After several interesting hearings and court filings last week, U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon has indicated she is likely to postpone the trial schedule requested by Special Counsel Jack Smith due to the scope of material evidence and the need for defense attorneys to review slow production by the prosecution.
As noted by journalist Julie Kelly, who has attended the hearings, “On Friday morning, [Cannon] announced a stay, or suspension, of all pre-trial deadlines as she prepares a formal order to explain her thinking and very likely issue a new trial date.”
Bad News / Good News – Before getting to the great summary outline provided by Kelly, it is worth remembering one of the challenges in the case, which fortunately Judge Cannon has great familiarity with.
You might remember when the issue of defining “classified documents” surfaced, Judge Cannon appointed a “special master” to review the documents and make determinations. The prosecution filed an appeal to that approach and won within the 11th Circuit based on an outlook the Jack Smith team is relying on.
Essentially the appellate court ruled on the DOJ calling the material “classified” and “vital to national security”, by saying in the court’s determination they have no authority to question the decision of the executive branch when it comes to matters of national security. {Go Deep}
[Source]
The appellate court (judicial branch) stated they defer to the DOJ (executive branch) as to any/all claims of harm to national security that may be caused by a review of documents the DOJ-NSD determine, on their own authority, to be identified as classified (sensitive, secret or top-secret). Therefore, if the DOJ states sharing the “classified documents” with a special master may harm national security, the court must accept that position without challenge.
The Trump legal team did not appeal this 11th Circuit Appeals Court ruling for valid reasons.
The Supreme Court would not want to touch the issue of “classified documents” and/or how they are defined by the agencies in the Executive Branch. Any review of definitions by the executive could be interpreted as interfering in the plenary power of the Executive Branch to make decisions about national security.
To take up the issue would be to create consequences putting the Supreme Court in the middle of any classification argument beyond the Trump case. Think about FOIA requests denied due to “National Security” or classification status.
If the Supreme Court interjected in the debate between President Trump and Special Counsel Jack Smith, they would be stepping into an argument within the Executive Branch. This could be perceived as setting precedent for any denied FOIA lawsuit to appeal directly to SCOTUS, and that would create an entire apparatus of the High Court now being the arbiter of what is “classified intelligence” and what is not. This exceeds their constitutional limitations and separation.
If the executive branch wants to call the dinner menu between President Trump and Chairman Xi a classified document in the interests of national security, they can. The Supreme Court is not going to step in and be the arbiter to determine validity of the classification status.
This outlook of the judicial branch plays into the hands of Special Counsel Jack Smith and the unprecedented Lawfare approach.
Jack Smith (Weissmann/Eisen) knows the High Court doesn’t want to get involved in an “inside executive” dispute, not on this granular stuff. So, he is leveraging the ability of the current politics within the executive to his advantage. Essentially, the executive rules are whatever the current executive says they are.
That brings us to last week, and Judge Aileen Cannon who can clearly see the approach Jack Smith is taking. Julie Kelly has a great summary of the week in the Florida court:
Julie Kelly – […] “The games already have begun. For example, Trump this week filed a motion at the appellate court in D.C. seeking an emergency stay (or hold) on Chutkan’s broad gag order. If the appellate court, stacked with Obama appointees, ultimately denies the request, Trump’s team signaled they are prepared to seek immediate relief at the Supreme Court. (Late Friday, a three-judge panel issued a temporary hold and expedited Trump’s appeal on the matter.)
Defense motions to dismiss the January 6 indictment based on selective prosecution and overall unconstitutionality now sit on Chutkan’s desk—requests she presumably will deny, prompting another wave of appeals. One can only imagine the coming fight over jury selection, which will commence on February 9 when potential jurors in D.C. are asked to complete questionnaires about their knowledge of the case.
In addition to the logical difficulties in viewing classified evidence in the documents case—which also involve tight restrictions under the Classified Information Procedures Act, or CIPA, and numerous hearings—the amount of discovery in the matter is “exceedingly voluminous,” Cannon wrote in July. She did not exaggerate.
DOJ so far has turned over at least 1.3 million pages of unclassified and 5,500 pages of classified records, far more than Smith’s office initially claimed. Further, roughly 60 terabytes of video footage recorded by security cameras at Mar-a-Lago must be reviewed by defense attorneys to track the movement of dozens of boxes, the basis of Smith’s obstruction charges. Both sides debated on Wednesday whether the amount of footage represented the equivalent of five years (Smith) or ten years (Trump) since the archive includes video captured by multiple cameras stationed throughout the property over the course of several months.
Team Trump also accuses Smith’s team of violating discovery deadlines, an allegation Bratt seemed to acknowledge when he admitted to the judge that the government made a discovery production as late as last week. (READ MORE)
I strongly suggest reading the full article presented by Kelly above.
President Trump’s legal position is very strong in the Florida documents case.
As we noted from the outset, and entirely different from what traditional pundits were saying at the time, the Mar-a-Lago documents case is the weakest case Jack Smith’s Lawfare crew have assembled. Additionally, the judge in Florida is indicating she can see through the Lawfare schemes of the prosecution – and she doesn’t like it.
i think that 700 years in prison is undeserved punishment for President Donald J Trump the Great.
