It’s 8:53 p.m. Central Time as I pick up my pen to write tonight. Neither Judge Engoron’s final decision in the New York civil fraud case nor the long-awaited presidential immunity opinion from the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has materialized. We are still waiting.
Susan, While I’m no substitute for Joyce, I expect if judges are not blatantly in violation of prescribed procedures, they’re very much in control of how their assigned cases are prosecuted. That said, in my view, if none of the criminal cases are tried before the election, the fault will rest mostly with Merrick Garland, for whom there was sufficient evidentiary predication by Fall, 2021 to open up criminal investigations into both Trump and his coterie. Had Garland done so, the schedule, replete with anticipated delays, would have been less of an issue.
I am beyond frustrated too, and more than a little disgusted.
I did read, perhaps in comments on this substwck months ago, that one of the reasons Garland was slow was because there is simply no precedent for many of the charges against the orange cocksplat, and knowing what a political mess it was Garlands DoJ started at the bottom to establish a foundation of cases. I don't know if they had info re the missing documents right after drumpf absconded with them, but it took a damn long time to go look. And far too long to appoint a special counsel.
Jen, Because a blueprint for all of the criminal offenses that might have been committed by Trump and by others at the top had been laid out by Fall, 2021 by a number of scholars and former prosecutors, I had believed, and continue to believe, that having failed back then to hold the top-tiered J6 organizational structure accountable, at least to the point of being subject to full-blown criminal investigation, we are risking the loss of the world’s most enduring democracy predicated on the idea that no one is above the law.
Solange, As support for your remark, I would note Bloomberg and Morning Consult, based on a large sample of Republicans from swing states that likely would decide the presidential election—Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Nevada—, report that 23% of Republicans (nearly 1/5) said they would be unwilling to support Donald Trump for President if he were convicted in any one of the criminal trials he currently is facing.
Not Joyce here either but I've been following this as closely as I can understand and it seems Judge Aileen Cannon isn't necessarily obstructing justice as much as she is slow walking it. I think I've heard Joyce and others talk about what could be done and it seems that there are avenues that could be taken to remove her though that hasn't happened yet. Something something about eleventh circuit and things Jack Smith (who should always wear a cape in my opinion) could do.
Slow walking is putting it nicely...come on Jack, put on your cape and knock on the Eleventh Circut's door...time to get this show on the road. Past time, in my opinion.
Imagine how the Duck would squawk if that happened! "Judge" Cannon is the most effective attorney he's got.
What I don't understand is why they even bother with the very slow process of examining the classified documents. The documents themselves are not at issue -- it's just their classifications that matter. Their contents aren't evidence of anything.
I agree that at a minimum Cannon is slow walking the case, I do feel however that she is close to obstruction. Look back at her earlier rulings that the 11th Circuit overruled and criticized her for. It’s hard not make a comparison of her to Judge Chutkin. I’m not sure what Jack Smith is waiting for. I’ll trust he knows what he’s doing.
Regards the issue of the two overlooked areas by the FBI, I hope there is a thorough investigation. I know that there are/were sympathetic Secret Service agents to Trump. I hope it doesn’t turn out to be the case here. For me, the documents/espionage case is the more important case.
I have lost all hope that trump will be on trial and convicted in any of the cases before the election.
I agree that the documents case is the more important one. Somebody please point to any other citizen, in any other government capacity who could walk out with, deny possession of, hold onto and hide government documents after being advised by attorneys that they must be returned... and STILL not have been tried, convicted and locked up already. I am beyond gobsmacked.
It has caused me OUTRAGE! After all the harm he has caused over his 77 years that he will get away if not for murder on 5th Avenue, with NO consequences for any of it is UNBELIEVABLE!
The DC case is set for March 4, but it hinges on getting the appeal on immunity decision from Judge Tan and colleagues at the 11th circuit court of appeals.
As a former federal magistrate judge, I can tell you that Judge Cannon has a huge amount of discretion in managing her calendar and indeed the case. And once the trial begins, the government will be virtually powerless to challenge any of her rulings on evidence, jury selection etc. If, as it appears, she is determined to put her thumb on the scale, she can do so with impunity. When I was an AUSA, I experienced this once during a trial and one of the two defendants was acquitted. The evidence in the Florida case is powerful, but I wonder how much the jury will actually hear.
It is! The government can ask her for pre-trial rulings on evidence, but she does not have to rule on them. If she does rule in advance of trial, the government can appeal.
I don't trust her. This isn't nice to say, but then there's nothing nice about this case. Seems to me that she's more interested in pleasing her "precious client" than she is in doing what's right.
She may be a tiny bit smart but she's too immature --- and inexperienced --- to handle a case of this magnitude, and importance.
Wonder if that is where the big white binder meadows had might be? On a brighter note i see where the trump suit brought against Mary Trump and the journalists who produced story about his financials was dismissed and he was ordered to pay their legal fees of nearly 400K. Ka- ching.. love it
I've wondered why the FBI hasn't requested a subpoena to search Trump's 757 jet. He can easily hide government top-secret materials he wanted to keep from having to return them to the National Archives.
Whoever was in charge of the search on site that day should be fired. Don't have the key - no problem- let's just move on. Another example of ineptness. Clearly no coordination between the FBI and Secret Service if they knew there was a hidden room and they didn't inform those searching of its existence.
I'm beginning to think the same thing about all of the delays in the cases yet to be started! Delay long enough and the cases will either not matter or the outcomes will have no effect especially if he can buy his way out instead of being given what every other citizen would be given. We do deserve speedy trials with appropriate punishment given. I feel like I'm reliving the Mueller investigation. We the People deserve much better!
I’m beginning to think and ACCEPT that the ONLY way to get rid of this evil fool is for the voters to vote. him. out. Assuming the Republicans are not successful in their relentless efforts to CHEAT in every state where they either are or have a chance at being in control. Imagine the scenario if the biggest loser loses AGAIN and then after losing, he becomes 1) broke from all his legal fees, with new lawsuits popping up every day 2) CONvicted, sentenced etc. He’s a disgusting disgrace to humanity, as is every single person who willfully enables him or remains willfully ignorant to what is happening in our country. May God help us (and yes, “acts of nature” are always a possibility).
