Below is my column in The Hill on the collapse of the lawfare campaigns against Trump. The first to go will likely be the two cases by Special Counsel Jack Smith, who became a lame-duck prosecutor at around 2:30 am last Wednesday. We are also waiting for what is likely to be a reduction or even a rejection of the Trump civil case by Attorney General Letitia James. While Democratic prosecutors are likely to continue, if not ramp up, their lawfare efforts, Trump will enter office with a fraction of the existing legal threats that have dogged him for years. For prosecutors, they are left like the ancient mariner:
Day after day, day after day,
We stuck, nor breath nor motion;
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean.
Here is the column:
Nearly two years ago, I wrote that Democratic prosecutors’ lawfare campaign against Donald Trump would make the 2024 election the single largest jury decision in history. Now that the verdict is in, the question is whether prosecutors will continue their unrelenting campaign against the president-elect and his companies.
The answer is that it may not matter.
The election reflected a certain gag sensation for a public fed a relentless diet of panic and identity politics for eight years. The 2024 election will come to be viewed as one of the biggest political and cultural shifts in our history. It was the mainstream-media-versus-new media election; the Rogan-versus-Oprah election; the establishment-versus-a-disassociated-electorate election.
It was also a thorough rejection of lawfare. One of the things most frustrating for Trump’s opponents was that every trial or hearing seemed to give Trump a boost in the polls. As cases piled up in Washington, New York, Florida and Georgia, the effort seemed to move more toward political acclamation than isolation.
These cases are now legal versions of the Flying Dutchman — ships destined to sail endlessly but never make port.
If there is a single captain of that hapless crew, it is Special Counsel Jack Smith. For more than a year, Smith sought to secure a verdict in one of his two cases in Washington and Florida before the election. His urgency was seemingly shared by Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington, but by few other judges or justices.
Around 2 am, Smith became a lame-duck prosecutor. Trump ran on ending his prosecutions and can cite a political mandate for it. Certainly, had he lost, the other side would be claiming a mandate for these prosecutions.
Trump’s new attorney general could remove Smith and order the termination of his continued prosecution. That is less of a problem in Florida, where a federal judge had already tossed out the prosecution of the classified documents case, which some of us saw as the greatest threat against Trump.
In Washington, Chutkan, who proved both motivated and active in pushing forward the election interference case, could complicate matters. Under federal rules, it is up to Chutkan to order any dismissal.
In the case of former national security adviser Michael Flynn, Judge Emmet Sullivan resisted granting the dismissal sought by the Justice Department — a record that I criticized as both unusual and unwarranted.
Chutkan could run the incoming Trump administration around on any dismissal, but in the end, it should succeed in ending Smith’s ill-considered indictment. In reality, Smith was not only losing the Florida case but was likely to be reversed again in Washington due to his refusal to make sufficient changes in his indictment of Trump after the recent immunity decision by the Supreme Court.
Smith could make one last push to damage Trump in the period before the inauguration by pushing for an immunity decision from Chutkan. He would again likely find a supportive ally in Chutkan.
However, in the end, this would do little to change the fact that the Flying Dutchman will soon be without a crew or port of call.
One of the most immediate cases to resume is the prosecution in Manhattan by District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Many, including commentators like CNN’s senior legal analyst Elie Honig, have denounced that case as legally flawed and obviously politically motivated.
Judge Juan Merchan is scheduled to rule on the immunity issue by Nov. 11 and to hold a possible sentencing on Nov. 26. Merchan has shown a pronounced bias against Trump in the past, and his counsel is likely anticipating a continuation of this pattern.
Merchan could sentence Trump to jail. However, such an abusive sentencing, even a brief one, would likely trigger an expedited appeal and would likely be stayed. Trump cannot pardon himself in a state case, but the case itself is a target-rich environment of arguable legal errors that could collapse on appeal.
Another case in New York is likely to move forward now. There is a pending appeal on the massive civil case against Trump brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James. For many, James is the very face of lawfare as a prosecutor who ran on getting Trump on something, anything.
She ultimately secured another openly biased judge in Justice Arthur Engoron, who imposed an absurd, grotesque $455 million in fines and interest against Trump and his corporation. Notably, some of the judges on the appellate panel seemed to agree with that assessment, questioning not just the amount but the very use of this law in a case where there was no victim and no one lost a single dollar due to the fraud alleged.
My assumption is that the opinion is already written, held back only because of the election. It could now be issued and constitute a major change in the case. Whatever is left of that judgment, if anything, would then certainly be appealed.
Then there is the roaring dumpster fire in Georgia. An appellate court there will decide whether District Attorney Fani Willis and her office can continue prosecuting the case. If they are forced off the case, a new prosecutor must review the matter. While some criminal allegations against defendants can be established, the alleged racketeering conspiracy against Trump is legally flawed and likely to fail on appeal.
Trump will also continue to appeal civil cases such as the E. Jean Carroll case, which will linger long past the election.
Trump will not be the only defendant to see substantial changes on January 20, 2025. Trump has pledged to pardon those prosecuted over the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot. The public elected him despite that pledge and over the opposition of Democrats. That will affect hundreds and may come in the form of a mix of pardons and commutations, depending on the underlying charges.
One lingering question will be whether those who supported this lawfare will be deterred in the future. The thrill-kill politics practiced by figures like James proved costly in this election. Polls showed that many citizens have lost trust in the FBI and now view the criminal law process as being politicized in places like New York.
The next few weeks will determine whether Democratic leaders are ready for a new course in ending the lawfare.
President Biden could pardon Trump. It would be a poison-pill pardon. Trump does not need a pardon as the incoming president, but Biden could take the matter off the table by treating him as presumptively guilty. He could not only claim to have taken the higher ground (even though he ran on and promoted the prosecutions of Trump as legitimate) but use it as cover for pardoning his own son.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) could also move to pardon Trump on the New York charges. Hochul was widely criticized for calling Trump supporters (now the majority of voters in the nation) “un-American.” She could seek to make amends with a pardon.
