abused Carroll and defamed her were false or 'not at least substantially true,' which is the legal standard. Trump sued Carroll in June based on her response to questions posed on CNN. Carroll was asked about the verdict finding Trump sexually abused Carroll, but did not rape her as defined under New York law and as she alleged. Carroll said, 'Oh, yes he did.'"

** BUT. Trump's Best Gal Puts Two Thumbs on the Scale. Josh Fiallo of the Daily Beast, via Yahoo! News: "More questions were asked of Judge Aileen Cannon's fitness to preside over Donald Trump's high-profile classified documents case on Monday after the South Florida federal judge rejected special counsel Jack Smith's bid to preserve 'grand jury secrecy' through sealed filings. In her ruling, Cannon questioned the 'legal propriety' of Smith using an 'out-of-district grand jury to continue to investigate and/or to seek post-indictment hearings.' She demanded that Smith explain [by Aug. 22] why prosecutors are doing this.... While much of the Mar-a-Lago docs case is being handled out of Cannon's district, a portion of the grand jury work ahead of Trump's indictment was done by a D.C. grand jury, which Cannon appeared perplexed by. Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance wrote online that Cannon's latest order 'may tee up the issue of her fitness on this case.' Andrew Weissmann, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney, suggested the same -- writing that Cannon's order is 'off base.' 'Judge Cannon clearly shows her ignorance (bias? both?); the obstruction crimes that were investigated are charges that could have been brought in [Florida] or in DC and thus could be investigated in either district,' he wrote on Twitter. 'And there was conduct that is alleged to have occurred outside [Florida].'

In a separate blow to Smith, Cannon also removed two filings by prosecutors -- about defense attorney Stanley Woodward's potential conflicts of interest -- from the record entirely. Prosecutors had asked for a so-called Garcia hearing to alert Woodward's clients of the potential conflicts of interest, so they filed a motion in hopes they could do so while keeping information off the public record. Cannon shot down that request, however, writing that prosecutors didn't do enough to explain why the meeting needed to be kept under wraps." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The chief judge for the district should just remove & replace Cannon. A high-profile trial in which a former POTUS* is a defendant should not be used as a training exercise for a judge-intern. There may be some inexperienced judges who could intellectually and emotionally handle the burdens of such an historic trial; Judgette Aileen is not one of them. The world is watching and Judge Barbie Aileen is embarrassing the U.S. judicial system.

John Eastman Is in a Bind. Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Attorney John Eastman, an architect of Donald Trump's last-ditch efforts to subvert the 2020 election, is asking a California judge to postpone disbarment proceedings lodged against him, saying he's increasingly concerned he's about to be criminally charged by special counsel Jack Smith.... [Eastman's attorney Randall] Miller said the growing concern about criminal charges might prompt Eastman to assert his Fifth Amendment rights during disbarment proceedings.... But invoking the Fifth Amendment in the disbarment proceedings would jeopardize Eastman's ability to defend his law license, his lawyers wrote.... Eastman's bar discipline trial began in June -- and he had even testified for several hours without asserting his Fifth Amendment rights. But it was postponed to late August after the proceedings ran longer than the initially anticipated two weeks."

News Flash!! Stop the Presses! More than 1,000 Days After Election, DeSantis Admits Biden Is President! Nicholas Nehamas & Alexandra Berzon of the New York Times: "Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida clearly stated in a new interview that Donald J. Trump lost the 2020 election, diverging from the orthodoxy of most Republican voters as the former president's struggling G.O.P. rivals test out new lines of attack against him. 'Of course he lost,' Mr. DeSantis said in an interview with NBC News published on Monday. 'Joe Biden's the president.'... For years, [DeSantis] dodged direct answers to questions about whether he believed the contest was stolen, and during the 2022 midterms, he campaigned for election deniers." The NBC News story is here.

Minnesota. Anna Betts of the New York Times: "A judge in Minneapolis has sentenced Tou Thao, a former police officer who held back bystanders as other officers restrained George Floyd, to four years and nine months in state prison. In May, Mr. Thao was found guilty of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter in Mr. Floyd's killing. This is the final sentencing in the killing of Mr. Floyd." CNN's report is here.

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What's Bugging Marie Today?

Pundits, including legal experts, all of whom say judges have to treat Donald Trump's First Amendment rights as more precious and expansive than yours and mine because he is running for president* and we're not. Bull. Donald Trump is running largely because becoming president* is his only viable assurance he won't do hard time. Not only that, he has known since before he decided to run for president* that he was likely to be indicted for at least one of his many (alleged!) crimes. Trump does not have a right to run for president*. It's a choice. And with that choice, as his lawyers surely advised him, come the responsibilities of a defendant who is lucky enough to get out on bail. That of course includes carefully following any restrictions imposed by bail agreements. I realize that if Trump was forced to zip his lip over the course of his campaign, he would be a more attractive candidate. But even knowing this, I think that if he cannot STFU, a judge or judges should revoke his bail.

