This is James T. Hodgkinson, 66, who has been identified as the shooter in today’s tragedy. He is from Belleville, Illinois and appears a political activist. He is the owner of JTH Inspections. He has a criminal record, including battery.
There is an interesting article in the Washington Post entitled “As A Prosecutor, Kamala Harris’s Doggedness Was Praised. As a Senator, She’s Deemed ‘Hysterical.'” The Los Angeles Times also described Harris’ style as prosecutorial in nature and referenced her skills in court examination. The articles raise a common comparison between court and congressional hearings in terms of questioning. When I served as lead counsel in the last impeachment, I constantly spared with Senators over the failure to follow basic rules of evidence or practice. The Senators would respond that such rules do not apply to them — which is technically correct though good practices are not always required practices.
Former Trump aide Jason Miller was confronted by USA Today columnist over his description of Harris as “hysterical” in the hearing. Her point is a valid one but the Washington Post suggests that this type of questioning would be considered praise worthy in a prosecutor. The comparison between actual litigation and congressional examinations is an interesting one. I have great respect for Sen. Harris and her experience. However, while her questioning began well, it quickly fell into improper questioning if viewed from a litigation viewpoint. As a criminal defense attorney, I can say that it would not only be viewed as improper but judges would immediately sustain objections to such badgering of a witnesses. Indeed, I was surprised watching the hearing as Democratic senators pummeled Sessions with questions and demanded rapid answers. Sessions had just been attacked for failing to fully and truthfully answer an earlier (and rather unclear) question from Sen. Al Franken. Now however they were giving him rapid questions and cutting off his answers. Harris was the most extreme in that respect.
I was in Fox studios in Washington this morning when the news came out of the shooting of House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, Rep. Roger Williams and others at a baseball field in Alexandria. It was a horrific story made all the more surreal by the fact that I used to take my kids to that field when I lived in Alexandria. This is a very peaceful area where families gather regularly near the Del Rey neighborhood. There is still differing accounts of whether the shooter is dead. If he is alive, there are specific federal offenses for this type of act that makes this a federal offense as well as a state offense. Such an assault on a member is deemed attempted assassination under the federal law due to the status of the victim (and likely motivation of the crime).Continue reading “House Majority Whip and Others Shot During Baseball Practice [UPDATED]”
I guess Jimmy Neutron will have to live with “Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius . Cambridge University examiners are being told to avoid the words “flair”, “brilliance” and “genius” in the review of student work because these terms are sexist and “carry assumptions of gender inequality.” It appears Madam Curie was just a really solid researcher.
Missouri Representative Mike Moon (R-Ash Grove) takes a more literal meaning to the classic political pledge of a “chicken in every pot.” In a truly bizarre video below, the Republican legislator decapitated a chicken while discussing a special session and then pulled out its heart.
This is the type of thing that I find thrilling. An effort to preserve a hut at Cape Adare in Antarctica led to the discovery of this beautiful 118-year-old painting by Dr. Edward Wilson. The British polar explorer died in Antarctica on an expedition led by Capt. Robert Falcon Scott. This incredible picture sat in a pile of papers unnoticed for over a century.
It is the presidential version of death by cop. Recently, I wrote a column on how Trump had become a witness against himself by, again, tweeting highly damaging observations about pending litigation and even contradicting the statements of his own legal team in the immigration order litigation. As predicted, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit not only ruled against his Administration but relied on his damaging recent tweet to seal the deal. The lack of message discipline extended to Trump friends this week after his friend, Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy, said Trump was considering firing Mueller: “I think he’s considering perhaps terminating the special counsel. I think he’s weighing that option. I think it’s pretty clear by what one of his lawyers said on television recently.” The statement sent a chill throughout Congress. Such a move would not only push Congress to pass a renewal of the Independent Counsel Act but magnify allegations of obstruction.
Below is my column in The Hill Newspaper on the legal analysis surrounding the disclosure by former FBI Director James Comey that he leaked damaging information against President Donald Trump in memos to the press. I have been surprised by the analysis which has been both artificially narrow or outright erroneous on the underlying legal issues. There was an early effort, for example, to judge the lawfulness of Comey’s actions solely on the basis of whether it was a crime. If these memos were government property, a claim for criminal conduct could be made but it would be unlikely under existing precedent. However, that does not mean that Comey’s conduct was either lawful or professional. Neither is true. In the rush to lionize Comey, the media is ignoring the fact that others have been punished for releasing non-public information to the media. Moreover, Comey and the FBI was tasked with finding leakers in the Administration. Yet, after being fired and publicly insulted by Trump, Comey became himself a leaker (despite a readily available and lawful avenue for disclosing the memos in a matter of weeks). I have stated from the outset that criminal charges are unlikely (and in my view unwarranted) as the facts currently stand with regard to this one leak. However, the leak was in my view unlawful and unprofessional. Comey allowed himself to be baited by Trump and proceeded to discard his professional judgment to strike back through a third party. His conduct should not be judged solely on the basis of whether it might land him in jail. Moreover, if the FBI wanted to pursue the violation, it could drag Comey to court and seek various remedies outlined in the agreement that all FBI agents sign as a condition of their employment.
