Saturday, June 10, 2023

Regarding The Signs Of Desperation

Let’s start with the fact that Parlatore no longer works for Trump.
The alleged misconduct seemingly has at least two themes, at least according to Parlatore. First, he has asserted that the Justice Department’s successful efforts persuading a federal court to set aside attorney-client privilege claims were improper. Parlatore told CBS News that he was “stunned” when questioned in his grand jury appearance about information he says was protected by attorney-client privilege. 
However, special counsel Jack Smith’s aggressive challenge to claims that Trump lawyers were shielded by attorney-client privilege from testifying and providing documents was upheld by a federal district court and affirmed on appeal. The attorney-client privilege assertion was rejected by the courts under the so-called crime fraud exception, which strips the privilege if communications were made in connection with possible criminal activities. 
The fact that federal courts approved the questioning of Trump’s lawyers seems an impenetrable defense to any claim that this action constituted prosecutorial misconduct.
And then we can note it’s not really a loss. I mean, with legal counsel like this….
Second, Parlatore told MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell on Wednesday night that Trump lawyers may have told Smith in a meeting on Monday that “misconduct committed by Jay Bratt and his team in bringing the [documents] case to this level” would be a reason not to indict Trump. At least some of that alleged misconduct, according to Parlatore, focuses on Justice Department counterintelligence chief Jay Bratt’s team’s obtaining a search warrant for Mar-a-Lago in August. Parlatore claimed that Trump, under the presidential records law, had two years to review documents shipped from the White House to Florida before being required to send presidential papers to the National Archives. 
Once again, such a hypothetical misconduct claim falters because a federal magistrate judge authorized the search warrant. (And that warrant led to the discovery that Trump continued to retain classified and other official documents, despite his lawyers’ claims to have complied with an earlier subpoena for those documents.)
Parlatore says he’s saying this because he has a reputation to protect; or something. He certainly can’t defend his client, neither now nor then. Not with these arguments. Nor this one: The better response is to ask: having read the indictment, why should the Justice Department look the other way?Because running for President is a Get Out of Jail Free card? Even the Supreme Court doesn’t support that one, much less any lower court. Sorry to disappoint, but that’s just a non-argument. In fact, it’s just nonsensical. See? I mean, really. They got nuthin’. Well, probably not this one, but it’s still comedy gold, Jerr! Could he sound more like a shamed bully on the playground? I’m telling you, this trial is going to be a feast!
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)