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Jack Smith

John Eastman, Jack Smith, and Amendment 14 Section 3

April 5, 2024
by Peter Feinman

The father of the fake electors had the riot act read to him by the legal system. He was found guilty, that is, a recommendation was made, that the author of the fake electors scheme be stripped of his law license. In a mere 128-pages, the judge ruled that Eastman had violated the rules of professional ethics through his dishonesty in trying to help the Liar in-Chief remain in power after having lost the presidential election. Apparently Eastman thought he was above the law, too.

The “wild theory” theory” that a Vice President could declare Trump the winner was completely bogus. This is a reminder of the taped testimony presented to the House Select Committee of the advice given to Eastman to have an effing great lawyer.

At least in the California court, such sage advice did not prevail. The judge ruled:

In sum, Eastman exhibited gross negligence by making false statements about the 2020 election without conducting any meaningful investigation or verification of the information he was relying upon.

In other words he acted like Rudy Giuliani. Remember how he exclaimed to Rusty Bowers in Arizona that he has  the theory but not the facts? Apparently that wisdom guided Eastman as well. The results were similar. Such conduct is acceptable for a President who is above the law and has immunity but is not acceptable for someone seeking to practice law.

Eastman’s travails are not yet over. He still could be charged by Jack Smith for his role in the January 6 insurrection. In fact, all of the unindicted co-conspirators could be. The initial plan to indict only one person, the ring leader, rather than become caught up with multiple defendants has not worked out so far. With Trump’s Court putting the brakes on the case, who knows if it will be tried or not. Why not take advantage of this opportunity to fill the void by charging John Eastman, Jeffrey Clark, Rudy Giuliani, Roger Stone, Steve Bannon, Mark Meadows, Scott Perry, and all the other people who participated in the planning and execution of January 6?

Arizona is beginning to spread its investigative wings to include some of the Congressional members of Trump’s insurrection army. According to the infamous Georgia phone call, Trump was quite confident about his people in the House doing what needed to be done to aid him in his effort to steal the election.

Ironically, Jenna Ellis another lawyer who did plead guilty has Colorado as her home state. Colorado is the very state which brought the Amendment 14 Section 3 to the attention of the Supreme Court in the first place. Now that Ellis had accepted disciplinary measures from the Colorado bar officials, perhaps the state will consider barring her from running for office as well.

True, she has no plans to run for office, but the application of Amendment 14 Section 3 to her would put all the other accomplices to the insurrection on notice that they will not be able to run for office if found guilty of violating their legal code of ethics or in a criminal case.

JEFFERSON DAVIS PLUS  

There was more to the Confederacy than Jefferson Davis. While he was the most prominent Confederate figure, there were thousands of others who fought for the Confederate cause against the Union. The three briefs by the historians to the Supreme Court tended to focus on Jefferson Davis to the exclusion of the other Confederates. Such tunnel vision was an error. There is more to the January 6 insurrection than just one person.

In the action taken against John Eastman, we are reminded that Trump had numerous allies in his quest to steal the election. Each of them has had to secure their own funding source to help them get away with that action. Some of them have not been able to do so.

What is to be gained now by not prosecuting all the others who helped make insurrection a day of infamy in American history? Essentially, Jack Smith has an open calendar for months before trying the case against the ring leader. The Trump judge will not allow Trump to be tried before the presidential election. And no matter how much of hard-charger Smith is and how determined the January 6 judge is, they cannot overcome the appeal process and the Trump Court.

At least we can be grateful that the legal profession is taking care of its own garbage. It’s time for the courts to do the same.

August 13, 2021 to August 14, 2023: Mike Lindell to Jack Smith

June 22, 2023
by Peter Feinman
Pillowhead's Cyber Symposium just before Trump's return to office

AUGUST 13, 2021

It seems like only yesterday when Pillowhead was championing August 13, 2021, as the day when the real President of the United States would return to the White House and resume his position as the rightful POTUS. He never got around to explaining exactly how this restoration would occur. Séance Sidney was of little use here either. But somehow it was going to happen.