The column below explores some of the misleading conclusions being advanced in the coverage. As I state in the column, I agree that legal commentators can have good-faith differences on such questions. However, it is useful to lay out both the conclusions and the countervailing arguments. These issues will become far more acute for Comey (including the possibility of criminal violations) if, as suggested by the White House, there were more leaks stretching back months.
Continue reading “The Comey Defense: Redefining Both The Law and The Leak To Oppose Donald Trump”
We have been discussing the rapid erosion of free speech in Great Britain with expanding criminalization of speech deemed insulting or offensive to any group or person. The most recent case involved a couple shown in a videotape burning a copy of the Koran. As offensive and hateful as this act is, it is still an exercise of free speech in my view.
Continue reading “Couple Criminally Charged After Burning Koran On Videotape”
There was a scary moment in Plainfield, New Jersey recently after a distracted 67-year-old was looking at her cellphone and walked over a barrier and fell into a sidewalk cellar for Acme Windows. The question of liability is likely on the mind of the company even though the woman appears to have suffered non-life threatening injuries.
Continue reading “Distracted New Jersey Woman Falls Into Open Sidewalk Cellar Opening”
Below is my column in The Hill Newspaper on the the case against former FBI Director James Comey for leaking FBI information to the media. There has been an effort to confine the question of Comey’s actions in terms of criminality. There are laws that could be relied upon for a formal charge in court but that is unlikely and would counter prior prosecutorial practices. However, the disclosure clearly violates a host of federal rules and regulations that bar such use of FBI information. It is therefore unlawful and unprofessional. It is also potentially unethical under bar rules.
Here is the column:
There was an interesting development late last week when Special Counsel Robert Mueller hired Michael Dreeben, a deputy in the Office of the Solicitor General, to work part-time with his staff. The addition of Dreeben added someone with considerable criminal and appellate experience. However, Dreeben’s background also contains an interesting item that bears directly on the potential case against President Donald Trump. Dreeben argued in an unsuccessful appeal of the prosecution of Arthur Anderson where the Justice Department advanced a sweeping interpretation of obstruction of justice — an interpretation that I criticized as wildly overbroad. The interpretation resulted in a unanimous rejection of the Supreme Court. Given the call for a charge of obstruction against Trump (and the view of some of us that there remains considerable statutory barriers to such a charge), Dreeben’s addition should be a concern to the Trump defense team.
On occasion, I see a new website that I find intriguing on Reddit and this one caught my eye for a couple of reasons. First, it is a high school student who has started a site to allow people to help other people to deal with issues that are bothering them. Second, the creator is my oldest son, Benjamin. Putting aside the obvious pride and bias, I thought that the premise of the site is intriguing. MellowTalk allows people to communicate in strict anonymity and the participants select either “talker” or “listener” on the site. It offers people a sounding board for discussing problems or issues in an anonymous and safe environment. (Indeed, I know of a couple high ranking officials who could benefit for some anonymous and non-public venting).President Donald Trump lashed out at James Comey on the weekend and called him “cowardly.” It was the latest impolitic tweet and it does not appear to be working well for Trump. A new poll shows that the public overwhelmingly believe Comey over Trump by a twenty percent margin. In a truly sad state of affairs if accurate, only 26 percent on the You.Gov/Huff Post poll believes the President. For the moment, Trump may view Comey as “cowardly” but the public views him credible. The poll tracks another poll by Gallup showing the President’s popularity at 38 percent — though, as I mentioned earlier, Trump has been slightly ahead of Bill Clinton at this point in this presidency.
Continue reading “Trump Calls Comey “Cowardly” As Polls Show Public Believes Comey”
As many of you know, I like to do dawn hikes particularly on the Billy Goat Trail outside of Washington. I had to share this amazing turtle from this morning. While it is hard to gauge its size, it was huge for a river turtle (almost three feet in length). Indeed, the biggest I have seen outside of the Pacific islands. It was well inland on Bear Island on the side of a boulder.