In Defense of Trump & the Trumpalumpas

Why, It Was Merely an "Aspirational" Coup! Luke Broadwater & Maggie Astor of the New York Times: "Appearing on five television networks Sunday morning, a lawyer for ... Donald J. Trump [-- John F. Lauro --] argued that his actions in the effort to overturn the 2020 election fell short of crimes and were merely 'aspirational.'... Mr. Lauro appeared in interviews on CNN, ABC, Fox, NBC and CBS. He endeavored to defend Mr. Trump, including against evidence that, as president, he pressured his vice president, Mike Pence, to reject legitimate votes for Joseph R. Biden Jr. in favor of false electors pledged to Mr. Trump. 'What President Trump didn't do is direct Vice President Pence to do anything,' Mr. Lauro said on CNN's 'State of the Union.' 'He asked him in an aspirational way.'... On NBC's 'Meet the Press,' [Mr. Lauro addressed Mr. Trump's threatening Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger with criminal repercussions if he didn't 'find' enough votes to overturn the state's result.] 'That was an aspirational ask,' Mr. Lauro said....

"[In a social media post,] Mr. Trump attacked [Rep. Nancy] Pelosi, the former House speaker, who recently said that the former president had seemed like 'a scared puppy' before his arraignment. 'She is a sick & demented psycho who will someday live in HELL!' Mr. Trump wrote." MB: As if the Pelosi family has not suffered enough as a result of Trump's personal attacks on former Speaker Pelosi. See also Akhilleus' and Ken W.'s comments at the end of yesterday's thread. The Shogun story is right on point. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: it appears Lauro went into "full Ginsburg" mode and admitted on every major Sunday TV news show that Trump is guilty of all charges in the new indictment. A coup does not have to succeed -- that is, it may be merely "aspirational" -- to be both unlawful and unconstitutional. In fact, here's how it works, as Josh Marshall of TPM laid out in an essay also linked here yesterday: if a coup is successful -- i.e., not just "aspirational" -- the victorious coup plotters form the new government and institute their own rules. If the coup is only aspirational (as so far, every coup attempt in this country has been), the coup plotters go to jail or worse. When your best defense is "our revolutionary conspiracy failed," you don't have a defense.

Rema Rahman of the Hill: "Former President Trump on Sunday said his legal team will ask for a recusal of the judge overseeing his case on federal charges related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election as well as a venue change, reiterating that he cannot get a fair trial in Washington, D.C. 'There is no way I can get a fair trial with the judge "assigned" to the ridiculous freedom of speech/fair elections case. Everybody knows this, and so does she!' Trump wrote on Truth Social.... Trump once again also went after special counsel Jack Smith.... 'Deranged Jack Smith ... could have brought this [Biden] "opponent" case years ago, but chose to wait and bring it right in the middle of my election campaign. No way!!! I hope you are watching America,' Trump wrote." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

