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  1. #776
    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
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    E. Jean Carroll Tells Appeals Court That Donald Trump’s Attempt to ‘Destroy and Discredit’ Her Wasn’t Under the Scope of His Employment

    Columnist E. Jean Carroll’s attorneys urged an appellate court to reject the notion that former President Donald Trump undertook his efforts to “discredit and destroy” her under the scope of his employment.

    In a 64-page legal brief, Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan told the the D.C. Court of Appeals to find that Trump had been acting for “personal reasons” when he told reporters that Carroll was “not my type,” in order to deny that he raped her inside a Bergdorf Goodman’s in the mid-1990s.

    “In June 2019, E. Jean Carroll revealed that former President Donald J. Trump had sexually assaulted her decades earlier,” Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan told the D.C. Court of Appeals on Thursday. “Although Trump denied it, he did not stop there. He launched a series of vicious, personal attacks. He implied that she was too ugly to rape; that she had falsely accused other men of sexual assault; and that she had invented her story for money, or to sell books, or to advance a political plot. None of this was true. Trump knew who Carroll was when he attacked her, he knew who she was in 2019, and he knew what he was doing when he went on a rampage designed to punish and humiliate her for daring to reveal his decades-old crime.”

    Carroll filed her defamation lawsuit later that year, but before a jury could assess her case, the courts must resolve whether Trump has civil immunity for remarks he made during his presidency. That question now turns on whether Trump made those remarks to reporters as part of the duties of his office — or for his own reasons.

    Both under Attorneys General Bill Barr and Merrick Garland, the Department of Justice argued that Trump should be immunized from Carroll’s lawsuit because he spoke to reporters about a matter of public concern.

    For Carroll’s legal team, that position is far too sweeping.

    “This categorical position totally precludes any possibility that an elected federal official could act with purely (or decisively) personal motives while speaking publicly — no matter how private the subject matter, how unrelenting and incendiary the official’s statements, how patently disconnected from any government business, or how plainly consistent with that official’s prior personal conduct,” the legal brief states. “Trump and DOJ reason that public statements are always within an official’s scope of employment because they may incidentally affect his perceived fitness to hold office. On that basis, Trump and DOJ ask this Court to announce a doctrine of categorical immunity for public officials, affording them carte blanche to use the public platform inherent in their office to defame any private citizen—anywhere, anytime, for any reason.”

    More than 25 women have accused former President Trump of sexual misconduct, and in his public denials of Carroll’s accusations, her lawyers find the same “modus operandi” playing out in strikingly familiar style.

    “Simply put, Trump’s attacks on Carroll did not reflect anything unique to his high office, nor did they arise from any distinctively presidential consideration,” the brief states. “Rather, they followed directly from a modus operandi stretching back decades into his life as a private citizen.”

    For Trump, his remarks were not about defending his fitness for high office, Carroll argues.

    However the D.C. Court of Appeals decides on the question of Trump’s immunity for the 2019 defamation claims, Carroll’s lawsuit against the former president almost certainly will see a jury next April, if the parties do not settle. On Thanksgiving, Carroll filed a new federal complaint leveling sexual assault claims against Trump under the New York Adult Survivors Act, which opened a one-year look-back window for claims otherwise barred by the statute of limitations.

    https://www.documentcloud.org/docume...-coa-12-1-2236
    Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

  2. #777
    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
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    Good outline on trump’s pending indictment




    A federal appeals court decision has paved the way for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to use the remaining cache of unclassified records it seized at former President Trump’s home, halting the special master process and lifting an important roadblock into its investigation of the potential mishandling of records at Mar-a-Lago.

    The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals court issued a strong repudiation this week of arguments from Trump and the lower court judge who awarded his request for a third-party review of the evidence seized from his home.

    It also frees up the Department of Justice to use 22,000 pages of seized government records — an important green light that will allow investigators to review every piece of evidence in hopes of building an airtight case.

    “The law is clear. We cannot write a rule that allows any subject of a search warrant to block government investigations after the execution of the warrant. Nor can we write a rule that allows only former presidents to do so,” the judges wrote.

