Please indulge me in a brief sports analogy to lead into the main story. You all know I’m a native Chicagoan, and I was home for all six of my beloved Chicago Bulls world championships.
And I saw something watching those games, especially the playoff games, that just brings it all back when I look at the way that Special Counsel Jack Smith and his team are acting in the opening stages of the Trump documents trial.
2:12 left in the 4th. Bulls down 8 points. Head coach Phil Jackson calls a timeout, and the boys wander over. Jackson turns to his head assistant coach, Johnny Bach and quotes Shakespeare, Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war. Then he’d turn away and let Bach create the plays on the whiteboard.
But here’s the relevant thing. When the timeout was over, the Bulls, down 8 points, would strut back on that court like they had the world by the balls. And 2:12 later, the Bulls won by 6. They never had a doubt that they were going to prevail. And they did.
And today, every time I see Jack Smith’s latest court filing, that’s exactly what I see. My beloved Bulls. Smith and his team just have that strut. He doesn’t care if the game is held in Dante’s 7th ring of hell, they’re the baddest of the bad asses, and your ass is theirs.
Just look at everything that has happened since Trump was indicted. Smith could at least have made a logical argument to hold the whole shotting match in DC, citing the DC circuit’s experience with classified cases, coincidentally getting a much more jury pool. Instead Smith gets the indictments in a southern Florida courtroom, Trump’s home stomping grounds.
Then comes the news that the case will be presided over by Trump’s lap poodle judge Aileen Cannon. The media had cardiac kittens over Cannon’s selection, as well as Smith’s choice of venue. There are universal cries for Smith to go to the 11th circuit appellate court if necessary to have her recused. Smith made the tactical decision that recusal was unlikely, and declined to potentially piss off and predispose the judge against the prosecution.
In his brief statement on the unsealing of the indictments, Smith vowed to press for a speedy trial both for justice purposes, as well as public interest.
And at the arraignment he was good to his word, asking for no restrictions on Trump’s bail, depriving Trump’s defense team from asking for hearings that would delay things.
Then Smith takes the rare step of jumping the gun, and starting the discovery process by announcing that he was executing discovery unilaterally, including all grand jury testimony, normally not done until the trial date. A protective order signed by judge Cannon places severe restrictions on Trump’s access to the documents, and bars witness contact and public disclosure of evidence.
This is unprecedented. With his actions, Smith is clearly trying to turn Florida’s Rocket Docket into the Starship Enterprise. And in doing so, he’s wandering into the lair, and putting his head into the lions mouth. Why?
Because Smith. Doesn’t. Care. He and his team have total confidence in his team, his evidence, and his case. He knows every speck of evidence he has, and he doesn’t care where the trial is held, he has Trump by the short-and-curlies. And he released all of his discovery to the Trump defense team for the simple reason that it doesn’t matter how much time Trump’s lawyers have to go through it, they can’t beat what he’s got. And I think he’s right.
Because as I well know, a juror is a different beast. That oath actually means something, your word is on the line. In Paul Manafort’s trial, there was a Trump juror who wore her MAGA hat to trial every day, leaving it in the car so nobody would think she was biased. And when the time came, she voted to convict Manafort on all 11 counts.
In the Ahmad Marbury trial, due to a kink in the rules, the defense had three times as many peremptory challenges as the prosecution, basically allowing them to hand pick the most favorable jury possible. And again, even with a patsy jury, when the verdicts were read, the defendants were guilty on almost all counts. Jurors take an oath to consider only the evidence and testimony, and as a general rule they do the job.
And that’s why Smith doesn’t care. And he has good reason. Hell, even Trump’s chained bulldog AG, Tubby the Ewok told FUX News that if half of what the prosecution alleges in the indictments is true, Trump is toast. And Barr and Smith are right. And we know it simply because Smith has used his court filings to tease us with what he’s got, which is like the tip of the iceberg, only 10% of what he actually has. And now the Trump defense is seeing that other 90%, and they have to be suicidal.
There are miles to go, but here’s the most important takeaway. If you’re going into a criminal trial, especially in hostile territory, you want a prosecutor who has total faith in both his case as well as his skills. And Smith and his team clearly have that. And when you look at Trump’s defense team, some of whom have no criminal experience, they have even more reason to be confident. Don’t touch that dial.
The appointment of Jack Smith is easily the best decision Merrick Garland has made. Jack has stared down war criminal heads of state at the ICC. Jack reminds me of a cat, who when he catches his prey, tries to play with it before killing and eating it.
Ah, our beloved Bulls. So different once Jordan got there. In the 70s I couldn’t stand them. A bunch of bullying crybabies who got upset if someone decided to play tough right back at them. Jerry Sloan was from my part of the state, and outside of McCleansboro itself respected but not exactly beloved. He was our “pro” one summer at basketball camp and he was a first rate a$$hole. He was a bit taller and of course a full grown man & professional athlete while I was still a skinny as a twig junior in high school. He gave me a cheap shot of an elbow while I was guarding him, and a couple of minutes later with our roles reversed and him behind me and in position to receive a pass in the high post I elbowed that sonavabitch in the ribs as hard as I could. Didn’t need to but enough of the week had gone on and he’d talked and acted like such an a-hole to all the players at camp I couldn’t resist. He was shocked, and then got a look on his face of “just who the f**k do you think you are? You are going to PAY for that. And I sure as hell did for the rest of that scrimage. Right before the end Ed McCauley (remember him?) had a chat with him during a break in the action and gestured my direction, then ole “Easy Ed” nodded to me but like I said, when Jordan led the Bulls into becoming a good team that would become great I became a huge fan. And yes, I remember just the kind of swagger you wrote about.
As for Smith, you got me thinking about oh so long ago when I was on active duty. It wasn’t just Marines – I saw similar t-shirts in stores catering to other branches of the service but a popular one carried an annotated bible quote – a phrase from the 23rd Psalm amended to read “Yea though I walk through the valley of the Shadow of Death I shall fear no evil – because I’m the meanest sonofabitch in the Valley!” I think we can make a Jack Smith variation which would say “Yea though I walk anywhere I damn well please around Trump’s Maga Nation I fear no evil. Sure as hell not any of you goobers. Cause I’m smarter and tougher than any of you and your Mango Messiah Trump. And when I need to be MEANER!”
The bulls lost me when they hired that horse’s ass Rodman. What a spoiled brat. He was an embarrassment with his unsportsmanlike conduct-I cringed whenever he was on the court and Jordan did not make up for it. Chicago got a real black eye hiring that putz.