Share this page!

Enter URL or ID to Unroll

You can paste full URL like: https://x.com/threadreaderapp/status/1644127596119195649
or just the ID like: 1644127596119195649

How to get URL link on X (Twitter) App

  1. On the Twitter thread, click on or icon on the bottom
  2. Click again on or Share Via icon
  3. Click on Copy Link to Tweet
  4. Paste it above and click "Unroll Thread"!
  5. More info at Twitter Help
Elizabeth de la Vega Profile picture
Elizabeth de la Vega
@Delavegalaw
21yr Fed Pros (Org Crime, Chief SJ Branch), Past Stanford Law Pro Bono Dir/Lecturer & US Dist Ct. Clerk. Pub.
6 subscribers
Aug 30, 2018 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
FOLKS: Trump et al's pardon dangling is not just an impeachment issue for him. It's a criminal issue. Nixon was an unindicted coconspirator in U.S. v. Mitchell, where pardon dangling was alleged in Count I as a means conspirators used to obstruct justice & defraud the U.S. 1/ Ct I of U.S. v. Mitchell, the Watergate indictment in which Nixon was an unindicted coconspirator, charged a conspiracy to obstruct justice, defraud the U.S. and make false statements. Among the means conspirators used to execute the conspiracy, the indictment alleged, was: 2/
Aug 9, 2018 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Yes. DJT is famously unmoved by advice. If he'd wanted to do this interview, he'd have done it. Trump/attys want it to seem this tension exists. Trump/attys want it to seem he's not doing the the interview because Mueller wouldn't meet Trump's "reasonable" demands. Both false PR. Why do I keep objecting to claims that Trump "wants to do the interview?" Because Rudy is right to think that what the public thinks about the Mueller investigation, and Trump's "cooperation," (or lack thereof), matters. It matters a lot - not to Mueller, but to the ultimate 1/
Aug 5, 2018 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
How Paul Manafort Took Over the Trump Campaign nymag.com/daily/intellig… via @intelligencer "The shift of power from Lewandowski to Manafort began from the moment the latter arrived on the scene, in late March. Manafort exudes authority, even down to the way he calls the candidate “Donald”...Manafort also developed a bond with the Trump family." 1/
Jul 15, 2018 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
FOLKS: In legal effect, Trump's "Russia, if you're listening" invite was no different than saying,"El Chapo, if you're listening, please deliver 8 tons of cocaine to Mar A Lago." 1/ As Mueller's RU GRU indictment demonstrates - to any clueless person who did not already know - computer hacking and stealing of info is a federal crime. Therefore, under both aiding & abetting and agency theories, Trump's urging another to do these acts may also be a crime. 2/
Jun 28, 2018 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
We should not ignore this fact: Justice Kennedy's son was, for *12 years* one of Donald Trump's most trusted associates at Deutsche Bank. 1998-2010, Trump borrowed over $750M from Deutsche real estate. In same period, Justin Kennedy was Managing Dir/Global Head of Deutsche Real Estate Capital Markets. Kennedy left DB in 2010. Trump began borrowing from DB private wealth bankers in 2010. theguardian.com/business/2017/…
Jun 26, 2018 • 6 tweets • 1 min read
When It’s Too Late to Stop Fascism, According to Stefan Zweig newyorker.com/books/page-tur… Into the '30's, democratic media assured readers the Hitler movement wd soon collapse: "Prideful of their own higher learning & cultivation, the intellectual classes could not absorb the idea that, thanks to “invisible wire-pullers”—the self-interested groups and individuals 1/
Jun 26, 2018 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Thanks @rgoodlaw. US law is the same. Under 18USC1203(a), hostage-taking is detaining/threatening to keep detaining another person in order to compel a 3rd person or gov't org to do or not do an act as a condition for release of the one detained. It carries up to a life sentence. These are the elements of the crime of hostage-taking in violation of 18 USC 1203(a): 1/
Jun 25, 2018 • 12 tweets • 7 min read
This, by Hamilton Nolan @hamiltonnolan, & retweeted by the radical @Elise_Jordan, is *the* best articulation I've seen of why it's not only justified, but necessary, that the executors of horrific Trump Admin policies be reminded, everywhere, they "are ruining people’s lives." 1/ Now, I hope you go to splinternews.com/this-is-just-t… and read the entire piece, called "This is Just the Beginning." Then follow @hamiltonnolan, but, because people seem to like to read things in little bits nowadays, I am (with apologies & respect) going to do just that. 2/
Jun 19, 2018 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
Folks: 90 former U.S. Attorneys, GOP & Democrats implore AG Sessions to end Zero Tolerance Now: "[T]he Zero Tolerance policy is a radical departure from previous [DOJ] policy...it is dangerous, expensive, & *inconsistent with the values of the institution in which we served.*" 1/ 90 past USAttys to AG: "When parents & their children arrive at our border, particularly when they come seeking the protection of the United States under our asylum laws, we witness a universal story of humanity: parents willing to face all odds to protect their children." 2/
Jun 13, 2018 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
The Truth about Public Lies: Trump & his spox lie to the public almost daily about the FBI, DOJ, Mueller, RR & #TrumpRussia. Is each lie a crime? Likely not. But the truth is that gov’t officials’ public lies can be critical allegations in fed’l public corruption indictments. 1/ Take U.S. v. Silver, e.g., a 2015 case brought by Preet Bharara & his then Public Corruption Unit head Andrew Goldstein, who’s now on Mueller’s Special Counsel team. (Small world, huh?) Def was Sheldon Silver, a NYS assembly person charged w/honest services mail & wire fraud. 2/
Jun 1, 2018 • 12 tweets • 3 min read
