[Yahoo] A U.S. judge in Florida on Monday dismissed the criminal case accusing Donald Trump of illegally keeping classified documents after leaving office, handing the Republican former president another major legal victory as he seeks a return to the White House.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who was appointed to the bench by Trump, ruled that Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the prosecution, was unlawfully appointed to his role and did not have the authority to bring the case.
The judge found that U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, who named Smith in 2022 to oversee investigations involving Trump, did not have the authority "to appoint a federal officer with the kind of prosecutorial power wielded by Special Counsel Smith."
Cannon also found that Smith's investigation has been improperly funded through a permanent and unlimited fund Congress set aside in the 1980s for independent investigations.
It marked another blockbuster legal triumph for Trump.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on July 1 that Trump cannot be prosecuted for actions that were within his constitutional powers as president - a landmark decision recognizing for the first time any form of presidential immunity from prosecution. That ruling involved charges pursued by Smith in a separate case against Trump in Washington involving his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss.
Cannon's ruling came two days after Trump was the target of an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in western Pennsylvania. Trump is set to be formally named the Republican presidential nominee in Milwaukee this week, challenging Democratic President Joe Biden in the Nov. 5 U.S. election.
Prosecutors are likely to appeal Cannon's ruling. Courts in other cases have repeatedly upheld the ability of the U.S. Justice Department to appoint special counsels to handle certain politically sensitive investigations.
Trump, in a social media post, said Cannon's ruling should be a "just the first step" and called for the dismissal of all four criminal cases against him.
"Let us come together to END all Weaponization of our Justice System," Trump wrote.
Trump was convicted in May on New York state felony charges involving hush money paid to a porn star to avert a sex scandal before the 2016 election. Trump had pleaded not guilty in the documents case and in Smith's other case, as well as to election-related charges in state court in Georgia.
A spokesperson for Smith did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In the documents case, Trump was indicted on charges that he willfully retained sensitive national security documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida after leaving office in 2021 and obstructed government efforts to retrieve the material. Prosecutors have said the documents related to U.S. military and intelligence matters, including details about the American nuclear program.
Two others, Trump personal aide Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Olivera, were also charged with obstructing the investigation.
'BREATHTAKINGLY MISGUIDED'
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, said in a statement: "This breathtakingly misguided ruling flies in the face of long-accepted practice and repetitive judicial precedence. It is wrong on the law and must be appealed immediately. This is further evidence that Judge Cannon cannot handle this case impartially and must be reassigned."
At the very least, Cannon's ruling throws the future of the case into doubt. Trump's lawyers have not made a similar challenge to the special counsel in Smith's election-related case.
Trump's lawyers challenged the legal authority for Garland's 2022 decision to appoint Smith to lead investigations into Trump. They argued that the appointment violated the U.S. Constitution because Smith's office was not created by Congress and the special counsel was not confirmed by the Senate.
Lawyers in Smith's office disputed Trump's claims, arguing that there was a well-settled practice of using special counsels to manage politically sensitive investigations.
"This ruling flies in the face of about 20 years of institutional precedent, conflicts with rulings issued in both the Mueller investigation and in D.C. with respect to Jack Smith himself," said Bradley Moss, an attorney who specializes in national security, referring to an investigation conducted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller during Trump's presidency.
Moss also said the ruling raises the question of whether Smith will seek to have Cannon removed from the case.
Cannon's ruling is the most consequential in a series of decisions she has made favoring Trump and expressing skepticism about the conduct of prosecutors. The judge previously delayed a trial indefinitely while considering a flurry of Trump legal challenges.
In an unusual move, she allowed three outside lawyers, including two who sided with Trump, to argue during a court hearing focused on Trump's challenge to Smith's appointment.
Conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas provided a boost to Trump's challenge to the special counsel. In an opinion agreeing with the court's decision to grant Trump broad immunity, Thomas questioned whether Smith's appointment was lawful, using similar arguments to those made by Trump's lawyers.
Garland appointed Smith, a public corruption and international war crimes prosecutor, to give investigations into Trump a degree of independence from the Justice Department under Biden's administration.
#8
^ IANAL nor did I stay in a Holiday Inn Express, but all evidence seized under Smith's authority might be barred as fruit of the poison tree
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/15/2024 12:13 Comments ||
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#9
"This ruling flies in the face of about 20 years of institutional precedent, conflicts with rulings issued in both the Mueller investigation and in D.C. with respect to Jack Smith himself"
So all things...TRUMP...must be re-examined in the appeal.
[NYPOST] A staffer for a Democratic congressman from Mississippi was fired for her inflammatory comments saying she hoped the shooter who targeted Donald Trump “wouldn’t miss next time.”