    It’s the latest sign that Trump’s initial success in the case is diminishing, with the three-judge panel for the court rejecting a number of arguments his legal team has offered since the August 9 search and determining even the unclassified records may be used in the department’s investigation.

    The Department of Justice has made clear the classified records found at Mar-a-Lago represent the bulk of its potential case, which could include charges under the Espionage Act.

    But the thousands of records found at Mar-a-Lago that do not bear classification markings could also be important to the case.

    “One of the biggest challenges for the prosecutors in this case was always going to be establishing that Trump had personal knowledge of the fact that the classified documents were at Mar-a-Lago, and that he was personally involved in not returning them, which will go to obstruction,” Brian Greer, a former CIA attorney, told The Hill.

    “The fact that these classified documents were intermingled with unclassified documents that he was accessing, or would have been accessing, is potentially very valuable evidence demonstrating Trump’s personal knowledge,” he added.

    Previous court filings indicate that Trump’s passports were found among the documents and that the search found government records not just in a storage room, but in Trump’s personal office.

    Thursday’s ruling notes that while other personal effects listed by Trump’s team, like golf shirts and pictures of Celine Dion, may be his property, “we do not see the need for their immediate return after seizure under a presumptively lawful search warrant.”

    Even if the items are not central for building the government’s case, they could be useful in responding to possible Trump defenses.

    Greer said that could be key, as the investigation differs from other cases dealing with mishandling of national security information given that Trump is “a wealthy man who’s not necessarily involved in packing his boxes.”

    “If the classified documents were just in a storage room, in a box that wasn’t being accessed, that would be a harder case. But we know some of the documents were found in Trump’s personal office instead, and if DOJ can use the unclassified, intermingled records to show that Trump was accessing the classified documents, its case will be significantly stronger,” Greer said.

    The Department of Justice responded quickly to the 11th Circuit ruling, filing a motion in the Florida court where Trump’s challenge to the warrant initiated, asking for an extension of deadlines before the special master, Judge Raymond Dearie, given that Trump has a week to appeal the ruling before it takes effect on Dec. 8.

    While Trump’s legal team opposed the government’s motion, it did not indicate whether it plans to appeal the 11th Circuit ruling.

    Experts say it will take the government little time to parse the 22,000 pages but caution that the Department of Justice has just as much an institutional interest in winning the case as an investigative one.

    The 11th Circuit was for the second time highly critical of the decision by federal district court Judge Aileen Cannon’s decision to award Trump’s request for a special master, noting that keeping it in place would represent “a dramatic and unwarranted” use of the court’s authority.

    “It set a really bad precedent, Judge Cannon’s order,” said Ankush Khardori, a former DOJ trial attorney specializing in major financial fraud.

    “If they just had this out there, every defendant or prominent defendant would try to do something similar to Trump,” he added.

    Khardori agreed that the DOJ likely viewed retaining the unclassified documents as an essential step for proceeding with its investigation, but he warned it is hardly the last domino that needs to fall for bringing charges against Trump.

    Following Trump’s announcement of a new 2024 presidential bid, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Jack Smith as a special counsel to oversee the Mar-a-Lago case, as well as its investigation into efforts to block the transfer of power.

    Much of the decision on charges in the Mar-a-Lago case will likely center on what sort of documents Trump was storing.

    “What is in these documents? How serious was the exposure? How significant was Trump’s retention of this material? What was in the actual documents is key to understanding the seriousness of the underlying conduct,” Khardori added.

    Despite the classification markings, Khardori said it’s still unknown to the public whether Trump left office with serious national security secrets.

    Though he said it’s unlikely, Khardori said it’s possible the documents could include classified records that are meaningless in isolation, along with other presidential records Trump may view as momentos, including letters from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

    While the case has excited many eager to see Trump prosecuted, Khardori warned that the DOJ could still decline to bring charges.

    “If it were not really terribly dangerous, then I think Jack Smith, Merrick Garland, they’re going to have to be thinking, ‘Okay, is this the kind of case that should comprise the first ever prosecution of a former president?’’ he said.