We already voted him out!!! Why do we keep forgetting that? When he loses again, we'll probably be in for more years of this toxicity. Its worked so far.
He has a seemingly endless supply of small donations from people who think he's a noble victim. Even if his political chances are zero, they will continue to love him. All he has to do is rant about two elections being stolen from him
I would like to awaken on November 6, 2024, with the completely opposite feelings of panic and dread that I did on the early morning of January 6, 2021. I imagine a grand conductor proclaiming trump's undeniable loss in the (valid) elections, Jack Smith's victory in the classified documents case, and the last of the civil cases sewed up with The Orange wearing ORANGE.
At this point, when it comes to law enforcement of any kind, including the Secret Service and especially the FBI, I'm inclined to think "guilty until proven innocent." And that does not make me happy.
Some of the SS have seemed complicit for certain all along here. There’s protection for a president and then there’s screw the country and protect a person.
Seems to me that a DOJ attorney could have been on the horn with the FBI to address the locked closet and other issues in connection with the search according to the warrant that was crafted by the DOJ. I doubt if Trump’s loyal Secret Service agents wanted to be anywhere near the search scene, lest they be hanged, drawn & quartered by Trump.
I don’t understand why the FB I didn’t break into the closet, that would have been permissible if a key were not produced, same for the secret room. How do we know about a secret room and the FBI didn’t?
I agree with you. It's hard to believe that NONE of the Feds (FBI and SS) knew kick in a door. And then forget all about it. If John Doe was thought to be hiding an in important piece of evidence in a crime, you better believe that local (and state, if needed) would have kicked in locked doors, flipped mattresses, and torn the house upside down to find it.
Without going back to read what the warrant specifically says, using the word "room" instead of "place" to define an area to search, to me, leaves a big hole in where searches needed to be performed.
Also, my bet is Ivana Trump's gravesite is another source of possible storage. Too bad it's not considered a room and also not part of Mara Lago.
As soon as I heard that documents were missing, I was suspicious about her grave. Why would a cremated person need a regular (long) casket? There would be plenty of room for hiding his "buried treasure."
My friend was cremated. Her remains were in an urn, which was put in a box in a small grave. The headstone was larger than the hole they dug (sorry to sound so gross).
Not only that, but given that Trump's divorce wasn't THAT wonderful, why would he have her buried on his property? It's not like she was poor, and he would be too embarrassed to have her buried in a pauper's cemetery. And it's certainly not because he wanted her close by so he could visit often.
I am probably very wrong, but I was under the impression that it takes a court order to raise up and open a casket that's in a cemetery. I think it has to do with unhealthy or unsafe conditions of the remains. But since she's conveniently buried on private property, and SLY Mr. Trump has the means to influence friends in high places, no one has bothered to check her grave.
Wow, this is intriguing! A big coffin full of documents, on his golf course! So bizarre it might be true, except then he couldn't sell them. Evidently he liked having the documents around him, in boxes, even had them carried around so he could have access. They called his stash "his precious".
I think in later years tfg and Ivana became more friendly. She was certainly the brains and the drive behind his empire for many years. Thats why he did so well for a while. After the divorce, things fell apart. She was a smart, strategic, determined woman in an era of women being in the background.
Yup and it sounds like one of the many off the wall conspiracy theories circulating among tfg’s republican base. Can anyone say QAnon, Marjory Taylor Greene, Pizzagate, etc etc. Let’s not stoop to their level.
I think a search warrant , itemizing what you are searching for, ultimately gives permission to look for those items wherever they might be on the premises searched. For example: looking for a 3x4 foot painting, you are authorized to look into any place that would fit. You cannot look in a shoe box.
Ivana’s casket seemed to be extremely heavy to be only holding Ivana’s cremated remains. I’ve carried 3 people’s cremated remains, able to easily carry them in my hands. The weight, approximately 8 pounds maybe?? Stats say a cremated body on average weighs between 4-10 pounds. But unless that coffin was build like a cement filled lead box, 6 grown adult men shouldn’t have had any difficulty at all carrying it.
There is no way they weren’t in constant communication with the prosecutor. Andre Weissman says that is who would have taken the pass on the closet. Had the lock changed, g-u-i-l-t-y
I think a good part of any "delay" on DOJ's investigation and prosecution of trump's theft of classified documents, occurred because the trumper loyalists in his Secret Service team and within Bannon's DOJ needed to be rooted out first.
So hard to be patient while still waiting. Judge Cannon needs to be given a warning that she will be replaced if she doesn’t start going in a forward motion. I think everyone should know she is stalling for Trump.
I hope that they at least they know the name of the employee that changed the closet lock and can subpoena him and question him as to the amount of boxes that were stored there. I’m sure they are long gone by now.
So many ifs and appeals in the trials and then there is all the chaos happening daily.
Thank you for keeping us informed and explaining everything. You have been a beam of light in the fog.
Yuscil T’avéras - flipped. He moved the boxes and was privy to phone calls between Trump and his colleague Carlos DeOliveria. He gave false testimony with an attorney that was paid for by Trump, then decided he didn’t want to go to jail and flipped. He may be the source of information on the locked closet with lock change. My question is why the FBI didn’t have someone to open locks when they arrived. What did they expect, someone throwing rose petals down on the ground for them? You would think they would have the skill to open locks.
I agree. I find it extremely hard to believe that they wouldn't have learned to pick locks --- or kick in doors --- when they were at their training academy.
What if someone was kidnapped and locked up in a shed that had a padlock on the door? Makes me cringe to think they'd say, "Sorry, but we don't have a key! We'll have to wait for a locksmith!"
They have everything in their tool kit to blow the front door off of a Wells Fargo safe if it’s sitting in a drug king’s basement. Taking off a closet Lock is simple for them.
I didn't think of that. I'm sure that the FBI has had occasion to have to open the big safe of a bank or two, such as needing to rescue people locked inside. If they can open those safes, surely, as you say, they should have everything in their tool kits.
