Reed MidekeWe may recall the Jan 6 committee discovered that USSS "accidentally" wiped a bunch of agents phones as part of a "planned upgrade" right around the transition https://twitter.com/reedmideke/status/1549532261397061632
In other news, Fani Willis ain't havin of any of Jeffery Clark's bullshit
"As inconvenient as modern air travel can admittedly be, whatever nuisance involved in the defendant securing a flight to Atlanta within the window provided is self-evidently insufficient justification to invoke this Court’s authority to enjoin a State felony criminal prosecution"
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23925189-ndga_1_23-cv-03721-scj_8_0
Both Clark and Meadows get a big ol NOPE in their attempt to get a federal court to block their Georgia arrests https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/23/georgia-trump-racketeering-case-state-court-00112480
Turns out Harrison Floyd (of the Ruby Freeman saga) was charged with assaulting FBI agents who attempted to serve him a grand jury subpoena #GiftArticle https://wapo.st/3KS7Uc4
@emptywheel wrote up Harrison (Willie) Floyd's weirdly inactive assaulting the FBI case. He has since been booked in Georgia and reportedly did not make bail (https://twitter.com/Phil_Lewis_/status/1694793111715860829) https://www.emptywheel.net/2023/08/24/willie-floyds-curiously-inactive-docket/
Meanwhile, AJC confirms "Trump is working with a local bonding company to cover his $200,000 bail" … leaving us with a non-zero chance some local bondsman will hunt FPOTUS down if he breaches the terms
https://twitter.com/TamarHallerman/status/1694840991277080909
https://twitter.com/TamarHallerman/status/1694840991277080909
Everyone deserves access to competent legal counsel but, also, LOL "A legal-defense fund set up by friends to raise $5 million for [Giuliani] in 2021 took down its website after raising less than $10,000" https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/19/us/politics/giuliani-trump-legal-finances.html
Floyd says he's "already here on federal pretrial supervision" implying his stalled assaulting the FBI case is still unresolved. Also uh "Speaking to the judge without representation" seems like a poor plan but maybe consistent with his response to the FBI agents
"Floyd said he had requested a public defender and was denied… The judge informed him he could hire legal representation if he doesn't qualify for a public defender … Floyd said he believed it would cost him tens of thousands … he could not afford to go into such debt as he takes care of his daughter"
No idea what his situations is, but this is a real problem… people who will inevitably need assistance have to go completely broke to qualify for it, and end up needing even more assistance
No idea what his situations is, but this is a real problem… people who will inevitably need assistance have to go completely broke to qualify for it, and end up needing even more assistance
John Eastman's bid to delay his CA bar proceeding due to being named as an unindicted conspirator in DC and indicted in Georgia is denied https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23927615-sbc-23-o-30029-ruling-on-motion-denied
Shade: "Given his standing as an attorney and constitutional scholar, his prior deposition before the January 6 Committee, and his appearance before the Fulton County grand jury, it is clear that Respondent is acquainted with exercising his Fifth Amendment privilege. Nevertheless, he chose to go ahead with the trial in this instance without utilizing those rights or pursuing a delay in the proceedings"
10/10 parenthetical
"Trump vows to appeal his [Federal Jan 6] trial date. (It is not appealable) and once against attacked Judge Chutkan"
Trump's lawyers: Trials should be delayed until after the campaign, let the people decide!
Also Trump's lawyers: "This man’s liberty and life is at stake … He’s no different than any American"
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/28/trump-trial-date-election-subversion-2020-00113186
Also Trump's lawyers: "This man’s liberty and life is at stake … He’s no different than any American"
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/28/trump-trial-date-election-subversion-2020-00113186
Chutkan grants them the latter point, though perhaps not in the way they wanted:
"She compared him to a professional athlete facing criminal charges, saying it would be “inappropriate” to schedule a trial around that athlete’s schedule."
“Setting a trial date does not depend and should not depend on the defendant’s personal and professional obligations … Mr. Trump, like any defendant, will have to make the trial date work regardless of his schedule.”
Harrison Floyd makes bail. Seems his problem was basically down to failing to navigate the bureaucracy, illustrating
1) the shittiness of the system
2) if you're indicted for multiple felonies, at least talk to a lawyer before walking into the jail to surrender https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/08/29/floyd-trump-georgia-election-charges/
1) the shittiness of the system
2) if you're indicted for multiple felonies, at least talk to a lawyer before walking into the jail to surrender https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/08/29/floyd-trump-georgia-election-charges/
In the Freeman / Moss civil case, Rudy #Giuliani joins Alex Jones in the exclusive club of people who obstructed discovery blatantly enough to lose a defamation suit by default judgement
Most default judgements go to people who just don't show up. Jones managing the level fuckupery required despite having tons of money and real lawyers is perhaps unsurprising, but one might expect Giuliani, whose career included being the 3rd most senior person in DOJ and US attorney for SDNY, to do better…
A fact not lost on Judge Howell: "The fact that Giuliani is a sophisticated litigant with a self-professed 50 years of experience in litigation — including serving as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York — only underscores his lackluster preservation efforts"
Also, TFW you're dumber than OANN: "One America’s owners settled with the two women last year for an unspecified amount, but the litigation has continued against Giuliani"
One thing that strikes me in this excellent report on Meadows Georgia hearing from Anna Bower: Meadows reportedly insists the infamous Georgia call was intended to “get things off the president’s plate” so the administration could focus on the “peaceful transfer of power” ahead of Jan. 6
… is ANYONE buying that?
https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/mark-meadows-takes-the-stand
… is ANYONE buying that?
https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/mark-meadows-takes-the-stand
I mean, the Trump team infamously obstructed the transition process, to a degree not seen in any modern administration, and it's not like any sane person thought the outcome actually hinged on Georgia by Jan 2
Add Willis' team to the list of those not buying Meadows "I was just trying to facilitate a peaceful transfer of power" line: "The defendant also repeatedly insisted he was merely “trying to land the plane” and achieve “a peaceful transition of power,” a statement clearly belied by his participation in the Trump campaign’s attempts to overturn the outcome of Georgia’s election" https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67694389/the-state-of-georgia-v-meadows/#entry-66
Random IANAL thoughts about the denial of Meadows removal:
1) Judge Jones is pretty clear removal of a RICO conspiracy is relatively uncharted territory
2) Meadows "CoS job includes organizing meetings and calls, so the meetings and calls were official federal duties" sounds reasonable on the surface, but as Jones points out, Meadows wasn't just managing the call, he was actively arguing election stuff https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67694389/the-state-of-georgia-v-meadows/#entry-69
1) Judge Jones is pretty clear removal of a RICO conspiracy is relatively uncharted territory
2) Meadows "CoS job includes organizing meetings and calls, so the meetings and calls were official federal duties" sounds reasonable on the surface, but as Jones points out, Meadows wasn't just managing the call, he was actively arguing election stuff https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67694389/the-state-of-georgia-v-meadows/#entry-69
Willis plans to compel Alex Jones, a strong candidate for the world's least reliable witness, to testify in the Georgia Jan 6 case against Chesebro. He says he'll take the 5th, which might be the smartest thing he's done taking the 5th in front of the Jan 6 committee https://www.politico.com/news/2023/10/10/alex-jones-trump-georgia-testimony-00120807
NYT confirms Sidney Powell's plea surprised team Trump. Also notes that Powell could be a problematic witness (a strong contender for second least reliable in this case after Jones, IMO) and raises but doesn't really answer what the plea means for her status as an unindicted conspirator in Jack Smith's federal 1/6 case
LOL, Willis flipped The Cheese too? He should be a much less problematic (for Willis) witness than Powell, and particularly bad news for Clark and Eastman https://themessenger.com/politics/trump-kenneth-chesebro-guilty-plea-georgia
As Klasfeld also notes, there will no longer be a separate early trial:
https://twitter.com/KlasfeldReports/status/1715407442924671388
Would love to see an informed #LawFedi take on how the plea deals in Georgia are likely to interact with Smith's case. Powell and Chesebro are pretty major characters in the federal indictment
Thing to watch: Having already been fined and threatened with jail for breaking the NY gag order, will Donald manage to keep his mouth shut about Powell and Chesbro?
https://lawandcrime.com/trump/trump-slapped-with-fine-for-violating-gag-order-in-civil-fraud-trial-warned-about-imprisonment/
https://lawandcrime.com/trump/trump-slapped-with-fine-for-violating-gag-order-in-civil-fraud-trial-warned-about-imprisonment/
So, we have Trump's first reaction to Powell flipping, which is apparently… he wants the world to know attorney client privilege and advice of counsel don't apply to anything involving Powell?