What Trump Does While out on Bail. First, there was the general threat to every anti-Trumper in the world plus numerous people just doing their jobs: "IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I'M COMING AFTER YOU!" Then, there are these remarks, made about a likely witness against him: ~~~

~~~ Craig Howie of Politico: "Donald Trump hit back at Mike Pence on Saturday.... 'WOW, it's finally happened!' Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Saturday. 'Liddle' Mike Pence, a man who was about to be ousted as Governor Indiana until I came along and made him V.P., has gone to the Dark Side.... I never told a newly embolded ... Pence to put me above the Constitution, or that Mike was "too honest.? He's delusional, and now he wants to show he's a tough guy,' Trump added.'... Pence defended certifying the 2020 election for Joe Biden in response to jeers and insults from a crowd of Trump supporters outside a campaign event in New Hampshire on Friday." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Tim Reid & Kanishka Singh of Reuters: "Asked on Sunday on CBS's 'Face the Nation' if he would be a witness against [Donald] Trump if the [insurrection] case goes to trial, [Mike] Pence said he had 'no plans' to testify but did not rule it out." (Also linked yesterday.)

You Could Get Tossed in Jail for Looking Like a Criminal -- Especially if You're Black. Kashmir Hill of the New York Times: Porcha Woodruff of Detroit, who was eight months pregnant at the time of her arrest [for robbery & carjacking], "is the sixth person to report being falsely accused of a crime as a result of facial recognition technology used by police to match an unknown offender's face to a photo in a database. All six people have been Black; Ms. Woodruff is the first woman to report it happening to her. It is the third case involving the Detroit Police Department, which runs, on average, 125 facial recognition searches a year, almost entirely on Black men.... Gary Wells, a psychology professor who has studied the reliability of eyewitness identifications, said pairing facial recognition technology with an eyewitness identification should not be the basis for charging someone with a crime.... [Surveillance video showed that] the woman involved in the carjacking had not been visibly pregnant...." Ms. Woodruff required medical treatment for dehydration following her release from jail. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Alabama, Where a Coup Can Still Succeed. Meridith Edwards & Rachel Clarke of CNN: "Patrick Braxton accomplished something no Black man in his Alabama town had done in its 166-year history: he became mayor. He told CNN he ran for office in 2020 to serve the fewer than 300 residents of Newbern, to connect them to help if they didn't have enough food or to spread information on staying healthy in the Covid pandemic. And when there were no other declared candidates, he won by default. But within weeks of his win, and before he got to take his oath of office, Braxton says he was dethroned in a secret scheme orchestrated by the former leadership.... His opponents 'set in action a plan to thwart a majority Black City Council from taking office and to effectively prevent the first Black Mayor from exercising the duties and power of his new job,' according to a lawsuit filed by Braxton and the four residents he named as his council. The lawsuit alleges the locks on the town hall were changed so Braxton could not get in, adding he was denied access to the post office box used for official mail, and a local bank would not let him see the town accounts."

California. Eduardo Medina of the New York Times: "A Southern California judge was arrested on Thursday in connection with the killing of his wife, whom police officers found dead from a gunshot wound inside the couple's Anaheim home, the authorities said on Friday. The judge, Jeffrey Ferguson, 72, of the Orange County Superior Court, was booked into the Anaheim Police Department's detention facility on Thursday and held on $1 million bail, the police said. He posted bail on Friday and has been released, according to Orange County Sheriff's Department records." MB: Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think if you or I were arrested for shooting dead a spouse or partner, we would be released on bail. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

California. Gigantic Serial House Burglar & Vandal Nabbed in South Lake Tahoe, Gets Off Easy. Lauren McCarthy of the New York Times: "One of the most prolific thieves in the South Lake Tahoe, Calif., area was 'safely immobilized' by tranquilizer dart and apprehended Friday morning, according to state officials: a 400-pound black bear that the public had come to know as Hank the Tank. The captured bear was responsible for at least 21 DNA-confirmed home break-ins and extensive property damage in Tahoe Keys dating back to early 2022, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said in a news release. The bear will be transported to an animal sanctuary in Colorado this week."

The Conversation -- August 6, 2023

Rema Rahman of the Hill: "Former President Trump on Sunday said his legal team will ask for a recusal of the judge overseeing his case on federal charges related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election as well as a venue change, reiterating that he cannot get a fair trial in Washington, D.C. 'There is no way I can get a fair trial with the judge "assigned" to the ridiculous freedom of speech/fair elections case. Everybody knows this, and so does she!' Trump wrote on Truth Social.... Trump once again also went after special counsel Jack Smith.... 'Deranged Jack Smith ... could have brought this [Biden] "opponent" case years ago, but chose to wait and bring it right in the middle of my election campaign. No way!!! I hope you are watching America,' Trump wrote."

What else has Trump been doing while out on bail? Well, there was the general threat to every anti-Trumper in the world plus many people just doing their jobs: "IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I'M COMING AFTER YOU!" And there are these remarks, made about a likely witness against him: ~~~

~~~ Craig Howie of Politico: "Donald Trump hit back at Mike Pence on Saturday.... 'WOW, it's finally happened!' Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Saturday. 'Liddle' Mike Pence, a man who was about to be ousted as Governor Indiana until I came along and made him V.P., has gone to the Dark Side.... I never told a newly embolded -- Pence to put me above the Constitution, or that Mike was "too honest." He's delusional, and now he wants to show he's a tough guy,' Trump added.'... Pence defended certifying the 2020 election for Joe Biden in response to jeers and insults from a crowd of Trump supporters outside a campaign event in New Hampshire on Friday." ~~~

~~~ Tim Reid & Kanishka Singh of Reuters: "Asked on Sunday on CBS's 'Face the Nation' if he would be a witness against [Donald] Trump if the [insurrection] case goes to trial, [Mike] Pence said he had 'no plans' to testify but did not rule it out."

You Could Get Tossed in Jail for Looking Like a Criminal -- Especially if You're Black. Kashmir Hill of the New York Times: Porcha Woodruff of Detroit, who was eight months pregnant at the time of her arrest [for robbery & carjacking], "is the sixth person to report being falsely accused of a crime as a result of facial recognition technology used by police to match an unknown offender's face to a photo in a database. All six people have been Black; Ms. Woodruff is the first woman to report it happening to her. It is the third case involving the Detroit Police Department, which runs, on average, 125 facial recognition searches a year, almost entirely on Black men.... Gary Wells, a psychology professor who has studied the reliability of eyewitness identifications, said pairing facial recognition technology with an eyewitness identification should not be the basis for charging someone with a crime.... [Surveillance video showed that] the woman involved in the carjacking had not been visibly pregnant...." Ms. Woodruff required medical treatment for dehydration following her release from jail.

California. Eduardo Medina of the New York Times: "A Southern California judge was arrested on Thursday in connection with the killing of his wife, whom police officers found dead from a gunshot wound inside the couple's Anaheim home, the authorities said on Friday. The judge, Jeffrey Ferguson, 72, of the Orange County Superior Court, was booked into the Anaheim Police Department's detention facility on Thursday and held on $1 million bail, the police said. He posted bail on Friday and has been released, according to Orange County Sheriff's Department records." MB: Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think if you or I were arrested for shooting dead a spouse or partner, we would be released on bail.

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Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President. -- Judge Tanya Chutkan, November 2021, denying Donald Trump's claim of executive privilege to block the House January 6 committee from accessing records from his White House ~~~