These modern day Millerites were doomed to unrequited dreams just as happened back in 1843/1844 when the world did not come to an end as predicted. If at first you don’t succeed, then try, try, again. Eventually, those who prayed/thought their savior would be restored to power, faced the hard reality that no such moment of truth would occur on August 13, 2021 or even afterwards during Joe Biden’s term. In fact, nothing would occur except Pillowhead making a spectacle of himself at his own symposium. His evidence instead showed that there was no there there.

On April 19, 2023. Mike Lindell was ordered to pay $5 million to a software expert who proved that Pillowhead’s data was bogus. A real computer forensic expert had shown the data Pillowhead presented was gibberish and nonsense. Naturally, in the true Trumpian tradition, Pillowhead refused to pay the winner of the “Prove Mike Wrong” contest. The case is now being litigated. Of course, what is $5 million compared to the $1.3 billion lawsuit filed by Dominion. The true mystery is how Pillowhead came to believe that he had real data that would blow the stolen election case wide open and return Trump to the White House. Is it possible for someone’s product to be smarter than its marketer?

AUGUST 14, 2023

Now flash forward two years and one day to August 14, 2023. In a surprise move, the so-called Trump Judge set an early date for the commencement of the Mar-a-Largogate trial. Given the standard tactic of “delay, delay, delay,” one would have expected a date off into the future. A date less than eight weeks away was truly a speedy trial date. Of course, August 14, 2023, is merely a target date. It is not the date when the trial actually will begin. Still, the setting of this early date, suggests that the Judge will not be the path to acquittal or at least post-election trial that many people once feared. It is still too early to tell, but as of now, the prospects are full speed ahead.

The obstacles to a speedy trial are well known. There is the need for the defendant to decide on his legal team. There is a need to obtain various security clearances once all the players are identified. There are various legal claims and challenges the defense may offer, many of which already have been discussed endlessly on cable TV and elsewhere. Undoubtedly, such actions will push the trial date back considerably. Once the trial does get underway, it should be the slam dunk many commentators have been predicting. So far there are no witnesses for the defense. The defendant acts like a witness for the prosecution every time he opens his mouth. In this action, he is joined by many other people from his home who will be testifying against him. At this point, the best thing the defendant has going for him is a MAGA juror.

DISCOVERY

To highlight the speed at which the trial is unfolding, Jack Smith presented the Trump defense team with much of the testimony and evidence from the grand jury which will be used in the actual trial. This information includes the names of the people who will testify against the defendant, videos including the defendant’s own performances on cable TV, and other videos. As one might expect, the defendant’s own words will form a powerful part of the testimony against him without him even taking the stand. This evidence, with more to come, delivers the message that it is really is a slam dunk case with the outcome of prison time for his convictions on multiple counts.

Here is where the human element becomes a factor. So far the analysis has tended to view the defendant as person immune to the reality in which he is now living. He is treated as if he is THE DONALD who can triumph over anything the corrupt Department of Justice in the real world throws against him.

As a result, we have been hearing more about Eugene Debs running for President from jail then what it would mean on a human level for THE DONALD to be declared a loser in the court and sentenced to prison time even if house arrest.

Similarly, we have been hearing about his base of support which cannot be moved under any circumstances.

The human factor is being overlooked. Some commentators have expressed their faith in the jury system. Once people take an oath and sit in the courtroom, the gravity of the situation takes over. And if a juror fashions himself to be Henry Fonda in Twelve Angry Men, the situation is quite different here. The defendant already has admitted his guilt as will be shown to the jurors. All the witnesses against him will be his own people. No one will take stand on his behalf. As most recently exhibited in his interview on Fox with Bret Baier and in his deposition in the successful civil case against him, he should never be allowed to speak under oath. His natural venue is the professional political wrestling arena. There he can feed off the energy of the MAGA crowd while he spews his nonsense. He will not have that opportunity in the Mar-a-Largogate trial. Instead he will be a tired shrunken old man cringing at what is unfolding before him.

