Home » Covering the Trump trial: Dershowitz and others

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Covering the Trump trial: Dershowitz and others — 25 Comments

  1. Many feel this is fully justified. Any way to get Trump and keep him out of office is necessary to save Democracy. They are fully convinced that if he wins the election and takes office he’ll suspend the Constitution and rule as a dictator. This belief allows them to justify extreme action. I’ll be surprised if Trump takes office without being hurt.

  2. I have no legal background, so I have a question for any attorney following this blog. Is there any avenue for some legal consequences (sanction, removal from the bench, etc?) for this judge’s behavior? Or, can he get away with all of his repellent behaviors?

    I guess I’m asking, is he answerable to any oversight?

  3. And Julie Kelly covering the “other” Trump trial in Florida: https://twitter.com/julie_kelly2/status/1793414610927919107?t=03gbX5ZpkAqN6OjdiVisKw&s=19

    Spent most of the day at Ft. Pierce federal courthouse to cover two hearings in classified docs case.

    Special Counsel team’s frustration with Judge Aileen Cannon is really evident.

    And it’s glorious.

    David Harbach, one of Smith’s lead prosecutors and usually a cool customer in court, had a series of mini temper tantrums this morning. At times pounding his fist on the podium and clapping his hands in anger to emphasize a point, Harbach was totally unprofessional, demeaning, and petulant.

    Cannon asked Harbach to “calm down” during one diatribe about accusations DOJ threatened one of the defense attorneys to get his client to flip on Donald Trump.

    He kept trying to argue with her–Cannon also remains measured most of the time and is no fan of antics–and when she asked him a question about an issue, he shot back “that’s not the right question.”

    A few reporters in the media room even gasped.

    Harbach is flailing bc his case is imploding.

    DOJ never thought their dirty, sloppy, corrupt tricks would see the light of day. Biden regime never thought information such as the FBI’s operations order related to MAL raid that included lethal force guidance would ever be made public.

    But Cannon is systematically dismantling this case by holding hearings (like today) and ordering the unsealing of key motions and evidence. She is a one-woman wrecking crew and Smith’s team knows there is very little they can do about it.

    And she is nowhere near finished. Just this week, in addition to the unsealed motions posted yesterday that revealed details about the MAL raid, Cannon ordered the unsealing of several motions filed earlier in the case.

  4. no the new york state bar is a den of scum and villainy, according to my sources,
    they will nibble on some abuses, like they blocked the ban on trump properties and some sanctions, but they won’t reverse the greater ones like the kaplan charge, or engoron,

  5. It doesn’t matter that there’s no evidence of a crime, much less of guilt. All that matters is that Trump be crushed by whatever means are necessary.

    “Many feel this is fully justified. Any way to get Trump and keep him out of office is necessary to save Democracy. They are fully convinced that if he wins the election and takes office he’ll suspend the Constitution and rule as a dictator.” William

    Projection. Told it is necessary ‘to save democracy’, they are supporting the evisceration of the rule of law. When told it is necessary to stop “the deplorables and irredeemables”, they will support the suspension of the Constitution and dictatorial rule by political puppets, unelected bureaucrats and influential oligarchs.

  6. My wife has served on three juries. Two of them murder trials. She knows a bit about how trials are conducted.

    She has been following this trial carefully. She is aghast at what is occurring. Today, she confided in me that she had a nightmare about being falsely indicted with some trumped up charge such as putting a Trump sign on our lawn.

    I wish I could assure her that the nightmare will never come true. The only way out of this nightmare is for us all to support and vote for law-and-order candidates of the highest caliber.

  7. Addendum: I’ve been called for jury duty four times. Never was put on a jury. I wonder why. Maybe it’s because I’m a military vet, believe strongly in law and order, no beard, a military style haircut, and don’t mince words in questions asked during the jury screening. Just a guess. 🙂

  8. I think the judge is elected, not appointed. If New York ethics rules don’t provide for sanctions for this kind of outrageous judicial behavior, the only remedy might be losing an election.

  9. I don’t even trust the police anymore. They are the cutting edge of big government. The FBI lethal force talk is just insane. For course that force would be aimed at the Secret Service.

  10. RRS– Don’t conflate FBI with actual real police. Not the same breed of cat.

  11. Worst jury duty for me was three trials in three days. One time the case was settled while we were sent out of the room. One time the case was settled during jury selection. Once convicted some poor slob that I didn’t want to and once acquitted someone that I didn’t want who deserved at least a good whipping. My god she was smug leaving the courtroom.

  12. I am very, very glad I don’t live on the East coast. Or the West coast. I read accounts of what the judges do and have done in the Trump trials and ask myself what the Hell country is this? In the America I grew up in I would expect that if the Hamas terrorists were tried here they would get a fair trial. I find that I’m giddy when reading about Judge Cannon -Just For Doing Her Job.

    Dark, Dark days.

