Aloha 🌻 🌻 🌻

Law and Disorder: It’s hard to keep track of what’s going on in all of Trump’s legal cases because to state the obvious there are so many and there’s so much going on. Starting with the first one,  NY District Attorney Alvin Bragg is still churning away at his “hush money” case which despite its click bait moniker concerns the falsification of business documents.  Last week Bragg notched a small victory after a federal judge ruled that attorneys for sexual assault victim E Jean Carroll could give him a recording of an incriminating deposition that Trump gave for that case.  Bragg’s case is currently scheduled to go to court in March 2024.   Then there’s Special Counsel Jack Smith’s Mar a Lago purloined documents case. Yesterday, Trump and his Diet Coke retriever Walt Nauta were arraigned again, this time for trying to destroy the video of Trump’s “beautiful” boxes getting the afikomen treatment.  Property Manager Carlos De Oliverira’s arraignment was delayed because he still hasn’t formally engaged a Florida lawyer, an effective stalling tactic that may be due to instruction from Trump who is pushing to delay the start of all of his cases until after he or another pardon happy Republican wins the November 2024 election. In a remarkable show of chutzpah, Trump’s lawyers have asked Judge Eileen “loose” Cannon to allow him to reestablish the SCIF he had at Mar a Lago back when he was president to facilitate his review of case documents so that he and his entourage won’t have to travel to another location every time Trump feels a need to touch one of those Kim Jong Un letters or a page or two of the Iran war plans. Needless to say, Special Jack’s team doesn’t think that allowing a defendant to view stolen documents at the scene of the crime is the way to go but since Cannon appears to be unusually accommodating to Trump don’t be surprised if he’s granted permission to set up a SCIF in his ballroom or back in the chandeliered bathroom.  The Mar a Lago case is currently scheduled to start at the end of May, if ever. Now to the January 6 election interference case that Special Jack’s team is pushing to get to court first.  Yesterday prosecutors asked Judge Tonya Chutkan to ink it into her calendar to start right after New Years.  They indicated that they will be prepared to hand over discovery material to Trump’s lawyers in two weeks.  Special Jack’s view is that a “rapid pace” is needed “given the gravity and historic nature of the charges” because “speedy trials are not just enshrined in law to protect the right of defendants, but also to safeguard the public’s interest in the swift administration of justice.” Naturally, Trump’s lawyers are expected to ask that this trial, like the Mar a Lago trial, be delayed until after the election. Chutkan isn’t expected to buy into their request though even she may think that New Years week is a push.  And then there’s Ms. Imminent, Fulton District Attorney Fani Willis, her indictments are expected to start flying next week.

SCOTUS:  First the good news, with Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joining the three liberals, the Court issued a ruling allowing the Biden administration to enforce rules on ghost guns while a challenge to those rules continues to make its way through the courts.  Ghost guns are homemade firearms made from kits, not Legos but actual guns. They are called ghost guns because they don’t have serial numbers that would make them traceable. Now the absurd news, Justice Clarence Thomas, husband of insurrection friendly Ginni, has accepted far more gifts than were previously reported.  That list incudes 38 destination vacations, 26 private flights, 12 VIP passes to professional and college sporting events, 8 helicopter rides, 2 stays at luxury resorts, and 1 standing invitation to an exclusive, members only golf course.  None of these gifts came from life-long friends, rather they were given to him by billionaires who befriended him once he joined the Court.  Of course, Thomas failed to disclose any of them or pay taxes on their value. Crickets from Thomas and Chief Justice Stephens though Thomas’s Republican defenders insist that he did nothing wrong, he’s just being targeted by the communist left because of his righteous views.  To be fair, though Thomas has violated norms, his transgressions probably don’t violate ethics rules because none of them really apply to Supreme Court Justices.  Other Justices have occasionally crossed the line, but none like Thomas who apparently has decided that using his Supreme Court to live a rich and famous life on an upper middle-class salary is the way to go.

And: Something is up with West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin.  He’s now publicly musing about leaving the Democratic party to become an independent.  It’s not clear if he’s doing that to tee up an independent run for the presidency or to bolster his chances of winning reelection in his Trump plus 40 state. It’s likely that he’ll follow Arizona Senator Sinema’s example, still caucusing with the Democrats if he becomes an independent but even that’s not a sure thing.   Lastly, a Trump loving elderly wacko was killed by FBI agents in Utah after he pulled a gun on them while they were attempting to serve him with arrest and search warrants at his home in Provo, Utah. The FBI’s concern: his credible threats to kill or hurt President Biden, Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and California Governor Gavin Newsom. Sadly, it turns out that when Trump targets his “enemies,” some people take his words as a call to action with dire consequences..

Hawaii Fires:  A good place to contribute  https://www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/