BC POLITICS
Saved by @SteveeRogerr

OK. The Teams meeting that I unsuccessfully evaded (and which was actually a lot of fun and I'm really genuinely happy I was reminded to attend) is over, so let's take another swing at looking at the latest filings from in re Gondor.

 As far as I can tell from the docket, this is the FOURTH attempt in a week to get a TRO; the question the judge will ask if they ever figure out how to get the judge's attention will be "couldn't you have served by now;" and this whole thing is a mess.

https://t.co/PvaxB7Nkhi
The memorandum in support of this one is 9 pages, and should go pretty quick.

But they still haven't figured out widow/orphan issues.

https://t.co/l7EDatDudy
It appears that the opening of this particular filing is going to proceed on the theme of "we are big mad at @SollenbergerRC" which is totally something relevant when you are asking a District Court to temporarily annihilate the US Government on an ex parte basis.
Also, if they didn't want their case to be known as "in re Gondor" they really shouldn't have gone with the (non-literary) "Gondor has no king" quote.
But anyway they want to make it clear that their suit, no matter how we read all that stuff about them wanting Trump to take steps from the original complaint, really isn't about reinstalling Donald Trump. Or even about closing all the Donald Trump windows and opening them again.
Footnote 33, which is found immediately after Footnote 2 and immediately before Footnote 4, is absolutely amazing on so many levels.
First, it's got an accusation that a journalist selectively edited a video. This is a privileged statement in this context, but it's a potentially problematic statement if it's made out of court - particularly if the video in question wasn't edited at all.
Second, alternate meanings of "get into the Capitol" aren't terribly relevant to the current case. Nor are they likely to be terribly persuasive in criminal proceedings. That said, I'm sure Mr. Davis's efforts to continue to make a record for prosecutors are appreciated.
Third, you filed a motion citing the precedent of the Stewardship of Gondor in an attempt to justify replacing the entire legislative and executive branches of government with unelected caretakers, but you're afraid someone else is making you look like an "extreme lunatic"?
And you are worried that it's the press coverage, and not your chiropteran-excrement insane paper-flinging, that is going to "taint the Court's view" of this case?

Y'all need to reconnect (or possibly connect) with reality.
Fourth, Mr. Davis is really mad at Sollenberger.

Now I do agree that "radical left-wing journalist" is most likely non-actionable opinion, but that wasn't the only thing the letter (which is irrelevant to this case) brought up.
That exhibit is here - it's not relevant to this case or filing, so I'm not going to spend the time digging into it. https://t.co/Pt4qyslEgS
Fifth, implying that your Twitter beef with a reporter is evidence of a "greater coordinated effort to perpetrate an illegal election" isn't going to make it less likely that the judge will notice that you're wearing clownshoes as earrings and have underpants on your head.
Right, that's enough about that footnote. Back to the main body of the batshittery.
I was unaware that the founders of this nation contemplated having a court, acting on an ex parte basis, putting Denethor son of Ecthelion in charge of the whole federal government even if only on an interim basis.
Also, didn't the interim basis in the cited precedent last for nearly a thousand years?
The thing that I can't get over is this:
Even if we assume that HAVA wasn't complied with (and I'm pretty sure that's incorrect), how do you get to the conclusion that this renders the entire election in all 50 states null and void?
This is law, not Calvinball. There's got to be some connection between the alleged infraction and the remedy you're seeking. Here, the infraction is that first-time voters weren't asked for ID if they voted absentee, and the remedy is "put America on pause until new election."
That's...it's just not a thing a court would ever do. It's not how the law works.

We might not be spectacular at the whole common sense thing, but we're not totally bereft of it either.
Pro tip:
Not a thing you want to be telling a court on your fourth attempt at submitting a proposed TRO.

Also pro tip:
You don't want to be on your fourth attempt at submitting a proposed TRO.
Ah. And we're also BIG MAD about *proposed* legislation (which will have a hard time getting past a filibuster, but that's a different topic).
If you're wondering, the legal term of art for an attempt to use proposed legislation that hasn't reached the hearing stages yet much less a floor vote as a reason for immediate emergency ex parte relief is "GTFO. Now."
And, no. Making it easy for qualified voters to vote will not "forever deprive the American people of free and fair elections." Quite the opposite, actually.
1: If you're using a line from the movie, it's not a literary analogy.
2: "Mere fantasy" is generous; "crackhead delusion" more accurate.
3: They are right in "a" sense where "a" = "every."
Yikes. Get help.

