Justice Department can resume its criminal probe of more than 100 classified documents seized at Mar-a-Lago, appeals court says. https://t.co/vlpUwmevG2
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) September 21, 2022
In a unanimous ruling that includes two judges appointed by the former president, the 11th Circuit stays Judge Cannon's order & permits DOJ to resume use of classified materials in both its criminal & intelligence investigations. pic.twitter.com/OnCUis6R7g
— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) September 22, 2022
/3 Again, this is the grown-up sensible judging that Judge Cannon, For Whatever Reason, did not exercise. pic.twitter.com/sGJQconCEA
— ResponsibleDispatchHat (@Popehat) September 21, 2022
/4 Note there how Trump’s foolish gamesmanship before Judge Dearie in saying “I shouldn’t have to say whether I declassified them or not” influenced the 11th Circuit to grant the government’s requested relief because it’s so clear that’s completely ridiculous.
— ResponsibleDispatchHat (@Popehat) September 21, 2022
/7 Anyway maybe Trump will go to SCOTUS and we can find out just how completely lawless SCOTUS has become. I’d guess 6-3 lawful rather than lawless but I’ve been wrong before.
— ResponsibleDispatchHat (@Popehat) September 21, 2022
/9 Watch for Judge Dearie, likely tomorrow, issue an order asking for revised plans for proceeding based on this, which ought to simply his job and please him a lot.
— ResponsibleDispatchHat (@Popehat) September 21, 2022
The 11th Circuit does what the district court didn’t by her focus on Trump’s interest. The higher court recognizes the US interest, our interest, and your interest in security. https://t.co/siexghohFB
— Juliette Kayyem (@juliettekayyem) September 21, 2022
Trump: those are mine
11th Circuit: nope. They’re the government’s
Trump: but I declassified them
11th: no, and also: still the government’s if you did
Trump: but I want them
11th: people in hell want ice water.
— Angry Staffer 🌻 (@Angry_Staffer) September 21, 2022
We Already Have the Attorney General This Country Needs
LAO
The decision is very well written (and I think ) easy for non-lawyers to understand, there’s a link at politico. (I can’t remember how to link because I’ve reverted back to lurking)
ETA: having appeared before Dearie for years, I wasn’t surprised by how he conducted the hearing yesterday and I can’t imagine why he was on Trump’s list for SM.
Baud
You’re fast, AL.
Splitting Image
I suspect that it is also trending on “Truth Social”.
Renie
Can someone clarify for me the STAY part of the Opinion. Does it mean the hand over of the classified documents to the Special Master does not happen? The beginning of the statement says “The District Court order is STAYED” but then refers to two separate items. I don’t recall if the original order covered the gov’t use of the docs & giving them to the Special Master. I thought that was two separate orders. Thanks.
SiubhanDuinne
O/T (because it’s an O/T): Asking the Jackaltariat, is there somewhere (easy to access) a list of all the different “hat” nyms that Popehat has used on Twitter?
If it matters, I don’t have a Twitter account. But maybe (she said hopefully) someone has compiled them?
WaterGirl
I hadn’t realized that this was a unanimous ruling. That makes me feel even better.
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
@LAO: What’s Jack McCoy like in real life?
WaterGirl
@Renie:
Correct. The Special Master does not get the classified documents and the US government can now get back to their investigation – they are no longer prohibited from investigating.
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne: They have been compiled.
I do not have a link.
Omnes Omnibus
@LAO:
I have obviously never appeared before him but his rep seemed too straight shooter for the Trumpies. No wonder the DOJ said “Okay, fine, sure” to his name.
Mike in NC
Years ago somebody did a fake TIME magazine cover that showed Trump, Ivanka, Jared, and Shithead Jr all wearing orange jumpsuits and handcuffs. Hopefully that person was prescient.
LAO
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch: very handsome, not much of a lawyer.
Steeplejack
I linked to a couple of pictures of the housecat, formerly of blog renown, downstairs.
Renie
@WaterGirl: Thanks. That’s good then the Trump lawyers don’t get them either.
Baud
@LAO:
I’d imagine that two tone chime he carries around gets annoying.
bbleh
@WaterGirl: Pending appeal, i.e., “for now.” And only with respect to the “100 or so” documents with classification markings.
It does raise the question, is this a solid enough stay that DOJ will say “cool, cool,” and continue apace, or are they worried enough that it might fall apart again — maybe in an en banc decision — that they pull the trigger on an indictment sooner rather than later?
I’d guess the former — the decision was unambiguous and even pointed — but the classified docs really are the heart of the case. If they can’t use those, they got a MUCH harder row to hoe. The rest, I’d guess they’re willing to chill, and if they can’t use ’em, oh well.
Ishiyama
I loved the riff on how equity does not ordinarily enjoin criminal prosecution – even though the burden of being a suspect may be worrying the ex-President.
Steeplejack
@SiubhanDuinne:
PopeHatNames. There is a link to a spreadsheet of all of the names, but if you read down the thread you can see the accompanying anecdotes/triggers in reverse chronological order.
WaterGirl
@Renie: Correct. The 11th Circuit basically said: Classified is classified, and they are the government’s documents, so by definition Trump cannot have a personal interest.
The commenter above is correct – “for now”. It can still be appealed to the so-called Supreme Court.
But for now, the government gets to continue the investigation and no one on team Trump or the Special Master gets to see the 100 classified documents.
SiubhanDuinne
@WaterGirl:
Thanks, that’s really useful to know. I’m turning in early now, but I can dig tomorrow — or maybe wake up at 3:00 am and discover that somebody’s already done it for me!!
LAO
@bbleh: This decision is what we (lawyers) call a total bench slap. The Circuit’s decision is a truly remarkable and complete evisceration. It is probably a casebook example of a rock solid stay. I’m going to be very interested in what the Supreme Court does when it make it to them.
SiubhanDuinne
@Steeplejack:
Ha!! I knew it would be you!! At this point, I owe you several barrels of drinks :-) 🥃
LAO
@Omnes Omnibus: I mean if you were Trump would you put forward a Judge that sat on the FISA court? Crazy. I just don’t get it.
Omnes Omnibus
I refuse to accept that premise.
Steeplejack
@SiubhanDuinne:
One ETA: You don’t have to have a Twitter account to read stuff on Twitter. If you have a notice pop up telling you to sign up or log in, click “sign in” or “log in” and then click the little “close this window” X on the next screen. Back to reading with no problems.
NickM
IMO the Supreme Court is more about the movement than Trump specifically. Enough of them could be smart enough to cut him loose, and this case would make it easy. They’re sociopaths with no respect for the law, but they may not want to lose even more respect in such a partisan move for an albatross on their necks.
Felanius Kootea
And people were (perhaps reasonably) worried about the 11th circuit! NYT excerpt:
Steeplejack
@SiubhanDuinne:
I look forward to taking you up on that, hopefully after the new year. Definitely need to get down there to see some old friends, who (I think) live quite close to you.
LAO
I didn’t realize that the 11th Circuit rules expressly forbid an en banc review of stay orders. On to the Supremes it is:
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
@LAO: He originally asked for Aaron Judge and Judge Reinhold
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@LAO:
I think Dearie was involved in a ruling involving the Crossfire Hurricane investigation, wasn’t he? Maybe that’s where they got his name from?
raven
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch: Hulu and ESPN+ have the game in case he hits one or two!
bbleh
@LAO: Speculation I saw was that they thought he might have a skeptical attitude toward all things FBI, and that he was very “methodical” and thus would take a lot of time and raise a lot of questions.
(Keeping in mind that we’re talking about the rapidly rotating clown circus that is the Trump legal team here …)
bbleh
@LAO: It was a joy to read TBH. Especially the occasional adverb. (I really liked “fleetingly.”)
bbleh
@LAO: whoa neither did I — I figured next step was en banc appeal. Well how about that.
Alas, the Justice who handles emergency appeals for 11 is … wait for it … Clarence Thomas!
RSA
Back when politics didn’t seem to matter as much, I wondered that about Jack’s boss, Adam Schiff.
Frankensteinbeck
Since it got bulldozed in the rush, let me add MORE legal folderol. Alex Jones’ bankruptcy court hearing did not go his way. It went so wildly not his way that the judge declared that he’s getting an independent party not associated with Jones to run Infowars until the financial threads can be untangled.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@bbleh:
That’s exactly it:
Basically, because of one case that came before him out of the probable hundreds he has presided over, they thought he would be a credulous moron skeptical of the FBI
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
@raven: He’s on deck
It’s on MLB tv
Eta: he’s up
Eta: he grounded out – that’s it for tonight
raven
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch: and he’s outta dere. . .