“I don’t condone violence but please get you some shooting lessons so you don’t miss next time ooops that wasn’t me talking,” Jacqueline Marsaw wrote on Facebook Saturday evening, shortly after Trump narrowly avoided being shot in the head during a rally in Pennsylvania.
Marsaw, of Natchez, worked as a field director of Rep. Bennie Thompson, the Natchez Democrat reported.
[BREITBART] Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has faced calls to resign in the aftermath of an liquidation attempt on former President Donald Trump ...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party... at a rally on Saturday.
Cheatle, who previously worked as the senior director in Global Security for PepsiCo, has been the current director of the U.S. Secret Service since September 2022, according to the agency’s website. While working at PepsiCo, Cheatle reportedly was "responsible for directing and implementing security protocols for the company’s facilities in North America."
The website also notes that before working at PepsiCo, Cheatle had served "for 27 years in the U.S. Secret Service":
Before joining PepsiCo, she served with distinction for 27 years in the U.S. Secret Service, most recently as Assistant Director of the Office of Protective Operations. In this position, Ms. Cheatle manage a $133.5M budget and collaborated with ten operational divisions and the Technical Security Division to research, develop and deploy technologies that reduce risks to protectees, protected facilities, and protected events.
A witness told BBC News that he had seen a man with a rifle "bear-crawling" on top of the roof of a building close to the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
"I’m thinking to myself ’Why is Trump still speaking, why have they not pulled him off the stage’... the next thing you know, five shots ring out," the man told the outlet.
Minutes after taking the stage at the rally, gunshots rang out and Secret Service agents could be seen crowding around Trump, who was later seen with blood on his ear and the side of his face.
After being ushered away by the Secret Service, the former president later revealed that he had been "shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part" of his right ear.
Several people have pointed out the security failings for a sniper to have come that close to being able to shoot Trump, and have criticized Cheatle.
"So before being put in charge of protecting the PRESIDENT, she was guarding bags of Cheetos," Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk wrote in a post:
Posted by: Fred ||
07/15/2024 00:00 ||
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#1
How about she concentrates on doing her primary job: protecting ALL the people under Secret Service protection?
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
07/15/2024 0:23 Comments ||
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#11
I'm hearing Jill Biden was visiting PA the day of the assassination attempt and the Secret Service detail for Trump was reduced to provide coverage for DJT.
#1
MSM is already bashing Vance, saying he has only been in political office a short time. Before Trump was president he never was in politics, which is why Americans voted for him.
Posted by: Whavick Scourge of the Apes9857 ||
07/15/2024 17:20 Comments ||
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#2
Works for me: Born in Middletown, Ohio, Vance served in the Marine Corps before studying political science and philosophy at Ohio State University and earning a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School.[6] He came to prominence with his 2016 memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, which describes his upbringing in Middletown and his family's Appalachian values. It became a New York Times bestseller and attracted significant press attention during the 2016 United States presidential election.[7] Originally, Vance was a critic of Trump and in 2016 wrote a critical piece in The Atlantic against him, but he later came to support him.[8] Vance launched his first political campaign for Ohio's Senate seat in 2021 and won the Republican nomination after being endorsed by Trump. He defeated Democratic nominee Tim Ryan in the general election.
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/15/2024 17:47 Comments ||
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#3
Posted by: Whavick Scourge of the Apes9857 ||
07/15/2024 17:51 Comments ||
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#4
Interesting to compare/contrast his experience to another 'inexperienced' politician - the 2008 (D) presidential candidate.
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/15/2024 18:28 Comments ||
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#5
I want to see Ken Paxton as Attorney General. Can you imagine the absolute terror on the Dem side
Posted by: European Conservative ||
07/15/2024 16:06 Comments ||
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#8
#6 I have known people like her. Fear doesn't seem to be one of their emotions no matter what happens around them. One of the people I knew who were like that was a Brazilian woman who had been hit by a stray bullet as a teenager and survived. She turned out to be one of the strongest women I ever met. She handled difficulties with unusual attitude of stoic courage, grace, and self confidence.
Posted by: Whavick Scourge of the Apes9857 ||
07/15/2024 16:41 Comments ||
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#9
,,, she too liked to record people's reactions to things on her cell phone, especially my wild reactions which she found amusing.
Posted by: Whavick Scourge of the Apes9857 ||
07/15/2024 16:46 Comments ||
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#10
I don't think she was the only one. Maybe the closest one...
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/15/2024 18:26 Comments ||
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[ZeroHedge] Embattled President Biden opened up a meeting with a group of Democratic US representatives by challenging them to ask him "hard questions" about his candidacy and his fitness to serve -- only to jump down the throat of a member who sought reassurance about the 81-year-old's ability to serve as a strong commander-in-chief. His loss of temper and ill-preparedness for the meeting reportedly did nothing to bolster his audience's confidence.
