Morning Sun

Legal cases plague former President

- Ed Fisher is a Morning Sun columnist.

District Judge Tanya Sue Chutkan has the flexibilit­y to reschedule Donald Trump’s DC elections trial, until an appeals court rules on Trump’s claim of absolute immunity. The key Supreme Court precedent motion relied on for claiming “absolute immunity” from criminal prosecutio­n, his lawyers acknowledg­ed, did not address criminal prosecutio­ns.

John F. Lauro, a lawyer for Mr. Trump, conceded that “no court has addressed whether such presidenti­al immunity includes immunity from criminal prosecutio­n for the president’s official act.” The question, he wrote, is serious and unsettled. Should Mr. Trump lose in the trial court and on appeal, he will ask the Supreme Court to step in.

Politico’s senior legal affairs reporter, Kyle Cheney wrote, “I was the only reporter in Chutkan’s courtroom … when she made some comments about her upcoming trial calendar.”

He quotes Chutkan as saying, “I do not know what my schedule will be in midapril.”

A new filing from special counsel Jack Smith in the Mar-a-lago classified documents case dismisses Trump’s demand for a broad range of discovery from the federal government. He wanted to find evidence that the Biden administra­tion initiated the investigat­ion as a political “witch hunt” against him. Cheney wrote, “Jack Smith provides new details about the origins of the classified documents case against Trump, including how Biden White House counsel came to be involved — with knowledge and participat­ion of Trump’s representa­tives…. Smith repeatedly describes the ‘cautious’ and ‘incrementa­l approach’ that government officials took toward Trump’s retention of sensitive documents.… Prosecutor­s accuse Trump attorneys of making ominous sounding claims about an ‘undifferen­tiated’

Biden administra­tion when, drilling down, it’s distinct career officials at different agencies exercise ‘specific portfolios and responsibi­lities.’”

Smith is also overseeing the election conspiracy case in DC that is currently on hold while courts review Trump’s claim to presidenti­al immunity. In his urbane fashion, Donnyt yelled,

“Go to hell” at Smith, calling him “deranged.

Another of Donnyt’s frets: Nikki Haley has vowed to stay in the race to the GOP nomination for President. While recent defeats in Iowa and New Hampshire,

She is hopeful for winning in her home state She is backed by thousands of committed donors, a sizeable slice of the GOP’S moderate wing and a new willingnes­s to attack the mental fitness and legal problems of 2024 Republican front-runner.

The more Haley does, the more Republican officials fear she may hurt his longterm prospects in the general election against Democratic President Joe Biden hurt his long-term prospects in the all-but certain general election ahead against Democratic President Joe Biden.

Tiffany James is a career political organizer working to advance Democratic priorities, that’s why she’s helping Nikki Haley beat Donald Trump in South Carolina’s GOP presidenti­al primary. “We want to convince people to put country over party and to say our democracy is at stake,” James, a South Carolina organizer for Primary Pivot, a national super PAC whose goal is to persuade Democrats to vote in open primaries for Haley. “We need to make the best decisions and put our vote strategica­lly toward someone who can help keep our democracy intact.”

Another effort to save democracy in the U.S.

A new filing from special counsel Jack Smith in the Mar-a-lago classified documents case dismisses Trump’s demand for a broad range of discovery from the federal government.

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