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Trump's insurrection 'due process' complaints burned to the ground by legal expert

Complaints by Donald Trump and his allies that he should be allowed to remain on ballots in multiple states contesting his eligibility because he has been denied "due process" was dismantled by a former U.S. attorney on Saturday morning.


Speaking with host Ali Velshi, former prosecutor Barbara McQuade claimed there is a basic misunderstanding about how "due process" is applied and that the former president and his defenders have it all wrong when they complain that he has not been found to be an "insurrectionist."

"There is now this growing record of legal opinions affirming that what happened on January 6th wasn't insurrection," host Velshi prompted. "The Supreme Court, ultimately I think, is going to have to at some point or another address that particular question."

McQuade argued with the conventional wisdom about how the law arrives at a determination of insurrection.

"I think one of the things that was important about the litigation was there was a trial," she reminded the MSNBC host. "There was an actual fact-finding mission. They heard testimony from members of Congress who were there as well as experts, who reached that decision. I think it is very important for both history and for this case."

"There are those complaining that Donald Trump has been denied due process in some way," she began. "But I think they're conflating a finding of a criminal violation of insurrection, it is a crime to engage in insurrection, where you have due process rights like the right to confront your accusers, the right to testify, the right to cross-examine witnesses. But that is when one's liberty is at stake."

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GOP’s supposed smoking gun in Biden impeachment inquiry revealed to be a dud

House Republicans have been criticized for authorizing an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden with no evidence of the "high crimes and misdemeanors" that typically merit the process. A recent New York Times report has now revealed that one of their chief pieces of evidence doesn't pass muster when analyzing it in its proper context.

While questioning a forensic accountant in September, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Florida) alleged that a text message from Hunter Biden to his daughter, Naomi alluding to giving half of his salary to his father constituted "a potential money laundering operation or potential pay-for-play operation." hinting at illegal "money going from son to father."

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'Ask Jeb Bush': Former GOP lawmaker breaks news to DeSantis his career is over

On Saturday morning, former Rep. Dave Jolly (R-FL) laughed when told how far Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) is trailing Donald Trump in the race to be the 2024 Republican party presidential nominee and then noted that DeSantis' career in politics is coming to an ignominious and abrupt end.

With the Florida governor ineligible by state law to run for a third term, and the state already represented by two Republicans in the U.S. Senate, Jolly said DeSantis jumped the gun on starting his national career by taking on the former president who has the solid backing of the MAGA faithful.

With that in mind, the former GOP lawmaker said DeSantis is headed down the same road traveled by former Govs. Jeb Bush (R-FL) and Mike Huckabee (R-AR), both of whom launched humiliatingly bad presidential bids that failed.

"Why is Ron Desantis still in the race?" host Jonathan Capehart pressed, which set Jolly off laughing.

"Exactly, Jonathan. I heard that clip and I thought, 'Okay, we've now reached the excuses stage of his political campaign,' which is always the last one before withdrawal," Jolly stated while smirking.

"Look, the storyline on Ron Desantis is this, and on Saturday morning we can be light-hearted about it, but Republicans jumped into a hot and heavy dating relationship with him. He was the prom king. He was, Time magazine said, the future. His opening ad said on the eighth day God created him: Ron DeSantis."

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"And so they jumped into this heavy dating relationship with him, they thought he was all that — they realized he wasn't," he continued. "That he was just into himself and not into them. He was a little boring, he had lost his moves, he was stale. Republican voters have moved on and, just like a bad boyfriend, Ron DeSantis doesn't realize that."

After noting that former Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC) has blown by the Florida governor in the polls, he added, "Ron DeSantis' presidential run is likely over. The question is, is his political career over as well? Because where does he go after leaving the governorship? Ask Jeb Bush and Mike Huckabee how that went. It doesn't go well."

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Trump rages 'sick puppies' at DOJ are behind the 'real insurrection' in rambling attack

Early Saturday morning, Donald Trump went on an angry and scattershot tirade where he attacked special counsel Jack Smith, the Department of Justice and unnamed "Lowlifes and Radical Left Thugs."