In all seriousness: I'll keep talking about this case because it's an absurd misuse of the legal system by licensed attorneys representing clients. But it's getting to the point where it's clear this guy needs help. And to be suspended while he's getting it.
And, no. There is no universe in which you get to put the entire federal government on pause while waiting for a jury trial.

Also, you need to serve defendants to get to trial, so pitter patter.
And, yes. "Await their right to a trial...by jury to manifest" is strange phrasing.
Dude is still arguing that "didn't fully comply with some technical details of elaborate election procedure law," even if true, shocks the conscience and means the whole election was conducted "outside the rule of law."
The dude needs to take less of whatever it is he's taking to stay awake. A lot less of it. Preferably none.
I cannot for the life of me believe, even now, that a licensed attorney would think it advisable to include this line in a court filing.
OK, so now there's an alternative to the updated amended TRO. Which is less drastic in that it doesn't ask us to appoint someone like the dude whose tenure had such a meteoric climax to run the country for an undetermined period, but otherwise seems pretty darn drastic.
"It is unreasonable to wait another 14 to 28 days for Congress and the President to do their jobs."

Hmmm. Wasn't really that hard to say.
Wow. This guy, who said just a little bit upthread (I'm sorry, I mean earlier in the filing, which I keep forgetting isn't a Twitter thing) that he's just a Trump supporter because he sees Trump as not elite, is really upset about policies.

Go figure.
Also, of course we've cited the Epoch Times in one of those footnotes; the filing wouldn't be the same without such a cite.
They still want 14 to 28 days of national hold pattern while trying to find evidence of whether or not the law they say wasn't complied with was complied with, and they think that "does not seem a lot to ask" because why? I don't know, he's on third, and I don't give a darn.
Oh, good. Now Mr. Davis, in a totally sane decision, is placing the whole "40% of his cerebellum removed" thing - which wasn't actually before the court until now - into the record. That's smart.
AND SWEET JESUS WEPT your witless isn't a lawyer why the holy hell do you keep trying to put that lunatic's legal analysis into the record can't you do legal analysis yourself --

You know what? Don't answer that. It's fine.
Ohmygod.

He's literally presenting the 1-page-cv-expert's legal analysis. As if it's expert testimony.

And it's a stupid, stupid, stupid argument.
https://t.co/0svskJKMwT
The Prayer for Relief has hit next-level WTFery.

"Judge, here's a menu, pick or do the cooking yourself, I don't care anymore" is ---

yikes.
But at least we've taken "I got fired" out of the signature block so cautious optimism?
Right. Up next, the new proposed TRO.

I'm just gonna skip to the new, non-LOTR parts of this one.

https://t.co/JkMjzOXkH4
Right.

No, the Courts cannot enjoin Congress from voting; separation of powers. That's dumb. Just totally dumb.

Also, would this include (eg) a declaration of war if we're attacked? Attacked from without, I mean, not by insider threats like Plaintiffs' counsel in this case.
No, you can't make the United States Senate do homework so you can figure out what Congress should or shouldn't do.
No, legislators who vote for a law do not have an ongoing obligation to ensure that the law is enforced. See, eg, The Executive, What Is It Even For?
No, you can't enjoin Congress from enrolling bills either.
No, you don't get to enjoin the President, particularly when your entire theory is "he's illegitimate because the Congress that signed off wasn't elected right."

More from Mike Dunford

Mike Dunford
Mike Dunford
@questauthority
You know what?

I *will* without a doubt regret this.

But I'm going to watch Mike Pence read out the last returns before I go to sleep.

Also.

FUCK YEAH, AMERICA!!!!

That was not sarcasm. Hell, I've got Lee damn Greenwood running through my head right now.

We had a no-kidding attempted coup today. One of the two guys who would have benefitted from that coup is standing in the chamber of the House - which was occupied by seditionists hours ago - signing off on his electoral defeat.

I never, in a thousand years, thought I would say this.

