A lot of you kids may be too young to remember, but back in 2003 there was a serious criminal investigation into political shenanigans that disrupted national security: Reporters outed a noted critic of the Bush administration's Iraqi invasion narrative as being the husband of a CIA covert operative Valerie Plame. Because that revelation exposed ongoing CIA operations - a serious breach of security and forced the shutdown of various overseas operations, if not exposing other operatives to harm - the agency insisted on a special prosecutor to hunt down the leaks, which ended up pointing to Vice President Dick Cheney's office staff that were eagerly promoting our nation's involvement in Iraq.
The Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald had a solid reputation as as prosecutor, and by all evidence he conducted a thorough investigation. By 2005, many of Bush's (and Cheney's) critics - the ones who opposed the Iraqi invasion, and who questioned the lack of WMDs that were a cause for that invasion - were hoping that Fitzgerald found enough proof that the leakers included Cheney himself (or that they at least did so on Cheney's orders).
Excitement ran high. Those of us waiting - and yes, I was among that throng - began calling the expectant day of charges "Fitzmas" as a mash-up on Fitz's name to Christmas: The Special Counsel as our Santa Claus delivering presents indicting a corrupt administration of their malice and deceit.
So there was a ton of disappointment when Fitzgerald's final report led to only one person getting charged - Scooter Libby, who was found guilty by a jury but then his sentence commuted by Bush to complete the cover-up - and not enough evidence to prove Cheney had any hand in the leak (Karl Rove almost got indicted on charges of lying to investigators, but Fitzgerald decided against it).
Ever since then, there's been this sense of justice denied. That the moment of holding corrupt figures in high office accountable - Dick Cheney then, donald trump now - had passed us by.
The Mueller special counsel investigation into both Russia's involvement in the 2016 elections as well as any trump ties to Russia during that election cycle started and ended in a similar fashion: High expectations that the most obvious thing - trump had known business ties for decades to Russia, half his campaign people had ties to Russia, trump openly begged for Russia to dig up dirt on Hillary - would lead to justice against a strutting con artist. That ended with Mueller proving only half the matter - he uncovered Russian interference in our elections - while AG Barr ended Mueller's work prematurely and issued a heavily redacted report that Barr claimed exonerated trump (which we can't prove because too much of it remains redacted).
Today, we're coping with a series of federal criminal investigations since 2021, of donald trump's involvement with the January 6th insurrection as well as revelations that trump pilfered hundreds of classified documents to Mar-A-Lago. If you've been regularly following this blog, you'll know that I've been waiting - impatiently, as before - for some form of justice to finally indict trump for the things he's done.
(And this is alongside the state-level investigations in Georgia that should issue indictments on trump and his allies for electoral interference and election fraud - maybe even state racketeering - some time in late July)
It's like every other day there are new revelations and reports to the media about how Special Counsel Jack Smith's digging into trump's misdeeds are going, but today a lot of bombshells got dropped that hint to the very big possibility that federal felony indictments on the Mar-A-Lago documents case are happening this weekend.
A more formal report at the Guardian from Hugo Lowell:
Federal prosecutors formally informed Donald Trump’s lawyers last week that the former US president is a target of the criminal investigation examining his retention of national security materials at his Mar-a-Lago resort and obstruction of justice, according to two people briefed on the matter.
The move dramatically raises the stakes for Trump as the investigation appears to near its conclusion after taking evidence before a grand jury in Washington and a previously unknown grand jury in Florida that was impaneled last month.
Trump’s lawyers were sent a “target letter” days before they met on Monday with the special counsel Jack Smith leading the Mar-a-Lago documents case and the senior career official in the deputy attorney general’s office and argued that prosecutors should not indict the former president in the matter...
On Wednesday, former Trump spokesperson Taylor Budowich testified before the Florida grand jury and was asked in part about a statement that Trump drafted in early 2022 that said he had given “everything” back after he returned 15 boxes of materials to the National Archives.
The statement was never issued, Budowich is understood to have confirmed. Several aides to Trump were against releasing the statement because they were not confident that the assertion was accurate, a person close to the former president said.
What charges might emanate from the Florida grand jury remains unclear.
But prosecutors would most probably prefer to bring charges in Washington, where the judges at the US district court are more familiar with handling national security cases – though Florida also has a robust national security section – and the jury pool skews more Democratic.
The impaneling of grand juries has to do with where prosecutors believe a crime was committed. And the most straightforward reason for the Florida grand jury is that prosecutors have developed evidence of criminal activity at Mar-a-Lago, which is in the southern district of Florida.
In this investigation, prosecutors considering charges against Trump for retaining national security material may have concluded from the evidence that he was still president when classified documents were moved to Mar-a-Lago, meaning his “unlawful possession” only started in Florida...
Andrew Feinberg over at the Independent (may be paywalled) is reporting the grand jury is voting this week on the indictments:
The Department of Justice is preparing to ask a Washington, DC grand jury to indict former president Donald Trump for violating the Espionage Act and for obstruction of justice as soon as Thursday, adding further weight to the legal baggage facing Trump as he campaigns for his party’s nomination in next year’s presidential election.
The Independent has learned that prosecutors are ready to ask grand jurors to approve an indictment against Trump for violating a portion of the US criminal code known as Section 793, which prohibits “gathering, transmitting or losing” any “information respecting the national defense”...
It is understood that prosecutors intend to ask grand jurors to vote on the indictment on Thursday, but that vote could be delayed as much as a week until the next meeting of the grand jury to allow for a complete presentation of evidence, or to allow investigators to gather more evidence for presentation if necessary...
A separate grand jury that is meeting in Florida has also been hearing evidence in the documents investigation. That grand jury was empaneled in part to overcome legal issues posed by the fact that some of the crimes allegedly committed by Mr Trump took place in that jurisdiction, not in Washington. Under federal law, prosecutors must bring charges against federal defendants in the jurisdiction where the crimes took place.
Even if grand jurors vote to return an indictment against the ex-president this week, it is likely that those charges would remain sealed until both the Washington and Florida grand juries complete their work.
Feinberg added that that Mark Meadows - who was serving as trump's last Chief of Staff during the final days of his administration, and who was clearly in the room when a lot of things happened - has already testified to both federal grand juries and has accepted a plea deal to testify in exchange for lesser charges.
MORE: It is understood that Mr Trump's last White House chief of staff, @MarkMeadows, has agreed to plead guilty to several lesser federal crimes in exchange for his testimony under a limited grant of immunity. https://t.co/7ZMm60nhxf
— Andrew Feinberg (@AndrewFeinberg) June 7, 2023
It may take a few more days for all of this to play out.
HOWEVER.
(Insert GIF of Happy Snoopy Dance)
I'm as giddy as a schoolboy.
And so, in honor of the Fitzmas that's finally arriving - better late than never - a quick little ditty sung to the tune of "It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas" (lyrics by Michael Buble):
It's beginning to look a lot like Fitzmas
As Smith's grand juries go
Trump is looking at five to ten with indictments closing in
Obstruction and espionage don't you know
It's beginning to look a lot like Fitzmas
Classified docs on the floor
But the prettiest sight to see is Donald Trump that will be
Behind his own prison door
And while we're at at, Justice Department, will you PLEASE release the full unredacted Mueller Report?
Ahhhh, this could be an enjoyable weekend for me, personally.
And yes. I know the Proud Boy types might start street riots if this happens, but damn trump and his decades of avoiding his sins. Let justice be done.
1 comment:
Fergus indicted again. Jack Smith knows what he's doing.
-Doug in Sugar Pine
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