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The main problem with these key Jan. 6 committee charges against Trump [Opinion]
MSNBC ^ | 25 Dec 2022 | Noah Rothman, MSNBC Opinion Columnist

Posted on 12/28/2022 4:41:35 AM PST by blueplum

...An executive summary of the committee’s final report released on Monday provided readers with the committee’s theory of the case against Trump....

...But there are a number of reasons these particular charges are likely a legal overreach....

...The threshold for criminalizing speech is a high hurdle to clear. The seminal 1969 Supreme Court case on the matter, Brandenburg v. Ohio, established that it is not criminal even to advocate the violent overthrow of the U.S. government before a group of armed and menacing members of the Ku Klux Klan. Indeed, the courts have spent decades making it more difficult to prosecute people for “the verbal or nonverbal expression of an idea merely because society finds the idea offensive or disagreeable.” To convict Trump of incitement, prosecutors would have to prove to a jury’s satisfaction that Trump knew his followers were prepared for imminent lawlessness, that lawlessness was likely, and that it was his intention to incite them to violence. There’s a reason why the “Brandenburg test” is rarely applied....

....The former president had no reasonable expectation (as the day’s events demonstrated) that a violent mob would materially benefit him either politically or by somehow thwarting the certification of the 2020 election results. Moreover, as UCLA School of Law Professor Eugene Volokh fretted, the precedent established by Mehta’s verdict could expose many politicians to legal jeopardy if they happen to appear at an event in which even a handful of its attendees later engage in vandalism or resist police....

(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: brandenburg; firstamendment; j6; jan6; trump
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A surprising opinion from MSNBC
1 posted on 12/28/2022 4:41:35 AM PST by blueplum
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To: blueplum

the main problem is they have nothing and they hope the sh## they fling will stick to a wall somewhere


2 posted on 12/28/2022 4:43:50 AM PST by ronnie raygun
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To: ronnie raygun

they try to keep DJT in headlines in negative light - constantly - and hope to make it cost him $$$. they are disgusting. DJT is the most persecuted American by Americans that i am aware of.


3 posted on 12/28/2022 4:52:53 AM PST by avital2
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To: ronnie raygun
"they hope the sh## they fling will stick to a wall somewhere" in a DC courtroom.
4 posted on 12/28/2022 4:58:02 AM PST by outofsalt (If history teaches us anything, it's that history rarely teaches anything.)
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To: avital2

“While the committee conducted itself admirably and made almost every effort to avoid the appearance of partisanship, . . .”

CHORTLE!


5 posted on 12/28/2022 4:59:16 AM PST by TheConservator (Beware the tyranny of the woke mob. There has never been a greater threat to liberty.)
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To: TheConservator

“While the committee conducted itself admirably and made almost every effort to avoid the appearance of partisanship, . . .”
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.
I stopped reading right there because no objectively reasonable person who observed the committee proceedings would have uttered such obvious nonsense.


6 posted on 12/28/2022 5:06:15 AM PST by fortes fortuna juvat (Democrat politicians and voters are dangerous psychopaths. They confirm it everyday.)
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To: TheConservator

“While the committee conducted itself admirably and made almost every effort to avoid the appearance of partisanship, . . .”
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I wonder, is Rothman, by writing this nonsense, hoping to get into Cheney’s knickers?


7 posted on 12/28/2022 5:11:07 AM PST by fortes fortuna juvat (Democrat politicians and voters are dangerous psychopaths. They confirm it everyday.)
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To: blueplum

Criticism of government is becoming a crime the world over. Many in this country have no problem with putting people in jail for expressing dissenting opinions. The fascists are thrilled.


8 posted on 12/28/2022 5:12:19 AM PST by Spok
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To: blueplum

The main problem is that Congress is not a Grand Jury, and accusing citizens of crimes is not one of the “legislative powers herein granted” in Article I.

There are two possibilities for criminal charges to arise as part of legislative activity in the House:

1) A Bill of Impeachment, with a trial in the Senate. This, they can do.

2) A Bill of Attainder, which is forbidden in Article I, section 9.

A motion should have been filed in Federal Court to dissolve this illegal “committee” as soon as public statements by its members made it clear that they were not conducting an impeachment and that by their own words their purpose was to attaint Citizen Trump.


9 posted on 12/28/2022 5:17:19 AM PST by Jim Noble (I feel my heart beat faster any place in the neighborhood of the Astor)
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To: fortes fortuna juvat

one does have to wade thru the typical nbc narrative with highwater boots, but the Brandenburg commentary was interesting


10 posted on 12/28/2022 5:18:07 AM PST by blueplum ("...this moment is your moment: it belongs to you... " President Donald J. Trump, Jan 20, 2017) )
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To: blueplum

The JSix “Comedy” looks like a monkey humpin’ a football. Trump is running circles around them and the whole world is laughing at them.


11 posted on 12/28/2022 5:23:35 AM PST by FlingWingFlyer (Hey Amerika! The whole world is watching and laughing their asses off. )
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To: blueplum

They refused to investigate the steal.

Sydney Powell had the goods on Hugo Chavez and Dominion... but the media covered that up too.
They wouldnt investigate that.

And the same thing happened during the mid-terms. Kari Lake won


12 posted on 12/28/2022 5:30:02 AM PST by xyz2
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To: ronnie raygun

Unless they have a lock on actual insurrection conviction, the whole thing was a scam from the start. But, it was still worth the effort — a show for the idiots who “vote” Democratic because “orange man bad”.


13 posted on 12/28/2022 5:30:34 AM PST by bobbo666 (Baizuo)
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To: blueplum

Criminal Anarchy used to be in the NY state penal law. Advocating the overthrow of a legitimate government. No longer applicable.


14 posted on 12/28/2022 5:32:52 AM PST by MGunny ( )
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To: bobbo666

What’s really funny is that Nancy no longer has a chair to be occupied.

She is a lame duck and has two broken wings


15 posted on 12/28/2022 5:34:17 AM PST by bert ( (KWE. NP. N.C. +12) Juneteenth is inequality daythis piece is )
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To: blueplum

They are setting up their gullible audience for the inevitable truth that the committee will fail.


16 posted on 12/28/2022 5:40:10 AM PST by cyclotic (Follow 1776rm.com. Fighting for our Constitution. @1776RM on Truth)
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To: ronnie raygun

hope the sh## they fling will stick to a wall somewhere

ronnie raygun wins the thread.


17 posted on 12/28/2022 5:57:04 AM PST by qaz123
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To: blueplum

Aside from the fact that it’s a fraud...?
I’d say Musk is a problem.


18 posted on 12/28/2022 6:21:12 AM PST by Leep (Hillary will NEVER be president! 😁)
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To: blueplum

The problem with this theory is the “jury” would be from the DC Swamp. The prosecutors would not have to say anything and they would find President Trump guilty.


19 posted on 12/28/2022 6:28:23 AM PST by martinidon
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To: blueplum

FWIW Rothman is an insane Trump despiser. He passed “Never Trump” territory in 2016 and has gone absolutely bat-crap crazier ever since. IMHO he is totally a tool of the collectivist oligarchy. There is no gubmint edict he will not support.


20 posted on 12/28/2022 6:31:13 AM PST by crusher (GREEN: Globaloney for the Gullible)
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