I didn’t realize I had an inner law nerd but it was activated by seeing Larry Tribe and The Puppetmaster DBA Andrew Weissmann on The Last Word. They’re semi-regulars on Lawrence O’Donnell’s show but they appeared simultaneously via Zoom. Tribe usually appears solo, so it confirms that Andrew has hit the big time.

My two favorite legal eagles discussed Special Counsel Jack Smith’s move to leapfrog the appellate court and argue Team Trump’s immunity claims before SCOTUS.

I’ll let our favorite Law Dork, Chris Greidner, handle the exposition:

“The U.S. Supreme Court took the first step Monday evening toward quickly considering constitutional questions relating to the federal prosecution of Donald Trump — order Trump’s lawyers to respond by Dec. 20 to a request from the Special Counsel’s Office that the high court take up a case over presidential immunity and related constitutional questions immediately.

Special Counsel Jack Smith had gone to the Supreme Court earlier Monday, asking the court to take up and definitively resolve the presidential immunity and related claims without waiting for the appeals court to weigh in on the case.

“This case involves a paradigmatic issue of imperative public importance: the amenability to criminal prosecution of a former President of the United States for con- duct undertaken during his presidency,” Smith and the lawyers in his office wrote in a filing at the high court on Monday.

The efforts to get the case to the Supreme Court now, Smith made clear, are largely part of his attempt to keep the scheduled March 4, 2024, trial date on track in his case against Trump in federal court in Washington, D.C. relating to Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected Trump’s claims that presidential immunity continues to protect him from prosecution and that double jeopardy prevents him from being prosecuted given that the Senate did not convict Trump in his second impeachment trial on Dec. 1. On Dec. 7, Trump’s lawyer filed their notice that they were appealing the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, leading to Monday’s filings by the Special Counsel’s Office.

The primary request filed by Smith’s office — called a petition for certiorari before judgment because it is a request to hear the case before the appeals court issues a judgment in the case — was joined with a motion to expedite consideration of the petition and, if the court grants certiorari before judgment, the merits briefing.”

That was such a long quote that it qualifies as lazy quoting of better writers. Hey, he’s the Law Dork and I’m just a lapsed lawyer briefly in touch with my inner law nerd. That’s how The Puppetmaster styles himself and if it’s good enough for him, it’s good enough for me.

I consigned my crystal ball to the rubbish in 2016, so I rarely make predictions, but if I still did, I’d expect the Court to grant cert to hear the ridiculous claims advanced by Trump’s lawyers. The double jeopardy argument is preposterous but unruled upon.

I also find it hard to believe that a majority of the Court will buy an argument that Richard Nixon peddled to David Frost in 1977:

That brings me to the post title. In the summer of 1974, the Special Prosecutor’s office bypassed the DC Circuit Court of Appeals and argued the Nixon Tapes case in front of SCOTUS. It took a mere sixteen days for the Court to announce its unanimous decision against Team Tricky. Then associate Justice William Rehnquist recused himself because of his ties to the two Nixon AGs who went to jail: John Mitchell and Richard Kleindienst. Will any of the current Supremes do likewise?

There’s an argument to be made that Clarence the Grifter should recuse because of his wingnut wife. Even though he recused in the Nixon Tapes case, I have a low opinion of Rehnquist’s ethics. Here’s why: He lied under oath about the Justice he clerked for, Robert Jackson, one of my legal heroes. Rehnquist claimed that a pro-segregation memo written during his clerkship reflected Jackson’s views on Brown v. Board Of Education. Really? The same Bob Jackson who stood up against the internment of Japanese American citizens and led the prosecution of Nazi war criminals at the first Nuremberg trial? Slandering a dead man is as low as it gets.

Rehnquist may have been a mendacious mook, but in United States v. Nixon, he did the right thing. Does Thomas even know what the right thing is? I think he put his ethics in a blind trust administered by Hitler art collector, Harlan Crow. Clarence’s soul, such as it is, belongs to Ginni.

In 1974, SCOTUS achieved unanimity, which seems unlikely in 2023 because of the current Court’s Crazy Uncles, Clarence and Sam the Sham. It wouldn’t surprise me if they thought Hungarian-style autocracy was desirable in our country. Feed them some goulash and sent them to the attic where crazy uncles belong.

Team Trump has until 12/20 to reply to Smith’s pleading. Expect lollygagging because strategic delay is their jam Are there are any plausible arguments AGAINST leapfrogging the DC circuit? I’m skeptical that Trump’s lawyers are capable of making any plausible arguments. They specialize in specious arguments, after all.

I opted for an optimistic title to dispel some of the gloom on the left. Many thought indictments would be the silver bullets that would slay the demon aka the Indicted Impeached Insult Comedian. They did not. BUT Trump is terrified of facing the electorate as a convicted felon. Jack Smith’s latest moves are aimed at preserving the current trial date.

Here’s hoping that the Supremes will grant cert and act expeditiously. This trial must happen before the 2024 election. Time for another Nixon quote:

The last two sentences were lies. Tricky couldn’t help himself: he was a habitual liar much like the creep whose hand he’s shaking in the featured image.

Repeat after me: Donald Trump is worse than Richard Nixon, the only president to resign in disgrace.

The last word goes to James Taylor with a protest song that reflects the Spirit Of ’74. It opens with a musical quote of Hail To The Chief and includes these lyrics: “He seems to tell us lies and still we will believe him. Then together he will lead us into darkness, my friends.”

Hit it, James: