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| credit: M. Lukovich, Atlanta Journal Constitution |
The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals told MAGA judge Aileen Cannon to take a hike by overturning her decision to appoint a special master in the Mar-a-Lago Papers case. Her decision gave the Trump camp an opportunity to beat the clock by litigating over each document among some 11,000 lawfully seized by the FBI during its search of his compound. The three judge panel pointedly wrote that it could not create case law that would potentially allow any defendant to interfere and delay a criminal investigation. In other words, absent callous disregard of his constitutional rights, no special treatment for the former guy. In a rant about Hillary Clinton's e-mails on his media platform, he confessed he stole the documents from the White House. If he holds true to form he could appeal the Court of Appeals ruling to the Supreme Court and ask MAGA justice Clarence Thomas to impose a stay pending a decision. If he does, the Court is likely to rule against him and quickly.
Trumpillini's tax records were finally handed over to the House Ways and Means Committee after three years of litigation. It is not likely his returns will be made public, but most of the information has already reached the public domain by other means. That information paints a picture of an artful dodger willing to circumvent the rules to avoid paying taxes.
In the most significant development this week, a federal trial jury has established the factual existence of a seditious conspiracy to overthrow the legitimate government of the United States by blocking the Electoral College vote count in Congress. Just typing that sentence leaves US Person breathless. A DC jury found the leader of the Oathkeepers militia group, Elmer Stewart Rhodes. guilty after three days of deliberation on Tuesday. All five defendants were found guilty of obstructing Congress on eleven of 28 counts. Now that a historic factual predicate has been established, it remains for Jack Smith to connect the dots to the focus of that conspiracy, Individual One. Both sides in the case acknowledged that Rhodes was in contact with Stone, Alexander and Flynn during the post-election period. If Smith is worth his salt as a prosecutor, it should be a fairly easy proposition to prove the former president conspired with Rhodes and others to overturn the results of the election beyond a reasonable doubt. His boss, Attorney General Merrick Garland, has repeatedly stated in public that conspirators will be prosecuted without regard to their former status. Most recently he told the media,“The Justice Department is committed to holding accountable those criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy on January 6, 2021.” Trump has threatened to issue pardons to January 6th defendants if elected in 2024.
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| credit: R. McKee |