In the end, Trump read the jury correctly. Once the lawfare was unleashed, he focused on putting his case to the public and walked away with a clear majority decision. It is unlikely that this will end all of his lawfare battles, but it may effectively end the war.
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. He is the author of “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage” (Simon & Schuster, 2024).
Now President Donald J. Trump MUST pull a full “Lincoln” and declare English the sole official language of the United States, suppress the communist rebellion, prosecute a war on communists without a formal declaration, impose martial law, shred the Communist Manifesto and irrevocably extirpate all principles of communism from America, implement the “manifest tenor” of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, issue the “Deportation Proclamation” deporting all illegal aliens, past and present, including those who illegally pursued citizenship as criminal border crossers and “asylum” seekers who all made false and fraudulent claims of phantom, nonexistent persecution as foreign citizens with no U.S. rights, suspend habeas corpus, smash oppositional printing presses, podcasts, social media platforms, etc., and throw anyone and everyone who opposes him in prison.
Yes. Lincoln was a great president!
Save the Union!
Make America Great Again!
Sorry, Turls, we’re not buying it. You left shame behind a loing time ago. Here’s the thing: if the conduct Trump engaged in was illegal, it’s not “lawfare” to indict and prosecute him for it–it’s the prosecutor’s job to indict and prosecute crimes. “Lawfare” is a shorthand term to accuse prosecutors who have indicted and charged Trump with crimes, of being politically motivated. You KNOW better, Turley. It’s just like “Russia, Russia, Russia”–in fact, Trump’s campaign DID accept help from Russian hackers who spread lies about Hillary Clinton, because even a Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee agreed that this happened. Should accepting help from a hostile foreign government be acceptable?
And, Turls, you KNOW he DID do all of the things for which he is being prosecuted–you KNOW that the facts and the law are against him, and you KNOW that anyone else who did what he did would, and properly should, be brought to justice. What you can’t do is defend Trump’s conduct, so, like all MAGA media, you attack the actor–if it is a commentator who points out that Trump lies, is a racist, misogynist–whatever–they get called names. In this case, it is prosecutors, including Jack Smith, who are enforcing the law. So, the clever a-holes at MAGA media dream up the term “lawfare” which is meant to send the message that there is no factual or legal merit to the prosecution. Turls, you DO know better, and it is shameful for you to attack the integrity of the prosecutors or accuse them of political motivation when you KNOW that Trump did what he is accused of doing. You also KNOW that if the facts and law did not support the prosecution, the indictment and/or charges would be dropped upon a motion to the court.
Tell us, Turls, WHY Trump should get away with stealing classified documents — and they WERE stolen, if not when they left Washington, at least when he refused multiple polite requests to return them. Why should he get away with lying about “mentally declassifying” them, returning all of them, moving around boxes to prevent them from being returned, and then playing the victim. Turls: why should Trump get away with trying to rig the vote in Georgia by asking Brad Raffensberger to “find” 11,780 votes “which is one more than we have” and getting fake electors to falsify Electoral College documents falsely claiming Trump won when he lost? Could anyone else get away with these things?
So now, Republicans are trying to spread the message that, somehow, Americans support Trump and because of the votes he received, really believe in all of the lies, misogyny, racism and xenophobia–that’s not true, either. MAGA media, of which you are a part, by pounding out the daily drumbeat of lies, got large numbers of Americans to believe that the economy is in dire straits and that America is headed in the wrong direction. These gullible people believed the lie that, somehow, Trump could “fix” the high cost of housing and groceries–here’s a sample:
“Inside the arena — in between rants sending immigrants home — Trump promised the crowd he would put more money in their pockets.
“Vote Trump and your incomes will soar. Your net worth will skyrocket. Your energy costs and grocery prices will come tumbling down,” he promised, without giving any detail about how he would do so.”
These claims are, of course, all fantasy and Trump has no plan or any ability to do any of these things. In fact, economists say that the Trump tariffs will tank our economy and cause inflation to skyrocket. Polls show that the economy was the #1 issue for most Americans, and for those who believed Trump’s lies, they are in for a rude awakening. All of this does not take into account that the mass deportations will also not likely happen–the sheer cost alone to try to round up and deport 11 million people is projected to be $350 billion–and, of course, Trump has admitted that he no idea how to come up with this money or where the law enforcement people will come from to implement it. What he WILL do is spread fear among migrants and their families–some of which are blended–meaning one parent is a migrant and the other is not. Are families going to be separated again? Will children be forced to grow up without a mother or father? He will have some of them arrested, detained and deported just for show, but way less than even a million–it’s just like the “Mexico will pay to build the wall” lie. Add to the lies about the economy, the racism and misogyny about Kamala Harris–Trump called her “stupid”. Marco Rubio called her “trash”, even though she was and is the sitting Vice President, and the reasons for Trump’s “victory” come into sharper focus–lies, racism and misogyny–not widespread support for the Republican agenda. So, for you MAGAs out there who believe that, somehow, the American people broadly support Trump and the Republican agenda–you are sadly mistaken. Many of them fell for the lie that their “incomes will soar, your net worth will skyrocket. Your energy costs and grocery prices will come tumbling down”. Let’s just hope that most of them discover this lie 2 years from now and vote out Republicans.
So much wasted electricity. Tisk, tisk.
And we can look forward to reading the same tired argle-bargle every day for the next four years. This is what Girly Girl does to give her life meaning.
Praying she immigrated here illegally so Trump can deport her sorry asz!
What a freaking moron!
