In what Constitutional experts are calling an “elegant” legal move, Special Counsel Jack Smith has cited a post-Civil War civil rights statute as one of three laws Defendant Trump may be prosecuted under in the target letter Smith served on Sunday. The law, 18 U.S.
Eagle-eyed readers may recall that Tracy and my good friend Lorraine Adams, a Pulitzer winning former reporter for the Washington Post, nailed the Klan statute two days ago as the one probably referred to obliquely by Rolling Stone in its reporting on the target letter. Thank you, Lorraine, for being the first to bring it to our attention!
I don’t know about you but for me, it pisses the sh*t out of me that my legally cast ballot in 2020 is trying to be negated and disappeared by a possibly illegitimate former POTUS. Additionally,said former POTUS is trying to “jimmy” the system by running for office again so that he may not be prosecuted for former crimes against the American people.That may be the sole reason for his interest in obtaining an elected office which is a slap on my face and anyone else who is concerned that our democracy is being threatened with extinction.
I'm right there with you, Victoria. I consider voting one of the most precious rights I have as an American, and I'm angry about the orange traitor messing with it.
I consider getting out the vote my obligation, and am a voter registration volunteer in my state. We need to do everything we can to keep the criminal from getting anywhere near the White House again.
I'm counting on SC Smith to put him in "the big house", preferably in general population.
True enough as far as it goes, every last syllable, save the "may not be prosecuted for former crimes" since he is (1) Already being prosecuted for former crimes, (2) Has absolutely no legal power to end those prosecutions by executive fiat on his own, but (3) In tandem with a GOP-Magat-controlled House of Representatives, could leverage their `power of the purse' to defund the Special Counsel, so (4) It becomes a race to get the cases finished before the money runs out, including wins on any appeals allowed to Trump and/or his co-conspirators, along with counting on cases winning convictions in states like Georgia - and possibly Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, and Nevada, when and if it is determined by SC Jack Smith there's sufficient evidence to open what he and his staff believe are winnable cases.
Finally, Trump can't pardon himself to annul convictions for state charges, but he can indeed at least attempt a self-pardon on federal charges; if so, we immediately have an unprecedented constitutional crisis of - no hyperbole - epic proportions, ergo, we are then going to find out if even a Supreme Court as corrupt as this one is, excepting a minority of sitting judges on the court, will be willing to rule Trump can do this without violating the Constitution, and whether or not they're willing to go down in history as enabling that kind of farcically authoritarian flouting of our system.
Ah, Lucian, perhaps your fingers ache, as you told us, from all the keyboard use, but how about the song in your heart? Another question. What low-grade screenwriter would dare to write a scene with an emotionally-withholding dad getting arrested at a Ku Klux Klan rally in Queens, New York City, Memorial Day, 1927, and 96 years later, his emotionally-bankrupt/corrupt son possibly prosecuted for breaking anti-Klan laws? I keep hearing in my mind's ear the lads singing, "Getting so much better all the time/It's getting better all the time."
Jul 21, 2023·edited Jul 21, 2023Liked by Lucian K. Truscott IV
Thank you, Mr. Truscott. I’ve been waiting for one of the experts on the news to point this out. While in law school I had a con law professor who was particularly obsessed with this statute. Trump is indeed in trouble - more so his attorneys.
I am so impressed with SC Smith's application of laws to hold tRump responsible for some of his most egregious criminal actions. These statutes that allow for broad, and maybe multiple, interpretations and applications may flummox tRump's teams of inexperienced lawyers that tRump seems to easily bulldoze into submitting ludicrous briefs to the courts. I am hoping by fall he is so enveloped in prosecutions that campaigning will be an after thought. I know he is counting on re-election to escape convictions, but I think that's a lost cause.
I am hoping his lawyers are sanctioned for knowingly submitting those briefs just to placate the criminal, and stall for time. I hope the judges are starting to get tired of the nonsense, and do something to stop it.
I’m loving your reporting/writing about the various efforts to hold the seditious, traitorous PoS accountable and further, to send him to prison. Yep! I’m loving it!
The kicker here, going back to the KKK statute, is perfect, and ought to please the white supremacists who are sticking with The Defendant In Multiple Jurisdictions. Lardass, however, is not pleased with any of the goings on, and has reverted to making threats -- again. You know, subtle things, like if he is found guilty and/or winds up in prison, life could be very dangerous for Mr. Smith. I didn't go to law school (only sat in on Scott's Trusts class) but I think, somewhere, there must be a statute by which The Defendant In Many Matters could be put away *now* (without his phone) so that no one gets killed. At the very least, will someone please get hold of his passport?
Yeah, well, he'd surely take his (never secure) phone, and someone at Fox would surely let him keep in touch. I have never disliked someone this much ... and I was married to John B. Coleman.
