All posts tagged "Hearing"

Legal onlookers were stupefied on Friday as the ongoing ethics hearing into Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, the prosecutor bringing the election racketeering case against former President Donald Trump in Georgia, was sidelined by a sexual assault allegation.

Specifically, Terrence Bradley, an associate of Willis' embattled special prosecutor Nathan Wade, was accused during cross-examination, with attorneys asking a witness whether they had ever witnessed him committing assault. This came during a line of questioning about why Bradley, who is allegedly privy to text messages that could establish when Willis and Wade became romantically involved, had exited his law firm.

"This hearing is nuts," former federal organized crime prosecutor Elizabeth de la Vega commented on the proceedings, which had gone far afield from the original subject matter....

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis reached her limit of having her personal life picked apart on the stand in a trial that was ostensibly supposed to be about an allegation of professional misconduct, legal expert Lisa Rubin said on MSNBC Thursday — and it ultimately may have paid off for her to stand up for herself.

Willis has admitted to having a romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor in her office. One of Trump's co-defendants has tried to allege that Willis and Wade have personally profited off of charging the former president.

Anchor Alicia Menendez played a clip of Willis in the hearing, saying, "I object to you getting records. You've been intrusive into people's personal lives. You're confused. You think I'm on trial. These people are on trial for trying to steal an elections in 2020. I'm not on trial no matter how hard you try to put me on trial."...

The push to expose bias on behalf of pre-X/Twitter (before Elon Musk purchased the site) is being mocked by former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance as the government's own version of Festivus.

During Wednesday's hearing, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Weaponization of the Federal Government, called out some social media companies as part of a "censorship industrial complex" and has been trying to expose the "governments' efforts to censor the American people."

And he touted Musk for calling Twitter after he purchased it "both a social media company and a crime scene."
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New York (AFP) - Manufacturing giant 3M said Tuesday it has reached a $6 billion settlement over claims by US military veterans that its earplugs were faulty and failed to protect their hearing. The company is hoping the agreement draws a line under the long-running legal saga, which has seen the company hit by thousands of lawsuits by veterans complaining of hearing loss.  The mediated agreement will see 3M "contribute a total amount of $6.0 billion between 2023 and 2029, which is structured under the agreement to include $5.0 billion in cash and $1.0 billion in 3M common stock," 3M said in a......

A Wednesday hearing during which GOP representatives grilled FBI director Christopher Wray was "for show," and not for holding the agency to account for any mistakes, according to former FBI general counsel Andrew Weissmann.

Weissmann, who previously predicted Trump's conviction in the classified documents case, appeared on MSNBC Wednesday night alongside Rep. Eric Swalwell. Weissmann discussed how, when hearings like the recently publicized one don't have cameras present, the performative nature was downplayed and things could actually get done.

"You actually get work done. People actually ask you real questions. You go there with a sense of obligation to give answers to congress," he said. "It doesn't matter whether it's a Democrat or Republican. And that's the purpose."...

Rep. Jim Jordan's (R-OH) decision to refuse to turn over witness testimony in the "weaponization" of government hearing represented a violation of fair practices and may have consequences, a former prosecutor said.

Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance made an appearance on The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle, and argued that one reason someone might withhold testimony is that they are simply "afraid of it."

"Something in the transcript that doesn't serve Jim Jordan's interests, and Dan Goldman, our former colleague, also a former federal prosecutor, someone who knows how to read the law, reads into committee hearing, the rule, the rule 11, which says you've got to make a record, and you've got to make it available to every sitting member of Congress," Vance said....