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☆ A moment of truth is fast approaching for both Trump and the DOJ
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

She then rebuffed White House condemnations of her comments by insisting she was joking. Smith has also issued a flurry of grand jury subpoenas since Thanksgiving, including to ex-Trump adviser Stephen Miller and two former White legal counsels. A judge on Monday formally dismissed Trump’s case challenging the Mar-a-Lago evidence collection and in which she had appointed a special master. If a moment of truth is approaching for Trump, the same can be said of Garland and the DOJ. Trump has already tried to use claims that justice is being weaponized against him as rocket fuel for his 2024 presidential bid.

☆ The federal judge who appointed Trump's special master just threw out his lawsuit against the FBI's raid of Mar-a-Lago
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Jake Epstein | Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A federal judge officially dismissed the special master reviewing documents seized at Mar-a-Lago. Judge Aileen Cannon wrote in a Monday one-page order that she was dismissing the case because of a "lack of jurisdiction." A three-judge federal appeals court on December 2 wrote a scathing decision overturning Cannon's initial decision to side with Trump and grant him a special master to review documents taken in the FBI's search. During a search of Mar-a-Lago on August 8, the FBI seized boxes of materials, some highly classified, according to court records. Trump has without evidence accused the FBI of planting materials at his home, and the special master, Senior Judge Raymond Dearie, said Trump's team must provide evidence to support their claims.

☆ Judge dismisses Trump's case challenging Mar-a-Lago document seizure after appeals court ends special master review
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

An aerial view of former U.S. President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home after Trump said that FBI agents raided it, in Palm Beach, Florida, August 15, 2022. Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, signed a one-page order dismissing the case for lack of jurisdiction. That includes Trump's effort to obtain an unredacted version of the search warrant affidavit that was used to sanction the raid. Cannon in September had appointed retired Judge Raymond Dearie as special master, while she blocked the Justice Department from reviewing the seized materials as part of a criminal investigation. A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled Dec. 1 that Cannon should not have appointed the special master, writing that she "improperly exercised" an expansion of her jurisdiction.

☆ Kevin McCarthy's oversight agenda will be 'a recurring skit on SNL' if he makes MAGA cheerleaders Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert investigators: GOP strategists
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert want in on the GOP oversight blitz. the Oversight Committee member said of the need to keep congressional probes above board. McCarthy's office has repeatedly told Insider that the House GOP steering committee, which McCarthy leads, will handle assignments for the next Congress "at the appropriate time." Aaron Cutler, a former House GOP leadership aide and now partner at Hogan Lovells, urged House Republicans to avoid "focusing on the wrong things," and to cut bait if needed. Michael Reynolds-Pool/Getty ImagesGiven that some sort of spectacle is probably unavoidable at this point, Roe urged House Republicans to tread carefully.

Smith takes over a staff that’s already nearly twice the size of Robert Mueller’s team of lawyers who worked on the Russia probe. Smith will also take on national security investigators already working the probe into the potential mishandling of federal records taken to Mar-a-Lago after Trump left the White House. Those lawyers maintain the former president is unlikely to be indicted, according to two sources familiar. Special Counsel Robert Mueller makes a statement about the Russia investigation on May 29, 2019 at the Justice Department in Washington, DC. Trump allies have consistently maintained that nothing Trump did related to the election and January 6 itself amounts to a crime.

☆ Trump's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad campaign kickoff
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | Sonam Sheth | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Trump pledged when he launched his 2024 campaign that "America's comeback starts right now." Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell also said Trump's actions make him less likely to be the party's nominee. Trump endorsed Florida Sen. Rick Scott in the contest, but McConnell handily defeated Scott, another sign of Trump's slipping hold on the Republican Party. The DA's office notched a huge victory this week when a jury convicted the Trump Organization of nine tax-fraud counts. US District Judge Beryl Howell has not made a final decision on the request to hold Trump's team in contempt of court, according to The Post.

