Gov summation in Trump prosecution:
Of course Trump knew he had govt docs, that were classified at highest level, and lied about that to govt to hide it. Consider:
- the 18 month length of time he held these docs
-the volume - 26 boxes in total
-the location of the docs, ...
including in his own office
-the docs were found among his own personal items, like his passports
-the types of docs; we are not talking about scraps of unimportant papers; these are docs about the govt's top secrets
- the evidence that shows consciousness of guilt, including...
-delaying for months and months to return 15 boxes to the Archives
-fighting the Archives telling the FBI about the docs
-only returning a redweld of even docs after being served with a GJ subpoena
-giving DOs a required certification that was false...
-in saying a diligent search was done, which can't have happened as there were many more docs easily found;
-false statement saying docs were only in one storage location when they weren't
-blocking DOJ from looking in storage location
--DOJ search turned up even more docs...
including in desk of his office.
-Do you think this all happened for 18 months WITHOUT Trump knowing, and his lawyers did this without consulting with the client?
-And all this evidence is BEFORE we consider witnesses who we called at the trial about Trump's knowing....
-that he should not take docs from WH, and should send them to Archives
-that he was in charge of packing material from WH
-that the process was secretive
-that the lawyers Corcoran and Bobb could not ethically file the certification without discussing with Trump [insert proof...
of what Corcoran & Bobb say, as required by court to reveal who authorized statements to DOJ that they made]
-[insert proof of surveillance tapes & witnesses of moving boxes to obstruct discovery of docs by DOJ]
-There is only one verdict....
consistent with this proof; we ask you to return a verdict of:
guilty on espionage related charges (793/2071);
guilty on contempt of GJ subpoena (402);
guilty on obstruction related charges (1001/1519)
guilty on unlawful retention of govt docs (641).
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Steinglass points out that Trump summation embrace of Pecker is odd: as his testimony sinks Trump on the election conspiracy. And "his testimony is utterly devastating." Steinglass that Pecker joins others who have no motive to hurt Trump: Hicks, Graff, Westerhaut...
Steinglass talks about the smeering of Stormy Daniels, demonizing her. Her testimony was cringeworthy, but those details ring true. The defendant knew what happened and that reinforced his motive to suppress it. "Stormy Daniels is the motive." "Trump would not pay $260,000 to suppress a photo of someone on a golf course."
Steinglass: Trump knows Daniels testimony is relevant or why try so hard to discredit her.
Notes from 100 Centre St: Blanche says Trump is innocent, and you should want more than Cohen and Daniels and Davidson. Nothing said about Pecker or Hicks, notably.
Blanche says this is a paper case, which is a very odd tack to take, as that is what the state will argue given the paper trail.
"The records were not false and there was no intent to defraud," says Blanche re the invoices. Not sure how he will plausibly pull off the first point.
Worth noting about the leading Republican candidate: The Colorado judge found that Trump engaged in insurrection & intended the J6 violence, and his defense witness, Kash Patel, was not credible when he claimed Trump called up 10,000 National Guard.
The court noted specific examples of Trump's lengthy history of promoting violence by his supporters: e.g. violence is "very, very appropriate" and "we need a little bit more" of it.
The court finds that Trump knew his claims of voter fraud were false, noting that Trump submitted no evidence to show that he actually believed the election was stolen.
It is a felony for Trump to "receive" a firearm that has travelled in interstate commerce (the latter requirement is almost always satisfied as it just means the gun at some point after manufacture went from one state to another prior to the receipt). 18 USC 922(n).
"It shall be unlawful for any person who is under indictment for a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year to ... receive any firearm or ammunition which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce." 18 USC 922(n)
To understand Judge Cannon latest legal issues, here are some Venue/Grand Jury basics.
Grand Jury:
-you cannot use a grand jury to obtain evidence for a trial; it must be used to investigate new crimes or new people.
-in a widespread scheme, that is easy to satisfy, cont.
1/
-Not all people and crimes are typically indicted at once, so the grand jury can continue to investigate. This is common practice.
Venue:
-a grand jury can investigate crimes over which it may have jurisdiction.
-a grand jury does not always know in advance:
2/
where a crime occurred, if a crime occurred, or who committed it.
-so a grand jury can look at all that for possible crimes/criminals.
-venue is proper for a grand jury investigation in that district if any part of the possible crime occurred in the grand jury's district....
3/
How do you get a false business filing to be a felony and not a misdemeanor? If it is intended to further or cover up another crime.
Issues:
- need the other crime be a felony? NO
- need the state charge and prove the other crime? NO
1/many
- need the state only prove the defendant intended the other crime? YES
- need the other crime be a NY state crime? UNCLEAR- to be litigated
- Are there many possible other crimes that seem to fit? YES
-Other crime possibility #1:
2/many
- the second false filing (claiming falsely legal expense) furthered the scheme and covered up the first false filing, and so on, till you get to 34
- state tax offense: Cohen tax filing which would be falsely stating income; falsity can be over or understating income
3/many