Month: May 2024

What happened to the other 3 criminal cases against Trump?

by Dave

The verdict on Trump’s hush money trial should be known soon. So what comes next?

The three other criminal cases are still very much alive. A court case can be dismissed by a judge for lack of evidence or other reasons. This has not happened.

The case which appeared to be most likely to go next, is the classified documents case. However, there are a long series of pre-trial motions including the legality of the FBI search which must be resolved first. It is obvious that Trump’s legal team wants to delay this cases as long as possible. Judge Cannon initially set a start date for the case, but then issued an order to “indefinitely delay” the case, pending resolution of the pre-trial motions.

The January 6 federal election obstruction case, also looked like a good successor to the Hush Money case, until the Supreme Court took up the Presidential Immunity and the Fischer cases. A decision in these cases is not expected until close to the end of the term of the Supreme Court in late June or early July. A Supreme Court opinion affirming that the ex-presidents have absolute immune from criminal prosecution will likely end the January 6 and exclude Trump as a defendant in the Georgia case.

The Supreme Court took up the Fischer case in September 2023, and has yet to render a verdict. Trump and many of the January 6 rioters are charged with a statute that they attempted to disrupt an official proceeding. If the Supreme Court rules in favor of Fischer, this will allow many of the rioters in the January 6 violence to have their convictions overturned. It will also allow some of the charges against Trump to be dropped.

The laggard of the 3 cases is definitely the Georgia conspiracy trial. The case came to a halt after it was discovered that the District Attorney Fani Willis had an improper relation with the Nathan Wade, the lead attorney in this case. Judge McAfee decided to let Fani Willis continue to prosecute the case, but without Nathan Wade. His judgement is now being appealed. No trial date has been scheduled, and it is not likely to start before the elections.

In sum, Trump’s legal team has managed to successfully delay the start of the three criminal cases against him. Every motion to dismiss for lack of evidence or other reasons has failed. They are still very active cases.

So, what do all the court reporters and associated pundits do after the verdict is read, and explained about a hundred times on cable news? Go home? Hardly. Senator Bob Menendez and his wife are currently on trial for bribery. See link below:

Prosecutors build their case at bribery trial of Sen. Bob Menendez with emails and texts

Also, it is expected to the Supreme Court will rule late in June on both the Fischer case and Presidential Immunity. There’s nothing stopping them from ruling sooner.

Stay tuned,

Dave

Libertarian Party and their candidate, Chase Oliver

by Dave

The Libertarian Party candidate for president is Chase Oliver. His views are neither Republicans nor Democrat. In general, the Libertarian philosophy is to reduce government spending, and thus the immediate appeal of everyone paying less taxes. The battle cry of Libertarians is that we spend too much for what we don’t need. The problems of our country can be solved through private enterprise.

The problem comes in almost immediately on policies which would have terrible consequences, here and abroad. They would withdraw all military assistance to Ukraine, and pull out of NATO. Russia would be overjoyed and crush the democratically ruled Ukraine and then quickly send their forces into neighboring countries.

There has been slow progress on reducing emissions of greenhouse emissions, contributing to Climate Change. Economic incentives for new sources of renewable energy is essential, but Libertarians would seek to pull out of the Climate Change accords, and eliminate renewable energy incentives.

The Libertarians view of most problems outside of the US is simply, “It’s not our problem.” This is isolationism. The war in Gaza is now a humanitarian crisis, and Libertarians rigid philosophy would get in the way of finding practical solutions. Israel force the Gaza population living close to their border to flee to the southern area of Rafah. Many in refugee camps are approaching starvation, and Israel has been frustrating food shipments from Egypt. The US army and navy constructed the Trident pier, which will supplement the food shipments, by allowing trucks to pour into Gaza by sea.

I’ll post more on Rafah aid. It is great to see the US be part of the immediate humanitarian needs to the people of Rafah.

