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| Judge Tanya Chutkan (NY Times) |
Special Counsel Jack Smith has filed a mysterious, sealed document in the Washington, D.C.-based election-interference case against Donald Trump . What could it mean? That's impossible to say at the moment, but let's consider these factors:
(1) The Smith filing came the same day that the Biden Administration announced it has developed a plan to thwart alleged efforts by Russia and President Vladimir Putin to meddle in the U.S. 2024 presidential election;
(2) Smith filed his documents in the same court, before the same judge (Tanya Chutkin), who is overseeing the case involving Trump's actions on Jan. 6, 2021;
(3) Putin tried to laugh off the meddling allegations by claiming he was "endorsing" Democrat Kamala Harris over Trump. But U.S.-based new organizations did not seem to be falling for that -- as they described his Harris endorsement as made "teasingly" (AP), "grinning" (CBS), and "smirking" (Newsweek)
How did such a peculiar set of circumstances come to pass? Newsweek provides details about Putin's unconvincing reaction under the headline "Smirking Putin Says He Supports Kamala Harris and Her 'Infectious Laugh'." Newsweek examines more serious aspects of the story, under the headline "Jack Smith Files Mystery Sealed Document in Donald Trump Case, as Flynn Nicholls writes:
In a new twist for the federal election-interference case against former President Donald Trump, special counsel Jack Smith has submitted a mystery document, hidden from the public and Trump's lawyers.
The filing was made in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, where Judge Tanya Chutkan is overseeing the case.
A Wednesday court notice shows that Smith filed a document titled "Government's Classified, Ex Parte, In Camera, and Under Seal Notice Regarding Classified Discovery,"That is a formal way of saying the Department of Justice (DOJ) has submitted a confidential document that contains classified information in the case.
What is known at the moment about the Smith filing is certainly baffling. But Nicholls provides a handy breakdown that does provide some clarity:
- Classified: The document includes sensitive or secret information that is restricted from public access for security reasons.
- Ex Parte: This means the document was submitted by the government without notifying the defense. Only Chutkan is informed, and the defense does not get to see it.
- In Camera: Chutkan will review this document privately, without the presence of either party's lawyers.
- Under Seal: The document is kept completely confidential—it cannot be accessed by the public or other parties involved in the case.
Smith's team is prosecuting Trump on charges related to his alleged efforts to interfere with the results of the 2020 presidential election.
This latest development comes just days after Chutkan granted Trump's request to waive his presence at an upcoming arraignment following a new indictment in the case.
The indictment comes after the July ruling by the Supreme Court that refined the boundaries of presidential immunity, leading to Smith revising the original indictment against Trump.
The revised indictment narrows its focus to Trump's actions as a private citizen, rather than official acts performed during his presidency. Trump, who has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and described the prosecutions against him as politically motivated, faces four counts of criminal charges for allegedly attempting to undermine the legitimate results of the 2020 election, including in his alleged involvement in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
On Thursday, Trump, who was not in court, entered a not guilty plea to the revised charges through his team of lawyers. Chutkan will be setting a court timetable for the new charges to progress to trial.
MSNBC contributor Adam Klasfeld, who is in the court room, reported that Chutkan shut down Trump lawyer John F. Lauro, who was arguing that a too-hasty timetable would interfere with November's presidential election.
"We're talking about the presidency of the United States," Lauro said.
"I'm not talking about the presidency of the United States," Chutkan replied. "I'm talking about a four-count criminal indictment.
That has to be one of the greatest comebacks/putdowns in the history of courthouses. To say Chutkan put Lauro in his place and chopped him down to size would be an understatement.
I like Judge Chutkan, and she impresses me as the type of woman who knows what her job entails, knows how to perform that job, and doesn't take crap off of anybody.
As Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, John Roberts, and their corrupt conservative colleagues on the U.S. Supreme Court have shown us over the last 12 months or so, the U.S. federal judiciary is a mess right now -- and we will be providing details about our personal experiences with crooked federal judges -- including Virginia Emerson Hopkins, William Marsh Acker Jr., and Abdul Kallon in the Northern District of Alabama; plus, a disgraceful rogue named M. Douglas Harpool in the Western District of Missouri. Harpool has run for the state legislature as a Democrat several times and was appointed to the bench by President Obama. I'm at a loss to think of what turned Harpool into a pathetic excuse for a judge when he should know better. From my seat, it looks like he decided it's more profitable to suck at the teat of various counties and law-enforcement offices in Southwest Missouri than it is to actually do his job. Sadly, Harpool is proof that not all bad federal judges are Republicans.
We will have much more coming on Judge Harpool and show you exactly how he tramples the rule of law and scams litigants while on the public dime. We hope you will stay tuned.
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| Doug Harpool (U.S. Senate) |
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