It does seem a bit excessive.
Even in a fascist country.
Trump is being punished because we voted for him and we will vote for him again.
Does Trump qualify as a victim of “collective punishment”?
(That’s what the pro-Palestinian crowd is complaining about, that Gaza is being punished because of what Hamas did.)
The left always comes up with these little slogans and word play.
Left perversion of words.
The Left is perverted, period.
Name one thing about the Left, that isn’t perverted.
Name one thing about our society, that the left hasn’t perverted.
You can’t.
Oh, but some argue we should not get distracted, or bogged down with fighting the “culture wars” and should only focus on fiscal conservatism; WRONG.
WE MUST chew gum and walk at the same time, like our enemies do; the long march thru the institutions marched right over long held CULTURAL values of Faith, Family, and Country that were the glue holding our Republic together.
democrats are a collective punishment to us. reparations are also a form of collective punishment.
make no mistake…this is NOT REPARATION.
NONE OF THE MONEY WILL GO TO POOR BROKEN SLAVES.
get this right.
this is pure money grifting.
watch california closely. that state is likely to be the first to actually legalize this money distribution.
it has NOTHING to do with reparations.
it will be used to BUY THE BLACK VOTE AND THEN SHIT ON THEM BY ENRICHING THEMSELVES.
it’s what democrats do.
just to be clear so there is no confusion.
God Bless America
You sure you’re posting on the correct thread? 😉
You hear no discussion about who will get reparations. How will they define heritage, skin color, and genealogy? If you identify as something like Liawatha does, do you qualify? And the biggest hurdle may be how do people pay or get the research required to determine ancestry? Will it be a another government bureaucracy that decides? Will lawyers make a fortune working with this? Will we be inundated with spam and telemarketers trying to sell you their family history software?
The fraudsters and scammers will come out of the woodwork on this even more than the free covid money. There is no way democrats should ever be allowed to administer anything like this.
Sadly, it will go to gov’t funded lowest bidder contractors to refurbish (facial) infrastructure in neighborhoods of color with more free access to whatever the gov’t is doling out in the form of those reparations. Like food stamp, housing $ without having to qualify. A monthly allowance debt card for fun things to enhance life experiences… No Questions asked. Maybe 15 minute cities…You say well, they already have… No, Nothing like on this level… We, the hard working tax paying Republic will fund it all and be happy for it. Another brick in the proverbial wall… The Usurper is Loving his creation~
President Trump is being punished for 1) doing everything he could to restore the USA to its former position of power and prestige in the world, 2) exposing Hillary Clinton’s illegal and immoral activities designed to gain money but, more importantly, personal power and 3) for exposing the Biden Family Mafia and the rest of the Democrat Marxists for selling out America’s wealth and power in exchange for personal wealth and possible position in the Global Communist Dictatorship. The fact that he loves his country and he loves the American people only gave the Marxists reason to despise him more. The fact that he threatened to drain the swamp and expose the swamp dwellers threatened the personal wealth and position of those in power within the swamp. The fact that American citizens were in the best shape financially in over 3 decades because of his policies was a direct threat to their control. The fact that EVERY time he held a rally there were tens of thousands of supporters present and every time Biden or Harris held a rally there were tens of supporters present only added insult to their power and control injury. Every day brings new charges and new Democrat exposures. Somehow the Lawfare crowd manages to find the vilest and most corrupt amongst themselves to become their prosecutors. They hope (because they have no Christian beliefs so they don’t pray) that one of the charges will stick. I feel confident they already have the ad campaign videos ready for the CONVICTED CRIMINAL (even if the charge is felonious jaywalking on private property) that they drummed up. Crossfire Hurricane was brilliantly contrived by the Democrat Lawfare crowd. It seemed to work until people started following the money and the facts. More people are on board the Trump Train now yet these same Lawfare plants keep lying on the tracks (and in courtooms).
4) Exposing republicans that side with democrats behind closed doors, when publicly they try to convince people that they are doing the work of the American people. Lies, all lies.
You’re exactly right on all counts!
This is why we need to start referring to their captives that the FBI has has so dutifully rounded up at the direction of the DOJ as nothing more than hostages! It is in fact what they really are.
Yes, they live by it; never mind that such semantic games can and will boomerang on them to bite them in the butt.
When they ‘prove’ malicious prosecution, the 700 year sentence should be transferred to Jack Smith.
It has been.
Esther 7:
Praise God!
But it would be good for Jack Smith, et al…..for starters!
If Trump loses the election, i.e. has it stolen again, it will be 700 years in prison for America, based on the erroneous assumption we would last that long, let alone 7 years
Trump can defend himself until this ruse is completely exposed. Over 1000 Trump supporters, who live on month to month incomes, can not. I know PDJT will win this battle and, if he does, he can pardon every one of the so-called insurrectionists one minute after he is sworn in. It is partially on their behalf that we should be supporting Trump for President. At least 2000 people will either be convicted of crimes that they didn’t commit or they will rot in a DC gulag as political prisoners for several years before even being told when they will get their speedy trial. Only Donald J Trump can save them from their destroyed lives. MAGA
And if he dorsn’t,….well in other countries, in other times,….its called a mass, organided jail-break.
