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

[Kendra]

MSNBC right now, saying the grand jury just left the building, long day, they were in before 9AM.

[keith]

Huffpo says its on. So does ABC Australia

[Dave from down under]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-28/ ... /102659370

Donald Trump faces additional charges as second employee is charged in US classified documents case

US prosecutors broadened their criminal case against Donald Trump on Thursday as they charged a second of his employees with helping the former president evade officials who were trying to recover sensitive national security documents he took from the White House.

The additional allegations of obstruction and wilful retention of national defence information against Mr Trump were added to the indictment on Thursday by Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith's team of prosecutors.

Special counsel Smith charged Carlos De Oliveira, a maintenance worker at Mr Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, with conspiracy to obstruct justice, making false statements, and destroying documents.

His lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Media outlets have said that Mr De Oliveira helped to hide the documents from officials who tried to recover them.

[raison de arizona]

Investigate the investigators!

► Show Spoiler

[Resume18]

Also, they'd like a pony.

[Kriselda Gray]

Investigate the investigators!

They want Smith investigated in part because of his wife's political activities and that they may cause him a conflict in handing this case fairly. They obviously want him removed from his job.

Ok, if that's going to be the standard, then they need to also remove Clarence Thomas from his job based on conflicts created by HIS wife's political activities.

If they aren't willing to play fair, they need to just fuck off.

[RTH10260]

Reply by August 4 ? Do they intend to break their summer break and return to Washington DC ?

[Slim Cognito]

Yeah, good luck with that.

[W. Kevin Vicklund]

Encore!

Tonight's the night Jack’s gonna make it happen
Tonight he'll put all other things aside
Give in this time and show me some attention
He’s goin' for those charges it’s due time

I want to stop you, delay you
Set my minions on you
I want to halt you, fault you
I just can't give it up
And can you move real slow, just let it go

I'm so indicted, and I just can't hide it
I'm about to lose control and I’ll try to fight it
I'm so indicted, and I just can't hide it
And oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no I’m so screwed

And we shouldn't even think about this witch hunt
Those declassified documents are mine
This election interference makes me worry
As if you're not playin' around, Jack, that ain’t fine

I'm so indicted, and I just can't hide it
I'm about to lose control and I’ll try to fight it
I'm so indicted, and I just can't hide it
And oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no I’m so screwed, I’m so screwed
Oh shit I’m screwed

Oh Jack, I want to stop you, delay you
Set my minions on you
I want to halt you, fault you
I just can't give it up
And can you move real slow, just let it go

I'm so indicted, and I just can't hide it
I'm about to lose control and I’ll try to fight it
I'm so indicted, and I just can't hide it
And oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no I’m so screwed, I’m so screwed

Look what you do to me
You got me freaking out (Freaking out)
How did you get to me?
I'll never give it up

And I'm so indicted (Look what you do to me)
Oh Jack (You got me freaking out)
I'm freaking out yeah, oh I’ll try to fight it (Yeah)
You, you, you, you, you got me (I'll never give it up)
(Oh no oh no) Oh, no I’ll fight it Jack
And I'm so indicted (Look what you do to me)
And I just can't hide it (You got me freaking out)

[Kriselda Gray]

Encore!

You are damn good at these!

[northland10]

How perfect would it be if he's indicted on the 50th anniversary of Nixon's impeachment. They have until midnight to make that happen.

Because nits must be picked. He was never impeached. It would have been the 50th anniversary of the House Judiciary Committee recommending he be impeached. He didn't stay in office long enough to actually be impeached. He knew he didn't have the votes to avoid removal.

The question of impeaching him after he left office was generally moot since he could not run again anyway.

[Kendra]

https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/09/politics ... index.html

The special counsel investigation into Donald Trump secured a search warrant of the former president’s Twitter account, @realDonaldTrump, according to a newly unsealed court filing.

The search was so secret that Twitter was barred from telling Trump the search warrant had been obtained for his account, and Twitter was fined $350,000 because it delayed producing the records sought under the search warrant.

TOPSHOT - US President Donald Trump speaks to supporters from The Ellipse near the White House on January 6, 2021, in Washington, DC. - Thousands of Trump supporters, fueled by his spurious claims of voter fraud, are flooding the nation's capital protesting the expected certification of Joe Biden's White House victory by the US Congress. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP) (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
Takeaways from the indictment of Donald Trump for efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat
The special counsel’s office, which is now working on the criminal case against Trump in DC District Court related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, sought the warrant in January 2023.

Court was worried Trump would ‘flee from prosecution’
Twitter and special counsel Jack Smith’s office spent several months litigating the question of whether Trump should be told about the search warrant.

The dispute came to light on Wednesday when the DC Circuit Court of Appeals unsealed a decision upholding a district court ruling in favor of prohibiting Twitter from telling Trump.

The district court, according to the DC Circuit’s opinion, “found that there were ‘reasonable grounds to believe’ that disclosing the warrant to former President Trump ‘would seriously jeopardize the ongoing investigation’ by giving him “an opportunity to destroy evidence, change patterns of behavior, [or] notify confederates.”

