Special Counsel Jack Smith: Judgement Day (one way or the other)

[chancery]

Are they not allowed to recuse on public perception grounds?

They're allowed to, but how is that crazy enough for the year 2023?

Yes, if the public perception relates to things outside of their work as a judge, e.g., spouse's job, financial interest.

But not if the public perception relates to public criticism of the judge's prior work. They're not supposed to be swayed by it.

So a Judge can't just say "I need to recuse from this case" without giving a specific reason? No way in hell would I want a trial before a Judge who is forced to hear a case after being denied a recusal.

They don't need to give a reason when they decide to recuse on their own, and typically don't. Like the very good SDNY judge who recused herself from Trump's removal of the NYC indictment to federal court, although it's generally understood that it was because her husband worked for Mueller.

[Luke]

I think both events are state GOP meetings where he's one of many speakers.

But it's true he cancelled Iowa for sketchy reasons, and other rallies were underwhelming.

In North Carolina (were you there, Foggy?):

The intrigue: Deborah Reynold Alexander, 73, a Republican attendee at the convention, told Axios that the indictment means Trump "shouldn't be president because it will be an exercise in futility." "I heard him speak here [in North Carolina] in 2015 and he talked about everything that is near and dear to my heart, including bringing jobs back to North Carolina." "Now he just talks about himself," Alexander says of Trump plans, adding she plans to support Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

https://www.axios.com/2023/06/11/trump- ... indictment

So there were many "traitors" at these events.

[Luke]

Ya hate to see it.

Trump’s Former AG Bill Barr Lowers the Boom in Stunning Analysis on Fox News Sunday: ‘If Even Half of it is True, He is Toast’
By Joe DePaolo Jun 11th, 2023, 9:51 am

Former President Donald Trump’s Attorney General, Bill Barr, believes his old boss is in very serious trouble — if “even half” of what is laid out in the 37-count federal indictment against him is true. In a stunning analysis of the former president’s legal peril on Fox News Sunday, Barr cited and concurred with the assessment of Fox News legal contributor Andy McCarthy. “If even half of it is true, he is toast,” Barr said. “I mean, it’s a very detailed indictment, and it’s very, very damning.”

Barr went on to take a flamethrower to Trump’s claims that he is being politically persecuted. “This idea of presenting Trump as a victim here or a victim of a witch hunt is ridiculous,” Barr said. “Yes, he’s been a victim in the past. His adversaries have obsessively pursued him with phony claims. And I’ve been at his side defending against them when he is a victim. But this is much different. He’s not a victim here. He was totally wrong that he had the right to have those documents. Those documents are among the most sensitive secrets that the country has. They have to be in the custody of the archivist. He had no right to maintain them and retain them.”

The former attorney general acknowledged there has been bad blood between him and his old boss. But he cited other instances where he has supported Trump to make clear he views this case as a completely different animal. “He’s been angry with me for a while,” Barr said. “But you know, I defended the president on on Russia-gate. I stood up and called out (Manhattan District Attorney) Alvin Bragg’s politicized hit job. And I have spoken out for 30 years about the abuse of the criminal justice process to influence politics. But this is simply not true. This particular episode of trying to retrieve those documents, the government acted responsibly. and it was Donald Trump who acted irresponsibly.”

Video at link: https://www.mediaite.com/news/trumps-fo ... -is-toast/

[RTH10260]

I wonder how many times Barr himself tried to hammer the legal situation into that orange saturated brain

[Luke]

Leo did a Space about this. Leo is schooling Jack Smith and the DOJ that they are wrong and Leo is right. "People need to learn Constitutional Law." Wonder if there is PANIC at the DOJ and they are all listening to Leo's Space.

https://twitter.com/i/spaces/1BRJjZQPaqaJw?s=20


Leo is ANGRY at T****'s incompetent counsel.

Leo Donofrio, Esq. @LCDLAW1 Jun 10
Why do the fake news media and malignant LAWFARE bitches think they can get away with such stupid ill informed UNTRUE asinine fucked up bullshit regarding WELL ESTABLISH SCOTUS PRECEDENTS? It's fairy-tale land at ALL major news networks right now. They are literally inhaling LSD.

