Ongoing Trump raids

I was surprised that the Daily Beast downplayed the impact of this decison.

but the New York Times is apoplectic

WASHINGTON — A federal judge’s extraordinary decision on Monday to interject in the criminal investigation into former President Donald J. Trump’s hoarding of sensitive government documents at his Florida residence showed unusual solicitude to him, legal specialists said.

This was “an unprecedented intervention by a federal district judge into the middle of an ongoing federal criminal and national security investigation,” said Stephen I. Vladeck, a law professor at University of Texas.

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It seems like a lot is riding on the DOJ’s appeal to this ruling. If the decision is upheld, Trump’s team will make sure that the review by the special master takes years. They’ll go back and forth for years just to arrive at a person to appoint as special master. One way or another, Trump will be dead before he sees the inside of a courtroom, much less a prison cell.

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If she doesn’t have jurisdiction, then the DOJ doesn’t need to appeal it - they can ignore it.

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Double edged razor.

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I see the alternative upside to that.

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I don’t know. I’m still worried that somebody will prop up his corpse for some Weekend at Bernie’s-style fascist antics.

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An image my stomach refuses to entertain.

In the meantime, do you know anyone who could send this image to Trump’s phone ASAP? It’s the inside of a courtroom. Therefore…

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Wow.
That is a crazy piece of history trivia.

Gives a new meaning to “show trial.”
Horror show trial.
Hope it was in a well-ventilated room.

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Ken Jeong Yes GIF by The Masked Singer

ETA: Are we sure that’s not a joke, tho? It’s Al “grab 'em by the tits” Franken…

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Need those numbers as a percentage of population. WV consistently is at or near the top in that measure, for the reasons cited above. Here it is just pointing out that the states with the most people send the most in, but raw numbers aren’t the tale.

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Considering that Trump and Giuliani seem to be on the outs, I’m guessing “joke.” But it’s really hard to tell for sure anymore.

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Yep, Poe’s law…

I’m just thinking that Franken probably doesn’t have access to the requests, since I doubt they are public. But it’s probably not too far off from the truth, either. He’s gonna suggest some flunky, for sure.

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Bill Barr might be an interesting choice, as he has very little credibility left on either side.

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I hear you.
I was just pushing back on the argument upthread that Texas and Florida, if allowed to secede (or however that process ends up kicking those states out of the U.S. :woman_shrugging:t5: ), are not the sole states providing the majority of people who comprise U.S. military troops.

@Mindysan33
Lemme dig around for a source on that wishlist.
Yeah, Franken is not an angel. I get that.

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I really only wonder because a) how would Franken be privy to the knowledge of who his lawyers requested, and b) it’s an entirely plausible scenario…

If you find other confirmation, let us know, of course…

At least he stepped down when called on his shit instead of doubling down like almost anyone in the GOP would do. He’s got that goin’ for him, at least!

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so the daily beast finally got around to writing something alarming.

The only opposition vote favoring Trump in that Supreme Court decision in January came from Justice Clarence Thomas, who remained silent. But he might have something to say on the matter soon enough. If the DOJ appeals this ruling, it could quickly make its way up to the appellate courts, possibly in the form of an emergency request. If it does, legal scholars have noted, the case could end up with the Supreme Court judge assigned to hear extremely time-sensitive matters out of Eleventh Circuit’s three southern states: Thomas.

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If the same judge who made this ruling gets to pick, guess what’s going to happen…

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Based on what’s happened, I kind of hope they go with Barr:

In an interview that aired Friday, former Trump attorney general William P. Barr said there is no reason classified documents should have been at Mar-a-Lago after Trump was out of office.

“People say this was unprecedented,” Barr said in an interview with Fox News. “But it’s also unprecedented for a president to take all this classified information and put them in a country club, okay?”

Also:

O special masters
They thrive on disasters

(Apologies to B. Eno)

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