Juicy

by JanieM

Not that these are hard to find, but maybe it's helpful to have them together in a convenient place:

UNITED STATES’ RESPONSE TO MOTION FOR JUDICIAL OVERSIGHT AND ADDITIONAL RELIEF

Amicus brief filed by some (former?) prosecutors and former NJ gov Christine Whitman (why her? I don't know).

There are lots of delicious zingers even on a quick skim, including this:

Indeed, to allow a former president to use a claim of executive privilege to undermine the work of a current president would undermine the very purpose of executive privilege: to ensure that the Executive Branch can effectively discharge its constitutional powers.

I was wondering a few days ago who would get to be the referee if former presidents had executive privilege -- there are what, four of them alive right now? And the current executive in the mix of privilege as well?

Of course Clickbait thinks he's still the president, so no doubt he sees no complications here, even assuming he were capable of seeing complications that disfavor his omnipotent self.

I've been pulling quotes since these became available last night, but I've got commitments this morning and can't really dig in unti llater.

Comments

[JanieM]

Okay, one more quote, because of both the content and the shade. It's like okay, let's put this in terms a five-year-old should be able to understand:

As an initial matter, the former President lacks standing to seek judicial relief or oversight as to Presidential records because those records do not belong to him.

[Snarki, child of Loki]

Too bad TFG has the understanding of a 3 year old.

[Girl from the North Country]

I also loved how they spell out the numbers of classified docs found (more this time as I recall, I'm not going back in to check) after TFG's lawyers confirmed that he had handed over all classified docs last time.

I have to say, it does look to me as if the DOJ is handling this pretty impeccably. I wish Garland was on the SCOTUS, but by God he's doing his duty for his country where he is.

[wj]

Of course Clickbait thinks he's still the president

Incorrect. Presidents are subject to judicial oversight, and to laws made by Congress. What he thinks he is that he's God. (Necessarily a monotheistic one, since he admits to no peers.)

[wj]

Another juice quote:

the FBI uncovered multiple sources of evidence indicating that the response to the May 11 grand jury subpoena was incomplete and that classified documents remained at the Premises, notwithstanding the sworn certification made to the government on June 3. In particular, the government developed evidence that a search limited to the Storage Room would not have uncovered all the classified documents at the Premises. The government also developed evidence that government records were likely concealed and removed from the Storage Room and that efforts were likely taken to obstruct the government’s investigation. [Emphasis added]

That's pretty much a flat assertion of obstruction. (Without, quite, saying that they have a witness willing to testify to that effect.)

[russell]

The truth is, these are not very bright people, and things got out of hand.

[wj]

Watching Trump's attorneys does give one a much reduced idea of what it takes to pass law school. Most of them seem barely smart enough to pound sand.

[JanieM]

wj -- I think passing the bar is harder than getting the degree per se. But that involves masses of stuff to memorize more than it involves smarts. (Whatever they are. :-) )

[wj]

Janie, I suppose it's also possible (you would know better than I) that they were able to get thru the exam strictly on short term memory. That would explain their apparent ignorance of some pretty basic legal principles -- things that even this non-lawyer is aware of.

[Michael Cain]

I was wondering a few days ago who would get to be the referee if former presidents had executive privilege -- there are what, four of them alive right now? And the current executive in the mix of privilege as well?

None of them can have executive privilege as the term is normally understood -- executive privilege means the executive branch is entitled to go about some of its business without reporting every detail to Congress or the public. Eg, Dick Cheney's successful claim that the energy task force he chaired did not have to reveal which people they may have consulted. Retired presidents are no longer part of the executive branch, and the DOJ is neither Congress nor the public.

Trump, along with many of his followers, has demanded the courts recognize a new personal privilege for former presidents protecting them from actions taken by the executive branch.

[wj]

What difference does a Trump endorsement make? Especially when combined with rank choice voting.

We finally know what happen in Alaska's special election last month:
Democrat Mary Peltola wins special U.S. House election, will be first Alaska Native elected to Congress

Two points about this. First, Alaska's Congressional seat has been held by a Republican since the early 1970s. (Actually, full disclosure, by the same guy the whole time.)

Second, while Peltola got 40% of voters first rank votes, both the second and third places for 1st rank votes were Republicans. With Trump-endorsed Palin well ahead. So obviously a lot of Republican voters (for the 3rd place guy) ended up going for a Democrat as their second choice over someone with a Trump endorsement.

[JanieM]

Retired presidents are no longer part of the executive branch, and the DOJ is neither Congress nor the public.

