|
re: Grand Jury Recommended Charging Lindsey Graham & 39 Others in TRUMP Case
Mark Meadows, John Eastman and Jeffrey Clark Plead Not Guilty in Georgia Election Interference Case
All 19 Defendants in Georgia Election Interference Case Have Pleaded Not Guilty The Federal judge who will decide whether to move the case still hasn’t issued a ruling. BBC 7 SEP 2023 https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/...,w_1280,c_fill Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and the remaining defendants in the election interference case in Fulton County, Georgia, have pleaded not guilty and have waived their arraignments, new court filings show. Misty Hampton, who faces charges related to the Coffee County voting system breach and was the last holdout among the 19 defendants changed in District Attorney Fani Willis’ case, entered her plea early Tuesday afternoon. The other defendants have been filing their pleas in recent days. Arraignment hearings had been scheduled for Wednesday in Atlanta. Georgia law allows criminal defendants to waive their in-person appearance and formally enter a not guilty plea through paperwork filed with the court. Meadows has been charged with two state crimes: violating Georgia’s anti-racketeering RICO law and soliciting a public official to violate their oath. The charges mostly revolve around the infamous January 2021 phone call where Trump and Meadows pressed Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to flip the election results in then-President Donald Trump’s favor. Meadows is trying to move his case out of state court and into federal court, where he could possibly get the indictment dismissed by invoking immunity that shields many federal workers from litigation. At a high-stakes hearing in August, Meadows testified under oath for more than three hours and claimed that the alleged actions described in the Georgia indictment were connected to his formal government duties as Trump’s chief of staff. Other Notable Allies Hampton, who has been charged with seven counts, is accused of participating in a conspiracy to allow supporters of Trump to unlawfully access voter data and ballot counting equipment at the Coffee County election office. Hampton also faces the racketeering charge that is central to Willis’ case. Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department official who is similarly seeking to move his case to federal court, also pleaded not guilty in a court filing. Georgia law allows criminal defendants to waive their in-person appearance and formally enter a not-guilty plea through paperwork filed with the court. Clark was charged with two counts in the Georgia case. He served as a senior Trump appointee at the Justice Department and tried to use his powers as a federal official to overturn the 2020 election. He drafted a letter, which was ultimately never sent, promoting false claims of voting irregularities and urged Georgia lawmakers to consider throwing out Biden’s legitimate electors. Clark lobbied Trump to make him the acting attorney general so he could send the letter and have the Justice Department intervene in the Georgia election. Trump decided not to put Clark in charge after other senior Justice Department officials threatened to resign. Pro-Trump attorney John Eastman, Georgia state Sen. Shawn Still, former Coffee County GOP Chair Cathy Latham and former Georgia GOP Chair David Shafer also entered not guilty pleas and waived their formal arraignments in court filings Tuesday. Eastman was indicted on nine counts, including a racketeering charge. He devised and promoted a six-step plan for then-Vice President Mike Pence to overturn Joe Biden’s victory while presiding over the Electoral College certification on January 6, 2021. He also urged Georgia state lawmakers to appoint fake GOP electors to replace the legitimate slate of Democratic electors. Still was charged with seven state crimes and is one of the 16 Republicans who served as “fake electors” in Georgia and signed paperwork falsely claiming that Trump won the Peach State. This was part of the Trump campaign’s plan to subvert the Electoral College process and nullify Joe Biden’s victory. Latham was charged with 11 counts related to an alleged plot to unlawfully access voter data and ballot counting equipment in Coffee County, in addition to the racketeering charge that is central to Willis’ case. Latham also signed on to be an alternative elector for Trump in Georgia. Shafer was charged with eight state crimes. Fulton County prosecutors accused him of playing a key role in organizing the Trump campaign’s slate of fake electors in Georgia, as part of the effort to subvert the Electoral College. He served as a fake elector and convened the other 15 fake electors in the Georgia State Capitol in December 2020, where they signed a certificate falsely stating that Trump won the state over Biden. Shafer has previously claimed that the fake electors scheme came at the direction of Trump and the Trump campaign. Shafer and Latham are also seeking to move their cases from state court to federal court. Judge Sets Wednesday Hearing on Scheduling Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee, who is presiding over the Georgia election subversion case, scheduled a hearing for Wednesday to address questions about trial scheduling and possibly breaking up the case. In an order posted Tuesday, McAfee said there will be a hearing on Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET to deal with critical scheduling matters. This is the first hearing McAfee will hold in the case, and the proceedings are expected to be televised. The judge said he’ll want prosecutors to provide a “good-faith estimate” for how long it would take to hold a joint trial for all 19 defendants, and how long it would take if the case is divided into subgroups of defendants. Kenneth Chesebros’ trial is scheduled to begin October 23, and Willis wants to keep the case together and hold one massive trial beginning that day. Trump opposes that speedy timeline, and many of the defendants want to break up the case. |
re: Grand Jury Recommended Charging Lindsey Graham & 39 Others in TRUMP Case
Special Counsels' Focus Shifts to People Outside of Trumps' Circle...
Special counsel Jack Smith is still pursuing his investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The widening of the probe focuses on people outside of Donald Trumps' circle and comes a month after indicting the former president for orchestrating a broad conspiracy to remain in power. |
re: TRUMP Lawyer Takes Plea Deal & Implicates TRUMP in Fake Elector Conspiracy
Special Grand Jury Recommended Charging Lindsey Graham.
A special grand jury that spent eight months investigating efforts by former President Donald Trump and others to overturn Georgias' 2020 election results recommended nearly 40 people face criminal charges. Fulton County recommended charges against Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), according to the special counsel grand jury report released by a judge Friday. BBC 9 SEP 2023 https://media.npr.org/assets/img/202...-s1100-c50.jpg The front of the Fulton County Courthouse, the site of criminal proceedings against former President Donald Trump for election interference. Georgia panel recommended prosecutors seek charges against 39 people in Trump case In a 9-page report fully unsealed by a judge Friday, the special purpose grand jury told Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis they recommended prosecutors seek indictments against the former president for his Jan. 2, 2021 call with Republican Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger where he pressed the state's top election official to overturn his already-certified defeat. The special panel, which interviewed more than 75 witnesses but did not have the power to issue indictments, found 39 different people allegedly violated more than a dozen state laws including making false statements and writings, solicitation of election fraud and Georgia's sweeping anti-racketeering law. Several high-profile Republicans found in the jury's report did not face charges in the 98-page indictment handed up in Fulton County last month, such as former Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., current Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., attorneys Lin Wood and Cleta Mitchell and others involved in the months-long, multifaceted effort to undo Trump's narrow loss in Georgia. Perdue and Loeffler called for Raffensperger to resign and made false claims about Georgia's election results before losing in Jan. 2021 runoffs that saw some conservative voters stay home because of their claims. Graham called Raffensperger after the election and discussed if the secretary of state could reject certain absentee ballots. While the report does not reference specific charges for certain high profile players, Sen. Graham and former Sens. Perdue and Loeffler are listed along with 23 total people the special grand jury recommended for indictment "with respect to the national effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election." Ultimately, the decision of who to charge with what rests with the district attorney's office and a regularly empaneled grand jury, and the special jury's inclusion of many names like Perdue, Loeffler and Graham neither indicates cooperation with prosecutors nor possibility of future charges. In a footnote, the report makes clear that "one of the dissenting jurors voting against recommending seeking indictments of former Sens. Perdue and Loeffler on a racketeering claim believes that their statements following the November 2020 election while pandering to their political base, do not give rise to their being guilty of a criminal conspiracy." The brief report largely mirrors the charges and characters found in Willis' racketeering indictment brought in August, including Trump, his onetime personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and former Georgia Republican Party Chair David Shafer as central figures. In addition to the Trump-Raffensperger call, the special jury recommended charges stemming from "persistent, repeated communications directed to multiple Georgia officials and employees;" efforts to harass and coerce a Fulton County poll worker into falsely admitting she committed election fraud; a scheme to have 16 Republicans falsely claim to be Georgia's official electors; unlawful access of election equipment in rural Coffee County; a series of legislative hearings where false claims were made about the state's election results and the national effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia and other swing states. Prosecutors expect to call over 150 witnesses in Georgia election interference case Judge Robert McBurney ordered a limited release of the report in February, only allowing the introduction, conclusion and a section detailing concerns about witnesses lying under oath to be made public. McBurney wrote that those sections did not violate due process concerns of anyone that may or may not be later charged. The report opens with a timeline of the special grand jury's work, from the DA's first request for the panel to the 75 witnesses that came before the closed-door body, also noting that the group voted unanimously that "no widespread fraud took place in the Georgia 2020 presidential election that could result in overturning that election." |
TRUMP Threatens to Lock Up Opponents as Mar-a-Lago IT Worker TALKS to Special Counsel
TRUMP Threatens He Will Lock Up Political Opponents If Re-Elected.
DOJ Says TRUMP Has Hidden Classified Documents as Mar-a-Lago IT Worker Cooperates With Special Counsel Mark Meadows: TRUMP Aide FAILS to Have Georgia Case Moved US judge has denied a bid from Mark Meadows, a TRUMP aide charged in Georgia election conspiracy inquiry, to move his case to a federal court. BBC 13 SEP 2023 https://www.washingtonpost.com/rf/im...jpg?t=20170517 Former President Donald Trump revealed plans to prosecute his political opponents if he gets reelected. Trump communicated this to Glenn Beck during a BlazeTV show appearance. Beck questioned Trump on his 2016 statements about his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, and asked if he regretted not prosecuting her. In response, Trump expressed no choice but to prosecute his political adversaries, dismissing the charges he faces in multiple states. “Well, I'll give you an example… The answer is you have no choice, because they're doing it to us" Mar-a-Lago IT Worker Flips on TRUMP and Strikes a Deal With Special Counsel Mar-a-Lago IT worker struck cooperation agreement with special counsel, his former lawyer says Mar-a-Lago IT worker Yuscil Taveras has struck a cooperation agreement with the special counsel’s office in the federal case over former President Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents, Taveras’ former defense attorney said in a new court filing. Taveras struck the deal with prosecutors after he was threatened with prosecution, defense attorney Stanley Woodward wrote in the filing dated Tuesday. Taveras is referred to in the filing and in the superseding indictment as “Trump Employee 4,” and CNN has identified him as that employee. According to the terms of the deal explained in the filing, Taveras agreed to testify in the classified documents case and in exchange will not be prosecuted. He has not been charged with any crimes. The filing marks the first public acknowledgment that special counsel Jack Smith has won the cooperation of key witnesses as part of his prosecution of Trump, his longtime valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos de Oliveira. Prosecutors have argued that Woodward, who now represents Nauta, could face conflicts of interest – particularly if the defense lawyer has to cross-examine his former client – and that the judge overseeing the case should scrutinize those potential conflicts. Woodward wrote in the filing Wednesday that he “played no role” in Taveras’ cooperation and said that prosecutors did not offer Taveras the cooperation deal until after Taveras got a different lawyer. Woodward asked the judge to block Taveras from testifying in any eventual trial. Taveras’ July testimony in front of a grand jury, which wasn’t public, was the source of new allegations against Trump that were included in a superseding indictment filed later that month Those allegations include efforts by Trump, de Oliveira and Nauta to delete incriminating security footage from the club. Trump, de Oliveira and Nauta have pleaded not guilty to all allegations. https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2...pjpg&auto=webp |
re: TRUMP Lawyer Takes Plea Deal & Implicates TRUMP in Fake Elector Conspiracy
Twitter Turned Over 32 Messages From TRUMPS’ Account to Special Counsel...Twitter Declared War on Conservatives: More Pro-Trump Accounts Purged Overnight
