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‘Ongoing Course of Criminality’: Former Federal Prosecutor Weighs in on Latest Trump Bombshell

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Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance says a federal judge’s ruling shows “an ongoing course of criminality” by a “then-sitting president of the United States,” Donald Trump.

Vance, also a professor of law, podcast host, and well-known MSNBC and NBC News legal analyst, is praising the “careful,” “deliberate,” and “measured” approach of a federal judge who on Wednesday ordered “coup memo” author John Eastman, a disgraced former law professor and current chairman of the far-right National Organization For Marriage, to hand over emails to the U.S. House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack.

“Yesterday’s opinion from Judge Carter ordering some of John Eastman’s emails turned over to J6C was careful & deliberate. It’s the measured approach that’s so compelling here. He could have gone further, but he didn’t & the emails Congress gets are deeply damaging to Trump,” Vance tweeted on Thursday.

READ MORE: Trump Knowingly Signed Court Documents That Included False Voter Fraud Stats Judge Says

U.S. District Judge David O. Carter did not accept Eastman’s claim of attorney client privilege, citing the “crime-fraud exception” which states there can be no privilege if the communications were in furtherance of a crime.

Judge Carter also found that Donald Trump knowingly signed legal court documents that he knew contained false information, specifically false claims of voter fraud.

Vance says, “it’s an astonishing conclusion to reach regarding a then-sitting president of the United States. It shows an ongoing course of criminality, not an inquiry that was quickly abandoned.”

Politico had reported that in emails Eastman stated that Trump had already made fraudulent claims, and before the time of the email had been informed the claims were false, but the then-president and his attorneys decided to push ahead and file the knowingly-false claims in court.

READ MORE: ‘Getting More and More Desperate’: George Conway Warns of Trump ‘Meltdown to End All Meltdowns’

“Trump signed a verification to the fed’l lawsuit attesting that the information in it was correct to the best of his knowledge. That’s serious, because before the federal case was filed, Eastman communicated that the numbers were made up junk,” Vance added.

In her Substack newsletter Vance calls Judge Carter’s ruling “highly significant.”

She adds: “Judge Carter found in earlier proceedings that Trump had, more likely than not been involved in [a] plan to obstruct Congress’s official proceedings to confirm the electoral college vote on January 6, 2021,” and a “conspiracy to defraud the United States.”

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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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CRIME

‘Moral Turpitude’: Bill Barr Hammers Donald Trump

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Former Trump Attorney General Bill Barr delivered one of his harshest criticisms to date of his former boss on Thursday, accusing Donald Trump of “moral turpitude.”

“You know, you don’t get immunity for two years in the run-up to an election just by saying, ‘Hey, I’m a candidate,'” Barr told Fox News’ Neil Cavuto.

“These investigations have been going on for a while, everyone knew about them even before he announced his candidacy,” Barr continued. “So if there’s a chance to get it resolved before the election, it should be because the American people should know these are crimes involved – or potential crimes – involving moral turpitude.”

Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute says moral turpitude is “wicked, deviant behavior constituting an immoral, unethical, or unjust departure from ordinary social standards such that it would shock a community.”

READ MORE: ‘Truly Scandalous: Jim Jordan Slammed by Former Top DOJ Official

Barr also talked about the two federal cases brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith, one for Trump’s efforts to overturn the election, and one for his refusal to return classified and other documents.

“I think the federal cases are legitimate,” Barr said. “At the end of the day, at the core of this thing he engaged in – in the case of the documents – in outrageous behavior where anyone would be prosecuted. I don’t know of any attorney general who could walk away from it.”

“He’s not being prosecuted for having the documents, he’s being prosecuted for obstruction, two egregious instances are alleged so I think that’s a very simple case.”

Barr also said for him, Trump “crossed the line” when “he used this device of impaneling imposter electors, swearing that they were the electors, but the key point there was, they were in tandem with a plan whereby the vice president would use that as a pretext for nullifying the legal and certified votes. So it was a calculated and deceitful plan to remain in office by nullifying and negating certified legal votes.”

Watch the videos below or at this link:

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