#doj-politicization

#doj-politicization

As ABC and Politico have written, two AUSAs who've been prosecuting Taranto, Carlos Valdivia and Samuel White, submitted a sentencing memo documenting how the Navy veteran with long-standing mental health issues first participated in January 6 and then, years later, drove his van containing guns and ammunition to stalk Kalorama, looking for Obama while ranting, "Gotta get the shot, stop at nothing to get the shot. This is where other people come to get the shot;"

He indicted the well-lawyered Jim Comey, thus far the shoddiest case, first, and did so in EDVA's rocket docket. That means that those who follow will benefit from the work - and possibly even precedents - Comey obtains. By the time Attorney General James is arraigned on October 24, for example, both Comey's motion to disqualify Lindsey Halligan and his motion for selective and vindictive prosecution will be public.

On Nicole's podcast today, I said that many of the criminal issues that will arise from Trump's politicization of DOJ won't be all that controversial at SCOTUS (and SCOTUS is least awful on criminal justice issues). But I said one area would likely break new ground: selective and vindictive prosecution. Jim Comey's prosecution - and that of everyone else Trump is pursuing - fits poorly in the existing precedents for selective and vindictive prosecution, even while they clearly are vindictive.

Lindsey Halligan, whom Trump last month appointed as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, made the decision to file charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James this week without letting either Attorney General Pam Bondi or Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche know ahead of time. The newspaper adds Halligan had originally wanted to indict James in Norfolk, Virginia, where some of her colleagues believed she stood a better chance of getting a conservative jury at trial.

I just think everything you mentioned there doesn't mean he lied to Congress, or that they'll be able to secure a conviction. But I do want to ask, because in 2020, you warned that prosecutors should be dedicated to the truth, not looking for high-profile skins and acting out of political animus. The President made very clear here that, that he wanted this to happen. I mean, he explicitly said it, over the weekend.

The replacement of Siebert as U.S. attorney for the prestigious Eastern District of Virginia office comes amid a push by Trump administration officials to indict James, a perceived adversary of the president who has successfully sued him for fraud. President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday that he wanted Siebert "out" and multiple people familiar with the matter later told the AP that Siebert had informed his colleagues of his plan to resign from the position.