It sounds as though you know him! There were uncomfortable similarities: They both owned hotels (Coleman, Ritz Carltons & two, out of the Ritz system in Chicago), stiffed contractors, and was a story in "American Lawyer" for going from firm to firm because he was not a fan of paying bills. I will never forget my daughter phoning when Lardass was nominated and saying, plaintively, "Mom, it's Dad."
So many people responded to the unfortunate similarities between my starter husband and this execrable ex-president that I thought it appropriate to mention that Mr. Coleman is the first chapter in my book, "Eat, Drink, & Remarry." (In which chapter I include an excerpt from a custody suit that did not happen until I married Mr. Right #3, who happened to be a movie star. #2 was of no interest to him.)
I hope you and your daughter are using your unique insight to warn anyone you can about the danger of putting a criminal like that back into the White House!
That time may come. Hopefully. I've wondered why, because of his constant threats and disregard for the Judges warnings, he has not been held without bond. (and yes, WITHOUT a phone)
Thank you for this information Lucian. It still blows me away that so much of the media treats him like a normal presidential candidate. The only thing he’s a legitimate candidate for is prison.
Thank you for ALL of this. The KKK connection is incredible appropriate for the behavior of the bloviating gasbag. I hope this finally removes the boil from America’s arselington.
Lots of experts have talked about this move. But nothing they said came close to your illuminating writing on this subject. Got it! Love this Substack subscription. Thanks Lucian.
The same sense of awe expressed by Yossarian when Catch-22was explained to him certainly can be added to Jack Smith’s elegant approach to defendant drumpf!
Eagle-eyed readers may recall that Tracy and my good friend Lorraine Adams, a Pulitzer winning former reporter for the Washington Post, nailed the Klan statute two days ago as the one probably referred to obliquely by Rolling Stone in its reporting on the target letter. Thank you, Lorraine, for being the first to bring it to our attention!
Kudos to Lorraine, Tracy and you! What a holy trinity!
Awww shucks Lucian
Maybe a P.S. would be ok here?
Samual Adams, Revolutionary
Book by Stacey Schiff
Interview of the author
by the Lincoln Project
On Fri, Jul 21, 2023, 06:14
https://open.spotify.com/episode/69g0UMkXSubfyf6TJUislk?si=JoB-2llXTyi6TsSZvuAe5w
I don’t know about you but for me, it pisses the sh*t out of me that my legally cast ballot in 2020 is trying to be negated and disappeared by a possibly illegitimate former POTUS. Additionally,said former POTUS is trying to “jimmy” the system by running for office again so that he may not be prosecuted for former crimes against the American people.That may be the sole reason for his interest in obtaining an elected office which is a slap on my face and anyone else who is concerned that our democracy is being threatened with extinction.
I think another reason he’s running is that he can’t stand being a loser, and since he lost in 2020, he must be vindicated in 2024.
Yes.I totally agree with you.He is running to help himself and the American people and their needs are never even considered.
Just another proof of his mental disturbance. He was already America's Biggest Loser, with apologies to the fat show.
I'm right there with you, Victoria. I consider voting one of the most precious rights I have as an American, and I'm angry about the orange traitor messing with it.
I consider getting out the vote my obligation, and am a voter registration volunteer in my state. We need to do everything we can to keep the criminal from getting anywhere near the White House again.
I'm counting on SC Smith to put him in "the big house", preferably in general population.
True enough as far as it goes, every last syllable, save the "may not be prosecuted for former crimes" since he is (1) Already being prosecuted for former crimes, (2) Has absolutely no legal power to end those prosecutions by executive fiat on his own, but (3) In tandem with a GOP-Magat-controlled House of Representatives, could leverage their `power of the purse' to defund the Special Counsel, so (4) It becomes a race to get the cases finished before the money runs out, including wins on any appeals allowed to Trump and/or his co-conspirators, along with counting on cases winning convictions in states like Georgia - and possibly Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, and Nevada, when and if it is determined by SC Jack Smith there's sufficient evidence to open what he and his staff believe are winnable cases.
Finally, Trump can't pardon himself to annul convictions for state charges, but he can indeed at least attempt a self-pardon on federal charges; if so, we immediately have an unprecedented constitutional crisis of - no hyperbole - epic proportions, ergo, we are then going to find out if even a Supreme Court as corrupt as this one is, excepting a minority of sitting judges on the court, will be willing to rule Trump can do this without violating the Constitution, and whether or not they're willing to go down in history as enabling that kind of farcically authoritarian flouting of our system.
Ah, Lucian, perhaps your fingers ache, as you told us, from all the keyboard use, but how about the song in your heart? Another question. What low-grade screenwriter would dare to write a scene with an emotionally-withholding dad getting arrested at a Ku Klux Klan rally in Queens, New York City, Memorial Day, 1927, and 96 years later, his emotionally-bankrupt/corrupt son possibly prosecuted for breaking anti-Klan laws? I keep hearing in my mind's ear the lads singing, "Getting so much better all the time/It's getting better all the time."