For a person who demands loyalty, the first batch of evidence must have been a shock. Forget about the abstract notions of move and countermove with motions to delay the trial. What the defendant now sees is that he cannot trust anyone. This is far beyond the Michael Cohen case. At this point we do not know how many of his own people will be arrayed against him. We can only imagine shock he already has experienced. While he is not capable of reading the prosecution evidence in the discovery, his lawyers can and have. They already knew their client was guilty. Now the magnitude of the evidence against their client has been dumped on them. Surely they know if this case goes to trial, they will lose. Surely they knew the penalty for losing will be prison time. Surely they have communicated this to their client.

The issue now is not whether the defendant will spill the names of the people who will testify against him. He might just as well read the employment roster from Mar-a-Lago. What this mountain of evidence means is that the 78 year-old defendant can see prison time for the rest of his life looming before him. Something transformative is happening. He is transforming from the alternate reality in which he and his MAGA followers have been living to the real world. As he hears about people who did his bidding on January 6 being sentenced for 12 years, the stark reality of leaving the alternate reality for the real world sinks in. Forget about the actual dates for the start of the trial, the discovery process is the ghost of Christmas future where his world will be a horrible one for him. This time when his lawyers suggest a plea deal, THE DONALD may be much more willing to accept one if it keeps him out of prison. Jack Smith has poured a bucket of water on the wicked witch of the White House leaving the defendant a timid, incoherent, babbling mess desperate for a way out. And there is still Georgia and other federal cases to come.

The impact of THE DONALD accepting a plea deal will be momentous. It will change the dynamic in the House. It will change the dynamic in the Presidential election. It will change the dynamic among the MAGA. Their Lord and Savior, Blessed Be His Name, only he can save them and deliver divine retribution will shrink in size to being an old defeated loser. And if he does not enter in a plea agreement then the alternate path will be prison which will derail him even more. Now THE DONALD has discovered the truth in real world and it scares and frightens him.

Would Jim Jordan Rather Be Institutionalized in Congress or Prison?

June 8, 2023
by Peter Feinman
Dorothy, You have changed! (Greg Groesch/The Washington Times)

Play time is over. It was a lot of fun defying Congressional subpoenas, investigating the Biden criminal conspiracy, and appearing on Foxhub to spout nonsense. But now the party is over. The time of adult supervision has arrived. There really is law and people who are dedicated to enforcing it. That means the moment of truth has or will soon arrive for all the people who participated in the in the planning of the insurrection and the attempt to steal the election.

The standard Mafia rules apply. Start with the small fish and work your way up the food chain. That applies not only to the hundreds of people who physically assaulted the Capitol, but to the people who organized the event and who were responsible for Mar-a-Lagogate.

THE SPECIAL COUNSEL

We have been distracted from what has been going on behind the scenes. The civil case in which Trump was held liable and the “small” indictment in New York City that so many people wished hadn’t gone first obscured where the action was. Even the “imminent” case in Georgia which now apparently means August still seemed like a long way off making people wonder if Trump ever would be held accountable for his actions.

For so long we have been hearing about how aggressive Jack Smith was as a prosecutor without any overt sign that anything was happening. Yes, there was witness after witness being subpoenaed and called to testify … apparently more than we knew, but no indictments seemed forthcoming. Meanwhile the presidential election cycle commenced. More and more candidates came forward. Finally even one willing to confront Trump and his criminal family by name declared his candidacy. It was as if everyone else was holding back, waiting for the dam to break, waiting for the moment when Trump became not only a loser but a federally indicted loser as well. Now we are at that moment as well. It is time for people to decide whether they wish to join Trump or does self-preservation come first. Does Jim Jordan really want to go to prison?

THE FORK IN THE ROAD

These past few days have witnessed a flurry of activities. Some of them are witnessed in the present of their occurrence. Some of them are events which happened in the past but are now seeing the light of day.

We know that in Georgia we should not be surprised about the number and names of the people to be indicted.

We know that Georgia judges have been informed to clear their schedules for August.

We know that the Special Counsel has communicated to Trump’s lawyers that he is the target for Mar-a-Lagogate.

