Tag: Justice Department

Categories
Crime Donald Trump Justice Department

Legal Expert: Merrick Garland Just Called Donald Trump’s Bluff

This afternoon, Attorney General Merrick Garland made brief remarks to the media regarding the search warrant that was served at Donald Trump’s Palm Beach golf club, Mar-a-Lago, on Monday.

During that press briefing, Garland noted that the Justice Department is moving to unseal the warrant and a redacted property list that shows what items were seized by the FBI.

Afterwards, CNN legal analyst Elie Honig said the AG had just called Trump’s bluff:

“We essentially saw Merrick Garland call Donald Trump’s bluff. So essentially Merrick Garland said, ‘Okay, Donald Trump, you’re not going to release them, we’re going to do it, we’re going to put those documents in front of the American public.'”

If that information is indeed unsealed, Honig explained what he expects to see:

“The warrant typically will list logistical information, place to be searched, usually a general description of items to be searched for, the name of the judge, a deadline by which DOJ has to execute the search.

“But it also sometimes has what we call an attachment. That attachment typically will list the statutes, the laws that DOJ believes it has probable cause to believe were violated. So that’s going to be the first thing I look for. I’m going to look right at that attachment and say do they list the statutes, that’s going to tell us what laws could be at play here.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kanYEMGvriU&feature=emb_logo

It should also be noted that Trump and his attorneys can file a motion to keep the Justice Department from unsealing the search warrant and other materials. Don’t be surprised if they do exactly that, because Trump knows the minute the details of what documents he was keeping at Mar-a-Lago is made public, his guilt will be confirmed for all the world to see. And that’s his worst nightmare.

Categories
Capitol Insurrection Donald Trump January 6 Justice Department

Former Bush Attorney General Says DOJ Has The Evidence To Indict Trump For 3 Crimes

Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is convinced that the Justice Department now has enough evidence to indict failed, one-term, twice-impeached former president Donald Trump for at least three felonies.

Gonzales, who served as AG for George W. Bush, was a guest on CNN Thursday afternoon, was asked about a speech given by Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), who serves as vice chair of the January 6 House Select Committee in which she said:

“The reality we face today as Republicans, as we think about the choice in front of us, we have to choose, because Republicans cannot be loyal to both Donald Trump and to the Constitution at this moment.”

That led host Jake Tapper to inquire of Gonzales:

“Do you agree? Do you see it that way?”


“I think that that is a very accurate statement, quite frankly,” Gonzales replied, adding:

“I believe that the Department (of Justice) is going to move forward with a more serious investigation now that this new information and there may be some indictments.”

Tapper followed up by asking:

“Have you seen evidence or at least possible evidence that leads you to wonder whether Donald Trump committed a crime? And if so, which crime?”

Gonzales then laid out the three crimes he believes Trump could potentially be indicted for:

“Yeah, I think that if you can tie him — he knew about — he knew the crowd was dangerous, he encouraged the crowd to go to the Capitol and he knew the crowd was armed, and he knew that the purpose of the — what was going on in Congress, which was to certify the Electoral College count, and yeah, I think one might make the argument that there is certainly the beginnings of a case full of seditious conspiracy, obstruction of Congress. So there are some things there that I think the attorney general will look at, along with witness tampering.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=19&v=dWdSd5fMh2A&feature=emb_logo

Seditious conspiracy, obstruction of Congress, and witness tampering. The penalty for those crimes is 20 years, five years, and 20 years, meaning if Trump got the maximum, he’d be looking at a sentence of 45 years in federal prison. Considering what he tried to do, that seems like a just punishment.

Categories
Justice Department U.S. Senate

WATCH A Republican Senator Make A Complete A*s Of Himself While Questioning AG Garland

Louisiana Republican Sen. John Kennedy is one of the most annoying and arrogant people in Congress, and he made a complete ass of himself on Tuesday during a hearing with Attorney General Merrick Garland, proving just how completely clueless many in the GOP are when it comes to the issue of law enforcement.

Kennedy began his remarks by attacking Garland:

“I think the Justice Department is losing. I think you’re losing on crime. I think you’re losing on drugs. I think you’re losing on immigration. I think you’re losing on Chirenese espionage.”

From there, Kennedy asked about dirty cops:

“Let me start with crime. What percentage of cops in America do you think are bad cops?”

Garland:

“A very small percentage.”

Rather than let the attorney general continue his remarks, Kennedy interrupted to ask:

“How small? Is it less than 10%?”

AG Garland responded:

“Yes, let me be clear. We believe that most police officers follow the Constitution. Most police departments do. All police officers, I believe, want to work in police departments that follow constitutional policing requirements.”

Next, Kennedy asked about stop and frisk, though he was hardly able to call it by its proper name:

“Why doesn’t the Justice Department support stop question, and frisk?”

Garland replied:

“I don’t know that the Justice Department has a position. This is a state and local role normally”

Rather than accept that response, Kennedy asked:

“Why doesn’t the Justice Department aggressively encourage law enforcement officials to use that technique? It’s been declared constitutional as you know?”

