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Defend Our Country Digest

Defend Our Country Digest — August 3, 2023

By August 3, 2023No Comments

Driving the Day

Must Read Stories

Key details about Special Counsel Jack Smith’s case against Trump emerge

  • New York Times: From Right-Hand Man to Critical Witness: Pence at Heart of Trump Prosecution: The third indictment of Donald J. Trump has put Mike Pence at the center of an extraordinary moment in American politics. He is at once Mr. Trump’s former vice president and his rival in the race for the Republican nomination. And as Mr. Trump is prosecuted for trying to reverse the 2020 election, Mr. Pence has emerged as a critical fact witness who took, as the indictment revealed, “contemporaneous notes” on the plot — and a man whom the president berated as “too honest” for his refusal to go along. “Anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be president of the United States,” Mr. Pence said on Tuesday, setting himself apart from several other Republican candidates, who largely avoided criticizing Mr. Trump, even indirectly.
  • Washington Post: 4 things that stand out from the Trump Jan. 6 indictment: Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, has been criminally indicted a third time — twice on charges leveled by special counsel Jack Smith. Smith previously charged Trump with failing to return classified documents he took when he left the White House and obstructing the government’s efforts to retrieve them. On Tuesday, a federal grand jury indicted Trump for his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election — attempts that culminated in an attack by his supporters on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump is charged with four counts: conspiracy to obstruct and obstructing an official proceeding — the same charges brought against many of the hundreds of Jan. 6 defendants — as well as conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to violate the right to vote.
  • New York Times: Messages Point to Identity of Co-Conspirator 6 in Trump Indictment: The indictment of former President Donald J. Trump in connection with his efforts to retain power after his 2020 election loss left a number of unanswered questions, among them: Who is Co-conspirator 6? The indictment asserted that six people aided Mr. Trump’s schemes to remain in office. It did not name any of them, but most were reasonably easy to identify through details contained in the indictment, like Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former New York mayor and lawyer for Mr. Trump (Co-conspirator 1), and John Eastman, the lawyer behind the idea that Vice President Mike Pence could block or delay certification of Mr. Trump’s loss on Jan. 6 (Co-conspirator 2). Co-conspirator 6 was more of a mystery. Identified by the indictment as “a political consultant who helped implement a plan to submit fraudulent slates of presidential electors to obstruct the certification proceeding,” the person could have been a number of figures in Mr. Trump’s orbit.
  • Axios: What’s next for Trump in the Jan. 6 legal case: Trump is expected to make his first appearance in Washington federal court for his arraignment in the Jan. 6 case on Thursday. He’s been scheduled to appear before Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadhyaya at 4pm ET, per the Department of Justice. Trump will appear “either virtually or in person,” depending on what the judge asks, his lawyer John Lauro told CNN. U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan has been assigned to oversee the case.
  • Reuters: Civil War-era rights law key in Trump election interference charges: A law enacted in the aftermath of the U.S. Civil War to protect the rights of Black people factors into the charges brought against former President Donald Trump on Tuesday in a federal election interference case. Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination, was charged with conspiring to deprive voters of their right to a fair election and defraud the U.S. by blocking Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s victory. He has denied wrongdoing and said the case is part of a broader, politically motivated “witch hunt.” Federal prosecutors base one charge, conspiring to deprive citizens of constitutional or legal rights, on a law enacted during post-Civil War Reconstruction in 1870, when federal lawmakers sought to integrate into society enslaved people who had been freed.
  • New York Times: Judge in Trump Jan. 6 Trial Is Known for Tough Capitol Riot Sentences: When former President Donald J. Trump appears in court before Judge Tanya S. Chutkan on charges of conspiring to subvert American democracy, it will not be the first time she has dealt with high-profile questions related to Mr. Trump’s attempts to stay in power after losing the 2020 election. Nearly two years ago, Judge Chutkan rejected Mr. Trump’s efforts to prevent his White House records from being given to the House committee investigating his actions leading up to and during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by his supporters — delivering a swift and sharp rebuke about the limits of his ability as former president to invoke executive privilege. “Presidents are not kings,” she wrote, “and plaintiff is not president.”

