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Defend Our Country Digest

Defend Our Country Digest — January 17, 2024

By January 17, 2024No Comments

Driving the Day

Must Read Stories

E. Jean Carroll tries to hold Trump accountable with defamation trial

  • Politico: Trump already lost one case brought by E. Jean Carroll. This week he faces her in court again: “In 2019, the longtime advice columnist for Elle magazine publicly accused Trump of raping her in the dressing room of a luxury department store in the 1990s — an account that Trump denied in stark and derogatory terms. Last year, Carroll won a sexual abuse and defamation case against him, and the jury ordered Trump to pay her $5 million. Now she’s taking him to court again. The trial starting Tuesday — which will begin with the selection of a jury and is expected to last around three days — concerns comments that Trump made about Carroll while he was in office. He said she was peddling a false rape accusation and suggested she was motivated by money.”

  • ABC: Who is Lewis Kaplan, the no-nonsense judge overseeing Trump’s federal defamation trial?: “Judge Lewis Kaplan has overseen this trial before, and Donald Trump didn’t like the ending. Kaplan — a veteran federal judge with a no-nonsense reputation — is set to oversee the former president’s federal defamation trial that starts today and will determine how much Trump should pay writer E. Jean Carroll for defaming her in 2019 when he denied her allegations of sexual assault. Less than a year ago, Kaplan supervised a separate trial where a jury determined that Trump was liable for sexually assaulting Carroll, awarding her $5 million in damages.”

  • New York Times: Key Trump Lawyer Withdraws as Manhattan Criminal Trial Nears: “Joseph Tacopina, the trial lawyer on Donald J. Trump’s legal team with the most successes defending high-profile clients, will no longer represent the former president in his criminal trial in Manhattan, according to a notice sent to the court on Monday. Mr. Tacopina also withdrew on Monday from another case in which he was still legally representing Mr. Trump: an appeal of the verdict in a lawsuit brought by the writer E. Jean Carroll. Mr. Trump was found liable for sexual abuse and defamation last year and was ordered to pay Ms. Carroll $5 million.

Trump’s classified documents defense takes shape: Legal delays, new information sought, forensic experts called

  • New York Times: Court Papers Offer Glimpse of Trump’s Defense in Classified Documents Case: “Lawyers for former President Donald J. Trump on Friday told the federal judge overseeing his prosecution on charges of mishandling classified documents that they intended to ask the government for new information, including assessments of any damage to national security. The lawyers also told the judge, Aileen M. Cannon, that they planned to ask prosecutors working for the special counsel, Jack Smith, for additional information about how the documents at issue were related to national defense — a requirement of the Espionage Act, one of the statutes that Mr. Trump has been accused of violating. In addition, they said they wanted “tracking information” concerning the classified records.”

  • Newsweek: Judge Cannon Hands Donald Trump Much-Needed Delay in Blow to Jack Smith: “The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s federal classified-documents case has been accused of failing to enforce a routine deadline, amid claims the former president is hoping to delay the trial until after November’s presidential election. Judge Aileen Cannon, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, has rejected Special Counsel Jack Smith’s request to force the former president to reveal if he plans on using a defense that he was merely relying on the advice of his lawyers during the trial. Newsweek contacted the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Saturday for comment via email.”

  • New York Times: Trump Signals Plans to Go After Intelligence Community in Document Case: “Lawyers for former President Donald J. Trump said in court papers filed on Tuesday night that they intended to place accusations that the intelligence community was biased against Mr. Trump at the heart of their defense against charges accusing him of illegally holding onto dozens of highly sensitive classified documents after he left office. The lawyers also indicated that they were planning to defend Mr. Trump by seeking to prove that the investigation of the case was ‘politically motivated and biased.’ The court papers, filed in Federal District Court in Fort Pierce, Fla., gave the clearest picture yet of the scorched earth legal strategy that Mr. Trump is apparently planning to use in fighting the classified documents indictment handed up over the summer.”