Instead of attacking me–cite some facts that prove I’m wrong. You can’t, and you know it. You know that Republicans, aided and abetted by MAGA media pulled a fast one–they got substantial numbers of Americans to believe that because the cost of groceries, housing and other things is higher than it was, that the American economy is in free-fall and that the country is headed in the wrong direction. Neither of these things is true, and Republicans KNOW that most Americans don’t understand economic theory. They kept pounding the drumbeat of: “you know how much groceries cost”, complete with props, like the box of Cheerios and other groceries–suckering voters into believing that Trump, somehow (they never said HOW), could fix things. The truth is that Trump inherited the successful economy created by Obama the he proceeded to destroy. Another truth is that inflation is coming down, and our economy is the strongest in the world. The stock market sets new daily records. The Fed just lowered interest rates again. Trump will, once again, inherit a very successful economy that he’ll try to take credit for. The number 1 issue for voters was the economy–and substantial numbers of people fell for the lie that Trump could “fix” it—even though there wasn’t anything to fix other than inflation, which Biden’s economic plan is bringing down. Trump could never articulate any kind of economic plan, other than tariffs, and he is a massive failure at handling his own finances– 6 bankruptcies and all of the loans he has to take out to keep his businesses afloat prove this. Trump will screw up our economy once again, just like he did the first time around because he doesn’t know what he’s doing and won’t listen to economists. His agenda will to do everything to benefit his wealthy donors–which will work to the detriment of the rest of us. AND, Repubicans also played the race and gender cards–calling our Vice President “stupid”; a “DEI hire”, and Marco Rubio called her “trash”. How un-American. Trump’s “victory” is not bona fide–it is the product of lies, racism and misogyny–not true policy. Trump will flop once again, and will be forever viewed as a pariah.
I pointed out your lies yesterday, skank, and you doubled down on them.
Thank you for confirming the point I made at 1:47PM.
..the koolaid of deceit & disrespect is still being poured.. the silver tongued serpents never sleep………….
In Gigi world Oblowholes quantitative easing for eight years equals a sound economy. Obama racked up more debt than all other Presidents combined. To be fair, he did inherit war criminal GW Bush’s war debt and the results of Bill Clinton’s repealing of Glass-Stiegel, aka the 2008 housing market collapse. Inflation is due to Biden printing money (more easing). Gigi you’re to stupid to understand macroeconomics and the rest of your diatribe is utter nonsense. I don’t have to prove anything, you’re wrong on everything.
@’Gigi’
You already gave yourself away today with a different anonymous post, you’ve been here since earlier this morning. Spare us. Or don’t. You are a sad person, and nobody cares. Why you chose to haunt this blog, which you have, for years, is anybody’s guess.
Have you ever seen the statistics Turley posts about the number of people who view this blog? James: you don’t speak for anyone and the other pro-MAGAs don’t own this blog or decide what does or doesn’t get published–so stop referring to yourself as some kind of spokesperson for “we” or “us”. None of you can come up with any cogent argument or counter facts, so you personally attack me, Dennis, Fish Wings and others who write things you don’t like. The inconvenient truth is that the facts speak for themselves.
You have lost, America has spoken. People are tired of the nonsense that you spew here every day supporting these corruptocrats. Watch as we move forward and see how America returns to functioning in an organized manner. Close the borders, deport the illegal aliens bleeding us dry, end the wars, address the trillions in debt and put AMERICANS First, oh the horror!
LOL………another TDS victim. Let me get this straight: A woman with quite a checkered past of similar accusations (Jean Carrol, apologies if misspelled) claims Trump groped her in a dept store dressing room decades ago (totally believable, right?) but she can’t remember all of the details BUT IT HAPPENED!!! So the legal case is that she made a public accusation against Trump and he denied the accusation and said she was crazy. So based on that 1. Trump is not allowed to publicly deny an accusation against him? 2. Because he denied her claim and called crazy (which is not illegal) he now needs to pay her $425 MILLION DOLLARS? Really? NO politics or Lawfare there, right?
You left out a pivotal detail. Carroll called her associate in 1992, sharing how dem-leaning real-estate-developer Donald Trump cornered her in a dept. store dressing room, and forced his “digit” on her. This associate testified under oath about this phone call, and when it occurred. This demolished Trump’s lame defense that “she made the whole thing up to smear me politically”. How would EJC even know at the time DJT would someday be in politics as a Repub? Impossible to cook up such a plot starting in 1992.
“This associate testified under oath about this phone call, and when it occurred.” Aside from the testimony of a friend, and a probable Democratic partisan, is there any evidence for the accusation? Do you really believe that people are not willing to lie under oath where politics is involved?
How many other men has E Carroll accused of assault? She’s a fruit cake and this should never have been allowed to proceed.
You fvcking retard.
Your ridiculous premise is that just because EJC lied under oath, that this other Trump hating skank wouldnt have???
Did your mother have any children that survived the birth canal without brain damage?
The case was tried to a jury. Trump presented his arguments. He was represented by counsel. He lost. Get over it.
Gigi posting as anonymous from her alternate account.
Lawn Boy, you are truly pathetic.
A jury found oj innocent.
Moron
+100
Gigi, I’m considering a New Year’s resolution for 2025. I won’t troll the trolls. Why? Where do many conservatives come from? Ex-Democrats! It might not pay to make it personal.
So in the interests of dialogue I read your entire filibuster. It’s a good thing I took my blood-pressure meds. I’m not going to address everything, but I would like to sow a few seeds of doubt:
You write, “Trump’s campaign DID accept help from Russian hackers who spread lies about Hillary Clinton.”
Me: Hillary paid Steele, a foreign agent, to get dirt on Trump from Russian agents, and covered it up using cutouts.
You write, “And, Turls, you KNOW he DID do all of the things for which he is being prosecuted–you KNOW that the facts and the law are against him, and you KNOW that anyone else who did what he did would, and properly should, be brought to justice.”
Me: Professor Turley and I actually believe you are at least partly mistaken. You can’t read minds.
You write: “Why should he get away with lying about ‘mentally declassifying’ them, returning all of them, moving around boxes to prevent them from being returned, and then playing the victim.”
Me: Biden did worse with classified documents. They were moved around before he had any authority to declassify, so somebody knew he had them and he shouldn’t have. He didn’t come clean until after he had the audacity to hammer Trump about the same thing. Would be embarrassing if he hadn’t and got caught. There’s a lot more about Joe and classified documents, but this is the thumbnail.
You write, “In fact, economists say that the Trump tariffs will tank our economy and cause inflation to skyrocket.”