    Greer said if the Department of Justice did decide not to bring charges, it would represent a double standard.

    “It’s difficult to see DOJ walking away from this case. I just don’t see them saying, ‘No, we don’t think this case is worth charging,’ when DOJ brings several prosecutions like this against ordinary government employees every year,” he said.

    The immediate next steps for prosecutors will likely be interviewing witnesses about the documents and gathering all possible details about the national security information Trump had on hand.

    While Trump’s status as a presidential candidate has shifted the investigation to some degree — including Smith’s appointment — Khardori said the possibility of any activity coming amid an intensifying campaign season could actually slow the DOJ’s desire to bring charges.

    “They may be saying to themselves, ‘He’s running. And he may very well be in the general election. So what we need to do is put together the strongest possible case … so that if there comes a point in time where he’s charged, that the prosecution is as successful as possible,’ rather than, ‘Let’s put it together as quickly as possible,’” Khardori said.

    __________




    Two of Donald Trump’s top White House lawyers appeared before at least one grand jury Friday, visiting the federal courthouse in Washington, D.C. amid multiple criminal probes involving the former president.

    Former White House Counsel Pat Cipollone exited the courthouse just before 2:30 p.m., spending about six hours behind closed doors. His former deputy, Pat Philbin, departed just after 4 p.m., spending about four hours with the grand jury.

    It’s unclear precisely which investigation the pair were testifying about. Cipollone and Philbin have insight about Trump’s machinations ahead of Jan. 6, when he attempted to subvert his defeat in the 2020 election and seize a second term. But they were also both present in the final days of Trump’s White House as boxes of documents — including highly sensitive national security secrets — were packed and shipped to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.

    Both matters are the subject of criminal inquiries that are being considered by grand jurors in Washington D.C.

    Cipollone declined to take questions as he departed without his lawyer, Michael Purpura, and entered a waiting SUV. Philbin, who exited with Purpura, also declined to take questions.

    Cipollone says he believed that Trump should've conceded the election

    For Trump, Cipollone’s appearance marks the latest setback in an extraordinary run of catastrophic legal and political developments.

    It came a day after a federal appeals court panel threw out his lawsuit against the Justice Department following the FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago estate. In recent days, Trump has seen top allies Lindsey Graham, Mark Meadows and Michael Flynn ordered to testify to an Atlanta-area grand jury investigating his efforts to overturn the election.

    Last month, the Justice Department appointed former public corruption chief Jack Smith as special master to preside over the Trump-focused Jan. 6 and Mar-a-Lago probes.

    On top of those legal woes, the Supreme Court cleared the way for House Democrats to obtain six years of Trump’s tax returns.

    And Trump-world has been reeling in recent days amid widespread condemnation from allies and adversaries alike for hosting white supremacist Nick Fuentes at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

    Trump has also been on the losing end of a secret court battle to prevent some of his top ex-advisers from testifying to the grand jury, which may have cleared the way for Cipollone and Philbin to appear Friday.

    The appearance of Trump’s White House lawyers underscores the acute legal threat he’s facing. Several other former Trump White House advisers have appeared before the grand jury in recent weeks, including Trump social media aide Dan Scavino and two former aides to ex-vice president Mike Pence.

    Cipollone was a key witness to Trump’s frenzied final weeks in office, particularly as the outgoing president sought to undermine the transfer of power to Joe Biden. Cipollone testified to the Jan. 6 select committee after protracted negotiations but declined to discuss matters he viewed as covered by potential executive privilege.

    If Cipollone was ordered to testify about those privileged matters to the grand jury, it would put prosecutors in possession of key evidence that lawmakers on the Jan. 6 panel were unable to obtain. Among the questions the select committee was unable to resolve, for example is why Cipollone did not attend a key final meeting about Trump’s effort to persuade Pence to disrupt the Jan. 6 counting of electoral votes.

    Cipollone told the select committee he had planned to attend but ultimately did not. The reason, he said, was protected by privilege.