Special Counsel Warned TRUMP Could Precipitate Violence if Twitter Turned Over His Messages BBC 16 SEP 2023 https://pjmedia.com/wp-content/uploa...1134-730x0.jpg Newly unsealed court records indicate special counsel Jack Smith’s team warned that former President Trump could “precipitate violence” unless the court shielded its efforts to obtain information on his Twitter account. The records show Smith’s office obtained a total of 32 direct messages from Trump’s account as part of its investigation, with a copy of the warrant also unsealed Friday showing the breadth of the information prosecutors sought. The 71-page filing from prosecutors, submitted to the court in April but unsealed Friday, offers new details about why Smith’s team feared alerting Trump to the matter. The secret battle to obtain the records was revealed in an opinion unsealed in August, showing that Twitter, now known as X, was fined $350,000 for not complying with a court order to turn over the records. Earlier unsealed court records showed the special counsel was concerned that if Trump knew about the warrant to access his account he could disclose it to the public, something they said “could precipitate violence as occurred following the public disclosure of the search warrant executed at Mar-a-Lago.” The arguments were made as X appealed a lower court order to turn over the information to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. While prosecutors reiterated prior arguments that Trump could jeopardize the case if the warrant was disclosed, it cites Trump’s past behavior as the need to do so. “These are not hypothetical considerations in this case. Following his defeat in the 2020 presidential election, the former President propagated false claims of fraud (including swearing to false allegations in a federal court filing), pressured state and federal officials to violate their legal duties, and retaliated against those who did not comply with his demands, culminating in violence at the U.S. Capitol on January 6,” prosecutors wrote. “More recently, the former President has taken several steps to undermine or otherwise influence the investigation into the potential mishandling of classified information following the end of his presidency, including publicizing the existence of the Mar-a-Lago Warrant.” The filing goes on to detail Trump’s offer to pay the legal fees of those who might otherwise be witnesses against him. “This pattern of obstructive conduct amply supports the district court’s conclusion that the former President presents a significant risk of tampering with evidence, seeking to influence or intimidate potential witnesses, and “otherwise seriously jeopardizing” the Government’s ongoing investigations,” they wrote. The filing leaves unclear the content of the 32 direct messages Trump exchanged on the platform, with the detail only used to combat arguments from X’s attorneys that such messages might be covered under executive privilege. “Twitter offers no reason to conclude that the former President, with the full array of communication technologies available to the head of the Executive Branch, would have used Twitter’s direct message function to carry out confidential communications with Executive Branch advisors,” prosecutors wrote. The unsealed search warrant, first signed in January, shows prosecutors were seeking extensive information about Trump’s X account, including all IP addresses and devices that accessed the account. DOJ also wanted to review all tweets, even those drafted and deleted, and a list of every account Trump block or who blocked Trump. Prosecutors likewise asked for location data associated with the account for the months leading up to the election through January 2021 as well as every tweet the former president liked or those who tweeted at him for the same time period. X fought the warrant on numerous grounds, including making a First Amendment argument and also claiming that disclosure to Trump would not be harmful, as he knew he was being investigated and some details about the probe had become public. The appeals court ultimately sided with prosecutors and the lower court, calling the Department of Justice’s concerns “unquestionably compelling.” “The district court 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 appeals court noted in its ruling. Could the 14th amendment be used to stop Trump from running for presidency again? |
Re: TRUMP Lawyer Turns on Narcissist Ex-President +His BIG Mouth is Fodder For Prosec
TRUMP Interview - Music to The Ears of Prosecutors. & TRUMP Blames Nancy Pelosi For Jan 6 Insurrection
TRUMP Lawyer Jenna Ellis Turns on Malignant Narcissist Ex-President. Ellis, One of 18 Trump Associates Charged in Georgia Case, Says She Simply Can’t Support Him Again US Special Counsel Jack Smith Asks Judge to Place Gag Order on TRUMP. The prosecutor leading the federal election meddling case against Donald Trump has asked a judge to place him under a gag order, limiting how he is able to publicly comment on the case. BBC 18 SEP 2023 Jenna Ellis – the Donald Trump lawyer who like the former president faces criminal charges regarding attempted election subversion in his defeat by Joe Biden in 2020 – says she will not vote for him in the future because he is a “malignant narcissist” who cannot admit mistakes “I simply can’t support him for elected office again,” Ellis said. “Why I have chosen to distance is because of that frankly malignant narcissistic tendency to simply say that he’s never done anything wrong.” Ellis, 38, was speaking on her show on American Family Radio, a rightwing evangelical network run by the American Family Association, a non-profit that by its own description has been “on the frontlines of America’s culture war” since 1977. Ellis was one of 18 Trump associates charged with him in Georgia over attempts to overturn Biden’s victory there. Charged with violating state anti-racketeering laws and solicitation of violation of an oath by a public officer, she was granted $100,000 bail and pleaded not guilty. Trump pleaded not guilty to 13 racketeering and conspiracy charges. Denying all wrongdoing and claiming political persecution, he also faces four federal counts related to election subversion; 40 federal counts related to retention of classified information; 34 state counts in New York over hush-money payments; and civil cases including a $250m lawsuit lodged by the New York attorney general over his business affairs and a defamation claim arising from a rape allegation a judge said was “substantially true”. Nonetheless, Trump leads polling regarding the 2024 Republican presidential primary by vast margins, in national and key state surveys. Ellis is a former counsel for the Thomas More Society, a conservative Catholic group, whose claims to be a constitutional lawyer have been widely doubted. Described by the New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman as “a lawyer whom Trump sought out after seeing her television commentary”, in 2020 Ellis rose from relative obscurity to become part of what she called an “elite strike force team” working to overturn Trump’s defeat by Biden. That effort failed. American Family Radio signed up Ellis in December last year. On her show on Thursday, she spoke to Steve Deace, another rightwing host. Deace said: “Before that man [Trump] needs to be president again … [to] escape the quote-unquote, ‘witch-hunts’, that man needs Jesus again because … his ambitions would be fueled by showing some self-awareness. And he won’t do it because he can’t admit, ‘I’m not God.’” Ellis said Deace had “perfectly articulated exactly how I as a voter feel”. She knew Trump well “as a friend, as a former boss”, she said, adding: “I have great love and respect for him personally. “But everything that you just said resonates with me as exactly why I simply can’t support him for elected office again. Why I have chosen to distance is because of that, frankly, malignant narcissistic tendency to simply say that he’s never done anything wrong. “And the total idolatry that I’m seeing from some of the supporters that are unwilling to put the constitution and the country and the conservative principles above their love for a star is really troubling. “And I think that we do need to, as Americans and as conservatives and particularly as Christians, take this very seriously and understand where are we putting our vote.” TRUMP Blames Nancy Pelosi For Jan 6 https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/1y...a45d6508678a76 Donald Trump offered up a strange scapegoat for the Jan. 6 insurrection in a new interview. The former president accused former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) of allowing mobs of violent Trump supporters to overtake the U.S. Capitol by allegedly turning down his offer...:arrrrrgh: to activate the National Guard. |
Re: TRUMP to Feds 'Dismiss Election Interference Charges, I Had Presidential Immunity
TRUMP Seeks to Dismiss Election Interference Charges, Saying He Had Presidential Immunity
Donald Trump has asked a federal court to dismiss charges against him of election interference, arguing his role entitled him to "absolute immunity". BBC 6 OCT 2023 https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cp...m130612162.jpg Trumps' lawyers say his attempts to cast doubt on the 2020 results fell within his duties as president. His public statements were attempts at "ensuring the integrity of federal elections", they added. The indictment, brought by Jack Smith, alleges he made illegal attempts to stay in office. It is one of a number of filings in recent days from his legal team. Trump has asked that this trial for improperly handling sensitive files be held after the 2024 presidential election. And on Thursday, his lawyers also dropped a lawsuit against his ex-lawyer Michael Cohen, who he was suing for at least $500m (£410m) in damages. Mr Trumps' campaign said that his legal suits and 2024 presidential campaign were using up too much of his time for him to pursue the claim. The former president made a range of allegations about fraud in the 2020 presidential election, which he lost, but no evidence has emerged of any widespread fraud that would have altered the result. In a new filing on Thursday, his lawyers argue that Mr Trump's public statements about the 2020 contest "lie firmly within the 'outer perimeter' of the President's official responsibility". https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cp...9_download.png Apparently classified files on the floor of Trumps' Mar-a-Lago office.. Trump is also accused of holding on to classified documents after leaving office "Therefore, they cannot form the basis of criminal charges against President Trump." In the criminal complaint against the former president, special prosecutor Jack Smith acknowledged that Mr Trump "had a right, like every American, to speak publicly about the election and even to claim, falsely, that there had been outcome-determinative fraud during the election and that he had won". However he said that Mr Trump went further than allowed and "also pursued unlawful means of discounting legitimate votes and subverting the election results". The former president has repeatedly said the cases against him are politically motivated. Mr Trumps' attorneys have also requested the dismissal of 34 felony charges of falsifying business records. The request was publicly released on Thursday, after his lawyers filed the motion last week. The case, in New York, stems from his payment of $130,000 (£105,000) to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, who says she was paid to stay quiet after having sex with him. Prosecutors say Mr Trump illegally altered records in order to claim that the payment was for legal fees. In the legal filing, his lawyers call the case a "five-year meandering, halting, and roving investigation that entailed inexplicable and unconstitutional delay" and argue that the charges are a novel interpretation of the law and "politically driven". |
re: TRUMP Lawyer Takes Plea Deal & Implicates TRUMP in Fake Elector Conspiracy
TRUMP Rages on Truth Social During Judge Chutkans’ Hearing on Gag Order
- Federal Judge Issues Gag Order Against Donald Trump A federal judge issued a gag order on Donald Trump, limiting what he can say about special counsel Jack Smiths’ federal prosecution into his alleged attempt to subvert in the 2020 presidential election BBC 16 OCT 2023 https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/N....b03dcc956109f7 Deranged Donald Trump lashed out on Truth Social as Judge Tanya Chutkan began a hearing on a proposed gag order in the former president’s election interference case. “The TRUMP GAG ORDER that the CORRUPT Biden Administration is trying to obtain is totally Unconstitutional!” Trump wrote on his social media platform as proceedings got underway in D.C. Chutkan ultimately issued a partial gag order relating to statements about special counsel Jack Smith, the federal court and staff and possible witnesses in the case. “This is not about whether or not I like the language Mr. Trump uses," Chutkan said, according to The Messenger. "This is about language that presents a danger to the administration of justice.” Trump during the hearing also shared a post from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who attended the proceedings in person. “They are attempting to muzzle the most popular political figure in America!” Greene wrote in the post, alleging that a gag order would strip all Americans of the “opportunity to hear from the leading candidate for President.” https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/81a09...ormat&fit=max& https://tse2.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.m...=Api&P=0&h=220 Deranged Trump, ahead of the hearing on Sunday night teased a “big day for Democracy” on Monday. “A Leaking, Crooked Prosecutor, Jack Smith, who has a terrible record of failure, is asking a highly partisan Obama appointed Judge, Tanya Chutkan, who should recuse herself based on the horrible things she has said, to silence me, through the use of a powerful GAG ORDER, making it impossible for me to criticize those who are doing the silencing, namely Crooked Joe Biden, and his corrupt and weaponized DOJ & FBI,” he wrote. “They want to take away my First Amendment rights, and my ability to both campaign and defend myself. In other words, they want to cheat and interfere in the 2024 Presidential Election. https://i1.wp.com/politicallyincorre...05%2C406&ssl=1 Nothing like this has ever happened in our Country before. It is strictly Banana Republic kind of ‘stuff.’ These political Hacks and Thugs are destroying our Country. |
Re: TRUMP Ex-Lawyer Guilty in Election Case-Will Testify For Prosecutors at Future Tr
Sidney Powell: TRUMP Ex-Lawyer Pleads Guilty in Georgia Election Case