Me: many of the same economists said Joe’s spending and monetary policies would not be inflationary. They claimed it was the new economics. Wrong. These same offenders said Trump’s tax cuts during his first administration would damage the economy. The American people just voted in every swing state to bring Trump’s economic program back.
Gigi, you have to understand that MSNBC is just infotainment, designed to enrage you so you’ll keep watching. It’s the result of subscriber journalism and the internet. Both sides do it, but it’s particularly bad on the Left because so many leftwing news services are competing for the same eyeballs. The truth gets screwed by unnamed sources. If MSNBC doesn’t do it, CNN will. If the NYT doesn’t to it, the WaPo will.
Education might actually be worse than corporate media, but that’s only because they actually drink their own Kool-Aid.
If you want to become a neurotic, listening to these quacks and charlatans without some healthy skepticism is just the way to do it. I see all of these sweet critters on Tik-Tok going into meltdown. This is getting dangerously neurotic. Corporate Media is the new “Crucible.” If you replace “witchcraft” with “racism and misogyny,” it still resembles a witch hunt and hysteria.
This is why Democrats lost. Their narrative has become harmful and absurd.
You still fail to grasp the governing principle in play here. Trump is automatically guilty of anything he is accused of, and whatever he has done is absolutely horrid, by definition, because he is Donald J. Trump. Biden, on the other hand, is automatically innocent of any accusations, and whatever he actually has done is perfectly OK, because he is NOT Donald J, Trump. The mechanism couldn’t be simpler. Try to get it right in the future, would you please?
I get it. When I reply to trolls, I understand how naive an endeavor that might be, but I’m hoping undecideds will read my comments and be swayed by reasonableness.
@Diogenes
I like that. We have already shown the clowns the majority of us do not support them; it’s time to marginalize them with our indifference and the silent treatment. It has come out how much cash the DNC flushed right down the crapper with Kamala; let’s do the same with our attention. It is no longer a metaphor after the election numbers: these people are the ones ranting on a street corner with a cardboard sign, fully censored modern communication is the only thing that ever gave the delusions of grandeur that led them to believe they ere anything else, and that has been squashed; almost no one is on board with them, anywhere. The rest of us will get on with our lives, and yes, we will carry their sad a**es because as decent human beings, we must.
* Not so fast, they’re highly destructive. Portions of the congress are through the rabbit hole.
* Right, Diogenes, and all it takes for mass hysteria is a profound cognitive dissonance event like Orson Welles proved via radio long ago.
Perhaps Trump will appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the murder of Seth Rich… And, perhaps, that prosecutor would be willing to provide immunity to Assange (and Trump might even pardon him) in order to hear what he says about the source of the DNC emails Wikileaks published. Now wouldn’t that be interesting, considering there is no statute of limitations on murder…
Gigi, “We’re not buying it “, who is we? You gotta mouse in your pocket?
You’ve lost and America has won. You and allies your sock puppet identities need to Hang it up.
* correction, traveler, the United States has won. The Libertine States have lost.
27 governors are republican –> move rapidly forward.
The federal reserve is a hot mess.
“if the conduct Trump engaged in was illegal, it’s not “lawfare” to indict and prosecute him for it”
Correct, and that is your problem.
Fraud has a legal meaning established 100’s of years ago. Western law DELIBERATELY requires REAL HARM – not hurt feelings to claim FRAUD. Why ? Specifically to avoid the idiocy of the enmoron or merchan cases.
It is always possible to find an angry jury somewhere willing to “punish” someone they do not like.
The REQUIREMENT for REAL HARM is a legal barrier to specifically the James and Bragg cases.
It is not a crime to be politically unpopular in a specific jurisdiction.
Deutche Bank testified UNREBUTTED, that had Trump’s assets been 1/2 what he claimed – they STILL would have given him the same prefered loans. There was no harm to DB, there was therefore no fraud.
Blacks law dictionary defined Fraud as requiring actual harm centuries ago.
None other that Ruth Bader Ginsberg reaffirmed that Fraud requires actual harm almost 2 decades ago.
The requirement for REAL HARM completely obliterates both the enmoron and the merchan cases.
When prosecutors and courts procede with civil and criminal cases that require immediate dismissal as a matter of law – that is LAWFARE – and it is the COURTS and the PROSECUTORS that are guilty of CRIMES AGAINST RIGHTS.
While the legal issue in FL is different, we have EXACTLY THE SAME willful blindness to the actual law.
In myriads of cases from Nixon through the present while the courts have ruled that expresidents can be required by courts to provide access to their papers to the government AT THE DIRECTION OF COURTS, and ONLY where there is a compelling reason – usually as part of a separate criminal prosecution. Those same courts have consistently determined that based on the constitution and the PRA that the records that presidents take with them at the end of their term are
THEIR PERSONAL PROPERTY. Judge ABJ in JW v. NARA was explicit, the ownership of presidential documents is at the sole discretion of the president, and it is unreviewable by the courts. It is irrelevant if the documents are classified.
It is even irrelevant that the PRA gives NARA responsibility for the care and protection of presidential records.
The entire case in FL was legal nonsense from the start.
AGAIN When prosecutors and courts procede with civil and criminal cases that require immediate dismissal as a matter of law – that is LAWFARE – and it is the COURTS and the PROSECUTORS that are guilty of CRIMES AGAINST RIGHTS.
With respect to the GA and DC cases:
There was no insurrection. No one marched on the capitol with AR15’s.
There was a very legitimate protest, against an election that it is increasingly evident was FRAUDULENT.
Democrats have consistently been gaining approx. 250,000 votes nationally per year since 2012 – right through this election.
Republicans have consistently been gaining approx, 1M votes nationally per year since 2012 – right through this election.
EXCEPT in 2020 when a relatively poor democrat candidate who barely campaigned managed to get almost 20M more votes than any presidential candidate EVER, in an election where his opponent also got more votes that any presidential candidate ever.
Trump was not uniquely unpopular – he was more popular than any president ever in 2020.
