nostr:npub19kr9jlq66y804t0a64adl39n5ztp3wunvaqv4q52k4cq3q685z2qu48m4r

For this to be contempt of court he has to violate a specific order.

There is no gag order and no protective order in place.

He was given a standard order not to break federal laws.

I now have enough to fill a blog post for the weekend.

(The people I get most annoyed with generally provide the inspirations my best blog posts 😂 )

Dear whoever is in charge:

I'd like nothing else to happen this week because I already have enough material.

Thank you.

If you have any questions about criminal law, or you are tempted to say:

🔹 There are never any real consequences

🔹Justice Delayed is Justice Denied

🔹If ___ doesn't happen, it means that rule of law is dead

🔹Any other oft-repeated talking point, please see this post:

https://terikanefield.com/frequently-asserted-rage-inducing-simplifications/

If you are saying "Lock him up" and "throw him in jail"

Edited: I am talking about reactions to Trump's social media posts.

Find the rule or statute Trump violated (there is no protective order yet and he has not been given a witness list.)

Find the instance in which Trump violated a rule of order.

Compare the facts (what Trump did) to the elements of the crime or the rule.

Analyze if he committed a crime or violated an order.

Check f his speech was protected under the First Amendment.

Yesterday, I got very testy.

I thought about it 🤔 and I understand why.

From the left are coming cries of LOCK HIM UP BRING DOWN THE HAMMER

These are fascist chants and strongman worship.

Rule of law is deliberate and follows procedures.

I see people who should know better chanting LOCK HIM UP.

Two causes:

(1) Trump taught everyone to worship and crave a strongman.

(2) The nature of social media is turning us all into authoritarians.

Never imitate what is ugly.

Trump is putting his political needs ahead of his need as a criminal defendant.

This is not stupid because his only hope right now is to keep his grip on the Republican Party.

Adding: The DOJ took care not to indict him as a two-bit bullying thug. We have known that about Trump for years and he has a huge following because people like bullies.

The DOJ wants this to be about an illegal attempt to overturn the election.

That's where the focus should stay.

5/

This ploy only works because social media is a rage-generating machine.

If you picked up the newspaper once each day, or twice each day, this ploy would not work.

But everyone has to chase the latest shiny thing.

So Trump puts out a shiny thing, which is no different from what he has been doing for years, and everyone chases the shiny thing as if it is somehow brand new.

And they stopped talking about what matters: An indictment to overturn the election.

4/

Let me tell you how smart this is.

It's been a few years now, so people are forgetting how Trump controls the national narrative.

He doesn't want people talking about the evidence that he intentionally overturned the election.

So he will go on Truth Social and post things that are inflammatory but not illegal.

Many of his critics will take the bait and start shouting: LOCK HIM UP LOCK HIM UP (over his social media posts.)

This becomes all anyone talks about.

3/

Apparently Trump attorney John Lauro is on every Sunday show espousing a free speech defense.

Meanwhile, Trump is posting unhinged rants that he can argue fall within his free speech rights. (He can offer opinions, etc. What he can't do is disseminate confidential grand jury material.)

Given Lauro is out there trying to turn Trump's indictment into a First Amendment issue, I believe that the "legal strategy" right now is to try to turn this into a case about freedom of speech.

2/

A few thoughts about Trump's latest unhinged rants.

He really wanted this case to be about his First Amendment rights. The DOJ sidestepped that in the indictment.

(I explained in my weekend blog post: https://terikanefield.com/criminal-law-101-trumps-j6-indictment/)

So he's pushing it right now to see if he can bait the DOJ and court into a quarrel about what he has a First Amendment right to say.

Musing: If he breaks a law (disseminating confidential GJ material) the remedy could be an entirely separate indictment.

I have this week's blog post ready.

As promised, I answered questions about the indictment, including "Does the DOJ have to prove that Trump knew he lost the election?"

Put on your nerd glasses and get ready for Criminal Law 101.

You'll be ready to respond to much of the nonsense out there.

https://terikanefield.com/criminal-law-101-trumps-j6-indictment/

One day I will write a piece on how I became a defense lawyer. It was NOT my plan when I went to law school. (I thought I would practice First Amendment law).

Then you will know why I respected this DOJ from the beginning.

And why I knew all along that they were going for Trump and they were going to get him.

(I felt like I was staking my reputation on that in 2021 and 2022, but silly me. I didn't know how the Internet works. People are wrong and everyone forgets 😂 )

At the same time, the DOJ's cool filing asking for a protective order shows that they will immediately use to their advantage any of Trump's usual shenanigans.

They know who they are dealing with.

Trump only knows how to deal with people who bully back. He is outclassed.

Trump is a criminal defendant. In the contest between defendant and government, the government has all the power.

That's why defendants have rights.

Trump is powerless right now.

3/

They don't want to go after Trump as a third-rate mob boss who blusters and threatens people.

Those are a dime a dozen and everyone knew this about Trump when he was elected president in 2016.

They want to nail him as the first president in United States history to make a serious effort to overturn a presidential election and remain in power.

Type #1: Third rate mobster. A dime a dozen.

Type #2: The would-be tryant trying to subvert the Constitution itself.

2/

My response to all the people saying "Trump needs to be treated like the rest of us if we were criminal defendants."

Most people get third-rate low level prosecutors who shake their fists and bluster and screw up and give the defense lots of openings.

Trump is getting special treatment: The nation's best prosecutors.

After mulling over the indictment, here is what I think . . .

1/

Of course his response this morning was a lie, but this was the fight he wanted:

Trump: DON"T COME AFTER ME.

Jack Smith: "look, he is threatening me."

Trump: WHAT A UNHINGED NUT. I WAS TALKING ABOUT X NOT HIM.

Then all his right-wing buddies show that Trump's political speech is being criminalized.

Instead of getting the fight he wiwanted and "winning" Trump folded and lost.

3/

Here is what happened.

Trump's post carefully gave him deniability and wiggle room.

Then, the DOJ filed this request for a protective order:

https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/legaldocs/zdpxrdrggpx/2023.08.04%20Protective%20Order%20Motion%20fnl.docx.pdf

Really, you have to read it. The DOJ response is calm, measured, subtle, understated.

They didn't take the bait.

They were planning to ask for this protective order anyway. They are basically saying, "Your honor, this is who we are dealing with," but I the tone of the adult in the room.

2/

If you missed this from last night: https://law-and-politics.online/@Teri_Kanefield/110835182203793508

Trump posted "IF YOU COME AFTER ME I AM COMING AFTER YOU" and the DOJ gave a pitch-perfect response.

This morning, Trump posted this:⤵️

It looks to me like a backpedal.

This is Trump talk for "I didn't mean it the way it sounded, Your Honor."

This DOJ knows know to deal with him.

Someone on Twitter reminded of this: “Never wrestle with pigs. You both get dirty and the pig likes it.”

― George Bernard Shaw

Notice: Trump's post doesn't name anyone.

He's a mobster. He knows how to give himself deniability.

He's testing the waters. The response will baffle him because he doesn't understand restrained subtlety.

2/

I just read several responses from lawyers with experience in criminal law, and the best response came from Elizabeth de la Vega.

See the screenshot for her response.

My view: calm, restrained understatement is most effective.

Responding to Trump's fist-shaking with more fist-shaking elevates Trump.

Smith has the power. Trump has none.

Smith doesn't need to threaten or bluster.

Trump's post doesn't name anyone. He's a mobster. He knows how to give himself deniability.

1/