Mastodawn

Nonilex Jun 14, 2023

One of #Trump’s new attys proposed an idea…fall of 2022…. atty, Christopher Kise, wanted to quietly approach #Justice to…negotiate a #settlement that would preclude charges, hoping AG #MerrickGarland & the #DOJ would want…to avoid prosecuting a fmr president. Kise would hopefully “take the temperature down,” he told others, by promising a professional approach & the return of all documents.
 But Trump was not interested

#ClassifiedDocuments
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/06/14/trump-indictment-classified-documents-settlement/

Trump rejected lawyers’ efforts to avoid classified documents indictment

The former president was not interested in attempting to negotiate a settlement in the classified documents investigation, three people briefed on the matter said.

The Washington Post

Show thread

Nonilex Jun 14, 2023

A #SpecialCounsel was appointed months later.
 Kise, a former solicitor general of Florida who was paid $3 million upfront to join Trump’s team last year, declined to comment.
 That quiet entreaty last fall was one of many occasions when lawyers & advisers sought to get #Trump to take a more cooperative stance in a bid to avoid what happened Friday.

#ClassifiedDocuments #Obstruction #Espionage #NationalSecurity #Indictment #DOJ #Legal #Justice #JackSmith

Show thread

Nonilex Jun 14, 2023

#Trump time & again rejected the advice from #lawyers & advisers who urged him to cooperate & instead took the advice of #TomFitton, the head of the conservative group #JudicialWatch, & a range of others who told him he could legally keep the #ClassifiedDocuments & should fight the #DOJ, advisers said. Trump would often cite Fitton to others, &Fitton told some of Trump’s lawyers that Trump could keep the docs, even as they disagreed, the advisers said.…

#Obstruction #Espionage #NationalSecurity

Show thread

Nonilex Jun 14, 2023

#TomFitton, who appeared before the grand jury & was questioned about his role in both the #ClassifiedDocuments case & the investigation into #Jan6…, acknowledged the advice he gave to #Trump. He added that he read the indictment & did not believe it laid out illegal or obstructive conduct. Multiple witnesses said they were asked about Fitton in front of a grand jury & the role he played in Trump’s decisions.

#Obstruction #Espionage #NationalSecurity #Indictment #DOJ #Legal #Justice #JackSmith

Show thread

Nonilex Jun 14, 2023

Several other #Trump advisers blamed #TomFitton for convincing Trump that he could keep the #ClassifiedDocuments & repeatedly mentioning the “Clinton socks case” — a reference to tapes Bill Clinton stored in his sock drawer of his secret interviews w/historian Taylor Branch that served as the basis of Branch’s 2009 book documenting the Clinton presidency.

#Obstruction #Espionage #NationalSecurity #Indictment #DOJ #Legal #Justice

Show thread

Angry Centrist Jun 14, 2023

@Nonilex Well, if he was taking Tom Fitton's advice #Frump might be even dumber than I thought.

Show thread

𝐉𝐨𝐧 𝐁𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐫

@dkbgeek @Nonilex Well, right. Bad on Trump for taking the advice of a non-lawyer when every single actual lawyer he talked to assured him that the advice was BS. But I can't help wondering if this rose to unauthorized practice of law on Fitton's part. If I tell you "this case stands for the proposition that you can rob a bank at gunpoint and the government can't do a thing to you," isn't that legal advice, and didn't my conduct amount to practicing law? Because if I'm not licensed to do that, then that's against the law in every single state. I have to wonder if the authorities in whatever state Fitton was in when he gave Trump this lousy advice are considering taking some action. If they're not, they should.