    The day before he left office, Trump also designated Cipollone and Philbin as two of seven representatives to the National Archives, authorized to facilitate access to and manage his presidential records.

    While it’s unusual for White House lawyers to testify before a grand jury involving presidential misconduct, Cipollone and Philbin are far from the first White House lawyers to face legal questioning. Trump’s first White Counsel Don McGahn was interviewed repeatedly by special counsel Robert Mueller and became a key witness to potential obstruction of justice by Trump.

    Other top White House lawyers to have made appearances in the same courthouse include Bruce Lindsey, a longtime adviser to President Bill Clinton. Clinton’s White House fought an unsuccessful court battle to block Lindsey’s testimony in an independent counsel probe into alleged corruption at the Agriculture Department.

    Lindsey was later called to testify before a grand jury overseen by another independent counsel, Ken Starr, as it looked into Clinton’s relationship with Monica Lewinsky.

    A couple of decades earlier, White House counsel John Dean, testified to a grand jury investigating the Watergate scandal.

  3. #778
    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
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    Trump Organization found guilty in tax fraud case

    The Trump Organization was convicted Tuesday over what prosecutors say was a 15-year scheme to defraud state and federal tax authorities, multiple outlets reported.

    Why it matters: Former President Trump's company could face up to $1.6 million in fines, and the guilty verdict could hinder his ability to conduct business in New York City.

    The big picture: Trump Organization and its Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg were charged in 2021 with tax-related offenses, including paying executives with "off the books" compensation, such as apartments and luxury cars.


    • The indictment said that the Trump Organization operated the yearslong scheme to allow some employees to "understate their compensation" so that their taxes "were significantly less than the amounts that should have been paid."
    • Weisselberg pleaded guilty in August to all 15 counts in the indictment from the Manhattan district attorney's office. He was also required to testify as part of the plea deal.
    • Trump has criticized the charges as politically motivated.


    Between the lines: The former president and his family were not charged in the case.

    What they're saying: "We can have no tolerance for individuals or organizations that violate our laws to line their pockets," New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, said in a statement.


    • "I commend Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and his team for their successful prosecution of the Trump Organization, and I was proud to assist in this important case," James said.


    • "This verdict sends a clear message that no one, and no organization, is above our laws."


    State of play: The tax fraud case is just one of the several legal matters involving the former president, who last month announced his bid for president in 2024.


    • Trump also faces an investigation by the Department of Justice over efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results and his handling of classified documents.

  4. #779
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    Quote Originally Posted by S Landreth View Post
    Why it matters: Former President Trump's company could face up to $1.6 million in fines, and the guilty verdict could hinder his ability to conduct business in New York City.
    How much did he gain from all these illegalities? I am willing to bet it was a lot more than $1.6 million. So all in all a profitable endeavour.

  5. #780
    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
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    ^ not if you consider reputation. Most Americans pay what they owe.

  6. #781
    On a walkabout Loy Toy's Avatar
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    I view Trump as a failed salesman who is an embarrassment to not only the American people but mankind in general.

  7. #782
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Loy Toy View Post
    I view Trump as a failed salesman who is an embarrassment to not only the American people but mankind in general.
    In 2016, Marco Rubio said if baldy hadn't inherited a load of money, he would have been selling knock off Rolexes in Times Square. Bang on really.

    By that time Baldy had pummelled him into submission, so it was too little, too late.

  8. #783
    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
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    Justice Dept. subpoenas election officials in key states for Trump comms

    Special counsel Jack Smith has subpoenaed local election officials in Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin for communication with former President Trump and his allies during the lead up to the 2020 election and its aftermath, the Washington Post reports.

    The big picture: The subpoenas signal that Smith is extending the breadth of the investigation into Trump and his involvement with the Jan. 6 attack to include local officials and representatives, per the Post.


    • The subpoenas, which were sent to Dane County, Wis.; Maricopa County, Ariz.; Wayne County, Mich.; and Milwaukee, Wis., are among the first known requests for records by the newly appointed special counsel, the Post notes.
    • The three states in focus were at the center of Trump's efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
    • Officials in Arizona and Wisconsin confirmed to Axios that they received subpoenas from Smith. Axios has also reached out to the Michigan secretary of state's office for confirmation.


