“The DoJ alleges the defendants conspired to forcefully oppose the transfer of power between then-President Donald Trump to Joe Biden, including by trying to take control of the U.S. Capitol.” 1/5 tinyurl.com/yavthzp4
Let me note that the use of encrypted digital messages strongly corroborates my criticism on Jan 5 of a thread by @SethAbramson. 2/5 tinyurl.com/ydfjmss9
Jerome Corsi and others reported that Mueller had all the goods *before* their interviews. (Michael Caputo said Mueller knew more about what he had done during the campaign than he did.) Caputo: “These guys have every single email ….” 4/5 tinyurl.com/ydx4knkm
As I’ve said before, when--not if--Garland indicts Trump the case will be airtight just on the basis of this kind of evidence. When Garland does subpoena witnesses, they will be aware of this.
Trump is a dead man walking.
Count on it. 5/5
Here’s the key statute in Rhodes’s indictment (“SEDITIOUS CONSPIRACY”: 18 U.S. Code § 2384). Note that the use of the term “force” is different in kind from the other charges against Rhodes and his co-conspirators. 1/13 tinyurl.com/j6eap2p
Other charges include: obstruction of an official proceeding; conspiracy to prevent an officer to discharge any duties; destruction of government property; civil disorder; assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers; destroying documents on or after Jan 6. 2/13
All of these other federal crimes were committed *in the course of pursuing seditious conspiracy.* (Consider especially “...or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any *law* of the United States.”) 3/13
I think there is at least a 50-50 chance that Trump will be indicted and convicted for serious *federal* crimes. It is therefore highly relevant that a Republican POTUS in Jan 2025 could pardon Trump for those crimes. 1/5
That is another reason why politics is the name of the game behind Trump’s lawsuit against Letitia James.
Trump is announcing, among other things, that there will be a loyalty test for all R politicians in the midterms and in 2024. 2/5
The loyalty test is to ignore any state or federal crimes he has undoubtedly committed.
For Trump, it has always been a question about who you are for and who you are against--and certainly not the law.
And you have to be *for* him. He has always demanded complete loyalty. 3/5
He's doing this to block the subpoena to testify under oath. But it's such a flakey move it will only get him a very short delay. In the meantime, it's a bad look for Trump. It makes him look like he's running from the law, which he is. He's getting desperate.
I expect, momentarily, to see all the legal experts weighing in about what a flakey move this is by Trump. But Trump must *know* that it is a flakey *legal* move. (He isn’t that stupid.) But to understand his motive here, it is necessary to look at the *politics*.
The federal government has *plenary* authority over interstate commerce. Consequently, Congress could simply strike down the laws in 19 states barring the transportation of abortifacient pills across state lines. For that matter, so could the Commerce Dept through regulation. 1/2
Example: a number of states have laws regulating the transport of fruits and vegetables across their state lines, but states can apply these regulations *only* because the U.S. Dept of Agriculture permits it. (The Dept also has its own regulations.) 2/2 tinyurl.com/yx9ea3rr
What everyone seems to be missing is that Interstate commerce involving Mifepristone became an issue the very moment the FDA approved its use and sale. Obviously, no state can bar the importation of any legal substance or product unless the federal govt approves such a ban.
It’s taking a long time to indict Trump b/c it’s all very complicated, involving hundreds--may thousands--of interrelated moving parts. Before indicting just one part of it effectively (e.g., obstruction of justice), one has to have pieced together all the parts of the plot. 1/6
Then one has to boil it all down to a theory of the case that is simple and compelling enough to convince a jury in real time. (Real time being trial time). 2/6
At his confirmation hearing, Garland pledged to make investigation into Jan. 6 his first priority as AG. He also said that, if confirmed, he would not rule out investigating funders, organizers, ringleaders, aiders or abettors of the assault. 3/6 tinyurl.com/y9um4wa9
The U.S. Constitution clearly stands for the proposition that a state’s national representatives are *directly* chosen by the state’s voters, and not indirectly by the state’s legislatures.
This is clearly embodied in the Seventeenth Amendment. 1/12 tinyurl.com/pa4asw5
The Seventeenth Amendment restates the first paragraph of Article I, section 3 of the Constitution and provides for the election of senators by replacing the phrase “chosen by the Legislature thereof” with “elected by the people thereof.” 2/12
The U.S. Constitution stands even more clearly for the proposition that the electors that are sent to the Electoral College are sent there by a majority of the voters in each state, not by the state legislatures. 3/12