~~~ Nick Robertson of the Hill: "The federal judge presiding over former President Trump's election fraud case has ordered his attorneys to respond to prosecutors' request for a protective order by Monday, according to a court filing Saturday. Judge Tanya Chutkan gave Trump's attorneys a single business day to respond to special counsel Jack Smith's request for a strict protective order which would prevent Trump from discussing case evidence in public. Smith made the request last Friday after Trump made a social media post appearing to threaten witnesses in the case. 'IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I'M COMING AFTER YOU!' Trump wrote on Truth Social Friday...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update: "Trump's attorneys requested a three-day extension -- until Thursday -- to that deadline Saturday afternoon, claiming federal prosecutors want to move the case along too quickly and that a delay gives them enough time to properly respond.... However, Chutkan denied the Trump team's request for an extension Saturday evening...."

Maureen Dowd of the New York Times: "The man who tried to overthrow the government he was running was held Thursday by the government he tried to overthrow, a few blocks from where the attempted overthrow took place and a stone's throw from the White House he yearns to return to, to protect himself from the government he tried to overthrow.... While Trump goes for the long con, or the long coup -- rap sheet be damned, it's said that he worries this will hurt his legacy. He shouldn't. His legacy is safe, as the most democracy-destroying, soul-crushing, self-obsessed amadán ever to occupy the Oval. Amadán, that's Gaelic for a man who grows more foolish every day." Thanks to P.D. Pepe for the lead. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Dewey, Cheatham and Howe, LLP. Alan Feuer, et al., of the New York Times: "The legal team that Mr. Trump has assembled to represent him in the twin prosecutions by the special counsel, Jack Smith, is marked by a tangled web of potential conflicts and overlapping interests -- so much so that Mr. Smith's office has started asking questions.... Some of the lawyers involved in the cases are representing both charged defendants and uncharged witnesses. At least one could eventually become a defendant, and another could end up as a witness in one case and Mr. Trump's defender in a different one.... Many of the lawyers are being paid by Save America PAC, Mr. Trump's political action committee, which has itself been under government scrutiny for months. Some of the witnesses those lawyers represent work for the Trump Organization, Mr. Trump's company, but their legal defense has ... been arranged ... by Mr. Trump's own legal team.... Just this week, prosecutors ... asked Judge Aileen M. Cannon, who is overseeing the documents case, to conduct a hearing 'regarding potential conflicts arising from the complex client list of one lawyer, Stanley Woodward Jr.... Prosecutors appear to have similar qualms about another lawyer in the documents case, John Irving, who represents Carlos De Oliveira, Mr. Trump's other co-defendant...." Read on for the details of the stunt Trump lawyer/witness for the prosecution Evan Corcoran may be planning to avoid having to testify against Trump on a crucial issue in the documents case.

** Confessions of a Co-conspirator. Josh Marshall of TPM: In an interview with "Tom Klingenstein, the Chairman of the Trumpite Claremont Institute," Trump Co-conspirator 2 John Eastman "invokes the Declaration of Independence and says quite clearly that yes, we were trying to overthrow the government and argues that they were justified because of the sheer existential threat America was under because of the election of Joe Biden.... Eastman ... makes clear [the insurrectionists] were ... justified in doing so; and the warrant for their actions is none other than the Declaration of Independence itself.... 'There's actually a provision in the Declaration of Independence that a people will suffer abuses while they remain sufferable, tolerable while they remain tolerable[,' Eastman argues]. 'At some point abuses become so intolerable that it becomes not only their right but their duty to alter or abolish the existing government.... So that's the question.... Have the abuses or the threat of abuses become so intolerable that we have to be willing to push back?' The answer for Eastman is clearly yes and that's his justification for his and his associates extraordinary actions....

"Abraham Lincoln ... said ... on the eve of the Civil War in his first inaugural address (emphasis added): 'This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing Government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it.' In other words, yes, you have a revolutionary right to overthrow the government.... But the government has an equal right to stop you, to defend itself or, as we see today, put you on trial if you fail. The American revolutionaries of 1776 knew full well that they were committing treason against the British monarchy. If they lost they would all hang.... [Eastman and his cohort] knew it was a coup and they justified it to themselves in those terms."