They would need all of 30 seconds to open a bank vault (no noise and safe). Not opening a locked office closet is nonsense. Someone told them not to do so.. They handled him with kid gloves.
Wonder who might have told them, probably using a not-so-subtle "suggestion" that they might want to change that lock ASAP, if they want to keep their job(s)?
I would venture to guess that there might be other nooks and crannies there that are still to be found, given how large that place is.
Meanwhile, I'm disappointed with those responsible for making sure everything was retrieved. I can't remember, but did law enforcement miss anything at Biden's house?
Judge Cannon has earned herself a recusal, no doubt. When will Jack Smith request it? As to the FBI agents misplaying their original search, that was a real Bozo Oh No that would equate to Alina Haba's abilities as an attorney. I'm pretty sure trump didn't hire her for anything other than her looks. How perfectly trumpy. Congrats to E. Jean Carroll on her trial win. I yield back my time.
Bill, unfortunately, the evidence will have to be very strong (not just procedural delays and pure incompetence that we have here) in order to convince the 11th Circuit to disqualify Judge Cannon. They can slap her down on interlocutory appeal as they have done already, but that takes precious time that the DOJ does not have. And when a motion to recuse is made by the more unhappy party, the judge is the one who decides whether or not to recuse oneself. They usually deny the motion, and all it accomplishes is to tick off the judge. There is no recourse.
Again, that is up to the judge with no interlocutory appeal of a denial, at least in state court. And, although I’m not well versed on federal motions, venue is conceivably nationwide in federal cases, and the DOJ decides where to convene the grand jury and to try the case. Recall the Special Counsel presented a portion of the Trump case to a DC grand jury and a portion of the case to the Fla. grand jury, and Judge Cannon ridiculously made that an issue. Such incompetence! Or maybe she is just grasping at legal straws to provide Trump lawyers more & more time to make their ridiculous motions.
Just to be fair, think how we feel when Trump wants a new judge or a new venue. We're glad its difficult to do those things. We're also stuck with the rigidity of the process, and this time its against us.
Grounds for recusal, Bill, : "The judge is only required to order recusal (or refer the matter over to another judge to decide whether recusal is necessary) if a reasonable person, knowing all the facts, would have doubts about the judge's ability to be impartial in the case.Dec 1, 2023", internet
I never saw them that way...but now...II'm completely appalled and disgusted with the FBI. They were supposed to be one of the "good guys" - no longer.
Or worse, on the wrong side, targeting the wrong people, with all the weapons at their disposal. I have to laugh whenever the FBI is portrayed as some liberal bastion of Democrats.
The man has many properties, plenty of places to stash things. There's little chance the goverment could search them all, plenty of chance that more classified documents are out there. However, far more were found than is necessary to prosecute the man and send him to jail for most or all of his remaining life, if we can only get around to it.
"Smart money" says it's DCC Judge Karen Henderson who's slowing down the process, while Judges Childs and Pan had been crafting opinions to meet Henderson's reservations on an across-the-board denial of immunity for an ex-president accused of crimes while president. Apparently, the "open the floodgates" argument stuck with Judge Henderson, and we *may* get a 2-1 majority dismissing his appeal, with a dissenting opinion sure to catch the attention of SCOTUS, ensuring much further delays in the trial. As David Kurtz, writing in the TPM "Morning Memo" has posited, the federal courts just aren't meeting the urgency of the moment, and are dilly-dallying as time is frittering away for the timeliness of tRump's criminal trials. Yes, it's the business of "justice delayed is justice denied", which has been tRump's strengths and the judicial systems weaknesses, at least in the DC Jan6 and FL docs cases.
In the matter of the business fraud case, it may well be that new information passed along by the court monitor, former judge Barbara Jones -who is overseeing the tRump Org's operations during the runup to Judge Engoron's final judgment - and which concerns a mysterious $48 million "loan" with poor documentation may well have slowed down the decision and ultimate penalties assessed. TRump has been well and truly nailed here in oth the Manhattan civil trials...sure, no jail time, but a boatload of swingeing financial assessments laid upon him, so there's that for those keeping score at home.
Thanks for this insight. News to me about the DC court of appeals.
I suspected the new info Engoron got last week was taking time to factor in, but tfg is going to get slammed, big time. The info basically says " he's still doing it!."
As far as it being a victimless crime- it isn't. Driving drunk at 100 mph is a victimless crime unless you hit someone. So according to this logic, do away with drunk driving laws and speed limits,, until the accidents happen?
Two things I've learned since 2016: a lot about the law, and that its possible to game the legal system, completely successfully, forever. Amazing.
Well, it’s official Trump is Batman’s most flagrant and idiotic criminal character.
What a Benny Hill period we’ve been going through. And at the end of the day it’s going to either help establish a determination to follow the law equally from the top down, or we will officially be viewed as the largest of the banana republics.
Tonight Andrew Weismann said it was the prosecutors in place before Smith got hired that made this decision not to cut off the new and obviously obstructing lock that Trump had put on the closet. The very weak Garland surely decided he didn’t want Trump to angrily and publicly post-“The deep state, rogue FBI even forcefully broke open my closet door in this terrible and illegal invasion of my home that Joe Biden himself ordered!” Same for the hidden room- the cowardly DOJ treated Trump with kid gloves for months before the search- and now we see that even during the search the DOJ/FBI failed in their sworn duty out of fear of Trump’s reaction. Malignant narcissist’s like Trump are masters at making their opponents be in constant anticipatory fear of their wrath. Even grown lawmen like Garland regress to frightened boys cowering before their angy father’s anticipated and inescapable punishment. Garland never would have gone after Trump by appointing Smith if the January 6th committee hadn’t made it impossible for him to avoid finally doing that, after a whole year of Garland failing in his duty as AG. Now we are faced with the trials not taking place before the election because of Garland’s lack of courage. Does anybody believe that if Joyce Vance had been AG that trump would not have been convicted by now?
We are going to win in November, presidency, bicameral Congress – all three. I would like to see Joyce as AG - because she would do what the American Public deserves: bring to task the shysters in Congress, who were behind Trump in instigating the insurrection. We need to see justice for that. They need to be brought to a trial in a court of law for their participation. She and Jack Smith and company would be a formidable team. Garland won’t want to continue as AG after all of this. We can help her move the chickens and the puppies and Tofu to DC.