  • NBC: Prosecutors in Trump classified docs case plan to call digital forensics experts as witnesses: “Federal prosecutors in special counsel Jack Smith’s office revealed in court filings Friday that they intend to call several FBI employees as expert witnesses in their case alleging former President Donald Trump mishandled classified documents. The filing listed five witnesses who are described as experts in digital forensics or cellular analytics, with prosecutors indicating they’re expected to testify about the data and material extracted from devices and accounts belonging to Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, who were both accused of crimes alongside Trump. The experts are also expected to testify about extracted data related to the unnamed ‘Trump Employee 2.’”

Proud Boy sentenced to 55 months for Jan. 6 riot role, threatening police with an ax handle

  • Washington Post: Proud Boy who wielded ax handle and ‘fueled’ Jan. 6 riot sentenced: “A man wielding an ax handle while leading rioters and his group of Kansas City-area Proud Boys was sentenced Friday to 55 months in prison for adding what a judge said was “fuel to the fire” that drove a mob to attack the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. William Chrestman, 50, of Olathe, Kan., brought a two-foot-long wooden ax handle and told a Capitol Police officer, ‘If you shoot I’ll f—–g take your a-s out,’ he admitted in plea papers. He also shouted to a crowd amassed in front of a police line, ‘Do you want your house back!? … Take it!’”

  • New York Times: Man Who Threatened Police With Ax Handle on Jan. 6 Gets Nearly 5 Years in Prison: “Judge Timothy J. Kelly of U.S. District Court in Washington sentenced the man, William Chrestman, 51, of Olathe, Kan., to 55 months in prison. Mr. Chrestman pleaded guilty in October to felony charges of obstruction of an official proceeding and threatening a federal officer. The judge also ordered Mr. Chrestman to pay $2,000 in restitution, and his prison sentence will be followed by three years of supervised release, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said in a statement on Friday. Mr. Chrestman was sentenced to less time in prison than the 63 months that prosecutors had recommended in a sentencing memo. They argued that Mr. Chrestman had ‘played a significant role during the riot due to his presence and conduct at pivotal moments during the day.’”

In The States

WISCONSIN: Seven sets of legislative maps were submitted to the Supreme Court for review, most would reduce GOP advantage gained through gerrymandering

  • Associated Press: Wisconsin Republicans’ large majorities expected to shrink under new legislative maps: “Most of the newly ordered maps redrawing Wisconsin’s political boundaries for the state Legislature would keep Republicans in majority control, but their dominance would be reduced, according to an independent analysis of the plans. Seven sets of new state Senate and Assembly maps were submitted on Friday, the deadline given by the Wisconsin Supreme Court to propose new maps after it ruled three weeks ago that the current ones drawn by Republicans were unconstitutional. The ruling stands to shake up battleground Wisconsin’s political landscape in a presidential election year. Wisconsin is a purple state, with four of the past six presidential elections decided by less than a percentage point. But Democrats have made gains in recent years, winning the governor’s office in 2018 and again in 2022 and taking over majority control of the state Supreme Court, setting the stage for the redistricting ruling.”

  • PBS Wisconsin: Dane County judge rules top elections administrator legally holds the position: “A Wisconsin judge ruled Jan. 12 that the state’s top elections official is legally holding her position and that the commission that appoints her is under no obligation to name a new leader, handing yet another defeat to Republicans who have tried to oust her. The bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission deadlocked in June 2023 on a vote to reappoint Meagan Wolfe as the administrator of elections in the presidential battleground state. The three Republican commissioners voted in favor, but the three Democrats abstained to block the nomination from going before the state Senate because that would have then allowed Republicans there to fire her. Actions by the commission require a four-vote majority.”

