US mercenaries captured in Venezuela after failed coup attempt compared to a 'bad Rambo movie'
May 6, 2020, 12:34 PM ET
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Legal experts create 186-page roadmap for Jack Smith 'to obtain and sustain a conviction' in Trump docs case
June 03, 2023
A distinguished group of former Department of Justice officials, former federal prosecutors, law professors and legal scholars have combined their talents and created a 186-page "Model Prosecution Memo" that lays out their proposed path to indict and convict former President Donald Trump of six federal crimes.
Writing for Above the Law, Andrew Weissmann, Ryan Goodman, Joyce Vance, Norman L. Eisen, Fred Wertheimer, Siven Watt, E. Danya Perry, Joshua Stanton and Joshua Kolb, stated that, based on what is already publicly known about the sensitive government documents that the former president took with him to Mar-a-Lago after his election loss — and his refusal to hand them over — there is already a solid enough case for a conviction.
The entire document (which can be read here or below) makes the case that the former president can be charged with:
Mishandling of Government Documents
1. Retention of National Defense Information (18 U.S.C. § 793(e))
2. Concealing Government Records (18 U.S.C. § 2071)
3. Conversion of Government Property (18 U.S.C. § 641)
Obstruction, Contempt, False Information
1. Obstruction of Justice (18 U.S.C. § 1519)
2. Criminal Contempt (18 U.S.C. § 402)
3. False Statements to Federal Investigators (18 U.S.C. § 1001)
They wrote, "There is sufficient evidence to obtain and sustain a conviction here, if the information gleaned from government filings and statements and voluminous public reporting is accurate. Indeed, the DOJ is likely now, or shortly will be, internally circulating a pros memo of its own saying so. That DOJ memo will, however, be highly confidential, in part because it will contain information derived through the grand jury and attorney work product. Since it will not be publicly available, we offer this analysis."
RELATED: Trump's lawyers will 'cut their losses' when indictments come: Guardian reporter
As part of the memo, they stated, "....the discussion starts with Trump’s resistance to the Government’s attempts to recover the documents. We recount the more than one-and-a-half-year effort on the part of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and the Justice Department to recover the documents. Those efforts culminated in the FBI’s recovery of approximately 13,000 documents, including information on some of the nation’s most sensitive national defense programs, pursuant to a court-authorized search warrant for Mar-a-Lago (MAL)."
In their conclusion, they suggested, "The Department’s own precedent makes clear that charging Trump would be to treat him comparably to others who engaged in similar criminal behavior, often with far fewer aggravating factors than the former president. Based on the publicly available information to date, a powerful case exists for charging Trump under the federal criminal statutes discussed in this memorandum."
You can read the memo below:
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Independent Sen. Krysten Sinema continues using liberal platforms to fundraise for 2024 reelection campaign
June 03, 2023
This article originally appeared in OpenSecrets. Sign up for their weekly newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) announced her departure from the Democratic Party last December, but the first-term U.S. senator still uses platforms typically utilized by Democrats and progressives to raise money for her 2024 reelection campaign, which has yet to be formally announced.
Sinema’s campaign committee reported raising over $2.1 million in the first three months of 2022, ending March with $10 million on hand. Over $1 million was transferred from the Sinema Leadership Fund, a joint fundraising committee that splits contributions between Sinema’s campaign committee and her leadership PAC, Getting Stuff Done.
The joint fundraising committee’s donation page explicitly states that funds will go in part to Sinema’s 2024 reelection, OpenSecrets found, even though the senator has not officially announced her candidacy. The Wall Street Journal reported last month that an internal presentation suggests Sinema is gearing up to run as an independent.
Donations to the joint fundraising committee are facilitated through Democracy Engine, which describes itself as a nonpartisan for-profit donation processor but almost exclusively raises money for Democratic politicians. If Sinema instead decides to run in the Democratic primary and loses, Arizona law would bar her from running in the general election as an independent.
Although Sinema was not up for reelection during the 2022 midterms, she was the largest recipient of funds through Democracy Engine during the last election cycle. In addition to money from her joint fundraising committee, about $220,000 of Sinema’s 2023 contributions were facilitated through Democracy Engine.
Democracy Engine declined to comment.
