This Is Actually Kind Of A Big Deal

Third (and *last*) ruling is Moore v. Harper.

For a 6-3 majority (Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch dissenting), Chief Justice Roberts reaches the merits and *rejects* the "independent state legislature" theory:https://t.co/EfbSKSwBm7

— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) June 27, 2023

That completely ends Trump's argument (which he stopped making some time ago) that the states could have filed new slates of electors, and couldn't alter their election practices (due to covid) without full legislative authority.  That case is going to play big in Georgia and probably in the J6 prosecution.  The Supremes continue to drive nails in Trump's coffin; which is an interesting, and too overlooked, story in itself.

In its own way, though seemingly wholly unrelated, this is a big deal, too.

The leak of the Trump tape could and, in light of other prosecutorial abuse, should end the Biden regime's current prosecution of Trump.

— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) June 27, 2023

The former is the result of a careful, deliberative process of legal reasoning (I haven't read the opinion, so I may change my mind; but for the moment, the benefit of the doubt is invoked). The latter is hare-brained nonsense of the "LOCK 'EM UP!" and the "Sentence first--verdict afterwards" reasoning of the Queen of Hearts. It's anti-legal reasoning because it's against any process of law and solely for the purpose, in fact, of ending legal process because Fitton doesn't like where it's headed or who it's aiming at.  Which doesn't make it a big deal at all, except in the context of recent news.

In that context, it confirms for me that the tape tout le monde is talking about today, came from Trump or someone Trump adjacent.  Is Fitton's tweet proof of that assertion?  No; but it's curiously coincidental, especially as he wants to use it to nuke the prosecution altogether.

Something else not required by the law.  Fitton couldn't even make a legal argument for an investigation.  Especially since there's no reason to believe Trump didn't already have a copy of this tape; and thought it was clever of him to release it. 

But that tape is mentioned in the indictment, although not in as full a form as what was released.  The indictment, however, is not obliged to contain all the evidence the DOJ has against Trump.  It could well be they have other tapes of which Trump is unaware.  If one of those leaked, it could be suspicious.  If they don't, it points back to this tape coming from someone not the DOJ.  Besides, as Andrew Weissman pointed out on MSNBC this morning, that tape mentioned in the indictment is not the basis of a charge in the indictment. Which means it could be used as the basis for a charge in New Jersey, since the recording was made at Bedminster.

Trump tape strategy call: if Trump moves to keep out Bedminster tape from FLA trial, and Cannon agrees, Trump will have goaded Jack Smith to charge the possession/dissemination in New Jersey where the tape will be clearly admissible.

— Andrew Weissmann 🌻 (@AWeissmann_) June 27, 2023

Releasing that tape doesn't do Trump any damned good at all. He's exposed himself, all but confessed to the crime on camera, and done nothing to dissuade the prosecution in Florida. Indeed, he makes a prosecution in New Jersey more likely.

So the problem is not that the tape was released.  And Tom Fitton is too dumb to understand that.