Stars and Stripes article, UN resumes transporting aid from US-built pier in Gaza

CBS Reports on Rafah Aid

Donald Trump and Robert Kennedy both wanted to be the candidate for the Libertarian Party. Of course, Donald Trump will be the presidential candidate for the Republican party, but being endorsed by the Libertarian party would be a nice boost to his popularity.

Libertarians oppose all trade tariffs, as they run counter to capitalism and free enterprise. This has been a tool used against both China for unfair trade practices and Russia for their invasion of Ukraine. So, it is easy to see why Libertarians eliminated Trump in the first round of voting.

In sum, the global problems require global solutions. Russian expansion under Putin is one of them. The rise of authoritarian regimes in many parts of the world, including Iran, North Korea, China and Russia need a united global response. And it requires huge funding.

Their Presidential candidate is Chase Oliver, who was affiliated with the Democratic Party until year 2009. Some issues, like gun ownership, is closer to Republican party platform. His pro-choice stance on abortion is more aligned with the Democrats.

Neither Robert Kennedy nor Chase Oliver has ever held elected office. However, Oliver has run for both the US House and Senate seats, and won only about 2% of the vote. Below is a brief biographical summary of Chase Oliver:

Chase Oliver

I have to admit, that I admire the conviction of the Libertarians, for rejecting the well financed candidates, Robert Kennedy and Donald Trump, and going their own way. They had a real convention, with each candidate lobbying for support. Chase Oliver was selected on the seventh round of voting.

I recommend not voting for any candidate who has never held any elected office. Or any candidate that is likely to be convicted of serious criminal offenses. This effectively eliminates Kennedy, Oliver and Trump.

Stay tuned,

Dave

Judge Cannon – the alleged biased judge

by Dave

Judge Cannon is the assigned judge in the Classified Documents Case. So far, Judge Cannon rulings have not impressed legal experts (putting it mildly). Donald Trump’s strategy is to push the trial out to 2025. Any attempt to schedule it before the elections, and he will be shouting at his rallies that this is election interference. If he can win the election, he will find an Attorney General to dismiss the case.

In June 2023, the New York Times noted her lack of experience in legal trials. They noted she has presided over only 4 very short criminal cases which summed to 14 trial days.

NY Times, June 2023, Judge in Trump Documents Case Has Scant Criminal Trial Experience

Judge Scheindlin calls Judge Cannon insecure, without the confidence to identify frivolous motions, and deny them from the bench (without scheduling hearings). Ty Cobb who was Trump’s lawyer in the White House, also concurs that she is playing along with Trump’s delay game.

See CNN link.

The Hill, Ty Cobb rips Trump documents judge: ‘This case could have easily gotten to trial’

Ty Cobb’s biography is given at the end of this posting. Obviously, to be part of the White House legal counsel, when Donald Trump was facing impeachment, you have to have a great reputation.

Special Counsel Jack Smith has requested from Judge Cannon, a gag order to control wild falsehoods about the FBI’s orders to use deadly force with the intent of assassinating Donald Trump. See link:

CNN link: Retired Judge responds to gag order in Trump documents case

CNN link: Explanation of FBI Instructions on search warrants

She knows if she rules in favor of the prosecutor, Trump will immediately go on the attack, saying that Biden ordered him silent. That just isn’t true. The ruling has to come from Judge Cannon. Trump will not attack Judge Cannon, as he sees her as good for the defense.

It is very hard to delay a ruling as Trump continues to champion the “big lie” that the Mar-a-Lago search was an attempted hit job.

This is an evolving story. No trial date has been set, dozens of pre-trial motions have yet to be ruled on.

Stay tuned,

Dave

How to spin the Hush Money trial

by Dave

It’s Biden Show Trial. That was the latest spin from Alina Habba, Donald Trump’s legal spokesperson, regularly appearing on Fox News stations. The last time I heard her, she was on Sean Hannity’s show, and saying Donald Trump is being hauled into court, on exactly the same charges as in his business fraud case and the defamation case against E. Jean Carroll (two trials). Of course, the charges against Trump was in civil court, and completely different. But in each case, Trump lost and has posted bond for part of the money he owes, while these cases are being appealed.