After seeing the results of 'searches' the FBI and other law enforcement have conducted for far less serious crimes...i.e. ransacked premises...it's hard to imagine a locked closet not being pried open or broken into.
Shows to go you there is without doubt a multi-tier justice system. And trump is far from a victim of a 'weaponized' justice system. Most people would be sitting in jail for all the BS he has pulled and will continue to pull. It is unimaginable that he is even being considered as a candidate for POTUS let alone walking around a free man. How do you explain this to a child or to anyone with common sense?
Another fabulous article! Thank you, Joyce, for sharing your knowledge and EXPERTISE/EXPERIENCE with us! This business that the searching agents “missed” anything in a case of this magnitude against the most corrupt, despicable, dishonest, desperate, disgusting, disingenuous, incompetent, unethical and unfit president in American history absolutely astounds me! Although we have survived the bad presidents in the past, we won’t be so lucky IF trump CHEATS his way back into OUR White House!! We MUST rise up and defeat trump in LANDSLIDE proportions because we won’t even be free of this crapulous and morally bankrupt thug of a former president even when he dies. And on his way out, he is as nutty as a FRUITCAKE!! So the main stream media needs to LEAP on this!! Your eggs are simply too scrambled if you CANNOT tell and/or do not know the DIFFERENCE between Nancy Pelosi and Nikki Haley. These maga republicans MUST WAKE UP!!
In the meantime it still is not known exactly what and who he gave but more likely sold our Nation’s most critical security data to and what the effect (affect?)has already been and what else is coming.
As disturbing as this news is, it only reveals the prospect that even more incriminating evidence could have been seized. What's most troubling though is Judge Cannon's artifices to avoid this going to trial at all, and certainly not before the 2024 elections. We all know that if Trump is re-elected he'll have his AG shut down all cases against him and eject the Special Prosecutor. Given that all federal criminal cases against Trump would be suspended anyway as a matter of DOJ policy, it still leaves up in the air whether state criminal cases can proceed. In addition, I think it is settled law that pending civil cases against Trump can continue, such as Carroll's defamation case. More importantly. I know of no impediment to one or more civil cases proceeding or being instituted to disqualify Trump from either taking office or continuing to serve as President under the Insurrection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
I really do not want to hear that, Kay. Retired Judge Luttig, a Conservative, filed a brief, I think today, with Scotus arguing how they cannot ignore the language. If it takes a conservative judge to bring Trump’s reign to an end, so be it!
I understand, but he isn't the.one who has the authority to actually take action. We all make our opinions known and beg Congress to take action, but only those with that authority can make a real change. I haven't seen that type of action.
Kay, if SCOTUS rules in favor of Judge Luttig’s brief that is the action we need. That paves the way for all the governors and other states to remove Trump from the ballot.
Judge Luttig joined with other conservative legal scholarships in writing that amicus brief. A number of highly respected historical scholars also filed an amicus brief about the historical context and meaning of the language used.
Looks like Scalia would also have agreed.
However... takes a lot of courage to say he cannot run. Courage we have not seen. The explosion of rage would be felt around the world.
I expect them to weasel out, and for the liberal judges to think about quitting in disgust.
Judge Luttig was among the first of four conservative judges/attorneys with Federalist Society roots to publish editorials in law journals stating that Trump was not qualified to run under the 14th. Very happy Judge Luttig is following through. It’s great that it’s happening. However, we will win in November, with Joe reelected, both Senate and House in the bicameral Congress. Then we need to pursue every single one of those traitors in the Republican Party, who were part of the insurrection. We probably will have a new AG, because I think Merrick Garland is tired of the role. But I would love to see Joyce Vance. She would take them to task she and Jack Smith would have airtight cases.
PS - Trump lost another case that hasn’t been well published in the US. But he sued Christopher steel. The former spy, who wrote a dossier that had some salacious information regarding Trump in it, the judge in England throughout the case earlier today in London.
Bet he’s throwing his ketchup on the wall this morning. This had some very salacious information about Trump‘s behavior in Russia. I don’t know what else. But how could you damage a rapist’s reputation? I bet the Trump baby helium balloon is flying high outside the London courthouse this morning. If Robbie Kaplan puts a lien on the Scottish golf course, E. Jean will be knighted.
Good evening, Joyce. Does DOJ and/or Special Prosecutor have any recourse when the judge is the one obstructing justice?
Susan, While I’m no substitute for Joyce, I expect if judges are not blatantly in violation of prescribed procedures, they’re very much in control of how their assigned cases are prosecuted. That said, in my view, if none of the criminal cases are tried before the election, the fault will rest mostly with Merrick Garland, for whom there was sufficient evidentiary predication by Fall, 2021 to open up criminal investigations into both Trump and his coterie. Had Garland done so, the schedule, replete with anticipated delays, would have been less of an issue.
I am beyond frustrated too, and more than a little disgusted.
I did read, perhaps in comments on this substwck months ago, that one of the reasons Garland was slow was because there is simply no precedent for many of the charges against the orange cocksplat, and knowing what a political mess it was Garlands DoJ started at the bottom to establish a foundation of cases. I don't know if they had info re the missing documents right after drumpf absconded with them, but it took a damn long time to go look. And far too long to appoint a special counsel.
Jen, Because a blueprint for all of the criminal offenses that might have been committed by Trump and by others at the top had been laid out by Fall, 2021 by a number of scholars and former prosecutors, I had believed, and continue to believe, that having failed back then to hold the top-tiered J6 organizational structure accountable, at least to the point of being subject to full-blown criminal investigation, we are risking the loss of the world’s most enduring democracy predicated on the idea that no one is above the law.
and we're paying for this. Beyond sad.
Solange, As support for your remark, I would note Bloomberg and Morning Consult, based on a large sample of Republicans from swing states that likely would decide the presidential election—Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Nevada—, report that 23% of Republicans (nearly 1/5) said they would be unwilling to support Donald Trump for President if he were convicted in any one of the criminal trials he currently is facing.
