Politics

Please excuse me while I have a mini-rant. Occasionally mainstream and social media commentators settle on a theory that projects their own reasoning onto Trump and his supporters. For example, at one time, the going theory was that Lindsay Graham was kissing Trump’s ring because Trump was blackmailing him. It was common for people to ask, […]

A number of people asked me to comment on the proposed Georgia legislation creating oversight of prosecutors. More specifically people asked me questions like this: I did some poking around to find out where this was coming from, and I found stuff like this: So I did some digging. First, the facts. There are two

As you may have heard, there were a few bombshells in Dominion’s latest filing in the Dominion v. Fox defamation case. To recap: We are at the stage where both Dominion and Fox are asking for summary judgment. You get a summary judgment if there is literally no evidence or argument the other side can present that

He Changed The Face of America Only one of Marshall’s grandparents was enslaved when the Civil War broke out—the grandfather for whom he was named: Thoroughgood Marshall. Thoroughgood escaped slavery during the chaos that ensued when the Confederates fired on Fort Sumter. He went to Baltimore and blended in among the free African Americans. He

On Monday I was anticipating the release of the Fulton County special grand jury report, thinking that would be the most interesting legal news of the week. Nope. The most interesting revelations came from Dominion’s defamation lawsuit against Fox News. I. Dominion v. Fox News  To recap: Dominion, the manufacturer of voting machines, is suing

Former prosecutor Mark Pomerantz, who quit the Manhattan DA’s office last year in a huff over how the newly elected District Attorney Alvin Bragg was conducting the Trump criminal investigation, has written a tell-all book. A timeline will lay out the progress of the investigation and offer a context for the Pomerantz-Bragg saga: August 2019:

This piece is in progress. The art of using lies to consolidate power goes back to ancient times. A guy named Darius of Persia  (522 BCE to 486 BCE) carved what is now called the Behistun Inscription into the side of a cliff. The inscription tells the story of how he came to power. If

First, the most significant bit of news that went under the radar this week The DOJ charged former FBI official Charles McGonigal with concealing $225,000 in cash that he received from an outside source. McGonigal was also charged with taking money from Oleg Deripaska, a sanctioned Russian oligarch, who, if you recall, was one of Paul

Before we begin: My appellate practice was dedicated to representing indigents on appeal. I was appointed by the California appellate courts and paid through California’s general budget. I was in the trenches defending people who were among the most vilified by our society. My heart was broken every day but I did what I could,

A federal judge in Florida sanctioned Trump and his lawyers $938,000 for that silly RICO lawsuit he brought against Hillary and others. Yes, he has to pay Hillary Clinton. Want some fun? We can read the sanctions order together 🤓 then I’ll answer questions. (The sanctions order is here. Trump’s original lawsuit is here.) Basically, last March,

There is an important seditious conspiracy trial happening. So that we can all follow along (I could use the review myself) I went back to the indictment, which is here, to get back up to speed. In the last seditious conspiracy trial, two defendants Oath Keeper leaders Stewart Rhodes and Kelly Meggs were convicted of

To create fairness, our legal system and the federal government have grown increasingly complex. My question is whether the complexity has grown beyond too many people’s capacity to tolerate it. Q: Can democracy survive in America? A: (Spoiler) I don’t know. Can people tolerate this much complexity? I begin with history and facts about our current system because

The Members of the GOP who Sympathized with the Insurrection and Helped Spread Trump’s Election Lies are now in Control of the House of Representatives In a nutshell, what happened this week in the House was that Kevin McCarthy had difficulty securing enough votes to become Speaker of the House because a small group of

(Note: Beginning next week, on January 7, I will return to posting each Saturday.) You can read the full January 6 Report here. Introduction I assume you all know the basics about the report contents, but if you’d like a brief overview here you go: The January 6 report, like the televised hearings, are organized around