Woweeee!
Thank you, Mr. Truscott. I’ve been waiting for one of the experts on the news to point this out. While in law school I had a con law professor who was particularly obsessed with this statute. Trump is indeed in trouble - more so his attorneys.
I am so impressed with SC Smith's application of laws to hold tRump responsible for some of his most egregious criminal actions. These statutes that allow for broad, and maybe multiple, interpretations and applications may flummox tRump's teams of inexperienced lawyers that tRump seems to easily bulldoze into submitting ludicrous briefs to the courts. I am hoping by fall he is so enveloped in prosecutions that campaigning will be an after thought. I know he is counting on re-election to escape convictions, but I think that's a lost cause.
L P, from your lips to God’s ears…!
I am hoping his lawyers are sanctioned for knowingly submitting those briefs just to placate the criminal, and stall for time. I hope the judges are starting to get tired of the nonsense, and do something to stop it.
I’m loving your reporting/writing about the various efforts to hold the seditious, traitorous PoS accountable and further, to send him to prison. Yep! I’m loving it!
The kicker here, going back to the KKK statute, is perfect, and ought to please the white supremacists who are sticking with The Defendant In Multiple Jurisdictions. Lardass, however, is not pleased with any of the goings on, and has reverted to making threats -- again. You know, subtle things, like if he is found guilty and/or winds up in prison, life could be very dangerous for Mr. Smith. I didn't go to law school (only sat in on Scott's Trusts class) but I think, somewhere, there must be a statute by which The Defendant In Many Matters could be put away *now* (without his phone) so that no one gets killed. At the very least, will someone please get hold of his passport?
Yesssss....yessss.....and I’ll definitely what she’s having! (“When Harry Met Sally” reference!)
F^ck Margo, if he would run away to Putin’s warm embraces and promise never to return, wouldn’t we all accept that…?!?
Yeah, well, he'd surely take his (never secure) phone, and someone at Fox would surely let him keep in touch. I have never disliked someone this much ... and I was married to John B. Coleman.
Holy crap... THAT John Coleman! This truly a trip into nightmare land for you.
Now I have to look up Coleman.
Many of Trump's legal moves must seem all too familiar to you!
It sounds as though you know him! There were uncomfortable similarities: They both owned hotels (Coleman, Ritz Carltons & two, out of the Ritz system in Chicago), stiffed contractors, and was a story in "American Lawyer" for going from firm to firm because he was not a fan of paying bills. I will never forget my daughter phoning when Lardass was nominated and saying, plaintively, "Mom, it's Dad."
Just looked up an article about your ex, and this must be like going back to Wonderland with Trump!
That's quite a daughter you have!
So many people responded to the unfortunate similarities between my starter husband and this execrable ex-president that I thought it appropriate to mention that Mr. Coleman is the first chapter in my book, "Eat, Drink, & Remarry." (In which chapter I include an excerpt from a custody suit that did not happen until I married Mr. Right #3, who happened to be a movie star. #2 was of no interest to him.)
That's quite a daughter you have!
I hope you and your daughter are using your unique insight to warn anyone you can about the danger of putting a criminal like that back into the White House!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Threatening the prosecutor should be good for a few more years added to his prison sentence.
That time may come. Hopefully. I've wondered why, because of his constant threats and disregard for the Judges warnings, he has not been held without bond. (and yes, WITHOUT a phone)
Your reporting is the best, and Jack Smith is a treasure.
YES!!
Jack Smith is an "elegant" treasure!!
Thank you for this information Lucian. It still blows me away that so much of the media treats him like a normal presidential candidate. The only thing he’s a legitimate candidate for is prison.
He has normalized the spewing of a constant stream of lies and bullshit.
Bravo. The GOP just uses more expensive sheets.
Thank you for ALL of this. The KKK connection is incredible appropriate for the behavior of the bloviating gasbag. I hope this finally removes the boil from America’s arselington.
Such a satisfying read. The language is chilling in its specificity.
It may not be good for the former and current Blob of Carbon but it’s gratifying as hell. Thank you.
Lots of experts have talked about this move. But nothing they said came close to your illuminating writing on this subject. Got it! Love this Substack subscription. Thanks Lucian.
It is THE best, isn’t it?
The same sense of awe expressed by Yossarian when Catch-22was explained to him certainly can be added to Jack Smith’s elegant approach to defendant drumpf!
Leave it to trump and MAGAts to bring back the KKK. Why isn't trump in prison and on death row?
As in pre-trial detention!
Death Row—YES!!!
Thank you Lucian ! So helpful.