Isn't it terrible that so many reporters from so many media outlets are challenging one another in the game of "Gotcha, Supremes!"?? The New York Times just advanced the paper's position: ~~~

~~~ Jo Becker & Julie Tate of the New York Times: "... in a documentary financed by conservative admirers, Justice [Clarence] Thomas ... waxes rhapsodic about the familiarity of spending time with the regular folks he meets along the way in R.V. parks and Walmart parking lots.... [BUT] His Prevost Marathon [R.V.] cost $267,230 [in 1999].... And Justice Thomas, who in the ensuing years would tell friends how he had scrimped and saved to afford the motor coach, did not buy it on his own. In fact, the purchase was underwritten, at least in part, by Anthony Welters, a close friend who made his fortune in the health care industry.... [The true source of funding for the purchase] leaves unanswered a host of questions about whether the justice received, and failed to disclose, a lavish gift from a wealthy friend ... [and whether Thomas failed to comply with] an obligation to report the arrangement under a federal ethics law." The article goes into detail about the purchase and payment, and unearths another foreign jaunt Thomas apparently took at Welters' expense but did not report. (Also linked yesterday.)~~~

     ~~~ Marie: When you think about it, "Gotcha, Supremes!" has all the makings of a board game, a la "Monopoly." You advance when your marker lands on "Clarence & Ginny cruise on Harlan's yacht" or "Insufferable Sam takes luxury fishing vacay in billionaire Paul's Alaska resort," but it's a bummer when your marker stops on "Chief John refuses to testify before Senate" or "Insufferable Sam writes a WSJ op-ed."

Presidential Race 2028

Not Exactly Yer Lincoln-Douglas Debates. Julia Shapero of the Hill: "California Gov. Gavin Newsom's (D team slammed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' (R) counterproposal for a debate as a 'joke' on Saturday, claiming that the Republican presidential candidate's suggested rules are meant to 'hide his insecurity and ineptitude.' 'What a joke,' Newsom spokesperson Nathan Click said in a statement, according to Politico. 'Desantis' counterproposal is littered with crutches to hide his insecurity and ineptitude -- swapping opening statements with a hype video, cutting down the time he needs to be on stage, adding cheat notes and a cheering section.... Ron should be able to stand on his own two feet. It's no wonder Trump is kicking his ass.'"

The Conversation -- August 5, 2023

Nick Robertson of the Hill: "The federal judge presiding over former President Trump's election fraud case has ordered his attorneys to respond to prosecutors' request for a protective order by Monday, according to a court filing Saturday. Judge Tanya Chutkan gave Trump's attorneys a single business day to respond to special counsel Jack Smith's request for a strict protective order which would prevent Trump from discussing case evidence in public. Smith made the request last Friday after Trump made a social media post appearing to threaten witnesses in the case. 'IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I'M COMING AFTER YOU!' Trump wrote on Truth Social Friday...." ~~~

     ~~~ Update: :Trump;s attorneys requested a three-day extension -- until Thursday -- to that deadline Saturday afternoon, claiming federal prosecutors want to move the case along too quickly and that a delay gives them enough time to properly respond.... However, Chutkan denied the Trump team's request for an extension Saturday evening...."

Maureen Dowd of the New York Times: "The man who tried to overthrow the government he was running was held Thursday by the government he tried to overthrow, a few blocks from where the attempted overthrow took place and a stone's throw from the White House he yearns to return to, to protect himself from the government he tried to overthrow.... While Trump goes for the long con, or the long coup -- rap sheet be damned, it's said that he worries this will hurt his legacy. He shouldn't. His legacy is safe, as the most democracy-destroying, soul-crushing, self-obsessed amadán ever to occupy the Oval. Amadán, that's Gaelic for a man who grows more foolish every day." Thanks to P.D. Pepe for the lead.

Isn't it terrible that so many reporters from so many media outlets are challenging one another in the game of "Gotcha, Supremes!"?? The New York Times just advanced the paper's position: ~~~

~~~ Jo Becker & Julie Tate of the New York Times: "... in a documentary financed by conservative admirers, Justice [Clarence] Thomas ... waxes rhapsodic about the familiarity of spending time with the regular folks he meets along the way in R.V. parks and Walmart parking lots.... [BUT] His Prevost Marathon [R.V.] cost $267,230 [in 1999].... And Justice Thomas, who in the ensuing years would tell friends how he had scrimped and saved to afford the motor coach, did not buy it on his own. In fact, the purchase was underwritten, at least in part, by Anthony Welters, a close friend who made his fortune in the health care industry.... [The true source of funding for the purchase] leaves unanswered a host of questions about whether the justice received, and failed to disclose, a lavish gift from a wealthy friend ... [and whether Thomas failed to comply with] an obligation to report the arrangement under a federal ethics law." The longish article goes into detail about the purchase and payment, and unearths another foreign jaunt Thomas apparently took at Welters' expense but did not report. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: When you think about it, "Gotcha, Supremes!" has all the makings of a board game, a la "Monopoly." You advance when your marker lands on "Clarence & Ginny cruise on Harlan's yacht" or "Insufferable Sam takes luxury fishing vacay in billionaire Paul's Alaska resort," but it's a bummer when your marker stops on "Chief John refuses to testify before Senate" or "Insufferable Sam writes a WSJ op-ed."

