Last Week in Legal - Illegitimate Special Counsels Edition
Last Week in Legal - Illegitimate Special Counsels Edition
FBI suddenly doesn't trust their informant, Trump throws more dismissal requests at the wall, the first Rust movie trial has started, and Massie needs some help.
Hunter Biden Legal Troubles
Hunter’s legal team in California (the tax case) filed a whole bunch of Notices that they will be filing motions to dismiss. The dismissal motions look to be similar to many of Trump’s attempts to dismiss his cases, including “vindictive prosecution,” and that Special Counsel David Weiss is an illegitimate appointment, based on the same reasoning for Trump’s recent motion in the FL case.
In related news, the FBI informant Alexander Smirnov was arrested last week. Smirnov was the whistleblower at the heart of the Comer/Jordan investigation into Hunter and Joe. He had been a trusted informant for over ten years, but suddenly the FBI thinks he lied, but only about the Bidens. The official indictment has some damning accusations, but considering the source - the FBI - it is worth a healthy dose of skepticism.
There is enough there to make you question the informant’s story, but also not enough to prove he lied about anything. For instance, Smirnov tells investigators that his contacts in Russia (which he was asked to foster as part of his role as an informant) claim that Russia got blackmail material on Hunter at the Premier Palace, which is a hotel in Kiev, Ukraine. But Hunter's never been to Kiev. However, remember that video from the laptop where Hunter tells a hooker that Russians stole his laptop in Vegas while he was tripping bawls? We have no idea where that happened in Vegas, but there is a Palace Station Hotel that sells Premier suites. So, since the informant's story is coming 2nd/3rd/4th hand via contacts in Russia, is it possible that the Russian contacts got the name of the hotel wrong, leading the informant to think it was the one in Kiev? The government doesn't answer that question, or even explore it as an option. Instead, the indictment declares that because Hunter has never been to Kiev, the informant must be lying.
Regardless, the arrest has already had the desired effect of undermining the joint congressional investigation led by Comer and Jordan. Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) has already run to the press to slam Comer and Jordan. The media is screaming about Russian collusion again, and claiming the intel community who authored the letter that said Hunter’s laptop was a Russian disinformation campaign have been vindicated.
Add to this, the firing of Catherine Herridge from CBS, who took the unprecedented step of seizing her computers and work when they kicked her out the door. Even SAG-AFTRA has condemned CBS for the move. There is a theory that she was canned in an attempt to smooth the way for an upcoming sale that will need the government’s ok. Herridge was well-known for her work on the Hunter laptop and other Biden family corruption scandals. Now the fear is that CBS may have information on who her informants are, and what they will do with that information.
Carroll 1
Trump’s lawyers have filed a request for the judge to either “stay” the judgment entirely or to grant a “partially-secured stay,” reducing the amount of money Trump would have to post into an escrow account to appeal.
Business Fraud Case
Because of the way the judgment is structured, as of February 23, Trump owes over $454 million, with interest accruing at a rate of over $100 thousand a day. Trump’s legal team asked for a stay of enforcement to give them a chance to finish up the post-trial motions. Judge Engoron all but laughed in their faces and said no.
Indictment 2: The Classified Documents Case in Florida
Trump filed a flurry of motions to dismiss late Thursday. In his motion based on unconstitutional vagueness, his lawyer actually cited the Hur report! As funny as that is, this motion will likely fail because Trump’s brain is not completely mush yet, and he cannot claim that he declassified the records when he is on tape saying he wishes he had.
The Trump legal team also cited the Hur report in the attempt to dismiss based on the Presidential Records Act. While the legal arguments seem sound, this will also likely fail because, despite the lawyer’s interpretation of the PRA, the law does not allow a president to designate classified documents as “personal records.” That said, they did point out that Congress clearly feels there is a loophole here that needs closing. There is a bill working its way through Congress that would mandate a NARA official to oversee the presidential transition and go through all the items the president is taking with him to make sure nothing classified slips by and provides civil penalties if something does.
Of course, there is the perpetual argument of presidential immunity. Including this filing here means his lawyers are hopeful they will win the SCOTUS appeal in the DC case, which would then also apply here.
The most interesting is the motion to dismiss based on the Unlawful Appointment and Funding of Special Counsel Jack Smith. This seems to be the first attempt at this particular argument by the Trump legal team. Many of the arguments seem to parallel the amicus brief filed by former AG Edwin Meece and friends in the DC J6 Appeal to SCOTUS. The TL;DR is that the DOJ should have gotten Congress to appoint Smith and fund his office. Most of the argument hinges on the difference between a Special Counsel and an Independent Counsel. It’s a long shot. It’s likely the amicus brief filed with SCOTUS will be ignored since it has nothing to do with the question they’ve been asked to answer. It will be interesting to read the response and ultimate ruling on this motion.
Indictment 4: The RICO Case in GA
In the fallout from the evidentiary hearing the previous week, Nathan Wade tried to prevent the judge from talking to his divorce lawyer, Terrance Bradley. The judge rightfully laughed that off and scheduled both the meeting with Bradley and the closing arguments. The closed-door meeting with Bradley will happen on Monday, the 26th, and closing arguments with the potential for a repeat performance from Bradley have been scheduled for Friday, March 1.
Trump’s attorney filed late supplemental evidence that showed location data from Nathan Wade’s phone placed him at Fani’s condo late at night until early in the morning. The DA’s office responded in what seemed to be full panic mode, claiming everything from the data was inadmissible, to it was improperly obtained, to just because his phone was there doesn’t mean he was. That last one especially has caused all manner of laughter and joy among Fulton Defense attorneys. Anna Bower has a great thread on Twitter/X debunking most of the DA’s arguments.
The Georgia team at Lawfare, including Anna Bower, has a very detailed write-up of how all this should be resolved. Essentially, while the RICO defendants did not prove that Fani financially benefitted from her relationship with Wade, Wade’s credibility is shot. Wade should be removed from the case, no matter what. Whether Fani gets disqualified will completely depend on how much of her testimony the judge believes is true.
Other Legal Challenges
The first case from the Rust movie shooting, that of the armorer, has started. It will last three weeks. Emily D Baker has the best coverage of the case. The information coming out so far shows that the scene was chaotic, and someone emptied THE gun and got rid of the ammo that was inside before the police got there. Interesting.
A friend of the show, Rep. Thomas Massie, is facing a lawsuit to remove him from the ballot brought by his Democrat opponent. Deters claims that one of Massie’s witnesses, Roberts, used a false address because his house, at the address used, burned down last year, and it’s unclear where he was living. Roberts said in a Twitter/X post that the home has been fully rebuilt. Massie is asking for people to donate and help him fight this lawsuit.
Lorraine Yuriar is a wife, mother, and lifelong conservative, currently stuck in a very blue state.