The criminal case is being prosecuted by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who has avoided making any public statement or even attending the court sessions. I take this as a sign of confidence that he will win this case. The federal government nor the Department of Justice is not involved in this case.

What DA Bragg and his team are doing, is making absolutely sure, the jury can put the pieces together, with the testimony they have heard and the documents submitted into evidence. It is likely to go to the jury next Thursday. The verdict of the jury should be respected, as they listened to all testimony in court.

Sean Hannity, Fox News commentator made a strange comment, that this was Representative Adam Schiff’s show trial. That’s pretty odd- but while we are at inventing conspiracy theories, why not pull in George Soros, Jeff Bezos or Bill Gates.

I found an even more bizarre comment from Representative Maria Salazar (I’m in her district) that this trial is like something that occurs in socialist countries. Her comments:

She proceeded to emphasize in both English and later in Spanish again how Hispanics are the largest and “most important” minority in the country. “This is a political circus that is only seen in Cuba, in Venezuela and Nicaragua,” she said. “It is a shame.” She emphasized the importance of fighting at the ballot box and making sure political persecution doesn’t continue.“ That’s why I’m telling to you Hispanics, wake up! What is happening is Marxism and we came to this country to not have this,” she said.

In autocratic governments, which I include Iran, Russia, China, Cuba and Venezuela, the country’s elites are above the law. In autocracies, the police would never raid the office of Michael Cohen, so both Cohen and Trump would never be charged. They would never search Joe Biden’s home or have a Special Counsel assign to investigate him, while he was president. Rep. Maria Salazar is campaigning on pretty stale anti-communist rhetoric.

In fact, in an autocratic government, the news media can be silenced or is run by the government. In a democracy, everyone is subject to the same laws and has the right to a fair trial. So, DA Alvin Bragg is doing what prosecutors are doing everyday enforcing the law, and not engaging in political persecution. That’s how democracies work.

The political circus continues, more on social media than in the courthouse. The latest one, was that the raid at Trump’s residence in Mar-a-Lago was intended to be an assassination attempt on Trump, because part of the instructions given to FBI agents, is the right to use deadly force. It was quickly dismissed when the standard instructions are read in full, which state that FBI agents may only use deadly force to protect themselves.

Donald Trump has already protested the entire trial, as a way to prevent him from campaigning. Court trials are never convenient to defendants. He will have his supporters already, to once again, denounce the Manhattan attorney’s office, as simply an extension of the federal courts, the Department of Justice, the FBI, and of course Joe Biden. You can pretty much add to the list, Nicolas Maduro and

Usually, defendants’ attorneys claim that the prosecution case will be completely destroyed once they can present the evidence that exonerates their client. The defense did put one witness on the stand, Robert Costello, who really could not refute the charges against Trump. His testimony may have helped rather than hurt the prosecution case, as Costello, was working for Rudy Giuliani, who has his own legal problems.

Most courtroom observers believe the case against Trump is strong. The court will reconvene Tuesday for closing arguments. They can be long, as each side will be very well prepared to summarize the case, with well chosen images of the most compelling evidence. Then, the judge will instruct the jury on the law and what they must decide.

If found guilty, Trump has the right to appeal the decision. Of course he will using campaign donations. And Trump will continue to play the victim of repression or political prosecution.

Stay tuned,

Dave

The Overfishing Case in the Supreme Court

by Dave

This is a landmark case. Like other Supreme Court cases, the problem might seem small, but the ramifications of this decision could affect our government’s ability to enforce many regulations, including the Food and Drug Administration. The case is called “Relentless v. Department of Commerce” and I hope the Supreme Court will rule against Relentless. Just so you know my feelings!

The Supreme Court’s term is ending in late June or early July, and they always leave the most important cases to the end of the term. As usual, I focus more on the practical aspects of what happens as a result of the ruling, rather than the legal arguments.

