I understand that people are apprehensive about what’s going to happen vis-a-vis the toxic combination of Aileen Cannon and TFG. Yes, she could throw a bunch of wrenches into the works, but I don’t think she gets very far. The DOJ no doubt prepared for the possibility that the case would end up before her, and I agree with Ryan Goodman and Andrew Weissman that Jack Smith may have a back-up plan involving the mysterious Bedminster documents.
But the main reason I am not worried about it is because the DOJ has the best asset of all: it is prosecuting TFG, not defending him. TFG’s worst enemy is TFG. He cannot stop getting in his own way, and that is never going to change. For example, on Wednesday the Washington Post published a story about how TFG’s pigheadedness got him indicted:
The attorney, Christopher Kise, wanted to quietly approach Justice to see if he could negotiate a settlement that would preclude charges, hoping Attorney General Merrick Garland and the department would want an exit ramp to avoid prosecuting a former president. Kise would hopefully “take the temperature down,” he told others, by promising a professional approach and the return of all documents.
But Trump was not interested after listening to other lawyers who urged a more pugilistic approach, so Kise never approached prosecutors, three people briefed on the matter said. A special counsel was appointed months later.
And you’ll never guess the petard that hoisted TFG:
Trump time and again rejected the advice from lawyers and advisers who urged him to cooperate and instead took the advice of Tom Fitton, the head of the conservative group Judicial Watch, and a range of others who told him he could legally keep the documents and should fight the Justice Department, advisers said. Trump would often cite Fitton to others, and Fitton told some of Trump’s lawyers that Trump could keep the documents, even as they disagreed, the advisers said.
Fitton had some thoughts about the law:
“I think what is lacking is the lawyers saying, ‘I took this to be obstruction,’” said Fitton. “Where is the conspiracy? I don’t understand any of it. I think this is a trap. They had no business asking for the records … and they’ve manufactured an obstruction charge out of that. There are core constitutional issues that the indictment avoids, and the obstruction charge seems weak to me.”
Several other Trump advisers blamed Fitton for convincing Trump that he could keep the documents and repeatedly mentioning the “Clinton socks case” — a reference to tapes Bill Clinton stored in his sock drawer of his secret interviews with historian Taylor Branch that served as the basis of Branch’s 2009 book documenting the Clinton presidency.
Judicial Watch lost a lawsuit in 2012 that demanded the audio recordings be designated as presidential records and that the National Archives take custody of the recordings. A court opinion issued at the time stated that there was no legal mechanism for the Archives to force Clinton to turn over the recordings.
OK, here’s what you need to know about Tom Fitton: he has a B.A. in English from George Washington University.
And TFG is taking legal advice from him–after he paid Kise $3 million upfront last year, per the Post’s story.
You can’t argue with that kind of behavior and you can’t win a legal case without legal acumen.
It is what it is.
My title got me thinking about songs about fathers. Here’s one that TFG can relate to:
I would listen to legal advice from blog publishers like our very own Adrastos or Atrios over at Eschaton because they have some legal experience, and are not some dipshit with an English degree who publishes a blog. I guess Trump figured he knew some legalizing things because the blog is called Judicial Watch. Also, Adrastos or Atrios would likely tell me “go talk to someone currently practicing law.”
PS I am allowed to say “dipshit with an English degree” because I am a dipshit with a journalism and communications degree.
i burst out laughing when i read it was Fitton.
This is what happens when you only listen to people who tell you what you want to hear. Dollars to donuts, Trump thinks Fitton is a lawyer.