I am amazed at critics of the 2016 election interference trial of Trump who get the most basic facts wrong

The DA has specified intent to conceal not just one but THREE other crimes

That has been litigated, judge has accepted & all 3 are being proven to jury daily!

1/x The DA spelled this out almost A YEAR AGO in May 2023 the Response to Trump’s Request for a Bill of Particulars

2/x

My friend @jedshug has a new & profoundly wrong essay @nytopinion about the Trump NY trial

It's a follow up to the one he wrote last year where ALL of his major points were ultimately proven incorrect (as he partially admits, 2his credit)

This one is even more wrong-headed 1/x @jedshug @nytopinion It's all the more disappointing because Jed is a smart guy

He starts out ok by tacitly acknowledging he was wrong last year:

"I thought an array of legal problems would and should lead to long delays in federal courts."

Nope. Didn't happen as we all now know 2/x

Back in court at 100 Centre for #TryingTrump

I’ll be sitting with my @just_security colleague @KlasfeldReports & the great @gtconway3d to LIVE TWEET. Plz follow along

Appreciate the kind words from them & others in line for my new book about the case👉 amazon.com/Trying-Trump-E…
Greetings from inside the courtroom where I count about 88 members of the press & 8 ordinary citizens who waited in line starting at 1155 pm last night!

I interviewed them all—they were like a mini jury pool & what they told me is fascinating…

2/x

BREAKING: I’ve just done a 1st pass through all nine(!) filings that were released today in the Manhattan Trump criminal case

I’ve seen enough: SDNY’s last minute document dump is not going to significantly slow this trial

I’m booking my hotel room for April

A thread 1/x First things first, where can you read all nine motions in one place?

On the comprehensive @just_security Trump Trials Calendar & Clearinghouse natch, co-edited by me & the great @rgoodlaw

Includes all the filings in all the main cases & a comprehensive all-in-1 calendar too
justsecurity.org/88175/trump-tr…

BREAKING: Trump has filed his immunity brief at SCOTUS & if it's possible, his position that he is above the law has become even more abhorrent

A thread

1/x supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/23/2…
The lies literally began w the very first sentence in the brief that "no former or current president faced criminal charges for his official acts" bc "the president cannot function" if such charges can be brought

That's false: the reason no other POTUS faced criminal charges is because none engaged in conduct like that of Trump

2/x

BREAKING: in the New York election interference case the judge has ruled on the motions in limine

It’s a disaster for Trump and a home run for the DA

Probably a signal that trial will proceed in April

A thread 1/x

nycourts.gov/LegacyPDFS/pre… The above link was to the rulings on Trump’s motions and here is the link to the rulings on the DA’s

DA won almost everything & Trump lost almost everything

2/xnycourts.gov/LegacyPDFS/pre…

BREAKING: Judge McAfee has followed our recommendation and called for Wade to go👇

If he does—& he will—Willis stays

Now let’s get that trial scheduled for the summer!

A thread (1/x)

justsecurity.org/91368/why-fani… The Judge embraced the essence of Solomonic wisdom in his clever ruling by recognizing there was no actual disqualifying conflict of interest, but that the appearance of impropriety is distracting from the main issue at stake in this case -- alleged election interference

I've said from the start Wade must go & now the Judge has ruled the same👉 (2/x)washingtonpost.com/national-secur…

BREAKING: Trump is seeking to stall the NY trial by relitigating the immunity issues

Only one problem, he already tried & lost & he’s collaterally estopped

It won’t work—a thread (1/x)

msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-… When Trump tried & failed to remove the case he litigated and/or waived all of his immunity defenses

Judge Hellerstein found that Trump "has expressly waived any argument premised on a theory of absolute presidential immunity"

So he can’t raise it now (2/x)

Make no mistake: American democracy is in a very dangerous situation post-SCOTUS immunity order & other developments

But there's also a lot we can do about it

A thread on how Trump's election interference can—& WILL—get to trial in 2024 & how to make that happen

1/x - TN
msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-… Let’s start with the SCOTUS order

It’s a compromise between one wing of the court that wanted to dismiss the case out of hand & another that wanted to hear the case in the normal course (which could have meant this fall!)

They split the baby instead 👇

2/xmsnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-…

Lotta news but something MAJOR happened last night

Smith filed motion for Judge Cannon to reconsider order unsealing names & stmts of some witnesses in MAL docs case

This could be start of getting Cannon thrown off case under 11 Cir bias rules👇(1/x)
slate.com/news-and-polit… Cannon already has two strikes against her from when she oversaw the docs investigation

First the 11th Cir preliminarily reversed a stay she imposed

And then they permanently reversed her outrageous appointment of a special master

This latest order may be strike three…

5 BIG TAKEAWAYS FROM TODAY’S LANDMARK HEARING

1. The argument put the lie to those who said that @CREWcrew shouldn't have brought this case

Today was a good one for rule of law, however the vote turns out as I have explained👇 slate.com/author/norman-… @CREWcrew 2. The Justices’ overarching concern: how you could possibly administer this disqualification from state to state?

