What will the legal challenges to the Biden Administration's recent actions to encourage vaccination look like? Will courts rule that any of them are unlawful?
Professor @RickHills2 answered these questions and more on today's new episode of my #OnTopic podcast!
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THREAD: Should we expect Trump to be prosecuted for trying to overturn the election? Why or why not?
1/ Today I wrote a column for @POLITICOMag explaining why I think, based on what we know now, Trump is unlikely to be prosecuted for attempting to overturn the election. politico.com/news/magazine/…
2/ His actions were heinous and have done lasting damage to our democracy.
They merit investigation. But they don't fit neatly into existing statutes. There isn't a law on the books that was aimed at the sort of thing Trump did because his actions were unprecedented.
2/ Avenatti is getting a new trial because the government did not provide evidence that could be exculpatory to Avenatti before the trial.
But this case looks very difficult for Avenatti to win, and it doesn't look like the evidence is a game-changer.
3/ Avenatti could have suggested to the judge that the violation would be cured if the government was prevented from making certain arguments and offering certain evidence, and that may have been a better move.
It's hard to tell for sure without knowing all of the specifics.
THREAD: What should we make of today's indictment of the Trump Organization and its CFO, Allen Weisselberg?
1/ Today the Manhattan DA charged Allen Weisselberg and two entities that are commonly referred to as the "Trump Organization" with a tax fraud scheme spanning from 2005 to the present.
2/ The scheme at issue here is very simple. The Trump Organization paid money (in the form of rent, tuition, cars, and other items) to executives under the table and hid those payments from tax authorities.
This is a common tax scheme that any jury could get its head around.
THREAD: What should we make of the news that the Trump Organization and its Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg were indicted by a Manhattan grand jury?
1/ Today a Manhattan grand jury returned criminal indictments against the Trump Organization and its CFO, Allen Weisselberg.
This was anticipated, given that defense counsel was given the opportunity to "pitch" prosecutors to convince them not to charge. washingtonpost.com/politics/trump…
2/ The charges are reportedly related to unpaid taxes on benefits for Trump Organization executives.
Bringing narrow charges now, with months of time remaining for this grand jury, suggests that prosecutors don't have the evidence to bring more serious charges at this time.