What Trump’s Defense Team Refused To Answer | Talking Points Memo

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Attorneys for former President Trump refused multiple times on Friday to say what Trump knew about the breach of the Capitol and when.

This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1359916
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These ‘lawyers’ are slimier than rancid hagfish.

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With apologies to rancid hagfish

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Well as much as it pains me to say it, if this were a court case (which its not) it could indeed be the prosecutors’ burden to establish what Trump knew and when he knew it, to the extent that such knowledge is an element of the offense. From what I’ve read of the evidence they did indeed make that showing, but the hagfish may be right about whose burden it was.

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Without a judge to compel the defense lawyer to answer the questions and prevent them from acting like a dick they can play these games with impunity as there is no leverage to be applied to them. Furthermore they can behave like this because they know that they have the votes to make the whole proceeding a foregone conclusion.

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This isn’t a criminal trial. So rules of Criminal Proceedings don’t apply. Trump is being asked about how he executed his duties as President. He doesn’t get to refuse to testify and then also argue that he hasn’t been investigated.

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I can only hope that T**** gets slapped with a shitload of subpoenas Monday morning, courtesy of Letitia and Cy.

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Banana republic. That is all.

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The whole proceeding already is a forgone conclusion.

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CNN is now live-reporting that McCarthy and Trump held a phone call during the insurrection which shows Trump knew what was happening and did not care. McCarthy begged for help. There were plenty of obscenities thrown around by both and that McCarthy made sure his caucus knew about this exchange.

It shows that Trump purposely did nothing. And it shows that the House GOP still pushed the Big Lie.

Fuck these goddamn hypocrites.

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Well, Trump will make them all liars (or rather, more obviously) by inciting again within a month.

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Then we can have a real criminal trial.

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I haven’t been watching, but did all senators show up for the questioning, or did they stay away?

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They represent their client perfectly.

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This is where the problem of not calling witnesses came into stark view. The Trump lawyers weren’t there. They have no ability or obligation to answer a question like this.

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O/T, Dems, please donate to Dems and not to GOP grifters.

  • Lincoln Project spokesperson Kurt Bardella confirmed to Axios that he also resigned from the group Friday.
  • Nayyera Haq, who signed on to host a video series for the group this week, also resigned on Friday.
  • Columnist Tom Nichols said on Friday he was “stepping down as an unpaid advisor.”
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Real question: Leahy is presiding so can he, like a judge in a courtroom addressing a witness on the stand, order the Trump lawyer to answer a question?
Sanders: Who won the election?
Vand.: I don’t believe the relevance…
Leahy: This court sees the relevance and you will answer the question directly.

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They should subpoena Trump, then ask him under oath. It shouldn’t be that hard, but alas, it is. The question is simple but essential. They should take the time to get the answer.

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Something tells me these lawyers’ firms are gonna thrive, specializing in defending arm-folding moron criminals. Will be worth following.

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