But I say thee ye, Michael Pence.
FOR LATER READ
Mike Dunford
Mike Dunford
@questauthority
I went over the dismissal on my stream, but a few thoughts on where things are at:

1: The Notice of Appeal doesn't shock me; I figured Louie would be this dumb.
2: As was the case with the case at the District Court, it doesn't really matter how vigorously Pence defends this.


3: The lack of standing is so spectacularly, glaringly obvious that it doesn't really matter whether Pence raised certain arguments; they will get noticed by the court.
4: That's because federal courts have an independent duty to ensure they have jurisdiction.

5: Standing is a jurisdictional requirement; no standing means no case.
6: The rules for standing are clear and nothing in the opinion dismissing the case was the least bit controversial in any universe except the alternate one inhabited by Louie and the Arizonan cosplayers.

7: "But it's the 5th Circuit" will be raised both by Trumpistians and those who are exceptionally nervous. There is exactly as much reason to be concerned about the 5th as there was the trial court: ie none at all.

So - my expectations:
Given the timeline, I suspect that Louie will be granted an expedited appeal and will lose on an expedited basis. I also expect that he will appeal to SCOTUS and the appeal there will not be expedited.
ALL
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Mike Dunford
Mike Dunford
@questauthority
I've been trying to think that through - not just legally, but judicially.

The more thinking I do the less serious - and more ludicrous - the entire thing looks. And the more obvious it becomes that this is the proposal of deeply unwell individuals who are not thinking clearly.


On the legal side, I read through the list of emergency powers - the whole list - that was assembled by the Brennan Center. Nothing on that list fits. Nothing comes even

It seems extraordinarily unlikely that any executive order along the lines of what has been discussed would be legal. In this case, it can be taken as a given that one or more targeted jurisdictions would dash right off to the courthouse.

Standing would not, it should go without saying, be likely to be an issue. I doubt redressability would either. I think it's very likely that restraining orders and injunctions would be swiftly issued.

That's the legal side, to the extent it's possible to speculate on that at all at this point. Basically, there's no readily apparent legal basis for such a thing, so it probably wouldn't be legal.

That's the easy part. Now for the nuttier side - the logistics.
SOCIETY
Mike Dunford
Mike Dunford
@questauthority
Texas - WTF is this even - a very short reassurance thread:

1: The Texas "lawusit" against four other "battleground" states in the United States Supreme Court is legally stupid.* It is so legally stupid that I was reluctant to believe that even Ken Paxton would file it.

*My patience level is not ginormous today. Please don't try to explain to me why you think it isn't stupid for whatever other reasons because I'll be making liberal use of the airlock. Thx.

2: Yes, one state can sue another at the US Supreme Court. However, the Supreme Court gets to decide whether to take the case. One factor that they will **undoubtedly** look at is the factor of "injury."

Texas is claiming two things. First, that the states have a special interest in who becomes Vice President because of the tiebreaker. Second, that their electors are injured if their votes are "diluted" by electors from states that, in Texas's view, didn't obey their own law.


There is very little argument presented for "injury." Even less - barely a paragraph - was presented for how the defendant states caused that injury.

For lawyers, this is a signal that this is a performance of politics by "litigation" and not a serious effort.
COURT
Mike Dunford
Mike Dunford
@questauthority
Election Litigation Update: DC - the "let's sue the Electoral College" case.

This is a bit surprising, given that as of last time I checked nobody had been served and no appearance had been entered. I suspect it's an effort to make sure the case isn't "pending" on the 6th.


And, sure enough, still no proof of service on ANY defendant, still no appearance from defense counsel. And this is denying the motion for preliminary injunction but does NOT dismiss the case - which is potentially ominous for plaintiff's counsel.


This isn't a "happy judge" kind of first paragraph. Not even a little bit. Nope.


Y'all, this isn't even directed within a few hundred miles of my direction and I sill just instinctively checked to make sure that there's room for me to hide under my desk if I have to - this is a very not happy, very federal, very judge tone.


Also - the judge just outright said there's a bunch of reasons for dismissal. And not in "might be" terms. In definite fact ones. But the case isn't dismissed yet.

If I was plaintiffs counsel, I'd definitely be clearing under my desk right now, and possibly also my underwear.
POLITICS

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Seth Abramson
Seth Abramson
@SethAbramson
(THREAD) Pre-election Russia collusion may take down Trump. It's equally possible the Trumps' pre- and post-election collusion with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Israel will do it—a course of collusion also connected to the Kremlin. I explain here. I hope you'll read on and retweet.


