This is not just a bad thing. It’s nearly (but not quite) catastrophic for the DoJ lawyer in the case. Not only was the lawyer unprepared to begin with, but the DoJ also did not provide the documents the judge asked for. The lawyer shouldn’t just blow off something like that, even if she is in the DoJ. It’s *her* ass on the line. It will reflect badly on the organization. That’s all. So being prepared is a good thing. It can make her or break her. And the DoJ is not being helpful. Oops. From Raw Story:
For a second time, U.S. District Court Judge Cameron McGowan Currie has ordered the Department of Justice to turn over transcripts from the grand jury that indicted former FBI Director James Comey after the department failed to include statements made by interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan. In an order last month, McGowan first requested the transcripts after Comey alleged that the indictment should be dismissed because Halligan, President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, was invalidly appointed to her position.
We knew it! We knew Comey had at least one trick up his sleeve! If Trump lackey Aileen Cannon can use it, Comey and his lawyer can too. (Thank you, Clarence Thom-ass ahahahaha) People pay attention to that. Sure, it was just written about. But people with a decent reputation and a damn good lawyer would certainly remember something like that. We could bet there are other shots to fire across the bow of the lawyer Halligan *and* the DoJ overall. This reminds me of the nonsense with Judge Hannah Dugan being stuck in a stupid, ridiculous court case because she told ICE to get out of her courtroom and let an illegal immigrant and his lawyer out a side door. *ahem* Stopping rant and moving on:
McGowan said that the transcripts were necessary “to determine the extent of the indictment signer’s involvement in the grand jury proceedings.” On Tuesday, the judge revealed that the DOJ had handed over the transcripts, but had stripped out all of Halligan’s remarks. “This court has reviewed the transcript and finds it fails to include remarks made by the indictment signer both before and after the testimony of the sole witness, which remarks were referenced by the indictment signer during the witness’s testimony,” the judge wrote. “In addition, the package contains no records or transcripts regarding the presentation of the three-count indictment referenced in the Transcript of the Return of Grand Jury Indictment Proceedings before the Magistrate Judge.”
Ooof. What Judge McGowan wants, Judge McGowan should get. You don’t f*ck around with a judge, any judge like that. *Bondi* should have known that, let alone Lindsey Halligan. Well, actually, Lindsey was an insurance lawyer before this, so she has *no* prosecutorial experience and might not consciously have known it. Still. How could she think to pull a fast one on a *judge*??!!! Come ON now! Those of us with no legal knowledge could have figured that out quickly and *not* tried it. Why did they do it? Let’s guess she is seeing something awry, and we don’t know what it is. Yet. Good grief.
In response, McGowan gave the DOJ 24 hours to come up with “a complete Transcript and/or recording of all statements made by” Halligan. She also said that she expected to see “statements made prior to and after the testimony of the witness and during the presentation of the three-count and subsequent two-count indictments.” Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance noted that it was “unusual for a court to ask for disclosure or a prosecutor’s comments in the grand jury.” “And never good news for the government,” she added.
WHAM. Busted! Don’t piss off a judge. Give her what she now had to demand. And if they don’t? Who knows what will happen, but it won’t be good. They had best come up with everything in those 24 hours. We’d all love for her to throw out the case. Censuring the lawyer would be a bonus. No matter what, we can see that this case is not going well for the prosecution. Good! We would take the DoJ losing a case for a Trump “enemy”. Ha. Only time will tell.
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
