Shawn Sill's removal motion is super interesting. Not because he makes a strong case for removal (he doesn't) but because he points the finger at Trump.
If they all start pointing their fingers at Trump, this could get very very interesting.
Obviously, prosecutors love it when defendants start pointing at each other.
@Teri_Kanefield This is one of the fake electors that Fani Willis did NOT offer immunity? He seems to be attempting a defense that confesses to being part of the conspiracy. What's his best move from here?
@Teri_Kanefield
Like somebody in the Federal Government telling you to do something automatically makes you a part of the Federal Government.
Yeah right.
@Teri_Kanefield@thelmadonna@cherold: First, why can't the trial happen in October if the judge accepts the prosecutor's schedule in response to the request for a speedy trial from one of the accused? Isn't the GA speedy trial law even faster than federal law which I thought was something like starting within 70 days of indictment which would put it in 2023 at least? If not October, then certainly by early December at the latest. Yes, there are holiday breaks, but that doesn't mean that some progress can't be made.
Second, it seems like this motion is really trying to push the co-defendants to turn on one another even more than they already have. It seems reasonable that there would be far less than 19 co-defendants by the time the trial starts assuming some (maybe most) of them fully cooperate with the prosecution and flip for favorable deals.
Another thought about the filings from the Georgia defendants.
Some like Eastman and Clark, are true believers. The CA State Bar was sort of aghast that Eastman showed no remorse. Both were glib about the possibility of violence.
Thomas Jefferson, who in my view gets way too much credit, once said: "I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. . . " (see screenshot #2 for the remainder of the quotation.)
Defendants are given the right to pick their own lawyers.
What will happen is that the government makes sure they understand the conflict of interest, otherwise, they'll have an issue on appeal (ineffective assistance of counsel)
He is also raising the "federal officer removal" doctrine, which is no surprise given that he was a lawyer with the DOJ.
He is also furious!! He had no idea he was being investigated until he was indicted. He is calling it a political "hit job" and says the goal was to "cost him millions in legal fees, impair his work in the conservative legal community" and "tarnish his previously stellar reputation."
Former Georgia Republican Party Chair David Shafer, indicted in Georgia for his role in the fake elector scheme, said attorneys for Trump, his campaign and the local GOP were responsible for urging him to assemble a slate of false presidential electors that are now at the heart of a sprawling racketeering case.
@Teri_Kanefield Here is something I don't understand. Let's say it was determined there was fraud and the other candidate won a state, who had the authority to pick these alternate delegates? It is presented as an official process but I keep seeing people with no authority selecting these electorate slates.
@Teri_Kanefield How amazing... somehow all these people were just simply highjacked by others and can't possibly be held responsible for their own actions 🙃
This doesn't need an explainer. The DOJ is writing these so they can be easily read by the public.
Remember that Trump, in his Tattletale Filing (I called about that in my weekend blog post. Will repost the link shortly) made a big deal out of the December 11, 2023 conflict.
It seems to me that Trump hurt his chances of negotiating by proposing an absurd date (April 2026).
The Georgia RICO statute seems to work much like he federal conspiracy statute: People enter a conspiracy to commit an illegal act and take steps in furtherance.
I’ve described federal conspiracy as a way for prosecutors to cast a wide net. My former mentor Mark Reichel calls it “the darling of the prosecutor’s garden.”
(Similar: but conspiracy requires mutual understanding between co-conspirators)
The 6 I was expected and then some. (And then LOTS)
Basically: Trump lost the election. Then he and bunch of others entered a conspiracy that contained a common plan and purpose to commit 2 or more acts of racketeering activity.
In other words, RICO
You can click on the doc and see the list of people charged and the crimes alleged.
Georgia RICO is easier to prove than the federal version because Georgia law doesn’t require prosecutors to prove an underlying “criminal enterprise.” They only have to prove that the defendants committed some illegal acts in pursuit of a single criminal goal.
First we get a list of the "manner and methods used by the Defendants and other members and associates of the enterprise to further the goals of the enterprise and to achieve its purposes.
If there are incriminating DMs in Trump's Twitter Account, here is how the government would know:
A cooperating witness turned over incriminating DMs.
Also nobody knows what the DOJ knows which is one reason investigations are done away from the public view.
So if you try to suppress something that the DOJ knows exists . . . ding.
Similarly, they'd have reason to think someone else was putting out some of his key Tweets concerning the leadup to January 6 from evidence already uncovered.