TODAY D.C. Circuit court of appeals upholds release of Trump/Mazars USA financial records to House, saying it has 'amassed detailed evidence of suspected misrepresentations and omissions' in former president's financial disclosures. washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/… Chief Circuit Judge Srinavasan wrote for panel: “If the level of evidence presented by the Committee here does not suffice to obtain a narrowed subset of the former president’s information, we doubt that any Congress could obtain a President’s papers.”

A federal judge in D.C. has rejected Trump spokesman Taylor Budowich's emergency request to claw back personal financial records subpoenaed by the House Jan. 6 committee... "I found no case, and there doesn't appear to be one, saying that Congress must give back documents once it has received them , no matter how Congress has received them," U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg rules on emergency motion for temporary injunction.

NOW IN COURT In first Capitol riot felony sentencing, U.S. argues "Jan. 6 was genuinely an act of terrorism... The need to preserve respect for the law is really at its pinnacle in a crime like this." BKGD washingtonpost.com/local/legal-is… Defendant Paul Hodgkins "was part and parcel of an act of domestic terrorism going around him, and that context is relevant when this court is sentencing him," Asst. U.S. Atty Mona Sedky argued before U.S. District Judge Randolph D. Moss.

NEW New Proud Boys indictment charges father-and-son police officers from central Florida in Jan. 6 Capitol riot w/ husband of Orange Co. (FL) sheriff’s deputy, highlighting members' ties to law enforcement. Son is also married to an officer. washingtonpost.com/local/legal-is… The wives' departments said they were not involved in their husbands' activities, but acknowledged the spotlight on off-duty officers involvement with the extreme alt-right.

NEW In first, U.S. charges Jan. 6 defendant with bringing firearms to Capitol under controversial federal rioting law. Four Capitol breach defendants now including alleged Texas Three Percenters recruiter Guy Reffitt face gun charges.
washingtonpost.com/local/legal-is… The Trump DOJ spurred criticism after turning to the civil disorder law in 2020 after decades of virtual disuse to prosecute dozens of protest-related cases after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.

NEW U.S. arrests self-described N.J. Proud Boys member Shawn Price in Jan. 6 Capitol riot, alleging he posted on Facebook “. . .me and 4 of my chapter brothers pushed that line and started it ourselves had to be done,” re: attack on police line @ W Terrace justice.gov/usao-dc/case-m… FBI in charging papers said Price joined Proud Boys in Nov. 14 and Dec. 12 MAGA rallies in D.C., and ID'd himself on Facebook in open source videos of violent street skirmishes

Sen Ron Johnson: "What makes you think they were Trump supporters?" A thread from charged rioters. US v. Nichols "On Jan. 7 NICHOLS posted on Facebook: “I hear so many reports of 'Antifa' was storming the capital... Know that every single person who believes that narrative have been DUPED AGAIN! Sure, there may have been some ‘Antifa' in DC, but there wasn't enough to

EXCLUSIVE U.S. investigating possible ties between Roger Stone, Alex Jones and Ali Alexander and Capitol rioters amid wider probe of the 'radicalization' of key figures including members of Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and others. w/ @DevlinBarrett washingtonpost.com/local/legal-is… U.S. official: "We are investigating potential ties between those physically involved in the attack on the Capitol and individuals who may have influenced them, such as Roger Stone, Alex Jones and [Stop the Steal organizer] Ali Alexander.”

TODAY Ex-Saudi spy chief accuses crown prince Mohammed bin Salman of ordering his assassination in Canada shortly after Jamal Khashoggi's killing in 2018 as part of ruthless ascent to power w @shaneharris washingtonpost.com/local/legal-is… As “a longtime trusted partner of senior U.S. intelligence officials” Aljabri is “uniquely positioned to existentially threaten Defendant bin Salman’s standing with the U.S. Government,” lawsuit says. “There is virtually no one that Defendant bin Salman wants dead” more than him.

NOW D.C. Circuit appears reluctant to order Judge Sullivan to immediately dismiss DOJ's criminal case against President Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn
w/
@amarimow washingtonpost.com/local/legal-is… Judge Karen Henderson, likely swing vote, gently steers the lower court, saying, Sullivan “may have chosen an intemperate amicus, but that doesn’t mean he is going to deny this motion."

