Tag Archives: Chutkan

OMG – Trump’s Lawyers!!!

Since the New York Post is only a hair’s breadth away from a super-market tabloid rack, I never know whether what is published by it is satire, just plain false or merely negligent journalism. With that caveat, I have seen the remarkable story of the Shokin affidavit in the NY Post’s reporting on August 29: DC judge apparently strikes down Viktor Shokin affidavit from Trump Jan. 6 case https://tinyurl.com/4wa6rvnf

One of the many striking aspects of this report is the use of “apparently” – if the author read the judge’s order, why is this qualifier used? In any case, the rejection by Judge Chutkan was also reported by the Washington Examiner. https://tinyurl.com/y7dpdftk  and Newsweek.  https://tinyurl.com/4whnh6ne Conclude what you will.

I tracked down the docket listings for the six orders rejecting various filings by non-parties to United States v Trump and found this:

LEAVE TO FILE DENIED-Motion of D.A. Feliciano for Leave to File Amicus Curiae Brief Supporting Neither Plaintiff Nor Defendant as to DONALD J. TRUMP.

LEAVE TO FILE DENIED- Motion for Judicial Notice Affidavit of Victor Shorkin [sic] as to DONALD J. TRUMP.

LEAVE TO FILE DENIED-Motion to Intervene as to DONALD J. TRUMP

LEAVE TO FILE DENIED-Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus as to DONALD J. TRUMP

LEAVE TO FILE DENIED- Galaxy Bar Association as to DONALD J. TRUMP

LEAVE TO FILE DENIED- Amicus Curiae in Support of Donald Trump as to DONALD J. TRUMP

And finally, but no less curiously: LEAVE TO FILE DENIED- Moton of Former Judges and Senior Legal Officials for Leave to File an Amicus Curiae Brief in Support of Government Proposed Trial Date and Schedule as to DONALD J. TRUMP

As to each document the notation from Judge Chutkan reads:

This document is unavailable as the Court denied its filing. Although Courts have in rare instances exercised their discretion to permit third-party submissions in criminal cases, neither the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedures nor the Local Rules contemplate the filing of amicus curiae briefs. At this time, the court does not find it necessary to depart from the ordinary procedures course by permitting this filing.

Who are these people?

D.A. Feliciano does not come up in a Google search.

I found one reference to the Galaxy Bar Association on Twitter (now X or something): “Tomi T Ahonen With Galaxy Bar Association @ tomiahonen. His X bio reads: Author, consultant, motivational speaker. Biggest social media slut in mobile. A mAd vidiot, F1 fan, globetrotting digital gypsy 007 wannabe. The T Dawg.”  He is apparently no fan of Trump.

The most interesting filing rejected by Judge Chutkan purportedly was from Viktor Shokin, former Ukrainian prosecutor fired for corruption in 2015-2016. Since the actual filings are unavailable, it seems we will not learn whether the Shorkin [sic] filing (misspelled in the docket listing) was from the real Viktor Shokin or someone else.

However, if it wasn’t the real Shokin, it’s mighty odd that Trump’s attorneys refused to comment. You would expect them to want to distance themselves and Trump from fake docket filings. There is an implication here, speculative I admit, that they knew about and perhaps even procured the Shokin filing. The filings and their summary rejection by the judge did serve Trump’s interests by affording a ready excuse for the NY Post and Washington Examiner to dredge up the entire collection of conspiracy claims about the Shokin firing and the still unproven claims of bribes taken by then Vice President Biden. Recent fact-checking by the Washington Post continues to undermine the Republicans’ obsessional claims about Biden family corruption, https://tinyurl.com/47au99hx

The other rejected filings show no names in the docket listing, so we’ll not know who filed those as well. At some point not too far down the road, however, I expect Judge Chutkan is going to call the question on this garbage. The filing of false and/or disingenuous requests for court action by fake or anonymous “persons” consumes court resources and is sanctionable. Trump and his lawyers better be careful. Judge Chutkan has made it clear she’s not fooling around and is not going to be played by Trump and his lawyers.