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Marie: If you read the magistrate judge's bail conditions for Donald Trump, which I painstakingly copied off the YouTubes and posted here yesterday, you knew this was going to happen sooner or later. Trump, as is his wont, made it sooner: ~~~

IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I'M COMING AFTER YOU! -- Donald Trump, Liars' Social post, Friday afternoon ~~~

~~~ Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "Prosecutors on Friday night called a judge's attention to a social media post from Donald Trump -- issued hours earlier -- in which they say the former president appeared to declare that he's 'coming after' those he sees as responsible for the series of formidable legal challenges he is facing. Attorneys from special counsel Jack Smith's team said the post from Trump 'specifically or by implication' referenced those involved in his criminal case for seeking to subvert the 2020 election.... The prosecutors said Trump's post raised concerns that he might improperly share evidence in the case on his social media account and they urged that he be ordered to keep any evidence prosecutors turn over to his defense team from public view. All the proposed order seeks to prevent is the improper dissemination or use of discovery materials, including to the public,' [Molly] Gaston and [Thomas] Windom wrote [to Judge Tanya Chutkan]. 'Such a restriction is particularly important in this case because the defendant has previously issued public statements on social media regarding witnesses, judges, attorneys, and others associated with legal matters pending against him.... And in recent days, regarding this case, the defendant has issued multiple posts, including [the post referenced here].... Trump's Truth Social post came just one day after he swore in federal court that he would not make any effort to influence or retaliate against witnesses or make any other actions that might obstruct the administration of justice in his case." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I suspect the target of the threat was the Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadhyaya, who issued the conditions of bail. Trump was reportedly vewwy, vewwy grumpy Thursday, and he likely wanted to provoke the court. I wish Chutkan would send the marshals around to pick up Trump and throw him in the nearest calaboose, but I suspect she'll cut him some slack.

Fortunately, right-wing pundits & other commentators are reacting to this third indictment with their customary reason and fair-minded dispassion: ~~~

Jared Gans of the Hill: "Former President Trump is calling on the Supreme Court to intercede in the legal battles he is facing.... Trump, in a post on Truth Social early Friday, repeated accusations that President Biden is pushing for the cases against him for political purposes.... 'I am leading in all Polls, including against Crooked Joe, but this is not a level playing field. It is Election Interference, & the Supreme Court must intercede. MAGA!' Trump said." MB: Apparently, Trump is so clueless that he's unaware the Supreme Court doesn't just spontaneously rule on whatever irritates them: they choose among appeals to lower-court decisions. But hey, why not just do what Trump demands? So, Clarence & Sam and all you mini-Supremes he appointed, take a break from your fabulous all-expenses-paid vacations to write up something ordering the DOJ to back off Trump.

Marie: On December 14, 2020, Ronald Hansen of the Arizona Republic wrote that "an Arizona group sent the National Archives in Washington, D.C., notarized documents last week intended to deliver, wrongly, the state's 11 electoral votes for him [Donald Trump].... Mesa resident Lori Osiecki, 62, helped created a facsimile of the 'certificate of ascertainment' that is submitted to formally cast each state's electoral votes as part of an effort to prevent what she views as the fraudulent theft of the election."

Not only did I think this sounded like a grassroots, crackpot gimmick, I didn't even connect it with the following story, though I linked both on December 15:

Jonathan Swan, then reporting for Axios, gave us a hint of the scope of the fake electors scheme, though Swan didn't suggest it was part of an elaborate plot still playing out: "Right up to Monday's Electoral College vote, President Trump held the false hope that Republican-controlled state legislatures would replace electors with allies who'd overturn Joe Biden's win, two people who discussed the matter with him told Axios.... Through the past week, the sources said, the president browbeat GOP legislators in multiple states, launched tirades against Republican Govs. Doug Ducey of Arizona and Brian Kemp of Georgia, vowed to make Fox News 'pay' for accurately calling the race, and tested ways to say he didn't win without acknowledging he had lost."

I was surprised and wondered if Rachel Maddow had crawled out on a limb when weeks later -- and a few days after the January 6 insurrection -- she led with a segment in which she asserted, "... Republicans in multiple states -- had sent in false assertions, forged documents claiming to be the electors for their states," Maddow wondered how "that Trump guy at the Justice Department [-- Jeffrey Clark --] [knew] that two weeks earlier, Republicans in at least five states had ... created these forged elector documents?... But somebody helped them do it, because they all filed the exact same document in the same font, in the same spacing, with the exact same language."

As I recalled, Maddow followed up on the fake electors story a few times before New York Times reporters Alan Feuer, Maggie Haberman and Luke Broadwater reported on February 2, 2021 -- that is, after Joe Biden had become president -- about "an audacious strategy: to put in place alternate slates of electors in states where ... Donald J. Trump was trying to overturn his loss."

That "audacious strategy" -- a strategy I dismissed in mid-December as a harebrained scheme concocted by Arizona rubes whose MAGA hats & tinfoil caps had not protected them from the noonday sun -- became a centerpiece of a House January 6 committee hearing. And now it has turned into a criminal indictment against Donald Trump. The big story often starts with a single piece or perhaps with a few seemingly unrelated or loosely-related pieces.

** Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times puts the big story in an even greater context: "If we truly hope to avoid another Jan. 6, or something worse, we have to deal with our undemocratic system as much as we do with the perpetrators of that particular incident. Whatever benefits our unusual rules and procedures are supposed to have are more than outweighed, at this point in our history, by the danger they pose to the entire American experiment. The threat to the integrity of the Republic is coming, as it often has, from inside the house." MB: This is Bouie's conclusion; read his entire column to understand how he got there. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Those Republican party "leaders" who aren't delusional are secretly or sometimes openly distraught that the leader of their party and their likely presidential* nominee is a whiney old narcissistic sociopath whom they wish would just go away. As conservative writer Ramesh Ponnuru points out, there was a very, very easy way for those Republicans to legally keep Trump from every again running for the presidency*: ~~~

