I dunno - seems too clever by half. Has anyone ever entered the Trump orbit without being severely damaged? Does anyone really believe Flood is there for the sanctity of the office - and what bedrock legal principle can emerge from anything associated with Trump (especially any ruling in his favor)? I think this is the hubris of a brilliant lawyer that he will come to regret.
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Trump can fairly be compared to early Hitler. In fact, Cambridge Analytica considered Hitler as a model for stoking racial hostility to win support. How on earth can an ethical person aid Trump?
It is not possible.
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Being a mob lawyer is a stink that wonât easily wash out.
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How many of the female partners and associates will be heading for the doors at Williams & Connolly?
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Just popping in for a quick peak at the news though Iâm trying to avoid for the weekendâŚ
Pardon the Huff Po link but this is one of the few times you might want to watch Cavuto on Fox:
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Doesnât sound like unmitigated good news for Spanky that Floodâs duty is to the Office of the Presidency and not to its current occupant. I looked this up, because your comment (and the distinction you pointed out) intrigue me. Looks like White House Counsel is supposed to be a bit of an ethics watchdog and also that thereâs no attorney-client privilege for Spanky in this relationship. If thatâs correct, it seems likely that Flood will have to make a choice at some point â either compromise himself, create conflict, or resign. What do you think?
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Its not just recognition. Executive privilege is the stuff Flood lives for. This will be an unprecedented opportunity to define executive privilege in the courts for decades to come. Of course he wants to be all over that!
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I think a more important question is what is in the future for the current White House Counsel who is making his way to the door.
McGahn has some pretty hefty potential legal problems of his own at this point. And has a TON of stuff that Mueller wants to talk to him about. That is precisely the sort of person that the WH should not wanting walking out the door under any circumstances.
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Oh, good point. Thatâs correct thenâŚno attorney-client privilege?
Afterthought: while weâre defining executive privilege, can someone request a ruling on this use of NDAs to gag members of the administration and prevent them from being responsive to Congressional inquiry?
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Floodâs never had to fight a war on two fronts: the prosecution and his own clientâs bombastic idiocy, âhelpfulâ friends and other counsel. If this werenât a war for our nationâs future, it would be a lot more fun to watchâŚ
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Even if I was the most âqual-e-fiedâ lawyer in the world to represent Trump, I wouldnât, You couldnât pay me enough to do it. And Iâm not really impressed about his being âa partner at Williams & Connollyâ and all that.
Robert E. Lee was a military genius, but look at the cause he chose. Representing this gangster-President and fascist is comparable in my view.
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Pleading the 5th before a Grand Jury will be the end of Trump. Especially after a midterm in which Dems take back the House. The political reality is, that taking the 5th is never an option for a sitting PresidentâŚnone have tried, though I suspect Trump may be the one to prove why itâs not a real option.
A President has multiple claims to executive privilege, national security concerns, and decorum/protocol to rely upon to prevent him from ever getting to the point that he has to essentially say âI refuse to answer that question on the grounds that it might incriminate meâ. There is no shrugging that off, and he will even start peeling off the support of his 30% once he does that. More importantly, he will have lost 90% of Congress once he pleads the FifthâŚand in Congress, they donât have to deal with such nicetiesâŚimpeachment is political, not judicial.
I STRONGLY disagree with any talk of not impeaching Trump. It is not a âwhat is best politically for my sideâ type decisionâŚits what is necessary for preservation of our republic area now. How does one argue that republicans are constantly putting party above country, and then turn around and argue âOh, we need to keep Trump in the WH so he can be our whipping boy so we can win in 2020â? Just no.
Finally, as far as a self pardon is concerned, I suspect that SCOTUS will be hearing a case (or two) concerning the limitations on the Presidential power of pardoning. Pardoning himself for criminal activities for which he is leaving the WH will be one of those limitations and wonât be allowed. Though it is extremely possible that Pence will grant him a pardon, much in the vein of Fordâs pardon, as part of a larger agreement to get him to resign.
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a couple of points
It will be hard to argue that a subpoena would be an âunconstitutional burden on the presidencyâ, given how little time Trump actually does any work. Between golf and watch FoxNews, Trump has enormous amounts of potential free time to appear before a grand jury.
I think that Mueller doesnât need Trumpâs testimony â all the effort is being expended so that he can say âwe really wanted to hear Trumpâs side of the story, in case there was an innocent explanation we hadnât consideredâ. So I donât think that Mueller will go the subpoena route.
Rather, Mueller is going to get a sealed indictment for Trumpâone that will be unsealed once Trump is no longer in office. BUT, Mueller will include the text of the indictment in his report to Congress.
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Correct, there is no attorney-client privilege between the White House Counsel and the President as an individual. Only regarding legal matters concerning the office of the Presidency. (So, for example, strategies regarding exerting executive privilege that Flood would be pushing for, would be areas that Mueller would not be allowed to question Flood).
It gets a little nuanced, but for the things Trump is being investigated, Flood is not an attorney that he has attorney-client privilege. McGahnâs advice on the constitutionality of firing Comey would be out of bounds for Mueller. Trump bragging to McGahn that he totally knew Flynn was lying to the FBI would not.
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How certain are you that âthis is just an assignmentâ , and that Flood remains an active partner in the firm? We know that this is a federal job, and that Williams and Connelly does a ton of work for clients involving the government.
That represents a massive conflict of interest unless Flood cuts all ties to the firm, and I canât imagine Flood taking the job with those conflicts intact.
This all sounds much too coy.
Mueller is running a meticulous, uber professional, relentlessly brilliant, thorough investigation. He has decided he needs to interview Trump before he can conclude this investigation.
Trump is officially wedged between a legal rock and a very hard place. He will cooperate or be subpoenaed. Mueller does not waste his time playing games.
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Yes. Trump is definitely stupid enough to fail to grasp that attorney-client privilege doesnât apply to his conversations with McGahn.
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That isnât it at all. A key element of Obstruction of Justice is that the accused is âwillfullyâ interfering. Speaking to the President about what was in his mind when he took certain actions goes a LONG way to proving it was willful. Yes, they have things like the Lester Holt interview, but its obviously much more damning when they have such testimony under oath. Trump could always say, for that example, that he just said that on TV to rile up his base, but it wasnât true.
Especially because it IS nuanced. Some conversations it does apply, the rest it doesnât. Trump is not a guy who understands lines like that.
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I agree, especially about taking Congress to tie his hands for the duration, but I also think that another goal is critical, and that is delegitimizing everything the Orange Loser and his enablers have done to destroy American democracy. All the norms and unwritten understandings that make self-government and civilized society possible are getting undermined and eliminated by this maladministration. Anything the investigations and subpoenas and court arguments can do to reverse that and restore democracy is worth the time, money and effort.
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