Aaaaannnnd the #J20 trials are over. Government has dismissed charges against remaining 38 defendants. After charging more than 200 people with felonies, they got one single felony guilty plea. Pretty epic failure!
DOJ charged more than 200 Trump inauguration arrestees with felonies. They secured one single felony guilty plea. huffingtonpost.com/entry/j20-trum…
After "an 18-month nightmare," @MAWebermann tells me it's "hard not to feel cynical about the enormous amount of power that prosecutors have to overcharge people, disrupt their lives, and then drop cases before having to face any consequences in court." huffingtonpost.com/entry/j20-trum…
The Justice Department secured just one felony guilty plea, but was able to effectively punish #J20 arrestees by dragging them through a lengthy trial process: huffingtonpost.com/entry/j20-trum…
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A number of former WH, DOJ, DHS, State Dept, DOD and intelligence community alums have signed a letter to AG Jeff Sessions about the Trump admin's “misleading report” on terrorism/immigration. law.georgetown.edu/icap/wp-conten…
"Rather than informing and reassuring the public, the Report’s misleading focus on place of birth serves to spread false impressions of the nature of the actual terrorist threat.”
"Misleadingly correlating the terrorist threat with immigrants… is precisely the opposite of what effective counterterrorism strategy demands."
If only there was a way to figure out if there was some big story that ran on April 22, 2017 that would provide an innocuous explanation for this text. Guess we’ll never know! nytimes.com/2017/04/22/us/…
Former Trump aide George Papadopoulos and his wife are in the courthouse. Sentencing set for 3 p.m. Stay tuned. huffingtonpost.com/entry/papadopo…
“The President of the United States hindered this investigation more than George Papadopoulos ever could.” - defense attorney, not exactly boosting his client’s pardon chances
Judge has taken a 15 minute break before imposing sentence. Probation office recommended 30 days in prison.
NEW: At closing arguments, Mueller’s team tells Manafort jurors that they don’t have to like Rick Gates because the documents are their “star witness." huffingtonpost.com/entry/manafort…
Manafort, prosectors said, “didn’t choose a Boy Scout” to commit crimes with. Defense attorneys said Rick Gates had his hand in the cookie jar, but Mueller’s team says it was a “huge dumpster” full of hidden money. huffingtonpost.com/entry/manafort…
One random thing we learned at closing arguments: Mueller team prosecutor Greg Andres is allergic to mango.
Election of Wesley Bell would be a big step forward in St. Louis County. But it’s still quite remarkable to me that the reformer prosecuting attorney candidate was a judge in a tiny speed trap town that has no business having its own court & police force. huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/06/vel…
Velda City had a population of like 1,400 people sitting on 1/6th a square mile. Brought in more from fines and fees than either sales tax revenue or property tax revenue. Officers typically made less than $27K. A recipe for disaster. huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/06/vel…
Anyway, follow @matthewferner who is covering this election (and the DA beat more broadly).