~~~ Isaac Schorr of Mediaite: "The editor of National Review's print magazine and Washington Post columnist Ramesh Ponnuru called out Senate Republicans for failing to convict former president Donald Trump during the impeachment trial held for his role in inspiring the January 6 Capitol riot.... 'Republican officeholders ... thought they had no need to act against Trump because, having been defeated on Election Day and then disgraced on Jan. 6, he would "fade away" as a political force.... How's that working out?'" Nice work, Mitch.

Finally, in response to a number of comments in yesterday's thread about the latest from the "Wordsmith of Wasilla," Jack M. added more historical context:

Way back when, I remember saying that Sarah Palin was a gateway drug. Once the ignorati beheld the Incredible Lightness of Her Intellect, they felt empowered, even compelled, to make equally weighty pronouncements without the crutches of fact or context.

When you step back, it's evident that what the Confederates are doing is consistent with what would be business as usual in the United States in 1850: The country was run by and for the benefit of what we know now were not very admirable white people whose word was law. What's happened since has convinced many in the Con camp that a step forward for anyone unwelcome in the trailer park is a step back for the proud white folks washed exclusively in the blood of the lamb everywhere. They're rebelling against events that happened over 150 years ago, which is why those who try to make sense of their actions in a modern framework can be so confused.

Marie: I linked the story below late yesterday morning, so some of you may have missed it:

** "Clueless" Star Presides in Trump Florida Trial. Sarah Lynch & Jacqueline Thomsen of Reuters: "The judge in ... Donald Trump's upcoming trial over his handling of classified documents made two key errors in a June trial, one of which violated a fundamental constitutional right of the defendant and could have invalidated the proceedings, according to legal experts and a court transcript. Florida-based U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon closed jury selection for the trial of an Alabama man - accused by federal prosecutors of running a website with images of child sex abuse - to the defendant's family and the general public, a trial transcript obtained by Reuters showed. A defendant's right to a public trial is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution's Sixth Amendment.... Legal experts said closing a courtroom to the public has been recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court as a 'structural error' - a mistake so significant that it can invalidate a criminal trial because it strikes at the heart of the entire process....

Cannon ... declined to open the courtroom to the public despite repeated requests from both prosecutors and defense attorneys, the transcript showed.... [Scott] Berry, the federal defender, argued in the courtroom that Cannon's refusal to let his client's mother and sister be present during jury selection was a Sixth Amendment violation. 'All right, thank you. Your objection is overruled,' Cannon replied.... Cannon ... also neglected to swear in the prospective jury pool - an obligatory procedure in which people who may serve on the panel pledge to tell the truth during the selection process. This error forced Cannon to re-start jury selection before the trial ended abruptly with defendant William Spearman pleading guilty...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Mind you, Cannon didn't make these fundamental mistakes back in days of yore. She made them less than two months ago. If, by any chance, Trump's trial ever takes place and if he is found guilty, he is almost guaranteed to win an acquittal on appeal because Cannon will likely have made more than one "structural error." This woman is so stubborn in her ignorance that not only does she not know what we learned in 9th-grade civics class about the Sixth Amendment, she won't even accept coaching on the subject from both prosecution and defense attorneys.

John Wagner of the Washington Post: "About three dozen House Democrats, led by Rep. Adam B. Schiff (Calif.), are calling for televising the federal trials of ... Donald Trump on charges related to the 2020 election and the retention of classified documents. In a letter to Judge Roslynn Mauskopf, who oversees the administration of federal courts, the lawmakers argued that the move would bolster public acceptance of the outcome.... A lawyer for Trump has also suggested that they would like the expected trial on 2020 election-related charges to be televised. Last month, after Trump revealed that he had received a target letter from special counsel Jack Smith, Trump attorney John Lauro said he would welcome additional transparency."

The U.S. of Trump. Dan Nexon in LG&$: "As Asawin Suebsaeng and Adam Rawnsley report in Rolling Stone: 'DONALD TRUMP ... always has revenge on his mind, and his allies are preparing to use a future administration to not only undo all of Special Counsel Jack Smith's work -- but to take vengeance on Smith, and on virtually everyone else, who dared investigate Trump during his time out of power. Rosters full of MAGAfied lawyers are being assembled. Plans are being laid for an entire new office of the Justice Department dedicated to 'election integrity.' An assembly line is being prepared of revenge-focused 'special counsels' and 'special prosecutors.'... And a fresh wave of pardons is under consideration for Trump associates, election deniers, and -- the former president boasts -- for Jan. 6 rioters.'... In sum, anyone involved with a putatively 'left' or 'centrist' third-party campaign in this cycle is ipso facto a moral degenerate." Read on. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: In case you think Rolling Stone is a far-out, radical left publication whose reporters are making up scary stories about Trump's intentions, the sobersided Associated Press backs up Suebsaeng & Rawnsley's reporting.