100 percent, this.
Not Joyce here either but I've been following this as closely as I can understand and it seems Judge Aileen Cannon isn't necessarily obstructing justice as much as she is slow walking it. I think I've heard Joyce and others talk about what could be done and it seems that there are avenues that could be taken to remove her though that hasn't happened yet. Something something about eleventh circuit and things Jack Smith (who should always wear a cape in my opinion) could do.
Slow walking is putting it nicely...come on Jack, put on your cape and knock on the Eleventh Circut's door...time to get this show on the road. Past time, in my opinion.
Imagine how the Duck would squawk if that happened! "Judge" Cannon is the most effective attorney he's got.
What I don't understand is why they even bother with the very slow process of examining the classified documents. The documents themselves are not at issue -- it's just their classifications that matter. Their contents aren't evidence of anything.
Even the classification doesn't matter. Just that he took them , hid them, and refused to return them.
We all know this. But, plying this game adds to the delay tactics.
Playing
You are correct -- petty theft is a crime just as much as "mishandling classified documents".
I agree that at a minimum Cannon is slow walking the case, I do feel however that she is close to obstruction. Look back at her earlier rulings that the 11th Circuit overruled and criticized her for. It’s hard not make a comparison of her to Judge Chutkin. I’m not sure what Jack Smith is waiting for. I’ll trust he knows what he’s doing.
Regards the issue of the two overlooked areas by the FBI, I hope there is a thorough investigation. I know that there are/were sympathetic Secret Service agents to Trump. I hope it doesn’t turn out to be the case here. For me, the documents/espionage case is the more important case.
I have lost all hope that trump will be on trial and convicted in any of the cases before the election.
I agree that the documents case is the more important one. Somebody please point to any other citizen, in any other government capacity who could walk out with, deny possession of, hold onto and hide government documents after being advised by attorneys that they must be returned... and STILL not have been tried, convicted and locked up already. I am beyond gobsmacked.
And Cannon is supposed to be an educated person. That the real estate fraud rapist gets this deference is maddening.
It has caused me OUTRAGE! After all the harm he has caused over his 77 years that he will get away if not for murder on 5th Avenue, with NO consequences for any of it is UNBELIEVABLE!
His SS agents are very loyal to him, and I suspect more than a few FBI agents are trumpers. Especially if these agents were from the FL office.
Very true.
The DC case is set for March 4, but it hinges on getting the appeal on immunity decision from Judge Tan and colleagues at the 11th circuit court of appeals.
I have read yesterday that Judge Chutkin has removed the case from the March/April docket.
Sigh. Thank you Mike.
As a former federal magistrate judge, I can tell you that Judge Cannon has a huge amount of discretion in managing her calendar and indeed the case. And once the trial begins, the government will be virtually powerless to challenge any of her rulings on evidence, jury selection etc. If, as it appears, she is determined to put her thumb on the scale, she can do so with impunity. When I was an AUSA, I experienced this once during a trial and one of the two defendants was acquitted. The evidence in the Florida case is powerful, but I wonder how much the jury will actually hear.
I hate to "like" this comment, but appreciate the information.
That is very depressing.
It is! The government can ask her for pre-trial rulings on evidence, but she does not have to rule on them. If she does rule in advance of trial, the government can appeal.
It does seem she’s smart enough to stay just under the undeniable threshold, doesn’t it.
I don't trust her. This isn't nice to say, but then there's nothing nice about this case. Seems to me that she's more interested in pleasing her "precious client" than she is in doing what's right.
She may be a tiny bit smart but she's too immature --- and inexperienced --- to handle a case of this magnitude, and importance.
Good question.
Wonder if that is where the big white binder meadows had might be? On a brighter note i see where the trump suit brought against Mary Trump and the journalists who produced story about his financials was dismissed and he was ordered to pay their legal fees of nearly 400K. Ka- ching.. love it
But Mary Trump still has a lawsuit against Donald and her deceased aunt, right?
Yes. That part was not dismissed.
That’s great news.
Marky has the binder.
Hi Joyce,
I've wondered why the FBI hasn't requested a subpoena to search Trump's 757 jet. He can easily hide government top-secret materials he wanted to keep from having to return them to the National Archives.
What do you think?
Thanks!
Dorinekay@aol.com
Whoever was in charge of the search on site that day should be fired. Don't have the key - no problem- let's just move on. Another example of ineptness. Clearly no coordination between the FBI and Secret Service if they knew there was a hidden room and they didn't inform those searching of its existence.
Perhaps not only ineptitude but full complicity on behalf of trump.
I'm beginning to think the same thing about all of the delays in the cases yet to be started! Delay long enough and the cases will either not matter or the outcomes will have no effect especially if he can buy his way out instead of being given what every other citizen would be given. We do deserve speedy trials with appropriate punishment given. I feel like I'm reliving the Mueller investigation. We the People deserve much better!
I’m beginning to think and ACCEPT that the ONLY way to get rid of this evil fool is for the voters to vote. him. out. Assuming the Republicans are not successful in their relentless efforts to CHEAT in every state where they either are or have a chance at being in control. Imagine the scenario if the biggest loser loses AGAIN and then after losing, he becomes 1) broke from all his legal fees, with new lawsuits popping up every day 2) CONvicted, sentenced etc. He’s a disgusting disgrace to humanity, as is every single person who willfully enables him or remains willfully ignorant to what is happening in our country. May God help us (and yes, “acts of nature” are always a possibility).
We voted him out in 2020.
We already voted him out!!! Why do we keep forgetting that? When he loses again, we'll probably be in for more years of this toxicity. Its worked so far.
He has a seemingly endless supply of small donations from people who think he's a noble victim. Even if his political chances are zero, they will continue to love him. All he has to do is rant about two elections being stolen from him
Easy money.
I would like to awaken on November 6, 2024, with the completely opposite feelings of panic and dread that I did on the early morning of January 6, 2021. I imagine a grand conductor proclaiming trump's undeniable loss in the (valid) elections, Jack Smith's victory in the classified documents case, and the last of the civil cases sewed up with The Orange wearing ORANGE.
