Posted on 08/06/2023 6:44:43 AM PDT by george76
The latest indictment of former President Trump threatens to destroy the First Amendment and give the federal government the unprecedented power to criminalize political lies, constitutional law professor and Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley warned Saturday.
Trump was indicted this week on four charges related to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into 2020 election interference and the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, including conspiracy to defraud the United States. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges in a Washington, D.C., courtroom Thursday.
In an op-ed for The Hill, Turley wrote that Smith’s indictment essentially charges Trump for spreading "lies that there had been outcome-determinative fraud in the election," which he said is a dangerous proposition for the First Amendment.
...
"In order to secure convictions for this, Special Counsel Jack Smith would need to bulldoze through not just the First Amendment but also existing case law holding that even false statements are protected," he wrote.
Specifically, Turley said Smith’s charges assert that Trump knew the statements he made about the 2020 election were false and said if Trump does believe he won, "the indictment collapses."
In an effort to show Trump knew he lost legitimately, the indictment explains that many people advised him that he lost. Turley said Trump sought out people who said he won but that he is allowed to do this.
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So, even assuming that Smith can prove Trump lied, there would still be constitutional barriers to criminalizing his false statements," Turley ..
Turley added that even if Judge Tanya Chutkan supports Smith’s case, "the Supreme Court would likely balk at the criminalization of false political speech."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
That’s the plan. 81 million Banana Boater Voter Mail In Ballots can’t be wrong! DAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY OH!
And Republican cowards say nothing.
It actually is an Article II case, not a first Amendment case.
That's what we get when we grant personhood on our corporations, including the ones that extract taxes from us.
Can someone explain the supposed “threat” Trump is said to have issued? It seemed to mean that he would “go after” his enemies .egally, not physical.y?
> And Republican cowards say nothing. <
And the lapdog media says nothing. The Founders knew a free press would be a strong check on tyranny, hence the 1A. Today’s media has largely abandoned that role.
Trump questioned the validity of the 2020 election, and Jack Smith asserts that by doing so that caused the J6 riot, therefore Trump should go to jail for questioning the 2020 election.
>> That’s what we get when we grant personhood on our corporations, including the ones that extract taxes from us. <<
Personhood for corporations is about freedom of association, and is a good thing.
What conservatives see as a travesty of justice, liberals see as a twofer bonus!
Oh I meant the latest “kerfuffle” that the left are all hyper about- where Trump said he would “go after” those who are attacking him like the prosecutor. The left got all bent out of shape and pretended his statement was a “threat” implying it was a “terroristic threat” if you listen to the msm going mental over his statement. Smith also got a “restraining g order” claiming he felt threatened. To me, Trump was saying “if you wanna take me to court, I Will Take you to court”, and nothing more, but I didn’t hear his whole statement or anything. The left a.wzys take everything out of context and turn molehill into mountains. They truly are drama queens
It turns on proving that Trump really believed the lies that Rudy and Sidney and Jenna were voicing. It is very clear they themselves didn’t believe them, because they would never actually try to defend them under oath. But it’s possible that a scared and near-psychotic Trump, under the typical delusions of a malignant narcissist, may have believed them. This is his best defense.
Destroy the First Amendment and give the federal government the unprecedented power.
That will be the result if the Trump inquisition is allowed to go on it’s as Stalin as it gets.
"We the Corporations" Somehow I missed that in our founding docs. I prefer, "We the People".
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Big reason that so many are willing to go through with this: anything goes against Trump. They won’t get away with the same brazen lawlessness against anybody else.
Big reason that so many are willing to go through with this: anything goes against Trump. They won’t get away with the same brazen lawlessness against anybody else.
There were so much proof of widespread election fraud. You can’t deny the controversy. The raw results compared to statistical probability appear to be a real problem according to Benfords law. At least one must acknowledge the controversy.
Otherwise the DOJ could round up tens of millions dissenters for expressing a belief in 2020 anti Trump voter fraud.
they don’t need it to succeed.
They just need to keep him in the courts until after the election. Then the supreme court will strike it down and he’ll be exonerated but not until after the damage is done. Apologies will appear below the fold on page 8 of the metro section. We all know how this works.
The republican cowards are sitting back and waiting for their opponents to annihilate themselves . As they see it, it’s Trump’s base v the most aggressive anti Trump democrats.
They are trying to claim the mushy middle of brainwashed confused peasants.
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