Person: There should be indictments by now!

Me: 768 indictments so far, including Steve Bannon and a recent indictment for seditious conspiracy. . .
in an investigation that is ongoing. . .
in less than a year, during a pandemic.

Person: NONE OF THOSE COUNT.
⤵️The Trump Org, Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn, Allen Weisselberg, George Papadopoulos, Rick Gates, George Nader, Michael Cohen, Lev Parnas. . .

Two impeachments.

The Mueller team indicted or got guilty pleas from 34 people and 3 companies.

But none of those count, right?
Wrong about what?

I've said what has happened already.
I make no future predictions.

Person #1: There have been no indictments.

Me: Yes there have been (and I list them)

Person #2: Will you admit you're wrong?

So you don't really mean "there have been no indictments," you mean, "I want them all in prison now and never allowed out."

That's fine, but say what you mean.

Indictment doesn't mean prison.
First, there's a trial, and the outcome is unpredictable.
You're wrong.
I read Garland recent speech and I said I have no reason to think he isn't telling the truth.

He made no future predictions, and either do I.

I don't hold to conspiracy theories, by which I mean . . .
. . . theories based on speculation and not grounded in facts.

The theories I've seen that Garland is incompetent or corrupt or bribed (or worse) are all speculative.

I don't know what is happening in the DOJ and either does anyone else.

I'll wait for hard evidence.
I also think that the statement, "I want them all in prison now and never allowed out" is scary and authoritarian.

Much of the indictment hysteria (I believe) is based on the misguided idea that indictments will save democracy.

If you think that, no wonder you're panicked. . .
If you think that indictments will save democracy, you might want to start with the video in my pinned tweet.

I think the way to save democracy is with more democracy.

For what I mean, see: terikanefield.com/things-to-do/
The only way to prevent this scenario is to make sure they don't win elections.

What good are indictments or prison sentences if a Republican gets into the WH and pardons them all?

So, join @MichelleObama's group and become a voting squad captain: whenweallvote.org/votingsquad/
Crazy idea: It's the doomsayers and the people shouting that there has been "no accountability" who are demoralizing people.

"I won't vote for Democrats because the DOJ didn't indict enough of those criminal Republicans" is sort of twisted, right?

Now, look, I'd love for Trump to get indicted, but I don't think will end the threat of fascism. It won't solve our most serious problems which are (1) rampant disinformation and (2) the fact that so many Republicans still support Trump and Trump-like candidates.
Precisely.

And you can see how we get a destructive-rage cycle.

🔹People believe that indictments will end fascism and sweep Republicans out of office in 2022 (It won't: getting out the vote, however, might do that.)

🔹Indictments are happening. . .

. . . but not making any difference politically.

🔹So they think the problem is there haven't been enough indictments and they are not happening fast enough.

🔹They panic and spread doom FASCISM WILL FLOURISH because not enough indictments.

🔹People get mad at Democrats. . .
. . . and they rail against Democrats for not doing that THING that will finally cause support for fascism to CRATER

🔹People think Democrats are the real problem, which makes it harder to turn out votes for Democrats

🔹People get so worn out and discouraged they shut down.
. . . and don't get involved in registering voters and getting out the vote.

🔹I personally know people who have tuned out because the constant doomsaying is so mentally exhausting.

Indictments are nothing more than a formal accusation of a crime . . .
. . . trials can become media circuses and don't always come out how we want.

There is a problem with this sentence: "We need to restore Rule of Law by putting them all in prison now and keeping them there because we know they are horrible destructive people."

See the problem?
I hope so too.

After all, hope is a thing with feathers.


Meanwhile, I found another volunteer opportunity for myself to provide legal assistance to people who are experiencing difficulties registering to vote.
Fact: Nobody named Trump has been indicted for the events surrounding Jan. 6.

Speculation: Why nobody named Trump has been indicted and whether it will happen.

Fact: Merrick Garland was sworn in almost 11 months ago.

Speculation . .
. . . what the DOJ is investigating, the timetable of those investigations, and what the results will be.

I tend to ignore questions that I don't think are asked in good faith. By good faith I mean "wants to know" instead of pushing an agenda.
This question, for example, doesn't appear to be in good faith.

For example, it assumes as facts things that are not facts.

For example, the question assumes that "the DOJ is doing nothing" is a fact. This is an untrue statement . . .
. . . because we don't actually know whether the DOJ is investigating Trump.

You're assuming that the DOJ is not investigating Trump.

In the previous tweet, I wrote "for example" too many times 😆
Also, you're accusing me of telling people it is "unacceptable to express concerns," which is rather offensive, right?

Good point. Also, I realize I was speaking generally.

With legal matters, it's harder.

Generally, if a lawyer makes a statement like "This is a slam dunk and should be prosecuted" but hasn't seen all the evidence, the lawyer doesn't really know.
We have a thing called prosecutorial discretion and prosecutorial independence.