— The Case

Fishing is a huge business, and there is always a temptation to overfish, which is to exceed the established quotas for a particular species of fish. It’s simply a risk verses reward situation. It is also a classic case of the regulators (US Government, National Marine Fisheries Service) verses the regulatees (Herring industry).

The problem is undisputable- when more fish are taken than the spawning rate, the population declines. There are multiple solutions, but enforcement is frustratingly difficult given the many species of fish. So the agency decided to enforce quotas by requiring trained inspectors onboard the fishing vessels and pay $700 per day for their services.

I am not sure if this policy is working, but that isn’t for the Supreme Court to decide. I can understand the pushback from the vessels’ owners, particularly the smaller business owners, who claim that the $700/day can make it unprofitable to fish. The Relentless corporation has brought this legal challenge to the Supreme Court as an overreach of a government agency in making rules without the legislature empowering the agency specifically to do so.

I can also imagine how difficult it must be, for fish inspectors to be checking the haul of vessels at the dock, when they are all coming in together. So, putting the inspectors on the vessels made sense.

— The Chevron Deference and Politics

The Chevron deference is part of a ruling, in which the court opined that when ambiguity exists in the enforcement of a law, the court should defer to the judgement of the regulatory agency and just look at whether this is a reasonable interpretation of the agency’s authority. It is based on pragmatism, that the regulatory agency has a better understanding of the problems and potential remedies. It was part of a 1984 Supreme Court decision, and has been narrowed in scope by other court decisions. An excellent summary provided by Cornell law school:

https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/chevron_deference

I suspect philosophical/ political perspective will have a lot to do with this ruling. The Supreme Court is split, 6 conservatives and 3 liberals, so this might be a win for conservatives. Roberts may join with the liberals. but that won’t be enough to carry the day. Maybe Barrett?

Supreme Court likely to discard Chevron

NY Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/17/us/supreme-court-chevron-case.html

As I stated at the onset, I hope Relentless loses. The Chevron deference, I believe, is necessary to keep politics out of enforcing unpopular rules. And, the consequences of invalidating the Chevron doctrine will extend far beyond our government’s attempt to regulate the fishing industry. Oral arguments in January indicated Brown, Kagan and Sotomayor will not invalidate the Chevron deference. Thomas, Alito, and Kavanaugh seem to be building a case against this doctrine, as being against free enterprise.

If Relentless wins, it will weaken the hand of government agency to accomplish their areas of responsibility, and in the long term, be bad for the general public. The enforcement of rules is often very difficult, as the risk to reward ratio changes, and owners of businesses see compliance as an option rather than a responsibility.

Yes, there are tons of regulations, but I think in the long run, the Chevron deference benefits everyone. We import 90% of our fish, and if we can’t control overfishing, we have no seat at the table when others are busy diminishing the populations of fish. Same is true for many other areas, such as the environment (yes including climate change), water and air pollution, and safe food and drugs. We depend, like it or not, on the expertise of agencies.

This is an election year, and Donald Trump will champion himself as a great regulation chopper, which will lead to new prosperity. It’s a nice populist theme, particularly for a real estate mogul, with huge legal problems. Perhaps, it isn’t MAGA, but MMGA, or Make Me Great Again.

Stay tuned,

Dave

Other Links related to Overfishing:

New Civil Liberties Alliance: Relentless v. Department of Commerce

Note: The New Civil Liberties Alliance is counsel for the Relentless defendants.

Environmental defense Fund, Overfishing

Playing the delay game

by Dave

An innocent defendant pushes a prosecutor to have a speedy trial and get rid of the allegations of wrong doing. Trump is guilty of taking classified documents and hiding them in unsecure locations and then when it was requested they be returned, moving them around his residence/club at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. He does not want his day in court.

Donald Trump game plan is simple – delay the classified documents case until after the election, and then have the Justice Department dismiss the case. His accomplice in this delay game is a biased judge by the name of Aileen Cannon, who is not ruling on the pre-trial motions, but is scheduling hearings in June, and will drag out the start of the trial just as long as possible.

