Josh Marshall has a very good essay about Putin and the war in Ukraine that I recommend. It doesn’t seem to be behind a paywall.
Also at TPM, see Josh Kovensky’s latest on the outrageously partisan Judge Aileen Cannon and also Josh’s commentary on how corrupt she is.
A publication called the Business Standard that I am not familiar with is saying that Cannon could be removed from the case. I’m not seeing this elsewhere, so take it with a grain of salt. But here it is:
Former federal prosecutor Robert Katzberg made the case that US District Judge Aileen Cannon’s continued interference in the work being done by special master Raymond Dearie in the matter of government documents allegedly stolen by Donald Trump could lead to the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals stepping in and taking the case from her, media reports here said.
Earlier in the week, the Trump-appointed Cannon gave Donald Trump’s legal team an assist by ruling that they did not need to comply with an order from Dearie and reply in a filing whether they believe the FBI agents lied about documents recovered at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort almost two months ago.
As Katzberg sees it, the Department of Justice could appeal, which they did late Friday, and that they may have a compelling case to ask for Cannon’s removal — although such moves rarely occur.
Adding that the 11th Circuit has already stepped in to curb some of Cannon’s excesses, Katzberg claimed it might be open to stepping in in a more forceful way.
“The 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals has already filed a stinging opinion that contains ample criticism of Cannon to quote in support,” he wrote.
“Appeals courts are hesitant to remove judges from a case, but here, there is a clear record of questionable decisions that have stymied an extremely significant criminal investigation and, per the DOJ, undermined national security. Under these unusual circumstances, reassignment might well be an appropriate solution,” he said.
In other news, Marjorie Taylor Green is telling her followers that Democrats are killing Republicans.
Marjorie Taylor Greene: “I am not going to mince words with you all. Democrats want Republicans dead and they have already started the killings.”
This rhetoric is dangerous and unacceptable. pic.twitter.com/2UiKXsrlsJ
— The Republican Accountability Project (@AccountableGOP) October 1, 2022
"The Queen Of the Karens," MTG, is a classic example of a person who should stay quiet, never speak, and let people think they're a fucking moron, than open that big yap of hers, cut loose that nasally, hateful, and ignorant-sounding, Southern-accented, twangy voice, and remove all doubt!
MTG is a total idiot.
A true "5-Tool" imbecile.
Btw: Her husband – of 27, or so years – is filing for a divorce.
And for staying with her for a quarter-century, her husband's also… Well, he’s also proven to everyone that he too isn't too close to getting a MENSA membership.
MAGA: Yes.
MENSA: NO!!!!!
Re MTG and the divorce…
Someone should organize a way for us to all express our feelings for her. Maybe circulate her address in Congress so we can flood her mail with sympathy cards.
"Sorry to hear about the divorce. Which of the two (known) boyfriends did he object to? Or was it both of them. You didn't ask him to watch, I hope. That's not good manners. Buck up and don't fu*ck up, at least so publicly. Your fan, "
Oh and I want to see a poll. Will her ex vote for her? Each of the known lovers? Solicit unknown lovers and ask who they will be voting for…
Ask her in her book how many times the red letters mention divorce and how many times it mentions the gays.
From Politico, 9/30/22
" The department also argues that expediting its appeal would serve the interests of justice because the special master appointment restricts the government’s ability to “vindicate the strong public interest” in moving quickly with its criminal and national security investigation.."
My opinion: DOJ knows they will charge Trump based on what they have. DOJ knows Trump will delay the process and attack the prosecution. So why wait to charge Trump until the prosecution is prepared to go to trial? Begin the process ASAP and yes, it becomes an objective to conclude the trial in less than two years because Trump's defense is based on a dismissal of the case when he becomes POTUS. The case and verdict should be history before the election in two years because running for president to avoid criminal prosecution should not be a defense strategy.
What DOJ is appealing is the entire Special Master decision and process. Which they should. The "expedited" appeal schedule proposed by DOJ on Friday would have DOJ make their case to the 11th Circuit by 10/14, Trump's legal beagles respond by 11/04 and DOJ rebut by 11/11. So this is going into presidential election season post-midterms.
The schedule in effect with Dearie forces Trump to declare what (and by what excuse) seized documents should be excluded. (Nov.4, if I recall.) Which is interesting because it forces Trump to show cards in the documents he tries to exclude as evidence even though the point may be moot if the 11th dismisses Dearie late in November. (And Trump is paying at least two lawyers $500 per hour (each) for work that may be worthless in terms of excluding evidence.
If the 11th Circut agrees with DOJ, and if DOJ is ready to file charges by November, the delay may be a total of two weeks. Remember, the DOJ was not going to file charges before the midterms. The cost to Trump (out of pocket) might be a quarter million dollars. For two weeks.