That audience for the Saturday video conference call was the New Democrat Coalition, a group comprising some 100 centrist Democrats. While the group's chairwoman, New Hampshire Rep. Anne McLane Kuster, politely characterized the conversation as "candid, respectful and productive," members speaking to reporters anonymously were far less charitable about Biden's performance.
"That was a complete disaster. We saw the same Joe Biden from the debate," one of the House reps on the roughly 30-minute, late-afternoon call told Axios. Another said the call was "awful," while a third said "members were not holding back."
[JustTheNews] Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has joined Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson in blaming Republicans for violent crime in the city. A Chicago Republican says the issue is the Democrats’ “bad policies.”
Pritzker said there is more violence in Chicago because Republicans defunded community violence interruption programs.
“You end up with, and the study from Northwestern shows it about Illinois, you end up with more violent crime,” Pritzker said. “It’s Republicans that have caused this problem.”
The governor referred to a Northwestern University study published last year that found that individuals who completed the full Chicago Real Economic Destiny Program were 73% less likely to have an arrest for a violent crime in the two years following enrollment than those who did not participate.
The Northwestern researchers also found that the rate of firearms victimization remained statistically unchanged during the study period.
Pritzker announced $100 million in private funding from civic groups in an attempt to prevent more violence. The state budget includes $180 million in taxpayer funds for violence intervention and youth summer jobs programs.
On several occasions, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson blamed Republicans for the issues around crime for what he said was decades of community disinvestment.
South Side GOP Chairman Devin Jones is the 18th Ward Republican Committeeman. He said the criticism was strange in a city which has no Republican elected officials at any level.
“The issue is the bad policies of the city of Chicago, of Cook County and the state of Illinois,” Jones said.
The most recent criticism of Republicans by Pritzker and Johnson came after more than 100 people were shot in Chicago from July 4 through July 8.
Jones said the GOP is not to blame for violent crime in Chicago.
“So this is a Brandon Johnson and his progressive allies issue and not an issue of Republicans or some other boogeyman party. This is their problem. It is his [Johnson’s] fault and four of his predecessors. This all rests with them,” Jones said.
[NY Post] Another member of the left-leaning "Squad" in Congress is on the ropes — facing a 23 percentage point deficit and possibly headed for defeat, a new poll claims.
Rep. Cori Bush trails St. Louis prosecuting attorney Wesley Bell 56% to 33% in the Aug. 6 Democratic Primary for Missouri’s 1st Congressional District, the survey conducted by McLaughlin & Associates for the CCA Action Fund.
The remaining 11% were undecided or backed lesser known candidates, Ron Harshaw and Maria Chappelle-Nadal.
It’s the latest troubling sign for the liberal "Squad" after New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman was soundly defeated by moderate Westchester County Executive George Latimer in a June 25 Democratic primary in the 16th district stretching from Co-Op City in the Bronx to the leafy suburbs of Westchester County.
Bowman was the first member of the Squad — which includes New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Bronx/Queens) — to be defeated in a party primary.
As in the Bowman-Latimer race, the Israel-Hamas war has figured prominently and brought out the contrasts between the candidates for the Missouri seat.
Like Bowman, Bush has been a staunch critic of Israel’s war tactics against Hamas in Gaza.
Bell said he supports Israel’s right to defend itself and target the Hamas militia for its sneak Oct. 7, 2023 attack against the Jewish State. Pro-Israel Democrats are backing Bell.
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/15/2024 00:00 ||
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[THEASPENBEAT] What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger
— Friedrich Nietzsche Nietzsche was full of shit. What doesn’t kill me could also cripple me. Ptui.
Back in the 2016 election, Donald Trump was a bit of a joke. He was a flamboyant, pussy-grabbing, orange-haired, reality show-hosting, real estate tycoon with improbable aspirations to be President of the United States. Just before the election, the New York Times gave him about a 4% chance of winning. To get the nomination, he outmaneuvered a dozen professional politicians, some of them well-regarded, a former tech CEO, and a brain surgeon.
Assigning those odds was not just the Times’ effort to inform their readers. It was also an effort to crush him. They came not just to condemn Trump, but to bury him. I recall that when Trump won, the Times penitently admitted to being easy on the B.O. administration, but promised to be ever so much more diligent in the future.
Imagine their chagrin when Trump proved them wrong. Imagine, too, the chagrin of Hillary Clinton and the rest of the establishment. The former "smartest woman in the world?" aka "The Thing That Wouldn't Go Away?"
In discerning their chagrin, you don’t actually need to use your imagination at all. We saw it. They blocked Trump’s every effort at governance with dishonest smears like the Russian collusion hoax, two impeachments, and the pee-pee dossier. In their effort to prevent Trump from governing the country effectively, they were willing to prevent him from governing the country at all – the country be damned. The Dems promptly formed The Resistance®, named after Hezbollah and its allies. Maxine Waters actually called for his impeachment before he was inaugurated.