☆ The DOJ has asked a court to hold Trump's office in contempt in the Mar-a-Lago documents case
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Sonam Sheth | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The Justice Department has asked a federal judge to hold former President Donald Trump's office in contempt of court for failing to comply with a subpoena for all the classified documents Trump took from the White House, The Washington Post reported. Trump's team initially turned over 15 boxes of documents to the National Archives in January. The DOJ's request for US District Judge Beryl Howell to hold Trump's team in contempt is indicative of the increasingly combative nature of prosecutors' communications with Trump's office. The report said that Trump's team has refused to designate a custodian despite months of back and forth. Those include the Mar-a-Lago records case as well as the department's inquiry into events surrounding the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.

WHITE HOUSE RUNOn Nov. 15 Trump launched his campaign for the Republican nomination to take on Democratic President Joe Biden. NEW YORK CRIMINAL PROBEAfter Tuesday's verdict in the tax fraud case, the New York state judge set sentencing for Jan. 13. GEORGIA ELECTION TAMPERING PROBEA special grand jury was empanelled in May for a Georgia prosecutor's inquiry into Trump's alleged efforts to influence that state's 2020 election results. Trump asked Raffensperger to "find" enough votes needed to overturn Trump's election loss in Georgia. Legal experts said Trump may have violated at least three Georgia criminal election laws: conspiracy to commit election fraud, criminal solicitation to commit election fraud and intentional interference with performance of election duties.

☆ Lawyers reportedly found more classified government documents in Trump's Florida storage units alongside 'swords and wrestling belts'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Trump hired the team himself to do a more thorough search pursuant to a subpoena request. The documents were found with suits, swords, and wrestling belts, a source told the Washington Post. The FBI executed a search warrant at Trump's Mar-a-Lago country club estate in August, believing Trump's lawyers didn't comply with the earlier subpoena. According to the Post, Trump hired an outside law firm to conduct additional searches to comply with instructions by Chief US District Judge Beryl A. Howell. A person familiar with the search told the Post that the Florida storage unit was not cataloged and contained an assortment of gifts and clothing.

☆ Trump legal team locates two more classified records, source says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Steve Holland | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Dec 7 (Reuters) - A team that Donald Trump hired to search for White House documents found at least two classified records at the former president's Florida home, a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. Prosecutors are also looking into whether Trump or his team obstructed justice when the FBI sent agents to search his home. Officials have said more classified documents may still be missing. Garland appointed Smith as special counsel to ensure the probe was independent of U.S. President Joe Biden, who may face Trump again in the 2024 election. Trump has faced a series of legal setbacks over the past week, including a Tuesday verdict that his company was guilty of tax fraud.

Special counsel Jack Smith has subpoenaed local officials in key presidential swing states for any and all communications involving former President Donald Trump, his campaign and a series of aides and allies who assisted in his effort to overturn the 2020 election. A spokesperson for Milwaukee County Clerk George Christenson confirmed that Smith’s office had sent a subpoena. Scott McDonnell, the Dane County clerk, confirmed to NBC News that his county had received a virtually identical subpoena as Milwaukee. An Arizona elections official confirmed that Maricopa County had received such a subpoena this month with similar demands for those communications. "Maricopa County has received a subpoena and will comply," Fields Moseley, a county spokesperson, said.

WASHINGTON, Dec 6 (Reuters) - The special counsel overseeing two federal investigations related to Donald Trump has issued grand jury subpoenas to local election officials in Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin as part of an inquiry into efforts to overturn the Republican former president's loss in the 2020 U.S. election. The subpoenas also sought communications involving a list of Trump's attorneys during the 2020 campaign including Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Sidney Powell, Justin Clark, Jenna Ellis and Cleta Mitchell. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Nov. 18, three days after Trump announced his 2024 presidential run, appointed Smith to take over the two Justice Department investigations. A spokesperson for Arizona's Maricopa County confirmed receiving a subpoena and said officials will comply, but declined to give further details. The subpoenas sent to officials in Wisconsin, Arizona and Michigan resemble the ones previously sent to other witnesses including Republican Party leaders and state elected officials in key states from the 2020 election.

