Last Week In Legal: Odor of Mendacity Edition

Hunter's trial dates are set, Judge Cannon rules in FL, Judge McAfee rules in GA, and Menendez is arraigned for a third time.

Mar 20, 2024

DISCLAIMER: I am not a lawyer; I just watch a lot of LawTube content.

Hunter Biden Legal Troubles

Hunter’s trial dates are set! Hunter will be going to Delaware to face the gun charges on June 3, in a case that is expected to last about a week. His tax evasion trial is due to start in California on June 20, 2024.

Special Counsel David Weiss responded to the flurry of motions to dismiss that Hunter filed a few weeks ago. In response to Hunter’s motion to dismiss the tax charges based on vindictive prosecution, Weiss actually quoted Hunter’s Feb 28 testimony before a closed-door Congressional hearing.

Speaking of Hunter’s congressional appearance, remember back in January when he refused to sit for a closed-door interview and demanded a public hearing? Seems he is not so keen on the idea of a public hearing after all. His lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said that his client was refusing to play a part in the Republican “carnival sideshow.” Hunter’s former business partner, Tony Bobulinski, told Fox News Digital, "I was disappointed to see the news today that Hunter is running away from his chance to tell the American people the truth. He’s been adamant in wanting to go before the American people, and Oversight is now giving him that opportunity."

Meanwhile, Gal Luft, the missing whistleblower, sent a 50-page document detailing everything he knows and telling his story to the New York Post. His claims include cover-ups, ex-CIA leadership, and that FBI moles warned the Chinese Executives with CEFC that they were under investigation.

Indictment 1: The Stormy Daniels Case

First, Trump filed to exclude some evidence and argued to adjourn the case because the “People,” aka DA Alvin Bragg’s office, intended to use statements and tweets made in 2018 when he was president. According to the filing, Trump feels the court should wait until SCOTUS rules in the DC J6 case.

Then, after the USAO dropped some 70,000-plus pages of discovery on both the DA and Trump last week, Trump filed a motion to dismiss the case based on discovery violations. The filing gave the option of a 90-day delay instead of a dismissal.

Bragg responded that Trump waited until January to subpoena these files, and he was ready to start on time, but he would agree to a 30-day adjournment to give the defense time to go through the records, as the USAO’s office was still turning over documents as late as Friday, March 15.

Friday, Judge Merchan granted the 30-day adjournment, which will push the trial start date back to mid-April at the earliest. He also ordered a hearing on the latest dismissal motion for the original trial date of March 25.

Indictment 2: The Classified Documents Case in Florida

There was a hearing on many of Trump’s motions to dismiss last week. Judge Cannon ruled on the Vagueness motion, rejecting the motion to dismiss without prejudice, which means Trump can try the argument again later if he wants.

During the arguments, the difference between the treatment of former President Trump and current President Joe Biden seemed to take center stage. At one point, Judge Cannon said that it was true that no other president had been charged under the Presidential Records Act and seemed to understand that Trump is being treated differently from other presidents. However, she was wary of tossing the case, saying that would be “quite an extraordinary step.”

Indictment 4: The RICO Case in GA

Judge McAfee opened the week by dismissing 6 of the 41 charges in the massive RICO case.

McAfee ruled, “As written, these six counts contain all the essential elements of the crimes but fail to allege sufficient detail regarding the nature of their commission, i.e., the underlying felony solicited. They do not give the Defendants enough information to prepare their defenses intelligently, as the Defendants could have violated the Constitutions and thus the statute in dozens, if not hundreds, of distinct ways.”

The judge also released his ruling in the Willis/Wade disqualification hearing. Supposedly, he had this written up a week ago but stalled on releasing it to make sure he had adequate security in place for his family. Essentially, his ruling gave Fani Willis an ultimatum - either she goes, or Nathan Wade goes.

As expected, shortly after the ruling, Nathan Wade officially resigned from the case, and Fani accepted the resignation.

Many people on the right feel let down by the judge’s decision. However, the complainants, AKA the RICO defendants, did NOT prove that Fani actually financially benefitted from the relationship, only that it looked like she did. However, the ruling does say that Fani’s testimony has “an odor of mendacity," meaning the judge thinks she lied. He also says that there is no case law or precedent in GA for removing a DA, and he would like a higher court to give guidance. He seems to leave the door open for the complainants to appeal his ruling. He also signaled that he would be open to a defense motion requesting the prosecutor’s office keep their mouths shut, but he can’t order that unless they make the motion.

This ruling is a good middle-of-the-road ruling. We know this because both sides of the political spectrum are upset. Meanwhile, the media is trying to spin this into both a win for Fani and a win for Trump.

A bar complaint was filed against Fani Willis. Usually, such filings are private, but Phil Holloway managed to get a copy of the complaint and posted screenshots to Twitter/X. The bar complaint is very well-written and really pulls together all of the issues the various lawyers tried to bring up in the DQ hearing, as well as a few things that were not touched on during the hearing. Besides the relationship with Wade, the bar complaint alleges that Fani threatened Wade’s wife, misappropriated funds, and defrauded taxpayers. The Lead Attorney, a divorce attorney in Atlanta and lawtuber, did a 4-hour live stream going through the complaint, explaining it all.

Nathan Wade was supposed to appear on Meet The Press Sunday morning. However, after everybody’s uncle’s cousin’s nephew-twice-removed reamed him for that horrible idea, he suddenly had a “family emergency” and had to bow out.

Senator Menendez Bribery Trial

Menedez was arraigned for the third time after yet another superseding indictment was dropped on him earlier this month. The trial is still tentatively set for May 6. Tyler McBrien has a great write-up at Lawfare.

Other Legal Challenges

Alec Baldwin has filed to dismiss the charges in the Rust shooting. Apparently, his motion to dismiss revealed that he was offered a plea deal similar to Dave Halls’s before the prosecution pulled the deal and brought charges for a second time.

Lorraine Yuriar is a wife, mother, and lifelong conservative, currently stuck in a very blue state.