The Week Ahead

Sunday, October 23, 2022

There’s a lot coming in the week ahead. As you already know, the criminal trial of the Trump Organization in Manhattan starts on Monday. The big issue is whether information will come to light in the course of the proceedings that ties Trump directly to crimes involving manipulation of valuations to assure favorable treatment for taxes, loans and insurance. Long time and now-former CFO Allen Weisselberg will be testifying for the government as part of his plea deal to these charges. If Weisselberg isn’t truthful on the witness stand, his deal will be off and he could be looking at long years in prison. So, what did Trump know and what did Trump do? He’s as yet uncharged in this case but Trump Org has an awfully small front office and Trump reportedly held everything in tight control. I’ll be watching that all week.

There are other important events to keep our eyes on as well.

Lindsey Graham REALLY doesn’t want to testify in front of the Fulton County, Georgia district attorney’s grand jury. So much so, that after getting walloped by the 11th Circuit, which told him that he had to show up to testify, he tried to get the Supreme Court to hear his case.

You can read the full 11th Circuit order here. Graham is represented by former White House counsel Don McGahn.

As with Trump’s effort to get SCOTUS to intervene in the Mar-a-Lago investigation, Graham’s Emergency Application for Stay and Injunction Pending Appeal goes first to Justice Clarence Thomas, the Circuit Justice for the 11th Circuit. Justice Thomas has asked for a response brief from Fulton County by Thursday at 5pm Eastern.

There is literally no reason to reverse the well-reasoned decision by the 11th Circuit panel, which included two judges appointed by Trump. Thomas could reject Graham’s petition on his own, or refer it to the full Court, which would be under no obligation to take it up. As with Trump, they could decline to hear the case. That would clear the path for Graham to testify, consistent with the earlier ruling from the district court in this case, which you may recall was a “partial quashal”:

“Senator Lindsey Graham’s Supplemental Motion to Quash [40] is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. Senator Graham may not be questioned about investigatory fact-finding that allegedly took place on the phone calls with Georgia election officials because such fact-finding constitutes protected legislative activity. Specifically, this means that Senator Graham cannot be questioned as to any information-gathering questions he posed (or why he posed them) about Georgia’s then-existing election procedures or allegations of voter fraud. Senator Graham’s Motion is otherwise denied as to all other topics addressed in his brief and discussed in the sections above. In sum, and as explained above, Senator Graham may be questioned about any alleged efforts to ‘cajole’ or encourage Secretary Raffensperger or other Georgia election officials to throw out ballots or otherwise alter Georgia’s election practices and procedures. Likewise, the grand jury may inquire into Senator Graham’s alleged communications and coordination with the Trump Campaign and its post-election efforts in Georgia, as well as into Senator Graham’s public statements related to Georgia’s 2020 elections.”

Thomas could still, one supposes, grant Graham relief from testifying. But that would be highly suspect under the circumstances, given his bride’s well-known flirtation with efforts of her own to interfere with the outcome of the election.

***

Multiple news outlets have now confirmed initial reporting that documents found at Mar-a-Lago included classified intelligence regarding Iran and China. If you’re thinking any other citizen who did this would already be in custody, you’re not wrong.

This is the sort of intelligence collection that requires human intelligence or very advanced electronic collection skills. And obviously, if it’s revealed (or traded or sold) to one of the countries in question or someone else in the intelligence game, our sources and methods are compromised, and we are less safe.

It’s hard to imagine why anyone would hang onto these documents after leaving office if they didn’t intend to make some use of them. But at least for now, there is no public information suggesting the documents made their way into the hands of third parties. Nonetheless, the mere fact that such sensitive information has been treated so cavalierly and it’s taken us so long to track this down, let alone do anything about it, isn’t a confidence builder for folks who currently provide or might in the future provide us with information that is critical to national security. Trump’s conduct has already damaged us, and we are less safe.

Expect more on this as the week gets underway. And a reminder that DOJ’s much vaunted 60-day hands off period before an election is meant to avoid influencing the outcome of that election. Trump is not on the ballot and time’s a-wasting.

***

Voter intimidation tactics, used in the civil rights area at majority black polling places to keep people from voting, should have been long ago consigned to the dustbin of history. But of course, they haven’t been. They’ve just morphed into less overt (in most cases) forms of voter suppression.

Example: Postcards are mailed into black neighborhoods, telling them their day to vote is the Wednesday following the election.

Example: Postcards are mailed into black neighborhoods advising people their polling place has been changed—to a non-existent location—when in fact, no change has been made.

The tactics are endless. We’ve seen signs of them in Florida, where Governor DeSantis initiated high profile arrests of people who were led to believe their voting rights had been restored after former felony convictions. That sort of activity may cause other people to have concerns about whether it’s safe for them to vote, ultimately suppressing their exercise of their rights. That has long been the real problem in our elections; it’s not fraud that’s the problem, , it’s the enormous amount of suppression that takes place.

But everything old seems to be new again these days, and so we’re seeing a return to the overt, masked and armed sort of presence used to intimidate minority voters from casting their ballots. There have been multiple reports from Arizona, including one where a voter filed a complaint accusing ‘camo clad people’ of taking pictures as they were dropping off an early ballot in Maricopa County, and the one pictured below.

Nicole Grigg @NicoleSGrigg

BREAKING: @mcsoaz tells @abc15 they are looking into several individuals watching a voter drop box in Mesa, AZ. I’m told they have magazine clips, dressed in tactical gear, fully disguised. @Garrett_Archer Video:

According to Arizona PBS, DOJ spokesperson Aryele Bradford confirmed the department had received a referral from Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs’ office regarding one or more of these incidents, but wouldn’t comment further.

And there are also reports of voter intimidation in Georgia, where Stacey Abrams is in a neck and neck race for Governor with Brian Kemp, while Herschel Walker inexplicably remains close to incumbent Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock in that race.

DOJ has criminal authority over these efforts to intimidate voters, and while some of it is for misdemeanors (crimes that are punishable by up to a year in prison), in some circumstances, the conduct can be a felony. DOJ has filed lots of lawsuits to protect voters’ rights and has filed statements of interest in pending private litigation, which is similar to private parties filing amicus briefs in litigation. DOJ also plans to deploy election monitors in November. It’s an aggressive 360 degree strategy lead by former civil rights litigator Vanita Gupta, who is know the associate attorney general and Kristen Clarke who heads the civil rights division. There is no reason to believe they would not use criminal statutes to protect voters where appropriate.

***

I hope this information is helpful during the week ahead of us. Civil Discourse will be five months old early next month and I continue to be grateful for the support that lets me commit time to this work and for the amazing insight I get from all of your comments and emails! As always, I’ll be back as events develop during the week.

I took my own advice and had friends over Friday night to write postcards to voters. We had a really good time. It felt nice to be doing something positive. There’s still time if you’re interested.

We’re in this together,

Joyce