LAO
@bbleh: It certainly is a clown show. But seriously Dearie does not waste time. He’s an old school, move it along judge. And frankly it’s was a real misreading of the situation by team trump. The issues are not complicated or difficult, despite Trump’s best efforts at obfuscation. What may fly in Florida doesn’t in the EDNY.
zhena gogolia
@Steeplejack: So sweet.
Parfigliano
@WaterGirl: Wouldnt team Trump already know what the 100 classified documents contain in order to set their price for sale?
LAO
@Frankensteinbeck: Couldn’t happen to a nicer man.
bbleh
@LAO: The issues are not complicated or difficult…
Ay there’s the rub.
Steeplejack
On today’s other front, Liz Dye had an incisive, funny thread that goes through Letitia James’s suit in detail. She lands some zingers. Mazars (the accounting firm) “gets off the hook for ‘compiling’ financial-statement-shaped documents for Trump.” “So Mazars wasn’t so much acting as ‘accountants,’ they were more like the graphics department.” The thread’s worth a look.
Steeplejack
@zhena gogolia:
Thanks.
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
@LAO: en Blancs? Why would they appeal for a chardonnay?
UncleEbeneezer
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): TFG only views people as friend or enemy. He can’t even conceive of someone actually deciding based on merit and the law. Dearie’s ruling on Page was good for him, therefore he must be a friend, was Trump’s thinking.
Ken
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Where in the world did Trump get the idea that judges were all about taking vindictive revenge on everyone who’s ever crossed them?
Oh, right…
LAO
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch: You know I have a limited sense of humor, so I actually checked to see whether I fucked that up. I was pleased to see that I did not and was actually capable of recognizing a number of your jokes tonight, I really feel like I’ve grown as a person.
bbleh
@WaterGirl: @Parfigliano: Wouldn’t team Trump already know what the 100 classified documents contain…
Speculating here, but I think this is the … hilarious? horrible? how-did-the-writers-get-away-with-this? part of it. I DON’T think “team Trump” DOES know. I don’t think Trump HIMSELF knows exactly, beyond a few specific recollections. (Jared may also know a few things, or Rudy, or somebody else who told him “you gotta save that.”) But I don’t think they know exactly what the government has, i.e., what their client squirreled away at the WH and then took with him to Mag-a-Lardo in contravention of every law and principle related to national defense information. And I wouldn’t be surprised if, when they asked him, he obfuscated or refused to answer, or just got mad, beyond maybe a couple of specific things. I think this is one reason they’ve been so insistent on getting the documents back, and on getting more specific inventories
I think it’s not merely that he is fked, I think it’s worse because his lawyers don’t really have a complete picture of HOW fked he is.
Josie
@Steeplejack:
Sweet pictures. They stay in our hearts long after they are gone.
persistentillusion
@SiubhanDuinne: @PopeHatNames. Also goes by Popehat Name Changes, but that’s not it’s name. V funny, IMHO.
ETA: Finally! Someone asked a question I could answer!
Ken
Oooh, “The Trump Organization kept two sets of books”. Now that’s something anyone can understand.
Also this person “Allen Weisselberg” that’s mentioned several times sounds familiar. Now where have I heard that name recently…
lgerard
Jesus, this Jamie Raskin guy is GOOD
https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1572726960828063744
LAO
I didn’t realize Trump is being interviewed on Fox tonight. Talk about an elephant in the room. How will Trump talk about his personal persecution and victimization without mentioning the 11th Circuit. What a joke.
Delk
Every time I see Dearie I think Blossom. Peel me a grape…
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
@LAO:
ya know, I was going to hit you with a Vinny Gambini joke since he practices in EDNY but i thought too many people wouldn’t know that one.
Shalimar
@Parfigliano: If Trump remembers what was in the classified documents, he does not seem to have shared that information with his lawyers. In the hearing before Dearie, they were insistent that they need to find out what the documents were before they could decide on a defense.
dmsilev
@LAO: I’m no lawyer, but the undertone of ‘Judge Cannon, you royally fucked up’ came through loud and clear.
LAO
@bbleh: I guarantee you that his lawyers have absolutely no clue what is going on and what documents were seized. No question about it.
MagdaInBlack
@Steeplejack: That was a fun read. Thank you.
