Good Chance Trump May Be Found 'Willfully Blind'

 Professor Burt Neuborne’s argument, that former president Donald Trump cannot escape criminal liability even if he somehow believes he won the 2020 election when the established facts conclusively prove otherwise, is legally sound. However, Prof. Neuborne overlooks an even stronger basis for holding Mr.Trump accountable notwithstanding his delusional belief. A person who believes, even rationally, that he has been wronged cannot take criminal measures as a remedy. So, someone who honestly believes that his bank owes him money cannot with impunity withdraw money at gunpoint to make himself whole. Trump’s attempt to use fake electors and to coerce Vice President Pence to violate the Constitution were criminal acts which are legally punishable.

Prosecution of Trump May Have Terrible Consequences

 

Though Prof. Jack Goldsmith justly condemns Donald Trump’s “election shenanigans “, the thrust of his essay mistakenly conveys the notion that the cost of the remedy outweighs the harm of turning a blind eye to Mr. Trump’s assault on our democracy.
The fallout forecast by Prof. Goldsmith, from prosecuting Mr. Trump, such as the future politicization of the Justice System and erosion of respect for the rule of law, indeed, poses a grave risk. But the consequences of ignoring Mr. Trump’s attempted coup will have the immediate effect of green lighting attempts to overturn elections based on false claims of fraud.
The problem is exacerbated not by missteps of the Department of Justice, which occurred, but by Trump’s racial attacks on prosecutors and judges which appeal to the underlying bias infecting a majority of his implacable base.

Roberts Court New Take on Consttitution

 

The original constitution, together with its amendments, had a dual purpose; to establish a system for governance and to protect the rights of the non-majority. To achieve these ends Politics and Law had to be balanced and, to a degree, insulated one from the other. Elected representatives make the laws and appointed judges insure that that they do not violate the protections guaranteed by the constitution. This is known as the separation of power.
The Roberts court has erased this essential distinction. The conservative majority of non-elected justices have assumed the role of politicians and have begun to refashion the law to reflect their own political preferences and religious convictions. The court has swept away decades of constraints on the exercise of judicial authority and has ignored the bedrock principle of respect for long established precedent. If this existential threat to democracy is not reversed, this nation is on a doomsday path.

A President Governing from Behind Bars

 If Donald Trump should be elected president while serving time how will he be inaugurated? Will he be given a two-day pass so he can fly to Washington D.C. to take his oath before hurrying back to his cell. Or will Chief Justice Roberts hold the ceremony in the prison’s visitation room?

Will Mr. Trump draft his self-pardon on prison stationery or have his defense lawyer draw it up?
Will the president’s Secret Service unit be housed together with him or be stationed in the adjoining cell?
Tensions with Russia and China seem of little moment compared with these jaw dropping procedural issues.

Republicans Leap to Raise Clinton Email Controversy

 

Those who claim that Hillary Clinton was treated more favorably than Donald Trump, on the issue of mishandling classified documents, have their facts upside down. In reality, though Mrs. Clinton’s dereliction was far less serious or damaging to the national interest than Mr. Trump’s gross misuse and obstruction, the FBI’s politically fraught investigation and disclosures late in the 2016 election cycle surely cost Mrs. Clinton the presidency.
Given the plethora of evidence pointing to Mr. Trump’s criminality, it is neither surprising nor blameworthy that he has been investigated and publicly charged. What is troubling, and somewhat perplexing, is that voters rejected Mrs. Clinton notwithstanding her exoneration but now seem inclined to rally to Mr. Trump as the victim of his own misdeeds.

No less an authority on the importance of safeguarding classified documents than former President Donald Trump, pronounced the appropriate judgment for those who failed that obligation, they are unfit to be the president. Amen.

Should Courts Be More Political

 In an ideal world judges would be chosen and rule without regard to politics. In reality, as Prof. Jedediah Britton-Purdy argues, the judiciary is just another political branch of government. Too often, the selection of judges and the thrust of their decisions reflect their political beliefs.

Taking this as a given, Prof Britton-Purdy urges that democracy is best protected if judicial candidates more openly espouse their constitutional viewpoints and voters can make better informed decisions in selecting those who more closely reflect popular constitutional beliefs.
While Prof. Britton-Purdy’s proposal has the appeal of a practical solution, it points in a dangerous direction. If judging is accepted as merely an alternative exercise of political choosing, the basic belief in a fair and impartial system of justice will be fatally forgotten. Better to keep alive the vision of “courts [as] forums of principle, wisdom and deliberation “which deliver just judgments free of political fervor. While that may be an elusive goal, our historic, democratic precepts require its pursuit.

Reaction to the Durham Report

 

Donald Trump and the rightwing media repeatedly told us that Special Counsel John Durham would issue a blockbuster report exposing a deep state conspiracy to falsely accuse the Trump campaign of colluding with Russia to boost Trump's chances of winning the 2016 presidential election. 

Consistent with his practice, Mr. Durham has issued a report which makes a host of allegations without a scintilla of proof and concludes that no laws were violated. While every respectable legal authority and media outlet recognizes the Durham report for what it is, a nothingburger, Sean Hannity and his Fox News chorus and Republican House members, as might have been predicted, have seized upon the report as, somehow, confirming their allegations of massive criminal activity by Obama officials, the Hillary Clinton campaign and the FBI. 

Once again, the Big Lie strategy is being invoked to mislead the public at large and gratify Trump's MAGA base.