By hook or by crook

Trump 2.0 is essentially all crook.

Everyone knows that with Trump now in office the Department will move to dismiss the [stolen documents] case against Trump’s two co-defendants (as it has precipitously done with respect to all pending J6 defendants in Washington D.C.). Trump is hardly going to prosecute his two co-defendants, particularly since any trial will put front and center his own actions and result in his being a central witness in the case.

Yet, the Department has not moved to dismiss its appeal of the Cannon decision [to block release of the Smith report] — the only live activity left in that case. At least, not yet. And there’s the rub.

[...]

Indeed, the only legal issue preventing the release of the Jack Smith Mar-a-Lago report is the pendency of that appeal— that is the reason given by former Attorney General Garland for not making it public, and it is the reason given by Judge Cannon for not even permitting then-Attorney General Garland to share the report with certain select members of Congress. Indeed, this evanescent stumbling block (ie the inevitability of Trump’s DOJ dropping the criminal case) led many (including this author) to wonder why former Attorney General Garland did not move to dismiss the Cannon appeal, so that he would be able to further the settled public interest in the release of as much of Special Counsel reports as possible.

[...]

It is hard to come up with a more plausible reason for the Department’s odd sloth – made all the more striking by the new administration’s lightning speed in dismissing the J6 cases – than to thwart any efforts by Democrats, reporters and others from gaining access to the Smith report.

[...]

This inaction of course protects Trump. But it also serves another function. By not moving to dismiss the appeal now, the Department does not risk the report being unveiled – a report that is likely to cast substantial doubt on factual assertions made by Kash Patel. It had been widely reported that Patel claimed to have witnessed Trump declassifying the documents wholesale. Presumably to learn about this claim, Patel was reportedly called to the grand jury by Smith and asserted his fifth amendment rights (as is well within his rights). But Smith is reported to have obtained an immunity order which would require Patel to then testify under oath in the grand jury. Whether he did so, and what he then said (to the grand jury and/or to investigators) is unknown. And what remains under seal as well is Smith’s presumably detailed factual refutation of Patel’s public claim.

  Just Security

UPDATE 01/29/2025:  They're dropping the case now.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.