Hear, hear!!
All in favor, say "Aye."
At this point, when it comes to law enforcement of any kind, including the Secret Service and especially the FBI, I'm inclined to think "guilty until proven innocent." And that does not make me happy.
Some of the SS have seemed complicit for certain all along here. There’s protection for a president and then there’s screw the country and protect a person.
Seems to me that a DOJ attorney could have been on the horn with the FBI to address the locked closet and other issues in connection with the search according to the warrant that was crafted by the DOJ. I doubt if Trump’s loyal Secret Service agents wanted to be anywhere near the search scene, lest they be hanged, drawn & quartered by Trump.
I don’t understand why the FB I didn’t break into the closet, that would have been permissible if a key were not produced, same for the secret room. How do we know about a secret room and the FBI didn’t?
I agree with you. It's hard to believe that NONE of the Feds (FBI and SS) knew kick in a door. And then forget all about it. If John Doe was thought to be hiding an in important piece of evidence in a crime, you better believe that local (and state, if needed) would have kicked in locked doors, flipped mattresses, and torn the house upside down to find it.
For sure!
Good question, Dianne!
They couldve gotten an amended search warrant over the phone in 5 minutes.
If they even needed it!
Without going back to read what the warrant specifically says, using the word "room" instead of "place" to define an area to search, to me, leaves a big hole in where searches needed to be performed.
Also, my bet is Ivana Trump's gravesite is another source of possible storage. Too bad it's not considered a room and also not part of Mara Lago.
As soon as I heard that documents were missing, I was suspicious about her grave. Why would a cremated person need a regular (long) casket? There would be plenty of room for hiding his "buried treasure."
My friend was cremated. Her remains were in an urn, which was put in a box in a small grave. The headstone was larger than the hole they dug (sorry to sound so gross).
Not only that, but given that Trump's divorce wasn't THAT wonderful, why would he have her buried on his property? It's not like she was poor, and he would be too embarrassed to have her buried in a pauper's cemetery. And it's certainly not because he wanted her close by so he could visit often.
I am probably very wrong, but I was under the impression that it takes a court order to raise up and open a casket that's in a cemetery. I think it has to do with unhealthy or unsafe conditions of the remains. But since she's conveniently buried on private property, and SLY Mr. Trump has the means to influence friends in high places, no one has bothered to check her grave.
Wow, this is intriguing! A big coffin full of documents, on his golf course! So bizarre it might be true, except then he couldn't sell them. Evidently he liked having the documents around him, in boxes, even had them carried around so he could have access. They called his stash "his precious".
I think in later years tfg and Ivana became more friendly. She was certainly the brains and the drive behind his empire for many years. Thats why he did so well for a while. After the divorce, things fell apart. She was a smart, strategic, determined woman in an era of women being in the background.
I liked her! Didn't realize that she was the brains in the family. He has none, so it's good that at least SHE did.
Not sure that's so good! On the feminist front, would have been better for her to have her own company.
Don't know what her politics were, but she married into a racist family so maybe it would have been just as corrupt as his..
Without her brains, maybe he would have been exposed decades ago.
Wish she could have exposed him decades ago. She would certainly have done our country a wonderful service, don't you think?
Please, give us a break. This is farfetched nonsense.
Yup and it sounds like one of the many off the wall conspiracy theories circulating among tfg’s republican base. Can anyone say QAnon, Marjory Taylor Greene, Pizzagate, etc etc. Let’s not stoop to their level.
Wouldn't have thought of the grave, Lynell!
Yes nice detective work.. perfect
I think a search warrant , itemizing what you are searching for, ultimately gives permission to look for those items wherever they might be on the premises searched. For example: looking for a 3x4 foot painting, you are authorized to look into any place that would fit. You cannot look in a shoe box.
Ivana’s casket seemed to be extremely heavy to be only holding Ivana’s cremated remains. I’ve carried 3 people’s cremated remains, able to easily carry them in my hands. The weight, approximately 8 pounds maybe?? Stats say a cremated body on average weighs between 4-10 pounds. But unless that coffin was build like a cement filled lead box, 6 grown adult men shouldn’t have had any difficulty at all carrying it.
There is no way they weren’t in constant communication with the prosecutor. Andre Weissman says that is who would have taken the pass on the closet. Had the lock changed, g-u-i-l-t-y
He looked pretty stricken when they were talking about the failure of the fbi to open the closet or know about the hidden room
Who did?
If they came to our house they would have no problem taking the door off its hinges..different strokes for different folks eh?
I think a good part of any "delay" on DOJ's investigation and prosecution of trump's theft of classified documents, occurred because the trumper loyalists in his Secret Service team and within Bannon's DOJ needed to be rooted out first.
So hard to be patient while still waiting. Judge Cannon needs to be given a warning that she will be replaced if she doesn’t start going in a forward motion. I think everyone should know she is stalling for Trump.
I hope that they at least they know the name of the employee that changed the closet lock and can subpoena him and question him as to the amount of boxes that were stored there. I’m sure they are long gone by now.
So many ifs and appeals in the trials and then there is all the chaos happening daily.
Thank you for keeping us informed and explaining everything. You have been a beam of light in the fog.
Yuscil T’avéras - flipped. He moved the boxes and was privy to phone calls between Trump and his colleague Carlos DeOliveria. He gave false testimony with an attorney that was paid for by Trump, then decided he didn’t want to go to jail and flipped. He may be the source of information on the locked closet with lock change. My question is why the FBI didn’t have someone to open locks when they arrived. What did they expect, someone throwing rose petals down on the ground for them? You would think they would have the skill to open locks.
I agree. I find it extremely hard to believe that they wouldn't have learned to pick locks --- or kick in doors --- when they were at their training academy.
What if someone was kidnapped and locked up in a shed that had a padlock on the door? Makes me cringe to think they'd say, "Sorry, but we don't have a key! We'll have to wait for a locksmith!"
They have everything in their tool kit to blow the front door off of a Wells Fargo safe if it’s sitting in a drug king’s basement. Taking off a closet Lock is simple for them.
