TWIT: Bad Day @ Mar-a-Lago

credit; Signe Wilkinson, Philadelphia Inquirer

Merrick Garland should be ashamed of himself for abdicating his responsibility to bring Herr Trumpillini to trial.  Instead he made the politically expedient move of appointing another special prosecutor.  Despite the legal background of his choice, a career prosecutor whose experience includes prosecuting war crimes at The Hague, a special prosecutor could easily take a year or more to decide on an indictment. (Jack Smith is currently recovering from a biking accident in the Netherlands). This scenario works perfectly for the real artful dodger, Individual One.  He is counting on the political controversy that will no doubt arise around prosecuting a presidential candidate during an election campaign. No matter how guilty he may appear to the average guy, prosecuting a national political figure and former President may be more than our frail judicial system can bear.  The timing of a trial close to another election would influence potential jurors without question--making it impractical to conduct a trial with the appearance of fairness.  It is a fact that Trump legal minions are already using a version of this same agreement:  "You cannot do that because Der Leader is so special and a presidential candidate."  Listen to the recording of the oral argument in the Mar-a-Lago Papers case, linked below.  Remember, in his supporters' deluded minds, he never lost!

But there is some good news for US, nevertheless.  Three years after his tax returns were requested by a congressional committee and defiance by Trump regime appointees of federal law requiring the IRS to hand over the records to Congress, the Supreme Court refused to hear Trumpillini's appeal to prevent the IRS from turning over his returns to the House Ways and Means Committee.  A Trump-appointed federal district court judge, Trevor MacFadden, delayed the case for over a year by refusing to rule.  It is unclear at this late date whether the Democrat controlled House committee will have time to actually access these records before this session of Congress is adjourned and a new one begins in January controlled by Repugnants. Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) told media he hopes to get the records by next week. The Solicitor General sided with Congress saying that the Committee has articulated a legitimate legislative need for Trump's tax records. The Senate Finance Committee chaired by Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) has the same authority to request tax returns.  However, the tax case exemplifies the extent to which a determined litigant with funds can delay or even stop the grind of justice. 

In the Mar-a-Lago Papers case, oral arguments took place on the question of whether the appointment of a special master, which has significantly slowed progress in the investigation, was an abuse of discretion by his pocket judge, Aileen Cannon.  Comments made by the three judge panel, two of whom are Trump appointees, indicated to observers that the Eleventh Circuit will rule Cannon  exceeded her authority in the extraordinary appointment of  a special master since the FBI search at Mar-a-Lago was indisputably legal.  At one point in the proceedings, the conservative chief judge asked Trump's attorney if he could show that the search was conducted in violation of Trump's constitutional rights. and if not, he asked, "Then what are we doing here?" Good question your honor, the answer--running out the clock.  Regardless of wether he intended to sell the secret documents in question or use them as a bargaining chip, Trump indisputably removed the government's documents from the White House and then hid them among his personal effects at Mar-a-Lago while refusing to relinquish them all upon official request. His belief, no matter how delusional, that the papers where his, is simply implausible beyond a reasonable doubt.