Yes, my wondering about it was snarky, but I didn't make that clear. The whole thing is ridiculous.

I suppose it's also possible (you would know better than I) that they were able to get thru the exam strictly on short term memory.

I suppose that's possible, but I saw someone in a BJ comment thread speculate that his lawyers are actually not talking for the court, they're talking for his cult followers. And/or (say I) they have to do what he says or else.

[wj]

speculate that his lawyers are actually not talking for the court, they're talking for his cult followers. And/or (say I) they have to do what he says or else.

Certainly not impossible. But then consider this. Trump, and his fanboys, keep talking about he had declassified all those documents.** But in their court filing asking for a special master, Trump's lawyers note that said special master would need a very high security clearance in order to look at the documents. Oops.

Somehow I'm reminded of 2020, when his lawyers in cases about election results, would stand on the court house steps and proclaim that they had proof of fraud. And then get into court and say "Oh no, your honor. We are making no claims of fraud here." Consistently.

** Never mind that their classification is irrelevant to the laws the prosecution is talking about.

[Girl from the North Country]

But none of you are mentioning my favourite one of his lawyers, who said in an interview that they're clearly just out to get Trump, because they are talking about him contravening "mundane statutes like the Espionage Act and a couple of others". Hmm. Now I wonder, is it just that she didn't know the meaning of the word mundane? Or something else. Answers on a postcard please.

[Michael Cain]

But in their court filing asking for a special master, Trump's lawyers note that said special master would need a very high security clearance in order to look at the documents.

The DOJ's response certainly said this, and that it would cause significant delays while the clearances were obtained*. Don't think Trump's team even mentioned it.

* If obtained. My brother in law had to get very high-level civilian clearances in order to install software in the US command-and-control bunkers in Europe. The FBI poked deeply enough that he got a phone call from his brother, still living in the small Nebraska town where they had grown up, demanding to know, "What have you done? The FBI is here and they are talking to everyone in town who might have known you."

[wj]

Don't think Trump's team even mentioned it.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/01/trump-team-filing/

not only did the Trump team again decline to actually claim in court that he had declassified the documents; the team said it would be “appropriate” for the special master it wants to review the documents “to possess a Top Secret” security clearance.

Also,
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/31/us/politics/trump-court-documents.html

Mr. Trump’s lawyers instead said they thought “that it would be appropriate for the special master to possess a top secret” clearance.

The information may be wrong, but I didn't invent it myself. (Although a link would certainly have been appropriate.)

[wj]

Hey, Trump's had difficulties recruiting lawyers. Maybe he'll go for this guy.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-08-17/a-lawyers-bragging-prompts-o-c-judge-to-throw-out-winning-verdict-in-malpractice-case

Bragging, on camera, about how he got a guilty guy off? So Trumpian.

[Nigel]

This is a pretty good article by the guy who argued the Nixon tapes case before the Supreme Court.
That it’s published by the rather unliberal The Hill is interesting.

No, Trump didn’t declassify everything; it’s barred by the Nixon tapes decision
https://thehill.com/opinion/3622679-no-trump-didnt-declassify-everything-its-barred-by-the-nixon-tapes-decision/
… The court also rebuffed the contention that the president’s ultimate control over the regulations and the attorney general who issued them undercut their binding effect on the president: “[I]t is theoretically possible for the Attorney General to amend or revoke the regulation defining the Special Prosecutor’s authority. But he has not done so. So long as this regulation remains in force the Executive Branch” — including the president there — “is bound by it, and indeed the United States as the sovereign composed of the three branches is bound to respect and to enforce it.”…

[Michael Cain]

No, Trump didn’t declassify everything;

The latest in this increasingly strange situation is that a large number of folders removed from Mar-a-Lago marked Classified or Top Secret are empty. The documents that should be in those folders are just... missing?

[wj]

The documents that should be in those folders are just... missing?

Given how sloppy Trump is about such things, the documents may just be among the other stuff loose in various boxes. Came out; never returned to its folder. So, possibly, possibly, already recovered.

On the other hand, it's hard to avoid the suspicion that some of them got lifted by one or another of the various intelligence operatives spending time at Mar-a-Lago -- for obvious reasons. Or got handed to somebody (journalist, Republican/MAGA legislator, foreign leader, etc.) that Trump was trying to impress.

[Michael Cain]

NARA has apparently said previously that some of what they got from Trump was classified documents missing appropriate covers.

