Dem 47
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GOP 53
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Only the Best People, Part I: The Den of Thieves

Two weeks in, give or take, and Donald Trump continues to shower his allies and lackeys with Get Out of Jail Free cards. First up, in the most predictable move ever, the acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Hayden O'Byrne, dismissed the appeal of the classified documents case against Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira. As readers will recall, Judge Aileen Cannon had dismissed the case against then-defendant Trump and his co-defendants, finding that Jack Smith's appointment as special counsel was unconstitutional. Smith appealed, but dropped Trump from the appeal after he was elected president. Smith maintained the appeal as to Nauta and De Oliveira.

Thereafter, Smith prepared his final report and organized it into two volumes, one for the documents case, one for the insurrection case. In a move that continues to baffle legal experts, in early January, Smith's team decided to show both volumes to Trump's attorneys and to attorneys for Nauta and De Oliveira, who immediately went running to Cannon to ask her to block the release of both volumes, even though she no longer had jurisdiction after dismissing the case. She happily obliged and issued a temporary restraining order preventing the report's release. The Eleventh Circuit effectively punted, and, as a result, Cannon was able to schedule a hearing on a more permanent injunction, causing more delay. Ultimately, Cannon ran out the clock and, on January 21, issued an order allowing Volume I's release but prohibiting the release of Volume II because of the pending appeal. At any time during this circus, Garland and the DOJ could have dropped the appeal and released Volume II. Instead, they dithered until it was too late.

Shortly after dropping the appeal, acting AG James McHenry announced that he simply had to do the right thing, and release Volume II of Smith's report to the public. Ha! Just kidding. In the announcement that the appeal had been dropped, there was no mention of Smith's report. How odd! Undoubtedly it will turn up... perhaps lining the bird cages of the local pet store.

But wait, there's more! The DOJ has dropped its case against former representative Jeff Fortenberry for receiving an illegal foreign campaign contribution and lying about it to the FBI. Fortenberry was convicted by a federal jury in 2022 but the conviction was overturned on venue grounds on appeal (by a panel of all Democratic appointees incidentally). The DOJ had renewed the case in D.C. and was awaiting a trial date.

Meanwhile, a bit further north, New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D)—that paragon of virtue, who was criminally indicted on bribery and other charges by the U.S. Attorney's office for the Southern District of NY—may also be getting off scot free. Adams is accused, among other crimes, of taking luxury travel benefits in exchange for helping expedite the opening of the Turkish consulate in Manhattan. He is alleged to have accepted more than $100,000 in improper benefits over nearly a decade, and using straw donors to funnel foreign funds to his mayoral campaign to secure $10 million in public matching funds. Adams, who is no dummy, said the magic words to Trump—"witch hunt" and "politically motivated"—during his pilgrimage to Mar-a-lago to grovel at the Dear Leader's feet. And now Adams is meeting with federal prosecutors to discuss dropping the case. One wonders if Bob Menendez' prostration can be far behind—maybe he still has a few gold bars lying around to sweeten the deal.

What we're seeing here is not equal justice under the law, but justice being meted out solely by Trump's whim, without regard to the facts, evidence or probable cause. We feel for those prosecutors who must be just sickened by this naked partisanship, which will taint everything coming out of this Department of Justice. Who will cooperate with these people, knowing they can't be trusted? Witnesses are going to clam up and evaporate. Not a great way to retain talent, but that doesn't seem to be what they're going for. (L)



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