The Trump Reprisals

[GoblinCampFollower]

Meanwhile, Donald Trump was indicted for stashing hundreds of boxes of classified documents around Mar a Lago.

Yes, but a judge threw that out based on the idea that Trump is above the law the prosecutor wasn't appointed properly.

 

[Free]

Uh oh.

Judge finds 'profound' missteps in US probe of FBI ex-chief James Comey

A U.S. judge found on Monday there is evidence of misconduct in how a federal prosecutor closely aligned with President Donald Trump secured criminal charges against James Comey, and ordered that grand jury materials be turned over to the former FBI chief's defense lawyers.

U.S. Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick, in Alexandria, Virginia, found that Lindsey Halligan, the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney leading the case, may have made significant legal errors in presenting evidence and instructing grand jurors who we

"The record points to a disturbing pattern of profound investigative missteps, missteps that led an FBI agent and a prosecutor to potentially undermine the integrity of the grand jury proceeding," Fitzpatrick wrote in his ruling.

Fitzpatrick said his order to turn over the grand jury material was an "extraordinary remedy," but said it was necessary under what he called "unique circumstances."

 

[Casey Pelous]

Uh oh.

Judge finds 'profound' missteps in US probe of FBI ex-chief James Comey

As the prophecy foretold.

 

[Free]

As noted in another thread (*taps foot*), the cases against Comey and James have been dismissed "without prejudice" due to Lindsey Halligan being illegally assigned interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, replacing the former interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Erik Siebert. Basically, it gives us lovely headlines like this:

Lindsey Halligan Manages To Lose Two Cases At Once, Which Is Honestly Impressive - Above the Law

DOJ saved from having to lose Comey case over illegal indictment by losing case over illegal appointment!

abovethelaw.com

In the before time of relative normality, the President typically nominates someone for federal district attorney positions, with the Senate providing confirmation (...). But a loophole allows the President or his Attorney General to appoint someone directly without Senate approval. The interim appointment used to be limited to 120 days until fairly recently (thanks Dubya!). In any case, this can only occur once per district. If the interim attorney leaves/gets fired, the President is forced to go through the normal process, or allow the Judges of that district court to select an interim attorney.

And no retro take backsies "special attorney" assignments are allowed. I'm looking at you, Pam Bondi.

So with Halligan fulfilling the role of rotten egg in Trump's vindictive cookie recipe, the cases will have to be refiled through a new district attorney. If they can find one ethically-challenged enough. (I'm joking! We're talking about lawyers here.)

 

[Veritable Quandry]

With Comey it is effectively the same as dismissal with prejudice because the statute of limitations expired. They can try again with James.

 

[Free]

With Comey it is effectively the same as dismissal with prejudice because the statute of limitations expired.

According to what I've read, Judge Currie wrote the dismissal does not reset the clock on the statute of limitations. So yes, in theory. But we now must live with a legal Trump card we might refer to as SCOTUS mis-invalidation potentially hanging over everything, and there's little way to know where that might be used these days.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

With Comey it is effectively the same as dismissal with prejudice because the statute of limitations expired. They can try again with James.

According to Slate, the judgment

notes that federal law provides a six-month grace period when prosecutors file a flawed indictment just before the statute runs: Once that indictment is dismissed, they have six additional months to return a valid one, even though the ordinary deadline has passed. If Trump manages to ram through another U.S. attorney willing to bring these charges, they will almost certainly use this provision to try to resurrect the Comey case.

Though, as this points out, they'll still need somehow to find a US attorney willing to prosecute what looks like a deeply flawed and vindictive case

Trump's lawfare takes a big L

The war isn't over but this battle was a rout.

www.publicnotice.co

 

[Free]

Though, as this points out, they'll still need somehow to find a US attorney willing to prosecute what looks like a deeply flawed and vindictive case

But again, we're talking about lawyers here.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

But again, we're talking about lawyers here.

