The Weekend Wrap: September 22, 2024

More delays in Florida

Welcome to the Weekend Wrap! Here are the week’s white collar highlights:

Trump Prosecutions

It’s been a pretty quiet week in the Trump legal world.

Florida Federal Case - Mar-a-Lago Documents

Trump’s attorneys asked the 11th Circuit for an additional 30 days to file their brief in response to special counsel Jack Smith’s appeal of Judge Cannon’s dismissal of the case. That will make their brief due on October 25. They said they could not meet the current September 25 deadline because they are busy dealing with the immunity issues and other motions that Judge Chutkan has scheduled in the D.C. prosecution.

Smith did not object to the request, and the court granted it. It was never likely that this appeal would be argued and decided before Inauguration Day, much less election day, but that is basically impossible now. If Trump wins the election, presumably he will order his Justice Department to drop the appeal.

D.C. Federal Case - January 6 Allegations

Jack Smith’s opening brief on presidential immunity and why he believes it does not bar the D.C. prosecution is due this Thursday, the 26th. Smith has said it will include proffers of evidence the government will offer at trial that are not included in the indictment. That could be very interesting, but it’s unclear how much of it we will see; a lot of it will probably be filed under seal because it includes information covered by grand jury secrecy or sensitive witness information.

On Thursday the defense filed its reply brief in support of motions claiming the prosecution has failed to comply with its discovery obligations. Those motions were first filed last year but then placed on hold during the appeal of the immunity issue. The defense has expanded the discovery arguments to claim it is also entitled to additional discovery based on the Supreme Court’s immunity decision, although their reasoning here is not very clear to me. They also renewed their claim that they should be entitled to discovery so they can prepare a motion to dismiss before prosecutors file their “prejudicial and unwarranted advocacy piece setting forth their biased views about the case,” (the brief due Thursday) and asked the judge to reconsider the current briefing schedule. I don’t expect any of these discovery-related arguments to go anywhere.

The defense’s supplemental brief on dismissal of the obstruction of justice charges based on Fischer is due on October 3, with the government’s response due October 17. The defense request for leave to file a motion to dismiss based on the claim that Jack Smith’s appointment was unconstitutional (the Judge Cannon ruling) is due October 24.

New York State Case - Hush Money/False Business Records

Nothing much is happening here, as Judge Merchan has postponed ruling on presidential immunity and sentencing until after the election.

Georgia State Case - January 6 Allegations

After the relative flurry of activity last week, all was quiet in Georgia.

New Documentary on The Big Lie

I don’t think I’ve ever recommended a movie on Sidebars before. But I encourage everyone to watch a new documentary available from HBO/HBO Max called “Stopping the Steal.” It’s a detailed look at the 2020 efforts by Trump and his campaign to overturn the election results through false claims of voter fraud. You can watch the trailer here:

These are the same allegations that are at the heart of the Trump indictments in D.C. and Georgia.

The film is a sobering look back at what happened in 2020 and a reminder of what’s at stake in 2024. One remarkable thing about it is that almost everyone interviewed is a Republican - former federal or state officials who all had wanted Trump to win, but who ultimately realized he had lost and refused to go along with his efforts to overturn the election results. They were the guardrails that kept Trump’s scheme from succeeding.

I’m no fan of Bill Barr, the former Attorney General, who tries to sound like a good guy here. Barr has been on a rehabilitation tour for his reputation ever since leaving the administration. But he does have the best line in the movie. He describes seeing the self-described “elite strike force” of clownish, conspiracy-peddling Trump attorneys (and now criminal defendants) — Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, and Jenna Ellis — standing outside the oval office and says it reminded him of the barroom scene in “Star Wars.” Almost spit out my coffee at that one.

There’s little doubt that Trump will try to do the same thing again if he loses this election. There will be Republican officials in some states who are willing to help him, and there may be fewer guardrails in place. The good news is this time he won’t have the power of the presidency behind him to facilitate his efforts. But the film is a stark reminder that if Trump wins this election and regains that power, there will be little to stop him next time. Those who would corrupt an election to remain in power learned a lot of lessons from 2020. If they get another chance, they won’t make the same mistakes.

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