TACO Tuesday

Attorney General Pam Bondi’s letter demanding three policy changes from the state led a federal judge to ask whether the federal government was engaging in a “quid pro quo,” potentially implicating the anti-commandeering doctrine.

U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez, a Joe Biden appointee, seems reluctant to take that opening because the Eighth Circuit paused a much more modest order to prevent civil rights abuses against peaceful protesters. A three-judge panel found today the government was “likely to succeed on the merits” of its appeal.

Even if Judge Menendez doesn’t end the surge, Trump’s Department of Homeland Security appears to be winding things down on their own amid friendly fire from conservative allies.

[...]

Gov. Tim Walz reported a “productive” phone call with Donald Trump, who reportedly agreed to look into reducing the number of federal agents in Minnesota and ensuring the state’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension can conduct independent investigations into the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

[...]

[M]ultiple news outlets reported that soon-to-be-former Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino would be leaving the state with many of the agents under his command. Bovino reportedly will return to his previous job as a sector chief for El Centro, Calif., after being the face of two unpopular operations in Chicago and the Twin Cities. During his brief tenure, one federal judge in Chicago declared in open court and in a written opinion that Bovino “lied” in a sworn deposition.

In his absence, so-called Border Patrol czar Tom Homan traveled to Minnesota to give Operation Metro Surge a more professional gloss.

  Adam Klasfeld

Yeah. Professional. The guy who took a $50,000 bribe in a Cava bag and is still in his job.

In further good news, though...

Having been forced out of the Eastern District of Virginia, ex-Trump lawyer turned fake U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan is leaving the Justice Department altogether.

[...]

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the Justice Department’s application to review the disqualification of Trump’s ex-lawyer turned U.S. Attorney Alina Habba before the full bench.

All his pretty, young, incompetents are biting the dust. Eyes on Kristi Noem.

Trump’s Justice Department also withdrew a pending application for the chief judge of the District of Minnesota to pursue arrest warrants for five more people tied to the recent St. Paul church protest, including independent journalist Don Lemon.

[...]

In the face of enormous protests, internal mutiny, and mounting legal defeats, Trump appears to be cutting his losses under pressure.

When asked if Noem will step down, President Donald Trump told reporters on the White House South Lawn Tuesday, "No."

  NBC

 

Habba the Nutt*

Alina Habba is Trump’s former personal lawyer and a MAGA influencer, who was installed as interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey about four months ago, despite no prosecutorial experience. She immediately politicized the office, opening investigations into the sitting governor and attorney general and charging Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) with assault for an incident at a Newark ICE detention facility. She has said in interviews that her role as a federal prosecutor would be to help “turn New Jersey red.”

But Habba had a problem: The Federal Vacancies Reform Act (FVRA) only gave her a 120-day window to perform the duties of the office in an interim capacity. Though Habba was nominated on July 1 to serve permanently as U.S. attorney, New Jersey’s senators have thus far blocked her from consideration. As last Friday’s deadline approached, Habba petitioned a three-judge panel to allow her to stay in the position. But the judges used their authority under the vacancy laws to reject that request and instead appointed Desiree Leigh Grace, the first assistant U.S. attorney.

  Prospect

You know where this is going. Trump doesn't have to acknowledge any court other than SCOTUS (and that hasn't yet been tested).

The administration then maneuvered to keep Habba in the job. The law prevents someone from being an acting U.S. attorney and nominated for the post at the same time. But Habba resigned as interim U.S. attorney, and Trump withdrew her nomination for the post. Then, Attorney General Pam Bondi fired Grace and hired Habba as first assistant U.S. attorney in her place. Therefore, under the vacancy rules, Habba could become the acting U.S. attorney in New Jersey for another 210 days.

It's not over, though.

[Julien Giraud Jr.] had a criminal trial set in New Jersey for August 4 on federal gun and drug charges. But his attorney, Thomas Mirigliano, filed a motion seeking to dismiss the charges on the grounds that Habba isn’t the real U.S. attorney.

“Ms. Habba’s re-appointment directly violates the FVRA, which explicitly prohibits individuals whose nominations have been submitted to the Senate from serving in an acting capacity for the same office, regardless of subsequent withdrawal of the nomination,” Mirigliano wrote in the filing.

That doesn't seem right. But, hey, litigate away.

The case is now in the hands of a judge in Pennsylvania. Obviously, if one defendant succeeds in getting his federal case thrown out in New Jersey, every subsequent defendant will try the same tactic. While the courts might ultimately rule that prosecutorial authority is not diminished by breaking the vacancy rules, at the very least thousands of cases could screech to a halt for months.

Not great.  But I want to see a lawsuit brought by the three-judge panel that declined her petition to stay in office.

*Sorry, I don't remember who I stole that from.

What the fuck with these people?

 

Maybe the judges are just looking for someone with some decent qualifications and the intelligence to perform the job.