I thought the DoJ finds itself in this mess in the first place because none of their career prosecutors were prepared to take such a deeply flawed case to trial. That's why they had to draft in an inexperienced insurance lawyer to handle it, with predictable results.

 

[detrius]

 

[Cindy Claveau]

I thought the DoJ finds itself in this mess in the first place because none of their career prosecutors were prepared to take such a deeply flawed case to trial. That's why they had to draft in an inexperienced insurance lawyer to handle it, with predictable results.

From out here, from a non-lawyer, I wonder why any professional would take a single case from DT's hoodlums.

The results are not unpredictable.

 

[Casey Pelous]

....
The results are not unpredictable.

Disbarment does tend to rather disrupt one's lifestyle.

 

[Veritable Quandry]

According to Slate, the judgment


Though, as this points out, they'll still need somehow to find a US attorney willing to prosecute what looks like a deeply flawed and vindictive case

Trump's lawfare takes a big L

The war isn't over but this battle was a rout.

www.publicnotice.co

It apparently needs more litigation to determine if it has or has not closed the Statute of Limitations depending on if the indictment was valid or not. If they do want to continue the a case against Comey, there is still a strong chance that the 4th Amendment questions about using improperly seized evidence without a new search warrant would be another way to throw out the indictment, and they would have a stronger case if they did get to redo the grand jury process after getting a warrant to use the materials.

21 Generally, “[t]he return of an indictment tolls the statute of limitations on the charges contained in the indictment.” United States v. Ojedokun, 16 F.4th 1091, 1109 (4th Cir. 2021). “An invalid indictment,” however, “cannot serve to block the door of limitations as it swings closed.” United States v. Crysopt Corp., 781 F. Supp. 375, 378 (D. Md. 1991) (emphasis in original); see also United States v. Gillespie, 666 F. Supp. 1137, 1141 (N.D. Ill. 1987) (“[A] valid indictment insulates from statute-of-limitations problems any refiling of the same charges during the pendency of that valid indictment (that is, the superseding of a valid indictment). But if the earlier indictment is void, there is no legitimate peg on which to hang such a judicial limitations-tolling result.” (emphasis in original)).

 

[Free]

Bondi and her team at the Dept. of Juicy Juice-tice just keep winning!

Grand jury declines to indict N.Y. Attorney General Letitia James, less than two weeks after the first case was dismissed

Federal officials failed to secure the new indictment against James, whom Trump has targeted, after a judge said the previous one was secured by an unlawfully appointed prosecutor.

www.nbcnews.com

The Justice Department on Thursday failed to secure an indictment against New York Attorney General Letitia James, a person familiar with the matter told NBC News.

The presentation to the grand jury came less than two weeks after the original criminal case against her was dismissed.

James, a frequent political target of President Donald Trump’s who had successfully brought a fraud lawsuit against him, had previously been indicted by a grand jury on one charge of bank fraud and another of making false statements to a financial institution.

James has denied any wrongdoing. In a statement Thursday in response to reports that a grand jury did not re-indict her she said, "As I have said from the start, the charges against me are baseless. It is time for this unchecked weaponization of our justice system to stop."

It's time, but will the clocks in the White House start working?

 

[Free]

Hang in there, DOJ! You might get an indictment to stick against James one of these days.

DOJ fails — again — to re-indict Letitia James

The Justice Department failed again to indict New York Attorney General James on Thursday – the second time in as many weeks it has sought to revive a mortgage fraud case against her amid President Donald Trump’s pressure to prosecute his political adversaries.

A grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, rejected federal prosecutors’ latest attempt to charge James, according to a person familiar with the proceedings granted anonymity to discuss the matter.

 

[Cindy Claveau]

Hang in there, DOJ! You might get an indictment to stick against James one of these days.

DOJ fails — again — to re-indict Letitia James

And media is reporting that the DOJ's definition of "fraud" matches exactly with the way DT did real estate loans all the time.

 

[Free]

I look forward to the discovery phase of this lawsuit.

