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real-human
Joined: 02 Jul 2011 Posts: 14834 Location: on earth
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Posted: Sat Jan 23, 2021 11:10 pm Post subject: |
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A Pennsylvania congressman played a key role in Donald Trump’s plot to oust the acting attorney general this month.
Quote: | Representative Scott Perry introduced the president to a relatively obscure Justice Department official, Jeffrey Clark, whose openness to conspiracy theories about election fraud presented Mr. Trump with a welcome change from the acting attorney general, Jeffrey Rosen, who stood by the results of the election and had repeatedly resisted the president’s efforts to undo them.
Mr. Trump considered firing Mr. Rosen, and backed down only after top department officials threatened to resign en masse. |
_________________ when good people stay silent the right wing are the only ones heard. |
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real-human
Joined: 02 Jul 2011 Posts: 14834 Location: on earth
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real-human
Joined: 02 Jul 2011 Posts: 14834 Location: on earth
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Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2021 10:20 pm Post subject: |
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notice both of these new lawyers have for some reason helped serial rapists in the past.....
again why would any lawyer on his own free will defend serial rapists.... specially child rapists to the tune of several hundred rapes....
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/01/trump-new-impeachment-legal-team-after-previous-team-leaves.html
Trump Names New Impeachment Legal Team, One Day After Previous Team Bailed
Quote: | Donald Trump named a new impeachment legal team on Sunday night, one day after all five lawyers who had been set to represent him in next week’s Senate trial reportedly left on account of the former president wanting to use his baseless stolen-election claims as part of his defense. Attorneys Bruce Castor and David Schoen will now lead Trump’s defense, spokesperson Jason Miller said in a statement on Sunday. The statement also seemed to signal that Trump’s defense strategy will aim to prove that the impeachment is unconstitutional now that he is out of office.
Castor is a former district attorney and longtime Republican politician in Pennsylvania best known for declining to charge comedian Bill Cosby with sexual assault a decade before the accused serial rapist was finally brought to justice. In 2005, when Castor was district attorney in Pennsylvania’s Montgomery County, he infamously declined to prosecute Cosby after one of his more than 60 accusers, Andrea Constand, alleged that he had sexually assaulted her. Castor cited a lack of evidence for his decision, but had allegedly offered Cosby a secret immunity agreement. Castor’s successor reopened the case in 2015 and was ultimately able to convict Cosby for the crime. Castor later served as solicitor general and acting attorney general of Pennsylvania.
Schoen is a longtime trial lawyer who previously represented Roger Stone during his sentencing and subsequent appeal after the longtime Trump associate was convicted of obstruction, witness tampering, and other felonies committed amid Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. (Trump later commuted Stone’s sentence, then eventually pardoned him before leaving office.) Schoen also met with Jeffrey Epstein days before the notorious sex trafficker and pedophile was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell of an apparent suicide. Schoen later said they came to an agreement during the meeting to add him to Epstein’s legal team, and that he believed Epstein had not died by suicide.
Trump aides and Republican lawmakers have been trying to steer the defense strategy toward arguing the impeachment is unconstitutional. It’s not clear whether or not they have won that argument with the former president. “Both Schoen and Castor agree that this impeachment is unconstitutional,” Sunday’s statement said.
How the defense plays out, whatever it is, with Castor and Schoen now in charge remains to be seen. When Intelligencer’s Olivia Nuzzi asked one of Trump former’s lawyers for their reaction to his new legal team, they responded, “Should be a circus.”
It’s also not clear if more lawyers will be joining Trump’s legal team, or how Trump will pay for any of them. The RNC covered some of the cost for Trump’s first impeachment trial, but it does not appear that they will be footing any of the bill this time around. Trump and the GOP raised more than $255 million between Election Day and January 6, while the president and his many allies contested the election results, though most of the donations came in before the Electoral College voted for Biden in mid-December. Trump left office with tens of millions of dollars in the coffers of his Save America PAC, which the Times reports “he can use to fund a post-presidential political operation, including travel and staffing.”
The circumstances of Trump’s previous legal team’s departure also seemed to suggest Trump himself saw the trial as another opportunity to insist he didn’t lose the election, rather than argue the impeachment was unconstitutional. On Saturday, all five lawyers on Trump’s impeachment-defense legal team parted ways with the former president. According to CNN and the New York Times, the attorneys left after Trump insisted they focus his defense on the baseless stolen-election claims he used to incite the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol (for which he is now being impeached).