What is self evidently true is that without any legitimate explanation, an election that should have had the lowest turnout in US history magically had the highest – BY FAR
While I have always found the evidence of election fraud in 2020 to be sufficient to require far more sunlight than we saw.
I have shifted from the beleif that the fraud was SMALL but likely sufficient to flip the election, to the FRAUD was in many forms and was in the millions.
The reason for that shift is the 2024 popular Vote. This was an incredibly intense election. The legitimate efforts of Republicans and Democrats to Get out the vote were the most significant ever. The amount that democrats spent was gargantuan. I beleive the Harris campaign said they were knocking on 1000 doors and hour in detroit.
Harris did not conduct a “perfect” campaign – no one ever does. But her efforts to get out the vote were larger and I beleive more successful than any prior democrat. There will be lots of debate over why Harris lost – but inarguably it was NOT from an lack of GOTV effort, nor from being less popular than prior democrats.
Harris was unable to get the additional 20M votes that Biden did, because she could not cheat. Because people were watching.
The constitution gives the responsibility to set election laws to the state legislatures and congress.
In the recent Moore ISL case, SCOTUS rejected the claim that the constitutional delegation of power to congress and the state legislatures was exclusive – that the executive was still obligated to administer the election and to ensure that election statutes were properly implimented and executed and that the courts were still empowered to review the legislative and executive decisions regarding those election laws.
The left wing nut claim that the President of the united states – because he is also a candidate in the election has no power to investigate and election that is OBVIOUSLY unusually suspicious is garbage.
Again when prosecutors and courts procede with civil and criminal cases that require immediate dismissal as a matter of law – that is LAWFARE – and it is the COURTS and the PROSECUTORS that are guilty of CRIMES AGAINST RIGHTS.
The Article 3 Project has announced that it will be suing James, Bragg, Willis, and Smith for violation of rights under color of law – a FEDERAL crime.
Gigi, at the very least you should be familiar with the prosecutors actual claims.
No classified documents were STOLEN.
This was explicitly addressed by Smith in court and in writing.
Smith made clear that there was NO CLAIM in the prosecutors case that any documents were Stolen.
Smith stated as a fact of the case that all documents at MAL arrived there LEGALLY.
Smith’s Claim is that AFTER he was no longer president he was obligated to retain them.
There is not a signal claim of Theft, if Smiths indictment.
If you are going to engage in this nonsense – the least you should do is know your own sides arguments.
This is not Daily Kos – this is a legal blog. You are expected to have more knowledge than MSM idiocy
Gigi, there is no crime of refusing to return something that you came into possession of legally.
Further as JW v. NARA makes clear – neither NARA nor government can demand possession.
The government may – with the courts permission seek ACCESS.
There is a small issue regarding the DC subpoena – Government CAN lawfully, particularly in a criminal case seek ACCESS to documents int he posession of others.
But the DC subpeona did not asc for access, it asked for possession and therefore was invalid.
This would have come to light had the Lawyer actually gone to court to enforce the subpeona – which he did not.
Withe certainty the court would have required Trump to provide ACCESS to the requested documents – but had it tried to grant posession – the courts order would have been appealed and Trump would have won the appeal.
Whether you like it or not JW V NARA is not only the only and controlling law on posession by ex presidents it is also correctly decided.
By your own claim – Trump asked Raffensburger to FIND votes.
He did NOT ask Raffensbuger to do what Democrats did and MANUFACTURE votes.
I know this is hard for you – but you are not permitted to decide that a persons words mean something substantially different from what they actually said in a criminal case.
If you could it would always be possible to convict anyone of serious crimes, by just claiming that they meant something different than what they said.
Next, there is no such thing as fake electors.
They are alternate electors, and they are a requiremenf for a successful challenge to the vote of the state certified electors in congress.
While Harris has lost so decisively that there is not likely to be any challenges to Trump’s election anywhere.
Trump won by close to 3% in nearly every swing state. Harris would have to successfully claim more than a million votes of fraud or error in atleast 4 states to deny Trump 270 EC votes.
But lets assume that she managed to successfully challeng a total of EC votes exceeding 43 bringing Trump’s total to 269,
Harris would STILL be 44 EC votes short of winning. To Win Harris must have Alternate electors for the states she challenges and congress must accept the vote of those alternate electors.
This is the constitution, this is the election law of 1877, this is how the federal courts determined that presidential election challenges must work.
An alternate elector has no legal meaning at all – it is not and can not be a crime to be one. unless congres refuses to accept the vote of a states certified electors – then and only then, can congress choose to accept or reject the vote of alternate electors.
Gigi, Repubicans do not need to spread some claim about Trump.
Voters chose Trump over Harris – by approximately a 3% margin.
Further – despite the media hype this was NOT a Trump vs. Harris election – this election was a referendum on democrats.
Democrats lost the presidency.
The lost the senate.
and they are near certain to lose the house.
This is not a repudiation of Harris as a candidate – Most of the problems that resulted in Harris losing are not unique to Harris, they are across the entire democratic party.
Voters were unhappy with democrats rule of the country. No number of celebrity endorsements was going to change that.
This election was NOT about the candidates, it was not even about the issues – except in the sense that the issues were the FAILURE of democrat rule.
I have a number of problems with Harris – policy problems.
I am offended by her kackling and her word salads – but had she done a good job as SF DA, or CA AG or CA Senator or US VP,
I would not care if she was incapable of speaking in public.
Harris actually conducted an excellent campaign – not a perfect one.
But one that likely would have won had she been CHALLENGING an unsuccessful Republican.
Harris is not the Orator that Obama is. But she would have won in 2008 against McCain,
because voters were voting against the failure of the Bush administration. Not for the oratory of Obama.
Harris lost in 2024 – because voters were upset about the failures of democrats.
You keep pretending that those failures are not real – but fail to grasp that almost 80% of the country sees DEMOCRATS as having failed.
Democrats are fighting over whether Biden would have won, or whenther Harris or someone else would have won had Biden dropped out sooner.