So...do we not have a US attorney in New Jersey, or does Alina get to stay?

Well, that's an easy fix.

On the other hand, I imagine they would like to leave it as is, since their main objective at every turn seems to be to flout the law.

Support our troops

 Used to be the Republican battle cry, insinuating that "the libs" don't.

The stupid - it hurts

 

Sad!

Apparently Habba wasn't "all that" after all.

SHE'LL be better served?  Not the country?  Quiet part out loud.

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

He has the best lawyers

For an officer of the court, wouldn't that normally be cause for disbarment?

The case is one brought by Alice Bianco, a former waitress at Trump's New Jersey Bedminster golf club.

Bianco’s lawsuit against Bedminster [...] opens up Habba to a possible ethics investigation that could put her professional credentials at risk. New Jersey Superior Court Judge Joseph L. Rea, who oversaw the club lawsuit, hinted at a possible subsequent investigation in handwritten notes he scribbled at the bottom of a court order last December.

Citing the state’s Code of Judicial Conduct, Rea promised to “take appropriate action” with Habba “if this court receives reliable information indicating a substantial likelihood that a lawyer has committed a violation of the rules of professional conduct … that raises a substantial question as to the lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness as a lawyer.”

[...]

Habba’s professional ethics were called into question last year when [Bianco] sued the golf club for having allegedly “defrauded” her into accepting $15,000 on the condition that she keep quiet about sexual harassment allegations.

[...]

In March, the club agreed to void the hush money deal in a settlement agreement, let [Bianco] keep the cash and [to] pay her lawyer, Nancy Erika Smith, $82,500 in fees. But the club cut Habba out of that settlement, leaving her wide open to getting personally sued for her role in the ordeal.

Habba and Bianco attended mediation and later agreed to settle the matter out of court.

  Notus

Surprisingly, it wasn't Trump who was harassing Bianco. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was a manager at a Trump business.

[Originally,] Bianco hired an employment lawyer to consider her options and discussed the [harassment] matter with coworkers. Then, she was approached by Habba, who portrayed herself as a concerned friend willing to give legal advice. At the time, Bianco only knew Habba as a member of the social club who loved to grab the microphone on party nights and belt out songs in the dining hall.

[...]

Habba ultimately convinced Bianco to ditch the lawyer and go with her instead — then advised the waitress to sign a hush money deal that would keep the club out of news headlines and leave Bianco with a paltry sum, per text messages cited in the lawsuit. When Bianco later discovered she owed taxes on the $15,000 she had received, Habba gave her the cold shoulder.

“I can’t technically give u legal advice,” Habba texted back, in a message attached to the lawsuit. “That’s the problem.”

Hmmmmm. Seems like she already had.

[Bianco and a new attorney] pieced together a timeline that they believe shows how Habba silenced Bianco to cozy up to Trump.

And how Habba's still there is a testament to Trump not giving a rat's ass if his represenatives are either capable or legit, as long as his freedom isn't on the line.

Habba also represented Trump when he sued The New York Times and three investigative reporters over a Pulitzer Prize-winning story in 2018 about his family’s tax practices — a lawsuit that remains active against the former president’s niece, Mary Trump, but resulted in him having to pay the newspaper $392,639 in attorney’s fees. Habba also represented Trump in his shotgun pleading against former rival Hillary Clinton, which was tossed out by a federal judge who called out Trump’s “pattern of misusing the courts to serve political purposes” and found Trump and Habba jointly and severally liable for $937,989.

Habba has since elevated her prominence in the Trump 2024 campaign, speaking at rallies and continuing to defend him on conservative news networks.

Nothing is logical (or ethical) in Trumpland.

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

Trump trial date in New York

And I doubt if even a good lawyer could have gotten him out of this one.

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

UPDATE :07:25 pm:

She was "just asking questions"

But she probably already accomplished what she intended: rile up the base and give them a talking point.

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

UPDATE 01:38 pm:  Yep.  Just asking questions.

Look at her footnote.

Alina Habba still digging herself deeper

Suddenly, now that she lost the case, she finds it "troublesome" that Judge Kaplan and Roberta Kaplan (no relation) both worked for the same huge law firm in the 90s even though they did not cross paths during that time.

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

UPDATE 01/31/2024:

But she probably already accomplished what she intended: rile up the base and give them a talking point.

And it shows

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

UPDATE 02/17/2024:

Well, she's still his lawyer.

Excerpt:

In his ruling, Judge Engoron noted that the only error the defendants conceded during the trial was the tripling of the size of the Trump Tower penthouse.

The judge also listed previous cases in which the Trump Organization had been found liable of fraud, arguing the more there is "evidence of defendants' ongoing propensity to engage in fraud", the more need there is to impose harsher penalties.

"This is not [the] defendants' first rodeo," Judge Engoron noted.

Throughout the trial, Mr Trump made unsubstantiated and derogatory statements about the attorney-general, claiming she was corrupt and racist.