NEW YORK CRIMINAL PROBEFollowing Tuesday's verdict, the New York state judge set a sentencing date for Jan. 13. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Nov. 18, three days after Trump announced his 2024 presidential run, appointed Jack Smith special counsel to take over two Justice Department investigations. Trump has accused the Justice Department of engaging in a partisan witch hunt. Trump asked Raffensperger to "find" enough votes needed to overturn Trump's election loss in Georgia. Legal experts said Trump may have violated at least three Georgia criminal election laws: conspiracy to commit election fraud, criminal solicitation to commit election fraud and intentional interference with performance of election duties.

☆ Justice Department subpoenas officials in 3 states for communications with Trump in expansion of January 6 probe
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Special counsel Jack Smith subpoenaed election officials for communications with Trump. These are the first known subpoenas issued by Smith. AG Merrick Garland recently appointed Smith to oversee criminal investigations involving Trump. The subpoenas were sent in recent days to Dane County, Wisconsin; Maricopa County, Arizona; Wayne County, Michigan; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, per the Post. All three states were at the heart of Trump's effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

☆ Manhattan DA's office hires attorney with extensive experience investigating Trump, suing his administration
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Manhattan DA's office has hired Matthew Colangelo as it heats up investigations into Trump. Colangelo oversaw lawsuits against the Trump administration while he worked at the NY AG's office. He also spearheaded the lawsuit that led to the dissolution of the Trump Foundation. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg overlapped with Colangelo at the New York attorney general's office during the Trump years. At the time, Bragg had taken over the office from Cyrus Vance Jr., the district attorney who initiated the investigation.

☆ Ex-federal prosecutor Elie Honig says Trump calling for the 'termination' of the Constitution is 'wrong, crazy, and dangerous'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Trump on Saturday floated the "termination" of the Constitution over his 2020 election claims. Ex-federal prosecutor and CNN legal analyst Elie Honig called the comments "wrong" and "dangerous." A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution," Trump wrote. I'll just summarize in response to Donald Trump's statement to say that virtually every word of that statement is wrong, crazy, and dangerous. The Department of Justice is currently investigating Trump's efforts to remain in office after his 2020 election loss to now-President Joe Biden.

☆ Appeals court stops the special master review of government records found at Trump's estate
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Azmi Haroun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

An appeals court ruled that a Special Master must stop reviewing Trump's Mar-a-Lago documents. Trump succeeded in having lower courts appoint a Special Master, delaying a federal investigation. The Special Master was set to review thousands of classified documents that the former president kept. In September, Florida Judge Aileen Cannon had appointed a special master in September, which the Justice Department appealed and which drew criticism from the Appeals court judges in their Thursday ruling. The move to appoint a special master opened an unprecedented Pandora's box of concerns for national security experts.

The 11th Circuit also overturned Cannon's decision to bar investigators from accessing most of the records pending the review. Trump is likely to appeal the 11th Circuit's action to the conservative-majority U.S. Supreme Court. Cannon appointed Raymond Dearie, another federal judge, at Trump's request to review the records to consider whether any should be walled off from the criminal investigation. Trump sued two weeks after the Mar-a-Lago raid, arguing that his status as a former president required a third-party review of the documents. Justice Department lawyers also said Trump, as a former president, cannot invoke executive privilege for documents that belong to the current executive branch of the U.S. government.

☆ Appeals court vacates order appointing Trump Mar-a-Lago search warrant watchdog
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

A member of the Secret Service is seen in front of the home of former President Donald Trump at Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida on August 9, 2022. Cannon also temporarily blocked the DOJ to review or use the seized documents for its investigation while Dearie's examination of them was pending. We cannot write a rule that allows any subject of a search warrant to block government investigations after the execution of the warrant," the panel wrote. Accordingly, we agree with the government that the district court improperly exercised equitable jurisdiction, and that dismissal of the entire proceeding is required." That justification would be the fact that Trump "is a former President of the United States," the appeals panel noted.