LOUISIANA: Louisiana legislature races against the clock in special session to draw new congressional map

  • NOLA: Louisiana lawmakers are weighing a redesign of congressional districts. See the proposed maps: “Louisiana lawmakers this week will weigh how to redraw the state’s congressional maps to create a second majority-Black district after a federal court ordered that move. In a special session that began Monday, legislators will weigh several competing bills that would carve up the state’s six congressional districts. The legislature has until Jan. 30 to choose a new map, or the existing map will go to trial in U.S. District Chief Judge Shelley Dick’s court. At present, U.S. Rep. Troy Carter’s 2nd Congressional District is the only majority Black district in the state, with 58.6% Black voters. Under Carter’s bill, U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow’s 5th Congressional District would also feature a Black majority voting population, at 52.5%.”

  • Louisiana Illuminator: Both parties push for Louisiana’s second majority-Black congressional district: “On the first day of a federal court-ordered redistricting special session, which also fell on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Louisiana’s elected officials appeared to adopt a motto from the civil rights leader. “It’s never the wrong time to do the right thing,” King said in a 1964 speech. Democrats and most Republicans, including Gov. Jeff Landry, seemed to be on the same page about what the ‘right thing’ is: Drawing a congressional map with two majority-Black districts. But just how to accomplish that goal, and which Republicans will feel the consequences, remains a point of contention the legislature will address, along with other electoral issues, over the course of the next eight days.”

  • BRProud: Louisiana governor signals support for new congressional map: “Louisiana legislators are back in session in an attempt to pass a new congressional redistricting map, among other goals. Gov. Jeff Landry opened up the session by saying the lawsuit for the congressional map has gone on for too long and he did what he could to defend the original map in court. ‘As attorney general, we worked to defend the state and to have those cases dismissed. I know first-hand, this matter is indefensible,’ Landry said. This is the third try the legislature has been given to pass a map. The congressional map was challenged in court for potentially violating section two of the Voting Rights Act. The 2020 census revealed that roughly 33% of the state’s population is Black. Currently, only one of the six congressional districts is a majority-minority district. The map passed in 2022 did not add any additional minority districts. ‘But kicking this back to the courts is not the answer.’”

GEORGIA: Vice President Kamala Harris visits Atlanta on Tuesday to discuss voting rights

  • Georgia Recorder: VP Kamala Harris calls Georgia ‘ground zero’ for voting rights in 2024 election season: “On Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris called on Georgia voting rights advocates and elected officials to continue to fight for expanded access to the ballot box as the election cycle gears up for this November’s presidential election. Harris’ message was relayed during a roundtable discussion held at The Gathering Spot in Atlanta as the second-in-command to Democratic President Joe Biden was making her 10th trip to Georgia since becoming vice president in January 2021. Georgia’s battle for voting rights intensified after the 2020 presidential election when then-President Donald Trump and his supporters falsely claimed that widespread voting fraud cost him his re-election bid. The Harris-Biden ticket is expected to win the Democratic Party nomination and likely face a rematch against Donald Trump, who has maintained a dominant lead in national polls over the Republican field of candidates.”

  • Atlanta Civic Circle: What to expect from Georgia Republicans’ election bills this session: “It’s become something of an annual tradition for states with Republican-controlled legislatures to try and change election laws in their states. The floodgates opened in Georgia after the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013 dismantled a key provision of the federal Voting Rights Act, said Anne Gray Herring, a policy analyst for Common Cause Georgia, a government watchdog nonprofit. “The staggering number of election bills have definitely ramped up, even more so since 2020,” she said, referring to former President Donald Trump’s efforts to cast doubt on Georgia’s voting systems after losing the 2020 presidential election. With the 2024 presidential election looming, many observers are paying close attention to several bills introduced by Republican lawmakers for Georgia’s current legislative session that kicked off Jan. 8.”

What Experts Are Saying

Norm Eisen, Siven Watt, and Joshua Kolb, on the E. Jean Carroll defamation case against Trump, for Just Security: “The most recent conflict surrounds the limits on Trump’s potential testimony at trial, currently expected for Monday, Jan. 22 (although it remains to be seen whether Trump will ultimately decide to testify). The scope of Trump’s possible testimony will be hotly contested. Trump—through his filings in this case and his conduct in other ongoing legal proceedings, most recently the New York Attorney General civil fraud trial—is likely to try to stray beyond legally permissible bounds to continue a pattern of exploiting litigation opportunities for political advantage. It will ultimately be up to the judge to enforce the rules.”