Defense attorneys are accustomed to feeling frustrated by this.

Basically it means that the prosecutor decides whether to prosecute. (Defense lawyers often think they got it wrong).
In an autocracy, the autocrat decides who to prosecute.

In an era of mob rule (lynchings) the mob decides. Mobs bypass tiresome rules and procedures because they think the horribleness of the person justifies it.

As our rule-of-law system is designed, the prosecutor decides.
Someone said to me "The DOJ should throw us a bone."

If 760+ indictments and an ongoing investigation isn't enough of a bone, read this:
justice.gov/opa/speech/att…

This is Garland's way of throwing a bone and teaching people how rule of law works.
People ask: "Isn't this enough evidence to prosecute this crime?"

Well, I don't know. Is there complicating exculpatory evidence that we don't know about? Is there a reason not to bring that particular indictment yet? Perhaps the investigators aren't ready to tip their hands.

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More from @Teri_Kanefield

Feb 3
Screenshot so I don't give airtime to people who trade on despair, even though it seems stingy of me to deny people such an easy route to popularity and attention.

Facts:

🔹Nobody knows what is happening inside the DOJ except people who work there.

1/ Image
🔹People who speculate on what is happening based on evidence are, well, speculating.

🔹One problem is distinguishing fact from speculation.

🔹Here's the shocker: Just because someone is a well-known lawyer doesn't mean they are right when they speculate.

2/
🔹Another shocker: Not all lawyers are smart or good lawyers.

🔹It can be very difficult to distinguish legal facts from legal opinions. If you're a nonlawyer, this is harder than distinguishing facts or speculation.

Some things are legal facts. Others are legal opinions.

3/
Read 15 tweets
Feb 2
I think you mean "punished." Indictment simply means "charged with a crime" or accused.

People think Rule of Law requires that all people who break the law get punished. Nope. Let me explain.

A government needs a source of authority . . .
. . . sociologist Max Weber outlined 3 sources of authority.

The first traditional. This is the authority underlying monarchies.

Second is rule of law. This is the authority underlying democracy.

Third is what he called "charismatic leader."
Today we'd say "demagogue" or "strongman." This is the source of authority underlying fascist governments.

So if the source of authority is a body of law and not the whim of a king or the commands of a strongman, you have a democracy.

When rule of law breaks down . . .
Read 8 tweets
Feb 1
Read this announcement carefully.

I doubt Trump wrote it, but the argument is "why do they need to pass a law against what we tried to do if what we tried to do was illegal?"

This is the attitude he has always had toward the law, and it's the attitude his father had.

1/
I'm not saying this will work as a defense.

As I said earlier, in the criminal context, most defenses fail (ask any criminal defense lawyer).

I'm saying that it's not an admission of guilt. It's a convoluted argument that what he wanted Pence to do wasn't illegal.

2/
In fact, the law that Democrats and a few others are trying to pass is to clarify the Electoral Count Act so people don't get the idea the vice president can win the election.

As I said earlier, Trump usually loses in court.
This is for the Court of Right-Wing Opinion.

3/
Read 5 tweets
Jan 31
Outrage is not productive. I'd wager that the only people who think it is, are those who profit from outrage in some way.

Take FOX. Their business model is to keep their viewers glued to the screen with fear and outrage.

I'd say it's counterproductive . . .
. . . when you're spinning with outrage, you can't think or plan. Too much outrage leads people to think it's all hopeless, which leads to cynicism, which leads to nihilism.

In life-threatening emergencies, cool heads save lives . . .

terikanefield.com/things-to-do/
The question is: How do we save democracy?

Do we jump to conclusions from headlines and keep everyone spinning with outrage?

Or do we plan how we can get more Democrats into office in the 2022 elections?

terikanefield.com/things-to-do/
Read 6 tweets
Jan 31
People, people, people.

To begin with, Trump is a total liar. I am not denying that.

But instead of reading a headline that announced that Trump committed perjury and demanding prosecution, let's look a little closer.

(Although I hate to take away everyone's fun)

1/
The headline says this⤵️

What happened was this. Mueller wanted to question Trump in person, but Trump refused because he wanted to avoid a "perjury trap" . . .

2/
Instead, Trump submitted written answers through his lawyers. nbcnews.com/politics/donal…

The answer he submitted was basically "I don't recall."

3/
Read 20 tweets
Jan 30
This is how he will create the narrative that any prosecution is political. For Trump, the truth doesn’t matter. What matters is that enough people believe it.
This defense won't matter in court, but Trump always loses in court.

He will create the narrative which the entire right-wing will believe.

People need to understand what is coming.
The idea that prosecuting Trump will put an end to the threat of right-wing fascism in America is pure fantasy.

That fantasy now takes the shape of "if he had been prosecuted sooner none of this would be happening."

The same people said, "Impeach him to end this nonsense!"
Read 7 tweets

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