Other sources have cited unnamed sources re the heavyweight lawyer Trump paid three million for upfront unsilling to accept Trump's "strategy" on the case. (Seems he demanded payment frst because no lawyer trusts Trump to pay his bills.) Christopher Kise isn't signing any of the Trump MAL submissions.
Ttump wants to go to war with DOJ and the FBI. Kise wants to make nice with DOJ and say, since you got the papers back, let's settle with an apology and no cherges. OK? Trump's not in the mood to apologize. Kise can see that DOJ has the law on their side and the evidence. Trump is in no position to play the victim, but he won't admit that what he did was a "mistake." (Mistake, hell! It was deliberate, as was the obstruction that followed.) But nobody on Team Trump is up to defending Trump if this goes to trial. The ambulance-chasers Trump has may not even be able to delay the process well.
"My opinion: DOJ knows they will charge Trump based on what they have. DOJ knows Trump will delay the process and attack the prosecution. So why wait to charge Trump until the prosecution is prepared to go to trial?"
You wait until you're prepared and all surprises have been been neutralized. I strongly suggest that neither of those conditions obtain as of yet, if for no other reason than the congressional investigation isn't done yet, and witnesses are still hitting paper.
I assume you're referring only to a prosecution of this documents case. But even so, no prosecutor wants to charge and then go to trial if they're not fully prepared for everything. The burden's all on them at that point, and there are no do-overs.
I was referring to the documents case. There doesn't have to be a lot of complexity if DOJ doesn't try to stack up weak charges on top of ironclad violations that are a slam-dunk. Anybody who can read English can pull up the Espionage Act.
Regarding delay: I was charged with two felonies and four misdemeanors by DOJ just 30 days after my flight. The DOJ has to be prepared against the defense Team Trump will bring. The defense will not be legal – it will be political. If the GOP takes the House in Nov, they will shut down the government rather than fund DOJ and FBI unless DOJ guarantees to abandon the case (and any other criminal investigation). This is not wild speculation – members of Congress are promising it for 2024.
Garland needs to recognize the criminal case will NOT be opposed in the courtroom – Trump intends to create through the GOP so much misery and chaos that a special personal exemption to criminal liability will be extended to him personally.
Garland needs to file criminal charges after the midterms and BEFORE the new Congress is sworn in. Garland needs to say Trump will have every opportunity in a court of law to present his defense, the same as any other citizen charged with a crime. Garland needs to say Trump was given repeated opportunities to comply with the law in a period of over a year. The application of political force to deflect a criminal investigation is not only improper, it may be criminal obstruction of justice, even if it's carried out by Congress.
Delay will NOT strengthen the prosecution, it will enable the political obstruction of a criminal trial.
The good news about Cannon is twofold –
– DOJ has the 100 classified docs that matter. These are the ones, that if mishandled easily get an ordinary citizen jail time.
– she's clearly making an a$$ of herself over docs that aren't that strategic (a sideshow, I've read others call it). If she wants to destroy her reputation over "trivia", go for it, wingnut. I've read that her mistreatment of Dearie is unbelievable to the legal community. Again, go for it, dimwit, engage "Auto-destruct", the big red button, over there.
Speaking of dangerous dimwits, MTG is a threat only if people act on what she's saying. She's straight out of "Idiocracy". Like Trump, a 2 year old who discovered being a jerk gets attention. I'm more worried over the possibility of losing the House, which would put crackpots like her in charge. For two years, minimum.
In good news, I got a thank-you from Katie Porter (bought a nice mug off her site). She said she made her fundraising goal for the quarter, so I'm glad and slightly optimistic she may keep her seat. Her face is plastered all over town, a good sign.
What's to say about Putin except we're right on the edge of WW3. Annie Applebaum's been arguing this for a long time. We're in WW3 right now, and we don't realize it yet.
I've got my fingers crossed Katie Porter stays the House. She's a gem. The nation needs her.
David Petraeus — retired, of course, so nothing he says is official — thinks that if Putin uses any nuclear weapon in Ukraine, NATO would not hesitate to destroy every Russian troop in Ukraine and sink Russia's fleet in the Black Sea.
Katie Porter is THE most effective congress-critter at pointing out the bull in corporate bullshit testimony. The only thing better than her staying as a congress-critter would be for her to replace the senile Dianne Feinstein in the senate. It is an understatement to say that the nation needs her.
I do worry about Republicans being so pro Putin that they will leave Ukraine in the lurch if they take over after the midterms.
That said Putin complaining about "anglo saxons" makes me see a cartoon picture with Putin and Monte Python anglosaxons…
If he only knew how absurd he sounds. Kaiser Wilhem started WWI due to jealousy of his english cousin, so maybe Putin's problem is old fashioned jealousy inferiority complex.