As I said partial removal of offense. The Republicans are – to our sorrow – good at creating ads which move their people. The Lincoln Project says they are tracking the impact of the ads. So I’m glad they are launching these attack ads. I am not as pessimistic as you as to whether they can get a small but vital percentage of former Reoublicans to drop Trump. Meanwhile the feel good factor is good for morale on our side.
I am also doing things for turnout which I agree is vital.
What about double jeopardy? If, per the DOJ, the judge is bound to dismiss with no review even in the face of obvious corruption, does the dismissal then block retrial of the defendant for the same crimes? Big hole in the DOJ’s argument there.
If, as the DOJ and Trump assert, the Court had no discretion and/or choice in not granting or even challenging the Motion to Dismiss, why need a motion at all? Sounds to me like the DOJ is arguing it and it alone can decide to Dismiss the case at any time - even after the Defendant pleads guilty - so why need a judge at all? If the Court is there only to do the bidding of the DOJ, I guess we only have two branches of government after all, per Trump, and the legislative side doesn’t count…
That’s what their argument boiled down to alright.
i disagree. Trump’s disapproval numbers are way up. some among Gops and some among independents. even if it is only 2-3% among Gops that is worthwhile. the Lincoln Project is also putting the hurt on down ballot enablers. they are doing a good job.
I agree. They are doing a great job.
I don’t need anyone telling me who they are, where they came from, where they are going with this. All I care about is what they are doing and what they are doing is awesome.
if people listened to Steve Schmidt and Rick Wilson and some of the other founders of the Lincoln Project they would know their motivations are for the right reasons. they HATE what the Republican party has degenerated into. they want to clean it out. they have got their foot on the pedal.
And I’d rather that what they are doing come from the right than from us because it has more impact. Everyone expects us to have these opinions. When GOP have these opinions it speaks louder to other GOP.
The bottom line is DOJ is (surprisingly) simply wrong. Criminal Rule 48a, requiring “leave of court” before DOJ could dismiss a criminal case, was put in place precisely to deal with a situation in which the dismissal would constitute a corruption of justice. The Standford Law Review has a great summary on the history: https://www.stanfordlawreview.org/online/why-do-rule-48a-dismissals-require-leave-of-court/
The other issue is DOJ’s insistence that Flynn should not have been prosecuted at all. The FBI had tapes that he discussed Obama’s proposed sanctions against Russia with the Russian Ambassador. Questioned about that conversation, Flynn lied to the FBI. With the best legal advice he could obtain in this country, he then pled guilty twice to federal judges. And the problem with that is what?
I have no idea what alyoshakaramazov1 is getting at, but:
yes, this argument ran 3 hours and 50 minutes, and is posted on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97dE1_3e2Po
the reference to the “reporters’ comments” was the online live-blogging while listening to the live audio of the argument. Of course no reporters spoke during the proceeding.
That is exactly my take on it. Good for them for standing up to Trump. However, it will be without my donation. They are still right wing Republicans, even if they don’t like Trump.