“In terms of thinking about what the mid- and long-term goals should be…the task force has been focused on facilitation networks, procurement networks, money-laundering networks,” he said. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | Risk and Compliance Journal Our Morning Risk Report features insights and news on governance, risk and compliance. Mr. Bonham-Carter worked primarily as a property manager for the Russian oligarch, according to the indictment. Bonham-Carter is a U.K. citizen, living in the U.K., arrested in the U.K.,” Mr. Adams said. In some cases, OFAC may not add companies that prosecutors deem are subject to the control of sanctioned oligarchs, he said.

☆ Trump brags that he 'openly and transparently' took government documents from the White House to Mar-a-Lago
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Sonam Sheth | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Trump boasted about "openly and transparently" moving official government records to Mar-a-Lago. The DOJ is investigating if Trump broke federal law when he moved and refused to return the documents after leaving the White House. "When will you invade the other Presidents' homes in search of documents, which are voluminous, which they took with them, but not nearly so openly and transparently as I did?" Trump wrote on his social media website, Truth Social. The Justice Department is currently investigating whether Trump broke federal law by moving documents to Mar-a-Lago upon leaving the White House.

☆ Indict Trump? It’s Still Merrick Garland’s Decision
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Rod Rosenstein | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

When Attorney General Merrick Garland announced on Nov. 18 that Jack Smith would take charge as special counsel in two high-profile criminal investigations of Donald Trump, he omitted an important detail: As head of the Justice Department, Mr. Garland will remain accountable for deciding whether to indict the former president. As Attorney General Janet Reno emphasized when she promulgated the special counsel regulations in 1999, “ultimate responsibility” for such investigations “will continue to rest with the Attorney General.” In other words, the special counsel isn’t fully independent. Their wide-ranging and long-lasting investigations led to bipartisan criticism of the independent-counsel model as having too much autonomy. Reno’s regulations sought to correct that imbalance by making special counsels analogous to U.S. attorneys, whose discretionary decisions about matters within their jurisdiction may be overturned by the attorney general. These regulations ensure oversight in six ways.

☆ Many of Donald Trump's legal problems are coming to an end as he launches his 3rd presidential run — but the biggest risks remain
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Donald Trump has steadfastly settled a number of major legal headaches in the lead-up to his 2024 run. In the lead-up to his announcement this month announcing a third presidential run, he cleared many of them away. Some of Trump's legal headaches he just can't get rid of, no matter how hard he rages. ...with a few major exceptionsTrump's most severe legal problems are also the ones he will have the most difficulty getting rid of. Trump's efforts to stay in power despite the will of American voters have also drawn scrutiny in Georgia.

☆ Retiring GOP Sen. Pat Toomey says he has 'no doubt' that Trump 'intended to thwart the outcome' of the 2020 election
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Sen. Toomey told KDKA his vote to convict Trump over his role on January 6 "was not a close call." "I have absolutely no doubt that ... Trump intended to thwart the outcome of the election," he said. "I have absolutely no doubt that President Trump intended to thwart the outcome of the election." When Toomey was asked if he had any regrets about the vote, the lawmaker was resolute in his thinking. But when asked if Trump should be tried criminally for his role, Toomey said the picture was more unclear in his eyes.

☆ As House Republicans plan an anti-Biden oversight blitz, supporters urge caution: 'Don't get too far ahead of yourselves'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

House Republicans are planning a slew of investigations now that they've reclaimed the majority. Supporters say GOP leaders need to be "deliberative" and "organized" about the promised probes. Matt Mackowiak, a former Senate GOP staffer who is now a Texas-based political consultant, advised House Republicans to focus on what matters most to voters. Rep. Connolly urged Republicans to tread carefully, vowing to "push back against any efforts that we believe are purely political and non-factual." Aides for McCarthy and Jordan did not immediately respond to requests for comment about any GOP calls to tread carefully next year.

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