WaterGirl
@bbleh: Team T truly seems desperate to get their hands on the classified documents.
Maybe Team T needs to know what they have so they can assess just how bad it is?
It’s hard to know what lies you need to tell if you don’t know what they know.
I suspect there are more classified documents than what the DOJ, but of course that’s total speculation.
bbleh
@lgerard: used to teach Con Law at A.U.
MagdaInBlack
@lgerard: Wow!
LAO
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch: I once quoted spinal tap to a prosecutor and they didn’t get the reference. It was a totally humbling experience that had the added bonus of making me feel old.
But My Cousin Vinny is a Classic (seriously, if I’m scrolling cable and it’s on, I’m watching. I love that movie).
Omnes Omnibus
@LAO: You can’t dust for vomit?
WaterGirl
@LAO: What T* says in that public interview can be used against him, right?
Jeffro
@Steeplejack: I saw that! She’s quite witty.
Steeplejack
@Josie:
Thanks. She was a good partner on the blog news desk.
Lapassionara
@LAO: Me too, although I like to skip through the middle and get to the courtroom scenes.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Steeplejack:
That’s a great thread! Haven’t read through all of it, but I had no idea MAL was valued at around $750 million and instead should be valued closer to $75 million. That’s 10 times what it should be worth!
LAO
@WaterGirl: Serious answer — probably not because it depends on the context, That being said, public statements certainly can be used to establish state of mind and intent. But, he’s not under oath so it has limited direct value. That’s just my opinion, I’m sure smarter people may disagree.
Frankensteinbeck
@WaterGirl:
I can’t see how specific knowledge helps them. A general knowledge that there were some DoD secrets, some intelligence sources identifying information, that kind of thing, tells them what level of shit they’re in. They should have that, even if nobody remembers details. A list of everything won’t help them construct a fable about how those items were declassified, since there’s no paper trail anyway. There’s nothing they can say about ‘Oh, but it was fine to have THIS document’ that will make the slightest bit of difference legally.
The only two possibilities I can see for wanting access are A) he has buyers and forgot to take photos, oops, or B) “See, Donny? Here’s all your shiny picture books. Now that the judge agrees we can look at them, I’m sure she’ll let you keep them forever.”
EDIT – Okay, I can think of a third possibility, and I admit it is very, very plausible: “HERP A DERP DERP I’M A LAWYER DERP DERP LAW STUFF HUR HUR HUR.” Simple, straight-up incompetence, some plan that makes no sense to people who aren’t wacked out on Kool Aid.
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
@LAO: I just ordered my first electric vehicle, a Ford Lightning, and one of its many selling points is it includes a slip differential (the key piece of Brady material that broke the Gambini case wide open)
Sparkedcat
@WaterGirl:
Correct. Judge Dearie stated that he did not want to review the classified documents. With the 11th circuit ruling his wish has been granted.
HumboldtBlue
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch:
And Judge Dredd, cuz Stallone is a pal.
Also, I don’t who this Epps fellow is, but Jamie Raskin is speaking up for him being a pawn of the Trumpers and insurrectionists.
LAO
@Lapassionara: It’s so crazy but in my law school trial advocacy class, we actually what the “grits cross-examination scene” as an example of the perfect cross-exam. I still think of it when ever I’m preparing a cross.
Omnes Omnibus
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch: limited slip differential, please.
Captain C
@WaterGirl: All this, plus possibly the classified documents version of this scene from Goodfellas, same desperate need for cash, but in TFG’s case with a wife who don’t care, do u?
J R in WV
@Steeplejack:
What a pretty kitty — she looks very much like our Spike, so named for her sharpness!
Sorry for your loss ! We never forget the great ones.
WaterGirl
@LAO: thank you!
persistentillusion
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): My son refers to MAL (among other over-wrought places) as “Tuscany on the Jersey Shore”.
Fake Irishman
@bbleh: unanimous decision with two trump judges, this is not getting overturned en banc.
LAO
@WaterGirl: Well, there you go. When I’m wrong, I’m wrong
Lapassionara
@LAO: Wonderful writing. Great delivery.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@LAO:
Have you ever tried quoting Billy Madison lol?:
LAO
@Fake Irishman: no en banc under 11th Circuit rules, he’ll have to go to the Supreme Court. And, the records weak.
