NEW: Tonight, concerned that Trump’s escalating rhetoric about the standard instructions attached to the MAL search warrant will result in violence against law enforcement, the Special Counsel’s office is asking not for a gag order, but to modify Trump’s conditions of release. 1/
That matters because when Trump was first indicted, his bond — which he signed — made clear that his continued release was conditioned on his compliance with certain terms. 2/
For example, Trump’s order not only prohibits him from violating any federal, state or local law while on release but also precludes his speaking to any fact witnesses on a list shared with his lawyers about the facts of the case, except through their respective lawyers. 3/
But in asking to modify Trump’s conditions of release to prohibit his making statements that pose a “significant, imminent, and foreseeable danger” to law enforcement involved in the investigation and prosecution of the MAL case, the Special Counsel is upping the ante. 4/
Why? Because where a defendant violates a condition of his release, the consequences can include “the immediate issuance of a warrant for the defendant’s arrest, a revocation of release, and order of detention,” as well as a prosecution for contempt. 5/
But perhaps most importantly, if Judge Cannon denies this motion, it is immediately appealable to the 11th Circuit under federal statute, which provides in relevant part:
NEW: Between 1972 and 2001, when Timothy McVeigh was executed for his role in the Oklahoma City bombings, there were no federal executions of convicted criminals. Only 3 took place between 2001 and 2003, and then the executions stopped again until July 2020. 1/
July 2020 is when the first Trump administration decided it was time to execute some of those on federal death row, and before Trump left office, and even through the week before his term ended, 13 federal executions took place. 2/
Why am I raising this? Because at Luigi Mangione’s unexpected federal presentment today, his lawyer Karen Agnifilo flagged that one of the federal charges is punishable by death. But she was not the only one to highlight that. 3/
NEW: You might have read tonight about a lawsuit filed today against Shawn Carter (aka Jay Z) for sexually abusing a then-13-year-old girl with Sean “P. Diddy” Combs at a 2000 VMA afterparty. And you might have asked, “How can she sue now after 24 years?” 1/ 🧵
As you would expect, the answer is complicated. But as you probably would not expect, it comes from a law passed by the New York City Council: the Victims of Gender Motivated Violence Protection Act.
The law allows any person claiming injuries from an alleged gender-motivated crime of violence committed in New York City to sue for both compensatory and punitive damages, as well as other relief, like attorneys’ fees. 3/
NEW: Today’s court order requiring Rudy Giuliani to place most of his possessions, cash, and even his NYC apartment in receivership for the two GA election workers to whom he owes $148 million reminds us what the Big Lie has cost its most avid mouthpieces. 1/
But while Rudy isn’t even allowed to keep his TV, a signed Reggie Jackson photo, or his grandfather’s watch, Trump remains locked in an airtight battle for a second presidential term, during which, if he wins, his legal problems will either disappear or at least recede. 2/
When Trump talks about the 1/6 defendants, he loves to compare their plights with those of those arrested during the summer of 2020 after George Floyd’s death. The conduct at issue is dissimilar—and distracts from the real issue. 3/
For McBurney, the timing was crucial. He acknowledges that a hand count of ballots could be “consistent with the
SEB’s mission of ensuring fair, legal, and orderly elections.” But when the rule is scheduled to be implemented a mere fortnight before the election? 2/
That’s a recipe for chaos, McBurney holds, especially where, as here, the “eleventh and one half hour” implementation put county election boards in the position of having to put the rule into practice without guidelines or training from the GA Secretary of State. 3/
NEW: I am watching a live hearing about the lawfulness of yet another Georgia Elections Board rule, this one requiring hand counts of ballots prior to certification. And Judge Robert McBurney wants to know why, given a “robust record of chaos” caused thus far, he shouldn’t just enjoin it. 1/
Because Fulton County Superior Court proceedings are live-streamed, come watch with me here: .youtube.com/live/-z0N1dHym…
So far, McBurney is approaching this in what seems like a measured way: He acknowledges that the rule does not require the counting of votes, but solely the hand counting of ballots to ensure the number of ballots cast, as tabulated electronically, matches a hand count. 3/
NEW: While Hurricane Milton approaches, voting rights groups in GA and FL are in two separate federal courts this afternoon fighting for emergency extensions of Monday's voter registration deadline for those impacted by Hurricane Helene and/or preparing for Milton. Stay tuned.
An update: The judge in Florida, Robert Hinkle, just denied the effort to extend the deadline there. More to come.
All that's been docketed is this one-page denial without any explanation: