Tag: justice department
Former President Donald Trump

These Are The Ways Trump Will Destroy Liberty In A Second Term

Apparently interpreting the Supreme Court's decision on the 14th Amendment as a personal vote of confidence, Donald Trump pushed his luck, urging the justices to rule swiftly that he has absolute immunity as well.

That is not likely. Most observers thought the court would reject Colorado's action because permitting it would have invited chaos in the middle of an ongoing election and because the court husbands its legitimacy. Had it upheld Colorado's disqualification, the court would instantly have become a hate object for 70% of Republicans, who would have perceived its ruling as baldly political, denying to voters their free choice of candidate.

The presidential immunity claim is another matter. A ruling that completely adopted Trump's position in that case would essentially gut the Constitution, permitting a president to accept bribes, use taxpayer money to build a series of palaces for himself all over the world, or arrest and torture his critics. As the D.C. Circuit Court put it: "At bottom, former President Trump's stance would collapse our system of separated powers by placing the president beyond the reach of all three branches."

Here's the rub: If Trump is reelected in November, he will essentially have total immunity, regardless of what the court says.

A reelected Trump would have the voters' imprimatur for lawlessness. If he wins in November, the message from voters will be: Yes, we know he mishandled the most sensitive classified documents and obstructed justice rather than return them. And we know he caused the deaths of millions of COVID patients by lying about the threat of the virus and discouraging precautions. And we know he invited his followers to threaten and harass innocent election workers, secretaries of state and governors. And we know that he called for shoplifters to be shot on sight and said the Constitution should be terminated. We know he said he'd be a dictator for a day. Above all, we know that he attempted to subvert the peaceful transfer of power and remain in office despite the will of the people. And we chose him anyway. Reelection would grant absolution for all of it.

The supposed guardrails of democracy are already creaking and groaning at the prospect of another Trump term. Just look at the state of the GOP. As a "might be" president, he is already able to dictate the composition of the Republican National Committee, rig a primary in Nevada, kill a border bill that would have given Republicans 90% of what they've been demanding for years and undermine Republican support for Ukraine.

Now imagine that Trump is president again and instructs the Justice Department to bring treason charges against Jack Smith. Who will stop him? The carefully vetted MAGA lawyers he has hired precisely for their loyalty?

What if he instructs the IRS to audit and fine Liz Cheney, Adam Schiff, George Conway, and hundreds of other prominent critics? This violates IRS rules. But will IRS employees, again hired for loyalty to Trump, demur? After all, he did run on the promise, "I am your retribution," and his voters agreed.

What if he directs the SEC to investigate banks that refuse to loan the Trump Organization money? Would any whistleblower risk his job or worse?

What if, in response to street demonstrations, Trump invokes the Insurrection Act and federalizes the national guard, allowing the military to shut down protests and arrest (or worse) demonstrators without cause?

In Trump's first term, he was partially thwarted by strong institutions, yes — but above all by a deep commitment to the rule of law among the citizens of this country. A mid-level NSC staffer found the courage to defy the president's illegal and immoral acts because of his deep faith in the people's values. As Alexander Vindman said to his father, who, having grown up in the totalitarian USSR, worried about what might happen to his son for opposing the president, "Do not worry, I will be fine for telling the truth."

Except he wasn't. Not quite. He and (for spite) his twin brother were fired from the NSC. His military promotion was put on hold. He was harassed. It would be far, far worse in a second Trump term. Would there even be Alexander Vindmans in a second Trump presidency?

Doubtful. The mob justice that Trump has practiced and been rewarded for would intimidate nearly all. And they would not be enough to preserve constitutional democracy.

As Judge Learned Hand said in his 1944 "Spirit of Liberty" speech:

"I often wonder whether we do not rest our hopes too much upon constitutions, upon laws and upon courts. These are false hopes; believe me, these are false hopes. Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it."

On April 22, the Supreme Court will hear arguments on presidential immunity and will perhaps issue a ruling full of pious talk about the rule of law. But the words will be empty if Trump is elected.

Reprinted with permission from Creators.

Trump Faces Huge Potential Damages In January 6 Civil Lawsuits

Trump Faces Huge Potential Damages In January 6 Civil Lawsuits

Before Justice Arthur Engoron released his verdict in New York Attorney General Letitia James' civil fraud case, many legal experts predicted that Trump would get clobbered financially. And that's exactly what happened.

On Friday afternoon, February 16, Engoron ordered Trump to pay almost $355 million. But when interest in factored in, that figure increases to $450 million.

Engoron's decision comes after two separate civil defamation lawsuits by former Elle Magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll.

Trump was ordered to pay Carroll $5 million in damages in her first lawsuit against him and $83.3 million in the second one. Between James' case (including the interest) and the damages in Carroll's lawsuits, Trump owes over $535 million.

According to Forbes' Alison Durkee, those aren't the only civil cases that Trump needs to be worried about.

In an article published on February 19, Durkee explains, "Former President Donald Trump now owes more than $440 million before interest in civil court fines after being ordered to pay more than $354 million Friday in the civil fraud case against him and his company — and it's possible more damages awards could be coming as the ex-president faces more civil cases seeking to hold him liable for the January 6 riot. Trump still faces multiple civil lawsuits — which have largely been consolidated in court — brought by Democratic lawmakers and Capitol police officers, which seek to hold Trump personally liable for the January 6 riot."

