The Trump Reprisals

[Free]

The subplot to that last debacle takes us into the category of dance...

Pirro Taps Dance Photographer-Lawyer in Lawmaker Video Case (1)

Steven Vandervelden —who had a long career as a local prosecutor in Westchester County, NY, where Pirro was district attorney — had no prior DOJ background before joining the office last year.

news.bloomberglaw.com

Washington’s US Attorney Jeanine Pirro tapped a dance photographer who worked for her decades ago as one of the prosecutors who tried—and failed—to convince a grand jury to indict six Democratic lawmakers Tuesday, said two people familiar with the situation.

Steven Vandervelden maintained an active photography studio when presenting federal charges to the grand jury against the six members of Congress for creating a video reminding military service members of their rights to refuse unlawful orders.

He’s one of two Pirro hires with minimal federal prosecution experience who got rejected by the grand jury in a case that’s been widely criticized as a politically-motivated attack on free speech.

Saying that Pirro is scraping the bottom of the barrel to try and build her prosecutorial teams is underselling it.

 

[Casey Pelous]

The subplot to that last debacle takes us into the category of dance...

Pirro Taps Dance Photographer-Lawyer in Lawmaker Video Case (1)

Steven Vandervelden —who had a long career as a local prosecutor in Westchester County, NY, where Pirro was district attorney — had no prior DOJ background before joining the office last year.

news.bloomberglaw.com

Saying that Pirro is scraping the bottom of the barrel to try and build her prosecutorial teams is underselling it.

Dance Photographer, Esq. may just be cannon fodder to save Pirro's license.

A lot of folks have gotten their dumb asses disbarred.

 

[Free]

Comey is up a second time. For...seashells...

Justice Department indicts former FBI Director James Comey for a second time

Former FBI Director James Comey was indicted Tuesday over a photo of seashells officials said threatened President Donald Trump, marking the administration’s second attempt to prosecute one of his largest political opponents, three sources first told CNN.

The indictment was brought in the Eastern District of North Carolina, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.

Trump has long pressed for his political adversaries to face charges, including the former FBI director he sees as a key leader in the perceived effort to “weaponize” justice system against him.

Last May, Comey posted a photo on social media of shells on a beach writing out the numbers “86 47,” which critics said referred to taking out or killing Trump.

I suspect soon, someone will be indicted for scrambling their eggs in a way that offends Trump.

 

[Cristiano]

 

[Free]

 

[Veritable Quandry]

I wonder how many grand juries it took. They clearly didn't state the legal standards for the grand jury, or misrepresented the law to the point they risk sanctions.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

I wonder how many grand juries it took. They clearly didn't state the legal standards for the grand jury, or misrepresented the law to the point they risk sanctions.

Ken White is scathing about the legal basis of the charge, but suggests that's not the point.

The Comey Threat Indictment Is A Grave Embarrassment To The United States Department of Justice And The Rule of Law

The Department of Justice Is Dead; Long Live The Department of Trump

www.popehat.com

The point of the indictment is to demonstrate that the United States Department of Justice is wholly an instrument of Donald Trump’s senescent pique, no more independent of him than a boil on his ass. The point is to show that the administration can, and will, use the Department’s mechanisms to punish enemies. The point is to show that the Department can, and will, punish protected speech. The point is to show that the Department is staffed by committed fanatics willing to do anything, however unethical and unconstitutional, to promote Trump.

The point is to show that in the war between Donald Trump and the U.S. Department of Justice, Trump has won. Now they’re on the field slitting the throats of the wounded and looting bodies.

The road back to credibility for the Department will be long and arduous. I do not expect it to recoup its presumption of regularity or respect within a generation. Trump has twisted it beyond recognition, as we also saw today in this humiliatingly buffoonish pleading in the East Wing case:

 

[Innula Zenovka]

The dumbest week in DOJ history

And it's only Thursday.

www.publicnotice.co

 

[Free]

Trump’s Rage at Jim Comey Backfires as Case Against Him Goes Off Rails

As Trump’s efforts to jail his enemies start looking truly buffoonish, a former federal prosecutor explains why the case targeting James Comey is already looking like a spectacular flop.

newrepublic.com

It's a 25 minute audio discussion, but some may find it worth the time.

 

[Jopsy Pendragon]

I need a "Stamping loudly and shouting in extreme agreement" reaction button.

 

[Soen Eber]

86 is twice 43 who was "W". So what Comey was really saying is Trump is twice as great as George W. Bush. There. No reason to prosecute, it's a compliment, and makes just as much sense as their interpretation.