Prisons are structured and focused on keeping people IN, not on keeping people out.
Nuff said,…
Hopefully Judge Cannon will end this fraudulent case against President Trump.
One bite at a time.
Seems to me it ends one of two ways; one Judge Cannon or a higher court ultimately dismisses the whole thing, or the Judge puts it off until after Ja. 2025, which has the same effect.
Or, eventually there is a ruling which effectively clarifies that Executive agencies authority to classify, which the Judicial cam not challenge, is derivative authority from the POTUS, and obviously the agencies MUST defer to the POTUS; IF he says its declassified, its declassified.
So, in Sundances example, even after the agencies classified the menu for PDJT and Xi’s dinner as top secret, PDJT can read it outloud and show it, in a TV interview.
It would SEEM to be “self-evident”; it is the POTUS, not the agencies that are designated by the Constitution as Commander in Chief , with plenary, absolute authority over National Security.
ANY authority the I/C, DOJ, FBI have over Natiobal Security, is DERIVATIVE of them being a part of the Executive branch, but POTUS IS the Chief Executive.
What part of “the buck stops here” don’t they understand?
They understand it perfectly. The bigger picture here is to, subvert the things the Constitution spells out and make them worthless,
then they can install their own set of rules in which to proceed with the destruction of this country.
The work of lawyers behind the sceens doing their dirty work. But are convinced they are doing the right thing.
And, once a sitting President declassified something and acts on that declassification in good faith, can his successor claim that item is NOT declassified, and subject the President who
originally declassified it, to punishment?
No. It has to be classified at the time the incident took place.
THAT is a very complicated and contentious legal reality.
And make NO MISTAKE…joe malarkey IS EXCERCISING THIS POTUS POWER to roll over President Trump.
also noting: combined with the current versus former potus power argument, one should also recognize that the MILITARY/IC/FBI/CIA argues that IT MAINTAINS CLASSMAT SYSTEM CONTINUITY. In other words, it is not the president per se that has control over and masters over national security material, but rather the “officials” within these departments who actually hold and secure them. So we have this also…that POTUS, while in law has plenary powers unique and robust…POTUS is not and does not have possession for these materials. What is at issue here is WHETHER President Trump has officially declassified these materials…(I believe he has satisfied this requirement…officially informed and documented with these agencies…unlikely.). But then we go to the issue of the current POTUS having the same exact power, which can (and has) unwind the former President’s perogatives.
the reason why we don’t see this and have no experience with it, is because no incoming President has declared WAR on a prior President. So joe malarkey has done what no other President has done. The embecile has used his executive power to claw back and attack a former President for declassifying and possessing those declassified documents.
and then this, to wrap it up: it is very important to UNDERSTAND JUST EXACTLY WHAT THESE MATERIALS ARE ABOUT! WHAT THEY CONTAIN. In my best guess, President Trump Declassified and maintained his own personal originals and copies of the following materials…all of which contain evidence of conspiracy and criminal activity
(these are purely speculative…but based on what a man would do in circumstance that President Trump faced and continues to face. You would want to use your powers to collect all of these materials and then declassify them…they become a means for both self protection, leverage and a promise to THE PEOPLE that you will never allow the corruptors a easy night of rest!
God Bless America
Gen Milley laid out a campaign that included plans for attacking Iran to PDJT. PDJT rebuffed him, so Milley played it off that PDJT was the aggressor that had asked for it (projection). That is the document that gives them so much heartburn. You see, the MIC/CIA/global elite have been orchestrating the ME chaos since Eisenhower. By having proof of same, in their own handwriting, it makes for a pretty damning case that those responsible/currently in power should be exposed and removed with great haste…and, maybe as a favor to the globe, left to fend for themselves against all their victims. Their defense: anything to malign and bind PDJT. Their greatest fear: PDJT coming back to power with all the evil SOB’s now exposed. Its not a game, its a defacto existential threat for the evil ones. “The very word “secrecy” is repugnant in a free and open society…”-JFK
This correct analysis has ALREADY been laid out & ruled on by the SCOTUS…in a decades old case…Navy v Egan.
The IC, Military, DOJ, or ANY administrative branch of the Executive does NOT possess the authority to classify OR declassify anything…only the President has this constitutional authority.
Jim Jordan is the only Republican that has pointed this out. We all know why other elected Republicans aren’t shouting it from the rooftops.
If, when, she does end it, the DOJ will simply appeal to the higher court in Florida, they will play with it for a while, buying time for the 2024 election to have come and gone, and depending on how that turns out, whatever that appeals court decides the case will end up in front of the Supreme Court, and depending on how the 2024 election comes out, that court will either say President Trump has no standing, or they will say the subject is moot, so move along, nothing to see here.
President Trump will win Again!
This was a good read, and it is terrific that the Judge sees through this.
Yet all the while seriously deranged individuals storm and deface the W.H.
Tens of thousands of terrorists supporters protest in the U.S. capital.