Joyce Vance, regarding Trump’s Mar-a-Lago case, on X (Twitter): “In the Mar-a-Lago case, Judge Cannon has just refused to enforce a routine deadline & it’s entirely clear she has no intention of letting this case go to trial before the election or possibly ever.”

Martin Luther King III, on the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals’ recent ruling, that private litigants cannot bring lawsuits under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, for Democracy Docket: “The heart of the 8th Circuit’s decision harbors a profound flaw, an affront to democratic governance. By curtailing the power of private citizens to challenge voting discrimination under Section 2, the court diminishes a potent tool, effectively silencing the voices of voters of color. This is more than a legal setback; it is a calculated blow against the democratic process itself. The gravity of the 8th Circuit’s ruling becomes even clearer when contrasted with recent decisions from other circuits. Just weeks ago, a conservative-leaning panel from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals acknowledged a private right to legal action under Section 2, directly opposing the 8th Circuit’s stance. The 6th and 11th U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals also affirmed a private right of action. In 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Allen v. Milligan, set a precedent favoring private plaintiffs in a Section 2 case out of Alabama, further highlighting the anomalous nature of the 8th Circuit’s decision.”

George Conway, regarding the outcome of the NY civil case against Trump, on X (Twitter): “Trump isn’t capable of handling a decision ‘tree,’ because, as a sociopath, he is capable of little more than impulsive behavior.  But he definitely should consider that Judge Lewis Kaplan is about 500,000 times smarter than he is.”

Mike Podhorzer, on Substack: “In the 23 years after Bush v. Gore, the Republican Party and the Federalist Society Supreme Court majority have been hacking off the limbs of our democracy one by one by using undemocratic means to rewrite the law – whether through gerrymandered majorities, abuse of the filibuster, or nakedly agenda-driven maneuvers by SCOTUS that have no realistic chance of being overturned because of Senate Republican filibusters. And we dismiss it as ‘but a scratch’ every time we treat these actions as a legitimate (if unfortunate) consequence of the rule of law or the democratic process.”

Headlines

Extremism

Washington Post: Half of Americans agree with Trump’s ‘poisoning the blood’ immigration rhetoric

NBC: Trump fraud trial judge home was swatting target, police say

Trump investigations and cases

New Republic: The Stable Genius Trump Just Got Hammered to the Tune of $400000

ABC: Stormy Daniels says she’s ‘set to testify’ in hush money trial set for March

USA Today: Georgia DA Fani Willis breaks silence about Donald Trump case prosecutor

January 6 and the 2020 Elections

NBC: Montana fire chief is charged in Jan. 6 riot and accused of spraying officers in the face

New York Times: Maryland Elections Official Resigns After Arrest in Jan. 6 Attack

NBC: Former GOP mayoral candidate pleads guilty to Jan. 6-related charge

Opinion

New York Times: Richard Hasen: The U.S. Lacks What Every Democracy Needs

The Hill: Bill Press: Replace bad decision in Atlanta with a good one

Ohio Capital Journal: Marilou Johanek: National and Ohio Republicans lawmakers don’t govern, they just parade hate-filled extremism

The Hill: Glenn Altschuler: Is it too late to end America’s ‘democratic recession’?

Newsweek: Anders Fogh Rasmussen and Michael Chertoff: We Must Go to War Against Deepfakes Now to Keep November Voting Fair

The Hill: Svante Myrick: Clarence Thomas cannot be allowed to decide if Trump is above the law

In the States

Daytona News-Journal: ACLU sues Daytona Beach, saying redistricting was driven by protecting incumbents

WKRN: Lawmakers file bills to make changes to election laws in Tennessee

ABC 11: Voting rights advocates reflect on MLK’s unfinished work