One lead lawyer, Butch Bowers, left less than ten days after his hiring was announced. The other, Deborah Barbier, bailed after three. Both were based in South Carolina, as were two former prosecutors on the team, Johnny Gasser and Greg Harris. A North Carolina–based attorney named Josh Howard had also recently joined the effort. But they’re all gone now. |
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real-human
Joined: 02 Jul 2011 Posts: 14834 Location: on earth
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Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2021 8:38 pm Post subject: |
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guilty.... remember trump says taking the fifth means you are guilty... not testifying is as noted worth drawing an adverse inference of guilt...
trump will not go under oath and testify on his behalf.
Remember Hillary testified under oath and no charges were every made....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhgW4fdfWYQ
Impeachment managers ask Trump to testify at trial
Quote: | The House impeachment managers on Thursday requested Donald Trump testify at his upcoming Senate impeachment trial, in a dramatic move to try to get the former President on the record about his conduct surrounding the January 6 riots at the Capitol.
Lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin sent a letter to Trump's attorney Thursday requesting that Trump testify before or during the upcoming impeachment trial, which begins on Tuesday, arguing that his testimony was needed after he disputed the House's allegations that he incited the insurrection at the Capitol.
"Two days ago, you filed an Answer in which you denied many factual allegations set forth in the article of impeachment," Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, wrote. "You have thus attempted to put critical facts at issue notwithstanding the clear and overwhelming evidence of your constitutional offense. In light of your disputing these factual allegations, I write to invite you to provide testimony under oath, either before or during the Senate impeachment trial, concerning your conduct on January 6, 2021."
It was not immediately clear how Trump will respond to the request or whether he would consider testifying. Senior aides talked Trump out of going to the House floor to defend himself ahead of his second impeachment in January, a similar tactic he also considered the first time he was impeached.
The House's letter did not threaten to subpoena Trump if he does not appear voluntarily, though Raskin suggested the managers would use his refusal against him, writing, "We reserve any and all rights, including the right to establish at trial that your refusal to testify supports a strong adverse inference regarding your actions."
#Trump #CNN #News
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https://news.yahoo.com/house-democrats-request-trump-testify-193151650.html
Trump says he won't testify at impeachment trial, denying Democrats' request he answer questions
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real-human
Joined: 02 Jul 2011 Posts: 14834 Location: on earth
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Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2021 10:30 am Post subject: |
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-defense-lawyer-cluelessly-responds-to-democratic-request-for-former-president-to-testify-under-oath-during-impeachment-tribunal/ar-BB1doIS8?ocid=msedgntp
Trump Defense Lawyer Cluelessly Responds to Democratic Request for Former President to Testify Under Oath During Impeachment Tribunal
Quote: | You're Most Likely to Have This One Vaccine Side Effect, Study Says
Tucker Carlson: Bank of America handed over customer data to feds…
Law & Crime logoTrump Defense Lawyer Cluelessly Responds to Democratic Request for Former President to Testify Under Oath During Impeachment Tribunal
Congressional Democrats want former President Donald Trump to testify under oath due to his recent answers in response to their U.S. Senate impeachment trial brief filed earlier this week.
a close up of Donald Trump wearing a suit and tie© Provided by Law & Crime
And if he doesn’t testify, the prosecution intends to cite that would-be reluctance as evidence of the 45th president’s guilt.
“As you are aware, the United States House of Representatives has approved an article of impeachment against you for incitement of insurrection” the letter from House Impeachment Manager Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) begins. “The Senate trial for this article of impeachment will begin on Tuesday, February 9, 2021.”
“Two days ago, you filed an Answer in which you denied many factual allegations set forth in the article of impeachment,” Raskin continued. “You have thus attempted to put critical facts at issue notwithstanding the clear and overwhelming evidence of your constitutional offense. In light of your disputing these factual allegations, I write to invite you to provide testimony under oath, either before or during the Senate impeachment trial, concerning your conduct on January 6, 2021.”
The Democratic letter goes on to reference prior testimony gathered from sitting presidents—as well as last year’s landmark Supreme Court decision which held that sitting presidents are subject to state criminal law. Of course, Trump is no longer a sitting president, so even the minor caveats contained in that high court ruling would not apply here.
“Presidents Gerald Ford and Bill Clinton both provided testimony while in office—and the Supreme Court held just last year that you were not immune from legal process while serving as President—so there is no doubt that you can testify in these proceedings. Indeed, whereas a sitting President might raise concerns about distraction from their official duties, that concern is obviously inapplicable here. We therefore anticipate your availability to testify.”