LAO
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I wish but I’m a defense attorney and we don’t really get away with very much despite what TV and movies claim.
bbleh
@Frankensteinbeck: not an expert, but I think at least some details would matter when planning a defense. The US wants “Goldilocks” material to show juries — secret enough that the seriousness of the crime is evident, but not so secret that they can’t risk showing it to a jury at all. And the lawyers wanna know how angry the IC is — if there’s material that compromises human sources, or (worse) could be traced to actual losses, they’d pursue a harder plea-bargain, even absent the possibility of presenting that specific material to a jury.
If I were on Clown Team Trump, *I* would certainly want to know. But I dunno if I’d have done it even for a $3M retainer, unless it was my swan-song.
Frankensteinbeck
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
I think that was one of the paragraphs from the 11th circuit ruling.
Omnes Omnibus
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): That can only come from a judge.
Ken
@LAO: Could public statements be useful for the defense? For example, to support a claim of mental incompetency?
(Though of course the prosecution could claim that it was all an act, especially since TFG is well-known as an actor whose skills should have won an Emmy.)
WaterGirl
@LAO: Is he trying to play dumb? Indicate lack of intent to do something wrong?
Or do you think what he said gets him more in dutch?
Steeplejack
@J R in WV:
Thanks! She was a great one.
Scout211
Fallows watched Hannity so we don’t have to: Twitter
LAO
@Omnes Omnibus: I love that movie. Today while I was trying to get my dog to stop rolling on the street in the middle of 3d Avenue, I used the “mime is money” line, People on the street gave me an exceptionally wide berth. Damn I am old.
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
@LAO:
If he’s going with the “Carnac the Magnificent” defense, then it’s game over – he’s got nothing to support his declassify claim.
WaterGirl
@bbleh:
Exactly! It makes no sense unless it’s like the bank robbers or hired assassins – I’m gonna pull this one last job and then I’m done.
Brachiator
“I, me, mine…”
At this point, I don’t think Trump wanted to sell classified documents to the highest bidder, or include them as souvenirs in his hotels or wave them around like a symbolic phallus in front of guests to forever prove how Bigly he is. Or maybe all this and more. I don’t think he even knows what is in most of the documents he took.
But most of all, this farce demonstrates that Trump is a stubborn, immature, mentally unstable man-child who wants to hold onto shit just because he can and because holding onto shit satisfies some insecurity deep in his troubled psyche. He desperately needs to show everyone how important he is.
The government is using rational measures to recover what rightfully belongs to the executive branch. In the end, Trump may be forced to comply. But he will never let it go. He can’t.
Omnes Omnibus
@WaterGirl:
You seem to be forgetting that he is a narcissistic idiot.
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
@WaterGirl:
Worse than that. He’s conceding he has nothing to support his claim that he declassified documents. No paper work. No witnesses. He never even said it out loud to a 3rd party. He only has his invisible “thought”.
LAO
@WaterGirl: I actually think the lawyers have told him that he did not declassify the documents and he’s trying to establish that he believed that he declassified them. I base my opinion solely on the fact that the attorneys haven’t claimed declassification in any filings, although they have been afforded the opportunity to do so.
ETA: but I don’t think it helps him at all.
LAO
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch: agree
Steeplejack
@LAO:
He can’t possibly have said that! . . . Okay, yeah, he did. 😳 (Watch 0:00 to about 0:35, if you’re squeamish.)
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@LAO:
@Omnes Omnibus:
I kinda figured that lol, but hey I love that quote and this was a good excuse to share it
@Frankensteinbeck:
lmao it could’ve been it was such a legal smackdown on “Judge” Loose Cannon
HumboldtBlue
@LAO:
Did someone say grits?
Scout211
@Omnes Omnibus:
I would say he is a narcissistic sociopath with age-related cognitive decline. But splitting splitting hairs . . .
LAO
@HumboldtBlue: what a great scene. Thanks for the link.
bbleh
@LAO: I may be misunderestimating him, but I don’t give him credit for both having an understanding of the legal implications of establishing such a state of mind and executing a strategy to try to do so. I just don’t think he has the mental capacity or discipline for that.
I think what’s going on is his standard narcissistic MO: I want to believe this now, therefore I believe it totally. Kash told me I can do it, and it would mean there’s no crime, and it fits with my image of myself as powerful, so I BELIEVE it, and I will insist on it until the rest of the world gives up in frustration or is beaten down by my legions of lawyers. It’s like has been said about some sales-people, “breathing your own exhaust,” taken to a pathological extreme.
