We’ve Seen This Play Before

It is very obvious that the Democrats want to see President Trump in a jail cell. He is their strongest opponent in 2024, whether or not they run Joe Biden. They only need to put him out of action for a little more than a year–after that it won’t matter if any verdict is overturned in court. So it really doesn’t matter how strong the case is, if the prosecution leaked information to the media, or if surveillance laws were broken. All they need is a year and a half without President Trump as a candidate. We have seen this play before.

On Sunday, Clarice Feldman posted an article at The American Thinker reminding us of some past legal cases against candidates.

The article notes:

Just as Hollywood seems stuck on the notion of releasing new versions of once-popular films using new actors, the corrupt Department of Justice seems to be using the same tattered playbook once again in the preposterous and ill-considered indictment of President Trump. Only if you saw the originals, you know the plot tricks this time.

I refer you to the Lewis “Scooter” Libby and Senator Ted Stevens cases I’ve written about here. In particular, the detailed account of the former case in the now defunct Weekly Standard.  It was written in 2006 and is now in the Washington Examiner archives. If it is difficult for you to access, this more recent and less detailed article may help refresh your recollection.

Here are some of the common features: Count Stacking — that is, separating a single matter into multiple counts for the purpose of poisoning the public, sensationalizing the case, and persuading a jury that there’s a pony in all that dung. (In this case, I’d add, dissuading voters from continuing to support Trump.) Cherry picking statements out of context, sometimes relying on both hearsay and misrepresentations. Leaking to the press even information which is false. Allegations aren’t evidence, and with this corrupt Department of Justice, you’d be wise to remember that.

The article also notes:

Here are some examples: The indictment shows many boxes stacked in a bathroom and ballroom at Mar-a-Lago, but most of those seem to be simply memorabilia that Trump saved, like presidents before him. In fact, the government claims that of the 13,000 documents they seized at Trump’s residence, only 102 had “classified markings” and only 31 are in issue, of which only 21 are claimed to be related to “national defense.” The President retains his secret clearance after leaving office. Why show all those boxes stored unsecured? Certainly, to create a certain impression of massive amounts of secret materials. The indictment indicates just six top-secret and 18 secret documents were in his office. The other 11 top-secret and 36 secret documents were in a storage facility onsite, which had a lock and key that was specified by the government in a security audit weeks before the raid in the midst of a discussion over which documents were to be kept by Trump, a fact omitted from the indictment.

Please follow the link above to read the entire article. No matter what the outcome of this, it is a sad day for America when laws are only applied when it is politically advantageous.

When A Scandal Just Isn’t Sexy

The problem with the Special Council investigation, the electronic surveillance of the Trump campaign and transition team, Hillary Clinton‘s server, and the Uranium One scandal is that none of them are sexy. That and the inherent media bias that currently exists results in the fact that most Americans are thoroughly unaware of the details of any of these scandals. They are difficult to follow and deal with intricacies of law that most of us just really don’t care about or are familiar with. However, there are aspects of all of these scandals that will eventually have an impact on all of us. For instance–what are the guidelines for spying on American citizens, how important is it that those in positions of authority handle classified information correctly, and does it matter how much uranium America has and how much uranium Russia has. Unfortunately all of these are issues that may come back to bite all of us in the future.

Yesterday The Daily Caller posted a story about one aspect of the Robert Mueller investigation. Recent revelations have put certain aspects of the investigation under the spotlight again.

The article reports:

Extraordinary manipulation by powerful people led to the creation of Robert Mueller’s continuing investigation and prosecution of General Michael Flynn. Notably, the recent postponement of General Flynn’s sentencing provides an opportunity for more evidence to be revealed that will provide massive ammunition for a motion to withdraw Flynn’s guilty plea and dismiss the charges against him.

It was Judge Rudolph Contreras who accepted General Flynn’s guilty plea, but he suddenly was recused from the case. The likely reason is that Judge Contreras served on the special court that allowed the Federal Bureau of Investigation to surveil the Trump campaign based on the dubious FISA application. Judge Contreras may have approved one of those four warrants.

The judge assigned to Flynn’s case now is Emmet G. Sullivan. Judge Sullivan immediately issued what is called a “Brady” order requiring Mueller to provide Flynn all information that is favorable to the defense whether with respect to guilt or punishment. Just today, Mueller’s team filed an agreed motion to provide discovery to General Flynn under a protective order so that it can be reviewed by counsel but not disclosed otherwise.

Judge Sullivan has had some experience with out of control federal prosecutors.

The article reminds us:

Judge Sullivan is the perfect judge to decide General Flynn’s motion. The judicial hero of my book, Emmet Sullivan held federal prosecutors in contempt for failing to disclose evidence, dismissed the corrupted prosecution of Alaska Senator Ted Stevens and appointed a special prosecutor to investigate the Department of Justice.

As you may remember, Ted Stevens was found guilty eight days before he was narrowly defeated in a re-election bid. After the election the indictment was dismissed because an investigation of the Justice Department found evidence of gross prosecutorial misconduct. The charges had served their purpose–Senator Stevens lost the election, and Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich (a Democrat) was elected.

The article points out:

Since Flynn entered his guilty plea, we’ve learned that information Mr. Comey leaked deliberately to “trigger” Robert Mueller’s entire investigation was classified. Also, FBI agents Peter Strzok, Lisa Page and Deputy Director Andrew McCabe were working on an “insurance policy” to protect the country against a Trump presidency. It seems plausible that this “insurance policy” included the appointment of a special prosecutor.

It gets worse. One problem with the whole special prosecutor investigation is that Robert Mueller chose Andrew Weissmann as his deputy. Mr. Weissmann’s history as a prosecutor is somewhat spotty.

The article concludes:

Watching guilty pleas evaporate is nothing new for Mr. Mueller’s favored lieutenant Andrew Weissmann. Along with his Enron Task Force comrade Leslie Caldwell, Weissmann terrorized Arthur Andersen partner David Duncan into pleading guilty. (RELATED: Meet The Very Shady Prosecutor Robert Mueller Has Hired For The Russia Investigation)

Weissmann and Caldwell made Duncan testify at length against Arthur Andersen when they destroyed the company and 85,000 jobs only to be reversed by a unanimous Supreme Court three years later. Turns out, the “crime” they “convinced” Mr. Duncan to plead guilty to was not a crime at all. The court allowed Duncan to withdraw his plea. And, that was not the only Weissmann-induced plea to be withdrawn either. Just ask Christopher Calger.

Judge Sullivan is the country’s premiere jurist experienced in the abuses of our Department of Justice. He knows a cover-up when he sees one. Until the Department is cleaned out with Clorox and firehoses, along with its “friends” at the FBI, Judge Sullivan is the best person to confront the egregious government misconduct that has led to and been perpetrated by the Mueller-Weissmann “investigation” and to right the injustices that have arisen from it. Stay tuned for the fireworks.

I believe there are common elements in the cases of Ted Stevens and Michael Flynn. The charges against General Flynn were brought to hurt the Trump Administration and to prop up the idea of some sort of Russian collusion. They have probably done as much damage as they are capable of doing, and I suspect they will be dropped in the near future. My question is what can we do to avoid this sort of political misuse of the justice system in the future.