The Trump dynasty in the US is fading fast. We see more and more news every day of how it’s failing in some form or fashion. They’re having trouble with the Comey case, as we expected. Well, here’s a DHS lawyer in trouble with a judge, and she has at least one awesomely snarky comment to make, even if the snark was unintentional. From Raw Story:
A judge humiliated a Department of Homeland Security lawyer, saying “If you interrupt me one more time…” after he tried to shut down the judge’s questions about Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller’s involvement in ICE operations and secret commands he may have handed Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino, according to reports Tuesday. [The full quote is] “If you interrupt me one more time… It’s enough. It’s enough,” said Ellis, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama.
H0 h0 h0. It’s not a good thing to piss off a judge, because s/he has a lot more power than a lawyer has. Do you notice a trend with this? It’s likely happening more and more, even if it doesn’t make any news. This reflects poorly on the Trump administration, and it’s only going to get worse over time. We can already see that.
U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis got testy with Justice Department attorney Sarmad Khojasteh last week in the case examining use of force by immigration agents in ICE’s “Operation Midway Blitz,” according to court records obtained by The Chicago Tribune. She ruled that specific questions about Miller’s communications with Bovino were fair if it was connected to the field directives for agents and the use of force. Ellis also called out Khojasteh, who apologized for being new at the trial, and expressed her annoyance. “This is the problem when… we’ve got a revolving door of attorneys and they haven’t been here for the entire thing,” Ellis said to Khojasteh.
BUSTED. And it was more ways than one. Don’t interrupt the judge, get your act together before you appear, and it’s a revolving door. “Ain’t” that the truth? You can see this case faltering. Others are doing the same thing, with some defendants starting to show a lot of information that the cases are shams, brought on because they are “enemies” of Trump, as an example. Do these people not pay attention to the news? Another lawyer was reprimanded (read: got smacked) for the same reason – being unprepared.
This really doesn’t make much sense. They are woefully uninformed. Why was the case handed to them the day they had to appear before a judge? That’s what it seems to be. Are they having a hard time finding people who are willing to take over? If they are, count that as blows for our side. It makes one wonder if they were forced into them. We can’t rule out that possibility, either. No matter the reason, ridiculously unprepared.
In Bovino’s deposition, Ellis questioned Miller’s influence on aggressive immigration policies as Khojasteh reportedly cut her off multiple times during the questioning. “For example, questions about communications with Mr. Miller may be perfectly within bounds if they talked about, ‘This is how I want this operation to go,’” Ellis said. “If Mr. Miller said that to Mr. Bovino and that was in Mr. Bovino’s mind as to justify the force being used, they can ask about that,” she said. An injunction hearing slated for Wednesday is expected to determine more permanent limits on force from ICE agents.
All interruptions, lack of knowledge of the case, and lack of legal knowledge for the case are coming together to make a really bad showing on the part of Khojasteh. Nothing did him any favors to win in his case. The judge will be impartial and look at this in terms of the law, but still. Still. This is making the DoJ/DHS look pretty damn bad. You know, loyalists at the top who look good are now looking bad in some major other ways. Everything they do badly gives us more leverage. It also involuntarily gives us ammunition. And after yesterday’s blowout, with Democrats handily winning their races, we’re on a roll. Let’s hope it can inject life back into the Democrats overall.
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It’s now beyond doubt that any reference to the current government has to call it ‘The Failing Trump Regime’ or ‘The Failing Trump Administration’ or ‘The Failing Trump Government’
The only area they display any competence in is in Failure.
To me what leaps out as super-important is that she’s asking about Miller, and I hope all the judges on these ICE cases are. The fact that it makes the defense nervous is a good and a true sign. Miller likes to keep in the background most of the time, but he is obviously the spider at the center of this web, and that needs to be brought out.