Sidney Powell Has Been Sentenced to Six Years of Probation. She is also required to write an apology letter to the citizens of the State of Georgia BBC 20 OCT 2023 https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/999/cp...-top-getty.jpg Former Donald Trump lawyer Sidney Powell has pleaded guilty to six charges in the Georgia election interference case. Powell, who was charged alongside the former president, reached a deal with prosecutors and will now testify at future trials. There are 19 defendants in the case, most of whom have pleaded not guilty. Powell faced charges of conspiracy to commit intentional interference of election duties. Her agreement to testify, in exchange for six years of probation, is a huge win for prosecutors in the sweeping case. Powell was intimately involved in Mr Trump's fight to overturn the state's results in the 2020 presidential election. The deal also required her to record a proffer, essentially a verbal account of her activities, and to pay a fine and write an apology letter to Georgia citizens. Powell entered her guilty plea in a downtown Atlanta courtroom on Thursday, a day before her trial was set to start. Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told the BBC it was unsurprising that she took a deal. "If you're a criminal defendant who's never spent a night in jail and you're offered no time, you take it," Mr Rahmani said. He added she may act as a "domino", with other defendants following her example. "I think the other defendants have to be taking a long, hard look in the mirror and asking themselves, 'Hey, do I want to go to Georgia State Prison, or do I want to take this offer that's going to guarantee I do no time?'" he said. Prosecutors have accused Powell of being among a group of Trump officials and supporters who breached the elections system in rural Coffee County, Georgia, in January 2021. They were trying to persuade officials and voters that the election had somehow been rigged against Mr Trump. Specifically, Powell was accused of hiring a forensics team and sending it to Coffee County to illegally access government computers to look at voter data. Prosecutors have said she conspired to tamper with voting machines, electronic ballots and voter data, have ballots taken from a polling place, and stop an election worker from doing her job. Mr Trump has pleaded not guilty in the Georgia case. In total, the former president faces 13 felony counts - including racketeering - for allegedly pressuring state officials to reverse results in the presidential election. He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, and has described the case as politically motivated. Powell was one of the most visible, and vocal, supporters of his false claims about the 2020 election. She notably appeared at a press conference with other Trump lawyers in November 2020, where she alleged, without evidence, that US voting machines run by Dominion Voting Systems can be hacked to "take a certain percentage of votes from President Trump and flip them to President (Joe) Biden". At a White House meeting the following month, Mr Trump mulled appointing Powell as a special counsel to "investigate allegations of voter fraud in Georgia and elsewhere", prosecutors said. The congressional committee investigating the 6 January Capitol riot featured her prominently in its televised hearings last year, showing she worked closely with Mr Trump and his aides on election overturning strategies. Dominion has sued Powell for defamation, seeking $1.3bn (£1.07bn) in restitution. Powell is the second person among the defendants to plead guilty in the Georgia election interference case. Bail bondsman Scott Hall struck a plea deal with prosecutors in late September. The former Republican poll watcher was also accused of trying to gain access to sensitive election equipment in Coffee County, Georgia. As part of his deal, he was sentenced to five years probation. He is also required to testify against others in future trials. MORE: |
re: EX Chief of Staff Meadows to Testify AGAINST TRUMP Re Election Con & Jan 6 RIOT
Pro-TRUMP Attorney Pleads Guilty in Georgia Election Case
Kenneth Chesebro: Pro-TRUMP Lawyer Pleads Guilty in Georgia Election Subversion Case, Implicates TRUMP in Fake Elector Conspiracy Three defendants have now pleaded guilty in the sprawling racketeering case: Chesebro, Powell and Georgia-based bail bondsman Scott Hall. BBC 21 OCT 2023 https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/MU...b51275ac8a23b9 Kenneth Chesebro, a Donald Trump-aligned attorney who helped craft the 2020 fake elector plot, is pleading guilty in the Georgia election subversion case. The plea deal is another major victory for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who charged Trump and 18 others in the effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election results https://s.yimg.com/fz/api/res/1.2/zo...5424680e5d8867 Kenneth Chesebro, an attorney who helped orchestrate the Trump campaign’s 2020 fake electors plot, pleaded guilty Friday in the Georgia election subversion case to being part of a conspiracy alongside former President and others. The plea deal is another blow to Trump and a major victory for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who charged Trump and 18 others in the effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election. It comes one day after former Trump campaign lawyer Sidney Powell also pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. Chesebro pleaded guilty to one felony – conspiracy to commit filing false documents. Fulton County prosecutors recommended that he serve 5 years of probation and pay $5,000 in restitution, and Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee imposed that sentence at Friday’s hearing. Chesebro has also agreed to testify in future court proceedings. As part of his plea deal, Chesebro admitted that he conspired to put forward fake GOP electors in Georgia with Trump and former Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman. Giuliani and Eastman have both pleaded not guilty in the Georgia case, and now face the prospect of Chesebro taking the witness stand against them. The plea came shortly after jury selection in the trial began Friday morning as planned, but was short-lived. A source familiar with the discussions said the likelihood of Chesebro taking a deal increased after Powell made a surprise turn and pleaded guilty on Thursday. Fake Electors Plot An attorney who worked to undermine the results of the 2020 election, Chesebro helped develop the Trump’s campaign’s plot to put forward unauthorized slates of GOP electors in Georgia and six other states. (In previous court filings, Chesebro’s lawyers have denied that he devised the plan.) He wrote a series of memos in 2020 spelling out what the pro-Trump electors should do in their respective states. In one memo Chesebro acknowledged that he was promoting a “controversial strategy” that even the Supreme Court with its conservative supermajority would “likely” reject. Chesebro and other Trump allies hoped then-Vice President Mike Pence would use the GOP electors to justify delaying Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s victory – or even throw out Biden’s lawful electors and recognize the fake GOP slates instead on January 6, 2021. Prosecutors said in court that Chesebro acknowledged in the plea that he “created and distributed false Electoral College documents” to Trump operatives in Georgia and other states, and that he worked “in coordination with” the Trump campaign. “The defendant provided detailed instructions to co-conspirators in Georgia and other states for creating and distributing these false documents,” prosecutor Daysha Young said at the plea hearing Friday. Chesebro was originally charged with seven crimes, including a violation of Georgia’s RICO act, conspiracy to commit forgery and conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer. Six of the seven felony charges were dropped as part of the deal. In addition to testifying at future trials, Chesebro agreed to write an apology letter to the citizens of Georgia. Powell and Hall both admitted their roles in the January 2021 breach of election systems in rural Coffee County, Georgia. As part of her plea deal, Powell agreed to testify at future trials, which could hurt Trump’s defense. Both Powell and Hall were sentenced to probation. Ahead of their scheduled trial, Chesebro and Powell lost several bids to get the case thrown out, including earlier this week. In a spate of pretrial rulings, McAfee rejected their arguments that Fulton County prosecutors misapplied Georgia’s RICO law and that the indictment failed to establish key elements of the crimes that have been charged. Both Powell and Chesebro are unindicted co-conspirators in Trump’s federal election subversion case, which was brought by Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith. Trump’s federal trial is set for March 2024 in Washington, DC. Steve Sadow, lead counsel for Trump in the Georgia case, said he believes Friday’s developments will help the former president. “It appears to me that the guilty plea to count 15 of the Fulton County indictment was the result of pressure by Fani Willis and her team and the prosecution’s looming threat of prison time,” Sadow said. “However, it is very important for everyone to note that the RICO charge and every other count was dismissed. Once again, I fully expect that truthful testimony would be favorable to my defense strategy.” Jurors asked about Trump rallies, Jan. 6 hearings Hundreds of potential jurors for the Chesebro trial were summoned to the Fulton County courthouse on Friday, where they filled out questionnaires that were designed to weed out people with conflicts-of-interest or anyone who couldn’t act impartially. CNN overheard a court official reading aloud from portions the jury questionnaire in a public area of the courthouse where the jury selection process was taking place. The questionnaire itself has not been made public. The potential jurors were asked if they “express divisive political opinions,” if they ever attended a Trump rally or any “MAGA events,” or posted anything online about “Donald Trump’s charges.” They were also asked specifically if they watched the highly publicized January 6 committee hearings last year, which presented in dramatic fashion how Trump tried to overturn the election. The potential jurors were also asked if they voted in any federal elections over the past 15 years. There is no indication that they were asked who they voted for, and that is never typically part of a jury questionnaire. At a hearing earlier this week, Fulton County prosecutors and attorneys for Chesebro haggled over how many politically charged questions should be included. Specifically, Chesebro’s attorneys wanted to include questions that could tease out how jurors feel about “MAGA Republicans” and Trump’s attempt to “steal the election.” It’s unclear if those questions made it into the questionnaire. After Chesebro’s plea, McAfee returned to the jury room to dismiss the jury pool, which responded with applause and cheers. |
re: TRUMP Assails Judge & Clerk AGAIN in Election Criminal Fraud Trial
Mark Meadows Given Immunity To Testify About TRUMP And 2020 Election
EX Chief of Staff Mark Meadows Has ALSO Been Talking With Special Counsel Jack Smith and His Team in Exchange For Immunity in The FED Jan 6 Probe Meadows has Spoken With Special Counsel Jack Smiths' Team Three Times BBC 25 OCT 2023 https://media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com/i...080-22s3k1.jpg Mark Meadows FLIPS On Trump After Being Granted Immunity TRUMP GANG DEAL DAY Mark Meadows, TRUMPs’ chief of staff, was granted immunity for testifying under oath about TRUMPs’ role in attempting to overturn the 2020 election results Key Facts Meadows spoke with special counsel Jack Smith’s team—which is leading the case against Trump for his attempts to overturn the election and his mishandling of classified documents—at least three times this year, ABC News reported, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter. He testified in front of a federal grand jury only after Smith gave him immunity, the report says. Meadows told Smith’s team that Trump was “dishonest” to voters when he claimed he won the election on November 3, 2020, and that following the election, he told Trump a number of times the voter fraud claims were baseless—despite saying in his book that election was “stolen” and “rigged.” Key Background Meadows was Trumps’ final chief of staff during his time in the White House and is facing charges in Georgia over his involvement in Trump’s attempt to overturn election results. Meadows has pleaded not guilty in Georgia, arguing the actions mentioned in his indictment were under the purview of his role as White House chief of staff. The Georgia indictment accuses Meadows—who was on the infamous phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which Trump directed him to “find” the votes needed to win—of participating in a campaign to pressure the secretary of state to violate his oath of office, and committing several other acts as part of the racketeering conspiracy. Recently, in an interview with NBC, Trump said he hoped Meadows stayed “loyal” to him, and when asked if he was worried about Meadows “flipping,” Trump said “I didn’t do anything wrong,” the New York Times reported. Whether Meadows changes how he’s pleading in his Georgia case. So far, four of Trumps’ other co-defendants in the case have taken plea deals, including attorney Sidney Powell and attorney Jenna Ellis. |
Re: Arizona~FEDS Find GOP FAKE Electors in Criminal Investigation of TRUMPs' Election
FAKE Electors From Arizona Focus of Federal Criminal Investigation in TRUMPs' 2020 Election FRAUD
High Profile Arizona Republican Politicians Catch Attention of DOJ Two Arizona lawmakers were subpoenaed in connection to the group of "fake electors" who created their own election certification in 2020 Election BBC 10 NOV 2023 https://external-content.duckduckgo....c12&ipo=images Arizona Republican Jake Hoffman who signed phony 'certification' saying Trump won flees from reporter Arizona was one of seven states where so-called “fake electors” signed paperwork that falsely claimed former President Donald Trump won the 2020 election. Their hope at the time was that then-Vice President Mike Pence would recognize them when the electoral college met to certify the results. Of course, the events of Jan. 6, 2021, backfired and now fake electors across the country, have attracted the attention of the Department of Justice. Some of Arizonas’ false electors included high-profile and powerful politicians. Like Kelli Ward, former chairwoman of the Arizona Republican Party, and her husband. Two current GOP state lawmakers Jake Hoffman from Queen Creek and Anthony Kern from Glendale, were also involved. After a hearing Tuesday about Arizona State University, when asked if he’s been contacted by the DOJ, Kern rolled his eyes. https://external-content.duckduckgo....d77&ipo=images TRUMPs' EX Chief of Staff Mark Meadows Has Been Given Immunity To Testify About TRUMP And 2020 Election Reporter Tracks Down Arizona Fake Electors |
Re: TRUMP Told Candidate 'Just Call Him Child Abuser’ Witness Testified in Election C
'Just Call Him a Child Abuser’: TRUMP Told GOP Candidate Herschel Walker to Use Slur Against Warnock - Advice to Use Debunked Claim in US Senate Race
Jenna Ellis, Has Testified in Election Interference Case She Was Told TRUMP Was “NEVER Going to Leave The White House BBC 15 NOV 2023 https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/0c1ed...5&dpr=1&s=none Herschel Walker and Donald Trump hold a rally in Perry Georgia. As Herschel Walker faced defeat by his Democratic opponent Raphael Warnock in a high-stakes US Senate election in Georgia last year, Donald Trump advised the Republican candidate: “Just call him a child abuser.” At first, Walker did not take the former president’s advice, letting go his sole debate with Warnock – a church pastor – without raising the slur. But according to Jonathan Karl, ABC News’s chief Washington correspondent and the author of a new book on Trump’s Republican party, “all bets were off once the race went to a run-off”. “‘Y’all know what he did at that camp?’ Walker falsely told a crowd of supporters in late November. ‘This young man said there was sexual abuse and there was physical abuse. I’m like, Who did that? It has to be Senator Raphael Warnock, because he was responsible for it.’” Trump’s advice to the former college football and NFL star, and Walker’s garbled recounting of the slur, is reported in Karl’s new book, Tired of Winning, published in the US on Tuesday. Karl’s source is an unidentified senior Walker adviser who witnessed the conversation, which Walker put “on speakerphone so his team in the room could hear the strategic wisdom that was about to be offered”. The claim against Warnock concerned alleged abuse in 2002 at a Maryland summer camp run by a church where he was then senior pastor. The allegation surfaced – and was used by the Republican Kelly Loeffler – during Warnock’s first victorious Senate run, which ended with a runoff win in January 2021. Karl writes that a camper alleged a counselor threw urine at him and locked him outside overnight, as a punishment for wetting his bed. “The story was horrible,” Karl writes, noting a reported financial settlement. “But labeling Warnock a ‘child molester’ was ridiculously wrong. There was no allegation of sexual abuse and no allegation whatsoever against Warnock himself. He was the pastor at the church, not the director of the camp.” As reported at the time by the Baltimore Sun, Warnock and another church official were arrested after “a state trooper said the ministers prevented her from interviewing counselors as she investigated” the alleged abuse. But the charges of interfering with an investigation were dismissed. Ex-Trump Lawyer Says ‘Boss’ Was NOT Going to Leave White House Revelation comes during interview with Georgia district attorney’s office about events around US election https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/8e513...5&dpr=1&s=none Jenna Ellis reached a deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to a reduced charge over efforts to overturn Donald Trumps 2020 election loss in Georgia. An attorney for Donald Trump has told prosecutors in Georgia that one of the former president’s top aides told her in December 2020 that Trump was “not going to leave” the White House “under any circumstances”, despite having lost the election to Joe Biden. The revelation from Jenna Ellis came during an interview with the Georgia district attorney’s office in Fulton County. Ellis is cooperating as part of a plea agreement in the Georgia election interference case against Trump and various allies. Sections of the video recordings were published on Monday by ABC News and the Washington Post, along with excerpts from interviews with lawyer Sidney Powell and two other defendants who have reached plea agreements in the case in exchange for testifying. Ellis said the longtime Trump aide – his deputy chief of staff, Dan Scavino – told her “the boss” would refuse to cede power. She also alluded to two other “relevant” instances for the case but did not disclose them in the video, apparently prevented from doing so by attorney-client privilege. Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis won't vote for him in 2024, calls him a 'malignant narcissist' Jenna Ellis in Court |
