Trump lawyer's testimony likely seals the deal for indictment in docs case: legal expert
March 24, 2023, 7:13 PM ET
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Former US Attorney predicts possible 'surprises' that could come up in a Trump indictment
June 04, 2023
Over the weekend, the New York Times broke a story that former Donald Trump lawyer Evan Corcoran had recordings that the Justice Department now has.
As a lawyer, Corcoran and Trump enjoyed the attorney-client privilege, but it became clear that Trump used Corcoran while secretly withholding information about the documents he was hiding. A federal court ruled that the crim-fraud exception could be used to breach the attorney-client privilege.
"The level of detail in the recording is said to have angered and unnerved close aides to Mr. Trump, who are worried it contains direct quotes from sensitive conversations," the Times reported.
Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance, who now teaches at the University of Alabama School of Law, helped write a 186-page prosecution memo that provides some framework for what the Justice Department might use in making charging decisions. It's a guide for non-lawyers to understand how such an indictment might look when/if the DOJ makes its move.
"Under the federal principles of prosecution, first you have to answer the question, could you indict?" Vance explained to MSNBC host Ayman Mohyeldin. "That means, do you have sufficient evidence to obtain a conviction? So, we considered two buckets of charges. We consider charges that are related to illegally retaining these documents, that's the Espionage Act, a retention provision, theft of government property. But we also considered — because of his flagrant conduct — Trump's obstruction of justice."
She explained that they also looked at charges involving obstruction. There are several ongoing examples of that.
"The evidence, if the public record is correct, is a solid evidence, prosecutors should be able to obtain and sustain a conviction. That answers the question, can you indict?" Vance asked. "Then you have to answer the more nuanced question of should you? A big part of that is whether or not an indictment would be consistent with how similar situations have been handled in the past. In this instance, indicting Trump based on his conduct would be very consistent with how other cases involving retention but not dissemination of classified or other sensitive material has been handled."
Vance went on to say that the weapon that the federal government has that reporters don't is the subpoena power to force people to testify before a grand jury.
"Typically, the government knows a lot more than the public does when a case is indicted. This is a little bit different because the reporting has been so outstanding. Many reporters are very well-sourced," said Vance. "But it would be surprising if there weren't a few surprises it would that could be good or bad for prosecutors. It's possible that there could be some form of exculpatory evidence that suggests Trump is not guilty, maybe of any charges, or at least some of them. But It's also possible that the government's evidence gets much stronger when they access information through the grand jury. They may even be able to prove, for instance, that Trump disseminated these materials instead of just retaining them. And we will have to wait until we see the indictment to know how that shakes out."
See the comments from Vance in the video below or at the link here.
Former US Attorney predicts possible 'surprises' that could come up in a Trump indictment youtu.be
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The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Showtime pulled a special by Vice News that went into detail about Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and his time working as a JAG officer at Guantanamo Bay.
"The episode, the fourth in Vice’s fourth season, had been slated to air May 28. Showtime pulled the episode, however, and is now referring to the June 4 installment as episode four of the season. Repeat programming aired in place of the shelved episode on May 28," said the report.
The episode, titled “The Gitmo Candidate & Chipping Away,” has been "scrubbed from Showtime’s website and press portal. An email sent to press on May 24 noted that a screener of the episode was available; however, on May 30, a follow-up email noted a different installment, titled 'Detransitioners & Draining the DRC,' as episode four."
No information from the network or Vice has been given about why Showtime canceled the show. The description f the show "hinted at potentially explosive material about DeSantis." Very little information is available to the public about DeSantis' time at GitMo.
“Seb Walker investigates allegations from former Guantanamo Bay detainees that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis witnessed acts condemned by the United Nations as torture during his past service at the controversial detention camp as a Navy JAG officer," the description reads.
In April, a report revealed DeSantis' campaign is haunted by what could drop from the governor's role in the military prison. He has already exploded over questions about the subject.
One inmate said: "I will never forget his face, he was laughing and smiling watching me being tortured on the force-feeding chair."
Vice Media recently filed for bankruptcy protection but they announced a group of funders has agreed to purchase them for $225 million.
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MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan began his show by reminding voters who RFK Jr. is and why they shouldn't be fooled by the far-right Republicans desperate to promote him.
He showed a clip of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. talking about the wealth discrepancy that continues to increase and a candidate "willing to condemn the consolidation of corporate power, the evils of environmental racism, and ever-increasing income inequality."
He checked off three "worrying things" that he said any Kennedy fan should look at.
First, Kennedy made his name among the anti-vaccine crowd in 2005 using distorted data to allege a massive conspiracy theory about mercury-based preservatives. During the pandemic, he proposed the 5G vaccine conspiracy theories. Another was the conspiracy that Bill Gates, who didn't create the vaccine, somehow used tracking devices injected into people for unknown purposes. Then he started comparing vaccines to the Holocaust. He put out photos of Dr. Anthony Fauci in a Hitler mustache.
Up until April of 2022, COVID vaccines could have prevented at least 318,000 deaths from the disease, the Brown University School of Public Health calculated. Hasan said that it's proof people like Kennedy have blood on their hands.
Second, Kennedy is being backed by far-right organizers Steve Bannon and Roger Stone. Kennedy hasn't addressed why these two would be so supportive of his campaign when the man they support the most, Donald Trump, is also running. He almost got a job in the Trump administration.
Lastly, a big tell is that Kennedy doesn't have any support from his own family. The Democratic stalwarts have long supported the party and the members of their family that chose to run under its banner. RFK Jr. is the only one to be dismissed by his own family.
"Forgive me, but a Bannon-backed, Tucker-platformed, anti-vaxxer... is perhaps not the progressive, principled, anti-establishment, liberal Democratic Party champion that he might want you to think he is," said Hasan.
Kennedy also confessed that he has a lot of conversations with dead people.
See the clip below or at the link here.
\u201c"Forgive me, but a Bannon-backed, Tucker-platformed, anti-vaxxer... is perhaps not the progressive, principled, anti-establishment, liberal Democratic Party champion that he might want you to think he is."\n\nA reminder, from me, as to who RFK Jr. really is:\nhttps://t.co/WoU5vZwzGZ\u201d— Mehdi Hasan (@Mehdi Hasan) 1685919467
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