On The Legal Front: Trump Gagged, But Sidney Powell Unbound?
Commentary by Jonathan Turley:
Jonathan Turley @JonathanTurley
The plea of Sidney Powell to six misdemeanors will allow her to avoid jail and only face minor fines. What she did not plead guilty to was the racketeering conspiracy...
...That was the most serious charge and tied in former president Donald Trump. She agreed to testify truthfully. She is no longer facing a threat of prosecution and can now testify freely. That could make her a dangerous witness for both sides.
Hmmmm.
Jonathan Turley @JonathanTurley
The Hill is out with my column on the Trump gag order. Judge Chutkan's order should concern everyone who values freedom of speech. While the odds may favor the judge on appeal, this order should be overturned as overbroad and dangerous.
...After Chutkan ordered a trial just before Super Tuesday, she is now gagging the very candidate who is campaigning against the weaponization of the criminal justice system. You do not have to like or support Trump to recognize the serious problem inherent in such a gag order.
While appellate courts have largely ruled in favor of lower courts’ gag orders, there have long been constitutional concerns over these limits on not just the free speech rights of defendants but also their zealous representation by defense counsel.
It is not surprising that Smith dismisses such concerns. Smith has long adopted extreme legal positions that ignore constitutional values. This includes his prosecution of the former governor of Virginia, Robert McDonnell (R), which was reversed in a unanimous 8-0 decision by the Supreme Court in 2016.
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Ironically, it is a level of restraint that Judge Chutkan herself has failed to show in the past. For example, in sentencing a rioter in 2022, Chutkan said that the rioters “were there in fealty, in loyalty, to one man — not to the Constitution.”
She added that “[i]t’s a blind loyalty to one person who, by the way, remains free to this day.”
That would seem to imply the guilt of an individual who was not even charged. Yet Chutkan has refused to recuse herself in now trying the very man she was referencing as responsible for the crimes of that day.
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While the Chutkan gag order does not extend to the other cases, they constitute a daisy-chain of trials that will have Trump running between courts before the election. There is much to criticize in Smith’s second indictment, which will be tried before a judge who previously denounced Trump in a district where 95 percent of the voters opposed Trump.
After Chutkan ordered a trial just before Super Tuesday, she is now gagging only one candidate — the very candidate who is campaigning against the weaponization of the criminal justice system. You do not have to like or support Trump to recognize the serious problem inherent in such a gag order.
Stalin and Lenin would be proud of the direction the United Socialist States of America has taken. One more election and it is anything goes no matter who is declared the winner. The Purge movies might be a good primer of what is to come.
Trump is going to prison. However, it won't help the Deep State much. Au contraire, it might be the event that kicks things off in the US. It's not just in the Middle East that things are simmering to a boil. The last 4 years have built up a massive reservoir of anger among anyone who believes in some kind of freedom and democracy.