I doubt it, because I think they had this contingency long planned for. However, I do think it happened because of the coming new Republican-led Congress.
I think Merrick Garland would have loved nothing more than to handle these cases himself. But with all the “investigations” by Republicans on the horizon and a full department of his own to run, Garland wanted to ensure these matters had the undivided attention of a proxy.
A well-chosen one, I believe.
If he’s actually in prison, I would think they could deprive him of electronic devices. I’m not saying they definitely would–they might let him use it on good behavior, or just limit what he can do or when he can do it. Plus he could always dictate a tweet to a visitor (who would likely be allowed).
The one thing I wouldn’t expect is him having 24/7 access like he does now.
Better yet, give him 24/7 access to social media (ie twitter/truth), but run them on private servers full of bots. Let him think the whole world is seeing/interacting with his posts when it’s really just a handful of IT people maintaining everything.
And televise it. “The Trump Show”
A pleading was filed today with the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeal substituting John L. Smith as attorney of record in the case of Donald J. Trump v. the United States of America. No continuance was asked for with respect to the oral arguments scheduled for tomorrow.
Sounds like the man is up to speed. 
If the matter’s been well-briefed by others in the office, a good barrister can pick up the brief and argue it quickly. 
I think this man is going to dazzle us. I’m looking forward to watching him work!
After getting my hopes dashed so often, I’ll believe it only when El Cheeto is in an orange jumpsuit. Had I taken a handful of classified documents, or taken even one document at the highest classification that TFG had in his unlocked desk, I would not be waiting on an indictment while walking around free giving speeches, like Orange Julius Caesar. I’d be in a windowless unnumbered room being “aggressively interrogated” until the FBI was convinced they knew every person I interacted with for the last 20 years. If Dolt 45 walks away from those charges, we might as well give up on the entire classification system.
Cases involving former President Donald Trump are playing out in four different courtrooms Tuesday, underscoring the legal challenges he faces as he mounts a t…
Not a particularly good day for old Donnie. Pertinent to this thread is this bit:
Justice Department was expected Tuesday to ask a federal appeals court in Atlanta to remove the special master – the independent arbiter appointed to review the materials – from the case.
all the filings we have seen so far from doj have been very well written, very clear, and sited. no need to ask for a continuance on doj side.
the trump side… whoa nelly, that side needs a lot of help.
I don’t suppose such things are kept track of but that’s got to be some kind of record, right? At least three of the four are in NYC so I suppose that makes it a bit easier on his team of crack lawyers.
No disagreement from me.
However, I’ll just point out that it’s a very common thing for any party just coming into a case to ask for a continuance so they can get up to speed almost reflexively, even if the pleadings are top notch – as they are in this case.
I took Jack Smith’s pass on doing this as a forceful signal that he does not intend to lose any time at all going forward; that he’s ready to go and will brook no delays unless for some other good reason. Since he is focused on nothing but these Trump cases, I expect he’ll move as quickly as possible. His credentials for this job are impressive as hell.
If Trump was a regular schmoe he’d have been prosecuted by now.
If he was a grilled cheese sandwich he’d have been eaten with a bowl of tomato soup.
But neither of those things are true in this corner of the multiverse, so they’re proceeding as they are.
Oh yes. I’m sure he has a team of ‘crack’ lawyers.
LOL, I just can’t resist, even though it’s been done to death:
“You don’t want a criminal lawyer. You want a criminal lawyer.”
Or,
“You don’t want a crack lawyer, you want a lawyer that wants crack!”
So that he can better appreciate your 3D chess moves/
Jack Smith’s wife, Katy Chevigny, worked as a producer on the documentary ‘Becoming’ about Michelle Obama. She also donated $2,000 to Biden’s campaign.
I’m sure we’ll be hearing about this from the right, which has been noticeably silent about Ginni Thomas.
I heard some asshole on the radio harping about this yesterday. I don’t see how being married to someone who supported Biden is disqualifying. Even if Jack himself donated to Biden’s campaign it wouldn’t bother me.
It’s the Andrew McCabe treatment.
They’re going to try and make it work again. Hopefully it will be met with stiffer skepticism and resistance this time around.
It looks like the appeals court is going to overrule the Special Master ruling and set the DoJ free.