The AG again noted that stop and frisk is left to local law enforcement, which led to an extended rant from Sen. Cornpone:

“Here’s what I’m asking. Let’s take Chicago, where you have, we haven’t made any inroads and stopping the killing. Chicago is now the world’s largest outdoor shooting range. We know that a lot of the shootings come from gangs. Why wouldn’t you want to call the police chief, the mayor in Chicago, and say, ‘look, you know who these gang members are. When you have reasonable suspicion, and objective standard, more than just a hunch, why don’t you aggressively stop, question, and frisk these gang members?’ You get guns off the street. You’ll get drugs off the street and you get at a lot of gang members off the street. You’ll stop people killing each other. Why won’t you do that?”

Garland patiently tried to explain:

“The best way for the federal government to stop violent crime is to work at each local level and determine and let the state and locals determine what the best use of their –“

Kennedy rudely interrupted the attorney general yet again:

“I’m sorry to interrupt. I’m trying to get some answers. Why won’t you do that?”

Garland answered:

“Because there is no one solution fits all that the federal government can suggest to state and local law enforcement.”

Someone needs to explain some basic facts to Sen. Kennedy. Then again, as stupid as he seems to be, all the explanations in the world would probably leave him nonplussed.

Categories
Crime Justice Department

Justice Department Accuses Alex Jones Of Potential ‘Abuse Of The Bankruptcy System’ In Court Filing

On the eve of a bankruptcy hearing for InfoWars founder Alex Jones, the Justice Department has weighed in and accused Jones of possible “abuse of the bankruptcy system.”

According to Elizabeth Williamson of the New York Times, a DOJ trustee in Texas filed a formal objection to Jones’s bankruptcy petition, claiming that it may be fake and an attempt to avoid paying compensation to the families of the children who were killed in 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary. Jones accused the families of being “crisis actors.”

Williamson reports:

On the eve of tomorrow’s hearing on Jones/ Infowars’ bankruptcy case in Texas, DoJ’s regional trustee files an objection with the judge: Why aren’t Jones and his company, both defendants in Sandy Hook defamation suits, named as debtors?

Jones asked the bk court to approve a paltry “litigation settlement trust” without any input by the families, nor any view of his finances. That risks “purposefully stacking the deck against the most vulnerable of creditors,” trustee writes.

On Sunday, Bloomberg was the first to report that Jones planned to file for bankruptcy as a way of avoiding complete financial collapse:

Companies owned by far-right radio host Alex Jones are getting advice from restructuring advisers and considering options including a potential bankruptcy filing after being hit by lawsuits over Jones’s conspiracy theories, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

A Chapter 11 filing would aim to allow Jones’s businesses, such as Infowars and Free Speech Systems, to keep operating while pausing civil litigation against them, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private.

 

Categories
Capitol Insurrection Donald Trump Justice Department

January 6 Select Committee Preparing To Refer Trump To DOJ For Dereliction Of Duty: Report

The House Select Committee on the January 6 Capitol insurrection is preparing to decide what criminal referrals it will forward to the Justice Department regarding former President Donald Trump’s actions on the day of the horrific attack on the seat of government.

Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) told The Washington Post that the most likely referral would be for dereliction of duty as Trump dithered for over three hours before finally releasing a video instructing his supporters to clear the Capitol grounds:

Of particular interest is why it took so long for (Trump) to call on his supporters to stand down, an area of inquiry that includes obtaining several versions of a video Trump reportedly recorded before finally releasing a message 187 minutes after he told his supporters to march on the Capitol during the rally that preceded the attack.

“It appears that he tried to do a taping several times, but he wouldn’t say the right thing,” Thompson said, basing his statement on information the panel has gleaned from interviews with witnesses as well as media reports about that day.

Thompson made a specific reference to dereliction of duty, but other charges could also be referred to the DOJ once the committee has completed its investigation:

“That dereliction of duty causes us real concern,” Thompson said. “And one of those concerns is that whether or not it was intentional, and whether or not that lack of attention for that longer period of time, would warrant a referral.”

Another possible charge that may be referred to the Justice Department is criminally obstructing Congress in performing its official duties. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), who serves as vice chair of the Jan. 6 panel, has suggested Trump did indeed try to obstruct the certification of electoral votes on that fateful day as both houses were meeting in joint session to declare the winner of the 2020 presidential election.

On December 14, Cheney remarked:

“Mr. Meadows’s testimony will bear on another key question before this committee: Did Donald Trump, through action or inaction, corruptly seek to obstruct or impede Congress’s official proceeding to count electoral votes?”

A criminal referral isn’t necessary for the DOJ to take up the matter, and most legal experts suggest the agency is already weighing whether or not Trump and others should be charged for their actions prior to and on the day of the Capitol riots. But a criminal referral from the committee — along with evidence and testimony the panel has gathered — would certainly provide a strong impetus for indictments.