Couldn’t wait until my usual shift to put this one up for you folks. This makes getting only 4 hours of sleep worth it. We were hoping, but not expecting, it to happen, but it did! That tour bus? It has fallen off the cliff, and we should be thrilled! There’s still more for us to do, but it’s a damn good start. From CNN: [Subscription required]
A federal judge dismissed the indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James on Monday. The judge found that President Donald Trump’s appointment of interim US Attorney Lindsey Halligan in Alexandria, Virginia, was invalid. Trump handpicked Halligan for the role amid increasing pressure to bring criminal cases against his political enemies, including Comey and James.
Oh, yea, bay-beeeeee! Gone! This is what happens when someone tries to rush something. They make mistakes, and not always small ones. It wasn’t just Ms. Halligan who made mistakes, although she had her share, as was beginning to come out before the judge said (essentially) “oh HELL no!” The biggest mistake was made by one of the people we love to hate, that being Pam Blondi. She was careless. Too bad, so sad.
In the cases against Comey — which Halligan brought before a grand jury just days after her appointment — and James, defense attorneys argued the 120-day period that an interim US attorney is allowed to serve prior to confirmation from the Senate or approval from the district’s judges had already expired when Halligan took the position. This, they said, meant that Halligan’s appointment was unlawful. Currie agreed, writing that agreeing with the government’s position would give Trump and other officials authority “to evade the Senate confirmation process indefinitely by stacking successive 120-day appointments.”
Gee, ya think? That was unexpected, actually. You learn something new every day. There’s no such thing as stacking. So the DoJ has been playing fast and loose with these “temporary” AGs. All we know about is what’s in the news for these high-profile cases. What else is there that we don’t know? There has to be more. Remember Kilmar Abrego Garcia (and the still ongoing mess for him months later)?
And how about Judge Boasberg and Judge Xinis? There are definitely more in the background. They’re keeping other things quiet, such as Alina Habba Dabba Doo. She’s an “acting AG”, as well. Oh, yes, Judge Dugan got arrested for nonsense. Still pissed about that one, so we shall move right along.
“The implications of a contrary conclusion are extraordinary,” Currie wrote of the Halligan appointment. “It would mean the Government could send any private citizen off the street — attorney or not — into the grand jury room to secure an indictment so long as the Attorney General gives her approval after the fact. That cannot be the law.” Attorneys for Comey and James have both separately argued their cases were brought at the behest of the Trump administration because of the president’s personal animus toward them.
Oh hell yes, they were. Trump wanted them to go to jail. Trump told Blondi IN PUBLIC to make it happen. And somehow, she did. But she chose wrongly, trying to manipulate the law through Ms. Halligan, and It Did Not Work. Now, the cases were dismissed with prejudice, which means they could be arraigned again, except that it won’t work with Comey because the statute of limitations has passed. It would be smart if they just left the cases alone. Just close the book on AG James’s farce of a case, and move on. But when were they ever smart?
Friends, I know everyone begs you for money. I promise, among all those asking for spare change, we are the smallest and the hardest working. We’re a group of old, disabled people, except for one writer in his mid-50s. The rest of us are in our sixties and seventies, and this is a labor of love. All we’re asking for is the chance to keep telling the truth about Trump and help ensure democracy survives. If you can help, please do. Thank you. Ursula
FAFO continues, combined with ETTD.
The second “diggity” should be “ziggity.”
It’s possibly more than “… This is what happens when someone tries to rush something.…” as you state. It could also be proof positive of the level of incompetence contrived by a reptilian bully that’s essentially as deep as a birdbath and as a thick as a rock, when it comes to the law, who is involved, and what can happen – all because he has a history of abusing and bending the law to suit his self-serving vindictive nature.