Desperation is as desperation does. Donald Trump is desperate, and he’s got two loony lawyers that are desperate. Well, he’s got a lot more than two loony lawyers in his stable, but right now the two that are whinnying and kicking up their heels are Josh Blackman and Seth Tillman. If the names ring any kind of a bell, these are two of the people who are arguing the utterly absurd notion that the president of the United States is not in fact an “officer” of the United States.
That idea got shot down already but they’re back at it again, only this time it’s Jack Smith under the gun.
“If Special Counsel Smith is an ’employee of the United States,’ rather than an ‘Officer of the United States,'” the brief argues, “then he cannot exercise the ‘significant authority’ of a United States Attorney.”
Blackman and Tillman hope to present this argument to Cannon, the Florida federal court judge overseeing the case linked to 33 boxes of documents — including 17 marked as “top secret,” 54 as “secret” and 31 as “confidential” — uncovered at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in 2022.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to charges, accused Smith of conducting a political witch hunt, and launched what legal experts say is a delay campaign that hangs on him regaining the White House in 2025, when he could effectively kill the case.
But if Blackman and Tillman had their way, the case would be long dead before Trump faced off against President Joe Biden in November.
What follows is a thread from J. Michael Luttig’s Twitter account in January. He shot them down then and nothing has changed. If you missed this exchange then, nothing has changed. These are just two more legal whores either seeking to gain notoriety, or they’re praying that by some miracle their frivolous, specious, makeweight arguments win the day.
The former president and his amici supporters have put all of their eggs in Blackman’s and Tillman’s tattered basket of constitutional interpretation in the Supreme Court of the United States.
— @judgeluttig (@judgeluttig) January 28, 2024
in the Disqualification Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment means exactly the same thing as the phrase “Officers of the United States” in the Appointments Clause and therefore does not include the President of the United States.
— @judgeluttig (@judgeluttig) January 28, 2024
that is most relevant to their (mis)interpretation of that Clause. Consequently, their professorial basket is woven entirely out of misinterpretation of the actual constitutional text of the Disqualification Clause
— @judgeluttig (@judgeluttig) January 28, 2024
Messrs. Blackman's and Tillman's protests notwithstanding, it is actually their interpretation of the phrase “officer of the United States” in the Disqualification Clause, as not including the President of the United States
— @judgeluttig (@judgeluttig) January 28, 2024
all “Officers of the United States” of course does not mean that the President is not an “officer of the United States” under the Disqualification Clause, any more than it means that the President is not an “Officer of the United States” under the Appointments Clause.
— @judgeluttig (@judgeluttig) January 28, 2024
"whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for" means exactly that — and only that. For purposes of the Appointments Clause, the President appoints all “Officers of the United States” except those whose appointments are otherwise provided for in the Constitution —
— @judgeluttig (@judgeluttig) January 28, 2024
as Blackman and Tillman mistakenly believed a decade ago and still mistakenly believe today, and as the former president now, also, mistakenly believes.
— @judgeluttig (@judgeluttig) January 28, 2024
The Colorado Supreme Court understood this basic constitutional point, which is why it reversed the contrary conclusion of the district court. The Anderson respondents also understand the point, which is why they addressed the flawed argument on p. 40 of their Merits Brief:
— @judgeluttig (@judgeluttig) January 28, 2024
The Constitution is a remarkable document. I had a dear friend who taught Constitutional Law at Pepperdine University. He had a religious background and a spiritual bent and he told me once that he had often wondered whether the Constitution might have been divinely inspired. He had that much respect for the craftsmanship and the intellect that is embodied in that document.
I know nothing of such cosmic matters, but definitely adherence to our Constitution will keep us on the straight and narrow and maintain the rule of law, which is the underpinning of democracy. I have the utmost respect for Judge Luttig for putting the Constitution first above the treachery of a fallen Republican party and its disgraceful standard bearer, the reality TV trust fund baby — whose trust fund comically can’t save him.
No matter how much his cult members give him, it’s never enough.
Let’s see if these two crackpots are successful. Don’t hold your breath. Jack Smith was a judge at the World Court. I don’t think that some personnel classification, or whatever their Bizarro World point is, is going to somehow supersede the mountain of evidence he has in his possession. But as always, we know one thing to be true: there is no low they won’t go.
I think the look on Judge Luttig’s face, in the little icon photo, says it all. I definitely smiled when I saw it.
It’s a big ask……but I’d love to see two RW’er Justices “retire” and Biden have Lutig and Tribe confirmed to SCOTUS. in his next rerm. A third one will make it a hat-trick.
Absolutely not! While I admire judge Luttig for his stance here, the very last thing we need is another conservative on the court. I prefer to keep whatever little rights that I have intact.
The constitution is only a remarkable document and only keeps us on the straight and narrow when the highest court in the land reads the damned thing, understands it, and rules accordingly. Our s.c. does not do this-they instead make shit up, pulling crap out of thin air, and ignore the actual words of the constitution.
It can be the greatest thing ever written in the history of mankind but with our current s.c., it is only so much toilet paper for them to wipe their asses on. They proved this when they told CO that dingleberry had to be allowed on the ballot DESPITE his treason/insurrection. It is this sort of thing that happens when you have corrupt theocratic-wannabe idiots judging cases; we have the highest court in the land with six of these.
I don’t know that our constitution can save us from them. WE can save ourselves by getting rid of those idiots in any and every way possible. I personally would like to watch them piss themselves when they are forced to look down the barrels of a whole bunch of loaded firearms aimed right at their empty heads. THAT would make my day-the karma being played out on the very people who made good and damned sure every day of our lives are filled with unspeakable horror and danger due to their moronic 2-A rulings. That would be actual justice.