But the results were baked in by the FACT that voters viewed – not just Biden/Harris, but the democratic party as having FAILED.
Biden’s OBVIOUS mental incompetence actually made things WORSE for the party.
Voters KNOW that Biden has not been “calling the shots”.
Voters KNOW that the failure of the past 4 years was not a failure of Biden – but a failure of democrats.
Democrats voted for the bills that caused inflation.
Democrats were behind the pollicies that resulted in Putin invading Ukraine and Iranian proxies attacking Israel.
This election was not about Trump V. Harris – you should be able to see that by the down ballot results,
It was not about race, or mysoginy.
It was about Democratic failure.
Gigi,
Elections are ALWAYS about what voters beleive.
Insulting voters and claiming they are guilble and beleive things that are not so even if true is irrelevant, Elections are decided by who and what people beleive.
As you note – not a majority – but a huge super majority of americans beleive that democrats have FAILED
Not just Biden or Harris, but democrats.
But it does not help your argument that you are insulting voters by claiming the very REAL failure they see is just something that Trump and Fox and Musk have persuaded them of – despite the fact that Democrats control the vast majority of the media.
The voters beleive that democrats have Failed – and they are RIGHT.
Gigi,
Trump has 2 years to prove that he can make progress on his promises. If he does not Republicans will lose the house.
And likely loose seats in the Senate.
He has 4 years to prove that he can accomplish most of his promises – or republicans will face the same angry electorate that democrats did a few days ago.
Neither you nor I can predict what will happen over 4 years. Covid came out of the blue. Hurricaines Helene and Milton came out of the blue.
Some things are predictable – the war in Ukraine was both predictable and avoidable. The war in the mideast was predictable and avoidable.
The failure of FEMA was predictable, but the Huricanes themselves were not.
The Failure of public health officials was predictable – but Covid itself was not.
I do find it odd – most of the Nazi, Fascist talk is gone – atleast for the moment.
While Harris hemmed and hawed and dallied for 14hrs, she did cede an election that she did not even come close to winning.
I would not have faulted Harris for challenging the results – had Trumps victory hinged on 3 states and only 44,000 votes.
But Harris likely would have had to flip 1M votes in an election challenge and that was not happening.
Regardless, there will be midterms in 2026 – we all know that – Trump will not be a dictator for life.
There will be a presidential election in 2028.
There WILL be consequences for the illegal conduct that democrats engaged in while in power – though mostly the focus will be on assuring this never happens again.
Trump has said that he will be focused on “Making Ameirica Great Again” – not retribution.
You have accused Trump of being a narciscist – and you are likely correct – all politicians are.
Trumps OBVIOUS goal over the next 4 years is proving to the american people that he is a great president.
You rant that he can not fix the economy or a litany of other things.
In 4 years and 40 years he will be judged on EXACTLY that.
What just happened is that voters have said “Your way did not work, we are trying another”.
In this election you LOST the power to
Control US foreign policy
Continue to advance a radical trans agenda.
Continue net zero energy policies.
Continue weaponizing government against individuals and groups that disagree with you.
You had that power, and the voters have taken that power from you and given it to Trump and republicans.
You are now the opposition, not the majority.
We will get to see if Trump and Republicans do as you have and use the power they have to silence their opponents.
We will get to see if Trump and republicans are the fascists you claim they are.
We will get to see if they can deliver on the promises they have made.
Regardless, Voters bet on Republicans – not democrats.
Voters can and will change their minds if Republicans do not deliver on THEIR promises.
I would note, Republicans are answerable to voters for what REPUBLICANS promised,
not the left wing nut agenda
With specific respect to illegal immigration.
Without a doubt Trump has a mandate to secure the southern border.
QUICKLY he will put in place everything that was working in 2020.
It is likely that early in 2025 there will be border security legislation.
There will be funding beyond the emergency funding Trump was forced to use to build a border wall.
There will be funding for detention, and for immigration courts to deport immediately illegals caught crossing the border
There will be funding for immigration courts to quickly deport illegal immigrants who are criminals – either committing crimes in the US or coming here with criminal records.
There will be no mass deportations. As you note it is impractical, and worse, even though there is political support at the moment for mass deportations, it is likely that will decline faced with actual mass deportations.
Trump has already said the FOCUS will be on those who are criminals.
Holman Trump’s former CBP head was asked how it would be possible to avoid family separations and he has an obvious and simple answer.
You deport families together.
If a family member of an illegal immigrant commits a serious crime – the whole family will get deported.
The likely Trump administration efforts to deport Criminals will likely result in a precipitous drop in crime by illegal immigrants.
From 2014 through the end of 2020 US deportations have been 50,000 per month with very little variation.
Interestingly during the biden administration deportations rose to 150,000 per month.
It is likely that Trump will continue to deport about 150,000 people per month – as Biden did,
Without allowing millions of illegal immigrants per year.
That will result in a slow net decline of illegal immigrants, but ultimately the vast majority of the 15-21M illegals allowed into the US under Biden are here to stay.
But we ARE at the end of an era of millions of illegal immigrants each year.
Republican elected Governor in Puerto Rico! He plans to clean up the garbage problem. https://www.theenvironmentalblog.org/2024/10/puerto-rico-trash-problem/#:~:text=The%20Puerto%20Rico%20trash%20problem,there's%20no%20proper%20recycling%20infrastructure.
* incinerators now can be scrubbed of harmful off-gas and ash back on planet earth.
The United States needs to put a task force onto a sewage system upgrade to incineration and move away from treated sewage back into river systems.
Civilizations are examined for sewage systems and burial practices we all know. Somalia is squat anywhere, India is raw sewage into the Nile etc and the Scandinavian nations have gone incineration.
Go figure.
“India sewage into the Nile”….proud of your geography participation trophy?
* not Nile, spell Ghanges
At this point, the modern Left are incapable of self-reflection. They are in the words of Yuri Bezmenov, demoralized.