re: TRUMP Assails Judge & Clerk AGAIN in Election Criminal Fraud Trial
TRUMP RICO Defendants' Lawyer Admits to Leaking Witness Video to The Press
Convicted TRUMP Aides’ Lawyer on RICO Criminal Case & Coup Tape Leak: Manny Arora, the lawyer for guilty Trump aide Kenneth Chesebro, joins MSNBC’s Ari Melber to discuss the latest developments in the Georgia RICO case. BBC 16 NOV 2023 https://tse3.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.w...=Api&P=0&h=180 A lawyer for one of former President Donald Trumps' co-defendants in the Fulton County racketeering case admitted he sent the media previously unreleased footage of defendants' conversations with prosecutors. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-ap...R3Q.jpg&w=1440 TRUMPs' Election Interference is a Criminal Case The admission came from attorney Jonathan Miller, who represents co-defendant Misty Hampton, a Coffee County election supervisor charged in the sweeping election subversion case. The "proffer" or witness footage showed four of Trump's co-defendants speaking with prosecutors after agreeing to plead guilty to their charges. All four witnesses accepted plea deals with District Attorney Fani Willis's office. "Judge, I did release those videos to one outlet. And in all candor ... I need the court to know that," Miller said. "All four of those people that did their proffers, they stood in front of you, they did their plea, it was all recorded, it was sent out there for the world to see," Miller said. "And to hide those proffers that show all the underlying things that went into those pleas misleads the public about what's going on." In part of the proffer footage, former Trump attorney and co-defendant Jenna Ellis told prosecutors that Trump's then-deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino told her "the boss" wouldn't leave the White House after losing the 2020 election. "He said, 'The boss is not going to leave under any circumstances. We are just going to stay in power,'" Ellis said in the footage, suggesting "the boss" referred to Trump. "And I said to him, 'Well, it doesn't quite work that way, you realize.' And he said, 'We don't care.'" Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee is weighing whether to impose the protective order prosecutors requested after the previously undisclosed video of defendants who accepted plea deals leaked. In court on Wednesday, Miller pushed back on the notion that the footage he sent to the media was a "leak." Prosecutors initially blamed the release of the footage on a separate co-defendant, Black Voices for Trump leader Harrison Floyd. His counsel told the court on Wednesday that there was a typo in their email exchange with prosecutors and continued to argue that Floyd's team was not the source of the footage. Protective orders are typically put in place to protect parties in certain cases from harassment or violence. In this case, Willis wants one to bar disclosure of discovery footage that was not intended to be made public at this point in the pretrial phase. https://i.abcnewsfe.com/a/d34a556a-c...pEmbed_3x2.jpg Judge Scott McAfee is expected to rule on whether to impose a protective order soon but did not offer an exact time. |
re: TRUMP Stung by Filing on 'GAG Order Must Remain' & Posts Insane Thanksgiving Message
TRUMP Assails Judge and Clerk AGAIN in Election Criminal Fraud Trial as Gag Order Temporarily Lifts
Donald Trump has assailed a judge and clerk handling his New York fraud trial as a gag order banning him from criticising court personnel was paused. BBC 17 NOV 2023 https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cp...7699_trump.jpg The ex-president sued the judge in the civil case, Arthur Engoron, after he barred him and his attorneys from speaking about judicial staff. Mr Trump's lawyers had argued the gag order was unconstitutional. A state intermediate appeals court has granted what is known as an interim stay. Judge David Friedman cited the "constitutional and statutory rights at issue" in Thursday's ruling. It means that, for now, Mr Trump and his lawyers can once again make public comments about the court officials. The former president wasted little time in reopening attacks on Judge Engoron, calling his actions "Radical and Unprecedented". "His Ridiculous and Unconstitutional Gag Order, not allowing me to defend myself against him and his politically biased and out of control, Trump Hating Clerk, who is sinking him and his Court to new levels of LOW, is a disgrace," the 77-year-old wrote in a lengthy post on social media. Mr Trump's lawyer Christopher Kise also welcomed the ruling, which he said would restore his client's right "to talk about bias in his own trial". . |
re: Prosecutors Say NO Plea Deals For TRUMP Meadows & Giuliani on Election 'Racketeering'
Gagged? TRUMP on Defense as Jack Smith Takes Tough Gag Order to Powerful Court
Hear Audio From Inside TRUMP Election Interference Criminal Case Courtroom BBC 22 NOV 2023 https://s.yimg.com/fz/api/res/1.2/Rn...93&c=14&qlt=90 Prosecutors for Special Counsel Jack Smith clashed in court with Donald Trumps' legal team over a gag order in the DC election crimes case. The arguments played out before judges on a federal appeals court, and the audio is public. A federal appeals court on Monday was skeptical of former President Donald Trump‘s attempt to scrap a gag order in his election-subversion case but seemed willing to narrow down limits on what the ex-president can say, particularly in the heat of the 2024 campaign. During oral arguments, a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit explored what kind of rhetoric should be allowed or out of bounds under the gag order from U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan. The order prohibits Mr. Trump and his lawyers from targeting special counsel Jack Smith, court personnel or witnesses in the run-up to trial on charges he conspired against the U.S. by trying to reverse the results of the 2020 election. Mr. Trump, who frequently posts on social media and gives long speeches at campaign rallies, opposes the gag order. He says it’s an unprecedented attempt to limit his First Amendment right to speech while he campaigns for president ahead of a possible rematch with President Biden in 2024 |
Re: Prosecutors Say NO Plea Deals For TRUMP Meadows & Giuliani on Election 'Racketeer
Georgia Prosecutors Oppose Plea Deals For TRUMP, Meadows and Giuliani
Fulton County Prosecutors Unwilling to Offer Deals to Key Trio, Preferring Instead to Force Them to Trial & Wield The Power of Georgias’ Racketeering Statute to Their Advantage. BBC 28 NOV 2023 https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/064a3...5&dpr=1&s=none Georgia prosecutors oppose plea deals for TRUMP, Meadows and Giuliani Fulton county prosecutors do not intend to offer plea deals to Donald Trump and at least two high-level co-defendants charged in connection with their efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia, according to two people familiar with the matter, preferring instead to force them to trial. The individuals seen as ineligible include Trump, his former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, and Trump’s former lawyer Rudy Giuliani. Aside from those three, the Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis has opened plea talks or has left open the possibility of talks with the remaining co-defendants in the hope that they ultimately decide to become cooperating witnesses against the former president, the people said. it signals who prosecutors consider their main targets, and how they want to wield the power of Georgia’s racketeering statute to their advantage. A spokesperson for the district attorney’s office declined to comment. Trump and 18 co-defendants in August originally pleaded not guilty to a sprawling indictment that charged them with violating the Rico statute in seeking to reverse his 2020 election defeat in the state, including by advancing fake Trump electors and breaching voting machines. In the weeks that followed, prosecutors reached plea deals in quick succession with the former Trump lawyers Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis and Kenneth Chesebro – who all gave “proffer” statements that were damaging to Trump to some degree – as well as the local bail bondsman Scott Hall. The plea deals underscore the strategy that Willis has refined over successive Rico prosecutions: extending offers to lower-level defendants in which they plead guilty to key crimes and incriminate higher-level defendants in the conspiracy pyramid. As the figure at the top of the alleged conspiracy, Trump was always unlikely to get a deal. But the inclusion of Meadows and Giuliani on that list, at least for now, provides the clearest roadmap to date of how prosecutors intend to take the case to trial. The preference for the district attorney’s office remains to flip as many of the Trump co-defendants as possible, one of the people said, and prosecutors have asked the Fulton county superior court judge Scott McAfee to set the final deadline for plea deals as far back as June 2024. At least some of the remaining co-defendants are likely to reach plea deals should they fall short in their pre-trial attempts to extricate themselves from Trump, including trying to have their individual cases transferred to federal court, or have their individual charges dismissed outright. The prosecutors on the Trump case appear convinced that they are close to gaining more cooperating witnesses. In recent weeks, one of the people said, prosecutors privately advised the judge to delay setting a trial date because some co-defendants may soon plead out, one of the people said. On Monday, former Trump lawyer and co-defendant John Eastman asked the judge to allow him to go to trial separately from the former president, and earlier than the August 2024 trial date proposed by prosecutors. Eastman also asked for the final plea deal deadline to be moved forward. The court filing from Eastman reflected the apparent trepidation among a growing number of Trump allies charged in Fulton county about standing trial alongside Trump as a major Rico ringleader, a prospect widely seen as detrimental to anyone other than Trump. In a statement, Trump’s lawyer Steve Sadow suggested the former president was uninterested in reaching a deal. “Any comment by the Fulton county district attorney’s office offering ‘deals’ to President Trump is laughable because we wouldn’t accept anything except dismissal,” Sadow said. But the lack of a plea deal would be a blow to Meadows. The Guardian previously reported that the former Trump White House chief of staff has been “in the market” for a deal in Georgia after he managed to evade charges in the federal 2020 election subversion case in Washington after testifying under limited-use immunity. It was unclear why prosecutors are opposed to negotiating with Meadows, though the fact that he only testified in Washington after being ordered by a court suggested he might only be a reluctant witness. Reached by phone on Monday, Meadows’s local counsel declined to comment. The lawyers for Giuliani, meanwhile, have long said he never expected a plea deal offer. Giuliani’s associates have also suggested he wanted to remain loyal to Trump, who is scheduled to host a dinner at Mar-a-Lago in December to raise money to pay for his compounding legal debts. 'No Guardrails': Experts sound alarm about Trump’s plot for ‘radical’ second term |
Re: TRUMP Nightmare: Mike Pences' Testimony Will Be The Killer on TRUMPS’ Election 'C
TRUMPS’ Trial Nightmare: Jack Smith on Offense With Pence Testimony
Mike Pence Will Be Killer Witness' Against Donald Trump—Pence Provided Jack Smith With Post-2020 Election Details Detrimental to TRUMP Mike Pence Testified That He “Clearly and Repeatedly” Emphasized to TRUMP That Rejecting Certain Votes on Jan. 6 Would Violate The Constitution MSN 30 NOV 2023 https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/...42&s=592&d=592 Former Vice President Mike Pence provided details to special counsel Jack Smith about the aftermath of the 2020 election He revealed that Trump surrounded himself with “crank” attorneys, espoused “un-American” legal theories, and almost pushed the country toward a “constitutional crisis.” Pence also told investigators that he warned Trump about the lack of evidence of significant election fraud before the Jan 6 2021 riot. Pences’ testimony could be crucial in the special counsels’ election interference case against Trump. “Speaking with special counsel Jack Smith’s team earlier this year,” ABC News wrote, the former Vice President “offered harrowing details about how, in the wake of the 2020 presidential election,” Trump “surrounded himself with ‘crank’ attorneys, espoused ‘un-American’ legal theories, and almost pushed the country toward a ‘constitutional crisis,’ according to sources familiar with what Pence told investigators.” “My only higher loyalty was to God and the Constitution,” Pence said to Smith’s team. “Pence said he grew concerned when, within days of the election, Trump began ignoring the advice of credible and experienced attorneys inside the White House, instead relying on outside attorneys like Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, who pushed notions of widespread election fraud and, as Pence allegedly told Smith’s team, ‘did a great disservice to the president and a great disservice to the country,’” ABC noted. He also shared previously undisclosed anecdotes about his friendship with Trump unraveling in the final weeks of their time in the White House. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis asked the judge in her case against former President Donald Trump for a trial date of 5 Aug 2024. |
re: Coup Bombshell: TRUMPS' Dictator Plot & Smiths' Plan For His Path to Prison
TRUMP Attorneys Facing Fulton Co. Judge For First Time. Attorneys Presented Arguments in a Pretrial Hearing Friday.