Once again pointing out that he thinks he got a big win from the Supreme Court — which has been debunked by former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance — the embattled former president suggested the DOJ is taking part in a "real insurrection" by prosecuting him.

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Special counsel Jack Smith threw a 'wrinkle' at SCOTUS that could speed up Trump hearing

During an appearance on MSNBC on Saturday morning, former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance was asked to lay out the timeline for the Supreme Court to eventually hear and make a ruling on the question of presidential immunity being asserted by Donald Trump.

Speaking with host Jonathan Capehart, the former prosecutor stated that special counsel Jack Smith made a proposal — which she called a "wrinkle" — that could accelerate the process.

Reacting to the court declining to take up the case before a lower court rules on the former president's assertion that he can't be prosecuted by the DOJ for actions related to the Jan. 6 insurrection, Vance explained, "The next stage is the first layer of appeal which is a three judge panel in the appellate court. Trump could even ask for a motion for re-hearing. If he loses with that three-judge panel, it gives him a little bit of extra delay, but it's usually something that does not work out for a defendant to ask for a hearing from the same judges who ruled against him."

"Then he's got 45 days to ask the court to re-hear en banc, which would mean all of the active judges on the D.C. Circuit would participate," she elaborated. "And then he can apply for certiorari with the United States Supreme Court."

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She then explained, "There's one additional wrinkle we should mention. In Jack Smith's motion here, he asked the Supreme Court to consider if they would not hear the case directly, if they wanted to go to the Court of Appeals, he asked them to consider taking the case immediately following the Court of Appeals decision without waiting for en banc and the usual time for certiorari. The Supreme Court has been silent so far on that request so we don't know what they are thinking."

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Trump's victory celebration over Supreme Court ruling shot down by former prosecutor

Donald Trump's Friday afternoon claim that he scored a major victory at the Supreme Court when it denied special counsel Jack Smith's request to step in and rule on the former president's assertion of presidential immunity was larded with false claims and bravado that was in no way warranted.

That is the opinion of former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance who rained on Trump's parade with a fact check about what really occurred.

Following the ruling that the court is not yet ready to hear the opposing arguments until a lower court makes a ruling, Trump took to his Truth Social platform to boast, "The Supreme Court has unanimously rejected Deranged Jack Smith’s desperate attempt to short circuit our Great Constitution. Crooked Joe Biden and his henchmen waited three years to bring this sham case, and now they have tried and failed to rush this Witch Hunt through the courts."

He then added, "Of course I am entitled to Presidential Immunity. I was President, it was my right and duty to investigate, and speak on, the rigged and stolen 2020 Presidential Election. Looking forward to the very important arguments on Presidential Immunity in front of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. Make America Great Again!"

According to Vance, Trump's statement was full of egregious errors.

On her Civil Discourse Substack platform, she explained that the court in no way "unanimously rejected" a desperation move, with the former prosecutor writing that Smith, " ... asked for an established writ that has been used in other cases of similar magnitude to send an appeal directly to the Supreme Court. Nor has the Court unanimously rejected the underlying issue, Judge Chutkan’s denial of Trump presidential immunity motion. That substantive issue is still to be decided."

Vance then took aim at Trump's assertion that the case sat for three years, writing, "to the contrary, from what we know, while there may have been some initial reluctance to investigate, by at least 2022, investigation was underway and the case, a very complicated one with lots of moving parts, was indicted on August 1, 2023. In other words, less than three years out from January 6, 2021."

On a final point, she flattened the former president for declaring "it was my right and duty to investigate, and speak on, the rigged and stolen 2020 Presidential election."

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Absolutely wrong, she wrote.

"Elections are run by states. They certify their results on the basis of the results in each county. So, Trump had no right to get involved in the vote count in Wayne County, Michigan, but we now know that he tried to cajole Republican vote canvassers there into refusing to certify the lawful vote," she explained before adding, "If Trump suspected fraud he could report that to DOJ, which he of course did, and they told him in no uncertain terms they couldn’t find any evidence of it. So no, the election wasn’t rigged or stolen. And Trump had neither right nor duty to investigate. It’s just more red meat he throws at his base, hoping they won’t notice that it’s spoiled."