The district court also concluded the non-disclosure order was necessary because it “found reason to believe that the former President would ‘flee from prosecution,’” a footnote says.

“The government later acknowledged, however, that it had ‘errantly included flight from prosecution as a predicate’ in its application,” the footnote said. “The district court did not rely on risk of flight in its ultimate analysis.”

This story is breaking and will be updated.

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap ... 1751.0.pdf

The district court
thus held Twitter in contempt and imposed a $350,000 sanction
for its delay.

[neonzx]

https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/09/politics ... index.html

The special counsel investigation into Donald Trump secured a search warrant of the former president’s Twitter account, @realDonaldTrump, according to a newly unsealed court filing.

The search was so secret that Twitter was barred from telling Trump the search warrant had been obtained for his account, and Twitter was fined $350,000 because it delayed producing the records sought under the search warrant

Approved. Pay up Elmo.

[Kendra]

I'm still trying to read the whole court filing, it appears it's related to J6. Wonder what they found there. If memory serves, judges don't grant warrants unless the investigators can show they're going to find evidence of a crime there.

[RTH10260]

I'm still trying to read the whole court filing, it appears it's related to J6. Wonder what they found there. If memory serves, judges don't grant warrants unless the investigators can show they're going to find evidence of a crime there.

Possible two kinds: (1) suggesting and promoting the Big Lie, and (2) inciting the J6 riot and not condemning it, eg indirectly supporting the events.

[Kendra]

Can't wait.

[poplove]

I'm still trying to read the whole court filing, it appears it's related to J6. Wonder what they found there. If memory serves, judges don't grant warrants unless the investigators can show they're going to find evidence of a crime there.

Possible two kinds: (1) suggesting and promoting the Big Lie, and (2) inciting the J6 riot and not condemning it, eg indirectly supporting the events.

I'm seeing a few tweets suggesting it's the DMs on Jan 5 & 6 that investigators are looking at.

[bob]

I'm seeing a few tweets suggesting it's the DMs on Jan 5 & 6 that investigators are looking at.

DMs are the most likely targets, as they would help show not only this defendant's state of mind (and therefore intent), but also implicate other additional defendants.

I would not be surprised if the prosecutor also sought (and received) drafts of tweets that ultimately were not published. Weaker circumstantial evidence of state of mind, but still relevant.

[much ado]

Yes, well I think that the Twitter DMs will cook Trump's goose.

The DoJ probably got testimony about the content of some DMs sent to some witnesses that show that Trump was directing co-conspirators about how he wanted them to thwart the normal transfer of power to Biden on January 6. This evidence was presented to the judge who agreed that the evidence justified a warrant to get all the Trump DMs from Twitter.

These DMs will show beyond doubt that Trump was actively coordinating his conspiracy to defraud the United States and that his requests to others were not just "aspirational".

Trump should be very worried.

[Kendra]

Shamelessly stolen from FB.

[RTH10260]

This appeared in a video clip - FWIW

Was Jack Smith's appointment unconstitutional? He has no more authority than Taylor Swift, amicus brief argues

BY DEBRA CASSENS WEISS
DECEMBER 21, 2023, 2:21 PM CST

Special counsel Jack Smith’s appointment was unconstitutional, leaving him powerless to obtain a quick U.S. Supreme Court decision on immunity claims by former President Donald Trump, according to an amicus brief signed by former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese and two law professors.

“Not clothed in the authority of the federal government, Smith is a modern example of the naked emperor,” the Dec. 20 amicus brief argues. “Improperly appointed, he has no more authority to represent the United States in this court than Bryce Harper, Taylor Swift or Jeff Bezos.”

The law professors who co-wrote the brief with Meese are Steven G. Calabresi of the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law and Gary S. Lawson of the Boston University School of Law.

Calabresi summarized the arguments in a post for the Volokh Conspiracy.

The brief argues that Attorney General Merrick Garland “exceeded his statutory and constitutional authority” when he appointed Smith in November 2022. Because Smith’s appointment was unconstitutional, “every action that he has taken since his appointment is now null and void,” Calabresi argued at the Volokh Conspiracy.



https://www.abajournal.com/news/article ... ief-argues

[bob]

Calabresi summarized the arguments in a post for the Volokh Conspiracy.

"For completeness," the Volokh article.

The constitutionality of the appointment of various counsels' appointments is a pet issue of Calabresi. No court has bit.

Which is unsurprising because if one did, at most, it would just cause delay; it is undisputed that the federal government has the "statutory and constitutional authority" to prosecute federal crimes.

[Maybenaut]

Calabresi summarized the arguments in a post for the Volokh Conspiracy.

"For completeness," the Volokh article.

The constitutionality of the appointment of various counsels' appointments is a pet issue of Calabresi. No court has bit.

Which is unsurprising because if one did, at most, it would just cause delay; it is undisputed that the federal government has the "statutory and constitutional authority" to prosecute federal crimes.

Arguably, the de facto officer doctrine would apply.