He also attacked the judge and his clerk, resulting in the imposition of a gag order, which he subsequently violated.

Former New York federal prosecutor Mitchell Epner described the legal tactic Mr Trump's attorneys adopted as being a "scorched earth defence".

He argued the use of that strategy had backfired.

"To attack the court and the attorney-general in personal terms at every opportunity," likely gave rise to the court imposing the harshest possible financial penalties, Mr Epner said.

[...]

"Justice Engoron made it clear that he was not impressed by Donald Trump's attacks, that he takes those attacks as evidence that Donald Trump is highly likely to repeat all of the misconduct that he's already found."

  ABC

Some post-award analyses

To have a meritorious appeal, you have to preserve a reversible error at the trial level. This is why you hire competent counsel. You need someone who actually knows the rules of evidence and procedure.

Alina Habba had no clue what was occurring throughout the trial. She not only failed to preserve any remote grounds for appeal, like a moron, she repeatedly and unintentionally waived them over and over.

For example, she kept saying "no objection" as exhibits were entered into evidence.

[...]

There's no appeal here. And because people have asked me in the past, no, there is no such thing as an incompetent counsel defense in civil cases. That's for criminal matters.

  Brian Manookian

Yeah, they don't like losers.

Mr. Trump can pay the $83.3 million to the court, which will hold the money while the appeal is pending. This is what he did last year when a jury ordered him to pay Ms. Carroll $5.5 million in a related case.

Or, Mr. Trump can try to secure a bond, which will save him from having to pay the full amount up front.

A bond might require him to pay a deposit and offer collateral, and would come with interest and fees. It would also require Mr. Trump to find a financial institution willing to lend him a large sum of money at a time when he is in significant legal jeopardy.

[...]

Mr. Trump has tapped his political action committee’s coffers to pay for his own legal fees and other expenses stemming from his criminal indictments and civil trials.

Yet $83.3 million eclipses the amount in his political accounts. The verdict on Friday will require Mr. Trump to reach into his own pocket.

Still, if the verdict survives Mr. Trump’s appeals, Ms. Carroll should eventually be paid.

[...]

He has enough cash to cover the verdict in various accounts, a person close to him said. In recent years, Mr. Trump has unloaded several assets, including his Washington hotel, which sold for $375 million.

Yet the verdict on Friday is not the only payout upcoming for Mr. Trump. The New York attorney general is seeking a $370 million penalty from the former president and his family business as part of a civil fraud trial that wrapped up this month.

The judge in that case is expected to issue a decision in the coming weeks.

  NYT

Couldn't happen to a more deserving person.

Or his attorney.  Jesus Christ, this woman.

UPDATE 01/27/2024:

How'd that go for you, beautiful?

P.S.  I expect Jared might come across with Trump's dollar damages.  After all, it's because of Trump that he got $2 BILLION from the Saudis.

UPDATE 

I don't think there is a number big enough to shut him up.  I still think he'll get the money to pay damages from MAGA dupes and Jared, who got $2 BILLION from Saudi Arabia because of his relationship to Trump.

UPDATE 01/28/2024:

I don't think there is a number big enough to shut him up.  I still think he'll get the money to pay damages from MAGA dupes and Jared, who got $2 BILLION from Saudi Arabia because of his relationship to Trump.

Trump at closing arguments as it happened

His instructions were that Trump's guilt was already decided in a previous trial and they are not to try to relitigate that question.

I would have loved it if someone had pulled out this photo right then:

Really?  Five hours?  MAGAts are still learning about what he said several days later.  I'd give it five days at least.

(Inner City Press says Trump posts on Truth Social are taking place while he's here in the courtroom.  I'm guessing he's got one of his lackeys posting shit.)

When she sticks to the rules, Habba makes decent points.  She probably should have steered clear of objectional claims that got her in trouble with the judge.  But I guess that depends on the jury.

Well, she's a Trump lawyer.

His two things: "You can be wrecked inside but also have moments of triumph."

Habba tried to dismiss the plaintiff's expert witness' assessment of damage reparations.  She laughed at the expert noting that only Trump's supporters believed him ("Duh!" she snarked) and that reparation of Carroll's reputation could be effected by Joe Rogan and Candace Owens. ("What planet is she living on?") This is Crowley's response:

Say what, Judge?  I hope he clears that up in jury instructions.

"When you're a star, they let you do it."

$7.3M general damages, $11M reputational repair, $65M punitive damages.  Unanimous decision.

It's not going to be enough to stop him.*  And I assume they'll appeal the verdict anyway.

This is in addition to $5 million awarded at the original trial for sexual abuse.  I have a feeling she'll have a hard time collecting any of it.  

Coward.

"And the Republican Party" ???  And...what does Biden have to do with a private citizen's lawsuit?

Pretty much what you'd say to a mob trial jury.**

UPDATE 01/27/2024:

UPDATE 01/29/2024:

*

**