TRUMP Attorneys Argue Georgia Election Case Should be Dismissed Due to First Amendment... Judge Issues Protective Order in TRUMPS' Georgia Election Interference Case Fulton County judge overseeing the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump and others issued a protective order in the case Thursday, following a request from District Attorney Fani Willis' office BBC 2 DEC 2023 https://tse4.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.B...=Api&P=0&h=180 Former President Donald Trumps' attorney told a Fulton County court Friday that the Georgia election interference indictment against Trump "needs to be dismissed" on the grounds that it prosecutes conduct protected by the First Amendment. The argument came in the first of two hearings scheduled Friday in which attorneys for the former president and several of his co-defendants are seeking the dismissal of the case or a delay in the case's upcoming deadlines. "You take the facts as alleged in the indictment ... and when you do that ... you find that it violates free speech, freedom of petitioning, all the expressions that the First Amendment is designed to protect," Trump's attorney Steve Sadow told the court. It marked the first time Trump's team has presented arguments in the case. "Every single count of the complaint, every single act ... relates to that political speech regarding probably the most important election in 2020 -- the presidential election," said Chris Anulewicz, an attorney for Trump co-defendant Robert Cheeley. Anulewicz made the bulk of the First Amendment arguments before the court, telling the judge that political speech is "given the highest level of protection of any speech." A prosecutor for the Fulton County district attorney's office pushed back on the First Amendment argument, saying the case that goes far beyond speech. Some of these are crimes involving expression; some of them are not," Deputy District Attorney Will Wooten said. "Conspiracy is not a crime involving expression. It's a crime involving a corrupt agreement." "The list goes on and on," Wooten said. Sadow also pushed back on the Aug. 5 trial date proposed by the Fulton County district attorney, citing the timing of the 2024 presidential election. "Can you imagine the notion of the Republican nominee for president not being able to campaign for the presidency because he is in some form or fashion in a courtroom defending himself?" Sadow asked the court. "That would be the most effective election interference in the history of the United States. And I don't think anybody wants to be in that position." "Let's be clear -- this is not election interference," responded Fulton County special prosecutor Nathan Wade. "This is moving forward with the business of Fulton County." https://tse4.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.Q...=Api&P=0&h=180 https://tse2.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.g...=Api&P=0&h=180 Judge Scott McAfee brought up the question of what what would happen if Trump won the election, asking, "Could he even be tried in 2025?" "The answer to that is, I believe, that under the supremacy clause and his duties as president, this trial would not take place at all until after he left his term of office," Sadow responded. At one point, an attorney for Trump co-defendant John Eastman jumped in to offer his client's opinion that the trial date should be set earlier than August. "There are a number of defendants, as noted, who are not running for president of the United States," he said. Trump and 18 others pleaded not guilty in August to all charges in the Fulton County district attorney's sweeping racketeering indictment for alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia. Defendants Kenneth Chesebro, Sidney Powell, Jena Ellis and Scott Hall subsequently took plea deals in exchange for agreeing to testify against other defendants. https://tse2.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.z...=Api&P=0&h=180 Judge McAfee indicated that he would likely break up the case's 14 remaining defendants into multiple trials -- but that it was "still a little too far out" to set the maximum number of defendants per trial. "Even 12 defendants would be pushing it," said McAfee. "That's where I'm at now." Sadow also argued for access to discovery materials in the federal election interference case brought against Trump by special counsel Jack Smith, saying there is "remarkable" overlap between the two cases and asking for authorization to subpoena Smith's team and Trump's D.C. counsel for the records. "All I'm asking for is a list of the discovery, so I'm able to determine what they have," Sadow argued, saying there is "no doubt" that the special counsel's office "has relevant and material information that deals with the allegations in this case." "A perfect example is what just came out about Vice President Pence," he told the judge, citing ABC News' recent reporting that Mike Pence had earlier this year told the special counsel's team that, among other things, he had informed Trump in the days before the Jan. 6 Capitol attack that he still hadn't seen evidence of significant election fraud -- but that Trump was unmoved and continued to claim the election was stolen. The district attorney's office responded that their case was "independent" from any other investigation, but that "to the extent it is being made our business, we intend to cooperate." Judge McAfee tabled the issue for the time being, saying, "We'll put a pin in it for next time." Also Friday, lawyers for Trump's former chief of staff Mark Meadows and former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark present arguments seeking to delay several rapidly approaching deadlines in the case. Meadows' attorney told the judge he is seeking an extension while he works to have his case removed to federal court. "I don't think this is a big ask. I don't think it prejudices the state at all," Meadows' attorney told the judge. Clark's attorney asked for a brief extension based on scheduling issues and the magnitude of the legal issues Clark is facing. "I detest whining by lawyers, but there is only so much I can get done," Clark's attorney, Harry MacDougal, told the judge. MORE: MORE: Judge issues protective order in Trump's Georgia election interference case |
re: Coup Bombshell: TRUMPS' Dictator Plot & Smiths' Plan For His Path to Prison
Judge Denies TRUMPS' Attempt to Dismiss January 6 Case. See What She Wrote
US District Judge Tanya Chutkan Rejected TRUMPS' Attempt to Dismiss The Special Counsels' 2020 Election Interference Case Against Him in Washington DC. TRUMP Had Previously Asked Judge Tanya Chutkan in Federal Elections Case to Step Aside Which Was Denied BBC 3 DEC 2023 https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cp...011425x801.jpg Judge denies Trumps Jan 6 committee request in election fraud case A judge has blocked former President Donald Trump's attempt to obtain records related to the congressional investigation into 6 January. Judge Tanya Chutkan denied a motion from his team to issue subpoenas to members of the committee that looked into the Capitol attack in 2021. In an opinion filed on Monday, she cast the motion as a "fishing expedition". This is the latest courtroom defeat for Mr Trump in the case alleging he plotted to overturn the 2020 election. Judge Chutkan has already issued a gag order and denied Mr Trump's request to remove language from the indictment that he said could prejudice a jury against him. In the motion, filed in October, Mr Trump had sought to issue subpoenas to Representative Bennie Thompson, chairman of the 6 January committee, White House Counsel Richard Sauber, the Department of Homeland Security's general counsel, the national archivist, the House clerk, the committee on House administration, and Representative Barry Loudermilk. The subpoenas were for what Mr Trump called "missing materials" and communications about how those materials were handled. Judge Chutkan said that Mr Trump had not specified what information he was seeking in the materials and only gave a "vague description of their potential relevance". She focused on his requests for the committee's video recordings and transcripts of witness interviews. Noting that the transcripts had already been provided to Mr Trump, she said he had not articulated how the videos could help his case. Altogether, he had not "sufficiently justified" his request, she wrote. In a series of primetime televised hearings last year, the bipartisan committee presented its own case. Supporters of former President Donald Trump attacked the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 The bipartisan committee argued that Mr Trump sought to stay in the White House by contesting the results of the 2020 election and that he rallied supporters to try to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden as the rightful winner. It often showed videos of depositions from Mr Trump's closest aides and confidants, including his daughter Ivanka Trump and former Attorney General Bill Barr. Mr Trump is the current front-runner for the Republican nomination in next year's election, and juggling four criminal court cases with his busy campaign schedule. The former president, though, is not slowing down on either side. https://images.law.com/contrib/conte...1903192057.jpg On the same day that Judge Chutkan denied his subpoena request, Mr Trump filed a new, 34-page motion to compel the prosecution to give him information from the Justice Department and Homeland Security, mostly on supposed threats to the integrity of the 2020 election. |
re: TRUMP Says He'll Be a Dictator on Day One & Smiths' Plan For His Path to Prison
Coup Bombshell: TRUMP Busted For Dictator Plot as Secret Texts Tie Indicted Plotter to Congress, as March Trial Looms
Jack Smiths' Plan For TRUMPS' 2020 Election Interference Trial & Path to Prison 'He acts like someone who wants to be a dictator. He acts like someone who doesn't care for the Constitution' MSN 5 DEC 2023 https://yalibnan.com/wp-content/uplo...--1024x575.jpg https://www.washingtonpost.com/resiz...F3C42DPOKM.jpg TRUMP GOP allies could return him to White House, Cheney warns: 'Supporting him equates to sleepwalking into dictatorship.' The former president faced widespread criticism last year after he called for the "termination" of parts of the U.S. Constitution over the 2020 election, which he continues to falsely claim was stolen. He also drew comparisons earlier this month to Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini after he described his political opponents as "vermin." Coup Bombshell: 'He is Not The Lesser of Two Evils': Cheney emphasizes severity of Trump threat Coup Bombshell: See Prosecutor Jack Smith's Plan For Trump Trial, Path to Prison |
re: Court Restores TRUMP GAG Order & Backed Judge In Every Way on Election FRAUD Case
TRUMP Tells Hannity He Will be a Dictator Only on Day One If Elected President
At town hall event in Iowa with Fox News host Sean Hannity, TRUMP was asked to deny that he would use ‘power as retribution’ A WARNING to America - ‘TRUMP Will Never Leave Office Again’ The Guardian UK 6 DEC 2023 https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/...d/AA1l3TD9.img TRUMP DECLINED to rule out abusing power if he returns to the White House after Fox News host Sean Hannity asked him to respond to growing Democratic criticism of his rhetoric. The Republican presidential frontrunner has talked about targeting his rivals – referring to them as “vermin” – and vowed to seek retribution if he wins a second term for what he argues are politically motivated prosecutions against him. As Trump has dominated the Republican presidential primary, president Joe Biden has stepped up his own warnings, claiming Trump is “determined to destroy American democracy”. Trump had to be asked twice during the televised town hall event in Iowa to deny that he would abuse power to seek revenge on political opponents if re-elected to the White House. https://www.washingtonpost.com/resiz...KM6FFMXQCQ.jpg --'A second Trump term will be far more autocratic than the first. He’s telling us'....Jan-Werner Müller “Under no circumstances, you are promising America tonight, you would never abuse power as retribution against anybody?” Hannity asked Trump in the interview taped in Davenport, Iowa on Tuesday. “Except for day one,” Trump responded. Trump said on the “day one” he referred to, he would use his presidential powers to close the southern border with Mexico and expand oil drilling. Trump then repeated his assertion. “I love this guy,” he said of the Fox News host. “He says, ‘You’re not going to be a dictator, are you?’ I said: ‘No, no, no, other than day one. We’re closing the border and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling.($$) After that, I’m not a dictator.’” |
re: Court Restores TRUMP GAG Order & Backed Judge In Every Way on Election FRAUD Case
Georgia Prosecutors Predict Jail Sentences in TRUMP 2020 Election Case - NO PLEA DEALS For TRUMP
Six Nevada Republicans Charged With Casting Fake Electoral Votes in 2020 The Attorney General of Arizona is Also Investigating The Fake Elector Slate There. Fake Electors in Wisconsin First to Admit Biden Won Election and Face Penalty --The group of Republicans formally acknowledged the wrongdoing and will be barred from serving as presidential electors again The Guardian 7 DEC 2023 https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/65a86...5&dpr=1&s=none Fulton county prosecutors have signaled they want prison sentences in the Georgia criminal case against TRUMP and his top allies for allegedly violating the racketeering statute as part of efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. Prosecutors are not presently expected to offer plea agreements to TRUMP, his former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and his former election lawyer Rudy Giuliani, but left open the possibility of talks with other co-defendants, the Guardian previously reported. Six Nevada Republicans Charged With Casting Fake Electoral Votes in 2020 https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/b0bef...5&dpr=1&s=none State’s attorney general charged the fake electors with two felonies each, with penalties up to five years in prison Six Republicans who cast fake electoral votes for Donald Trump in Nevada in 2020 were charged with two felonies each by the state’s attorney general on Wednesday. Fake Electors in Wisconsin A group of Republican fake electors in Wisconsin acknowledged Joe Biden won the presidency and agreed they would not serve in the electoral college in 2024 as part of a settlement agreement in a civil lawsuit on Wednesday. The settlement, first reported by the Washington Post, marks the first time any of the fake electors from 2020 have formally acknowledged wrongdoing in a legal case and have faced any kind of penalty. The case was filed by two Biden electors and a Wisconsin voter last year. They sought up to $2.4m in damages, in addition to permanently barring the fake electors from ever being able to serve as presidential electors again. No money is involved in the settlement, according to a copy of the agreement that was obtained by the Washington Post. The fake electors agreed to never serve in an election in which Donald Trump is on the ballot. They also agreed to fully cooperate in any justice department investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The lawsuit is continuing against Jim Troupis, a Wisconsin attorney who helped organize the effort there, as well as Ken Chesebro, a lawyer who was the architect of the effort to convene false slates of electors across the country. The effort to get pro-Trump slates of electors in place if allies were able to stop the certification of the presidential vote has drawn scrutiny from both federal and state prosecutors. The Michigan attorney general, Dana Nessel, has criminally charged those who served as fake electors there. Chesebro and some of the Georgia fake electors were also charged as part of the wide-ranging Rico prosecution into Trump’s efforts to overturn the election there. The attorney general of Nevada is also reportedly investigating the fake elector slate there as is the Arizona attorney general. |