Asa Hutchinson and Krispy Kreme attempt to disparage the countries true President, on the same and get booed for it.
“P44 pokes “his nose in.
2024 may be the most intense year of my lifetime.
Cheers, and God bless President Trump.
Intense and explosive.
👍
Fear not, little flock.
Wait upon the Lord.
Who you calling a little f,…oh, never mind!
Lols at Chutkan being “fit and attractive”.
Your lifetime? How do you think we feel down here? Although I do feel for you having to deal with Trudeau/Castro!
IMO we don’t have the same issues ( yet) although they may be a coming.
Canada has been a socialist country for many decades.
As a result many “ middle of the road “ folks have adjusted and adapted.
Add to that, that we are the proverbial “ flea on an elephant’s arse”
The U.S.A is the target, and for many the fraudulent election of 2020 and the subsequent betrayal of patriotic Americans by its politicians and numerous alphabet agencies, and judiciary has a majority of Americans apoplectic.
Cheers, and God Bless President Trump.
I think there must be,
Yes it just stands to reason,
Those good ole boys just gotta,
Somewhere…there are
targets somewhere on a gun range with that likeness of Jack Shift on it.
Jack Shift…lawfare is nothing more than a fantasy, push the lie…..push the lie……look in the mirror and see the lie Jack Shift.
That’s his name Jack Shift.
Jack Smith, the face of erectile dysfunction.
Guilty of electoral dysfunction, at the very least 🙂
Oh I’m borrowing that line 🤣
Certain men should not grow pointy beards.
he looks like a taliban terrorist
A little red paint, a couple of horns, pitchfork and tail…well you can see where I’m going here.
They want to keep Trump off the ballot to ensure the reset happens.
Should that unconstitutional act occur and as apathetic as many folks are.
I believe the U.S.A. would then enter unchartered territory and the simmering unrest would morph into a situation that will shock many and have serious financial and societal repercussions.
That said, my money is on President Trump and his supporters.
Any other outcome is unthinkable.
Cheers!
And our many prayers to God!
President Trump will win Again!
Jacksputin, the evil monk of mendacity.
Jack Smith. The communist prosecutor. Working for the communist federal government
Which, correct me if I am wrong, would have completely scandalized if not put in jail half of the Democratic Party if President Trump would have investigated Obama, Cinton, Biden, Comey, Rosenstien when he was President. I don’t believe he thought all the advice he was given on this matter was from the deep state. Now we all know the advice he was given on this matter was to protect the guilty.
May Jack Smith live in interesting times.
Special counsel jack smith and the rest of the lawfare supposed legal minds, are mostly smoke and mirrors. Having to depend on corruption and deception, appears to be the only way they win and only in corrupt areas like dc and ny. And even there only with corrupt judges in place.
Jack smith is a termite queen that needs a terminte fix.
THAT is an insult to termites! Which I hate!
Careful, you are telling the truth and that may be against the law these days.
If the SC doesn’t want to get involved with being the final arbiter of what is a national security document as declared by one administration versus another how is this case to be decided? Does a succeeding administration get to reclassify as secret a document a preceeding administration declassified and then arrest his predecessor in perpetuity? The only orderly way is to disallow ex post facto actions and rely on the political process of impeachment to remedy secret information mishandling.
Just dismiss it with prejudice and tell Jack Smith to f*ck off.
Drag him by the heels and throw him in a pit, never to be seen again. Treasonous SOBs deserve destruction.
Find a cattle guard and bury him under it, like they do in the show ‘Yellowstone’. Best justice ever.
Smith used a DC grand jury and then read his interpretation to a Florida grand jury. Rank incompetence, criminality.
Throw this punk in a dungeon where he’ll never see the light of day.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1720877381525651878.html
Corrupt prosecution persecution.
5 years worth of video footage from MAL preserved and siezed.
Yet 0 seconds from [insert Democrat name here]’s crime/murder/suicide scene.
“Moving boxes around” being evidence still doesn’t make sense to me since:
We have no idea what is inside the boxes as almost none of them have any labels and Jay Bratt described some of the contents of the 15 boxes Trump voluntarily sent to the National Archives, an event that started this whole “classified documents” case to be opened in the first place, as being “debris.”
Smith’s own indictment tells us that only 102 documents with classification markings on them were found during the execution of the search warrant. These documents were found only in the locked storeroom (75) and in Trump’s office (27), giving rise again to the question of just what does this “moving of boxes around really mean if no documents with classification markings were found in any restroom in Mar-a-Lago, or on any stage in any ballroom there?
There were never any verbal or written requests for any “national defense documents” that did not contain any classification markings on the part of the National Security Division of the Justice Department. Not only did the grand jury subpoena, served prior to the search warrant, have no such request for the production of unmarked documents, it included detailed instructions and examples of such classification markings. This clearly informed Trump and his attorneys that the only objective of the DOJ was production of marked national security documents. Smith’s indictment includes Count 11, an unmarked document.
“Jack Smith (Weissmann/Eisen) knows the High Court doesn’t want to get involved in an “inside executive” dispute, not on this granular stuff. So, he is leveraging the ability of the current politics within the executive to his advantage. Essentially, the executive rules are whatever the current executive says they are.”
So they are arguing that the Executive Branch has full power for whatever they say the rules are…BUT Trump had no authority to do that when he was President??? There is no logic in the wicked, for they are liars, as their father the devil was, from the beginning! (Ref: JOHN 8:44)
Years ago, when I worked i a law office, one of the ‘tactics’ was to swamp the other side with paperwork. An old tactic that Smith appears to support
“Papering the client” is a great way to make money too. It works both ways.
Paging William Shakespeare.
If discovery is provided at the “Pfizer” rate (76 years), they can schedule the trial for 2034.
Then, DJT Jr. can pardon his father while he, Junior, is still President, in his second term.
I’m not convinced that this case is the weakest Smith has since the January 6th case is hardly a monster in its own right on several points.
I don’t know how any plan can be any kind of conspiracy when the details of that plan, and even events that constitute the execution of the plan, are widely reported in the mainstream media for nearly a month before January 6, 2021. It should be expected that conspiracies are covered by at least a thin veil of secrecy and not available for the conspiracy’s opponents to read in the New York Times and other major publications, and not broadcast on CBS News. Let’s take the “Fake Electors” incidents as an example.
Actually, most of Trump’s “Alternate Electors” were his original Elector Nominees in the seven states that were potentially affected by the filing of their votes for Trump with the President of the Senate and the National Archives. In two cases, the “Alternate Electors” were all Trump Elector Nominees who were chosen according to the laws of those states. Those states were Nevada and Arizona. There were problems with the other five states, as some of the Elector Nominees would not cast their votes under those conditions over fear of being prosecuted. Those states recruited “Replacement Electors” who could not be chosen according to the laws of the states involved which were Pennsylvania (8 of 20); Georgia (4 of 16); Michigan (2 of 16); Wisconsin (1 of 10) and New Mexico (1 of 5).
The Replacement Electors would cause Constitutional issues with their votes, with the possibility that their votes would be thrown out, since they were not chosen in accord with the laws of their states, or perhaps all the electors’ votes would be thrown out after court review.
In addition, the Trump team told the Elector Nominees that their votes were needed in case Trump was awarded one, or more, of their states through some of those court cases that were pending before January 6, 2021. This contingency of the court decisions was actually included in the “Certificate of Votes,” submitted to the President of the Senate and the National Archives by the Pennsylvania and New Mexico Trump Elector Nominee delegations. Since it was known through the documentation Pennsylvania and New Mexico provided that the pending court decisions controlled whether or not the votes of Trump Elector Nominees should even be considered by the January 6 Joint Session of Congress and the President of the Senate who received them for the Joint Session of Congress. The votes were not considered. Trump was never awarded victories in any of those states as a result of the court cases by January 6, 2021. Therefore, those votes never endangered the certification of Biden’s victory. When the first state that contained such a “Certificate of Votes” for Trump, Arizona, came up during the January 6th Electoral Vote count, Vice President Pence did not include this “Certificate of Votes” by the Trump Elector Nominees of Arizona. Pence only opened the Arizona governor’s “Certificate of Ascertainment” that declared Biden’s Elector Nominees to be the victors, and gave it to Senator Amy Klobuchar, as one of the Tellers, to read the result to the Joint Session of Congress. The C-Span You Tube video of the proceedings clearly shows this.
The filing of additional “papers purporting to be” Electoral Votes for President, in opposition to the “Certificate of Ascertainment” filed by the governor of a state, has never been considered a crime like “forgery” or “fraud.” The Electoral Count Act includes the procedures for dealing with such “Certificates of Votes” when they arise, and never declares them to be crimes of any kind. Such “Certificates of Votes” have been filed in the past, including a practical joke certificate, in past elections without anyone being prosecuted for “fraud, deception, or forgery” of any kind. In fact, there are no criminal elements in any part of the Electoral Count Act. No descriptions of such crimes are in any section or paragraph, and no resulting punishments. Violations of the Electoral Count Act are considered Constitutional Questions that are resolved by the Judicial Branch of the government.
I need to address the statutes Smith is using as a result of nothing being in the Electoral Count Act for him to charge as a crime, but that would take a separate post. Facially, there is nothing in the indictment that Trump is alleged to have done that is a good fit for the elements of the statutes being used. The use of “conspiracy” is even tenuous since the following news reports and writings indicate nothing the Trump team was doing was any kind of a secret plot:
Published in December 2020:
https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/12/14/arizona-groups-fake-electors-try-cast-11-electoral-votes-trump/6536056002/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2020/12/22/heres-why-trump-and-gop-lawmakers-plan-to-challenge-election-in-congress-wont-work/?sh=f3fbb7875737
This pamphlet was written by Norm Eisen, dean of Lawfare, along with two other like-minded experts, showing Trump’s plans for the Electoral Vote count were well known in advance of January 6th, and that none of them were a serious threat to Biden’s certification as winner by the Congress:
https://statesuniteddemocracy.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/VPP-Guide-to-Counting-Electoral-Votes.pdf
Something done this much in the open is hardly what anyone could call a “secret plot.”
