President Donald Trump's transformation of the Justice Department into his personal attack dog is terrifying, so we'll have to take the joy where we can find it. And these days, you can take some joy in how the Justice Department's malicious prosecutions of New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey are laughably incompetent.
On Friday James begged not guilty in a frivolous mortgage fraud case brought against her by the Department of Justice. Her trial is scheduled for Jan. 26, just 21 days after Comey's trial was scheduled to begin on Jan. 5. And both are being held in the Eastern District of Virginia under the same unqualified prosecutor, Interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan.
In other words, Halligan will have major trials against two of Trump's biggest perceived enemies within just three weeks of each other.
Halligan, whose job is solely to go after whoever Trump is. tells herhad to race to the courthouse charge Comey because the statute of limitations was running out, but there was no need to do so with James. Halligan had plenty of time to bring these charges, and an experienced prosecutor would have known to try to derail these trials.
But Halligan is just a Trump thug, so she was quick to indict James. And now it will be a merry bunch.
Halligan's handling of the Comey case was pathetic, especially her trying to detain a proceeding that you basically cannot do in the so-called missile case in the Eastern District of Virginia.
In addition, Komi made two proposals to dismiss his case, which Halligan must attend to in the next few weeks. And James also said she will seek to have the indictment thrown out and, like Comey, will challenge Halligan's appointment as illegal.
James' lawyer also filed a lawsuit amazing “a proposal to enforce rules prohibiting out-of-court disclosures and government statements.”
This relates to what Halligan recently wrote to Lawfare's Anna Bauer. complain about Bauer's social media post about a news article about Halligan's prosecution of James. It was only when it became obvious to Halligan that Bauer would publish a story about the lyrics that Halligan demanded that the recording be canceled retroactively. (Of course, this is not the same as saying “off the record.”)
As James' lawyer explains in the motion, it is actually an out-of-court statement for the prosecutor to write to the reporter and tell him that he is wrong about something! Halligan no doubt thought she was smart in not revealing anything direct about the grand jury testimony, but it is equally unwise to point out that you, the prosecutor, have special knowledge from the grand jury that allows you to say that the reports are wrong and the person you are prosecuting is indeed guilty.
Halligan then added two more out-of-court statements. Her first: “Yes, they did [get something wrong] but you went for it!” – refers to Bauer commenting on and publishing the New York Times article about X. And her second option – “they reveal the grand jury information – which is also not a complete picture of what happened” – refers to the New York Times report on the activities of the grand jury in Norfolk, Virginia.
Halligan's later posts directly cite evidence that must have been presented to the grand jury, which the indictment also states: “Says she received thousands of dollars in rent.”
Come for the law, stay for the sophisticated undertones of the proposal, which refers to Halligan throughout as “the proposed interim U.S. Attorney.”
Essentially, the motion means James is asking the court to enforce a rule that prevents the government from actually trying a case in public using crumbs of confidential information that no one else has.
And while Halligan roams the East Coast, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche is on the other side of the country, threatening to prosecute Democratic Representative Nancy Pelosi of California for… reasons.
Trump and his Justice Department will continue to do this, but people are starting to understand what it is: retribution.
A new poll A Quinnipiac University survey found that 52% of voters say Trump is using the Justice Department to bring baseless charges against his perceived enemies. AND latest poll Reuters/Ipsos found that 55% of Americans believe he uses federal law enforcement to attack his enemies.
Trump wants to say this is justice, but America knows it is not. Halligan faces a tough few months ahead. That's what we're here for.
