4 thoughts on “A Decision in Georgia”

1. Trump can appeal the ruling (and will.) If the NY case is delayed a month, it starts April 25 and runs to the end of May. The judge can assign a June trial date in GA for June 15 – the appeal has no bearing. That puts the case in front of electors (with cameras) through the summer with a spotlight on the conspiracy to steal the election.

2. I think the Judge's Solomon-like attempt to split the whiny, fat, Creamsicle-colored baby's case is the right one.

   I'm very glad that Fani Willis can continue to prosecute that fat, treasonous lump!

   But having said that, I've lost the respect I had for Ms. Willis.

   I've managed not to get sexually involved with my trainees in the corporate world, and students in the college world.

   Let me tell you, I had plenty of offers (one really attractive trainee asked me to print-up her divorce decree during a lunch break – pretty bold, no?!?).

   But I managed to avoid getting sexually involved because I have some self-respect, and I believe mixing your job & sex life isn't a solution to any problem(s).

   Mixing your job & sex life will be the cause of many problems.

   So, good luck, Fani Willis.

   But I wish you hadn't given our Reich-wingers a controversial femur to gnaw on for the duration of the case, and it's potential conclusion.

3. Thrilled that Fani survived the challenge. Had the judge kicked her off, it would have been yet another capitulation to right-wing bullying, so I'm glad that didn't happen. 

   @gulag – for what it's worth, I heard her "explain" the affair as a result of being cooped up alone while COVID was going on. I can forgive her for that. At least the money dealings seemed to be completely above board, nobody was getting rich.

   I'm a bit concerned about Aileen Cannon's ruling from earlier in the week – she entertained Trump's request to dismiss the whole trial, and left open the possibility that he could raise the issue again after the trial gets started. I'll let Joyce Vance explain

   There is still no firm trial date for the Mar-a-Lago case. The probability that Judge Delay can have this case ready to go to trial by the May date on her schedule is about the same as the probability Donald Trump has ever read the Constitution from cover to cover.

   Today’s hearing came and went without any clarification from the Judge as to when she intends to try the case. That’s probably because her ideal trial date is never.

   But….there’s even more to worry about in this case than delay if she ever manages to get to trial.

   The Judge’s ruling was virtually incomprehensible, even to those of us who speak “legal” as our native language. If you tried to write something that was deliberately dumb, this sentence would be it…. …It looks like the kind of sentence a law clerk might decide was insufficiently precise for anyone to understand, which could be its appeal here for Judge Cannon. But I’m afraid of what I think it means.

   The good news here is temporary. It’s what I’d call an ugly win for the government. The Judge dismissed the vagueness argument—but just for today. She did it “without prejudice,” which means that Trump’s lawyers could raise the argument again later in the case. In fact, the Judge seemed to do just that in her order, essentially inviting the defense to raise the argument again at trial.

   She says the motion turns at least in part on “disputed factual issues.” That’s significant because those disputed issues get aired at trial when the evidence is presented to the jury.

   If the Judge had ruled against the government today, the Special Counsel could have appealed. But that’s not the case if, after today’s ruling in the government’s favor, she permits Trump to resurrect the motion at trial. She could grant the motion to dismiss the case then and at that point, with very rare exceptions (that the Judge would be in a position to prevent), the government can’t appeal. That’s because once a jury has been empaneled, double jeopardy “attaches” and prevents the government from retrying the defendant on the same charges if he’s acquitted, which is what would happen if the Judge granted a motion to dismiss at that point and before a jury rendered a guilty verdict. That’s the nightmare scenario here.

   Translation: Judge Delay (I like that name) left the door open for her to dismiss the whole case, at trial time. I hope Jack Smith has the cards and the smarts to outwit her.

4. Pondering the Willis decision during the day, a few thoughts emerged.

   1) Trump's co-conspirators put everything on hold while they waited to see if the whole case might disintegrate. It didn't. Willis has the reins and this is going to proceed – the pace is unknown. At the moment, Willis isn't competing with any dates in either of the federal cases. The dismissal of six of the weaker charges (yesterday) indicates to me that the judge has implicitly approved the foundation of all the other charges.  It suggests to me that he invested a fair amount of time in researching all the charges and the elements required for a conviction in each. I don't see how you get to that point without thinking you're presiding in that trial. 

   2) Willis is probably pissed at Trump. (She should have been smart enough to expect it.) But if the quest was for a professional triumph over Trump in court, it's personal now. She has to keep that anger on a leash. 

   3) This is the moment for Willis to design and deliver "offers" to all the lesser co-defendants. RICO carries a mandatory minimum of 20 years. Toughing it out in a  trial will be supremely stupid if the proof of your participation is there. ALL these people should be open to a deal now that the trial is "on". Willis needs to flip these suckers for two reasons. First she wants their testimony – who directed them to do what and when. Second, a RICO trial with a huge number of defendants can become a circus. (If you've read Maddow's last book, she writes about a huge trail of Nazis in the US near the end of the war. That would be the blueprint of what Trump will do if he has ten or so different co-defendants.)  Willis needs all but four or five defendants to flip to keep the trial manageable. I still can't make up my mind if Willis should cut Rudy a break if he offers to tell the truth. I want Mayor Bug-eyes to spend years in prison but Willis has to tie Trump directly to the conspiracy. 

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