I have read through a dozen or so, opinions on Judge Cannon’s order of May 7, 2024. They all conclude that the judge is simply siding with Trump on every issue. Here’s part of the Washington Post opinion:

“Of the indictments Trump faces, the case in Florida was often regarded as the most clear-cut. And then it was assigned to Judge Aileen M. Cannon.”

Washington Post Link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/08/judge-trump-classified-documents-trial-date/

What scares both Donald Trump and Judge Cannon is the speed at which the Hush Money case is proceeding. It means that in late May, or early June, the Hush Money case will conclude. Then, Trump has no real basis for delaying the start of Classified Documents case.

The sole excuse not to start the trial at the conclusion of the Hush Money case will be Judge Cannon’s acquiescence to schedule hearings in Trump’s many motions. In this way, she does not have to rule until after the hearing. So, Trump wins in the delay game.

CNN Link: https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/07/politics/judge-postpones-trump-classified-documents-trial/index.html

Legal experts are able to quickly identify frivolous motions to dismiss, which can be ruled on without a hearing. See CNN link below:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/07/politics/video/trump-classified-documents-trial-postponed-judge-scheindlin-sitroom-digvid

So, it will be a long and frustrating road for the Special Prosecutor. The January 6 case is on hold pending the Supreme Court judgement. So, none of the three other cases pending against Trump has a trial date set.

Equal justice for all? Not in Judge Cannon’s court room.

Stay tuned,

Dave

judge-aileen-cannon-may-7-orderDownload

Intelligence Surveillance and FISA 702

by Dave

The US Congress approved an extension of FISA 702 for a period of two years and it was signed into law on April 20, 2024. What is remarkable about this issue, is that both very notable Republicans and Democrats tried to defeat this bill, in both the House and Senate, and they failed. Trump wanted it either the bill voted down or made much less effective, by requiring warrants. FISA stands for Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act, which was first enacted in 1978 and has been amended multiple times.

I believe the Congress and President Biden made the right decision, but the two year extension is far too short, because the threats from outside the US are not going to be gone in two years. ‘ If Trump is elected, he will not allow the act to renew. See section on Politics at the end.

Details of Section 702 can be found in Department of National Intelligence brochure:

https://www.dni.gov/files/icotr/Section702-Basics-Infographic.pdf

(1) The Centralists verses Right and Left Ideologies.

There was both bipartisan support and against this bill in the House and Senate. Ultimately the bill passed after the extension was shortened to 2 years. This extension is based more on pragmatism than principle. Through provisions in the bill, the intelligence community can conduct electronic communication surveillance, while at the same time, there are some restrictions of what agents can do through the internal approval process.

Attorney General Merrick Garland praised the reauthorization and reiterated how “indispensable” the tool is to the Justice Department.

“This reauthorization of Section 702 gives the U.S. the authority to continue to collect foreign intelligence information about non-U.S. persons located outside the United States, while at the same time codifying important reforms the Justice Department has adopted to ensure the protection of Americans’ privacy and civil liberties,” Garland said in a statement Saturday.

NBC News, Senate passes bill renewing key FISA surveillance power moments after it expires

Intelligence agents have far more liberties to conduct surveillance if the targets are outside of the US. I give George Bush credit for recognizing that after the September 11, 2001 attack, we had to either get a lot smarter and coordinated in our fight against terrorists or live in fear of them. It is a difficult balancing act – giving the intelligence agencies the tools they need, and preserving individual’s civil liberties.

(2) We already have the data- now we can query it

FBI Release: https://www.fbi.gov/news/speeches/director-wrays-remarks-at-the-aba-standing-committee-on-law-and-national-security

See the above link. Per the DNI link:

“Querying information the intelligence community already possesses, which is less intrusive than other investigative techniques, can rule out potential subjects and eliminate the need for further investigation.”

So, the tactic is right for finding the proverbial “needle in the haystack.” Cast a large net, do it quickly and cull out only what appears to be worthy of more follow-up measures. Often times, it is not terrorist threats that are discovered, but money laundering and drug smuggling activities. Cyber crimes will likely be on the rise, and this can be particularly destructive if hackers gain access to vital information.