    Between the lines: The subpoena asks for communication with Trump and members of his close circle from June 1, 2020 through Jan. 20, 2021, per a copy of the request to the Dane County Clerk reviewed by Axios.

    Catch up quick: Smith was appointed last month to oversee the federal criminal investigations into Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election and handling of classified documents.


    • The purpose of Smith's appointment was to avoid the perception of a conflict of interest.

  9. #784
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    Quote Originally Posted by S Landreth View Post
    ^ not if you consider reputation. Most Americans pay what they owe.
    I think that ship has sailed a long time ago. LOL

  10. #785
    Thailand Expat helge's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Loy Toy View Post
    I view Trump as a failed salesman who is an embarrassment to not only the American people but mankind in general.
    No thank you

    The US has exclusive rights to that fellow, as far as I am concerned

  11. #786
    On a walkabout Loy Toy's Avatar
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    We are all one in the big picture Helge as Martin Luther King advised us.

    Best you take your responsibilities like the rest of us have to.

  12. #787
    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
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    The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol has come to a “general agreement” to forward some criminal referrals to the Justice Department, its chair told reporters Tuesday.

    It was a confusing morning at the Capitol, with Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) walking back statements he made earlier in the day when he told reporters “we will” be making criminal referrals.

    “We’re not there yet,” Thompson said later, adding that the earlier “gaggle [with reporters] was wrong.”

    The panel will meet later on Tuesday to discuss the issue, following a Friday presentation from a subcommittee of the committee’s four lawyers, who were tasked with tying up unfinished business, including how to address any recommendations to the Justice Department.

    “The Committee has determined that referrals to outside entities should be considered as a final part of its work. The committee will make decisions about specifics in the days ahead,” a committee spokesperson said in a statement.

    The chairman of that subcommittee, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) told reporters they were still making progress on the topic, while Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), another member of that panel, said a formal announcement on referrals could come as soon as this week.

    “We’re nearing the end of our work,” she said.

    ____________




    Former President Trump’s legal team has found at least two documents with classified markings at a storage unit in West Palm Beach, Fla., in the wake of the FBI’s August search of Mar-a-Lago, several outlets reported on Wednesday.

    The documents were immediately turned over to the FBI, according to The Washington Post.

    The storage unit, which is maintained by the General Services Administration, was one of several locations searched by an outside group hired by Trump’s lawyers to look for any remaining classified materials.

    The move comes after a federal judge asked the former president’s legal team to ensure they fully complied with a subpoena from earlier this year that asked Trump to turn over any remaining classified documents.

    The National Archives has said it believes Trump retains possession of at least some White House records that should have been turned over at the end of his presidency.

    The Post reported earlier in the day that the group had also in recent weeks searched Trump Tower in New York and the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., but had not found any classified materials.

    The group also searched a storage closet at Mar-a-Lago, according to The New York Times.

    The West Palm Beach storage unit where the classified documents were found reportedly stored items from a northern Virginia office used by Trump staffers after the president left office, according to the Post.

    The latest discovery of misplaced classified documents comes nearly a year after the National Archives and Records Administration first discovered classified materials among several boxes of records recovered from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.

    Trump’s lawyers returned several more classified documents in June in response to the subpoena issued to the former president.

  13. #788
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by helge View Post
    No thank you

    The US has exclusive rights to that fellow, as far as I am concerned
    Yeah but no....

    Berlin — Police have arrested at least 25 people tied to an alleged right-wing extremist plot to overthrow Germany's government. The group targeted in about 130 raids across Germany was described by prosecutors as being influenced by QAnon conspiracy theories and espousing a doctrine similar to that of far-right groups in the U.S. and across Europe.

    Germany arrests dozens as QAnon-inspired "Reichsburger" group accused of plotting to overthrow government - CBS News
    Remember QAnon is all about baldy orange cunto rescuing us from a cabal of baby-eating paedophiles working out of a pizza restaurant basement.

