🧵DOJ insider confirmed to me that a #TrumpIndicment prosecutor was reprimanded by a judge due to a "bad faith" scheme to prosecute a man who was later acquitted.
Meet Karen Gilbert: The DOJ attorney who secretly recorded a defense team in 2009
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justthenews.com/politics-polic…
Gilbert -- then head of the Narcotics division -- was working on a case involving a doctor accused of drug trafficking.
Sean Cronin, who answered to Gilbert, launched a witness tampering investigation where witnesses were asked to record the defense's discussions.
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But in a scathing 50-page rebuke of the prosecutors, Florida judge Alan Gold said Gilbert failed to get authorization for the secret tapes and did not inform the defense that the witnesses were "cooperating with the government," violating discovery obligations.
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Even worse: Gilbert didn't inform her superiors that they were doing the investigation.
When asked about this later in the sanctions hearing, she testified under oath that “she thought she had.”
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The judge deemed Gilbert was "grossly negligent" for that on top of her failing to seek "necessary information" about the probe and not "independently verify[ing] the basis for Cronin's belief" that it was needed.
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Come to find out Cronin launched the investigation in part due to "personal animus" against Shaygan and his team.
And Gilbert went along with it "despite no evidence of wrongdoing."
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"Such an unfounded [witness] investigation is all the more egregious given the severity of prejudice to the defendant," who was facing a minimum of 20 years and 141 charges.
He was acquitted. Of all counts.
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The judge granted Shaygan's sanctions request, entered a public reprimand "specifically" against Gilbert and two other prosecutors for their misconduct.
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Not to mention the Justice Department never denied any of the facts outlined in the sanctions motion, just that the actions weren't done in "bad faith," even though the judge concluded "without doubt" that they were.
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To recap, Gilbert:
- Investigated a defense team with "no evidence" to justify it
- Secretly recorded them without getting approval or disclosing it
- Never told her superiors the investigation existed and might have lied about it under oath
That's who just indicted Trump.
For more details, read my latest:
justthenews.com/politics-polic…
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