Law, Power, and Justice

WEDNESDAY 16 AUGUST 2023

Georgia Prosecutor

read://https_abovethelaw.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fabovethelaw.com%2F2023%2F03%2Fprosecutor-fani-willis-is-investigating-trump-by-sheer-coincidence-the-ga-legislature-has-decided-to-investigate-prosecutors%2F

“Republicans love small government and local control.  Right up until they don’t.”

There is a satisfying irony to seeing this expansive law, passed by a lot of old white men to target people of color, come back to bite them in the butt. 

Jack Smith

Smith, after a struggle with Twitter, got access to Trump’s Twitter account.  The reason for this was most probably to get access not to the public tweets, but to gain access to deleted and draft tweets.  Also, Trump evidently used other people’s phones to post on Twitter.  This will give Smith information on who was around Trump at what time, who, for example, attended a meeting.

Terrorists, evidently use drafts as a way of exchanging information.  Write a draft and then never send it.  Give someone else the password and they can go in and read the message and delete it without ever putting it on the internet.  The shoe bomber terrorist reportedly communicated with his handlers in this manner.

Smith can also see any other accounts that were logged into the Trump account.  There are those who think that the Trump Twitter account was a group effort. 

Roger Stone

Ari Melber played a video of Roger Stone dictating a coup memo to a staffer before the presidential race had even been called for Biden.  This tape was part of a documentary made by a Danish reporter in which the reporter shadowed Stone.  The reporter didn’t feel comfortable giving the tapes to law enforcement, so decided to release the tape publicly as he did tonight.

The documentary is “A Storm Foretold.”  The reporter told Ari Melber that there was an encrypted group of people (Friends of Stone) that were copied on the memo and other communications.  Christoffer Goldbrandsen also told Melber that Stone was present at the hotel coup management hotel on the night of Jan. 6, but that Stone was not part of the “ballroom group”, i.e., the group surrounding Eastman.  Stone was part of a separate group of Oath Keepers who also met at the hotel.

Immediately after the Jan. 6 coup fell apart, Stone (according to the filmmaker) was terrified he was going to jail.  He started calling Trump and begging for a pardon.  When it became obvious that Trump was not going to pardon him, Stone started ranting that Trump had betrayed Guilliani, that Trump had betrayed him.  That Trump had betrayed everybody and deserved a long sentence in prison to think about it. 

“I don’t suppose that’s on tape.”  Melber asked.

“It is.”  Responded Goldbrandsen.