[JanieM]

Profound pundit at NYT providing profundities during live coverage of Biden's speech the other night:

It’s hard to say how these speeches are received, but my sense is that to the extent it is watched (see Peter’s smart note below) it will be cheered by his supporters and condemned by his detractors. Whether it actually persuades anyone, it may help set the stage for some debates over the next nine weeks. Or not. Time will tell.

The quality of thought at the paper of record.

[Girl from the North Country]

The quality of thought at the paper of record.

Despite my generally having more time for punditry than Janie does, this did make me laugh.

[JanieM]

GftNC -- I posted it just for you, with a chuckle. I never even hard of this guy, but my 9 month old granddaughter has clearer, firmer opinions than he does. By far!!!!!!! She recently discovered how to say no by pushing something away with her hand, and she glories in it. You can tell by the glint in her eye that sometimes she's doing it just to show you she can.

[hairshirthedonist]

Weather forecast: In the coming days there will be temperatures and relative humidities with probabilities of precipitation ranging somewhere between zero and one hundred percent. Dress appropriately.

[JanieM]

hard of -> heard of

[JanieM]

hsh -- lol. That's about the size of it.

[Michael Cain]

Dress appropriately.

Here, daily temperature swings of 30 °F are commonplace, and 40 °F isn't especially unusual. Summer morning forecast is blue skies and sunshine; afternoon is a crap shoot. Blazing heat? Monsoon thunderstorms? The one thing that's pretty much guaranteed is that at some point during the day you'll be dressed wrong.

[nous]

Summer morning forecast is blue skies and sunshine; afternoon is a crap shoot.

I used to do inventory audits on the eastern plains of Colorado. I remember one day driving through a ten mile stretch of rural highway where I passed through alternating bands of sunshine, rain, fog, and hail with big temperature shifts between them. Also of going out in the morning in shorts one day in Denver and having to rush home on the bus to avoid getting stuck walking home in them in an afternoon blizzard.

[wj]

The one thing that's pretty much guaranteed is that at some point during the day you'll be dressed wrong.

The glory of the weekend is that you can just stay indoors. And thus avoid the "dressed inappropriately for the weather" problem. Actually, a good solution for weekdays, too. If you can pull it off. (Nights are a different story. At least the fluctuations in the kind of clothimg required are much smaller.)

[Girl from the North Country]

Janie, much appreciated (also hsh), and in addition, I like the sound of your granddaughter. Long may she know how to say no.

[CaseyL]

nous - Big temperature swings during what I think of as the "cusp" intervals when seasons are changing happen in the PNW, though not as dramatically as in Colorado.

Once, when I was there for a few days way (way!) back in the late 1970s, the first day I ran around in shorts, a chemise top, and flip flops. The next day I woke up, looked outside, and there was about 2" of snow on the ground.

Over the next few days we had windstorms, rainstorms, and I think some hail.

[Michael Cain]

Here in Colorado we have four seasons. We're not afraid to use any three of them in a given week. "What season(s) are we having today?" is a perfectly normal sort of question to ask before getting dressed in the morning.

For the rest of the holiday weekend we're using "blazing summer drought", with highs around 96/7 °F, zero cloud cover, and humidity probably down into the teens. Don't forget your sunscreen if you're going to a football game. Elevated fire risk instead of monsoon flash flood warning. For the Front Range, an ozone alert.

[wj]

California's power grid operator puts out alerts when they expect the grid to be overstressed. (The idea being to conserve power during the late afternoon, in the hopes of averting rolling blackouts. We've had alerts now for 6-7 days straight, and look to have them several days more.) This due to highs in the low- to mid-100s, maybe higher. Overnight lows in the mid- to low-50s, which at least lets things cool down a bit.

We blame the folks out Michael's way**, since the heat dome we're looking at started, as I recall, out the Four Corners way. ;-)

We've been really, really lucky on wildfires so far this summer. But now fire season is starting to hit its stride. For the next couple months, figure on frequent air quality alerts due to smoke, even far from the actual fires.

** After all, if we can blame the President for every twitch of the economy, why not?

[CharlesWT]

An almost minute by minute, state by state counting of the powerless.

PowerOutage.US

[Michael Cain]

We blame the folks out Michael's way**, since the heat dome we're looking at started, as I recall, out the Four Corners way. ;-)

Started farther east than that. The massive upper-level high that's your heat dome now started in the southern Great Plains and was responsible for driving monsoon moisture our way, then backed up across us, and has now backed all the way to your neck of the woods.

If we're going to do tongue-in-cheek, darned Texans should have kept it and just accepted a permanent drought.

[wj]

If we're going to do tongue-in-cheek, darned Texans should have kept it and just accepted a permanent drought.