1/ I must stress how unbelievably complex the "Grand Bargain" theory of the Trump-Russia case is—a different thing from saying it's not substantiated. It's substantiated in *almost every single particular*—it just *also* happens to be very confusing. Not byzantine—just confusing.

2/ The basics: Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the UAE all view Iran as their chief regional enemy. Iran is propped up by Russia. Therefore the Saudis, Israelis, and Emiratis all need a US government willing to find a way to get the Kremlin to *stop* supporting Iran in the Middle East.

3/ The best way to get Russia to stop supporting Iran—or reduce support—was/is to drop all sanctions on Russia over its 2014 annexation of Crimea, as that'd be worth *trillions* to the Kremlin over the next decade. Everyone knew that Clinton wouldn't do this—and that Trump would.

4/ Per the NYT, on August 3, 2016, Donald Trump Jr. met secretly at Trump Tower with a Saudi and Emirati emissary, George Nader, as well as an Israeli intelligence expert, Joel Zamel, with *significant* ties to both Israeli intelligence *and* Russian oligarchs allied with Putin.
POLITICS
Mike Dunford
Mike Dunford
@questauthority
Election Litigation Update - Gohmert.

Reply brief is in. Let's have a look. They are, mercifully, underlength. They had 50 pages available, the PDF is 43 and some of that is cover page, signatures,

Interesting table of contents. Looks like they're packing a lot in, until you realize that much of the material that's important - like their response to the "you sued the wrong person" material and "injury in fact" take up very little space.


Looks like they decided to skip the table of authorities. Presumably GoogleDocWord ate it too bad for them to fix. This will certainly further endear them to the judge.


This is going to be interesting - leading off a reply brief with a "here's what our cause is about" is certainly a strategy. It's even a bold strategy.

Shall we dig deeper, Cotton?


"We live in a democratic republic in which the Vice President, who will more often than not be a candidate in the election, has the sole and unchallengeable power to decide who wins the election" is a hellofa take.
POLITICS
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Brian Cates
Brian Cates
@drawandstrike
A lot of people don't understand that Trump & his incoming team didn't face a normal transition period, like it was over a in a matter of a few weeks or months.

The DOJ transition period JUST ENDED when Sessions left. Almost 2 exact years to get it there.

Pompeo at the CIA took over a year before he was done and ready to shift over to the State Department.

All kinds of stuff has been going on behind the scenes nobody leaks or talks about.

We only had the barest mention of the fact the Clinton Email investigation restarted

Nobody leaked in a year that Huber was deep diving into the Clinton Foundation.
Keep that in mind as all the usual suspects continue to INSIST nothing is happening/going to happen.
POLITICS
Parker Molloy
Parker Molloy
@ParkerMolloy
I told you they’d bring this up


I was wondering why that tweet had so many stupid replies. And now I see


Seriously, this was “the night before.” If you’re at the march where they’re changing “Jews will not replace us” and “Blood and soil,” you’re not a “very fine person.” Full stop.


There are 3 important moments in that transcript.

1.) When someone asked Trump about a statement *he had already made* about there being blame on “both sides,” he said the “fine people” line.


2. Trump does clarify! “I’m not talking about the neo-Nazis and white nationalists — because they should be condemned totally “

Okay!

Then adds that there were “many people in that group other than neo-Nazis and white nationalists.”
POLITICS
Pirate croco
Pirate croco
@pirate0991
Ok as a French Muslim, i think, i must to explain to EVERYONE what’s this exactly about the “Halal” ban slaughter (1/8)

Recently, many have seen some tweets saying that the slaughter of animals with the "halal" ritual will be banned in France. (2/8)

But, unfortunately, this is the problem of the networks, no one will go digging to know more, laziness trivialized in these modern times surely. (3/8)

Know what you must to know it’s they banned only those who use the electronarcosis then they slaughter the animal with the halal ritual.
Before it was permissible by the French law but not by the European rules. (4/8)

Also theses three mosques (Evry, Paris, Lyon) who’re mentioned on many articles about this, you must to know now, they already cheated with the whole French Muslim community. (5/8)
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