Democrats also threatened Trump that they’ll probably draw conclusions if he doesn’t accede to their request.
“If you decline this invitation, we reserve any and all rights, including the right to establish at trial that your refusal to testify supports a strong adverse inference regarding your actions (and inaction) on January 6, 2021,” the letter notes.
That threat raised the hackles of the Republican Party.
Video: Trump lawyers challenge legitimacy of post-presidency impeachment trial (Reuters)
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Trump lawyers challenge legitimacy of post-presidency impeachment trial
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The GOP’s House Judiciary Twitter account tweeted:
That criticism was premised on a misplaced and mistaken belief that an impeachment trial is akin to a criminal legal proceeding.
As Law&Crime has repeatedly explained, impeachment is a not a legal process. It is a constitutional process that is entirely governed by political decision-making. Impeachment is not governed by the standards of law applicable to a courtroom trial, though many aspects of impeachment appear to have the flavor or form of law. In any event, actual legal precedent does not apply to impeachment cases. And, protections for criminal defendants enshrined in U.S. law are simply not available to any federal officer facing impeachment.
And the reason for the disconnect is obvious. Under Article I, Section, 3, impeachment ends with either (1) “removal from Office,” or (2) “disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States.” Criminal convictions generally end with incarcerations. The Founding Fathers found incarceration — a restraint against personal movement and liberty — to be a severe punishment; thus, the Constitution makes it more difficult for the government to convict and incarcerate criminal defendants than it does to remove presidents from office.
“Astounding thing [about] this is that it comes from Repub JUDICIARY Comm – a group that supposedly knows law,” University of Missouri Law Professor Frank Bowman noted via Twitter. “As any lawyer knows, except in criminal cases, refusal to testify does allow fact-finder to draw adverse inferences. Impeachment is not criminal. Hire some lawyers, guys.”
Commercial litigator Akiva Cohen had similar thoughts.
“LOLOL,” he tweeted, then explained:
This is flop sweat in letter form. “There is no such thing as a negative inference” – wrong. This is an impeachment trial. The Senators get to vote on whatever basis they believe is right. If there’s 1 Senator who thinks “Trump refusing to testify” supports the claims then guess what – there *is* an adverse inference. What there isn’t is any 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination (in the sense that in a criminal trial, invoking the 5th can’t be held against you).
Trump’s attorney, David Schoen, is apparently confused about the situation as well.
“We are in receipt of your latest public relations stunt,” the former president’s attorney wrote in a brief reply to Raskin. “As you certainly know, there is no such thing as a negative inference in this unconstitutional proceeding.”
Law&Crime repeatedly reached out to Schoen, but no response was forthcoming at the time of publication. |
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real-human
Joined: 02 Jul 2011 Posts: 14834 Location: on earth
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Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2021 5:39 pm Post subject: |
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/steve-bannon-believes-the-democrats-have-a-compelling-case-for-convicting-trump/ar-BB1drUIx?ocid=msedgntp
Steve Bannon believes the Democrats have a 'compelling' case for convicting Trump
Quote: | Steve Bannon, the former President Donald Trump's chief strategist, believes that the upcoming Senate trial could be bad news for his old boss.
"The Democrats have a very emotional and compelling case," Bannon, a preeminent ideologue of the US far-right, told Politico.
It is unlikely that Senate will convict Trump. It would require a two-thirds majority, which has not ever happened before.
But, in Bannon's eyes, the court of public opinion might not acquit him for the deadly insurrection on January 6.
"They're going to try and convict him in the eyes of the American people and smear him forever," Bannon told Politico. |
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real-human
Joined: 02 Jul 2011 Posts: 14834 Location: on earth
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real-human
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mac
Joined: 07 Mar 1999 Posts: 17742 Location: Berkeley, California
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wsurfer
Joined: 17 Aug 2000 Posts: 1634
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Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2021 2:19 pm Post subject: |
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“President Trump did not take swift action to stop the violence,” the nine House impeachment managers wrote in their opening brief submitted last week, adding: “This dereliction of President Trump’s responsibility for the events of January 6 is unmistakable.”
By 1:49 p.m. — nearly an hour after the Capitol Police chief had urgently requested backup from D.C. police — Trump remained focused on his recently concluded speech.
He tweeted a video of his own remarks, adding the caption, “Our country has had enough, we will not take it anymore, and that’s what this is all about.”
At 2:11 p.m., the rioters broke into the building, smashing a window with a piece of lumber, video footage shows.
At 2:24 p.m., Trump tweeted: “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution … USA demands the truth.” |
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