I'm good with that.

[Pete]

Here on Long Island we got a robocall from the Suffolk County Water Authority advising against “non-essential” water usage and to not use irrigation systems between peak(!) hours of midnight to 7 AM.

Apparently, most irrigation systems are timed for that window to the extent that it is the largest demand period. That was kinda surprising. Forecast is for heavy rain tonight & through tomorrow, so I expect we’ll be business-as-usual by mid-week.

[Michael Cain]

Apparently, most irrigation systems are timed for that window to the extent that it is the largest demand period.

This would be the same water authority that harps on people to never water grass when the sun's up?

[wj]

This would be the same water authority that harps on people to never water grass when the sun's up?

I'm guessing that this approach of encouraging watering at night is more a thing when, as west of the Mississippi, the problem is sun evaporating water (which is in short supply, never mind issues delivering it). Rather than what I take to the Long Island problem of lack of capacity in the water delivery system. That is, they have sources of supply, just not enough ability to deliver it.

[CharlesWT]

That is, they have sources of supply, just not enough ability to deliver it.

Perhaps they never recovered from Die Hard with a Vengeance...

[Pete]

This would be the same water authority that harps on people to never water grass when the sun's up?

Rather than what I take to the Long Island problem of lack of capacity in the water delivery system. That is, they have sources of supply, just not enough ability to deliver it.

We are experiencing "extreme drought", according to the SCWA. I almost never water the lawn, but it was getting so dry I've done it a few times in recent weeks. To get the most bang for your water buck, it makes sense to water at night to minimize evaporation and the local Water Commissioner's Association (whatever that is) even recommends doing so. But I suspect the 12-7 block is also the most convenient as no one is out in the yard (or playing golf) then.

There are basically 2 aquifers that supply eastern LI and my understanding is that they are healthy. I believe we get more precipitation than is needed to replenish annual use.

The messaging is a bit nebulous. There are no specifics on what "non-essential" use is and they don't even suggest that you don't water your lawn. Just don't do it during the hours specified. So it does seem to be a delivery issue, I guess. And "drought" doesn't so much mean "we're running out of water" as "we recognize that everything is temporarily dry, so try to spread out demand as a good-neighbor policy" kinda thing.

[Michael Cain]

We are experiencing "extreme drought", according to the SCWA.

I always like how it varies by place. A friend of mine in central Texas is only in "severe drought". She tells me that she's part of a historical group that has arranged special permission this summer to water the hundred year old trees in a local cemetery to keep them from dying.

[wj]

"Extreme drought" some places (e.g. the East Coast) would be an exceptionally wet year other places (say parts of the Southwest).

P.S. High yesterday: 108
Last night's low: 51
Ah, California!

[Michael Cain]

"Extreme drought" some places (e.g. the East Coast) would be an exceptionally wet year other places (say parts of the Southwest).

P.S. High yesterday: 108
Last night's low: 51
Ah, California!

People who don't live in low-humidity climates do not realize how much of a greenhouse gas water vapor is. Increased evaporation initially triggered by increased CO2 is one of the important positive feedback loops we should be very scared of. Man, I hate summer nights when for whatever reason there's cloud cover.

Opposite sides of the Great Plains. My wife has relatives in Kansas. Western edge of the state, 15 inches precipitation per year. Far southeast corner, 400 miles farther east, averages 45 inches per year.

[Girl from the North Country]

Hmmm. I wonder what (if any) effect this will have on the midterms?

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Monday granted a request by former President Donald Trump’s legal team to appoint a special master to review documents seized by the FBI from his Florida home last month and also temporarily halted the Justice Department’s use of the records for investigative purposes.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon came despite the objections of the Justice Department, which said an outside legal expert was not necessary in part because officials had already completed their review of potentially privileged documents. The judge had previously signaled her inclination to approve a special master, asking a department lawyer during arguments this month, “What is the harm?”

The appointment is likely to slow the pace of the department’s investigation into the presence of top-secret information at Mar-a-Lago given the judge’s directive that the Justice Department may not for the moment use any of the seized materials for investigative purposes. But it is not clear that it will have any significant effect on any investigative decisions or the ultimate outcome of the probe.

[Pro Bono]

It seems to me that a judge appointed by Trump should have recused herself from ruling on his case. But I'm not in the least surprised that she did no such thing.

[wj]

"recuse" seems to not have been covered in the law schools that some Trump judges (apparently) attended.