re: Giuliani Blames TRUMP For Bankruptcy-'He Never Paid His Election Case Legal Fees’
Appeals Court Judges Restoring TRUMP GAG Order Backed Judge Chutkan In Every Important Way
US Appeals Court Upholds Partial Gag Order on TRUMP in 2020 Election FRAUD Case - TRUMP Slams Decision MSNBC 9 DEC 2023 https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/...q=60&m=2&f=jpg WASHINGTON, DC: On Friday, 8 December, a US federal appeals court upheld a partial gag order that barred former President Donald Trump from targeting witnesses in his 2020 election interference case. The Washington DC Circuit Court of Appeals' three-judge panel upheld Judge Tanya Chutkan's order prohibiting Trump from making statements about witnesses in the contentious case, which is due to go to trial on March 4, 2024. "Trump's public statements pose a significant and imminent threat to the fair and orderly adjudication of the ongoing criminal proceeding," the three-judge panel said in a unanimous ruling. The appeals judges modified the verdict by allowing Trump to continue his typical scathing assaults on special counsel Jack Smith, who is overseeing the prosecution, and whom the former POTUS often refers to on his beleaguered social media platform as a "deranged lunatic", a "thug," and worse. What Did The Judges Say? The judges acknowledged the ruling's political sensitivity, saying that Trump is a presidential candidate and that "there is strong public interest in what he has to say." However, they stated that no criminal defendant should be allowed to tip the balance of justice by interfering with witnesses. "He must stand trial in a courtroom under the same procedures governing any other criminal defendant," the judges said and added, "That is what the rule of law means." Judge Patricia Millet, Bradley Garcia, and Cornelia Millard served on the appeals court panel and it's worth noting that all three of them were appointed by Democratic presidents in the past. Judge Chutkan's arguments in her order were mainly supported by the judges. However, the appellate panel directed her to rewrite it to allow Trump to reference or even criticize possible witnesses even if he does not directly allude to the case or their potential testimony, per Reuters. "The interest in protecting witnesses from intimidation and harassment is doubtless compelling, but a broad prohibition on speech that is disconnected from an individual's witness role is not necessary to protect that interest, at least on the current record," Judge Millet noted for the panel. The judges affirmed Trump's ban on making comments against court staff or their families, which would include attacks on Smith's wife. They did, however, permit him to mock Smith as he saw fit, as well as other Department of Justice officials and members of President Biden's administration. Judge Chutkan, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, issued the order after Trump unleashed on potential witnesses such as ex-Vice President Mike Pence and former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, both of whom have offered some cooperation to special counsel Jack Smith's team. Prosecutors say the limits are required to maintain the case's integrity and to protect possible witnesses and anyone engaged in the case from harassment and threats prompted by Trump's inflammatory social media posts. What Did TRUMP Say About The Ruling? Trump contested the order as an infringement on his First Amendment right to free expression, particularly as he campaigns for US President being the frontrunner amongst the pool of Republican nominees for 2024. A Trump campaign official stated in response to the judgment, "President Trump will continue to fight for the First Amendment rights of tens of millions of Americans to hear from the leading presidential candidate at the height of his campaign." Trump announced on his Truth Social website that he would appeal the Circuit Court of Appeals' decision on Friday, which would then prompt for the case to be heard by the United States Supreme Court. "What is becoming of our First Amendment, what is becoming of our Country?" Trump asked in a post on his social media site, Truth Social. The former President of the United States is facing charges of attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and retain his position in power. Prosecutors allege that this effort culminated in the events leading up to the riot by his supporters on January 6, 2021. In addition to these charges, Trump is also facing a trial on RICO conspiracy counts in the state of Georgia, along with more than a dozen co-defendants, for some of the same conduct. Trump has sought to delay the case and other criminal trials because he enjoyed blanket immunity as President. However, a ruling by Judge Chutkan went against him on this issue. Trump has since appealed this ruling to the same DC appeals court, and the matter is likely to be decided by the Supreme Court. https://static01.nyt.com/images/2022...ebookJumbo.jpg It is suspected that SLY TRUMP is hoping to use this legal tactic to delay the case and other criminal trials until after the 2024 election, at which point he hopes to regain power and avoid prosecution. |
Re: Smith to Fast-Track Whether TRUMP Had Immunity For His Bid To Overturn 2020 Elect
Jack Smith Seeking TRUMP Case SCOTUS Fast-Track is High-Speed History
Special counsel Jack Smith asked the Supreme Court to decide whether former President Donald Trump has immunity from prosecution for his actions seeking to overturn the 2020 election. Daily Mail 12 DEC 2023 https://img.youtube.com/vi/lUmepwTSF3Q/0.jpg MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell analyzes a flurry of new filings in Special Counsel Jack Smiths’ case against Donald Trump for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, including the U.S. Supreme Courts’ decision to consider whether to fast-track TRUMPs’ appeal on presidential immunity grounds. MORE; Special Counsel to Disclose TRUMPs’ Phone Data at Election Interference Trial Filing suggests experts could connect former president’s tweets with the movements of January 6 rioters who stormed the Capitol... The Guardian 12 DEC 2023 https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/57d2e...5&dpr=1&s=none Special counsel prosecutors indicated on Monday they will call three expert witnesses at Donald Trump’s trial over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election who could potentially show how January 6 rioters moved on the Capitol in response to the former president’s tweets. The witnesses, according to a three-page filing, involve two experts on geolocation data to show the crowd’s movement during and after Trump’s speech at the Ellipse, and an expert on cellular phone data to testify about when and how Trump’s phone was being used, including over the same time period. Expert 3 will testify that they extracted data from official government phones belonging to Trump and one unnamed individual, how the phones were used in the post-2020 election period, including the websites visited, and when Trump’s phone accessed Twitter during January 6. The fact that the special counsel, Jack Smith, had obtained warrants for Trump’s phone and Trump’s Twitter/X account was disclosed in unsealed court filings. But the description of the anticipated testimony suggested they gathered more granular information than previously known. The notice of expert testimony in Trump’s federal 2020 election interference case – he is also facing a 2020 interference case in Fulton county, Georgia – also reveals how prosecutors intend to deploy the evidence they amassed during the criminal investigation at trial. In recent weeks, prosecutors have made it increasingly clear that they want to make the case that Trump sought to obstruct the January 6 congressional certification of the election results with the rioters by tying him to the Capitol attack, as well as through political means. The notice about the subject of the expert witness testimony suggests prosecutors also intend to make the case that Trump – through his action and inaction – simultaneously advanced the physical obstruction of Congress as the Capitol attack progressed. Testimony from the first two geolocation experts will help to “aid the jury in understanding the movements of individuals toward the Capitol area during and after the defendant’s speech at the Ellipse”, the filing said. Still, the filing stopped short of claiming that the experts could definitely say who used the phones at any given moment, probably because Trump often used other people’s phones and had aide Dan Scavino compose tweets for him – something Trumps’ defense lawyers are almost certain to focus on. |
re: Giuliani Blames TRUMP For Bankruptcy-'He Never Paid His Election Case Legal Fees’
In History Justice Kavanaugh Destroyed TRUMPS Attempt at Immunity Claim- NO 'Pardon' For NIXONS' Attempt 25 Years Ago
Federal Prosecutors Shot Back at TRUMPS Bid to Have His CRIMINAL Charges Thrown Out. TRUMPS Claim of immunity from prosecution defies American history, special counsel argues The Guardian 14 DEC 2023 https://static5.businessinsider.com/...-trump-185.jpg Donald Trumps lawyers contended earlier this month that he can’t be prosecuted for efforts to overturn that election because they related to his official responsibility as president After Special Counsel Jack Smith asked the Supreme Court to take up TRUMPS claims of presidential immunity, MSNBC analyzes a 25-year-old filing from Brett Kavanaugh that shoots down the legal arguments of the president who would go on to appoint him to the Supreme Court. Justice Department prosecutors asked the Supreme Court Monday to decide if former President Donald Trump can get out of the federal indictment for trying to overturn the 2020 election, asking the court to decide “promptly” whether Trump is immune from the charges against him in order to have the dispute resolved before the 2024 election. Donald Trumps argument that as a former president he enjoys “absolute immunity” from criminal prosecution is sharply refuted by nearly all of American history, special counsel Jack Smith argued Thursday. Invokes US v. Nixon http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2011...8b1-s6-c30.jpg The special counsel’s team is pointing to a similar maneuver employed in US v. Nixon, the 1974 Supreme Court case in which the justices rejected then-President Richard Nixon’s claims of presidential privilege in a subpoena fight over Oval Office tapes. In that case, the high court moved quickly to resolve the matter so that one of the Watergate-era cases could proceed swiftly. “Historically, the Supreme Court has rarely agreed to this kind of gambit – to take up an appeal before a federal court of appeals has had a chance to do so” “But not only has the court shown far more willingness to expedite appeals since 2019, even before then, this was the exact kind of case in which it would have agreed to move quickly,” Vladeck added. In their appeal to the Supreme Court, prosecutors with the special counsel wrote that “nothing could be more vital to our democracy” than holding a former president accountable if they break the law. In a 54-page filing taking on Trump’s sweeping bid to derail the federal criminal case against him over his efforts to upend the results of the 2020 election, Smith’s team cited the prosecution of Aaron Burr, the pardon of Richard Nixon, the civil lawsuit against Bill Clinton and Trump’s own comments on his impeachment trial in 2021 for allegedly inciting an insurrection at the Capitol. In every instance, prosecutors said, the Constitution and those tasked with upholding it make clear that former presidents can be prosecuted criminally for actions they took while in office. “The implications of the defendant’s unbounded immunity theory are startling,” prosecutor James Pearce and other lawyers from Smith’s team argued. “It would grant absolute immunity from criminal prosecution to a president who accepts a bribe in exchange for a lucrative government contract for a family member; a president who instructs his FBI Director to plant incriminating evidence on a political enemy; a president who orders the National Guard to murder his most prominent critics; or a president who sells nuclear secrets to a foreign adversary.” The dispute is the first substantive showdown over the legal framework that will define the prosecution of Trump for conspiracies he allegedly led while attempting to subvert the 2020 election. Trump’s lawyers contended earlier this month that he simply can’t be prosecuted for efforts to overturn that election because they related to his official responsibility as president to safeguard federal elections. But prosecutors said Trump’s efforts to illegally pressure state and federal officials to subvert a lawful election were fundamentally political in nature and not part of his job. And in any case, prosecutors added, such a sweeping assertion would turn the Constitution on its head — particularly because the founding document envisions the prosecution of former presidents for crimes that may occur while in office. While Trump is known for wrapping himself in the flag, sometimes literally, Smith’s team painted his legal position as essentially un-American — beginning their brief by rejecting his own comparisons to Washington and Lincoln. “Throughout American history, there have been federal criminal prosecutions of high-ranking officials from all three branches of the federal government — including the Vice President, members of the Cabinet, Senators, Representatives, and judges — as well as of governors, mayors, sheriffs, and more,” prosecutors wrote. “Far from chilling public officials in the exercise of their duties, these prosecutions have helped ensure that officials and citizens alike know that ours is a system based on the rule of law, applicable without fear or favor to even the most powerful public officials.” Well into their brief, Smith’s prosecutors cited one authority the judge overseeing the case, Tanya Chutkan, is undoubtedly familiar with: her 2021 decision rejecting Trump’s bid to shield his presidential papers from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection. “Presidents are not kings,” Chutkan famously wrote. While that was a civil dispute, prosecutors contend the rationale she cited two years ago applies even more strongly to criminal prosecutions. “The principle that no one is above the law underlies the universal consensus that a president may be subject to criminal prosecution at some point,” the brief says. Prosecutors also sharply rejected Trumps contention that his acquittal in a 2021 impeachment trial — for allegedly inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol — barred his criminal prosecution on the matter two years later. Notably, they said, Trump took the precise opposite position during that trial, contending that he couldn’t be put on trial by the Senate as a former president because he was now subject to potential criminal prosecution. Smith’s team also cited the statements of more than 30 Republican senators — including GOP leader Mitch McConnell — who agreed with Trump at the time, rejecting the Senate trial because they viewed the criminal justice system as the proper forum for accountability. The impeachment charge, prosecutors added, was about inciting the Jan. 6 attack, while his criminal charges allege that he mounted three conspiracies to subvert state and federal election processes for months before the violence at the Capitol. Trump faces two criminal cases focused on his attempt to remain in office notwithstanding the election results: the federal one brought by a grand jury in Washington in early August and another brought by a state-court grand jury in Fulton County, Ga., a couple of weeks later. The resolution of the presidential immunity issue in the D.C. case could influence the case in Georgia, particularly if Trump pursues a pretrial appeal and the immunity issue ends up landing quickly before an appeals court or the U.S. Supreme Court. Trump is also pursuing an aggressive immunity argument in a series of civil lawsuits brought against him by people injured or terrorized during the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol. A federal judge in Washington rejected his absolute