(No surprise: The committee's brief is written and argued well.)
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Here is how Trump's brief presented the issue ⤵️
His argument is that the select committee's request was unconstitutional, therefore, he should have gotten a preliminary injunction. He wants the Court to decide whether the request was constitutional.
Here's the problem . . . 2/
To get a preliminary injunction, Trump had to show with clear evidence each of these four criteria⤵️
The likelihood of succeeding on the merits is only one element.
So far, there has not actually been a trial on the merits of whether the request was Constitutional.
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The problem for Trump is that the lower court found that he failed to show ANY of the four elements.
The committee points out that even if there are Constitutional issues, this case is not the vehicle for considering them . . .
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You're not allowed to raise new issues on appeal.
The Committee points out that in the lower courts, Trump disclaimed a freestanding challenge and stated that all of his arguments about why the committee shouldn't have the documents pertained to these particular docs.
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At the same time, Trump failed to make particularized arguments in the lower court about these particular documents.
He also failed to meet the other criteria required to get a preliminary injunction.
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My sense all along has been that even if the Court is interested in the issue Trump raises (and I doubt it is) the Court will wait for a decision on the merits and won't take an appeal from a preliminary injunction.
The Presidential Records Act allows a former president to "be heard" in questions of executive privilege. So Trump's ability to get involved comes from this act.
. . . he argued that the Presidential Records Act is unconstitutional because it gives the final say to the incumbent president, which of course is Biden.
He had a different view of the matter when he was the sitting president.
But he never worried about consistency.
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Here's what I'm stuck on: Because the Supreme Court would have to find that Trump met each of the four elements in order to overturn the ruling denying a preliminary injunction, what Trump really wants to do is to seed the idea that the committee is illegitimate.
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The prosecution has everyone confused because they are framing the case as "election fraud" and "election interference" so everyone is trying to connect the crimes we know about to "election fraud."
This would be clear: "It is election fraud. Here is how the evidence will support a charge of election fraud." Then show how the behavior supports election fraud.
For years I was perplexed by what I was seeing on left-leaning Twitter, political blogs, and partisan reporting.
I had the feeling that, in its way, what I was seeing was comparable to Fox: Lots of bad information and even unhinged conspiracy theories.
2terikanefield.com/invented-narra…
Of course, if I suggested that, I was blasted for "both-sidesing."
Then I discovered an area of scholarship: Communications and the overlap between communications and political science.
Another contradiction: when people demanded indictments RIGHT NOW (in 2021 and early 2022) the reason was, "Everyone knows he's guilty! Look at all the evidence!"
We saw the J6 committee findings.
Trump isn't saying "I didn't do it." He's saying, "I had the right to do it."
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We all know what he did. The question is, "Do people want a president who acts like Trump?"
A lot of people do.
People show me polls that a guilty finding would change minds.
I say rubbish. Use common sense. He lost in 2020 and he lost the popular vote in 2016. . .
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. . . because it is designed to keep people hooked. People need to stay glued to the screen for hour after hour.
But to hook people, you need to scare them. The Facebook whistleblower testified that content that produces strong emotions like anger gets more engagement.
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Fox does the same thing. There is a few minutes of news, but the facts get lost as commentators and TV personalities speculate and scare their audiences.
Before you yell at me for comparing MSNBC to FOX, read all of this:
If I write another blog post addressing the outrage cycle here on Twitter and in the MSNBC ecosystem, it will be to explore why so many people who believe they are liberal or progressive actually want a police state.
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Today alone, a handful of people who consider themselves liberal or progressive told me that the "traitors need to be arrested and prosecuted."
In 2019, back when I wore myself out tamping down misinformation, I explained the legal meaning of treason.
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Back then, I now realize, people asked politely: "Can Trump be prosecuted for treason (over the Russia election stuff).
I explained that wouldn't happen.
Now it's different. It's more like fascist chants.
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