But the attacks on Trump in his first term didn’t kill him; they only made his stronger. They did keep him from doing some things he wanted to do, like finishing the wall and making Mexico pay for it.
He found a way to govern the country, and he did it effectively. A good example is his nomination of three conservative Supreme Court Justices, every one of which he successfully got confirmed by the insiders of the world’s most exclusive club – the United States Senate. That Trump did so well is a tribute to him personally. That Biden has been so consistently incompetent is an indictment of the Democrat Party.
Americans today give Trump’s presidency higher marks than they give Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. Former Senator-for-Life from Delaware, an example of the kind of top-notch Washington intellect to be found in the World's Greatest Deliberative Body.... ’s, and in the most important issues like the economy, immigration and foreign affairs, they prefer Trump. That’s why he’s leading in the polls (that, and the fact that his opponent is a senile dolt). Which is why they tried to murder him.
In the 2020 election, the establishment pulled out the stops to prevent Trump’s reelection. With a combination of a little election fraud, a lot of election shortcutting in the form of relaxed vote-by-mail rules enacted under the cover of COVID, the Democrats’ undemocratic kneecapping of Bernie Sanders, and a ton of media bias, they narrowly defeated Trump. That's a paper defeat.
His 2020 loss didn’t kill Trump; it only made him stronger. He didn’t get the memo that he was supposed to retire to Mar-a-Lago and play golf. He instead started campaigning for the 2024 election. On the other hand, the debate (snicker!) followed by the botched Trump assassination that'll never be traced back to Rehoboth Beach should kill the Dems for at least this election cycle.
Again chagrined, the Democrats decided to declare “lawfare” against Trump. They filed a series of bogus criminal and civil cases against him. They aimed to discredit him by labeling him a “convicted felon.” The unabashed corruption of the tactic really has made Trump stronger.
The lawfare didn’t kill Trump; it only made him stronger. He fought and largely won. The Supreme Court has thrown out most of the charges against him. Democrat incompetence has undermined most of the rest. The American people see the lawfare for the corrupt scheme that it is, and Trump’s fight as the righteous one that it is. He’s gone up in the polls. The ghost of Boss Tweed is trying to figure what went wrong.
And this time, he shows a discipline that he’d never shown in 2016. He more often thinks and takes advice before he opens his mouth. He’s stronger. He also lets the Dems do a frabjous job of hanging themselves.
A good example is his handling of the Democrat civil war over Biden’s candidacy. It must be tempting for Trump to pour gasoline on the self-immolating Democrats, but he’s mostly smart enough to let them do it themselves. To fling any 100 octane risks raising sympathy for the bastards.
Leftists are by nature authoritarians. See, e.g., Stalin, Joseph; Zedong, Mao; Pot, Pol. That is why they’re so quick to label anyone who disagrees with them a “fascist.” It’s projection in combination with authoritarian shout-down. I'd call them totalitarian, rather than just authoritarian. The Catholic Church is authoritarian.
And so, the leftists – all of whom are Democrats (though not all Democrats are leftists) – They're not? So why do they vote in a monolithic leftist bloc?
have always alluded to violence against Trump. A two-bit comedienne depicted herself with Trump’s severed head. A theater depicted Trump in the role of assassinated Caesar. Just last week, Joe Biden told donors in a conference call that it was time to “put Trump in the bullseye.” And there he went. Good thing he turned his head when he did.
Yesterday, someone did exactly that. But, really, it won't be traced back to Rehoboth Beach, or to B.O.
Fortunately for Trump, his supporters, the country and the world, and unfortunately for Democrats, the someone missed Trump’s head by a half-inch. The high-powered hollow point bullet merely took off the top of Trump’s ear (though sadly it instantly killed the man behind him). Absolutely beneath consideration to the intended killer and his handler.
As always, this assassination attempt didn’t kill Trump; it only made him stronger. He fell, but with Secret Service assistance quickly stood back up, blood streaming down his face, fists pumping the air defiantly. Imagine Biden's reaction in a similar situation. Imagine B.O.'s. But as I think of it, which recent Republican wouldn't have reacted almost as bravely? Either of the Bushes? Ronald "I hope you're all Republicans" Reagan? Richard Nixon? (Recall the picture, denigrated by Dems, of him fighting the fire at his house with his garden hose.) Eisenhower? (Don't make me laugh any harder!) Hoover? Coolidge? T.R?
Somewhere in hell, Nietzsche must be smiling. Unless Hell's crippled him.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party...
[NY Post] Another member of the left-leaning "Squad" in Congress is on the ropes — facing a 23 percentage point deficit and possibly headed for defeat, a new poll claims.
...46th president of the U.S. Former Senator-for-Life from Delaware, an example of the kind of top-notch Washington intellect to be found in the World's Greatest Deliberative Body....