What Are the Chances …

that Donald Trump will comply with the Protective Order issued by Judge Chutkan in the January 6 case?

Near zero, I think. And his lawyers will be falling all over themselves to explain away or justify his violations when they are called before the judge, as they surely will be, to determine whether Trump should be held in contempt and, if so, what penalties should be imposed.

Trump will, I believe, continue attacking the judge, the justice system, the law, and anything else he believes will get attention in the media (who will duly report every outrage) and prepare his cultish supporters for what he hopes will be their next move, namely, a violent challenge to the law and order across the country. Trump likely believes that short of fleeing to a non-extradition country he may be out of options that his usual tactics of delay and obfuscation have achieved in the past. There is no reason to doubt that the carefully constructed evidentiary case against Trump for the January 6 insurrection will be persuasive beyond a reasonable doubt to any jury that fairly assesses it.

Trump’s trump card (sorry) is to force the judge to the edge of considering having him incarcerated, without his phone, pending trial. This prospect arises because no monetary penalty alone will suffice to control his behavior as long as he has free access, as he has in the past, to donated funds from his PACs and his rich benefactors. Money is literally no object to him in this circumstance.

Trump’s winning game therefore is to force the judge to order his arrest and detention, which will prevent him from campaigning, and thus drive his army of fanatical worshippers over the edge and into violent resistance. That is the true meaning of Trump’s social media post, ‘If you go after me, I’m coming after you.’

The judge has some alternatives, but none are going to suffice if Trump is determined not to be silenced. The judge could, for example, impose further restrictions on Trump’s access to the discovery materials that normally must be turned over by the prosecution to assist the defendant in preparing a defense. That approach hands Trump an additional claim that he was denied the opportunity for a fair trial because he could not participate fully in preparation of his defense.

The Protective Order issued by Judge Chutkan is not mysterious. It authorizes the Prosecution to designate various discovery documents as “Sensitive Materials” and imposes tight restrictions on their use [“defendant” replaced with “Trump”]:

Except as provided in this Order, without prior notice to the United States and authorization from the court, no Sensitive Materials, or information contained therein, may be disclosed to any person other than Trump, defense counsel, persons employed to assist the defense, or the person to whom the sensitive information solely and directly pertains and that person’s counsel….

… defense counsel may not allow Trump to write down any personally identifying information as identified in Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 49.1 that is contained in the Sensitive Materials.

Of particular note:

…during any time that Trump reviews Sensitive Materials outside of defense counsel’s presence, Trump must not have access to any device capable of photocopying, recording, or otherwise replicating the Sensitive Materials, including a smart cellular device.

The trial judge has thus clamped the jaws of good order and justice tightly to send a clear message to Trump about what will be tolerated. That, of course, is a challenge Trump is unlikely to take lightly no matter how many assurances his lawyers offer up that he will comply.

Never forget that Trump has declared that “I have an Article II, where I have to the right to do whatever I want as president,” and he thinks he is still the president. People like Trump are unable to recognize that they have brought on themselves the troubles they face, by, in his case, and for example only, removing and mishandling top secret documents from the White House that he has claimed “are mine” and that he declassified just by thinking about declassifying them. He uses his abuses and law violations as a badge of victimization with which his cultish supporters sympathize because they see themselves also as victims. He hates and fears the same people they hate and fear, thus producing the perfect symbiosis.

Trump remorselessly directed his followers to attack the Capitol on January 6 to stop the transfer of executive power from him to Joe Biden. The whole world watched the attack on TV and has sense seen endless film of the assault in brutal detail, all the while Trump resisting calls from within and outside of his administration to call off the attack. Trump dug his own grave on this one, along with the Mar-a-Lago documents case, and has no one to blame but himself. He will, however, always true to his nature, almost certainly try to force the court’s hand because, well, that’s what he does.