As I mentioned before, exposure to true information does not matter anymore,” said Bezmenov. “A person who was demoralized is unable to assess true information. The facts tell nothing to him. Even if I shower him with information, with authentic proof, with documents, with pictures; even if I take him by force to the Soviet Union and show him [a] concentration camp, he will refuse to believe it, until he [receives] a kick in his fan-bottom. When a military boot crashes his balls then he will understand. But not before that. That’s the [tragedy] of the situation of demoralization.
I suspect those hiding in the shadows doing the demoralizing will not stop until they are weeded out. This will be the mother of all battles the Trump administration will be fighting and unlike his first term, they will be on offense.
This is a short clip from a Tucker Carlson interview with Mark Halperin 3 weeks before the election. To prove Halperin’s prediction, yesterday, two of my sisters questioned my “humanity”, my “moral compass”, my “Christian values”.
https://youtu.be/FLPdjnMqvUc
Thanks for the link. Very interesting, Oddly enough, it sounds like he is describing what took place in Soviet Russia, or East Germany, after the fall of Communism.
Gee, I can’t for the life of me understand why those GenZ voters would have lied to associates about their intended voting choices… I make it a practice not to disclose my votes to anyone, but if pushed to the wall, I might lie as well. At least until it is perfectly clear to every not completely insane person that Trump is not going to do all of those terrible things that the leftist doom mongers were predicting.
@Olly
Thanks for this, that is it in a nutshell, very succinct and well stated, and those born after the Cold War have no idea because we haven’t taught them (in fact, we have done the opposite in modern schools). Spot on, and we need to heed the warning. The election was just the start, barely scraping the surface. Western Europe is careening toward horror we thought we were done with in the West after the Wall fell. It is going to be a long road after just the past four years (!), but we can’t waver. America is about to become the bastion of hope for the world again, no matter how many temper tantrums our elitist (globalist) dems throw at us.
It is going to be a long road after just the past four years (!), but we can’t waver. America is about to become the bastion of hope for the world again, no matter how many temper tantrums our elitist (globalist) dems throw at us.
James, to prove your point, I saw this short video from a woman in the UK this morning.
* I figure they knew they were running out of interest in the lawfare scenario and just backed off having zero talent on the left. They’ve taken their loot off to see the world as rich important people.
Repubs can proceed rebuilding more wary of wolves this time. How’s that high speed rail doing, governor Newsom? A little like Stonehenge…
Why did women not come out for Harris as expected? Because women have daughters, they don’t want men in girls bathrooms and locker rooms and Harris did. Simple as that.
Women also have husbands, sons, and brothers whom they care about. Such women are mostly not on board with the message that masculinity is toxic, nor do they want the men in their lives to be a victim of violent crime (from open borders and defund-the-police), shipped off to war, or unable to purchase a house.
* DAUGHTERS? There’s a word, an actual word for baby girl?
YES! Daughter. Thank you ♥
I looked for the law that makes it a crime to call Puerto Rico a floating island of garbage, but I couldn’t find it, suggesting that
it’s not a crime to say that. So why did people make it seem like it was a crime?
As ever in the 21st century, the reaction on the part of the modern left tells us all we need to know when even their version of democracy wins. They are unabashed totalitarians, and nothing less than permanent aristocratic rule will satisfy them, talk about regressive. The ‘Handmaiden’s Tale’ outfits are the height of irony and so telling of an indoctrinated and pampered generation that fit in, and are often the progeny of, that group.
I really hope this is all put to rest. No one has any patience for it anymore. Excellent piece.
The photo of Kamala’s social media ‘team’, comprised of people barely out of high school, should be all we need to know, and it confirms what many of us have suspected for a great many years.
It is absurd, and it is time to move on. The irony of having the perfect freedom to be so insufferable and be disagreed with in the first place is lost on these clowns, and for the modern left, I personally think that is a permanent defect.
JFK dems: it is not 1962 anymore, wake up. Modern marxist dems: pbblt. Go to h***. Nobody cares about your temper tantrums.
Mayor of San Francisco won by a Republican. Where’s that football. Gimme that football and stand back. Republican defeats Casey in Pennsylvania. Where’s that football. Gimme that football and stand way back.
Not true. Mayor of SF was won by a different, supposedly more moderate, Dem
The election wasn’t just about Trump. It was also about Elon Musk, JD Vance, and RFK, Jr. It was about American dynamism. An old, incompetent, fossilized class of government was swept out. Dynamism was swept in. May we re-invent ourselves, tame the administrative state, freeze budget deficits, grow the economy, and get out from unsustainable debt, all while moving on from our endless preoccupation with involvement in foreign wars.
It was about Bud Light!
It might’ve been except for Bud Light’s awesome new commercial, which aired just in time to restore it to our good graces:
https://nypost.com/2024/11/07/us-news/trump-ally-mike-davis-warns-ny-ag-letitia-james-to-back-off-president-elect/
I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqhCQZaH4Vs&w=1092&h=614%5D
Exactly where her fat a$$ belongs!
Clear, present, and actionable usurpation and abuse of power with bias and malice.
I am indeed not only spiking the football but I am heaving it 25 rows up into the stands. Four years ago the leftist spent months spiking the football but now we are supposed to be humble. Too bad so sad.
I was willing to be humble and conciliatory, but the frenzied reaction of the LOSERS and their insistence on insulting anyone who didn’t vote for K has made me change my mind on that. I’m tired of trying to talk leftists off the ledge. Jump.
“Jump”
Abso-freakin-lutely
Winners act graciously. Winners who can’t make the jump from being on-the-outside to being-on-the-inside don’t last long on top.
Chaos swept over the earth, giving rise to countless creatures. Over time, they faded away, leaving only the Hydra to terrorize the people. Hercules fought fiercely and crushed the Lernaean Hydra, but I warn you all—beware. The Hydra has many heads, and for every one that is cut off, another takes its place.
Trump’s ups and downs sure remind me of a hero’s progress.
* He made it back to Ithaca?
IDK. I stopped by, but Penelope wouldn’t answer the door. My reputation precedes me.