NEW Appeals court orders Flynn judge to defend actions, as legal scholars weigh the case’s implications for judicial independence and the Constitution’s separation of powers design. w/ @amarimow washingtonpost.com/local/legal-is… “This case does not involve a decision by the Executive Branch simply to ‘drop’ a prosecution,” but a “virtually unprecedented decision” to dismiss a case after it has been won, Laurence Tribe @tribelaw writes with @gtconway3d Columbia U Pres @LEE_BOLLINGER and others.

NEW Former U.S. prosecutors in Washington call on new head Tim Shea to assert independence from Barr, Trump washingtonpost.com/local/legal-is… The letter was drafted independently by assistants to former Nixon-appointed U.S. attorneys Earl J. Silbert — who oversaw the initial investigation of the Watergate break-in — and Thomas A. Flannery, whom Silbert succeeded when Nixon also Flannery a federal judge.

BREAKING Verdict NOW in Roger Stone trial, w @mattzap @rachelweinerwp
washingtonpost.com/554fff5a-06ff-… @mattzap @rachelweinerwp Jury finds Roger Stone guilty of lying to Congress in Russia probe

DEVELOPING Trump Justice Dept. asks U.S. judge to reject House Judiciary Committee request for Mueller grand jury materials, argues courts in 1974 wrongly gave Congress the Watergate grand jury 'roadmap' that led to President Nixon's impeachment. "Wow, O.K.," responded U.S. Chief District Judge Beryl A. Howell of Washington, D.C., sounding unpersuaded. "As I said, the department is taking an extraordinary position in this case."

NEW U.S. successfully invokes state secrets privilege to end challenge by American journalist -- and U.S. citizen -- to his alleged placement on drone ‘kill list’. washingtonpost.com/local/legal-is… “What constitutional right is more essential than the right to due process before the govt may take a life?" Judge Rosemary Collyer wrote. "While the answer may be none, courts possess limited authority [... even to resolve questions] alleged to involve constitutional rights."

BREAKING Judge who warned Michael Flynn that he might not avoid prison time says he will new sentencing date today. More to come, background below.

https://twitter.com/hsu_spencer/status/1167577077131948034

NOW U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan of D.C sets tentative Dec. 18 sentencing date for Michael Flynn, one year after he warned former Trump national security adviser he might face prison time, saying, "Arguably, you sold your country out."

In closing arguments, U.S. prosecutors hammer Greg Craig as motivated by greed and self-protection, spurred by Paul Manafort’s promise of seven-figure annual billings from their undisclosed work for Ukraine. washingtonpost.com/local/legal-is… Craig lied to Justice officials about the nature of his work because “his reputation would have been tarnished if the truth that had come out,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Fernando Campoamor-Sanchez told jurors. “But now the truth has come out.”

NEW Jury selection begins in trial of Greg Craig, but U.S. prosecutors may have already won before entering court, whatever the outcome, lawyers for foreign governments say. washingtonpost.com/local/legal-is… “Everyone who practices in this area knows it’s a different day," King and Spaulding atty Thomas Spulak said. "Either you come in and tell [DOJ] the truth, the whole truth, and don’t leave out any facts that could be relevant, or you’ll suffer the consequences."

NEW Federal judge denies Roger Stone motion to dismiss his indictment and claim of selective prosecution. While Judge Amy Berman Jackson gave Stone redacted passages of Mueller report that he sought, she found his defense "has not identified any legal grounds that would support dismissing or enjoining this action or authorizing discovery into the prosecutors’ internal deliberations.

NEW Trump move to slash asylum requests by Central Americans fleeing persecution clears first legal hurdle, as US judge in D.C. finds migrant legal services groups failed to quantify how many people will be harmed. wapo.st/2GomKWj?tid=ss… U.S. judge Timothy J. Kelly of DC said he did not discount that asylum seekers will be turned away or deported under the change, or that the organizations could be forced to serve fewer individuals, families and children.

TODAY Trump sues to block House Democrats from getting his New York tax returns, claiming presidential harassment. NY AG Letitia James fires back that Trump "has spent his career hiding behind lawsuits, but ... no one is above the law." wapo.st/2SAczTE NEW U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden of DC has handed off President Trump's lawsuit to shield his NY state tax returns from congressional Democrats, saying it is unrelated to a House Ways and Means lawsuit before him to enforce its subpoena for Trump's US IRS tax returns.