  13. And from the “Protecting Democracy” folio…

    ‘Senate GOP sees ‘dumb’ bid to boost incumbents with meaningless Schumer border vote;
    ‘In 2020, Democrats treated border security as a “racist dog whistle.” But they’ve started to listen to pollsters. “[T]hey don’t really think that they can pass it. So it’s just messaging on their side,” Alaska GOP Sen. Murkowski said.’—
    https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/senate-gop-sees-dumb-bid-boost-incumbents-schumer-border-vote
    (Good Lord, even Murkowski can see it…)

    “Grassley: Obama State Department blocked FBI’s effort to arrest Iranian suspects”—
    https://justthenews.com/government/security/grassley-obama-state-department-blocked-fbis-effort-arrest-iranian-suspects
    (Now THAT’S what allies are for!)

    “Judge grants Hunter Biden request to delay start of federal tax trial from June to September”—
    https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/judge-grants-hunter-biden-request-delay-start-june-september
    (This one can be cross-filed with the “Running Out the Clock” Dossier…)

    “Most impactful Hunter Biden documents from new IRS whistleblower cache”—
    https://justthenews.com/nation/states/most-impactful-hunter-biden-documents-new-irs-whistleblower-cache
    (Yawnnnn… Nothing to see here, folks…etc.)

  14. Retired NYS attorney here. There is a judicial ethics commission in New York that can and does sanction judges for misbehavior. But it’s rare for things to reach that point — it’s usually judges with a long track record of outrages, and it takes a while. Plus, it’s not usually this sort of politicized misbehavior. Until recently, judges just didn’t act like this. It used to be that the threat of being reversed on appeal was all that was needed. Reversals are issued in published decisions with explanatory details that, when necessary, include direct, pointed criticism of whatever the judge did to earn the reversal. Most reversals are based on good-faith legal errors by trial judges, but even then, they’re never fun. Too many affect your chances for appointments to higher courts, important committees, and ultimately re-election. And they’re particularly embarrassing and politically destructive when they’re based on unprofessionalism like Merchan’s extreme bias and disregard of legal norms, not to mention statutory and Constitutional requirements.

    However, this particular judge does not seem to be the least bit worried about reversal or about his legacy, and seems to be proceeding on the assumption he’ll be celebrated, not criticized. I’m very much afraid he’s right. Even if he is reversed (and I am not at all not sure that I trust the Appellate Division First Department to do that, even on this record), the media will celebrate him as right and the appellate court as wrong, and most media-conditioned New Yorkers will agree.

    Kate, you’re right that most NY Supreme Court judges are elected, but J. Merchan was not. Under the NYS Constitution, all Supreme Court judges are supposed to be elected by the voters in their districts. But there aren’t enough elected seats to handle the caseload, so for many years Acting Supreme Court Judges (jovially known as Acting Supremes) have been appointed by the governor or the Chief Administrative Judge. The appointees very often come from the NY Court of Claims. That court handles claims against the State, and its judges are appointed, not elected. It’s common for ambitious attorneys to make an end run around the electorate by pulling political strings to get themselves appointed first to the Court of Claims and then to the Supremes. That’s what happened with Merchan, who was appointed to the Court of Claims in 2009 and also appointed as an Acting Supreme that same year. His term is supposed to expire in 2028, but all they’ll have to do is reappoint him as an Acting. Voters will never get a whack at him, even if you could trust NYC voters to assess him fairly, which, unfortunately, you can’t.

    Worse, by my count, Merchan’s judicial bio on the nycourts.gov page shows he’s been appointed to various courts five times, and never elected to any of them. Before that, he served in the State Attorney General’s office and before that, in the NY County DA’s office. Meaning, he’s politically very well connected indeed, and we can assume that he’s not going anywhere.

    There are lots of good reasons to criticize choosing judges by election, as they aren’t supposed to be political figures, and they’re supposed to base their decisions on the law, not on what will enhance their chances of re-election. However, Merchan is a poster child for the danger of insulating judges in such powerful positions from voters. There was a reason the NY Constitution was originally written to have trial court judges chosen by the people.

  15. Mrs+Whatsit, you’re right. Merchan is the man and has been well provided for. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Michelle Obama appoint him to the Supreme Court for his heroics in jailing Trump and ending his foray into politics, though not nominating a POC might be a bridge too far for her handlers.

  16. He was a party to the last fleecing abouf trumps real estate seminar

    Conversely he gave a real hooker (colleague of daniels?) A 250 k and 6 months senate

  17. More Trial Theater….
    “Watch: Cruz, Kennedy Destroy Biden Judge For Placing ‘6 Foot 2 Serial Child Rapist’ In Women’s Prison”—
    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/watch-cruz-kennedy-destroy-biden-judge-placing-6-foot-2-serial-child-rapist-womens-prison

    But we all know that there ain’t no such thing as a “Biden judge” or a “Biden judge” or a “Biden judge”.
    (Judge Roberts told us hisself and he orta know.)

    To be fair—and just—though, that judge is just doin’ what she knows she’s gotta do.

    File under: The GOP is now the party that protects Women (and girls).

  18. Marzipants, his first name is Juan, so he may very well count as a POC for the left.

  19. Mrs. Whatsit, thanks. I have appreciated your comments here about this matter and about New York courts. It must be very discouraging for fair-minded New Yorkers to see what is going on.

  20. You’re welcome, Kate, and you’re right, it’s discouraging and downright embarrassing.

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