Eduardo Medina of the New York Times: "A man who called for a 'mass shooting of poll workers' and threatened two Arizona county officials and their families over the 2022 election was sentenced on Thursday to three and a half years in federal prison, prosecutors said. The man, Frederick Francis Goltz, 52, pleaded guilty in April to two counts of interstate threatening communications in connection with his threats to two Republican Maricopa County officials in Arizona, the authorities said: Stephen Richer, the county recorder, and Tom Liddy, the county attorney's civil division chief. Mr. Goltz, who is a Canadian citizen and lived in Lubbock, Texas, believed in 2022 that rampant voter fraud was occurring in Arizona, prosecutors said, so he resorted to online threats, saying in a post on a right-wing forum site that referred to Maricopa County officials: 'Someone needs to get these people AND their children. The children are the most important message to send.'" An NBC News story is here.

The Dangerous Lunatics Among Us. Campbell Robertson of the New York Times: "... in a trial that ended on Thursday with the imposition of a death sentence, scores of witnesses took turns dissecting the life and motivations of one middle-aged man who lived alone in a small apartment before carrying out the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history: the killing of 11 worshipers in a Pittsburgh synagogue on Oct. 27, 2018.... In the online far-right fever swamps that have grown immensely since the synagogue massacre, the views Mr. Bowers expressed on social media five years ago would be 'simply unremarkable,' said Oren Segal ... of the Anti-Defamation League.... 'There are thousands upon thousands upon thousands of people saying that stuff and even worse,' Mr. Segal said."

Presidential Race 2024

The Lord High Executioner. Why did Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis miss seeing most of the coverage of Donald Trump's indictment? Because, DeSantis cheerfully explained, "So we had an execution yesterday, so I was tied up with that for most of the day." Lah-de-dah, lah-de-dokes, I was busy killing folks. What with his campaign promise last Sunday to "start slitting throats on day one' of "deep state" bureaucrats, DeSantis' campaign is morphing from whining about minorities to an imitation of a splatter movie. Still, "I was overseeing an execution" is more original than the usual dog-ate-my-homework excuses.

Perhaps following Mike Pence's lead, the knife-wielding Florida governor dips a Nancy Sinatra white boot into the shallow end of the Trump-critical pool: ~~~

~~~ Nicholas Nehamas & Lisa Lerer of the New York Times: "Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida said that claims about the 2020 election being stolen were false, directly contradicting a central argument of ... Donald J. Trump and his supporters. The comments went further than Mr. DeSantis typically goes when asked about Mr. Trump's defeat. The governor has often tried to hedge, refusing to acknowledge that the election was fairly conducted. In his response on Friday, Mr. DeSantis did not mention Mr. Trump by name -- saying merely that such theories were 'unsubstantiated.'... 'All those theories that were put out did not prove to be true,' Mr. DeSantis said in response to a reporter's question...." CNN's report is here.

Mississippi. Michael Wines of the New York Times: "Mississippi's lifetime ban on voting for people convicted of a range of felonies is cruel and unusual punishment that violates the Eighth Amendment and 'is at odds with society's evolving standards of decency, a federal appeals court ruled on Friday. In an emphatic 2-to-1 opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upbraided Mississippi officials for what it called a pointless 'denial of the democratic core of American citizenship.'...They added: 'It is an especially cruel penalty as applied to those whom the justice system has already deemed to have completed all terms of their sentences. These individuals, despite having satisfied their debt to society, are precluded from ever fully participating in civic life. Indeed, they are excluded from the most essential feature and expression of citizenship in a democracy -- voting.'" The AP's story is here.

Texas. Niha Masih of the Washington Post: "A judge in Texas on Friday temporarily allowed abortions for people with dangerous or complicated pregnancies, following emotional testimonies from women during a hearing last month about the impact of the state's restrictive abortion laws on their bodies. Judge Jessica Mangrum ruled in favor of a group of women and doctors who had filed a lawsuit in March seeking clarity on the scope of the medical emergencies exception clause in the state's abortion ban. In the ruling, Mangrum said that uncertainty on the exceptions and 'related threat of enforcement of Texas's abortion bans' created a risk that doctors 'will have no choice but to bar or delay the provision of abortion care to pregnant people in Texas for whom an abortion would prevent or alleviate a risk of death or risk to their health.' The judge set a trial date for March next year." The AP's story is here.

News Lede

New York Times: “Charles J. Ogletree Jr., a Harvard law professor who helped reframe debates around criminal justice, school desegregation and reparations during the 1990s and 2000s, all the while mentoring a new generation of Black lawyers that included President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, died on Friday at his home in Odenton, Md. He was 70.”