What the Justice Department is going after, is highly organized and well financed crime, supported by governments and organizations hostile to the US.

(3) Why a pressing need today?

I am very concerned about election interference from China and Russia in the 2024 election. Six swing states* will likely determine our next president. Control of the House and Senate may be determined in the next election. The ads on social media and television need massive funding. See swing state list in Note 1.

Drugs are coming into the US, not carried by illegal immigrants, but smuggled in through trucks, ships and planes. Sometimes it a case of following the money to catch the smugglers.

And terrorist attacks are real, from many parts of the world. ISIS claimed responsibility for the March 22 bombing in a concert hall in Moscow, which killed 130 concertgoers. See Note 2.

(4) Politics

The support and opposition to Section 702 surveillance were bipartisan, which was pretty unusual to see. MAGA Republicans with almost blind allegiance to Donald Trump and the big lie than the election was stolen, like Representatives Andy Biggs, voted against the bill or sought to amend it.

“Prior to passing the bill, the House voted 212-212 on bipartisan amendment proposed by a rare left-right coalition designed to rein in the government’s use of warrantless surveillance of U.S. persons. The tie vote meant the amendment failed. In addition to Biggs, it was championed by Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash.; Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y.; Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif.; Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio; and Davidson.”

NBC News: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/house-votes-renew-fisa-spying-tool-earlier-republican-revolt-rcna147557

Rep. Matt Gaetz, conservative Republican from Florida, explained how passing a bad bill, could help Donald Trump, because if elected, he would have the opportunity to veto its renewal. “Now President Trump gets an at bat to fix the system that victimized him more than any other American.”

The term “times at bat” comes from baseball, which counts how many times a batter is up against a pitcher.

(5) Trump playing the victim card in the FISA debate

Trump likes to be in control of the narrative. Truth is unimportant, except as a lead in to his lies. Russia did attempt to interfere in the 2016 election, a fact Trump refuses to accept, because it would diminish his winning in a fair election. So, this is why he will never renew the Section 702. He and other politicians might need help from unsavory sources in the future. Democrats included, like Senator Bob Menendez included in these activities. Per the NY Times (see link below):

Mr. McMaster did not offer an explanation of why Mr. Trump appeared to be so deferential to Mr. Putin. But he did say that the president “conflates” three separate issues: whether Russia interfered in the election four years ago, whether that meddling was on Mr. Trump’s behalf, as the intelligence agencies concluded, and whether those efforts affected the outcome.

NY Times, McMaster, Mostly Silent Until Now, Says Trump Is ‘Aiding and Abetting Putin’s Efforts’

FISA surveillance using warrants did play a role in the Russian interference investigation. See note 3.

Summary:

I am glad the bill was passed into law. I wish the FBI and CIA success in finding the drug smugglers, money launderers, and those who collude with foreign agents to affect our elections. Cyber crime with organization expert in hacking can undermine everyone’s security. And perhaps they can early on, identify would be terrorists and begin monitoring them before they can create violence wherever they find an opportunity – like a concert hall.

Be pragmatic! Governments around the world recognize how interconnected our world has become. We should be aware that “what goes around, comes around.” It is a very short distance between a bomb going off in Moscow, or Paris or in any place in the US.

Stay tuned,

Dave

Notes:

(1) Swing states: AZ, GA, MI, NV, PA, WI. Some would include NC.

    (2) The Moscow Attack Showed Terrorism Is Asia’s Problem Now
    Increased geopolitical rivalry is allowing extremist groups to thrive—and threaten everyone.

    (3) FISA warrants did play a role in the Russian interference investigation. A FISA warrant was issued in 2016 on Carter Page, an advisor to the campaign in foreign affairs, to wiretap his calls. A lot of controversy surrounded how easy it was to renew a warrant after the initial 90 days ended. The DOJ determined that the last two renewals were invalid. Section 702 concerns surveillance without warrants, which is legal for communication with foreign nationals.