Sinema has also continued to raise money through ActBlue, an “online fundraising platform for Democratic candidates up and down the ballot, progressive organizations, and nonprofits.” In the first quarter of 2023, at least $450,000 of Sinema’s fundraising came through ActBlue. During that time, Sinema’s campaign paid ActBlue and Democracy Engine about $18,000 and $13,000 in merchant fees, respectively.
In the past, ActBlue has kicked some politicians off of its platform due to scandals or political affiliation changes. High-profile examples include former Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who lost access to the platform amid his 2021 sexual harassment scandal, and Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.), who was reportedly removed by ActBlue when he switched to the Republican party in 2019.
ActBlue declined to comment for this story, but its website specifies the criteria used to determine which candidate can use the platform. While independents are usually barred from ActBlue in races that feature a Democrat, an exception is made for incumbents that have “a proven history of caucusing with Democrats,” which Sinema has continued to do after her party shift.
Sinema did not respond to OpenSecrets’ requests for comment.
Senate race landscape still sparse
Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) is the only prominent Democrat to announce his bid for Sinema’s U.S. Senate seat so far. Gallego was first elected to the U.S. House in 2014, representing Arizona’s 7th Congressional District until last year, when he was elected to serve in the state’s 3rd Congressional District after redistricting.
Based in Phoenix, both districts are solidly Democratic, and Gallego won each of his elections with at least 75% of the vote. The Cook Political Report rates the Arizona Senate race a “toss up.”
So far, Sinema has a significant cash advantage over Gallego, though Gallego raised more funds in the first quarter of 2023.
After outraising a challenger vying for his House seat 39-fold in the 2022 midterms, Gallego left the year with $1.3 million on hand. Since launching his Senate bid in late January, Gallego raised $3.8 million and spent $2.3 million, leaving his Senate campaign with $2.7 million at the end of March.
Over half of Gallego’s funds are made up of small donations from individual donors giving $200 or less. An OpenSecrets analysis found that small-donor contributions made up less than 1% of contributions to Sinema.
Most of the money spent by Gallego’s 2024 Senate campaign went to Aisle 518 Strategies, a progressive political firm that has been used by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and others. The $1.6 million Gallego’s campaign paid to Aisle 518 Strategies so far went to digital consulting, list acquisition, SMS and digital fundraising services.
Democratic politicians — like Kelly and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) — have largely refrained from endorsing either candidate in Arizona’s U.S. Senate race, often citing how much time lies between now and the election. However, the campaigns of Democratic California Reps. Nancy Pelosi, Eric Swalwell and Ted Lieu have contributed to Gallego’s campaign.
On the other side of the aisle, Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb is the most prominent Republican to have announced a bid for Arizona’s U.S. Senate seat. Lamb officially launched his campaign shortly after the first quarter FEC filing deadline so his first fundraising report will not be available until July.
According to February polling data from O.H. Predictive Insights, Gallego is favored to win head-to-head matchups against Sinema and all other potential candidates. Other potential Republican candidates include former Arizona GOP candidate for U.S. Senate Blake Masters and former Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake.
OpenSecrets is a nonpartisan, independent and nonprofit research and news organization tracking money in U.S. politics and its effect on elections and public policy.
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U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink will discuss "key issues in the bilateral relationship" during his visit to China, the State Department said in a statement. He will be joined by White House National Security Council Senior Director for China and Taiwan Affairs Sarah Beran.
Ties between the world's two largest economies are strained over issues ranging from Taiwan and China's human rights record to military activity in the South China Sea.
During his travels from Sunday to June 10, Kritenbrink will also visit New Zealand to participate in the U.S.-New Zealand Strategic Dialogue, the department said.
Kritenbrink’s trip follows a visit last month to China by CIA Director William Burns. A U.S. official said Burns "emphasized the importance of maintaining open lines of communication in intelligence channels" in meetings with his Chinese counterparts.
On Saturday, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin rebuked China for refusing to hold military talks.
Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's top security summit, Austin said Beijing's reluctance to talk undermined efforts to maintain peace in a region where the two rivals are increasing their military firepower.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponed a planned February trip to China after an alleged Chinese spy balloon flew through U.S. airspace over sensitive military sites, kicking off a diplomatic crisis.
But the White House has said further efforts were being made to facilitate visits by Blinken, as well as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.
(Reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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