Update from the Sunland
No.1200
6.1.24 – 12.1.25
Blog version: http://heartlandupdate.blogspot.com/
To all,
The follow-up news items:
-- President-elect [no name] filed an emergency application for a stay of his sentencing in the New York business fraud felony case—People of New York v. Trump [NYSC, Cty of NY Indictment No. 71543/2023] [1107, 1168]. In addition to multiple delays at [no name]’s behest, the last stay application sought to delay sentencing until after his second term as president [2029]. On Thursday, the day before his often-delayed and scheduled sentencing, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its summary judgment regarding the stay application. They denied the request in a 5-4 decision—Trump v. New York [604 U.S. 24A666]. [Any guesses as to which justices would have granted the stay application?] The Court declared that [no name]’s challenge of the alleged evidentiary violations could be heard in the routine appeal process. Further, they stated that the sentencing action would offer only a minor burden on the president-elect. On Friday, Judge Merchan allowed [no name] to escape justice by rendering a sentence of “unconditional discharge,” meaning [no name] suffers no penalty whatsoever for his crimes—no prison, no fine, no probation, no parole, nothing. The judge’s action is one step short of vacating the jury’s verdict.
I had tried to avoid reading Judge Merchan’s reasoning for the “unconditional discharge” ruling but further resistance became futile. On 3.January.2025, Judge Merchan issued his Decision and Order regarding the “Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss the Indictment and Vacate the Jury’s Verdict.” The judge was kind and generous with his words of rejection to the defendant’s delay request. In his conclusion, Judge Merchan stated, “As such; in balancing the aforementioned considerations in conjunction with the underlying concerns of the Presidential immunity doctrine, a sentence of an unconditional discharge appears to be the most viable solution to ensure finality and allow Defendant to pursue his appellate options.” From my perspective, he offered woefully insufficient rationale or justification for his reaching that conclusion. As a consequence, I am left with the question, who got to Judge Merchan?
In the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision—Trump v. United States [603 U. S. 593 (2024)] [1173]—the Court concluded (and I quote exactly):
“The President enjoys no immunity for his unofficial acts, and not everything the President does is official. The President is not above the law. But Congress may not criminalize the President’s conduct in carrying out the responsibilities of the Executive Branch under the Constitution. And the system of separated powers designed by the Framers has always demanded an energetic, independent Executive. The President therefore may not be prosecuted for exercising his core constitutional powers, and he is entitled, at a minimum, to a presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts. That immunity applies equally to all occupants of the Oval Office, regardless of politics, policy, or party.” (emphasis mine)
The key and operative words of the immunity ruling is “his official acts.” Neither Judge Merchan, nor other judges I have read so far, have addressed the “official acts” element of the Supreme’s directive. Now, that stated, the difficulty faced by judges (Merchan and others), especially in on-going cases, is the judicial determination of whether the defendant’s (perpetrator’s) criminal acts were within the domain of “his official acts”? No judge that I know of, including Merchan, has yet faced that essential finding. What bothers me immensely in [no name]’s business fraud felony case is none of the acts for which he was convicted were even remotely within even the most liberal interpretation of Section II of the U.S. Constitution. Some of the acts for which he was convicted occurred when he was a candidate, not president. He had NO immunity for what he did in the furtherance of his fraud. As such, I contend that consideration of or application of the Supreme Court’s Trump v. U.S. decision in the People of New York v. Trump case is wrong and should not have been given a breath of air, set aside the light of day. The sad reality is the Supreme Court’s immunity decision has absolutely nothing to do with the business fraud case. The Supreme’s ruling stated that the president had immunity from prosecution for action taken pursuant to the duties of the president. Judge Marchan addresses presidential immunity at length. However, he does NOT illuminate the essential feature of the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling—performing duties of the president. Were [no name]’s crimes part of his official duties?
The Defendant sought to extend presidential immunity to president-elect immunity. And, oh heck, if we have presidential-elect immunity, why not presidential-candidate immunity or thinking-about-running-for-president immunity. Since he wants us on that crooked road, let us just give immunity from criminal prosecution to everyone. Why not?
No one can say he is not audacious. However, that does not make him correct. Nothing in the business fraud case had anything to do with or even remotely associated with the duties of the Office of the President.
I do not have the disposition to be a judge or even a lawyer. At the very best, I am only an interested student of the law—the history, the evolution, and the language of the law. Judge Merchan (and all other judges) is not God, nor is he even a god. Like all other judges, he is a flawed human being chosen (appointed or elected) to sit as an arbiter of the law, to interpret the law as it applies to the facts in any particular case. He has done his duty. That said, I believe Judge Merchan showed far too much deference to [no name] who is just another citizen, which entitles him to no more nor less respect under the law. At the end of the day, as a result of his failure to address the “official duties” aspect of the Supreme Court’s immunity decision, he failed to fulfill his responsibility to ensure equal justice under the law. Regardless, it is now water under the bridge. We move on.
The gift that just keeps giving and giving.
Judge Aileen Mercedes Cannon, you may remember Judge Cannon, she was the one who dismissed the case against [no name] in the classified documents case because she determined that Special Counsel Jack Smith did not have the authority to prosecute the case. Anyway, the judge issued an injunction temporarily blocking the public release of the two-part Smith report—Part 1: the classified documents case [1117, 1175], and Part 2: the election interference case [1125]. She indicated the duration was the injunction was three days to preserve the “status quo” and allow the 11thCircuit Court of Appeals to render judgement. Two days later, on Thursday, the 11th Circuit denied the defendants’ motion without proffered rationale, but they left the stay in place to allow the defendants to further appeal to the Supreme Court. While we do not have any direct public evidence, it is my guess that [no name] will insist upon an appeal to the Supremes. We shall await their ruling.
Also, at the end of the week and not unexpectedly, Special Counsel Jack Smith resigned from the Justice Department, an unfortunate loss for We, the People.
An interesting footnote: [no name] has been removed from the defendants listing in the classified documents case, which is the basis of Cannon’s authority to issue a temporary injunction blocking release of the Smith report. Gee, I wonder who is paying all the lawyers for this appeal process?
Comments and contributions from Update no.1199:
Comment to the Blog:
“I support your essay on conservatives. Those who call themselves conservatives nowadays want privileges that haven’t legally existed for decades.
“The two attacks with pickup trucks on New Year’s Day don’t look alike. I see distinct differences in method, motivation, and symbolism. The New Orleans attacker planned to kill many people and used fairly typical terrorist methods, including a Ford truck. The Las Vegas bomber did little harm to others and used the striking symbolism of a Cybertruck in front of a Trump sign. Also, the Las Vegas bomber didn’t use the most destructive materials; he was setting up a photo rather than harming people. Any Special Forces soldier could do far more destruction. Their stated motivations differ as well, although the quotes I’ve seen from the Las Vegas bomber are less coherent.
“I’m ashamed that Judge Merchan yielded to the Chump (if that holds up).”
My response to the Blog:
That is certainly how contemporary American politics appears to me as well. I am beginning to view contemporary conservatism as a disease, an infection, a plague. I remember from my childhood being exposed to the John Birch Society via my father and having the distinct feeling “this is not right.” I have seen my political thinking as fiscally conservative, socially liberal. Then, American conservativism mutated into a more contemptible ideology (to me) during the Nixon administration. It is during that era that I became more intellectually aware of what I now call “moral projection” or social conservatism. It was in that time frame that I bolted from any semblance of that metamorphoses.
The object of my little ditty was “coincidences.” It was not an analysis of the two events. I am not disputing the FBIs preliminary assessment. I was only noting that there were far too many coincidences for my liking.
I would use stronger descriptors for Judge Merchan’s stance on the sentencing of [no name]. When the “unconditional discharge” term was publicly used in connection with sentencing for [no name]’s felony conviction, my immediate thought was, “Who got to Merchan?” I expect a written decision that I really want to read. I thought Ford’s pardon of Nixon was wrong (then and now). I see the whole dismantling of the prosecution and punishment of [no name] for his multitudinous federal and state crimes as far, far worse and ominous for the future of this once grand republic. I am deeply disturbed by the extent to which so many Americans have bought, consumed, and are now afflicted with the disease induced by that man’s worthless snake-oil elixir. He has planted seeds that will gestate long after he is dead and gone.
