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Prosecutor probing Trump hires expert who wrote the book on racketeering cases: report
March 06, 2021
The District Attorney in Atlanta has hired an expert on state racketeering cases in an escalation into the investigation into Donald Trump attempting to overturn Georgia's 2020 presidential election results.
"The district attorney investigating whether former U.S. President Donald Trump illegally interfered with Georgia's 2020 election has hired an outside lawyer who is a national authority on racketeering," Reuters reported Saturday, citing "a source familiar with the matter."
<p>"Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has enlisted the help of Atlanta lawyer John Floyd, who wrote a national guide on prosecuting state racketeering cases. Floyd was hired recently to 'provide help as needed' on matters involving racketeering, including the Trump investigation and other cases, said the source, who has direct knowledge of the situation. The move bolsters the team investigating Trump as Willis prepares to issue subpoenas for evidence on whether the former president and his allies broke the law in their campaign to pressure state officials to reverse his Georgia election loss. Willis has said that her office would examine potential charges including 'solicitation of election fraud, the making of false statements to state and local governmental bodies, conspiracy, racketeering' among other possible violations," Reuters reported.</p><p>Before Reuters reported on the personnel addition, former U.S. Attorney Michael Moore said Trump was already <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/trump-georgia-2650954279/" target="_blank">in big trouble</a> because of his hour-long, recorded phone call pressuring Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "find" an extra 11,000 votes.</p><p>Watch Moore's analysis:</p>
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<span class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="29bd421ace907e6e1a055f633c843217" style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="auto" type="lazy-iframe" scrolling="no" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4wj8fo2nnkY?rel=0" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" width="100%"></iframe></span>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Former U.S. Attorney Michael Moore on potential Trump election fraud case</small>
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<a href="https://youtu.be/4wj8fo2nnkY" target="_blank">youtu.be</a>
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Sat, March 6, 2021, 3:52 PM·2 min read
German pharmaceutical giant Merck and a US partner reported promising results Saturday in trials of a drug administered orally to fight Covid-19, saying it helps reduce patients' viral load.
<p>"At a time where there is unmet need for antiviral treatments against SARS-CoV-2, we are encouraged by these preliminary data," said Wendy Painter, chief medical officer of the US firm, Ridgeback Biotherapeutics.</p><p>In January, Merck halted work on two Covid vaccine candidates but has pressed on with research into two products to treat the disease, including a pill-based one called molnupiravir, which it has developed with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics.</p><p>This drug caused a significant drop in patients' viral load after five days of treatment with it, Merck said at a meeting with infectious disease experts.</p><p>This Phase 2a test -- drug trials have three stages before a product can be approved -- was carried out among 202 non-hospitalized people with symptoms of Covid-19.</p><p>There was no alert in terms of safety, and of four serious adverse events that were reported, none were considered to be related to taking this drug, Ridgeback said.</p><p>Anti-viral oral drugs such as oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza) are sometimes prescribed for seasonal flu but researchers have yet to come up with something similar to fight the coronavirus.</p><p>The findings of this study -- a quicker decrease in viral load among individuals with early-stage Covid-19 who are treated with molnupiravir -- are promising, said William Fischer, lead investigator of the study and a professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina.</p><p>"If supported by additional studies, (they) could have important public health implications, particularly as the SARS-CoV-2 virus continues to spread and evolve globally," Fischer added.</p><p>Merck is also working on another oral Covid treatment called MK-711.</p><p>Preliminary results from clinical trials with it show a more than 50 percent reduction in risk of death or respiratory trouble in patients hospitalized with moderate to severe Covid-19, the company said in January.</p>
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The favorite trick Trump could use in new case underscores how broken the US legal system is
March 06, 2021
Former President Donald Trump has been hit with a lot of lawsuits over the years, but one of his favorite legal tricks has managed to help him come out unscathed more than once.
A new MSNBC News op-ed written by Jessica Levinson offers insight into how one of Trump's new legal cases could play out if he is able to turn to one of his most effective defenses.
<p>On Friday, March 5, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) filed a lawsuit with a relatively different legal strategy compared to the approach House impeachment managers took when Trump was charged with inciting the insurrection on the U.S. Capitol.</p><p>Although Trump has already been acquitted for his alleged involvement in the deadly Capitol riots, the Democratic lawmaker opted to sue the former president and her personal attorney Rudy Giuliani for "conspiring with the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers to violate civil rights by blocking the counting of electoral college votes." Swalwell's suit also categorizes the alleged offenses as negligence.</p><p>But could this approach hold up in Trump? There is a possibility Swalwell could be headed in the right direction but Levinson also lays out Trump's possible defense.</p><p>She wrote:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;"><em>Trump's main defenses here, probably similar to his likely defenses in the Thompson case, will likely be the freedom of speech under the First Amendment and that he is protected from liability because he took all of the actions alleged in the complaint while he was president.</em></p><p>It also highlights the broad spectrum of the First Amendment and how Trump's legal team could use it to his advantage.</p><p>The publication notes that the First Amendment typically provides a wide panorama of protection "to engage in speech, particularly political speech, and very certainly even impassioned and nasty speech. But that protection is not unlimited. And given the allegations contained in both complaints, it is difficult to see how the actions Trump engaged in could fall within his official duties and responsibilities as president."</p><p>While there is still no way to determine what the likely outcome will be, Levinson notes that there is a strong possibility Trump's legal team case ultimately end up shaping the case as a political argument as opposed to what it should be: a legal argument.</p>
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