(he's presumably free to argue in court that his current public statements are lies) https://themessenger.com/politics/trump-sidney-powell-attorney-plea-deal-georgia-jack-smith
Hugo Lowell takes a look at possible implications of Chesebro's plea in Georgia on the federal case. Still no indication what Smith's team plans to do, but seems very unlikely to be "nothing"
Also interesting Trump's lawyers are going around saying if Powell and Chesebro "testify truthfully" the flips are good for their case… could just be general spin, but I wonder if it's more aimed at managing the client's reaction
@pbump points out that Chesebro's lawyer claims he *never* believed the election was stolen, which would seem to make his attempts to flip it for Trump even more blatantly criminal than someone like Powell, who perhaps genuinely (if delusionally) believed zombie Hugo Chavez used Italian spy satellites to flip votes https://wapo.st/473v7AS
Meadows reportedly cooperating in the federal 1/6 case… will he be next in line to take a deal in Georgia? (edit: or not, see below) https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/24/politics/mark-meadows/index.html
Ellis makes 3/4 of the "elite strike force" flipped https://apnews.com/article/jenna-ellis-plea-deal-georgia-election-case-c4dbacd3e4bbb5415ebd3d42d8fa3128
Jenna Ellis pleads guilty in Georgia Trump election case
Donald Trump’s lead attorney in the 2020 Georgia election case against him is using another attorney’s guilty plea to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the racketeering charges brought against all 19 defendants. Trump attorney Steve Sadow says it's the fourth time Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has dismissed the racketeering charge “in return for a plea to probation." Attorney Jenna Ellis pleaded guilty Tuesday to a felony over efforts to overturn Trump’s election loss in Georgia. The Florida resident is the fourth defendant in the case to enter into a plea deal with prosecutors. Prosecutors say Ellis helped other lawyers as they lied to Georgia lawmakers.
Caution the Meadows "scoop" may have been overplayed and just refer to limited immunity for grand jury testimony: https://twitter.com/openargs/status/1716946708687630745
Opening Arguments on X
PLEASE be careful as you're reading this story; we're going to discuss on the show tomorrow, of course. But the "immunity" referred to here is immunity for *testifying* before the DC Grand Jury, which occurred back in June. There's no evidence Meadows has gone Michael Cohen.
Better reporting of the #Meadows immunity deal from Guardian Trump crimes beat reporter Hugo Lowell
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/oct/24/trump-chief-of-staff-mark-meadows-2020-election-case-immunity
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/oct/24/trump-chief-of-staff-mark-meadows-2020-election-case-immunity
Liz Dye brings more than you ever wanted to know about failed traffic court prosecutor / self proclaimed professor of constitutional law / Georgia first time felony offender Jenna Ellis
https://www.publicnotice.co/p/jenna-ellis-guilty-plea-statement-biography
https://www.publicnotice.co/p/jenna-ellis-guilty-plea-statement-biography
Chutkan reinstates the Trump Jan 6 gag order, though the actual order appears to be in PACER limbo
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/10/29/trump-gag-order-resumes-jan-6-judge/
Also: "Trump is personally furious about the gag order, advisers told The Washington Post, but his campaign sees it as a political asset" - Campaign may be under-pricing the difficulty of running a campaign from jail
(I don't actually think he's likely to go to jail, but I do think if he pushes his luck too far he's gonna find out fines aren't the only tool in the box)
(I don't actually think he's likely to go to jail, but I do think if he pushes his luck too far he's gonna find out fines aren't the only tool in the box)
Chutkan brings some shade denying Trump's claim of absolute immunity: "Indeed, it is likely that a President who knows that their actions may one day be held to criminal account will be motivated to take greater care that the laws are faithfully executed" https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67656595/united-states-v-trump/#entry-171
More Chutkan: It's a feature, not a bug "If the specter of subsequent prosecution encourages a sitting President to reconsider before deciding to act with criminal intent, that is a benefit, not a defect."
"Every President will face difficult decisions; whether to intentionally commit a federal crime should not be one of them."