I didn't think of that. I'm sure that the FBI has had occasion to have to open the big safe of a bank or two, such as needing to rescue people locked inside. If they can open those safes, surely, as you say, they should have everything in their tool kits.
They would need all of 30 seconds to open a bank vault (no noise and safe). Not opening a locked office closet is nonsense. Someone told them not to do so.. They handled him with kid gloves.
Wonder who might have told them, probably using a not-so-subtle "suggestion" that they might want to change that lock ASAP, if they want to keep their job(s)?
I would venture to guess that there might be other nooks and crannies there that are still to be found, given how large that place is.
Meanwhile, I'm disappointed with those responsible for making sure everything was retrieved. I can't remember, but did law enforcement miss anything at Biden's house?
Judge Cannon has earned herself a recusal, no doubt. When will Jack Smith request it? As to the FBI agents misplaying their original search, that was a real Bozo Oh No that would equate to Alina Haba's abilities as an attorney. I'm pretty sure trump didn't hire her for anything other than her looks. How perfectly trumpy. Congrats to E. Jean Carroll on her trial win. I yield back my time.
Bill, unfortunately, the evidence will have to be very strong (not just procedural delays and pure incompetence that we have here) in order to convince the 11th Circuit to disqualify Judge Cannon. They can slap her down on interlocutory appeal as they have done already, but that takes precious time that the DOJ does not have. And when a motion to recuse is made by the more unhappy party, the judge is the one who decides whether or not to recuse oneself. They usually deny the motion, and all it accomplishes is to tick off the judge. There is no recourse.
Then he'll just ask for a change of venue.
Again, that is up to the judge with no interlocutory appeal of a denial, at least in state court. And, although I’m not well versed on federal motions, venue is conceivably nationwide in federal cases, and the DOJ decides where to convene the grand jury and to try the case. Recall the Special Counsel presented a portion of the Trump case to a DC grand jury and a portion of the case to the Fla. grand jury, and Judge Cannon ridiculously made that an issue. Such incompetence! Or maybe she is just grasping at legal straws to provide Trump lawyers more & more time to make their ridiculous motions.
All the more reason for her to be replaced. She is compromised for one and two, she is inexperienced in a high-profile case such as this one.
Agree!
Laura, I think it’s the latter in the case of Cannon asking why Jack Smith used DC grand jury evidence in the document case. She is dumb like a fox.
Just to be fair, think how we feel when Trump wants a new judge or a new venue. We're glad its difficult to do those things. We're also stuck with the rigidity of the process, and this time its against us.
Hi Bill, Jack Smith had an ex parte briefing with Cannon this past week. So depending on the results of that he may ask for the recusal.
Fingers crossed.
Good to know, Valere!
Grounds for recusal, Bill, : "The judge is only required to order recusal (or refer the matter over to another judge to decide whether recusal is necessary) if a reasonable person, knowing all the facts, would have doubts about the judge's ability to be impartial in the case.Dec 1, 2023", internet
I really hate it when the FBI turns out to be what I considered them 50 years ago: Fools & Buffoons, Inc.
Or Fumbling, Bungling Inc.
That's good!
I never saw them that way...but now...II'm completely appalled and disgusted with the FBI. They were supposed to be one of the "good guys" - no longer.
Or worse, on the wrong side, targeting the wrong people, with all the weapons at their disposal. I have to laugh whenever the FBI is portrayed as some liberal bastion of Democrats.
The man has many properties, plenty of places to stash things. There's little chance the goverment could search them all, plenty of chance that more classified documents are out there. However, far more were found than is necessary to prosecute the man and send him to jail for most or all of his remaining life, if we can only get around to it.
"Smart money" says it's DCC Judge Karen Henderson who's slowing down the process, while Judges Childs and Pan had been crafting opinions to meet Henderson's reservations on an across-the-board denial of immunity for an ex-president accused of crimes while president. Apparently, the "open the floodgates" argument stuck with Judge Henderson, and we *may* get a 2-1 majority dismissing his appeal, with a dissenting opinion sure to catch the attention of SCOTUS, ensuring much further delays in the trial. As David Kurtz, writing in the TPM "Morning Memo" has posited, the federal courts just aren't meeting the urgency of the moment, and are dilly-dallying as time is frittering away for the timeliness of tRump's criminal trials. Yes, it's the business of "justice delayed is justice denied", which has been tRump's strengths and the judicial systems weaknesses, at least in the DC Jan6 and FL docs cases.
In the matter of the business fraud case, it may well be that new information passed along by the court monitor, former judge Barbara Jones -who is overseeing the tRump Org's operations during the runup to Judge Engoron's final judgment - and which concerns a mysterious $48 million "loan" with poor documentation may well have slowed down the decision and ultimate penalties assessed. TRump has been well and truly nailed here in oth the Manhattan civil trials...sure, no jail time, but a boatload of swingeing financial assessments laid upon him, so there's that for those keeping score at home.
Thanks for this insight. News to me about the DC court of appeals.
I suspected the new info Engoron got last week was taking time to factor in, but tfg is going to get slammed, big time. The info basically says " he's still doing it!."
As far as it being a victimless crime- it isn't. Driving drunk at 100 mph is a victimless crime unless you hit someone. So according to this logic, do away with drunk driving laws and speed limits,, until the accidents happen?
Two things I've learned since 2016: a lot about the law, and that its possible to game the legal system, completely successfully, forever. Amazing.
His clothing just keeps getting shabbier and falling away.
Soon it will be just him and his diaper 🤷♂️
Well, it’s official Trump is Batman’s most flagrant and idiotic criminal character.
What a Benny Hill period we’ve been going through. And at the end of the day it’s going to either help establish a determination to follow the law equally from the top down, or we will officially be viewed as the largest of the banana republics.
Dang, I so miss Benny Hill!
Yes!
