Sr. Fellow @brookingsgov & Legal Analyst @cnn. My new book "Trying Trump" is on Amazon now!
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Sep 5 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
BREAKING: Judge Chutkan has issued her scheduling order & true to her word she is ignoring politics as we called for in our big Just Security report 👇
That means we will have a very active docket in her court over the next 60 days 1/x justsecurity.org/99693/immunity…
Mark ur calendar for 9/26 when the govt's opening brief on immunity will drop
As we discussed in Just Security, the big fight will be over whether the VP Pence allegations are official or unofficial - they're official, but it will be a brawl👇2/x
Trump has requested that his NY case be moved to fed court in yet ANOTHER desperate attempt to delay & avoid accountability
This request should be rejected & Trump should be sentenced w/o delay
I explain below & in this thread... 1/x msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-…
Trump is seeking removal under the federal removal statute—28 U.S.C. § 1442(a)(1)
The statute allows federal officials to remove a state prosecution to federal court—but ONLY if their alleged conduct was part of their official duties 2/x
Aug 29 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
It’s been overshadowed by the Georgia election board MAGA mess
But the Supreme Court just signaled what it will do if the election is close
So don’t let it be close. We explain @Slate slate.com/news-and-polit…
@Slate SCOTUS allowed AZ to require proof of citizenship for voter reg. last week
Its part of the canard that non-citizens are voting in US elections
& another signal that MAGA justices seek to meddle in the election
BREAKING: Jack Smith has appealed the dismissal of Trump's classified documents case
Judge Cannon’s decision was totally lawless & Smith will win
He does NOT ask for Cannon's removal but the 11th Circuit can do on own & should 1/x storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…
Cannon’s decision to dismiss the case was based on an incorrect reading of the Constitution concluding Smith’s appointment to be unlawful
Every single court to consider the issue (including SCOTUS) has taken a different position 2/x msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-…
Aug 23 • 14 tweets • 5 min read
To my fellow Ambassador @DavidM_Friedman:
If you truly care about the US-Israel relationship, please don’t distort @vp STRONG pro-Israel words to drive a partisan wedge
We need BIPARTISAN US support for Israel—its dangerous to attack that in service of your patron Trump
A 🧵
You say “I’ve lived these issues now for years and I can assure you that her words meant nothing”
I have been working on these issues just as long since my 1st job @ADL in ‘85 & THEY MEAN EVERYTHING
My 1st boss & tough grader @FoxmanAbraham agrees 2/x
Aug 19 • 16 tweets • 5 min read
House partisans just released a big report saying Biden "engaged in impeachable" conduct--tho they didn't recommend impeachment
For good reason: Biden has not committed ANY impeachable offenses👇
A thread...
cnn.com/2023/09/13/opi…
I've worked on impeachments since the Clinton one, including serving as counsel for the 1st impeachment & trial of Trump
So I know what REAL impeachable offenses are—these ain’t it 2/x
Heritage’s Kevin Roberts— the father of Project 2025!—has a new book about his radical plans
Guess who wrote the forward endorsing the horrors? JD Vance!
Don’t believe Trump when he says he’s not connected to Project 2025
Thread 🧵1/x
Vance says “We are now all realizing that it’s time to circle the wagons and load the muskets. In the fights that lay ahead, these ideas are an essential weapon”
So much for Trump-Vance campaign distancing from Project 2025 2/x
BREAKING: Judge Cannon has just wrongly dismissed the Mar-a-Lago documents case based on a purported appointments clause violation
This is insane & will not only be reversed by the 11th circuit but may result in the ouster of Judge Cannon, a thread 🧵
slate.com/news-and-polit…
This is Cannon’s worst distortion of the law (in a long line of bad opinions)
She ignored the plain text of statutes like 28 USC 533 that authorize Smith’s appointment
Last time, the conservative 11th Circuit smacked her down & they may do so again here… cnn.com/2024/04/03/opi…
Jul 11 • 21 tweets • 7 min read
BREAKING: Donald Trump has filed his motion for a new trial in Manhattan based on SCOTUS' immunity decision
I have reviewed the brief
SCOTUS' ruling that OFFICIAL acts are immune is no basis to throw out this UNOFFICIAL acts case
A thread 1/x
cnn.com/2024/07/03/opi…
The first clue that Trump’s brief was gonna be garbage is that instead of getting to the point the brief begins with an extended screed complaining about the following... cont'd 2/x
Jul 2 • 12 tweets • 4 min read
BREAKING: Trump is seeking to stall his NY sentencing by claiming today’s immunity opinion somehow applies to his convictions for purely personal acts like 2016 election interference and creating phony business docs in 2017
It won’t work—a thread (1/x)
cnn.com/2024/04/25/opi…
First, he already raised immunity when he removed the Manhattan case to federal court
He lost
And then he abandoned his appeal! He’s collaterally estopped (2/x)
At tonight’s debate, Trump's conviction for 2016 election interference & cover-up will be front & center
But we should also be talking abt his likely jail sentence that our big @Just_Security report discusses
A thread 1/x
justsecurity.org/97186/trump-se…
@just_security Trump was convicted of falsifying business records to cover up 2016 election interference by a jury of his peers
And on 7/11, the judge will decide what his sentence will be 2/x
Jun 20 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
This McConnell piece @WSJ should be on the syllabus for a disinformation class. To take only 1 example, the jury WAS unanimous on all the elements of the verdict & prosecutors theory of the case was disclosed to the defense in 2023! A thread 1/x wsj.com/articles/why-r…
For example here is the March 2023 response to Trump’s request for Bill of particulars fully disclosing ALL the alternative “other crimes” that made this document falsification a felony, including the state election conspiracy 2/x justsecurity.org/wp-content/upl…
Jun 7 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
It is amazing to me that people would jump to conclusions about this apparent malicious prank message in the court’s Facebook page. How do we know it is likely a prank? THREAD
Look at the Facebook page of “Michael Anderson,” they call themselves a “professional shitposter”
Another day & another delay from SCOTUS on Trump’s bizarre presidential immunity claims delaying his January 6th case
The pro-Trump Justice Alito/Thomas axis is openly complicit in helping Trump dodge justice
THREAD👇
There's no reason for delay on Trump's baseless immunity claims, SCOTUS decided monumental cases quickly:
Pentagon papers: 4 days
Watergate tapes: 16 days
Trump CO ballot status: 25 days
If the same consideration was applied to the J6 case, we would have had a ruling by May 20
Apr 29 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
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
Apr 23 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
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
Apr 15 • 51 tweets • 10 min read
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
Mar 21 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
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