ALL of these Lawfare cases are equally weak, in that ALL of them are fatally flawed on numerous counts, and none can survive a challenge at trial.
They are an act of desperation, another in a long series of acts of desperation, and all part of an ongoing, monsterous ‘cover-up’.
Once the “Insurance policy” to Watergate PDJT out of office failed, they have been stuck in a trap of their own making, and like “Groundhog day” they have to continue to commit more crimes, to block their being prosecuted for the previous crimes.
Their real nightmare, IMHO, is PDJT doing what THEY would do, if they were him; USE the NSA database, abuse the FISA court system, and use 702 About searches, with3 hop, to obtain and then release the evidence, IN THEIR OWN WORDS, of ALL of their ongoing Conspiracies.
“Why they can NOT have PDJT back in the Oval for $500, Alex.”
Turned on the computer this morning, scanned the home page and MSN has “Can Judge Cannon be Removed?” – so that’s the next move by Jack Smith et.al., find a new judge that will play the Lawfare game.
Finally an adult in black robes appears.
Yes its the weakest “case”, its why they had to manufacture another one in DC. IMO this documents case was just a way for Biden to cover up his illegal possession of classified documents. Then after Trump surged in popularity as a result of the raid they just kept throwing lawfare at him to see what would stick. The process is the punishment. The left gets to celebrate their headlines, it takes President Trump off the campaign trail and it only takes one judge suffering from TDS to help find him guilty of one charge. For them they see it as a win, win whether they lose on appeal or not however they have made a huge mistake by underestimating the MAGA movement. They can call us the biggest threat to America all they want and they can persecute President Trump all they want, its never going to change the fact that MAGA is here to stay. On a side note I would be OK with President Trump serving a sentence of four years on house arrest as long as its served in the White House.
This is the fraudulent case that allowed them to assault Mar-a-Lago, to seize documents that expose their own guilt.
And Melania’s underwear.
‘The FBI Raid On Melania’s Closet Was Justified,’ Says Merrick Garland
Wearing Gorgeous New Evening Gown And Sun Hat | Babylon Bee
Purple is not a good color for his skin tone.
But, that hat is divine!
Well, the former undersecretary for Nuclear Waste disposal, …is GREEN with envy!
“… in the court’s determination they have no authority to question the decision of the executive branch when it comes to matters of national security. “
That’s What Trump Said.
The upper-class communist Jamaican judge said that Trump wasn’t a president anymore, so she had to go with the current one’s persecution of him. She unilaterally removed Trump’s title and privileges. Think the same rules will apply when Current Occupant is removed?
Whatever happened to the good old days when you went to court with the facts to build your case?
Now it is leveraging and smear tactics and dirty politics that decide the outcomes of cases.
This was never the intent the forefathers had.
This is a perversion of our judicial system to get a desired outcome, this is an internal civil war
being waged by lawyers.
I have said since I was old enough to understand, Lawyers will be the fall and destruction of this country.
Witness the true destruction folks.
That was back when we still had a Constitutional Republic instead of a Banana Republic.
So when do the tables get turned, and “We the People” figure out how to yank the funds from the criminals who have taken over the federal government and are persecuting our MAGA leader, and how do we go on offense against them?
I am so tired of seeing the dirty tricks the federal government engages in; the manipulation, narrative engineering, lies, and outright theft. We always seem to be on defense and it’s frustrating to watch. Of course it makes President Trump more powerful, because everyone can see how corrupt the government is.
We need solutions and I believe it might be up to us to handle it. We need to find out how we can organize and move forward to stop the lawfare crap.
Can the voters of each state file a suit against the Federal government for election interference?
Or perhaps the attorneys general of each state?
Even if we can only get a handful of states to do so, would that stop the Lawfare against Mr. Trump, and by extension, against the voters of the USA?
A brief summary
White House asked National Archives to start proceedings.
DOJ demands return of documents containing classified markings, which as Sundance has pointed out does not mean classified documents.
Some speculate that the documents could include those showing the DOJ complicit in crimes to get rid of Trump.
DOJ decides which docs cannot be viewed and uses that as an excuse to gets rid of special master and install Jack Smith.
DOJ decides which docs are classified.
Federal judge Howell allows prosecutors to circumvent attorney client privilege forcing Trumps lawyer to testify.
Grand jury never told about Presidential Records Act or Clinton Socks Case, both exonerating.
DOJ breaks law by leaking to media.
DOJ breaks law by bribing attorney for defense.
DOJ forces Trump’s attorney’s to be removed.
Project 65 limits attorneys available for Trump.
DOJ threatens witness if he does not turn on Trump.
DOJ takes two separate incidents, 1) waving papers around and 2) talking to people, and combines them to make it look like one incident, then releases the false narrative to the public.
DOJ transcripts to media are altered from original recordings to make Trump look guilty (see Sperry).
DOJ asks to keep evidence from public and limit Trumps ability to defend himself using national security – trust us ploy.
DOJ floods evidence room with over a million documents and asks that defense have a limited time to review.
Congress continues to fund DOJ.
Let’s put pressure on Congress.