CA Bar's closing brief in Eastman's case spends a significant portion of its 86 pages setting 🔥 to one John Eastman https://discipline.calbar.ca.gov/portal/DocumentViewer/Index/VBqEKKzWq7BHFLcNbcYFBPwEVGppqKqRVh1jPShvzLRW-TqEo4kMqYD8POcD6IXmvjC-TMQt9Ct_mI544fmjiNq7TQItUIXPLobITmdyBQk1?caseNum=SBC-23-O-30029&docType=Pleading&docName=STATE%20BAR%20S%20CLOSING%20BRIEF&docTypeId=269&isVersionId=False&p=0
Rudy's lawyer: the millions of dollars Freeman and Moss are seeking would be the “civil equivalent of the death penalty … It would be the end of Mr. Giuliani”
Filed under "don't threaten me with a good time"
(also IIRC Howell already ruled he fucked around so badly in discovery he can't argue he's too poor, because he didn't produce financial information)
"Special counsel Jack Smith has extracted data from the cell phone Donald Trump used while in the White House" - Presumably a government provided phone, since we would have heard if personal devices had been seized. IIRC he was supposed to have a dedicated twitter phone.
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/11/special-counsel-trump-phone-data-trial-00131196
Filing says Expert 3 will testify they: "extracted and processed data from the White House cell phones used by the defendant and one other individual (Individual 1);"
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67656595/united-states-v-trump/?page=2#entry-183
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67656595/united-states-v-trump/?page=2#entry-183
Rudy #Giuliani, having already been found liable for defaming Freeman and Moss and admitting in court filings the things he said about them were untrue, says outside the courthouse "Everything I said about them is true … They were engaging in changing votes."
"Judge Howell told Mr. Giuliani’s lawyer, Joseph Sibley IV, that comments like those could be considered another defamation claim"
Today's #SchadenfreudeFriday brought to you by America's Mayor, Rudy #Giuliani
"Donald Wakeford, a prosecutor in the office of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, contended that chilling sitting officials from committing crimes would be a good thing" https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/15/mark-meadows-trump-georgia-charges-federal-court-00131993
LOL, not like it matters but Rudy owes 5% annual interest for as long as he doesn't pay Freeman and Moss https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/61642105/freeman-v-herring-networks-inc/?page=2#entry-142
The Detroit News got recordings of Trump pressuring Wayne County canvassers not to certify the election, and it sounds like it was even more blatant than reported at the time
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2023/12/21/donald-trump-recorded-pressuring-wayne-canvassers-not-to-certify-2020-vote-michigan/72004514007/
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2023/12/21/donald-trump-recorded-pressuring-wayne-canvassers-not-to-certify-2020-vote-michigan/72004514007/
Trump campaign hand-flying the fake elector certificates really goes to show how invested they were in that part of the plot. Also: “Freaking trump idiots want someone to fly original elector papers to the senate President,” a Wisconsin GOP official wrote
https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/28/politics/recordings-trump-team-fake-elector-ballots/index.html
"if they are elected, they would pardon the former president should he be convicted of any of the 91 felony charges he’s currently facing" unclear if it's just Wapo's phrasing, or Haley and DeSantis claim they're gonna pardon state felonies. Anyway, that's all of the "serious" GOP candidates all-in on the idea their presidents are, in fact, above the law ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Would nice if some reporters would directly challenge them on the idea they would override a jury, regardless of any facts or evidence which emerge in the yet-to-occur trials
Of course, the reality is they're trying to score points with his base because they'll lose the primary if they don't, but as previously noted (https://twitter.com/reedmideke/status/1666629199442968578) it's hard to campaign effectively against a guy while also constantly defending his many many incredibly blatant crimes
Seems like one obvious question to ask Trump's lawyers is, if their immunity argument stands and Biden determines it's his presidential duty to uphold section 3 of the 14th amendment by personally shooting Trump on the courthouse steps, would he also be immune from prosecution?
Politico used a public records request to get local police bodycam footage of the response to Harrison Floyd's altercation with the FBI agents trying to serve him a Jan 6 subpoena, revealing previously unknown contents of the subpoena
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/04/harrison-floyd-trump-bodycam-footage-jack-smith-00133933
"Aside from Trump, Scavino was the only other person with access to Trump's Twitter account" - Suggests that whatever they got out of the twitter warrant (https://mastodon.social/@reedmideke/110896688292382007) will be pretty definitively attributable to a specific person
Update: Judge Pan asked the obvious question (https://mastodon.social/@reedmideke/111693576014497281) and Trump's lawyers answered in the affirmative, as long as POTUS isn't convicted on impeachment. One might also note other Trump lawyers have argued that presidents cannot be impeached after their term is over, so inauguration day could get spicy…