Law professor Garrett Epps interviewed six scholars about the indictment of a sitting president issue. Here's what they said: **OSU Prof Peter Shane, a separation of powers expert, said the SC should begin with OLC opinions, but the issue was so imp't, it required a "complete 1/ OSU Prof Shane also said he found OLC opinions that indicting POTUS wd be too disruptive "not very persuasive," given that Constitution clearly allowed disruption by impeachment, would an indictment be “more destabilizing than impeachment?” 2/
May 31, 2018 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Yup. The preemptive pardon talk misses this: It's not just state crimes lurking, it's FEDERAL. Flynn's only charged w/a fraction of fed'l crimes he faces; Cohen hasn't been charged with any & Manafort's under active fed investigation. Trump can NOT know what to pardon them for. More on preemptive pardons: Except for amnesties (e.g. Carter's draft resister pardon), the only so-called preemptive pardon that did NOT involve charged crimes was Ford's pardon of Nixon. Ford pardoned Nixon for all federal crimes during his presidency, a five year period. 1/
May 24, 2018 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
We didn't really need more proof that the Trump White House doesn't consider itself bound by U.S. government laws, regulations and procedures, but Trump obligingly offered it anyway on May 22, 2018. 1/ Signing the “Securely Expediting Clearances Through Reporting Transparency Act of 2018" on 5/22, Trump declared he can handle classified info & "access to such information" (security clearances) as he pleased. whitehouse.gov/briefings-stat… 2/
May 22, 2018 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
Thread: Three things I know, and one theory. Folks, I have no inside info about the Mueller investigation & wouldn’t reveal it if I did. But here are three things I know for sure: One is Wray, Rosenstein AND Mueller are all in sync on responses to Trump’s unlawful demands. 1/ Two, I'm sure Rosenstein, Wray & Mueller, more than anyone, know Trump’s conduct poses a clear danger to our entire system of government. Three, I'm 100% certain that Wray & Rosenstein write down everything Trump says to them, in meetings or phone calls. So, then, what is 2/
May 16, 2018 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Folks: This June 2017MarketWatch story on Rosneft deal is fascinating-makes clear it was Putin who wanted this deal. Why? Well, Putin claimed at the time it showed "investor confidence" in RU despite the sanctions. That was likely one motive, definitely. But, RU needed cash. 1/ Here is what Putin said about the Rosneft deal on December 7, per MarketWatch, but sources advised that it functioned as an emergency loan: 2/
Mar 15, 2018 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
Is it necessarily true that Pruitt wouldn't have to recuse himself from the Mueller investigation if Trump appointed him AG? NO! Indeed, a fair reading of the DOJ Conflicts Rule, 28CFR45.2, suggests that NO AG appointed by Trump right now cd oversee the Mueller investigation. 1/ Here is what the DOJ Conflicts Rule, 28 CFR 45. 2, says: 2/
Mar 1, 2018 • 8 tweets • 1 min read
Thread/ Conspiracy Law - Eight Things You Need to Know.
One: Co-conspirators don’t have to explicitly agree to conspire & there doesn't need to be a written agreement; in fact, they almost never explicitly agree to conspire & it would be nuts to have a written agreement! 1/ (Conspiracy Law) Two: Conspiracies can have more than one object- i.e. conspiracy to defraud U.S. and to obstruct justice. The object is the goal. Members could have completely different reasons (motives) for wanting to achieve that goal. 2/
Feb 14, 2018 • 15 tweets • 5 min read
On Nunes! The issue, for now, is not whether he’s guilty of a crime, of course, or whether he’d be charged; it’s whether his actions put him in Mueller’s sights on a conspiracy to obstruct justice charge. As to that I agree w/@StevenjHarper1, @NormEisen & others. Very likely. 1/ But my focus is far wider than the memo. How would prosecutors view Nunes’ conduct? They’d consider his pre-campaign alliance w/Flynn; his Trump campaigning, intel briefings & minimizing Russian interference; and his role as Transition Exec Comm member, starting Nov 11, 2016. 2/
Jan 26, 2018 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
Trump is not going to sit down voluntarily with Mueller. He can not possibly do that without lying, not because it's a trap, but because he lies all the time. And, despite his bravado, Trump is a coward. He is just trying to make people think he wants to do it for PR purposes. 1/ Trump, his friends & the GOP are trying to malign Mueller and the investigation so Trump has a way out. He just says he's not sitting down with Mueller because the investigation is suspect. But does this mean that Mueller will subpoena him??? NO! Mueller does NOT need to talk 2/
Dec 17, 2017 • 6 tweets • 1 min read
What Trump and his craven cronies can't seem to understand is that -- although the Mueller team is surely aware that this investigation is significant -- beyond that it is JUST like any other case. 1/ So, the Mueller team will do exactly what they do in every other case: They will execute search warrants. If circumstances require, they will execute no-knock warrants. They will obtain financial records from FinCen. They will analyze them. They will subpoena bank records and 2/
Dec 17, 2017 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
Is it a surprise that the Mueller team would obtain all of the Trump transition emails from the GSA? Heck no. Here's why and here's how the team would handle privilege/work product issues: 1/ So why not rely on the honesty of the Trump transition team to turn over all of their emails? The Mueller team has, even more than we in the public know, seen months of deceit from Trump himself & almost all of his aides. Only a fool would rely on the integrity of Trump team 2/