The thought has come to me more than a few times lately, I suppose I should just adopt the same apathetic attitude as far too many Americans did in the last election. “What, Me Worry?” As long as that man’s antics do not affect my remaining years of life, so what. He and his believers are a distant pestilence.
. . . Round two:
“The FBI will continue to study the two attacks. The only resemblances I saw were the timing and the fact that both attackers had military backgrounds. I thought the timing is explained by how many people are afraid of this year. Military backgrounds are pretty common in terrorist attacks, too, so I look for other factors.
“Comparing the Chump’s civil and criminal outcomes to those of any ordinary American is a disturbing exercise.
“I’m not sure what thought you refer to about ‘apathetic attitudes.’ The Chump’s antics (and those of his inner circle) affect every American life every day.”
. . . my response to round two:
Specific elements of either incident can be explained in speculation. Again, I was only reacting to the coincidences in the public facts of the two incidents. Yes, the FBI investigations continue and will do so for months, if not years. An interesting side note: I suspect the Las Vegas perpetrator had not considered the sturdiness of the cybertruck’s cargo bed. Further, I also suspect he expected far greater collateral damage than he actually achieved. But hey, that’s just my opinion and supposition.
OK. I can agree with that. I think it safe to say, he is above the law, not quite to the sovereign immunity associated with the divine right of kings, but about as close as we have ever come since the founding of the Republic. And worse, 77M citizens gave him that power.
We have disagreed about a citizen’s duty to vote, and I have no desire to rekindle that argument. I must confess that I do not feel any direct (or even indirect) effect on my life from [no name]’s shenanigans and his bilking of the American people. That may and perhaps likely will change as he presses his destruction. Sure, he is corroding the very fabric of the Republic, but frankly, I blame the 10M+ citizens who chose NOT to vote in the last election. As an accomplished con-man, [no name] simply capitalized on a tenuous coalition of ultra-right, social conservative, fascist, white nationalist, Christian right, et al factions that have existed in this country for decades. He sold 77M people his worthless snake-oil, and those citizens freely bought it and consumed that elixir.
. . . Round three:
“The driver in the Las Vegas bombing was an active-duty Green Beret. Do you really think he didn’t know how to blow things up?
“Were you a minority in any way or living below the mean income, you’d have seen effects on your life from the Chump’s first term, which he plans to expand on. I’ll say again that it didn’t have to be this individual; some ‘leader’ would have arisen in the situation the oligarchs created, just as Hitler, Mussolini, or Netanyahu didn’t have to be that specific person.”
. . . my response to round three:
I do not know if the Las Vegas perpetrator had training or experience with explosives. Just because he was a Green Beret does not mean he was accomplished with explosives. Second, my point was the strength of the cybertruck cargo bed. The explosion went up, not out.
Got me. You pegged me correctly. I am neither in a minority group nor is our income below the mean income level. I will not argue your point. I will only note that the U.S. Supreme Court has gone farther than any other institution to solidify the influence of the contemporary oligarchs with their abysmal Citizens United [558 U.S. 310 (2010)] [424] decision. We have gone through and survived other eras of oligarchs, e.g., the robber barons. The jury is still out whether we will survive this rendition.
Another contribution:
“We’re watching your former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral, he was good man and appreciated by many.
“And the fires raging in LA. These dates that are not for remembering.”
My reply:
Yes, he was a very good man, perhaps the most decent and respectable person to ever serve as president. For a long time, I listed Carter as the worst president for a host of reasons, not least of which was the gross interference in Operation EAGLE CLAW. I laud his initiative to attempt the rescue but wholly condemn what he and his SecDef did during the operation. A lot of good Americans died. I will say that his status on my list has changed. He was supplanted as the worst long ago by [no name].
The fires in LA are a genuine tragedy of gargantuan proportions. The outrageous MAGAts are pointing their crooked fingers at Governor Newsom, blaming him for the tragedy. It is disgusting.
Life goes on.
My very best wishes to all. Take care of yourselves and each other.
Cheers,
Cap :-)
