[View here as a Twitter thread] From Stenner (Princeton) & Haidt (NYU): what’s happening an “authoritarian dynamic, which occurs when a person with an “authoritarian disposition” is faced with a “normative threat.” In their article “Authoritarianism is not a Momentary Madness” in this volume Stenner and Haidt explain that “normative threat” is a perceived …
[View here as a Twitter thread] Remember Flynn’s sentencing memo when he asserted, as a mitigating factor, that the FBI didn’t warn him that lying was a crime before they asked him questions? Yeah, I know. Appropriate reaction= Mueller (SC) has responded, asking the court to “reject” Flynn’s “attempt to minimize the seriousness of the …
Office of the Special Counsel Responds to the Flynn Memo Read More »
[View here as a Twitter thread] Q: If the statute says the crime must be done “knowingly and willfully” is Trump “immunized” from conviction if he says “I didn’t know it was illegal?” [That’s what you want to know, right, Gregg?] Short answer: No. If a defendant simply has to say “ I didn’t …
[View here as a Twitter thread] For most of U.S. history, the consensus was that the Second Amendment allowed for a “well regulated militia.” In other words, the amendment was taken literally. Then came the 60s, when so much changed: The Civil Rights movement, the women’s movement, etc. The Supreme Court in the 50s …
Maria Butina, Russia, the Second Amendment, and the NRA Read More »
[View here as a Twitter thread] Okay, we have Maria Butina’s plea agreement here: Spoiler: A Russian spy admitted to “laying the groundwork” for backchannels of communication to the Trump administration while acting at the direction of Russian Oligarch Aleksandr Torshin. (Here’s my thread on the background of Butina, Russia, and the NRA https://twitter.com/Teri_Kanefield/status/1073251036226150400 …) Here are …
Russian spy admitted to laying the groundwork for backchannels Russia Read More »
[View here as a Twitter thread] Flynn asserts a mitigating factor the judge should consider: The FBI officers failed to tell him that lying to the FBI was a crime before they questioned him. That probably makes you think of the Miranda warnings, right? Except here’s the thing about Miranda warnings. . . As …
[View here as a Twitter thread] Yesterday I wrote about evidence of a TrumpRussia conspiracy in the prosecution docs. A follower asked: Did Trump think he’d get away with all of this? The answer (I believe) is yes. Seems to me Trump had a 2-part plan. #1: [If he wins] shut down all investigations. Winning would put …
[View here as a Twitter thread] Trump said prosecutors found no evidence of “collusion” with Russia. Even the WashPost said⬇️ Not all evidence is admissible in court. For example, hearsay (with certain exceptions) is generally not admissible. On the other hand, if top notch prosecutors, like the SDNY or Mueller, include a “fact” in a court …
Is there evidence of a Trump-Russia conspiracy in the prosecution documents? Read More »
[View here as a Twitter thread] The Mueller Cohen sentencing memo: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/5453418-Mueller-Cohen-filing.html … Mueller (OSC) was kinder to Cohen than SDNY. Cohen’s looking at 6 months for lying; OSC says he provided valuable info and could serve his sentence concurrently with the SDNY sentence, which makes it disappear. Cohen went to “significant lengths” to assist OSC. …
[View here as a Twitter thread] The Cohen SDNY Sentencing Memo: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FF9-6bM5U_EvklRVj9Hyxeo6C2vzFYgq/view … We learn a few things about Cohen. There are a few zingers. Here are my notes: Until 2007, Cohen was a lawyer earning about 75K per year (—a very low salary for a NY lawyer in 2007). Cohen got his break in 2007 …