The real answer is, take it up w the framers who structured our federalism

But this concern is a serious one & is likely to carry the day

https://x.com/NormEisen/status/1755626813752005100?s=20

LIVETWEETING

BOOM out of the box as I predicted below—Thomas asking about the Congressional off-ramp

https://twitter.com/normeisen/status/1755607175257571357

Uh oh for Trump—Roberts pushing back on Secretary of State powers to enforce qualifications generally

WHAT TO LISTEN FOR IN TODAY’S 14TH AMENDMENT ARGUMENT

A thread 👇 Trump clearly “engaged in insurrection” under 14.3 & should be DQ’ed

But we all know persuading SCOTUS ain’t gonna be easy

Here’s how to analyze today’s argument in real time 👉

1/x

WHY 14A DQ IS NOT ANTI-DEMOCRATICslate.com/news-and-polit…

Trump’s latest filing is wrong

He continues to claim that Willis’s “extrajudicial public comments" at the Big Bethel AME Church somehow disqualify her from the case

But the law is clear — they do NOT (1/x) As @statesunited's amicus brief for 17 ethics and criminal law all-stars explains, Willis’s comments in church don’t even come CLOSE to DQ 2/x

statesuniteddemocracy.org/wp-content/upl…

Judge has set 2/2 for DA Willis to respond to disqualification allegations

1 problem for notorious criminal defendant Michael Roman seeking this relief:

The law does not support it

I explain below & in this THREAD👇

1/5
ajc.com/opinion/opinio… First, under GA law a romantic relationship between lawyers is *never* sufficient grounds for disqual

That’s true even if they’re lawyers on opposite sides of a case where the risk of a “conflict” is vastly greater than co-counsel

2/5
law.justia.com/cases/georgia/…

BREAKING: Hunter Biden just delivered a devastating blow to the contempt proceedings

This new letter from his counsel Abbe Lowell shows that the House GOP walked into a trap 👇

A thread
1/x As I explained @thehill, the contempt proceeding suffers from fatal legal infirmities 👉

2/xthehill.com/opinion/campai…

Halftime report: Trump’s lawyer Kise is just wrapping his half of the oral arguments in the NY civil fraud case

He & his client are going down in flames

Here’s my analysis based on our big NEW comprehensive report outlining the case👇 (1/x)

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf…
Trump's lawyer Kise was hammering that the financial reps in question weren't materially inaccurate & there was no intent to defraud

But the AG will body slam this in her argument this PM—& we explain exactly how she'll do it in our report 👇 (2/x)

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf…

The DC Circ's oral argument considering Trump’s absolute immunity claim is as important a hearing as will take place this year—or any year

A thread/ resources on why Trump will lose (as I explained here 👇)

(1/x)
slate.com/news-and-polit… First & foremost, there's no such thing as absolute criminal immunity in American law

That—& that Trump would try to use it as a defense anyway—has been clear to me for years

I explained in this big @BrookingsGov report back in 2021

(2/x)
brookings.edu/articles/fulto…

BREAKING: the DC Circ has ordered the parties to be ready to reply to the amicus briefs in the immunity case

The case is the most important they’ll confront this year as I explained 👇

So they should consider amici’s arguments

(1/x)
nytimes.com/2023/12/26/opi… 16 conservatives in a brief led by Democracy 21 explained that Trump’s position is abhorrent to originalist understandings of pres immunity

They include Trump’s own lawyer Ty Cobb & other legal luminaries

@JRubinBlogger has a GREAT analysis 👇

(2/x)

https://x.com/JRubinBlogger/status/1742177973988430201?s=20

It’s going to be a January for the legal & political ages & we're tracking it all in our master calendar of Trump court dates & clearinghouse of ALL the materials in each case 👇

In this thread we break down the top 25 - yes 25! - dates ahead

(1/x)

justsecurity.org/88039/trumps-l…
justsecurity.org/88175/trump-tr… The first huge filings of the month already happened over the weekend & Jack Smith’s major immunity takedown

Item 1 on our @just_security tracker of the dates wasn’t even the most important of the long weekend!

Two other absolutely essential amicus briefs also came in

(2/x)
justsecurity.org/88039/trumps-l…

I agree w/ the great @nytimes team that says messages point to the identity of co-conspirator #6 as likely Boris Epshteyn

BUT my view is based on different & additional evidence

A thread👇 1/x @nytimes Reporting from @maggieNYT @jonathanvswan @lukebroadwater shows that 👇 2/x

https://twitter.com/maggieNYT/status/1686805834158718982?s=20