Trump and his legal team push back after unprecedented third indictment

  • CBS: Trump attorney vows strong defense against latest indictment: “We are in a constitutional abyss”: Former President Donald Trump’s attorney John Lauro characterized the second federal indictment of his client as an unprecedented criminalization of political speech and argued that Trump noticed irregularities and saw “the rules being changed” in the middle of the 2020 presidential election. “This is the first time that political speech has been criminalized in the history of the United States,” Lauro told “CBS Mornings” a day after a federal grand jury indicted Trump on felony counts related to his efforts to remain in power after losing the 2020 U.S. presidential election. “It’s the first time where a current president is using the criminal process to attack a former president on policy issues,” Lauro said. “We are in a constitutional abyss right now. We’ve never seen this … the president wants his day in court. Most importantly, he wants to get to the truth, which we will do in this case.”
  • Washington Post: Hoping to undermine the Trump indictment, his allies are targeting D.C.: Donald Trump’s attorney John Lauro has been making the rounds in defense of his client. The former president, you may be aware, was indicted on Tuesday on charges related to his effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Lauro, like Trump, hopes to bolster the idea that this is fundamentally a political charge. Doing so means backstopping Trump’s political support — and, therefore, one of his best options for avoiding criminal sanction. On Wednesday morning, Lauro appeared on “CBS Mornings,” where the conversation included the venue of the indictment. Trump’s efforts were coordinated from the White House and involved attempts to pressure members of Congress and his vice president, so the indictment was handed down from a grand jury in D.C.
  • Mother Jones: The New Trump Indictment Will Supercharge His War on American Democracy: Even after all these years of Donald Trump’s extremist attacks on American democracy and decency itself, the four-count criminal indictment handed down by a federal grand jury on Tuesday that accused the former president of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election results still is a shocking development. It would be quite the capstone to the Trump era. Yet despite these criminal charges, the Trump era is not yet over. There are motions and presumably trials (in this case and others) to come[.]. Trump has not left the building. And whatever happens in the various courtrooms, a key question remains: Will this latest—and most serious—indictment of Trump do anything to break his hold on the paranoid and irrational imagination of tens of millions of Americans? Of all the Trump indictments—which also cover his payment of hush money to a porn star to cover up an alleged extramarital affair and his alleged theft of classified documents—this new set of charges addresses the most fundamental threat he has posed on American democracy. He falsely claimed the 2020 election was stolen from him. He schemed to overturn legitimate vote counts. And he riled up his followers to such an extent that thousands stormed the Capitol and violently tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power—a bedrock principle of American society.

In The States

FLORIDA: City, ‘frustrated’ plaintiffs await new ruling after court pauses new Miami commission map

  • CBS News: Federal appeals court pauses change to Miami voting map: A federal appeals court has temporarily blocked a new voting map from being used in the city of Miami’s elections in November. The following is a snippet of the court’s decision: Pursuant to Rule 8 of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, Defendant, City of Miami (the “City”), moves this Court for a stay of the trial court’s Order [DE 94] rejecting the redistricting plan, City of Miami Resolution 23-271 (The “New Plan”), and imposing a court-ordered remedial plan, pursuant to the injunction set forth in the trial court’s Order (the “Order”)(DE 60) adopting the Report and Recommendation (the “R&R”)[DE 52] granting Plaintiffs’ Motion for Injunction.
  • Miami Herald: Decision on Miami voting map rests with federal appeals court. Here are the arguments: A legal battle over how to best draw the city of Miami’s voting map faces an important crossroads that will impact elections in three city districts this November. Will the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta side with the plaintiffs — community groups represented by the American Civil Liberties Union — whose preferred map was selected by a federal trial judge? Or will the appeals court grant the city’s request to block that map and order a city-approved map to be implemented? The decision is the latest turning point in a federal lawsuit filed against the city over the 2022 redistricting process, where commissioners redrew the boundaries for the city’s five commission districts. The boundaries matter because they decide who can vote in each district and who is eligible to run for City Commission to represent each district. In Miami’s case, the legal dispute could also create an issue for Commissioner Joe Carollo — in the plaintiffs’ map, his home is no longer in the district he now represents.

WISCONSIN: Lawsuit challenging Wisconsin’s legislative maps filed at the state Supreme Court yesterday

  • Associated Press: Wisconsin lawsuit asks new liberal-controlled Supreme Court to toss Republican-drawn maps: A lawsuit filed Wednesday asks Wisconsin’s newly liberal-controlled state Supreme Court to throw out Republican-drawn legislative maps as unconstitutional, the latest legal challenge of many nationwide that could upset political boundary lines before the 2024 election. The long-promised action from a coalition of law firms and voting rights advocacy groups comes the day after the Wisconsin Supreme Court flipped from a conservative to liberal majority, with the start of the term of a justice who said that the Republican maps were “rigged” and should be reviewed. The Wisconsin lawsuit is just one of many expected or pending court challenges that could force lawmakers or special commissions to draw yet another set of maps before the 2024 election. In one of the most recent examples, Alabama lawmakers passed new congressional districts last month after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that its districts violated federal law by diluting the voting strength of Black residents. Voting rights advocates are challenging the new map as well, contending it still falls short.

COLORADO: Colorado GOP files lawsuit to close its primary elections and block unaffiliated voters from participating

The Colorado Sun: Colorado GOP goes all in on trying to block unaffiliated voters from its primaries with new federal lawsuit: The Colorado GOP filed a federal lawsuit Monday doubling down on its attempt to block unaffiliated voters from casting ballots in the party’s 2024 primaries as part of a controversial strategy to help Republicans exit obscurity after three straight election cycles of defeat. The legal action comes as the party’s leaders are set to gather Saturday to consider a bylaws amendment backed by Colorado GOP Chair Dave Williams that would make it easier for Republicans to opt out of Colorado’s primaries next year altogether. The Republican Party is represented in the lawsuit by John Eastman, the attorney who helped Donald Trump try to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and who appeared to be an unindicted coconspirator in an indictment against Trump that was released Tuesday. Randy Corporon, a conservative talk radio host and a member of the Republican National Committee, is also representing the GOP in the case. The defendant is Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat and the state’s top elections official.

