Yves here. It is a sign of how deeply partisan news reporting has become, above all in matters Trump, that I feel compelled to point a few things out, as unpopular as that might be in some circles.
First, even Trump has due process rights. Fights over procedure, which can include getting seemingly strained arguments heard, are part and parcel for litigation. If you want a graduate course in motions pleading, have a look at our many posts on the Kentucky Retirement Systems case. It was filed year-end 2017 and still has not gotten to discovery (even though the trial court judge has recently cleared what looked like the last big hurdle, the defendants are trying to make an interlocutory appeal). Even in the tiny litigations I have sadly been party to, motions that lead to delay, whether delay is the intended effect or an unwanted by-product, are pervasive and thus are hard to see as unusual or irregular.
Second, the reason for the upset is that the appeals court has set a hearing date on the Trump action versus the continued role of Fani Willis as Fulton County prosecutor in his case for October. If the appeals court looked to be deliberately giving Trump a slot late relative to its current docketing, that would be legitimate grounds for considerable criticism. However, there is no indication in the account below that the court has set the hearing later than one would expect in the normal course of events.
And why the uproar? That this outcome has thrown a wrench in the political timing, of getting the case heard sooner. That is presumably for the two political motives we saw in action in the New York criminal case that Trump just lost: to keep his butt in a seat in court so he could not campaign, and hopefully to secure a victory that would dim his re-election chances.
Has no one heard the saying, “The wheels of justice grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly fine”? Did they miss the “slowly” part?
Third, I am not enthusiastic about defenses of Willis. She failed to make the required disclosures of the gifts from her boyfriend. In the better-run state of California, at CalPERS alone, failure to make those disclosures is believed to have played a role in the recent departure of Chief Investment Officer Nichole Musicco and scandal for board member Theresa Taylor (who sadly stared it down despite having a background that would make it seem vanishingly unlikely that her oversight was an accident). Even though the disclosure lapse was not the basis for Trump action1, it is serious misconduct.
And as for allegations of unseemly behavior, since when does the White House get involved in state prosecutions? From Fox News:
….embedded in the filing [by a Trump-co-defendant] are invoices for the Law Offices of Nathan J. Wade [Willis’ former co-counsel on the case]. One invoice calls attention to “Fulton County District Attorney’s Office.”
Wade billed the county for a May 23, 2022, event described as “Travel to Athens; Conf with White House Counsel.” Wade charged $2,000 for eight hours at $250 an hour.
Several months later, Wade billed for “Interview with DC/White House” on Nov. 18, 2022. Wade again charged $2,000 for eight hours at $250 an hour, according to the documents.
There is no ‘splaining this away. Either Wade defrauded Fulton County by billing for meetings that never took place, or White House lawyers were meaningfully assisting in this case.
It is deeply saddening to see that coverage of these Trump cases is so wildly partisan, and attempts to counter that are too often demonized on tribal grounds.
By Brett Wilkins. Originally published at Common Dreams