Zuzu Petals @zuzu_bug 6h
Replying to @zuzu_bug @LCDLAW1 and 2 others
He was not authorized to take them to his home in Florida for his post-presidency. He was required to sort out his personal papers and turn all government docs over to NARA BEFORE noon on 1/20/2021.
He has also not been granted a security clearance by the Biden Administration.

Leo Donofrio, Esq. @LCDLAW1 6h
Replying to @zuzu_bug @DellAdams and @Andreafreedom76
You seem to be avoiding the issue and spinning bullshit. You are not addressing my replies to you or the cases. Are you an attorney? If you are an attorney, I will not block you. I invite you on a SPACE with me now to debate this. If you are not an attorney I am blocking you.

Zuzu Petals @zuzu_bug 6h
Replying to @LCDLAW1 @DellAdams and @Andreafreedom76
I am both an attorney and a law librarian. I am answering your questions and not avoiding the issue, because I know that you have to read multiple statutes to get to whether there is authorization.
Now, explain why you think he was authorized, other than "he was at the time."

Leo Donofrio, Esq. @LCDLAW1 6h
Replying to @zuzu_bug @DellAdams and @Andreafreedom76
I have started a SPACE. Come join me and I will explain...

Zuzu Petals @zuzu_bug 6h
Replying to @LCDLAW1 @DellAdams and @Andreafreedom76
Still doesn't make a distribution case applicable to a retention case. Or help him at all with any of his obstruction counts.

Leo Donofrio, Esq. @LCDLAW1 6h
Replying to @zuzu_bug @DellAdams and @Andreafreedom76
You don't get to retention element or distribution element unless you are in reach of the first four words of the statute - "Whoever having unauthorized possession" - stop there if he initially gained access to the documents while having clearance in the course of duties to govt.

Leo's Twitter goes on and on about it with supreme confidence.

[RTH10260]

Leo did a Space about this. Leo is schooling Jack Smith and the DOJ that they are wrong and Leo is right. "People need to learn Constitutional Law." Wonder if there is PANIC at the DOJ and they are all listening to Leo's Space.

https://twitter.com/i/spaces/1BRJjZQPaqaJw?s=20


Leo is ANGRY at T****'s incompetent counsel.

Leo must have missed the prior court proceedings in FL with the loose cannon

[Kendra]

EXCLUSIVE: In a special new episode of the “Prosecuting Donald Trump” podcast,
@AliVelshi
reads every word of the historic 37-count federal indictment against Donald Trump. Listen now: https://link.chtbl.com/pdt_fs

Listening now, but so far I'd rather have it from Maddow as first choice

[bob]

P&E: Of Rocks at the Bottom of the Pacific:

"VOTE THESE MISERABLE SNAKES OUT OF POWER"

Your humble servant has just awakened from a 24-hr. semi-coma. That temporary infirmity came as a direct result of watching and listening to Department of Justice (sic) Special Counsel Jack Smith discussing the indictment that his office has filed against former President Donald J. Trump and one of his aides, Waltine Nauta. Smith actually claimed, and this is a quote: “Adherence to the rule of law is a bedrock principle of the Department of Justice, and our nation’s commitment to the rule of law sets an example for the world. We have one set of laws in this country, and they apply to everyone.”

Executive summary: Buttery emails.

Nb.:

Two wrongs don’t make a right. Trump’s theft of these highly classified documents seems to me far worse than what Hillary did. If Trump believed there was a double standard, why would he be dumb enough to give them the perfect reason to prosecute him? I voted for Trump because I wanted him to do certain things. His blatant criminality has prevented him from making progress in our interest. That’s also a breach of his social contract with his voters. Why would anyone still support him, much less vote for him again after he has screwed up so badly? It’s a mystery.

Even a racist birther finds a truffle twice daily.

[Greatgrey]

Informative video giving the lay of the land

[Luke]

What the??

LeGate @williamlegate5h
why did Trump have a copier in the room he stored TOP SECRET documents in?!?

[Dave from down under]

For convenience

Of course you would have to pay per page…

[jez]

Is that a copier, or just oddly stacked boxes and stuff?

[Suranis]

I don't think its a copier. That ledge at an angle on the side that makes it look like a copier looks like something behind it.

Not sure what it is otherwise.