Ueah, cause that worked SO well, on J6.
Ok, maybe a dumb question that I should know the answer to, but who exactly has SEEN these documents that were seized at Mar a Lago? Does Judge Cannon know the content? Have Trump’s attorneys seen all of the documents( I believe there is an on going process to get them clearance)? Will the jury be given ANY information of what the content of these documents is?
Trump probably has a good idea of what was taken, but has his clearance as a former President been revoked?
Or, will the jury be told that Trump broke a law , but we’re not going to tell you exactly what he did…..SEND HIM TO PRISON!
It’s hard to imagine any of this crap should see the inside of a court room, but here we are.
If “classified documents are the prerogative of the Executive,” that means “THE Executive,” not some minion who serves at his pleasure. Only this one person has the truly plenary power regarding such things: DOJ does not.
The 11th Circuit seems to have overlooked that the Executive Authority to classify or not was exercised by the duly elected President of the U.S., not one of his agents.
That s successor President’s agents reverse those actions would be the legitimate cause for certiorari before the Supreme Court
It now looks like Judge Cannon is consciously working to embarrass Smith’s prosecutions of Trump in ways that could give future judges a tutorial on how to undercut lawfare scams that exploit the government’s classified information prerogative.
Even though the courts will stay out of making any determinations as to what is or is not classified information, they can certainly transform the prosecution’s effort to exploit this unfair advantage into a prolonged exercise in pain and public humiliation.
She certainly has plenty to work with.
So, the Executive Branch is the final arbiter of what is classified per the courts. Trump was the head person of the Executive Branch, and, by the court’s ruling, had sole authority to determine what was and was not classified. Therefore, the case should be thrown out based on Trump’s ability to declassify anything and everything he chose to. Case closed.
Thank God for this judge.
Thanks Sundance, a glimmer of hope and light has escaped the black hole that has become the get Trump no matter what kangaroo court.
While the courts may not want to get into the issues of what is “classified,” they should weigh in on whether a sitting president can waive the executive privilege of a past president. That’s what Biden did to Trump.
We the People see this too…and we do not like it either!
Bowing to the ephemeral gloss of the Demented Party’s everchanging musings is a poor substitute for running a Country on decency and principles.
I’m not convinced we can recover from the fractures within. Perhaps that always was the objective.
Can’t wait until our REAL PRESIDENT TRUMP is back running our country.
Just think of all the lib liars getting investigated!!
Tit for tat….
I thought that I felt an Earth tremor yesterday, but it was probably just Jack Smith stomping his feet in despair.
Sort of hard to get pessimistic regarding anything good coming from our judicial system.
whoops meant optimistic Geez
Upshot of these cases against PDJT;
Court decisions affirming Free Speech applies both to Political Speech and to a Defendant.
Court Decision affirming a single PERSON, the POTUS has plenary authority in all matters of National Security, and any and all Depts of the Executive involved with Natl Security are subservient to him.
Court case that mandates, by the nature of the charges, that PDJT present voluminous evidence the 2020 election was stolen.
The others, like the NYS “Case” are just too rediculous…but all are increasing PDJT ‘s popularity, media coverage and donations (far in excess of his legal fees, which are probably tax deductible).
Re Freedom ring’s timeline posted above:
In a comment to a previous Sundance article, ‘littleflower’ includes a tweet from JD Sharp describing how Donald Trump was framed for Mar-a-Lago. I responded with my own commentary, which is repeated here:
Per the JD Sharp tweet referenced in littleflower’s comment, here is what happened:
1. Biden asked NARA to remove Trump’s executive privilege over documents
2. NARA granted it
3. Biden declared documents reclassified
4. Biden used new classification to order Mar-a-Lago raid
More than a year ago when the raid on Mar-a-Lago occurred, I noted that when a president identifies classified material as a presidential record at the close of his administration, the courts have held that this action has the effect of instantly declassifying that material. The simple act of boxing up the material as a presidential record for shipment to the president’s chosen post-presidency location declassifies the material.
I also noted that those with US Government classification authority can classify any material from any source at any time, including material which is currently in the public domain. For example, without your knowledge or consent, your own birth certificate can be declared to be classified material and you can be prosecuted for unauthorized possession of a copy of it.
In addition, originally classified material which had been declassified through some legally accepted means can be subsequently reclassified at some future time at the whim of an authorized US Government classification authority.
It is now apparent that NARA, per Joe Biden’s direction, had reclassified the material that Trump had previously declassified through the simple act of boxing up the material as a presidential record for shipment to Mar-a-Lago.
So now some further questions must be asked:
— At what point in time was Donald Trump’s executive privilege over documents revoked? Was Donald Trump ever informed that his executive privilege over documents had been formally revoked? If so, at what point in time was he so informed?
— At what point in time did the previously declassified material Donald Trump have in his possession at Mar-a-Lago once again become classified material per NARA’s direction?
— What was the scope of NARA’s classification directive? Did it include only previously declassified material Trump had in his possession as a presidential record, or did it include all documentary material of any kind from any source he had in his possession, even his personal documentary material unrelated to his presidential term?