immunity claim in those suits, but Trump has appealed to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. DOJ Takes Trump To Supreme Court: Asks Justices If Trump Has Immunity In Criminal Election Case MORE; Judge Pauses TRUMP Election Interference Case in an Order That Could Delay March Trial The federal judge overseeing Donald Trumps 2020 election interference case has temporarily paused all procedural deadlines while appeals over a major issue play out – which could lead to his March 2024 trial date being pushed back. https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/...,w_1480,c_fill The order from Judge Tanya Chutkan acknowledged that she no longer has jurisdiction over aspects of the criminal case while the DC Circuit Court of Appeals considers whether Trump is immune and can be tried. In a bid to speed that appeals process, special counsel Jack Smith has asked the Supreme Court to step in. Special counsel Jack Smith and former President Donald Trump Chutkan said in her order that the trial date of March 4, 2024, could be affected, and that she would reconsider that date when the appeals process has concluded. Chutkan, however, said that the pause does not bar her from enforcing measures she has already imposed to “safeguard the integrity of these proceedings,” including the limited gag order against Trump and his conditions of release. “(I)f a criminal defendant could bypass those critical safeguards merely by asserting immunity and then appealing its denial, then during the appeal’s pendency, the defendant could irreparably harm any future proceedings and their participants,” she wrote. Earlier this week, Smith asked the US Supreme Court to take the rare step of skipping over the federal appeals court to quickly decide fundamental issues to the Trump case – whether the former president has immunity from criminal prosecution for alleged crimes he committed while in office, and whether Trump is protected by double jeopardy because he was acquitted by the Senate during his impeachment trial. Prosecutors simultaneously asked the DC Circuit to expedite its review of the immunity matter, so that the case can be quickly appealed to the high court under the regular appeals process if the justices don’t agree to immediately hear the case. Defense attorneys have pushed back against an expedited appeals process, saying that prosecutors are trying to disrupt their holiday travel plans and to “disenfranchise” voters in 2024. |
re: Giuliani Blames TRUMP For Bankruptcy-'He Never Paid His Election Case Legal Fees’
Conservative Judge Delivers Major Setback to Key TRUMP Ally
CNN News 21 DEC 2023 https://tse1.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.V...=Api&P=0&h=180 Judge Rejects Mark Meadows’ Attempt to Move Election FRAUD Case to FED Court A federal appeals court rejected Mark Meadows’ effort to move his Georgia election interference case to federal court. |
re: Giuliani Blames TRUMP For Bankruptcy-'He Never Paid His Election Case Legal Fees’
Caught: TRUMP Pressuring 2020 MI Election Officials in Newly Revealed Audio
TRUMP was captured on audio telling Michigan election workers they'd look 'terrible' if they certified the election, new report says MSNBC 22 DEC 2023 https://i.insider.com/654816523cc84b...be87?width=700 Craig Mauger, state politics reporter for The Detroit News, says he's heard newly revealed audio recordings of Trump pressuring Michigan officials not to certify Bidens' 2020 win in that state. The audio showed Trump and Ronna McDaniel telling the election workers they'd help them get lawyers. A Trump spokesperson said he was doing his duty as president to "ensure election integrity." Former President Donald Trump pressured election workers in Michigan not to sign papers certifying the election results, according to audio obtained by The Detroit News. The phone call, which took place on November 17, 2020, included Trump, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, and two Republican members of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers, Monica Palmer and William Hartmann. Wayne County, which includes the city of Detroit, is the largest in Michigan, a swing state Trump lost to Joe Biden in 2020. Trump told the canvassers they would look "terrible" if they signed the papers to certify the election after having previously voted against certification, according to The Detroit News. "We've got to fight for our country," Trump said, according to The Detroit News. "We can't let these people take our country away from us." McDaniel told the pair not to sign the document and said, "We will get you attorneys," the outlet reported. "We'll take care of that," Trump added. Trump's office and the RNC did not immediately respond to Business Insider's requests for comment. Palmer told The Detroit News that she and Hartmann had taken the call but she could not recall what was said. Hartmann died in 2021. Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung told The Detroit News Trump's behavior was "taken in furtherance of his duty as president of the United States to faithfully take care of the laws and ensure election integrity, including investigating the rigged and stolen 2020 presidential election." "What I said publicly and repeatedly at the time, as referenced in my letter on Nov. 21, 2020, is that there was ample evidence that warranted an audit," McDaniel said in a statement to The Detroit News, referencing a letter she wrote to the Board of State Canvassers requesting an audit of the election in Michigan. Palmer and Hartmann had initially voted against certifying the election, but they then voted in favor of it later during the same meeting, The Detroit News reported. They ended up not signing the certification statement and the next day tried to take back their vote in favor of certification. The Michigan Bureau of Elections determined Palmer and Hartmann's signatures were not needed to advance the election certification, Jonathan Kinloch, a Democrat on the Wayne County Board of Canvassers, told the outlet. The call was reminiscent of Trump's infamous call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in which the president pressured him to "find" an additional 11,780 votes, or one more than what Biden had beaten him by in the state. "The people of Georgia are angry — the people in the country are angry," Trump said on the call. "And there's nothing wrong with saying, you know, um, that you've recalculated." Trump defended his call with Raffensperger, calling it "perfect" and saying he "didn't say anything wrong in the call." The call helped fuel Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis's criminal investigation into the efforts to overturn the election. The investigation ultimately resulted in Trump and 18 co-defendants being charged with racketeering for an alleged plot to subvert the 2020 election. History Has Bad News For TRUMP and His Hope For Supreme Court Salvation...as; Jack Smith keeps heat on Supreme Court to deal with TRUMP issues quickly |
re: Giuliani Blames TRUMP For Bankruptcy-'He Never Paid His Election Case Legal Fees’
Supreme Court Won't Immediately Settle TRUMP Immunity Claim
The Supreme Court Helped TRUMPS’ Delay Strategy. Ex-presidents' trial on election subversion charges faces long delay after special prosecutors' request turned down The Guardian 23 DEC 2023 https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/...q=60&m=2&f=jpg TRUMP won a significant legal victory after the Supreme Court turned down a request from special prosecutor Jack Smith to expedite his claim for immunity. The decision means that TRUMPS’ trial on four election subversion charges, which was due to start on March 4, is likely to be delayed for several months. As a result of the ruling, TRUMPS’ attempt to have the case dismissed on the grounds of presidential immunity will have to work its way through the appeal courts. He seized on the ruling to send out another fundraising appeal....AS USUAL... “I will still have to fight for my rights in the Appeals Court – as the Biden Special Counsel will do everything in their power to rush my fake trial and wrongly convict me before the 2024 election.” The former president, who faces a barrage of litigation, has sought to delay the cases until after the election in the hope that he will be able to order the Justice Department to dismiss the charges if he returns to the White House. Mr Smith sought to head off the delay, at least in the Jan 6 trial, by asking the Supreme Court to fast-track a hearing on immunity cTRUMPS’laim, enabling the case to start as scheduled in March. He urged the justices to bypass the appeals court system to protect the original trial timetable. ‘An Extraordinary Case’ Mr Smith wrote; “This case presents a fundamental question at the heart of our democracy: whether a former president is absolutely immune from federal prosecution for crimes committed while in office or is constitutionally protected from federal prosecution when he has been impeached but not convicted before the criminal proceedings begin,” “The United States recognises that this is an extraordinary request,” he added. “This is an extraordinary case.” Tanya Chutkan, who is hearing the subversion case, rejected TRUMPS’ claims of absolute immunity because the actions took place while he was still in office. However, Judge Chutkan also put the case on hold until higher courts had ruled on the former presidents’ immunity claims. TRUMPS’lawyers argued that Mr Smiths’ attempt to fast-track the immunity hearing was politically motivated. |
re: Giuliani Blames TRUMP For Bankruptcy-'He Never Paid His Election Case Legal Fees’
As Supreme Court Elects to Wait, TRUMP Takes Immunity Claim to D.C. Circuit
TRUMP asks appeals court to toss federal election interference case. He argued that he has broad immunity protecting him from prosecution. Lawyer Claims TRUMP Quoted Hitlers’ Comments Word For Word MSNBC 25 DEC 2023 https://i0.gmx.ch/image/312/33473312...nald-trump.jpg TRUMPS' legal team has filed a brief asking a federal appeals court to toss the D.C. election subversion case against him, claiming his actions as president are immune from prosecution. Donald Trump on Saturday demanded that the D.C. Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals toss the federal election interference case against him, arguing again that presidential immunity protects him from prosecution. “The structure of our government, the text of the Constitution and its early commentators, common-law immunity doctrines, our political history, the Supreme Court’s analogous immunity doctrines, and the policy considerations rooted in the separation of powers all dictate that no President, current or former, may be criminally prosecuted for his official acts unless he is first impeached and convicted by the Senate,” Trump lawyers wrote in a brief to the D.C. Circuit. “Nor may a President face criminal prosecution based on conduct for which he was acquitted by the U.S. Senate,” he added. “The indictment against President Trump is unlawful and unconstitutional. It must be dismissed.” Top Attorney Sounds The Alarm Over Massive Republican THREAT of Rigourous Purges to Control Voting ----Marc Elias warns of Republican efforts to undermine the voter rolls in states across the country. Lawyer Claims TRUMP Quoted Hitlers’ Comments Word For Word |
re: Giuliani Blames TRUMP For Bankruptcy-'He Never Paid His Election Case Legal Fees’
FBI Investigate Threats Against Colorado Judges Who Ruled Against Donald Trump
TRUMPS' Encouraged Followers on His Truth Social to React - Trumpers Send Death Threats To Judges After Colorado Ruling Colorado Supreme Court facing a flood of threats after disqualifying Donald Trump from ballot BBC 27 DEC 2023 https://d1ndsj6b8hkqu9.cloudfront.ne...-20511-1hr17l6 TRUMP supporters are flooding the Colorado Supreme Court with violent threats. One user wrote: "If you live in Colorado, do what the founding fathers ACTUALLY would want. Grab your rifles and some rope." Police in Colorado are investigating threats made against judges who ruled Donald Trump cannot be listed on the state's presidential primary ballot. Denver Police said they was providing extra patrols around the homes of justices in the city. The Denver FBI office said it was assisting local police. Colorado's Supreme Court ruled last week that Mr Trump is ineligible under a US Constitution clause that bars candidates who engage in insurrection. Mr Trump and his campaign criticised the 4-3 decision, calling it "deeply flawed", and his campaign has vowed to appeal to the US Supreme Court. The ruling relied on Section 3 of the Constitution's 14th Amendment, which was enacted after the US Civil War to block Confederate secessionists from returning to power in the reunified country. The provision states that any official who "engaged in insurrection or rebellion" is disqualified from holding federal office. The majority on the Colorado court ruled that Mr Trump's actions during the Capitol riot on 6 January 2021 amounted to insurrection. After news of the ruling came out, a slew of threats against the judges were posted online, according to Advance Democracy, a non-partisan research group that monitors pro-Trump networks. Some of the posts included personal details, such as the addresses and phone numbers of the judges, the group said. Threats to hang and shoot the judges were posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as the messaging service Telegram, the Trump-owned Truth Social network and several other fringe websites. Some have been taken down, while some were still live on Tuesday. Among Trumps' calls for peaceful protests and political action, there were also explicit calls for violence. In a statement, Denver Police said it would "thoroughly investigate any reports of threats or harassment" but declined to provide further details, citing privacy concerns and the ongoing inquiries. Daniel J Jones, Advance Democracy's president, warned that he has observed "significant violent language and threats being made against the Colorado justices and others perceived to be behind Colorado's Supreme Court ruling". "The normalisation of this type of violent rhetoric is cause for significant concern and it's appropriate for law enforcement to respond with protective actions," he added. Alongside threats and warnings of violence and "civil war", there were also unevidenced allegations that the extreme rhetoric was a "trap" or "false flag" designed to goad law-abiding Trump supporters into committing violence. One user wrote "I know it's all a trap," but said they would still "cheer" if the justices were victims of targeted violence. The Colorado case was brought by a liberal watchdog group and a collection of anti-Trump Republican and independent voters. Mr Trump has until 4 January to appeal the Colorado ruling, and legal experts say that it will have a tough time withstanding the scrutiny of the conservative-leaning US Supreme Court. Mr Trump's Republican challengers have rallied around him on the issue, and Democrats are concerned that the court ruling will further fuel the former president's insistence he is being unfairly targeted by the judicial system. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-ap...6KSA.jpg&w=916 Trump himself posted dozens of times on Truth Social over the holiday weekend, criticising the Colorado decision and the many other legal cases against him. http://img.rlsbb.to/images/ws72zWh.jpg |
re: Giuliani Blames TRUMP For Bankruptcy-'He Never Paid His Election Case Legal Fees’
Michigan Supreme Court Rules TRUMP Will Stay on State Ballot Despite Accusations of insurrection From Jan 6 Capitol Attack