We know that former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has testified before the grand jury. We don’t know how cooperative he was. Presumably he was made to realize that there already is enough evidence to convict him so his best deal is not to plead the 5th but to tell the truth. He seems to have pleaded guilty to at least some charges.

We know that Steve Bannon has been subpoenaed. In previous blogs, I have used him as an example of what does he have to gain by going down with the ship. He knows that loyalty is a one-way street with The Donald. He knows that The Donald would have no hesitation to throw him under the bus. So why give him that opportunity?

The same applies to the other members of the inner cabal. I am referring to the people in the so-called War Room. I am referring to the members of the House of Representatives to whom Trump referred in his call to Georgia. At some point these people will realize that this witch hunt is for real. It is time to start thinking about saving their own skin.

THE DAM HAS BURST

We may be witnessing the beginning of a deluge. The number of people willing to fall on their sword for Trump is probably far fewer than expected. Remember how Michael Cohen once pledged eternal loyalty and like some Secret Service agent and would take a bullet for The Donald. We are long past that point now.

It’s amazing how suddenly and abruptly the actions of the Special Consel have changed the dynamic. For so long there seemed to be as little movement as on the lines between Russia and Ukraine. Then in an instant, everything changed. By the time Roger Stone is subpoenaed, he may be begging for a deal. Everyone knows that incumbent elected officials in Washington do not want to give up their perks. How much less to they want to do so to defend the criminal actions of Donald Trump? This week, the damn has broken open. Everyone who was part of the criminal conspiracy has been put on very short notice that the time has come for them to put up or be shut up in prison.

There is always a risk in writing a blog like this because by the time it is posted and then distributed it may be obsolete. The Mar-a-Lago indictment could be any moment now be it in Florida or Washington. The witnesses for the Prosecution will be either Republicans or people who worked for him at Mar-a-Lago. The MAGAs won’t know who to attack first or even who to attack at all. The Donald, of course, will not take the stand to defend himself or any other of the people charged. He will however continue to rant and rave on social media digging himself ever deeper into a whole. The odds are Jim Jordan and the other conspirators are not going to want to jump in with them. Instead they will be more likely to help bury him. The Republican nomination for the presidency in 2024 will become a wide open contest. Everything is different now.

His Day of Trumpfamy: His Worst Day So Far – More to Come After

December 7, 2022
by Peter Feinman
December 6, 2022 A Day in Trumpfamy

December 6, 2022, will be remembered as a Day of Trumpfamy for the once Teflon-person now fading into political obscurity as a Loser. It marks a convenient demarcation point to track his downward slide into criminal oblivion. In the years to come scholars may offer other days especially since there is more to come but in someways December 6, 2022, will mark a bookend to January 6, 2021, from the moment he sought to overthrown the Constitution he later said to should be terminated, to the movement he perhaps started to realize that he has nothing to long forward to except possibly the collapse of his company and the clanging of prison doors behind him.

CRIMINAL: TRUMP BUSINESS

On the business side, the results on the Day of Infamy are obvious. The Trump Organization was found guilty on 17 counts of fraud and conspiracy. In some ways, this case was a slam dunk – the chief financial officer already had pleaded guilty and testified against the organization. The defense rested on the claim that the head of the organization had no idea what was going to and that Allen Weisselberg was acting solely on his own and for own benefit. The defense could have presented a stronger case to document that Trump was inept and incompetent and didn’t know what was going on if it had referred to his mishandling of the COVID leading to the preventable deaths of thousands, tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of Americans but it chose not to take that path.

What are the consequences of this conviction? Besides the fact it took the jury a New York minute to convict, it doesn’t bode well for others cases to come to in New York. The Manhattan District Attorney has just fortified his office with a Trump-Killer so it is only a matter of time now before the next indictment is sought. When it happens the suit will name names including probably everyone in his family much to the joy of Michael Cohen.

The New York State Attorney General needs no push to move ahead with that lawsuit.

All in all, 2023 is shaping up as a banner year for more loses for the Loser due to his business dealings … and maybe for members of his family too. Will he throw any of them under the bus? Will any of them seek to save their own skins? The drama continues.