[W. Kevin Vicklund]

Nixon v. GSA doesn't say what the Parakeet thinks it says:

Appellant [Nixon] asserts that, unlike the very specific privilege protecting against disclosure of state secrets and sensitive information concerning military or diplomatic matters, which appellant concedes may be asserted only by an incumbent President, a more generalized Presidential privilege survives the termination of the President-adviser relationship much as the attorney-client privilege survives the relationship that creates it.

Even Nixon thinks Leo is full of

[RTH10260]

Just an interesting detail observed by a twitter poster

https://twitter.com/julie_kelly2/status ... 3148669960

Julie Kelly @julie_kelly2
So it also appears that Smith is not charging Trump for possessing alleged "classified documents" found in the 15 boxes Trump gave to NARA in Jan 2022--which prompted NARAs criminal referral to DOJ and justified the opening of FBIs criminal investigation in March 2022
7:13 PM · Jun 11, 2023

► Show Spoiler

It's all about the stuff he was lieing about.

[bob]

It's all about the stuff he was lieing about.

Essentially.

Section 793 criminalizes (among other things) the willful retention of national defense information.

If you give it back when asked to (or perhaps even unprompted), it'll be difficult for a prosecutor to argue your retention was willful.

This played into the decision not to charge Clinton. And presumably Pence as well. And the expected decision not to charge Biden.

But once the feds tell you it wants the documents back, and you don't comply, your retention is willful. Especially when you create a mountain of lies about your feigned compliance.

[noblepa]

And despite all the "What about Biden's classified documents?" arguments, Trump was treated (with respect to the 15 boxes returned to NARA) exactly the same as Biden was treated.

Biden (or someone close to him) discovered documents that he shouldn't have had in his personal possession. Biden's team immediately made arrangements to return to the rightful custodian. No charges were filed.

Trump "found" 15 boxes of documents that he shouldn't have had. These boxes were returned to NARA. No charges were filed.

As has been pointed out, it is all the other documents that he had and lied about having, or asserted that they were his personal property, that got him in trouble.

[roadscholar]

Well and clearly stated, Sir.

[Foggy]

I am greatly concerned about the potential for violence mañana in Miami.

They've had four days to get there, so plenty of time for traveling and planning.

And this is Florida, not our nation's capital, where guns are not allowed. There will be a LOT of guns in Miami tomorrow, and a lot of crazy people who plan to do whatever they can to save their president from the fascists and Marxists and commies who are threatening the greatest man of the 21st century.

I'd like to be wrong. I hope I'm just being a Nervous Nellie.

But I do fret.

[Dr. Ken]

The brain trust... If he gets indoctroniated

[sugar magnolia]

Sooo many comments that can be made about this.

Crying on cue? Check.
Indoctrinated? Is he getting his RWNJ talking points confused?
I know drug addicts that don't sniff that much.
19 years as a federal agent?
I think the inside voices are in his head.

[noblepa]

If there is violence tomorrow, a distinct possibility, believe it or not, I hope that TFG is not caught in the crossfire.

If that were to happen, the Magadonians would claim that Biden or Antifa plants in the crowd fired the first shot and they would turn the OSG into a martyr.

He MUST be brought to trial, and the evidence against him MUST be brought to light. It won't convince the faithful, but it will show those who are not quite so fanatical just what a low-life he really is.

[sugar magnolia]

A question for the legal hive mind; if trump wins the nomination and election, will that suspend any criminal charges he's facing once elected? A local City attorney and a Municipal Judge both said yesterday that it was "against the law" for any criminal case to go forward against the President. I don't think that's right, but I'm not a lawyer.

[Kendra]

I know it's overkill on the news today, but I'm happy to see Andy McCabe on air at CNN. He was with the FBI when Hillary's emails were investigated and he's effectively shooting down the R bs being spouted now this indictment came out. He also made observation of crowd preps visible now, and he seems less confident than Miami officials.

[northland10]

The word is a bunch of law enforcement is setting up for this. I would think the US Marshals will have their Special Operations Group waiting in the wings and since there is a Secret Service protectee in involved, they may also have stepped up numbers.

If the FBI and whoever administers federal pre-release and probation are smart, they will have folks sitting around taking photos and comparing them to their list of January 6 still to be identified and arrested folks and others on pre-release or on probation.