Professor Turley writes, “The next few weeks will determine whether Democratic leaders are ready for a new course in ending the lawfare.”
I doubt it will end. Democrats gin up the prosecutions, paying lawyers with taxpayer money, and lawyers give Democrats a cut with “campaign donations” and other bennies. The canoodling in the Fani Willis case is a perfect example.
The ABA sees lawfare as a business model. The financial incentive will still exist whether taxpayers approve or not.
The only solution is to eliminate the incentive for Democrats by booting them from office, which is unlikely in NY, D.C. and Atlanta (Atlanta has become a “hive of scum and villainy.”)
The Ukraine war has, to some extent, been serving a similar grift for Democrats. Sam Bankman-Fraud is exhibit A. Don’t be surprised if Joe gives him a pardon.
* hear hear
We at last have a president who will actively command and vigorously direct the Administrative State rather than one who quietly and meekly follows it, all the while subserviently bowing to its unbridled dominance.
https://rumble.com/v5n29zb-remember-trumps-vow-to-shatter-the-deep-state.html
Lol
What is the Judge going to do if the prosecutor stands up and in their opening statement tells the jury
“I have no case, I rest”?
Or just don’t show up for trial.
If members of the free press are such good Voltarians, why do they always come down on what Trump says, as if the press would prefer than Trump not say them? Would the free press die to defend Trump’s right to say what he says? I doubt it. if offensive speech needs the most protection, then why do minority groups always want to punish you for what you say, as if they were dictators?
If you haven’t heard Mike Davis response to Tish James please do. I only hope this will be the approach in the future to all of these people.
Voila!
https://x.com/bennyjohnson/status/1854615830358614487
The new Attorney General should file a brief with the Chutkan court stating that Jack Smith’s appointment was unconstitutional . Seeing how “Judge” Chutkan would try and wriggle out from that would be most entertaining.
OT
The battle lines are drawn; the forces of “democracy” have declared their secession with New York, Illinois, and California leading the way.
This rebellion must be extinguished.
________________________________________
“The freedoms we hold dear in California are under attack — and we won’t sit idle. California has faced this challenge before, and we know how to respond.”
– Gavin Newsom, Governor of California
_____________________________________________
“To anyone who intends to come take away the freedom and opportunity and dignity of Illinoisans, I would remind you that a happy warrior is still a warrior. You come for my people, you come through me.”
– Jay Robert Pritzker, Governor of Illinois
_____________________________________________
“I would save the Union. I would save it the shortest way under the Constitution. The sooner the national authority can be restored the nearer the Union will be ‘the Union as it was.’”
– Abraham Lincoln, 1862
@Anonymous
It’s just pure, juvenile histrionics at this point, truly; I have never seen anything like this spoiled bunch of pansies. It is far more likely that as the term goes forward these people will have in many ways MORE freedom to do whatever the **** they want to as states, not less. The modern left is sick, and I don’t think it can be fixed without a major restructuring on their part, and even that might not be enough. Insufferable and insane just doesn’t cover it. They might as well be threatening us that Santa won’t bring us anything for Christmas. 🙄
Psst – Newsome etc.: nobody cares. Your fear mongering days are over, and this has gotten really, really old.
That was actually supposed to be ‘spoiled bunch of DANDIES’ in keeping with the Flying Dutchman reference, but ‘pansies’ works, too. Sometimes the fingers type what the brain actually means to say. 🤷🏻♂️
Yeah, I like your subconscious version better 🙂
* Theft never gets old
Anonymous 11:33 am
Jay Pritzker is basically the Governor of Chicago and Part of Peoria. Basically the rest of the state is Red. I think the Republicans should send Republicans teams to Chicago and start signing up disillusioned Democrats. I think if there is a real attempt to show another way, the Republicans can start to take back the cities or substantial parts of them. Reinforce success.
GEB, your point is critically important. Republicans should go beyond focusing solely on winning the Electoral College. They need the popular vote as well. Focusing efforts in major states such as New York, California, Massachusetts, and Illinois, the GOP could not only improve their chances in the presidential race but also bolster their numbers in the House and Senate, as well as in state and local offices.
Republicans should go beyond focusing solely on winning the Electoral College. They need the popular vote as well.
SM, the Democrats have set the table for the Republicans to do both. The insane policies that have inflicted great damage on this country need to be reversed and with that will come the numbers.
“Republicans teams to Chicago and start signing up disillusioned Democrats”
Are the Dems who voted in 1960 though already deceased fair game?
“California has faced this challenge before, and we know how to respond.”
He’s right. And Californians responded by leaving in droves.
@Sam
That’s true, but they all moved to Colorado, New Mexico, Montana, and Texas, and they very much took their politics with them. Do not be impressed by any of it, they are also very much spoiled babies obsessed with their tax write-offs and the state of their bank balances. This election was a relief, but do not think Texas could not be blue next time, especially you Texans that are not paying attention and take the status quo for granted. If things continue the way they have, Texas could *be* the next California, and quite easily and under your noses, when that wealth is involved.
Went to Grapevine for the first time in 1992; went there again this year. What used to be a sleepy farming town is now a Californian haven where basic homes cost close to a million dollars. Ditto Gunnison in CO. And it is DOUBLY true for the Dallas clusters like Carrollton. And do not think I’m some outlier: I have had family in Arlington my entire life, and I am no millennial. 🤷🏻♂️ What has happened to Colorado is another good object lesson. And it isn’t about ‘red’; it’s about places becoming too elitist and prohibitive for non-millionaire people to ever even consider moving there, even if those places are a generational home. We are fighting a CLASS war, and the bullets are shaped like dollars. And they want to keep it that way.
“That’s true, but they all moved to Colorado, New Mexico, Montana, and Texas, and they very much took their politics with them.”
That is a depressingly common phenomenon, and I don’t know what can be done to remedy it. The earliest example I am aware of is Florida. Yes, it is still very much a Red state, but large areas have been overwhelmed by leftists who moved there primarily to escape the results of leftism, then promptly began instituting it in their new location. Baffling perversion.