  14. #789
    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
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    Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has hired a former senior Justice Department official to work on the office’s “most sensitive and high-profile white-collar investigations,” which comes as the office investigates former President Trump.

    Bragg announced on Monday that Matthew Colangelo, who acted as the Justice Department’s No. 3 official last year and previously investigated the Trump Foundation, will serve as senior counsel.

    The announcement does not specifically name the Trump investigation, although The New York Times reported that Colangelo is expected to join the probe.

    “Public safety requires economic stability, and all New Yorkers deserve to live and work without risk of harassment, wage theft or dangerous workplaces,” Bragg said in a statement. “Matthew Colangelo brings a wealth of economic justice experience combined with complex white-collar investigations, and he has the sound judgment and integrity needed to pursue justice against powerful people and institutions when they abuse their power.”

    Colangelo also served in New York Attorney General Letitia James’s (D) office, where he worked on multiple investigations into the Trump administration as well as the former president’s private foundation.

    “I am honored to reunite with District Attorney Bragg, my former colleague and a deeply experienced prosecutor committed to public safety in his hometown,” Colangelo said in a statement.

  15. #790
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    One of the best I've heard...

    One of the youtube lawyer channels was talking about the resurrection of the Stormy case in relation to the president. He said that most people thought the statue of limitations had run out on that case, but guess what, it hasn't.

    Oh why you may ask? Why hasn't the statue of limitations run out in the NY state case?

    The statue of limitations time clock only applies to NY state citizens, not out of state citizens. Once the fookwit changed his residence from NY to FL, the statue of limitations clock stopped running. It gave me a laugh when I heard that.
    "I was a good student. I comprehend very well, OK, better than I think almost anybody," - President Trump comparing his legal knowledge to a Federal judge.

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    It is still prolonged and lengthy procedure to secure a worthwhile conviction against Trump. I can only hope that the DOJ wants any case against him to be watertight?

    I hope they hang him. (eventually).

  17. #792
    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
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    ^yes. watertight




    The Justice Department has asked a judge to hold former President Trump’s legal team in contempt for failing to comply with a subpoena demanding the return of all classified records stored at Mar-a-Lago, according to reporting from The Washington Post.

    The appeal to a federal judge in sealed court documents comes after the Trump team has still failed to designate a custodian of records and is the latest sign of tension between DOJ and the Trump team just days after another two classified documents were found at a South Florida storage unit housing other Trump records.

    A U.S. District Court judge has yet to take action on the request, according to The Post.

    The contempt request follows months of efforts to recover classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.

    After a May subpoena, the Trump team turned over 38 documents with classified markings, but resisted a request for a sworn statement certifying all classified material had been returned.

    Instead, Trump attorney Christina Bobb offered a statement saying the former president’s team had returned all records “based upon the information that has been provided to me.”

    After determining that more classified records may be found on the property, the FBI executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago, finding another 103 documents with classified markings.

    On Wednesday, a separate Washington Post report said at least two additional documents with classified markings had been found at a storage unit in West Palm Beach, Fl.

    Representatives for Trump did not immediately respond to request for comment.

    The sealed filing before U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell comes after the judge ordered the Trump team to conduct a search for records at other Trump properties.

    Holding the legal team in contempt of court could prompt a fine for the legal team until Trump designates a custodian of records, a person who would be responsible for ascertaining to the Justice Department that no classified records remain on Trump property – something his lawyers have been hesitant to do.

    Trump’s legal team has resisted the request from DOJ, arguing that they can only reasonably offer that a search of the properties has been conducted in good faith.

  18. #793
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Just a quick check with our competent American posters:

    Can you be prosecuted for committing perjury in front of a state grand jury? And if so, is that treated as a state or federal offence?

    CNN —
    Former national security adviser Michael Flynn is appearing Thursday before an Atlanta-area special grand jury probing efforts by former President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia.

    CNN spotted Flynn, who was escorted by a small entourage, walk up the stairs of the Superior Court of Fulton County shortly before 1 p.m. on Thursday.


