Jonathan Turley Profile picture
Aug 1 3 tweets 1 min read Twitter logo Read on Twitter
Special Counsel Jack Smith just issued the first criminal indictment of alleged disinformation in my view. If you take a red pen to all of the material presumptively protected by the First Amendment, you can reduce much of the indictment to haiku...
...I felt that the Mar-a-Lago indictment was strong. This is the inverse. This is closer to the case against former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell where Smith was overturned by an unanimous Supreme Court...
...The press conference held by Smith only deepened the unease for some of us. Smith railed against the January 6th riot and made it sound like he was indicting Trump on incitement. He didn't. The disconnect was glaring and concerning.

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More from @JonathanTurley

Nov 20
CBS' Nancy Cordes just asked John Kirby if the Administration would cut off the use of "technology" involving Musk companies due to controversial statements and reduction of censorship on X. So CBS believes that whole companies should now be cancelled by association?
...Cordes noted that the Administration has already criticized Musk but wanted to know why national security and other programs are still relying on companies associated with Musk. It is the same type of blacklisting that many of us have condemned for years on social media...
...It is disheartening to see the media continue to push for bans and blacklisting. Musk became a public enemy when he allowed the public to see the full censorship efforts at Twitter -- something no other social media company has done. jonathanturley.org/2022/11/30/was…
Read 5 tweets
Sep 20
Attorney General Garland just refused to answer if he has had any conversations with U.S. Attorney David Weiss. He is claiming that even confirming such conversations would abridge confidential communications.
...There is no question that he can answer whether such conversations occurred. When Bill Barr testified as Attorney General he confirmed subjects even in communications with the President while declining details on conversations. c-span.org/video/?473384-…
...Garland said that "no one had the authority to turn him down" in other U.S. Attorneys refusing to bring tax cases against Hunter Biden. He said that they could however refuse to "partner with him." The suggestion was that Weiss could still have brought the cases in those districts...
Read 10 tweets
Sep 18
Months ago, I wrote about the move of the Biden legal team to adopt a scorched earth strategy attacking witnesses and critics. This has included suing the computer shop owner who gave the FBI the laptop and now includes a lawsuit against the IRS itself...jonathanturley.org/2023/02/24/the…
...The current lawsuit alleges violations of Hunter Biden's privacy by whistleblowers who revealed details about his alleged influence peddling and special treatment. However, this testimony was elicited by Congress as part of a corruption investigation...
...He also includes public statements: “This assault on Mr. Biden’s rights involved the public disclosure of his confidential tax information during more than 20 nationally televised and non-congressionally sanctioned interviews and numerous public statements."...
Read 5 tweets
Sep 16
The New York Post is out with my column on the Smith motion to gag Trump. The motion is far from "narrowly tailored" when you consider the broad scope and ambiguous language...nypost.com/2023/09/16/jac…
...Gag orders have become commonplace in federal trials, particularly high-profile cases. This is, however, no typical case. Smith pushed for a trial before the election and the court shoehorned the trial into a crowded calendar just before Super Tuesday ...
...This jury pool will be inundated with such commentary on both sides and Trump’s prior comments on the case will be replayed continually in print, radio, and television outlets. It will gag a candidate on a major issue before the public...
Read 4 tweets
Sep 15
Jack Smith waited for late Friday to file a sweeping motion seeking to gag Trump in referencing witnesses and attorneys in the case. While calling it "narrowly tailored," it would effectively bar Trump from discussing the case in the midst of a presidential campaign...
...The order would prohibit Trump from making statements "regarding the identity, testimony, or credibility of prospective witnesses" and "statements about any party, witness, attorney, court personnel, or potential jurors that are disparaging and inflammatory, or intimidating."
...So after fighting to try Trump in the middle of the presidential election, Smith is seeking to curtail him from discussing one of the most important issues in the campaign. No one would argue with a bar on disparaging witnesses. However, some of the witnesses and parties are political figures...
Read 7 tweets
Sep 13
The NY Times made another valiant effort to extricate Joe Biden from the influence peddling of his son. The Times reported that Biden "has at times been too deferential to his younger son." That is hardly exonerating...
...If President Biden "deferred" to his son in selling influence and access, it is neither reassuring nor exculpatory. Rather it is the latest effort of scandal implosion. jonathanturley.org/2022/08/03/the…
...Now, dispensing with the "Hunter was a tragic addict" defense, the Times is going with "Joe was a tragic loving Dad." The paper reported that “Mr. Biden’s devotion to his son means that he has long followed Hunter’s lead."...
Read 5 tweets

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