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Former Trump attorney says Detroit tapes put him at risk

High-profile legal powerhouse and former Trump White House attorney Ty Cobb says the bombshell recordings of Donald Trump allegedly pressuring two Michigan election officials to refuse to certify the 2020 results for Joe Biden could put both the ex-president and Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel at risk.

Cobb earlier this week predicted Trump would win unanimously at the U.S. Supreme Court when he appeals the Colorado Supreme Court's ruling that found he is ineligible to be on the state's ballot because he violated the 14th Amendment by engaging in insurrection.

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'You never discuss in good faith': Jenna Ellis slams fellow Trump co-defendant Jeff Clark

Jenna Ellis, the Donald Trump attorney who tearfully pleaded guilty to 2020 election interference crimes, has been feuding on social media with Jeff Clark, an ex-Trump official and a fellow Trump co-defendant.

It appears to have started with a post by Ellis, who recently condemned Christian nationalism following the beheading of a Satanic statute by a former candidate. On Thursday, Ellis posted again about the statue, writing, "A Missouri politician vandalized a Satanist statue in the Iowa Capitol."

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Trump allies see ex-president's Supreme Court win as sign he will soon be assassinated

A Donald Trump loyalist floated an interesting conspiracy theory on Friday following the Supreme Court's refusal to fast-track the former president's appeal over presidential immunity.

The Supreme Court rejected the bid for Special Counsel Jack Smith to skip over an appeals court and review whether or not Trump is immune from prosecution for his alleged efforts to subvert the 2020 election when President Joe Biden won. Trump celebrated the decision as a victory on Truth Social.

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Trump winning GOP nod would tell us all we need to know about Republican voters: historian

Legendary presidential historian Jon Meacham spoke with MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle on Friday evening about 2023 in retrospective — and the significance of former President Donald Trump's continued hold over the Republican Party.

"If you were to write a book about this year, what would you include?" said Ruhle.

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Michigan election chief sounds off dire warning about Trump after audio of pressure effort

Following the report that former President Donald Trump tried to pressure canvassers in Michigan to block certification of election results, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson wrote a dire warning about the threat the former president still poses in The Daily Beast.

"For me, the lowest moment in the post-election battle to protect Michigan’s accurate and legitimate election results in 2020 was not when armed protestors stormed my home," wrote Benson. "It wasn’t when a gathering of Trump supporters showed up to Michigan’s State Capitol demanding to be let in as the state’s 'true slate of electors' when we all were sheltered in the State Senate Chambers finalizing the electoral college. It wasn’t even when Rudy Giuliani came to town to headline a sham legislative hearing filled with lies about our elections. No, the most challenging time for me was the night of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers meeting."

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'I'd be shocked': Watergate whistleblower says Trump can't delay election case beyond 2024

The Supreme Court's decision on Friday to sidestep special counsel Jack Smith's request to immediately take up former President Donald Trump's claim of immunity from prosecution is a win for the former president's efforts to delay and push out the date of his criminal trial for the 2020 plot to overthrow the presidential election — which experts believe he is trying to stall out until after the 2024 election, where if he wins he could make the trial go away with his control of the Justice Department.

But Trump shouldn't count on being able to delay it that far, said former Nixon White House counsel and Watergate whistleblower John Dean on CNN.

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Trump is floating someone he calls 'Bird Brain' as his V.P. pick: report

Donald Trump is reportedly considering a controversial idea: selecting GOP candidate Nikki Haley, whom he has nicknamed "Bird Brain," as his potential vice presidential choice.

Trump has been brutal toward Haley, who worked in the former president's administration, in part because she purportedly claimed she wouldn't run against him before doing just that. But he is now speaking with his associates about making her his number two, CBS News reports.

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