    Last month, a judge in Florida ordered Flynn to testify, saying the former Trump administration official “is indeed material and necessary in the special grand jury proceeding in the state of Georgia.”

    Flynn’s attorneys had argued that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who is overseeing the investigation, “overstepped her authority,” so he should not be required to travel to Atlanta to testify because there is an “utter lack of facts” to support that Flynn is a necessary witness.

    Fulton County prosecutors want the grand jury to hear from Flynn about a December 18, 2020, meeting he had with Trump, attorney Sidney Powell and others associated with the Trump campaign, according to a court filing.


    During the heated Oval Office meeting, Flynn and Powell floated outrageous suggestions about overturning the election, CNN previously reported. The meeting occurred just three weeks after Trump pardoned Flynn near the end of his tenure.

    Michael Flynn: Former Trump national security adviser appears before Atlanta grand jury probe into Trump'''s election subversion | CNN Politics

  19. #794
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    The Mar-A-Lego toy at the 5:45 mark or so is too good to pass up!


  20. #795
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    is that treated as a state
    State jury, state charges

  21. #796
    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
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    clear some things up from yesterday.....




    11th Circuit Sounds Death Knell for Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Suit, as Feds Reportedly Move to Hold Ex-President’s Office in Contempt

    Around the same time that the 11th Circuit officially terminated Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago lawsuit, the Department of Justice reportedly moved to hold the former president in contempt in that investigation.

    The two events, reported in rapid succession late on Thursday, marks a dramatic escalation by newly unfettered federal prosecutors in an investigation over the handling of hundreds of documents marked classified. Trump’s legal team did not appeal the 11th Circuit’s ruling savaging the ex-president’s lawsuit challenging the seizure of those records and thousands of others. Their Dec. 1 ruling ended the special master review, declining to “carve out an unprecedented exception in our law for former presidents.”

    Given a Thursday deadline to try to stay the ruling, Trump’s legal team waited until it was too late. The 11th Circuit issued a mandate formally ending that case.

    “It is hereby ordered, adjudged, and decreed that the opinion issued on this date in this appeal is entered as the judgment of the court,” the mandated stated with finality.

    That line formally ends the service of two federal judges assigned to the Mar-a-Lago matter: U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who issued orders preventing the FBI from using files in their criminal investigation, and Senior U.S. District Judge Raymond Dearie, whom Cannon selected as a special master to conduct a privilege review of those documents.

    Finding that Cannon overstepped her power, the 11th Circuit overturned her orders and ordered her to close the case.

    Now, multiple news outlets are reporting that the Justice Department has sought to hold Trump in contempt for failing to comply with a subpoena from this past May ordering him to return all classified documents. The Washington Post first reported the development, attributing the request to sources familiar with the matter. CNN later matched the report. There is no public filing about the Justice Department’s request, as grand jury matters are traditionally secret, and the filing is under seal. They reportedly made the request to Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, who heads the federal court in Washington, D.C.

    According to the Post, the most likely penalty against Trump if Judge Howell were to rule against him would be a fine, whose size would be up the discretion of the judge. Earlier this year, a Manhattan judge found Trump in contempt of court for non-compliance with a subpoena in an unrelated matter: New York Attorney General Letitia James’s (D) civil investigation into alleged fraud. That judge, Arthur Engoron, imposed a fine, until Trump’s lawyers left him satisfied that they performed a diligent search for responsive documents.

    Neither the Post nor CNN report explicitly state that the request was made by special counsel Jack Smith, who is now in charge of the Mar-a-Lago investigation.

    According to the search warrant materials made public earlier this year, federal authorities have been investigating Trump for suspected violations of the Espionage Act, obstruction of justice, and concealment and removal of government records.




    Former President Donald Trump’s quest for outside supervision of the Justice Department’s investigation into sensitive White House records seized at his Mar-a-Lago estate came to an end Thursday, after he failed to challenge an appeals court ruling rejecting such oversight.

    Trump had a week to contest the issue before the full bench of the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit Court of Appeals or at the Supreme Court, but he did not. The appeals court formalized its ruling Thursday afternoon ending the so-called “special master” process a lower judge established in September.