(Plus, y’know, all that stuff about classification status doesn’t matter for any of the statutes mentioned in the warrant …)
@Scout211: yeah, or that
HumboldtBlue
@LAO:
You’re welcome. The movie has three dozen unforgettable scenes.
Bill Arnold
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
When people say every (real estate) developer does it, well, truth(y), but not 10x (or 60x). 10x is a sign of absolute faith that one is above the law.
D.J. Trump was not trusted in NYC.
Burnspbesq
Any lawyer who has ever had to deal with real estate valuation issues knows the ancient joke about MAI (the professional qualification for appraisers) standing for “ made as instructed.” Soon the whole world will be in on it.
GregMulka
I, a not lawyer, was rewarded for reading this with Cobbledick v United States on page 28. Yes I am a grown person, why do you ask?
Also, FPOTUS getting his orange tuckus handed to him.
Bill Arnold
@LAO:
I’ve been so hoping that Trump would do the “declassification by thinking about it” in an interview. And Kyle Cheney goes for the next step, that we’ve also been hoping for. Checkmate, FPOTUS D.J. Trump! POTUS J. Biden has had reclassification authority since 12:00 PM January 20, 2021! Including mental reclassification of improperly declassified documents!
danielx
@WaterGirl: The Razor of dear old Occam: or it could just be his congenital inability to keep his mouth shut.
Eta: even when it’s in his own best interest.
japa21
If I heard Trump correctly, he claims that just by sending the documents to Mar-a-Lardo, the documents automatically became declassified. Wow!!
Burnspbesq
@LAO:
No it doesn’t, because classification is completely superfluous when the issue is whether something qualifies as “national defense information” under section 793.
LAO
@Burnspbesq: you’re absolutely right. I can’t believe I let myself be sucked into the really stupid Trump arguments. I should have said that all of this, including the Hannity performance, is merely performance art directed at trumps believers. Because you are correct that whether the documents are declassified or not has no legal meaning for his criminal liability.
I’m going to take this as my cue to go to bed.
MomSense
Bittersweet tidings from the last open mic. It’s a reunion and a farewell. We are finishing hour four and I’ve never laughed or cried so much at one go.
Barbara
I think the DOJ was pretty shrewd in how it positioned this appeal. Basically, it only appealed the limitations that Cannon imposed on the use of classified information. But the four part standard of review applies to all of the information that was seized under the warrant — and the court of appeals found that she abused her discretion on each of the four criteria, beginning with the first — that in seizing property the government acted with callous disregard to Trump’s constitutional rights.
So while the court’s decision only applies to the 100 classified documents, I’m guessing that the opinion gave a rather strong signal to Dearie that he can wrap up his review of the documents for AC privilege (which might be legitimate) and executive privilege (which is completely insane) and not worry too much about getting second guessed let alone fired by judge Cannon. If after this she still tries to interject herself into a criminal investigation (which is basically what she did) I would imagine an even sharper opinion, like remand with an order to dismiss the action.
Bill Arnold
@LAO:
Trump believes a lot of seriously weird stuff. Remember the Chinese Hurricane Gun?
He’s also a The Power of Positive Thinking (arguably a form of Chaos Magic, and related to Prosperity Gospels) guy; the author, Norman Vincent Peale, presided at his wedding to Ivana.
His “beliefs” are transactional like the rest of his life, but he appears to be able to suppress doubt pretty well if needed to feed his own narcissistic needs.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Barbara:
I know anyone is capable of being corrupt of course, but it really disgusts me that she’s so flagrantly corrupt and willing to give aid and comfort to an authoritarian like Trump when her own mother fled Cuba under Fidel Castro. Columbia is also not a bastion of law, order, and justice:
Leto
Cliff notes for the Trumpov lawsuit, including the “Deceptive Strategies Employed By Trumpov By Asset Per Year” for 2011-2021.
Barbara
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Fidel Castro replaced an authoritarian dictator. You assume that people who oppose some dictators oppose all dictators, when it may be that they simply oppose authoritarian rulers who do not favor their economic or social interests.
Bill Arnold
@Leto:
For many years, my commute passed “Donald J. Trump State Park” in both directions. It was almost certainly another tax fraud, although not AFAIK in the current legal actions.
