Fani pack
As Barbara McQuade said, RICO conspiracies really draw a crowd! Getting a trial date on March 4 is likely to be aspirational for Fani Willis, given that she's got 19 co-defendants and 30 (!) unindicted co-conspirators.
Speaking of, here's a great list of the identities or probably identities of those 30. They range from the Trumpists you know, like Boris Epshteyn and Mike Flynn (maybe) to a bunch of lesser-known fake electors, campaign operatives, and others.
One of the higher-profile people on there is Georgia Lt. Gov Burt Jones. Willis was blocked from prosecuting Jones on conflict of interest grounds; she co-hosted a fundraiser for Jones' Dem opponent in the 2022 midterms. Now Georgia's Prosecuting Attorneys Council is getting ready to appoint a special prosecutor to see if Jones, like the other non-cooperating fake electors, merits charges.
How about never, is never good for you?
Jack Smith designed his federal coup indictment for speed, and has already requested a trial date of Jan. 2, 2024. Donald Trump's counter-offer? April, 2026. Conveniently, that's after the statute of limitations likely has run out all of his co-conspirators! US District Judge Tanya Chutkan's scheduling hearing is set for Aug. 28. Cable's having fun.
Tell overture
You've probably heard that X, when it was Twitter, went to the mat to be able to tip off Donald Trump that Jack Smith was sliding wayyyy into his DMs. It was all part of the legal battles over a search warrant for Trump's Twitter activity the Special Counsel sought and secured back in January.
So, while Elon Musk was fighting to alert Trump, why was he simultaneously meeting with Jim Jordan and Kevin McCarthy?
The violence section
What's the big deal if Trump intimidates witnesses or makes references to violence as he rails against judges and prosecutors?
By now you can set your watch by the threats that fall on anyone whose civic or professional duty involves making Trump accountable. In Georgia they publish grand jurors' names once an indictment is issued, and it took about a day for the doxxing and violent intimidation to begin.
Meanwhile, Judge Chutkan hasn't even scheduled Trump's trial in the federal coup case yet, and already a Texas woman has been arrested for threatening to kill her. Abigail Jo Shry, of Alvin, Tex., was charged after threatening to kill Judge Chutkan, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, who is also Black, and "all Democrats and all people in the LGBTQ community."
"You are in our sights, we want to kill you," Shry said in a voicemail left at Chutkan's office in Washington, according to a criminal complaint.
Groundskeeper wily
Carlos De Oliveira, the Mar-a-Lago property manager and Trump's co-defendant in the "cover-up of the cover-up" portion of the classified records case, finally has a lawyer, and was finally arraigned.
De Oliveira pleaded not guilty to four counts of conspiracy, obstruction, and false statements, after dragging his arraignment out for weeks. And just like that… prosecutors are raising concerns about De Oliveira's attorney, John Irving. The issue is that Irving also represents three witnesses in the case, which could be a conflict of interest for De Oliveira. Prosecutors raised similar concerns with lawyer Stanley Woodward, who reps co-defendant Walt Nauta and also several witnesses.
Trying time
Former Trump advisor and unindicted coup cheerleader Peter Navarro tried, again, to delay his imminent contempt trial for snubbing January 6 committee subpoenas. It didn't work, the trial starts Sept. 5.
Same goes for unindicted (federal coup case) and indicted co-conspirator (Georgia) John Eastman, who asked the California State Bar Court to delay his ongoing disbarment trial, arguing his criminal troubles could prevent him from mounting a strong defense as he fights to keep his law license. The court denied Eastman's application, and the trial, held over from June, is set to resume next week.
Going long
Federal prosecutors are aiming way over the horizon for Enrique Tarrio and other Proud Boys convicted of seditious conspiracy. The feds are asking the judge for 33 years for Tarrio and Joseph Biggs, and 20 years for Dominic "Spazzo" Pezolla, who was acquitted on sedition but convicted of a bunch of other charges.
And DOJ is seeking one of its longest sentences yet for a Jan. 6 rioter at a hearing scheduled for today. The government is asking a judge to sentence convicted Proud Boy Chris Worrell to 14 years for assaulting officers, profiting off of his pre-trial detention, perjuring himself at trial, and showing no remorse for the whole thing. Worrell's lawyers are asking for 30 months home confinement. .
Crimson chide
Alabama Republicans' attempt to defy the Supreme Court's order that they expand Black voting power in the state's congressional districts was back in front of federal judges Monday. It all comes from Allen v Milligan, an opinion earlier this summer where the justices backed up the lower courts in telling Alabama GOP's that their single majority-Black district violates the Voting Rights Act.
Alabama lawmakers responded by tinkering with their map, but decidedly not creating a second Black-majority district, or one close to a majority, as the courts had ordered.
Judges seemed skeptical on Monday of the legislatures' intentions, and their contention that they couldn't fully obey the courts without violating the Constitution. (It was either that, or another riff in Alabama's long history of defying courts and disenfranchising Black voters.) The case could be headed right back to the Supreme Court, but the map has to be settled by October if it's going to be used for the 2024 election.
Cal. rippin'
It's getting wild in Shasta County, Calif., where GOP officials spent $1 million of taxpayer money to replace Dominion voting machines, and now the voter fraud seems to be popping up elsewhere.
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