Merrick Garland's Trump Problem--and Ours

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

Tweet text:

Laurence Tribe
@tribelaw
“We can debate whether the attorney general dropped the ball at various times, but whatever he chooses to do now, and whatever the prosecutors in New York and Georgia can deliver, democracy is in the hands of the U.S. Senate.”

washingtonmonthly.com
Merrick Garland’s Trump Problem—and Ours | Washington Monthly
Timing is everything. When it comes to free and fair elections and ensuring that Donald Trump and fellow authoritarians do not pull off a successful coup, we are nearly out of time. At least 19...
10:38 AM · Jan 15, 2022

https://washingtonmonthly.com/2022/01/15/merrick-garlands-trump-problem-and-ours/

*snip*

The seditious conspiracy statute provides that “if two or more persons . . . conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States . . . or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States, they can be fined and imprisoned for up to twenty years.” While seditious conspiracy is a rarity (according to LawFare, the last time it was used was 2010, and before that only three times in the past 20 years), just this week, the DOJ arrested and charged the leader of the Oath Keepers with seditious conspiracy for organizing a plot to storm the Capitol. The other offenses are more bread-and-butter. Proving obstruction of an official proceeding is easier than it sounds, given that the offense doesn’t just include successful actions but also punishes those who influence or impede an official proceeding or even just attempt to do so. The trickier part is proving that the Joint Session of Congress constituted an “official proceeding” (although in a civil case in December, one federal judge ruled that it qualifies). Proving the existence of a conspiracy can be difficult, as evidence of an agreement would need to be shown, though juries can draw inferences from behavior and testimony without a smoking gun.

Conspiracy is a powerful charge. And it looks like the January 6th committee is closely examining the facts to see if they line up. As sources told Hugo Lowell of The Guardian, the committee is exploring whether “Trump oversaw an unlawful conspiracy that involved coordination between the ‘political elements’ of the White House plan communicated to Republican lawmakers and extremist groups that stormed the Capitol.”

Solid evidence of Trump leading a criminal conspiracy would be earth-shattering. As illuminated in 1946 by the Supreme Court in Pinkerton v. United States, conspiracy members can be held criminally responsible for the substantive acts committed by other members that were done in furtherance of the conspiracy, within the scope of its unlawful project, and that could be reasonably foreseen as a “necessary or natural consequence of the unlawful agreement.” This includes criminal acts that a co-conspirator didn’t even know about, let alone partake in. For example, if trespassing, smashing windows, and physical violence furthered the object of the conspiracy and were within the scope of an unlawful project (such as obstructing an official proceeding), then someone who was a member of that conspiracy who was watching on television—say, from the dining room next to the Oval Office—could be charged and convicted of those offenses.

Why do I trust Garland now, when I have been so critical of him in the past—like when he dropped the ball on the Mueller report, took Trump’s side against E. Jean Carroll and her defamation suit over the sexual assault she says Trump inflicted on her, and failed to bring charges against Trump for the Stormy Daniels payoffs? Because words matter to Garland. The 69-year-old former jurist and prosecutor never publicly promised to pursue the Mueller report’s obstruction charges or any of those other matters. This is different. He spoke this time. Plus, Justice Department officials historically have a record of making speeches about enforcement priorities and following up. For example, when a high-level DOJ lawyer and then the deputy attorney general recently gave speeches about corporate criminal accountability, they followed those words with actions.

*snip*

[Budi]

1. Sounds more like a personal problem, Mr Tribe, with all due respect

Truth is, Merrick Garland is our trusted AG, appt'd by our trusted President, & Mr Tribe is not.

Armchairing is easy when you do not have the facts & data before you to make the calls as Garland has had to.

I'm losing all respect I had for Mr Tribe, with his relentless inability to kep his personal problem with AG Garland seperate from his professional one.

Tribe is sounding more like a jilted meanie on the playground of justuce.

Tell us what your REAL problem is Mr Tribe? Because AG Garland is every bit a professional as you have sold yourself to be.

Unless Mr Tribe has all the info AG Garland has in front of him, (which he does not), Just stop it.

I'm finished listening to Mr lawrence Tribe rant on from his protected enclave.

This article is the last straw for me.
I'm trashing Lawrence Tribe's name from my DU page.

[Nevilledog]

2. Too bad you didn't notice the article was not written by Laurence Tribe.

[gab13by13]

3. Oops, I'm guessing he didn't read the article.

[Budi]

4. Tribe cited the article in his own tweet.

Tribe has put a negative spin in AG Garland every time he's mentoined his name.
The criticisims are unfounded & as Garland quietly made his way thru the 1st few months, Tribe was already demanding he put up or step down. Garland was failing, Biden failed with his choice of AG.
Who the fk is Tribe. Well he's no Merrick Garland, US AG, that's for sure.

Armchair AG-ing is safe & profitable.
So piss off Lawrence Tribe.

[Nevilledog]

5. I'm sure he's disappointed to hear he's lost you as a fan.

[Budi]

6. I don''t give a fk about this blogger who makes a profit by his self promoting smug righteousness.

He's just another profiteer sitting safely in his hidey hole, lobbing critiques at AG Garland who has the data in front of him. The data that the gloriously self appointed Tribe has no clue about.

So piss off larry

[Sewa]

7. WOW-HO we hooked us a live one

Lol💀🤙