What Experts Are Saying

Ryan Goodman, Just Security co-editor-in-chief and NYU law professor – thank you! for the very user-friendly United States v. Donald J. Trump indictment: Searchable and includes what we know to date re: names of co-conspirators PDF  

Democracy 21 Education Fund: Key Facts From Trump Indictment Fact Sheet

States United Democracy Center: “Former President Donald Trump is the subject of at least four criminal investigations, two of which are directly related to attempts to overturn the will of the people in elections. Each investigation is overseen by a prosecutor, whose job is to follow the law and to follow the facts wherever they lead. Of the four criminal investigations underway as of August 2023, two are overseen by federal prosecutors and two are overseen by county prosecutors in two states. Each investigation has also been considered, or is being considered, by a grand jury made up of everyday Americans. Their job is to examine the facts and determine whether criminal charges are warranted. Citizens have the power to hold our elected leaders accountable under the law. That’s a sign of a healthy democracy. Here are the basics of each case.” Understanding the Trump Criminal Cases 

Michael Luttig, former judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, re: news of the 2020 election federal indictment: “This is an historic, tragic, and regrettable day for America…January 6 and the effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election, together with the first criminal trials of an American president, will now become singularly infamous events in American history. These events will forever scar and stain the United States.  And they will forever scar and stain the United States in the eyes of the world. Never again will the world be inspired by America’s democracy in the way that it has been inspired since America’s founding almost 250 years ago.” Tweets

Richard L. Hasen, professor of law at UCLA and the director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project: “The federal indictment just handed down by special counsel Jack Smith is not only the most important indictment by far of former President Donald Trump. It is perhaps the most important indictment ever handed down to safeguard American democracy and the rule of law in any U.S. court against anyone.” Slate: U.S. v. Trump Will Be the Most Important Case in Our Nation’s History

Harry Litman, former US attorney: “Biden was the intermediary victim of Trump’s alleged treachery. But the ultimate victims, as the indictment makes clear, were the American people, who came closer than many would have imagined to having their right to choose their president criminally upended before their eyes.” LA Times Op-Ed: Trump is facing his most important indictment yet — and nearly insurmountable odds at trial

Asha Rangappa, former FBI agent and senior lecturer at Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs: “The fact that the ‘stop the steal’ campaign began months before the election even happened (as per Jan. 6 committee testimony) kind of puts a dent in the claim that he ‘really’ believed the election was stolen” Tweet

Ruth Ben-Ghiat, historian at New York University: “Trump’s manipulation of his victimhood keeps up his popularity and ‘innocence’ for followers. It lets his aggression be marketed as necessary for his survival and that of his followers as well.” Tweet 

Andrew Weissmann, served as lead prosecutor in Robert S. Mueller’s Special Counsel’s Office: “The bench in D.C. is very strong and no one is stronger than Judge Tanya Sue Chutkan. So, this is an extremely good draw. It should be an extremely good draw for either side because she is a very solid and very well-respected jurist. Judge Chutkan started on the bench in D.C. in 2014. She was nominated by President Barack Obama and is I think widely respected. It’s hard for anyone to ever be prepared for a case of this magnitude but I think that this is one that is well within her skill set and experience. This is not somebody who is new to the federal bench and new to dealing with these issues. That has been the sort of knock on Judge Aileen Cannon in the classified documents case. That’s not the case with Judge Chutkan.” MSNBC 

Democracy Docket: “Trump’s indictment highlights that his ‘efforts to change the outcome [of the 2020 election] in any state through recounts, audits, or legal challenges were uniformly unsuccessful.’ Find all the cases and filings for the 60+ post-election lawsuits here.” Tweet | Democracy Docket Post-Election Litigation 

Headlines

The MAGA Movement And The Ongoing Threat To Elections

Associated Press: Election disinformation campaigns targeted voters of color in 2020. Experts expect 2024 to be worse

Rolling Stone: Trump Extremists Make New Calls to Hang Mike Pence: ‘Watch His Toes Dangle’

Trump Investigations 

Salon: Trump’s rape trial deposition comes back to haunt him in Manhattan hush-money case

January 6 And The 2020 Election

The Independent: Officer injured in Capitol riots gives blistering response to Trump indictment

Vox: Trump has been indicted for something Americans seem to have forgotten

Opinion

New York Times: What Makes Jack Smith’s New Trump Indictment So Smart

The Washington Post: Trump’s triumph over the GOP remains incomplete

New York Times: A President Accused of Betraying His Country

Politico: Why Trump Was Indicted (Again)

The New York Times: ‘We Are in a Five-Alarm Fire for Democracy’

In the States

Houston Chronicle: Harris County’s November election trial begins with arguments over validity of thousands of ballots

Louisiana Illuminator: Alabama congressional map: Federal court won’t let state relitigate Voting Rights Act

AZ Central: Mark Finchem gives up on election appeal but still challenges $48K in legal sanctions