This powerful, hope-imparting 12-minute overview from #Maddow gave me back my foundation.
It reminded me of my personal responsibility to support election workers, court workers, and others who are doing the dangerous job of keeping our #legal system functioning.
It reminded me not to be cowed.
If it does the same for you, maybe #boost this so others get the same inspiration.
Since the verdict, various politicians and pundits have advanced arguments suggesting that Trump's convictions were illegitimate, unfair, or inconsequential.
In this thread, I will dismantle these one by one. #legal
The latest #doxxing attempt fits a pattern of #threats against people who speak out against Trump.
The addresses & phone numbers of fmr Trump lawyer Cohen's family members were posted to a doxxing website after Trump was #convicted of 34 #felony counts in connection w/a scheme to illegally #influence the #2016election.
#MichaelCohen, #Trump's fmr "fixer," played a key role in the plot to silence adult film actor #StormyDaniels during the 2016 election & testified against Trump….
Phone numbers & addresses for Cohen's wife & #children were posted early Mon on a site that has been used to target other figures involved in Trump’s various #legal issues….
“What sad times we are living through when people resort to this type of doxxing stupidity to redress their grievances,” Cohen said….
Whether a sitting president can be tried in a state court is an untested #legal matter that is sure to be fought out in higher courts.
4 of #Trump’s 19 original co-defendants have already pleaded #guilty & taken deals w/the prosecution, including #SidneyPowell & Kenneth #Chesebro, a legal architect of the plan to deploy #FakeElectors who has become a witness in 5 different state election inquiries.
9 #witnesses in the #criminal cases against #Trump have received significant financial benefits, including large raises from his campaign, severance packages, new jobs, & a grant of shares & cash from Trump’s media co.
These pay increases & other benefits often came at delicate moments in the #legal proceedings against #Trump. One aide who was given a plum position on the board of Trump’s social media company, for example, got the seat after he was subpoenaed but before he testified. 👀
Significant changes to a staffer’s work situation, such as bonuses, pay raises, firings or promotions, can be #evidence of a #crime if they come outside the normal course of business.
Mark (tentatively) October 4th on your calendars for oral arguments in #Trump’s appeal of Judge McAfee’s order denying the disqualification of Fulton County DA #FaniWillis. #legal
Big show of family support on the 1st day of #HunterBiden’s trial.
In addition to #POTUS’ statement, Hunter’s wife, Melissa Cohen, his sister Ashley Biden, his friend Kevin Morris, Peter Neal, who is married to Hunter’s daughter Naomi, & #FLOTUS Dr. #JillBiden are in attendance.
President #Biden will be in Wilmington, DL, w/no appearances scheduled. But he has given no indication that he would be in the courthouse — a possibility that would require considerable security arrangements.
Judge Maryellen Noreika swore in 12 #jurors — + 4 alternates — to determine the #legal fate of #HunterBiden, who is on trial for 3 #felony#gun charges….
A substitute #teacher, a fmr #SecretService employee & multiple #GunOwners were among those chosen to report back to court Tues morning, when opening arguments are expected to begin.…Most were people of color, &…appeared to range from mid-20s to 70s.
"This Article examines the growing number of soon-to-be-ubiquitous constellations of small satellites and the special problems they pose. It also suggests some legal reforms to combat the dilemmas and temper an otherwise dangerous renewal of an unconstrained and unproductive international race to space."
"The case started with 5 women the state’s #abortion ban stopped from getting medical care for their complicated pregnancies. The case has since grown to include 20 women and two doctors.
In August, a judge issued an injunction allowing Texans with complicated pregnancies to get an abortion if their doctor made a 'good faith judgment' that it was necessary.
The #Texas Supreme Court overturned that ruling today." #legal
Speaking on Fox, #MikeJohnson said he knew some of the justices on #SCOTUS personally [I bet he does] & believed that they shared his view that #Trump was a victim of unfair & politically motivated [fair & impartial] prosecutions. He also suggested that the #legal system was biased against Trump & other conservatives [I mean, c’mon, seriously?].