What impact the special master has (beyond possibly slowing things down, of course) will depend on who it is. I expect Trump's lawyers will try hard for someone sympathetic. But when even guys like Barr are saying that there is no excuse for him taking those documents, it may be impossible for them to find one. And I'm not so sure it will even slow things down that much. Lots of parallel threads after all.

[wj]

One other thought on the special master. Agreeing to appoint one leaves Trump with one less objection to raise when (please, God!) he comes to trial.

(Yeah, I know, compulsive optimist. But perhaps the glass really is half full.)

[Pete]

"recuse" seems to not have been covered in the law schools that some Trump judges (apparently) attended.

"Ethics? Is that a core requirement?"

[GftNC]

This documentary, to be shown tonight on PBS, sounds fascinating but deeply depressing and worrying. It's well worth reading the whole interview.

Michael Kirk’s documentary Lies, Politics and Democracy is a chilling study in how Trump subdued the Republican party

Michael Kirk has been making documentary films for more than half a century. He has chronicled the peaks and troughs of US politics, winning every significant broadcast journalism award along the way. But nothing prepared him for the scale of the threat now facing American democracy.

“There’s never been a film I made where I was more anxious, unhappy to make it, unwilling to discover the things we were discovering,” Kirk, 74, says of his latest project for PBS’s investigative series Frontline. “‘Worried’ is not a strong enough word for how I feel about where we are as a country and I don’t think I’m alone.”

Lies, Politics and Democracy tells the story of how, like a colonial army of occupation, Donald Trump subdued the Republican party with a combination of brute force and manufactured consent. It is a chilling character study in how, one after another, party leaders ignored, acquiesced, collaborated and enabled a demagogue while fearing his fervent fanbase.

The film draws on more than 30 interviews with former government officials, political journalists and experts. Like the congressional January 6 committee hearings, it provides a compelling narrative of half-forgotten turning points that, viewed in totality, resemble a Greek tragedy hurtling towards the inevitable and deadly climax of 6 January 2021.

It is striking, for example, that three of Trump’s most oleaginous loyalists have also, at various stages, suffered the harshest blowback for defying him. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas was publicly humiliated at the 2016 Republican national convention after pointedly refusing to endorse the party nominee. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina was heckled as a “traitor” by furious Trump supporters after appearing to disown the president on January 6. Lesson learned, he was soon back on board. Vice-President Mike Pence, who for four long years remained unswervingly loyal, might have been hanged if the mob had their way after he refused to overturn the 2020 election.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/sep/06/michael-kirk-lies-politics-democracy-documentary-pbs-frontline-trump-republicans

[wj]

It seems that there is surveillance video, of Cathy Latham**, the then GOP chairwoman of Coffee County, escorted two operatives working with an attorney for former President Donald Trump into the county’s election offices on the same day a voting system there was breached. Which actually makes sense if you think about it a little. Where better to look for evidence of election fraud than in a county that Trump won by 69.5%?
https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/06/politics/surveillance-video-voting-machine-breach-coffee-county-georgia/index.html

Far more likely to find fraud in that environment than in a place like, say, Biden-leaning Maricopa County AZ. Where even an audit run by Trump partisans failed to find any.

** That breach of the county voting system which occurred at that time is under investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and is of interest to the Fulton County District Attorney, who is conducting a wider criminal probe of interference in the 2020 election. She is also under criminal investigation for posing as a fake elector in 2020.

[Priest]

Hope everyone enjoys the story wj links above, I had the distinct (dis)pleasure over the last roughly week of extracting and processing video from days selected by producers, into the internal system for editors to work with. The security cam was motion-sensitive and the playback/export software flags the time periods where there was motion. One of the segments I exported last night featured a cat hanging out and walking by the entrance.

[GftNC]

Good heavens, Priest, does that mean that you were actually involved in working on the Cathy Latham footage which hairshirthedonist links much more about on the other (over the pond) thread?

https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-technology-donald-trump-voting-92c0ace71d7bee6151dd33938688371e

In which case I can only say: thank you for your service.

[Priest]

Just a cog in the factory.

[wj]

Quelle surprise! Another Trump company headed for bankruptcy at warp speed.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/09/06/truth-social-trump-finances-spac/?itid=hp_latest-headlines

The good news is, these days you pretty much have to be a true believer Trump cultist to invest in anything he's pitching. So at least nobody else will get burned.

[wj]

For the first time since 1869 the 14th Amendment has been invoked to bar a public official from office.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/06/new-mexico-trump-jan-6-riot/

Note that this constitutes a court ruling that Jan 6 was, in law, an insurrection.