    The appeals court’s order means the DOJ probe into potentially illegal retention of national security secrets, theft of government records and obstruction of justice can move forward without any external restrictions on prosecutors’ and investigators’ use of nearly 3,000 records the FBI seized from Trump’s Florida home in August, pursuant to a search warrant.

  22. #797
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Topper View Post
    State jury, state charges
    Excellent, so no pardon next time then.


  23. #798
    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
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    Supreme Court won't hear case brought by a group of voters against Dominion Voting Systems and Facebook

    The Supreme Court declined on Monday to take up a case brought against Dominion Voting Systems and Facebook after the 2020 election by a group of voters who claimed the companies illegally “influenced or interfered with” the contest.

    Lower courts had previously rejected the case, ruling that the eight voters lacked the procedural threshold – known as standing – needed to bring the suit against parties including the Center for Tech and Civic Life, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan.

    “The court’s refusal to take up this case is no surprise; the lower courts threw it out because the plaintiffs didn’t have standing, and, even if they did, their claims are frivolous,” said Steve Vladeck, CNN Supreme Court analyst and professor at the University of Texas School of Law.

    There is no evidence that Dominion Voting Machines, Smartmatic, or any other voting machine company switched any votes favoring former President Donald Trump to then-candidate Joe Biden. Several media entities and pro-Trump figures who falsely alleged otherwise have been sued for defamation, with Dominion and Smartmatic seeking billions in damages. Unlike the claims of the conspiracy theorists, Dominion and Smartmatic’s lawsuits survived dismissal.

    SCOTUS Denies Cert in Lawsuit Against Dominion

    Rupert Murdoch to be deposed in Dominion’s 2020 lawsuit against Fox News

  24. #799
    Thailand Expat helge's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    Excellent, so no pardon next time then.
    I think governors can pardon and does....a lot in their last days in office

  25. #800
    Guest Member S Landreth's Avatar
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    The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol is weighing criminal referrals not only against former President Donald Trump, but at least four additional people connected to him and efforts to subvert the 2020 election, according to media reports.

    Those include onetime White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, Trump’s former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, attorney John Eastman and former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark.

    The news was reported by CNN and by Bloomberg.

    Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the panel’s chair, said it will hold a virtual meeting Sunday to reach a final decision. It is unclear what charges the committee is considering against the five individuals.

    Thompson previously told reporters that the panel would publicly vote on criminal referrals on Dec. 21 — the same day that its final report is set to be published.

    He has also recently confirmed that at least one person would be referred to the Justice Department.

    In its final public hearing in October, the committee voted to subpoena Trump, describing him as a “key player” in the insurrection, but the former president has not cooperated with the probe.

    Meadows has been previously held in contempt of Congress over his decision to stop cooperating with the Jan. 6 committee. He had handed over thousands of text messages and emails after being subpoenaed in September 2021 but then stopped engaging with the panel, prompting the committee to act. The Justice Department ultimately decided against charging him.

    Giuliani reportedly sat down for an interview with Jan. 6 members in May, complying with an earlier subpoena for his testimony and documents. The committee has said that Giuliani pushed debunked claims of election fraud in the 2020 presidential race and tried “to convince state legislators to take steps to overturn the election results.” The subpoena also stated that Giuliani was in touch with Trump and congressional lawmakers to find a way to delay or stop the certification of the vote.

    Eastman is considered one of the key architects of a fake electors scheme that called for using pro-Trump electors to replace ones for Joe Biden in key battleground states that the now-president won. He was also accused of pressuring then-Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the vote. Eastman was interviewed by the committee and also provided access to hundreds of his emails after a legal fight.

    Clark, a former environmental lawyer in the Justice Department’s Civil Division, was threatened with criminal contempt of Congress over his refusal to answer questions in an interview with the panel. Clark sat for another deposition in which he pleaded the Fifth Amendment to most of the questions posed to him. The subpoena sent to Clark said he “attempted to involve the Department of Justice in efforts to interrupt the peaceful transfer of power.”

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