Michigan is expected to be a key battleground state in the 2024 presidential election The Guardian 28 DEC 2023 https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/25b36...5&dpr=1&s=none Donald Trump will remain on Michigan’s state ballot after a ruling from the Michigan supreme court on Wednesday, which upheld a lower court order. The move sets the stage for the former president to participate in the Michigan primary despite accusations that he led an insurrection against the United States. The court’s decision not to move forward with a case against Trump sets the court in sharp contrast to the Colorado supreme court, which recently ruled to strip Trump from its state primary ballot because of his role in the January 6 riot at the US Capitol. In Michigan, as in Colorado, the challengers have invoked section 3 of the US constitution’s 14th amendment, which broadly blocks people from holding government office if they “have engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the US constitution having previously sworn an oath to uphold it. Legal experts are divided on whether this provision, written against the backdrop of the US civil war, applies to the office of the president. There are also questions as to whether Trump’s actions around January 6 legally constitute “insurrection or rebellion”. Colorado’s decision is currently paused. More than a dozen states have similar litigation in the works, according to a database maintained by Lawfare, which covers national security issues. The Michigan supreme court justices did not give a reasoning for their decision. https://tse2.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.X...=0&w=296&h=159 TRUMP Facing Prison, Ballot Ban or Trial Delay? Judges May Decide TRUMPS' Fate in 2024 |
Re: MAINE Dumps TRUMP-NOT Eligible For Election Ballot: Colorado Puts Him BACK in Pri
MAINE Dumps TRUMP: Secretary of State Rules He's NOT Eligible For Election Ballot
Maine's secretary of state, Shanna Bellows, announced her decision on Thursday evening. Bellows ruled that Trump is not eligible to appear on her state's ballot because he engaged in insurrection on January 6, 2021 - violating the 14th Amendment Colorado Puts Him BACK in 2024 Primary Daily Mail 29 DEC 2023 https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12...3792062068.jpg Maine has become the second state to disqualify Donald Trump from the primary ballot, citing the 14th Amendment's ban on anyone who engaged in insurrection from holding office. https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12...3809826124.jpg The decision by Maine's secretary of state, Shenna Bellows, follows a similar conclusion made on December 19 by Colorado's Supreme Court. Trump's team on Thursday night said they will appeal the decision, as they will in Colorado. On Thursday, the Republican Party in Colorado appealed against their Supreme Court's decision, meaning that he is back on the ballot until an expected U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Bellows, a Democrat, concluded that Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination in 2024, incited an insurrection when he spread false claims about voter fraud in the 2020 election and then urged his supporters to march on the Capitol to stop lawmakers from certifying the vote. Bellows suspended her decision until the state Supreme Court ruled on the matter. https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12...3770493156.jpg Four justices appointed by Democratic governors, Justices, Richard L. Gabriel, Melissa Hart, William W. Hood III and Monica Márquez, all circled, voted to disqualify the former president from Colorado's presidential primary ballot |
Re: Murder at State of The Union-Election FRAUD-DOJ Outlines TRUMPS' Nightmare Scenar
Murder at The State of The Union? Nightmare TRUMP Scenarios Outlined in DOJ COUP Case
Big Lie Bombshell: Man TRUMP Hired to Prove Election FRAUD Says He Debunked it to TRUMP and Meadows TRUMP Appeals Maine Ruling Taking Him Off The 2024 Ballot Because of Previous Election FRAUD MailOnline 3 JAN 2024 https://static01.nyt.com/images/2021...ByNine3000.jpg In a new filing, Jack Smith outlines what could happen if Donald Trump is granted immunity in the Jan. 6 coup case, saying “the Nation would have no recourse to deter a President from inciting his supporters during a State of the Union address to kill opposing lawmakers... to ensure that he remains in office unlawfully. Donald Trump hired a man to prove his election fraud claims. Now that man says he debunked those election fraud conspiracies to both Donald Trump and Mark Meadows as the Trump campaign conducted its 2020 campaign, after finding no evidence. That man, Ken Block, author of the upcoming book, "Disproven: My Unbiased Search for Voter Fraud for the Trump Campaign, the Data That Shows Why He Lost, and How We Can Improve Our Elections," joins Joy Reid with his allegations. TRUMPS' Criminal Turmoil is About to Overshadow The Campaign Trail The presidential election is about to become inextricably entangled with Donald Trumps criminal turmoil as his crushing calendar of legal obligations collides with the race to the Iowa caucuses in two weeks. |
re: Giuliani Blames TRUMP For Bankruptcy-'He Never Paid His Election Case Legal Fees’
TRUMP Vet Roger Stone Busted on Tape: I Told TRUMP to Deploy Military With Insurrection Act’
Busted: As TRUMP Eyes Jail Risk, New Report Shows Millions From U.S. Adversaries Abroad Ex-Presidents’ businesses received millions in foreign payments while he was in office MailOnline 5 JAN 2024 https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/asse...-super-169.jpg Roger Stone told TRUMP to seize total power if he loses the election Stone also said federal authorities should seize all Nevada ballots, federal agents and GOP state officials should “physically” block voting, that Trump should nationalize police forces, and that Trump should order widespread arrests New video evidence shows TRUMP adviser Roger Stone – convicted in the Mueller probe and later pardoned by Trump – recounting that he told TRUMP to use a federal law to deploy the military before the election. TRUMP did not follow that advice, but a new documentary, “A Storm Foretold,” tracks Stones’ actions around January 6 https://cloudfront.mediamatters.org/...&itok=jfP2_W-q TRUMP received at least $7.8 million in payments from foreign governments, during two of his four years in the White House, according to a new House report. MSNBC’s Ari Melber reports on the findings, and wider significance of legal bans on foreign payments, as foreign forces try to use money to corrupt politicians. TRUMP -New Report Busts Millions From U.S. Adversaries Abroad A Storm Foretold - FULL VIDEO |
Re: TRUMP Immunity Appeal Shattered by Panel of Three Woman Judges at D.C. Circuit Co
TRUMP Immunity Appeal Shattered by Panel of Three Woman Judges at Washington D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals
TRUMP Warns of Pandoras Box of Presidential Prosecutions If Charges Against Him Stand Arguments made by lawyers for Donald Trump at the Washington, D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals that he should be entitled to presidential immunity for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 reaction, including the tough questioning from a three-judge panel who didn’t seem inclined to side with him. NBC 10 JAN 2024 https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020...ByNine3000.jpg Law professors, attorneys and legal analysts have roundly dismissed Donald Trumps claim to have “absolute immunity” from prosecution for any acts he committed when president. Trumps’ attorneys on Tuesday argued to a three-judge panel for the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals that presidents can’t be prosecuted unless they are impeached and then convicted by the Senate. The claim came as Trumps legal team sought to nix felony charges against the former president for his role in inciting the deadly U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. The argument was greeted with skepticism from the panel. As it was by legal experts commenting on the claim. Harvard University constitutional law professor Laurence Tribe told MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell it was “a ridiculous argument.” He said, “It would be absolutely astonishing if any panel of judges, let alone a panel as qualified and smart as this one, were to give the Trump argument the time of day.” He added, “It’s not an argument that any real lawyer would have come up with” and “makes no sense.” Trump In Court: HEAR DOJ Spar With Trump Team in Historic Immunity Clash I Full Hearing Judge asks if a president can order SEAL Team 6 to assassinate a rival. Hear Trump's lawyer respond ‘Ludicrous’: Hear the ‘strangest’ argument from Trump’s immunity hearing Trumps' coup nightmare comes true: Jan. 6 attacker's own videos get him convicted |
re: Giuliani Blames TRUMP For Bankruptcy-'He Never Paid His Election Case Legal Fees’
TRUMP Compares Himself to a Rogue Cop in UNHINGED Rant Demanding Criminal Immunity
TRUMP invokes ‘rogue cops’ and ‘bad apples’ to explain why he needs total immunity MSNBC 20 JAN 2024 https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/asse...uper-tease.jpg “It’s particularly notable that TRUMP compared himself to ‘rogue cops’ and ‘bad apples,’” says Chris Hayes on TRUMPS’ rant demanding criminal immunity. “TRUMPS’ theory...is that he deserves even less scrutiny than the already threadbare we’ve set for police in this country.” Faced with numerous legal battles, Donald Trump is once again arguing that he should be granted immunity from criminal prosecution – even in the case of events that “cross the line”. At 2am on Thursday, in an all-caps post on his social media platform Truth Social, the former president wrote that all presidents should have “full immunity” in order to “properly function” in their position. “ANY MISTAKE, EVEN IF WELL INTENDED, WOULD BE MET WITH ALMOST CERTAIN INDICTMENT BY THE OPPOSING PARTY AT TERM END,” he wrote. “EVEN EVENTS THAT ‘CROSS THE LINE’ MUST FALL UNDER TOTAL IMMUNITY, OR IT WILL BE YEARS OF TRAUMA TRYING TO DETERMINE GOOD FROM BAD.” Mr Trump has been attempting to get federal charges against him, which accuse him of election interference, dismissed. A federal appeals court is expected to make a ruling on the matter soon. So far, the three-judge panel does not seem likely to rule in his favour. In the Truth Social post on Thursday, Mr Trump invoked the example of “rogue cops” and “bad apples” in police departments for why he should be immune from prosecution. “YOU CAN’T STOP POLICE FROM DOING THE JOB OF STRONG & EFFECTIVE CRIME PREVENTION BECAUSE YOU WANT TO GUARD AGAINST THE OCCASIONAL ‘ROGUE COP’ OR ‘BAD APPLE,’” he wrote. “SOMETIMES YOU JUST HAVE TO LIVE WITH ‘GREAT BUT SLIGHTLY IMPERFECT.’” In the midst of his 2024 presidential campaign, Mr Trump is facing several separate court cases against him, including 91 criminal charges across four separate indictments. Currently in New York, E Jean Carroll — who has accused Mr Trump of sexual assault — is in federal court for her a civil defamation case against him. He also faces a judgment following a civil fraud trial stemming from accusations that he vastly inflated his net worth in order to fraudulently obtain favourable financing terms. The frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination is also facing criminal charges in Georgia for election interference, as well as a federal case over allegations that he mishandled classified documents. |
re: Giuliani Blames TRUMP For Bankruptcy-'He Never Paid His Election Case Legal Fees’
Request DENIED: D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Declines to Hear TRUMP Gag Order Appeal Again
Court rejects TRUMPS’ request to reconsider appeal against gag order in election interference case Decision by US court of appeals to deny TRUMP a rehearing paves way for potential final challenge to US supreme court The Guardian 25 JAN 2024 https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/a607a...5&dpr=1&s=none A federal appeals court on Tuesday rejected Donald Trumps request that it reconsider his appeal against a gag order imposed against him in the criminal case over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, the latest defeat for the former president in his attempt to remove the restrictions. The decision by the US court of appeals to deny Trump an “en banc” rehearing – where the full bench of judges consider the matter – paves the way for him to lodge a final appeal with the US supreme court. For months, Trump has been attempting to free himself from a limited protective order entered by the US district judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing the criminal case in Washington, which has prevented him from making inflammatory statements that could intimidate trial witnesses or poison the jury pool. The gag order came after special counsel prosecutors complained that Trump’s brazen public statements attacking them, court staff and potential trial witnesses could chill witness testimony and impede the fair administration of justice. The filing from prosecutors drew attention to Trump’s rally speeches and posts on his Truth Social platform. In one post, Trump attacked his vice-president, Mike Pence, wildly claiming he had “made up stories about me” and had gone over to the “dark side” by talking to prosecutors. Trump has also attacked Gen Mark Milley, the former chair of the joint chiefs of staff and another likely trial witness, after his testimony was cited in the indictment. Trump suggested that Milley had committed treason and mused that people who committed treason have historically been executed. Chutkan agreed with prosecutors and issued an order preventing Trump from assailing prosecutors, court staff and trial witnesses. She allowed Trump only to have free rein to attack the Biden administration and the US justice department, and to allege the case was politically motivated. Trump appealed but had his challenge largely rejected by a three-judge panel at the DC circuit, which upheld the restrictions with the caveat that Trump would also be free to assail the special counsel Jack Smith and people involved in post-2020 election matters as long as he did not target their trial testimony. The panel rejected Trump’s position that there could only be a gag order after a statement by him had chilled a witness to be misguided, not least because the point of the gag order was to ensure no such harm would occur in the first place. The chilly reception that Trump has received from the DC circuit over his gag order appeals has been unsurprising. Protective orders are standard in criminal cases, and federal appeals courts are generally loath to interfere with the wide discretion enjoyed by trial judges.“Mr Trump is a former president and current candidate for the presidency,” the appeals court wrote in a 68-page opinion. “But Mr Trump is also an indicted criminal defendant, and he must stand trial in a courtroom under the same procedures that govern all other criminal defendants.” |
Re: Giuliani Blames TRUMP For Bankruptcy-'He Never Paid His Election Case Legal Fees’
Rudy Giuliani Targets TRUMP For Unpaid Election Case Legal Fees’ in New Bankruptcy Filing
Former TRUMP lawyer Rudy Giuliani raises less than $1 million from 13 donors in legal defense fund AP 31 JAN 2024 https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/X8...313544c789b096 Rudy Giuliani speaks to members of the media on 21 January 2024 in Manchester, New Hampshire TRUMPS former lawyer Rudy Giuliani has listed a claim against the one-term president over unpaid legal fees in a new bankruptcy filing. The ex-New York City mayor includes a “possible claim for unpaid legal fees against Donald J Trump.” in the 26 January filing, which states that the amount is “undetermined.” Mr Giuliani filed for bankruptcy last month, days after a federal judge ordered him to “immediately” pay more than $148m to a pair of Georgia election workers a jury determined he defamed. Mr Giuliani represented Mr Trump in a string of unsuccessful lawsuits contesting the results of the 2020 election that he lost to Joe Biden. Mr Trump’s legal fees owed to Mr Giuliani have previously been reported. The New York Times wrote in August 2023 that “Mr Trump has never explicitly told Mr Giuliani why he is effectively stiffing him, but the former president has pointed out that he lost the cases related to the election.” The newspaper reported that the former president told his aides that he didn’t want Mr Giuliani to receive “a dime” unless he succeeded in the case, and noted that $340,000 had been paid to Mr Giuliani — through Trump’s Save America PAC — to cover some of his ex-lawyers’ legal debt. |
| All times are GMT. The time now is 05:28. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
SEO by vBSEO 3.5.2