Hit the road, Jack

Flopping Aces ^ | 06-06-24 | DrJohn

[Starman417]

The fantasies of democrats are wilting on the vine.

Alvin Bragg got his pound of flesh from Donald Trump, but it isn't the home run democrats thought for sure it would be. The contrived conviction has seen Trump raise hundreds of millions of dollars as a consequence and democrats have largely backed off the "convicted felon" theme. The verdict is very likely to be overturned on appeal.  In Georgia Fani Willis' dreams have been put on hold until after the elections as an appeals court considers whether she should be disqualified from the trial:

In a major setback to the Fulton County District Attorney, the Georgia Court of Appeals on Wednesday put a pause on any proceedings related to the 2020 election interference case against former President Trump and co-defendants until it hears the case to disqualify Fani Willis in October.

The appeals court has tentatively scheduled a hearing date of Oct. 4 for the appeal by Trump and his co-defendants to have embattled Willis disqualified from the case due to an "improper" affair with former special prosecutor Nathan Wade. The appeals court action all but solidifies that Willis' sweeping racketeering case against the 45th president will not go to trial before the 2024 election in November.

In March Margot Cleveland had this nailed:

But there is an even more profound reason for Willis and the entire Fulton County D.A.’s office to be disqualified: Willis and the Fulton County D.A.’s office now have a personal stake in prosecuting the defendants who exposed Willis’s affair with Wade, showed them both to be possible perjurers, and embarrassed both Willis and her team of prosecutors.

Now Jack Smith has to face the music.

In April of 2022 Joe Biden pressured AG Merrick Garland to prosecute Donald Trump. By November Jack Smith was appointed by Merrick Garland as a Special Counsel to go after Trump. Garland described Smith in an amusing fashion:

The attorney general said Smith has "built a reputation as an impartial and determined prosecutor, who leads teams with energy and focus to follow the facts wherever they lead."

Smith, who wears his animus toward Trump on his sleeves, has gone a lot further than some feel he should have. Jack Smith's appointment was unconstitutional. Former US Attorney General Edwin Meese and two others filed an amicus brief stipulating that Jack Smith has no authority to investigate Trump. It argues that Smith "has no more authority than Taylor Swift" to conduct the Trump prosecution.

Special counsel Jack Smith’s appointment was unconstitutional, leaving him powerless to obtain a quick U.S. Supreme Court decision on immunity claims by former President Donald Trump, according to an amicus brief signed by former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese and two law professors.

“Not clothed in the authority of the federal government, Smith is a modern example of the naked emperor,” the Dec. 20 amicus brief argues. “Improperly appointed, he has no more authority to represent the United States in this court than Bryce Harper, Taylor Swift or Jeff Bezos.”

...

The brief argues that Attorney General Merrick Garland “exceeded his statutory and constitutional authority” when he appointed Smith in November 2022. Because Smith’s appointment was unconstitutional, “every action that he has taken since his appointment is now null and void,” Calabresi argued at the Volokh Conspiracy.

Smith—who was not nominated to be special counsel by President Joe Biden or confirmed by the U.S. Senate—has nationwide jurisdiction, making him more powerful that any of the 93 Senate-confirmed U.S. attorneys, Calabresi said. Federal law allows the attorney general to appoint attorneys to assist U.S. attorneys but not to replace them, he wrote.

The argument is that the appointments clause requires all federal offices “not otherwise provided for” in the Constitution to be established by law. Yet there is no statute establishing the Office of Special Counsel within the U.S. Department of Justice. Nor is there a statute allowing the attorney general to appoint an inferior officer special counsel with the powers given to Smith. And inferior officers, in any event, must be controlled by a superior officer, but Garland doesn’t have that power over Smith under DOJ regulations.

The appointments clause makes clear that the “default mode” of appointment for all officers is presidential nomination, Senate confirmation and presidential appointment, the brief says.

In April SCOTUS Judge Clarence Thomas signaled an interest in this:

[joshua c]

smith persecuted VA governor Bob McDonnell

the conviction was overturned 9-0 by USSC

the opinion was written by sotomayor

[FrankRizzo890]

“Convicted felon” was HELPING Trump. That can be the only reason they’ve backed off of saying it.

[lurk]

Jack’s Achilles heel is, these cases are personal for him. Small man syndrome.

[nopardons]

BTTT

[Robert DeLong]

Gee, this almost restores faith in the system, but not quite there yet. Not until he is not only dismissed and the case is dismissed as well, but when the architects of this abomination are sentenced for the treason that they rightly deserve.

[SaxxonWoods]

All these words would matter if the rule of law still existed in America.

[Ann Archy]

He is PURE EVIL!!!!

[Lazamataz]

He even looks like a Bond-villain minion.

[Betty Jane]

The Florida Attorney General should be in the courtroom with a group of state police when Judge Cannon hands down her ruling. Arrest him and charge him with his all his illegal activities. Then find a judge who will hold him without bail until his trial. Make the process the punishment for him.

[Robert DeLong]

Works for me. 🙂👍