Judge #Cannon is giving #Trump's legal team and the government 12 days to tell her how the SCOTUS decision upholding the CFPB's funding/appointment impacts Trump's claim that #JackSmith was unlawfully appointed and funded...
Each page yesterday took him just a little more than a minute, so this will take >30 mins.
Between that & the testimony readbacks, also expected to take >30 mins, there will likely be >1 hour this morning w/the jury in the courtroom, not actively deliberating.
Next the court reporters read the second part of David #Pecker’s #testimony that the #jurors asked to hear, where he explains that he decided he did not want to be repaid for #KarenMcDougal’s story after purchasing it. The implication was that he was concerned about the #legal consequences of accepting a reimbursement - he testified that the concern was regarding FEC violations.
The prohibition against jurors being provided a copy of written #legal instructions comes from a 1987 decision by the #NewYork Court of Appeals in #PeopleVOwens.
The court found that “the distribution of written instructions to the jury is not expressly authorized by #law, & error in such submissions cannot be deemed harmless,” meaning: providing instructions would result in a #conviction being #overturned.
The pre-sentencing report can also include submissions from the defense, & may describe whether “the defendant is in a counseling program or has a steady job”
HAPPENING NOW: The jury says it wants Merchan to begin the instructions with the part about how they are supposed to consider the evidence and draw inferences -- including the metaphor about how if the ground is wet in the AM, you can infer it rained over night.
9 days after #Trump won the 2016 election, …the Mayflower Hotel, blocks from the WH,…[was] abuzz w/the possibilities of a future that changed overnight. #HillaryClinton, the woman the anti- #abortion movement feared more than perhaps anyone, failed to win…. And #LeonardLeo & the #conservative#legal movement that he worked for yrs to create were about to reclaim #power. With that power would come the chance to do what seemed unthinkable until this moment: strategize to take down #RoeVWade.
Tues 29 May 2024 🧵
Good morning! It’s the last day of the #TrumpTrial before jury #deliberations.
Today Justice #Merchan will give #JuryInstructions. Then they will discuss the case among themselves for the first time; they have not been allowed to even discuss it w/each other as yet.
Closing arguments took place yesterday, & the lawyers will have no further opportunity to address the jurors before they determine whether #Trump is #guilty or not guilty of 34 felonies.
When things finally get under way, Justice #Merchan will describe the #legal meaning of the word “#intent” & the concept of the presumption of innocence. He will remind the #jurors that they pledged to set any biases aside against #Trump before they were sworn in, & that Trump’s decision not to testify cannot be held against him.
Then, Justice Merchan will explain the 34 charges of falsifying business records. It will be the most important guidance that he gives during this #TrumpTrial.
Justice #Merchan reminds the #jurors they need to “set aside” personal opinions or bias against #Trump.
He reads standard #legal language on #fairness, one phrase: “As a juror, you are asked to make a very important decision about another member of the community.”
An unintentional reminder that this is #CitizenTrump — just “another member of the community.”
Prosecution argued all of the records were related to reimbursements to #MichaelCohen for the #HushMoney. Defense argues they were for legal services, an argument #Trump has contradicted before in #legal filings & elsewhere.
#Merchan gets to the 34th count — a check dated Dec. 5, 2017. He repeats the definition of falsifying business records, giving jurors a chance to process the complex charges, where each single count includes within it at least 2 other potential crimes.
#Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection w/a #HushMoney payment made to a porn star to influence the 2016 election. The case could be in the jury’s hands as early as Wed.
#Steinglass addresses Blanche’s earlier point that #MichaelCohen did other #legal work for #Trump in 2017. He argues that Cohen did <10 hrs of legal work that year & says Cohen spent more time being cross-examined during this trial than he spent doing legal work in 2017.
Steinglass argues that, if the defense's arguments that Cohen was being paid for legal services held up, Trump would have ended up paying Cohen at a rate that would have added up to >$100M annually.
#Steinglass notes that #Trump himself has, several times in several places, “admitted” that the payments to #MichaelCohen were reimbursements, not payments for #legal services. This might not be a devastating argument for the defense if they’d proposed an alternative theory of the case. But instead they argued the $420k sent to Cohen was in fact a payment for legal services, so these admissions from Trump himself are not good for him.