Pulitzer Prize Board members seek discovery of Trump finances, psych records, prescription meds

Pulitzer Prize Board members filed a litany of broad discovery demands in an attempt to beat back Trump's defamation suit over Russia probe reporting awards.

lawandcrime.com

Pulitzer Prize Board members filed court documents in Okeechobee County, Florida, on Thursday, containing a litany of broad discovery demands in an attempt to beat back President Donald Trump's defamation lawsuit over Russia probe reporting awards.

The 12-page document was submitted by the law firms of Ballard Spahr and Atherton Galardi Mullen & Reeder on behalf of 20 defendants.

The board defendants are demanding documentation on subjects ranging from Trump's demands to rescind the awards, to his threats to sue, to proof that the board statement at issue "had a significant impact on the 2020 presidential election," and to Trump's various lawsuits — whether counterclaims and defenses against E. Jean Carroll, a failed defamation case against CNN, a settled suit against ABC, a settled suit against CBS, and an ongoing lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch over Jeffrey Epstein birthday letter reporting.

The defendants further demanded "all" of Trump's tax returns — "from all jurisdictions, including all attachments, schedules, and worksheets" — from 2015 to the present day, documents "sufficient to show all sources of Your income" over the same time period, documents "sufficient to show all of Your financial holdings" and his liabilities, and finally his health records and prescription medication history.

 

[Casey Pelous]

I look forward to the discovery phase of this lawsuit.

Pulitzer Prize Board members seek discovery of Trump finances, psych records, prescription meds

Pulitzer Prize Board members filed a litany of broad discovery demands in an attempt to beat back Trump's defamation suit over Russia probe reporting awards.

lawandcrime.com

"Knight takes d1. Your move."

 

[Free]

Justice Department expected to ramp up efforts to deliver on Trump’s ‘weaponization’ priorities

Justice Department officials are expected to meet Monday to discuss how to reenergize probes that are considered a top priority for President Donald Trump — reviewing the actions of officials who investigated him, according to a source familiar with the plan.

Almost immediately after Pam Bondi stepped into her role as attorney general last year, she established a “Weaponization Working Group” to review law enforcement actions taken under the Biden administration for any examples of what she described as “politicized justice.”

She said the group would focus on investigations into Trump conducted by former special counsel Jack Smith and his staff; Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and New York Attorney General Letitia James; and any “improper” investigations into the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.

But after a year, the group has not produced anything publicly.

Trump doesn't seem to be getting enough payback out of his Weaponization team (no point putting that in quotes). Time to start burning their LED lightbulbs from both ends.

 

[Free]

Judge Jeanine, the Fox News attorney for D.C., is shot down yet again.

Grand Jury rebuffs Justice Department attempt to indict 6 Democrats in Congress

Federal prosecutors in Washington sought and failed Tuesday to secure an indictment against six Democratic lawmakers who posted a video this fall that enraged President Donald Trump by reminding active-duty members of the military and intelligence community that they were obligated to refuse ille...

www.wral.com

Federal prosecutors in Washington sought and failed Tuesday to secure an indictment against six Democratic lawmakers who posted a video this fall that enraged President Donald Trump by reminding active-duty members of the military and intelligence community that they were obligated to refuse illegal orders, four people familiar with the matter said.

It was remarkable that the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington — led by Jeanine Pirro, a longtime ally of Trump’s — authorized prosecutors to go into a grand jury and ask for an indictment of the six members of Congress, all of whom had served in the military or the nation’s spy agencies.

But it was even more remarkable that a group of ordinary citizens sitting on the grand jury in U.S. District Court in Washington rejected the effort, sending a signal that they did not believe that the lawmakers had committed any crimes.

It had been exceedingly rare for grand jurors to rebuff requests by prosecutors seeking indictments, although it has happened with increased frequency to the Justice Department under Trump, as his appointees push ahead with questionable cases.

Keep hiring the cream of the crap, Mr. President!