— Were Donald Trump and his staff ever informed, either before the Mar-a-Lago raid or after, that NARA had reclassified previously declassified material?
— Assuming that the scope of NARA’s directive included all documentary material of any kind, regardless of its source or its previous classification status, were Donald Trump and his staff ever informed, either before the raid or after, that NARA had classified everything he had in his possession?
— The Presidential Records Act directs how disputes between NARA and a former president over possession of presidential records must be conducted. There are no criminal penalties included in the Act. Past precedent in these disputes is that a former president’s decision to maintain possession of his presidential material stands.
— In the course of the formal negotiations between Donald Trump and NARA conducted under the umbrella of the Presidential Records Act, was Trump ever informed that NARA had reclassifed previously declassified material? Was he ever informed that his executive privilege over documentary material of any kind had been revoked by his successor?
— If, prior to the Mar-a-Lago raid, Donald Trump actually had been informed that previously declassified material had been formally reclassified at NARA’s direction, did he acknowledge the possibility that NARA’s reclassification decision might be legal and did he then take appropriate measures to protect that material while negotiations continued?
— Prior to the Mar-a-Lago raid, were federal authorities informed of the measures Donald Trump and his staff had taken to protect disputed material, and did those authorities accept those measures as being appropriate for the circumstances that were then extent; i.e. negotiations with NARA were underway and were being conducted in accordance with the requirements of the Presidential Records Act?
Once again we see how Joe Biden, the Democrats, and the Administrative State are using sophisticated lawfare methods to persecute their political opposition and to deny that political opposition the freedoms we once enjoyed under the US Constitution.
In a comment posted to that other article, Mike Robinson made this reply to my remarks:
“Fake news. Even if Biden did “reclassify,” a former President retains the highest level of security clearance forever. And he has special rights concerning his own materials. The National Archives are exactly that: “Archivists.” They do not make the rules.
The ones who broke the law were the FBI agents who pawed through material they had no right to see, then carried it out the door of the secure facility and loaded it into unsecured trucks.”
My response to Mike’s remarks was this:
A better understanding of how lawfare tactics operate is required here. The objective of this particular form of lawfare attack on President Trump is to keep him and his staff tied up in defending themselves against criminal charges.
What special rights President Trump either has, or does not actually have, as a former president have been placed into legal question as a direct consequence of the Mar-a-Lago raid. From a lawfare tactics perspective, that was the purpose of the raid.
As a lawfare tactic, the raid itself was the process means of automatically establishing a legal doubt that these presidential rights actually exist; and if they do actually exist, under what conditions and circumstances those rights exist. In other words, the DOJ has ignored the true legal merits of the raid in order to automatically establish a long and expensive lawfare process for examining the legal questions.
The fact that the courts have accepted the Mar-a-Lago indictment and has initiated criminal process hearings is evidence that the DOJ’s lawfare approach has been relatively successful so far. And so one cannot dismiss the Mar-a-Lago raid and its aftermath as having no consequences for the 2024 election cycle.
IMHO, President Trump is certain to be convicted of some number of bogus criminal charges in one or more venues before the 2024 election cycle is out. The larger question remains, will any of these bogus criminal convictions have any impact on his march to become our 47th president?
I am sure the new trial date will be during October 2024 to muddy the waters of the election.
Judicial branch can’t referee what is classified and what is not. President Trump says it is declassified. DOJ says it is not. President trumps DOJ. Case dismissed as there is not case or controversy.
Legal minds want to argue the nuts and bolts of the cases. But the premise for all of them is very weak. On its face, it is extremely unusual that a President would face so many charges with so little proof. What is actually happening is that the plotters of the Russian dossier hoax and subsequent attacks on Trump are trying to protect themselves from their crimes becoming public. Thus we are in the unusual position of the DOJ, FBI and Bribem Crime Family being simultaneously criminals who should be prosecuted, prosecuting the one who could expose them. I don’t think the courts with their assumptions of legal order are equipped to deal with this.
“Additionally, the judge in Florida is indicating she can see through the Lawfare schemes of the prosecution – and she doesn’t like it.”
Then why doesn’t she throw the case out as baseless? We all know it is….Smith even knows it.
Why wouldn’t ‘they’ screw Trump, what evidence is there that ‘they’ will pay a price? Who is going to stop ‘them’ or hold ‘them’ accountable?
From what I’ve seen, unless the public realizes the enemy isn’t Russia/Hamas/Iran, it’s actually the U.S. Govt who we are funding/pushing all sides. The end will be a sad whimper for most, hail of bullets for the rest of us.
It’s sad, I look to the future and the outcome is bleak because people are still relying on the ‘system’ not realizing ‘they’ are counting on it all the way to the end.
No Checks No Balances. If the Executive can unilaterally declare documents to be classified and the judiciary is unable to challenge then there is no check. If the Congress and the Circuit courts collude with the Executive to allow the railroading of PDJT there is no balance.
All hail King Trump
May his retribution be swift and deliberate.
Billions of dollars and many months of human effort spent on this Lawfare Burlesque Show.
How does America benefit, Mr. Smith? Might there be better uses of our time and money these days?