You did not need a crystal ball, nor even a law degree, to be able to see this one coming. Donald Trump filed a motion in U.S. District Court in Florida yesterday. He assured one and all that it was “major” but the only thing major about it seems to be how screwed up it is.
It’s a badly written document and even the judge herself has so stated and she’s given him until Friday to clean the mess up. Simply, the requests she is making speak for themselves. This was a massively incompetent effort. Politico:
In a brief order on Tuesday afternoon, U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon signaled some confusion about the motion Trump’s attorneys filed on Monday asking for an outsider to sift through materials the FBI seized from Trump’s home and resort in Palm Beach, Fla., earlier this month pursuant to a search warrant. […]
Cannon didn’t explicitly criticize the 27-page motion Trump’s lawyers filed on Monday, but her requests for clarification seemed to dovetail with criticism from some legal observers who called the submission convoluted, confusing and loaded with heaping servings of political rhetoric unrelated to the legal questions at issue. She wants answers to her queries by Friday, but did not set a hearing or further proceedings on the former president’s request.
Among the issues the judge asked Trump’s attorneys to clarify were such basic points as “the precise relief sought,” why the court has jurisdiction over the dispute, what legal standards apply and whether the former president is seeking an immediate injunction against the government while the legal dispute plays out.
Trump lives on some planet of his own, legally speaking. In the real world, if a motion like this were put together, no sane attorney would have let it leave the office in such a condition that the judge would have to ask what the “precise relief sought” was or question something as basic as jurisdiction. These are basic foundational things. And Trump and his merry band of legal incompetents just blithely skip over them like they’re nothing.
This motion was so incompetently done that it was speculated that it might be a publicity stunt, as you may recall reading.
I can only assume that Trump’s cracker jack team of Charlie’s Angels-esque lawyers are vying for positions as Newsmax anchors. I cannot see how they’re going to make a legal reputation for themselves — except a negative one. And that must be okay. Maybe the Newsmax contracts are already signed somewhere and they’re all going through the motions until the day when Trump is finally gone and they can get in front of the camera and tout the virtues of the newest right-wing hero.
They need to file the motion properly – they did that really wrong, and do it in the correct court (the one with the fight over the warrant), and the two non-Florida lawyer need to refile their pro hac vice requests because they did them Rong.
English-language summary of the judge’s answer:
emptywheel @emptywheel · 4h
Basically, the judge is saying:
1) Why did you bring this to me rather than Judge Reinhart?
2) What can I do that Judge Reinhart can’t?
3) You know, w/o an injunction, this is useless, right?
4) Why the fuck did you bring this to me?
5) You’re supposed to tell DOJ about this.
A white man once again gets a pass or “mulligan”. Weird how people of color do not get these do-overs. When you’re a P.O.C. and you fuck up, your ass is in jail ASAP. White man fucks up, and it’s a major criminal fuck up, he gets a judge holding his hand saying “honey, you have to fix this”. WTF? People are asking what is wrong with former guy and his team of wannabe lawyers and they should be asking what the fuck is wrong with this judge.
And people wonder, conservatives specifically, why we keep stating there is systemic racism running rampant in the country…and bigotry, chauvinism, …..
they dumb af
where is rudy when you need him
LOL
😛
So, if Trump penned the motion, why did he have “lawyers” present it to the court? I was under the impression that lawyers wrote the motions (or had their assistants do the actual typing, etc) and the lawyers presented them to the court.
Oh, wait. I just see where I went wrong. Trump was the “assistant” here.
THAT makes sense.
This won’t be the first time Trump has had to get someone else to clean up after one of his ‘motions’.
If Trump and the same group of lawyers continue working on the major (majorly “stoopid”) motion just think about how much worse it will get by Friday!
1) Why did you bring this to me rather than Judge Reinhart? Because I appointed you and I need a return favor
2) What can I do that Judge Reinhart can’t? I’ve asked Judge Reinhart but he is not willing. So………. I mean come on!
3) You know, w/o an injunction, this is useless, right? As former President, I have a standing order to waive any injunction requirements
4) Why the fuck did you bring this to me?
I told you already. Because I appointed you
5) You’re supposed to tell DOJ about this.
And give them heads up; No way!