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‘Ample Probable Cause of Crimes’: Former Prosecutor Calls for Trump’s Phone Records to Be ‘Seized via Warrants’

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A former New York State prosecutor is calling for Donald Trump, the former president, to be “investigated,” and also says there is “ample probable cause of crimes.”

“Trump should be investigated and if merited charged with unauthorized removals/retentions of classified documents and violations of the Presidential Records Act,” says Tristan Snell, the attorney who successfully prosecuted the case against Trump University for the New York State Attorney General.

“NOW, not later,” he adds. “It is a discrete set of offenses, separate (or separate enough) from the larger January 6 conspiracy.”

The National Archives says it was forced to transport 15 boxes of documents and other materials, some possibly classified, from Trump’s winter home in Mar-a-Lago. It has asked DOJ to investigate Trump’s handling of presidential records.

But Snell is also weighing in on the breaking news that the call logs obtained by the House January 6 Committee are missing the full list of calls made to or from Donald Trump on the day of the violent and deadly insurrection.

“If Trump was using his personal cellphone to make calls on January 6, he can NOT claim those calls were within the scope of his official duties — and all his phone records should be subpoenaed and/or seized via warrants, as there is ample probable cause of crimes,” Snell offers.

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CRIME

Texas Senator Says More Uvalde Cops Need To Face Criminal Charges Over Shooting

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After two Uvalde cops were charged over their botched response to the mass shooting at Robb Elementary, a Texas state senator says more officers should be charged.

Former Police Chief Pete Arredondo and then-officer Adrian Gonzalez were charged on felony counts of child endangerment, according to the San Antonio Express-News. The May 24, 2022 shooting was Texas’ worst; 19 children and two teachers were killed.

Uvalde cops were criticised for not stopping the shooting earlier, particularly when camera footage was released showing officers standing in a hallway while the shooting continued.

READ MORE: Listen: Uvalde School Massacre Was God’s Plan Says Texas AG Ken Paxton – ‘Life Is Short’

Democratic Texas State Senator Roland Gutierrez  said that the charges against Arredondo and Gonzalez were not enough. Gutierrez represents District 19, which includes Uvalde.

“If they’re going to indict those two officers, they need to indict the 13 DPS troopers in that hallway,” Gutierrez told the Express-News. “That’s very disturbing to me.”

Almost 400 law enforcement officers had responded to the shooting, the Express-News reported, including 28 officers from the Uvalde PD.

During the shooting, Arredondo and Gonzales were among the first officers to enter the building in the first few minutes of the incident. The incident started at 11:29 a.m., when the shooter crashed near a funeral home, fired on the employees, then entered onto the school campus, according to the official timeline from the Uvalde Police’s internal investigation.

At 11:30, police were dispatched; the shooter entered the building at 11:33 and started firing. At 11:35, four officers, including Gonzalez and Arredondo, entered the building. Approximately a minute later, officers opened the unlocked door to the classroom, and were fired upon and injured. At 11:38 a.m., Arredondo ordered the officers to retreat.

At 11:55 a.m., as the shooting continued, Arredondo ordered police to clear the rooms surrounding the classrooms and start to negotiate with the shooter. Police finally entered the classroom nearly an hour later, at 12:50 p.m., and took down the shooter. During this wait, Arredondo was waiting for someone to bring him keys to the door, mistakenly thinking the classroom was locked.

Police inaction during a school shooting is sadly not uncommon. In 2018, former officer Scot Peterson was acquitted for not acting to stop the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Footage showed Peterson was on the scene, but was standing outside the building as the shooting continued.

A federal judge also dismissed a lawsuit against Broward County officials including the sheriff for not protecting the students at the school. The judge ruled that though the 14th Amendment requires police to protect those in custody, there is no police duty to protect people not in custody, according to CNN.

In that shooting, 14 students and three teachers were killed; another 17 victims were wounded.

 

 

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CRIME

Seattle Police Didn’t Provide Access to Lawyers 96% of the Time: Report

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The Seattle Police Department violated the law and didn’t give people under 18 access to a lawyer when it was supposed to 96% of the time, according to a new report released Friday by the city’s Office of the Inspector General.

The OIG audited the Seattle Police Department on its compliance with two laws, a city-level law called the MiChance Dunlap-Gittens Ordinance and a similar state law, RCW 13.40.740. The laws require police give those under 18 years old access to a public defender before the youth waives their right to remain silent. Police also must provide attorney access when requesting consent for a search, according to the OIG.

The OIG examined 89 arrests and found 50 cases where the laws applied. In those cases, access to an attorney was only provided twice. The OIG broke the interactions into four categories: Custodial Interrogation, which made up half of the cases; Consent to Search, 3 cases; Detained and Questioned, 7 cases; and Arrested, No Evidence of Questioning, 15 cases. Both of the instances where attorney access was provided were in this last category.

READ MORE: DOJ Report Says Louisville Police Needlessly Use Tasers & Dogs on Civilians

In an appendix, the OIG laid out eight recommendations, including updating the Seattle Police Department’s policy manual, requiring officers to “make a good faith effort” to check the age of the person detained, and to perform regular internal audits on whether or not the law is being followed by officers.

SPD’s chief operating officer, Brian Maxey, said it was sometimes difficult to determine if someone is legally a minor, according to the Times, but admitted that “in some instances there are clear gaps in officers’ understanding of the laws and inconsistencies in practice.”

The law is named for MiChance Dunlap-Gittens, a high school senior shot in 2017 following a botched sting operation. King County sheriff’s detectives investigating a homicide attempted to create a sting to catch a suspect. Dunlap-Gitten was killed when he attempted to flee. The suspect the detectives were after also fled, but was caught by a SWAT team that night, according to the Seattle Times. However, neither teenager was involved at all in the homicide under investigation.

Dunlap-Gittens’ death led to a $2.5 million ruling against King County in 2020. In addition to the victim’s family receiving the money, the sheriff at the time apologized and promised to make her officers wear body cameras and use dash cameras, according to the Times. Shortly following the settlement, the Seattle City Council passed the ordinance. A similar ordinance also went before the King County Council. A year later, RCW 13.40.740 passed the State Legislature.

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CRIME

Giuliani Booking Photo Released

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Former Trump attorney and former Republican Mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani was booked in Fulton County, Georgia Wednesday afternoon on racketeering charges and charges related to attempts to overturn the 2020 election.

He was released on a $150,000 bond after being arraigned on 13 charges.

“Conditions include prohibitions against intimidating co-defendants or witnesses, and against communicating with co-defendants other than through their lawyers. Giuliani must check in with pretrial services every 30 days,” USA Today reports.

READ MORE: ‘Wrong on the Law, Wrong on the Facts’: Fani Willis Smacks Down Jeff Clark’s Legal Move in Scathing Response

Former Trump attorneys Jenna Ellis and Sidney Powell were also booked and their photos have been made public as well.

See all three mug shots below or at this link.

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