CRIMINAL: TRUMP INSURRECTION

The House Select Committee is moving forward. Sometime this month, the report will be made public so even Kevin McCarthy and Jim Jordan will have the opportunity to read it. As part of the release, the Committee will make criminal referrals against the planners of the insurrection. It is reasonable to expect that the Hitman will be number one on the list. It is reasonable to expect that those who chose not to cooperate in the investigation will be named also. All in all, the announcement December 6, 2022, Day of Trumpfamy, is like the Ghost of Christmas Future by the House Select Committee bearings tidings of bad days to come.

The same applies to the Department of Justice. We know now the DOJ under the direction of the Jack Smith, the new special counsel, has been busy sending subpoenas to people in multiple states who participated in the effort to overthrow the election from the comforts of home. In some ways the potential case against the alternate electors is another slam dunk. The phonies who thought it was a lark, a goof, or maybe it might even work are now realizing that there are consequences for their actions. A judge has already ruled that John Eastman and Donald Trump were engaged in criminal activities. As the good decent phony electors start to face the music it will be interesting to see who decides to sing first and what names they will name as part of a plea bargaining.

So here is one proposed scenario of indictments.

1. Mar-a-Lagogate – a slam dunk case where the accused on his own recognizance and of his own free will admitted that he did it. Obviously his lawyers will not allow him to take the stand in his own defense. The only questions are who will he take down with him and who will seek a plea deal. Now that the special master has been dispensed with and the Trump judge has been put in her place, it is only a matter of a short period of time before the indictments. Oh wait, there are even more classified documents still in his possession!

2. Fake Electors – another straightforward case. Jack Smith has identified the people the DOJ wants to interview. Once that is done, indictments will follow.

3. January 6 – Insurrection indictments will take longer given the number of people who will be subpoenaed and the greater complexity of the case. Still everyone knows the indictments. In part they will build on the momentum of the other cases. We may get to a point where the accused becomes a figure of sympathy and right-wing media and the Freedom Caucus calls for throwing the flag for piling it on. Of course, by that time, some of them will be under indictment too.

Irony of irony, on the Day of Trumpfamy, the Capitol police were honored by the House.

Then in the midst of all this federal activity by the DOE, the Fulton County District Attorney also be issuing indictments.

So on the insurrection front like the New York front, the Loser has nothing to forward to.

POLITICAL: TRUMP THE LOSER

Trump’s aura as a loser grows larger with each passing day. On December 6, 2022, the Day of Trumpfamy, another one of his chosen candidates lost. Clearly if a real Republican had run in Georgia the results might have been quite different. Republicans proved quite capable of winning statewide elections in Georgia. Not so for the Trumpican candidate. The historic result is a net pick up one-Senate seat in the midterms for the out-of-power party. In addition, that one vote makes a big difference in the operation of the Senate. The reign of Joe Manchin is over.

Despite Hershel Walker being such a flawed candidate, he ended with some comments that directly rebut the Stop the Steal MAGA nonsense. He did not claim the election was rigged. Georgia is not Arizona. He called up his supporters to keep dreaming, respect the Constitution, and pray for the elected officials, all things MAGA Trump would never do.

Politically, the greater Trump’s aura as a loser becomes, the weaker he becomes politically. His rantings and ravings will become more and more meaningless since they are those of a Loser who will continue to be a loser in 2023. More and more Republicans will not want to kiss the ring or comply with any of his calls to action. The Freedom Caucus will experience some raucous closed-door sessions as it tries to pursue its losing agenda. Really, how many people care about Hunter Biden outside a closed loop of losers?

The combined actions of December 6, 2022, Day of Trumpfamy, mark an acceleration into the demise of Donald Trump as a political factor in American politics. His disappearance won’t happen overnight, but any given day it will become worse. I have used the Wicked Witch of the West in multiple blogs to describe what will happen to him … and the joy of the Munchkins singing when the first witch died. I was pleased hear Governor John Kasich also use the Wicked Witch motif: Donald Trump is melting before our very eyes and at some point even Republicans in Congress will be ready to mop up and discard that puddle.

Happy Holidays.