Durkee adds, "Those cases are now moving forward after federal district and appeals courts refused to throw them out, rejecting Trump's argument that he has 'immunity' because the allegations stem from actions he took as president."

Durkee notes that the "January 6 civil cases" are "moving forward again in federal district court after appeals courts refused to throw them out." A hearing, according to Durkee, has been scheduled for this Friday, February 23.

"Trump has denied the allegations against him in the civil January 6 lawsuits, accusing Democratic lawmakers in his motion to dismiss of 'attempting to undermine the First Amendment by bringing this lawsuit, based on their longstanding and public grudges against President Trump,'" Durkee reports. "The lawmakers 'fail to plausibly plead any viable conspiracy theory against President Trump,' Trump's attorneys wrote…. The ex-president has continued to insist ex-presidents have 'absolute immunity' even as courts have rejected his arguments, claiming such immunity is necessary even when their actions 'cross the line.'"

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

E. Jean Carroll

Facing 'Untenable Scenario,' Three Trump Lawyers Abandon His Defense

Former President Donald Trump's rout of his GOP rivals in the Iowa Caucus appears to not have worked to soothe the moods of three of his top lawyers who, until this week, were defending him in two separate high-profile trials.

The New Republic reports Trump attorneys Joe Tacopina, Chad D. Siegel, and Matthew G. DeOreo, of the law firm Tacopina, Siegel and DeOreo, all filed a motion to withdraw as counsel in two of the former president's upcoming cases. The three lawyers had been representing Trump in his currently ongoing defamation trial in which plaintiff E. Jean Carroll is suing for $10 million in damages, and in Trump's upcoming March trial in Manhattan District Court over alleged hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

Former federal prosecutor Michael McAuliffe told Newsweek that while there are "a number of reasons" why an attorney might want to stop representing a client, Tacopina, Siegel, and DeOreo may have dropped the ex-president out of frustration that their client wasn't properly following their advice.

"The attorney-client relationship might have suffered a fundamental breach of confidence, running in either or both directions," McAuliffe said. "A strong-willed client who thinks he or she is more of a lawyer than the actual lawyer can create an untenable scenario for that lawyer to continue representing the client’s interests."

In a statement to the New York Times, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung didn't acknowledge the attorneys' withdrawal motion, but said the former president "has the most experienced, qualified, disciplined, and overall strongest legal team ever assembled."

The E. Jean Carroll defamation trial began with a rocky start for Trump, whose Truth Social account posted more than 30 attacks in less than two hours on the writer whom a jury found last year was sexually abused by Trump. This week's proceedings are simply to determine how much Trump will be ordered to pay, as prior court rulings found him liable for both sexual abuse and defamation.

Trump is scheduled to stand trial in Manhattan on March 25, where District Attorney Alvin Bragg has accused Trump of falsifying business records in relation to alleged payoffs involving Daniels' allegations of an affair prior to the 2016 presidential election. A guilty verdict on all counts could theoretically result in more than 600 years in prison. Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Trump Attorney Warned Him Against Defying Secret Documents Subpoena

Trump Attorney Warned Him Against Defying Secret Documents Subpoena

Former President Donald Trump was warned last year that holding onto classified documents after he was subpoenaed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) for their return to the National Archives could amount to obstruction of justice, according to records shared exclusively with The Guardian over the weekend.

"The previously unreported warning conveyed to Trump by his lawyer Evan Corcoran could be significant in the criminal investigation surrounding Trump's handling of classified materials given it shows he knew about his subpoena obligations," the outlet reports.

Noting special counsel Jack Smith's probe into why "Trump World" failed to return the requested materials, "prosecutors have fixated on Trump's valet Walt Nauta, after he told the Justice Department that Trump told him to move boxes out of the storage room before and after the subpoena. The activity was captured on subpoenaed surveillance footage, though there were gaps in the tapes," The Guardian reveals.

"The warning was one of several key moments that Corcoran preserved in roughly 50 pages of contemporaneous notes described to The Guardian on the condition of anonymity, which prosecutors have viewed in recent months as central to the criminal investigation," Washington correspondent Hugh Lowell writes.

"The notes revealed how Trump and Nauta had unusually detailed knowledge of the botched subpoena response, including where Corcoran intended to search and not search for classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, as well as when Corcoran was actually doing his search," Lowell continues, adding that "the notes ended up before the grand jury in Washington hearing evidence in the case after a US appeals court allowed attorney-client privilege to be pierced because judges believed Trump might have used Corcoran's legal advice in furtherance of a crime."

Lowell also explains from the notes that the room in which boxes filled with top-secret records were kept "might have been left unattended" during Trump World's search — which because it was incomplete prompted the Federal Bureau of Investigation to execute its own search warrant last August.

Furthermore, Trump was reportedly "irritated" with the subpoena as well as the "unusually detailed nature" of Corcoran's written accounts.

Reprinted with permission from AlterNet