Donald J. Trump State Park, Yorktown, New York – This forlorn park is the result of a failed investment turned tax dodge.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Barbara:
I get that. It just really sticks in my craw that somebody like Cannon would come here, to a free, albeit imperfect, society like the US that affords her so many opportunities and then acts to undermine those freedoms and opportunities for others; to attempt to destroy a constitutional, representative democracy that has existed for over 200 years. It’s like biting the hand that feeds
Another Scott
@japa21: TFG is just playing Calvinball. None of his statements can be taken seriously.
He wants what he wants and thinks he can browbeat everyone else into giving him what he wants without consequences. He’s done it all his life and it’s usually worked.
The fact that he and his staff didn’t immediately allow the NARA to collect everything that they wanted, and didn’t immediately let them check to make sure that there wasn’t any other classified stuff as soon as it was found, shows that they don’t care about the rules. It couldn’t be clearer.
VOANews (from August 9):
Petraeus got off easy. TFG will try to blame someone else. I don’t think it will work, and I don’t think TFG will get by with probation because he’ll probably never admit he was wrong.
He has no leg to stand on. His lawyers know it.
But they have to go through the motions so that his fragile ego doesn’t get damaged and so he doesn’t yell at them and throw hamberders or omelets and make a mess.
Here’s hoping the courts continue to shut down this nonsense expeditiously.
Cheers,
Scott.
RaflW
@Frankensteinbeck: And of course the NYT has to get fancy and not call Jones a cruel, evil serial liar: Citing a “lack of candor,” including over the Infowars fabulist’s lavish spending, the judge ordered substantive changes to his company’s oversight.
Augusten Burroughs is a fabulist. David Sedaris is a fabulist.
Alex Jones is the lowest form of scumbag , using the violent deaths of children to gain prominence and money.
RaflW
@WaterGirl: “Team T truly seems desperate to get their hands on the classified documents.”
Alternate theory: Turnip promised one of the secret docs to an offshore creditor as payment for one of his many debts, and he no longer has the hot item available to fence.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Another Scott:
Ah, General Betrayus! Haven’t heard that name in a long while. I do agree with you that Trump will likely not get off as easily as Petraeus and I do think *knock on wood* that the courts will continue to rule against him, because his arguments are ridiculous
Leto
@Bill Arnold: all hail Shit Midas, destroyer of life. May his name go down in history like the Wednesday bathroom visit after Taco Tuesday dinner.
phdesmond
@HumboldtBlue:
you’re the Man.
Bruce K in ATH-GR
My law degree has … goddamn it, was it that long ago? … twenty years of dust on it, but I distinctly remember something that’s not written down in the law but is an essential thing to understand:
Lawyers do not like surprises.
As a prosecutor-turned novelist put it (paraphrasing): “Don’t lie to your lawyer. You can lie to your wife, lie to the IRS, lie to yourself, but do not lie to your lawyer, because if I rely on something you tell me and it turns out not to be true, that’ll compromise my ability to present your best possible case.”
I could almost pity TFG’s legal team for the nightmare client they’ve got to deal with, except that all my pity and sympathy have already been spoken for by his victims.
Kristine
@LAO:
Guessing this thread is dead, but still. Tag nomination.
J R in WV
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Well, you have to remember Mal-a-Largo (sic ;~) ) is historic, was built by and for Marjorie Merriweather Post , wife of E F Hutton, and she was also owner of one of the major remaining big sailing ships, her yacht Sea Cloud, now a popular cruise attraction in the Med and the Caribbean. V Expensive! Sailors taking in sails, and setting sails, way up in the masts and yards. You may stay in the Owner’s Cabin, and if you have to ask, no, you probably can’t afford it.
Ms Post founded General Foods, still a major producer of foods. Was independently wealthy and married wealthy husbands as well. A famous beauty, also too. Her estate in Washington DC is a famous art museum now. Mar-a-Lago probably should also be a museum, but rebuilding it to original specifications, removing TFG’s whore-house decor, and cleaning out the ketchup stains would probably cost more than it is worth.Maybe it IS only worth $75,000,000…?
ETA: No thread is Dead while I’m on the blog !!!!!
JWR
@Kristine:
Writing as one who’s almost always several threads behind the action, I second the nomination. ; )