Tonight Andrew Weismann said it was the prosecutors in place before Smith got hired that made this decision not to cut off the new and obviously obstructing lock that Trump had put on the closet. The very weak Garland surely decided he didn’t want Trump to angrily and publicly post-“The deep state, rogue FBI even forcefully broke open my closet door in this terrible and illegal invasion of my home that Joe Biden himself ordered!” Same for the hidden room- the cowardly DOJ treated Trump with kid gloves for months before the search- and now we see that even during the search the DOJ/FBI failed in their sworn duty out of fear of Trump’s reaction. Malignant narcissist’s like Trump are masters at making their opponents be in constant anticipatory fear of their wrath. Even grown lawmen like Garland regress to frightened boys cowering before their angy father’s anticipated and inescapable punishment. Garland never would have gone after Trump by appointing Smith if the January 6th committee hadn’t made it impossible for him to avoid finally doing that, after a whole year of Garland failing in his duty as AG. Now we are faced with the trials not taking place before the election because of Garland’s lack of courage. Does anybody believe that if Joyce Vance had been AG that trump would not have been convicted by now?
We are going to win in November, presidency, bicameral Congress – all three. I would like to see Joyce as AG - because she would do what the American Public deserves: bring to task the shysters in Congress, who were behind Trump in instigating the insurrection. We need to see justice for that. They need to be brought to a trial in a court of law for their participation. She and Jack Smith and company would be a formidable team. Garland won’t want to continue as AG after all of this. We can help her move the chickens and the puppies and Tofu to DC.
After seeing the results of 'searches' the FBI and other law enforcement have conducted for far less serious crimes...i.e. ransacked premises...it's hard to imagine a locked closet not being pried open or broken into.
Shows to go you there is without doubt a multi-tier justice system. And trump is far from a victim of a 'weaponized' justice system. Most people would be sitting in jail for all the BS he has pulled and will continue to pull. It is unimaginable that he is even being considered as a candidate for POTUS let alone walking around a free man. How do you explain this to a child or to anyone with common sense?
Another fabulous article! Thank you, Joyce, for sharing your knowledge and EXPERTISE/EXPERIENCE with us! This business that the searching agents “missed” anything in a case of this magnitude against the most corrupt, despicable, dishonest, desperate, disgusting, disingenuous, incompetent, unethical and unfit president in American history absolutely astounds me! Although we have survived the bad presidents in the past, we won’t be so lucky IF trump CHEATS his way back into OUR White House!! We MUST rise up and defeat trump in LANDSLIDE proportions because we won’t even be free of this crapulous and morally bankrupt thug of a former president even when he dies. And on his way out, he is as nutty as a FRUITCAKE!! So the main stream media needs to LEAP on this!! Your eggs are simply too scrambled if you CANNOT tell and/or do not know the DIFFERENCE between Nancy Pelosi and Nikki Haley. These maga republicans MUST WAKE UP!!
Syphilitic Dementia.
Yes, tertiary syphilis can be devastating. Usually it's the sight that goes first. But it's not uncommon to affect the brain first.
It did with Al Capone.
lol!!
In the meantime it still is not known exactly what and who he gave but more likely sold our Nation’s most critical security data to and what the effect (affect?)has already been and what else is coming.
Let Congress pass a bill stating that no Presidential Election until candidate either acquitted or convicted! What a thought!
Is it possible that the NY Civil Fraud Case is held up by the possibility that Trump's former finance chief, Alan Weisselberg is negotiating a guilty plea to lying on the stand during the fraud trial? See NYT https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/01/nyregion/weisselberg-perjury-trump-fraud.html
As disturbing as this news is, it only reveals the prospect that even more incriminating evidence could have been seized. What's most troubling though is Judge Cannon's artifices to avoid this going to trial at all, and certainly not before the 2024 elections. We all know that if Trump is re-elected he'll have his AG shut down all cases against him and eject the Special Prosecutor. Given that all federal criminal cases against Trump would be suspended anyway as a matter of DOJ policy, it still leaves up in the air whether state criminal cases can proceed. In addition, I think it is settled law that pending civil cases against Trump can continue, such as Carroll's defamation case. More importantly. I know of no impediment to one or more civil cases proceeding or being instituted to disqualify Trump from either taking office or continuing to serve as President under the Insurrection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
I don't think we have anyone brave enough or maybe ethical enough to use the 14th Amendment in the manner it was intended.
I really do not want to hear that, Kay. Retired Judge Luttig, a Conservative, filed a brief, I think today, with Scotus arguing how they cannot ignore the language. If it takes a conservative judge to bring Trump’s reign to an end, so be it!
I understand, but he isn't the.one who has the authority to actually take action. We all make our opinions known and beg Congress to take action, but only those with that authority can make a real change. I haven't seen that type of action.
Kay, if SCOTUS rules in favor of Judge Luttig’s brief that is the action we need. That paves the way for all the governors and other states to remove Trump from the ballot.
Judge Luttig joined with other conservative legal scholarships in writing that amicus brief. A number of highly respected historical scholars also filed an amicus brief about the historical context and meaning of the language used.
Looks like Scalia would also have agreed.
However... takes a lot of courage to say he cannot run. Courage we have not seen. The explosion of rage would be felt around the world.
I expect them to weasel out, and for the liberal judges to think about quitting in disgust.
Judge Luttig was among the first of four conservative judges/attorneys with Federalist Society roots to publish editorials in law journals stating that Trump was not qualified to run under the 14th. Very happy Judge Luttig is following through. It’s great that it’s happening. However, we will win in November, with Joe reelected, both Senate and House in the bicameral Congress. Then we need to pursue every single one of those traitors in the Republican Party, who were part of the insurrection. We probably will have a new AG, because I think Merrick Garland is tired of the role. But I would love to see Joyce Vance. She would take them to task she and Jack Smith would have airtight cases.
PS - Trump lost another case that hasn’t been well published in the US. But he sued Christopher steel. The former spy, who wrote a dossier that had some salacious information regarding Trump in it, the judge in England throughout the case earlier today in London.
Bet he’s throwing his ketchup on the wall this morning. This had some very salacious information about Trump‘s behavior in Russia. I don’t know what else. But how could you damage a rapist’s reputation? I bet the Trump baby helium balloon is flying high outside the London courthouse this morning. If Robbie Kaplan puts a lien on the Scottish golf course, E. Jean will be knighted.
Trump called the dossier a ‘witch hunt.’
You are right. If that happens. Mighty big IF.