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Jack Smith Is Going Hard After Trump, Part I

In a redacted motion unsealed Friday by order of U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, Special Counsel Jack Smith is seeking to impose additional restrictions on Donald Trump’s out-of-court statements to prevent him from continuing to attack the legitimacy of the criminal proceedings against him and from tainting the jury pool in DC.

Of the various filings referred to in today’s Morning Memo, this is probably the one worth reading yourself. It’s a blistering takedown of Trump’s conduct since his indictment, comparing it to his efforts to spread anger and misinformation in the aftermath of the 2020 election (editor’s note: citations removed):

As set forth in the indictment, after election day in 2020, the defendant launched a disinformation campaign in which he publicly and widely broadcast knowingly false claims that there had been outcome-determinative fraud in the presidential election, and that he had actually won. In service of his criminal conspiracies, through false public statements, the defendant sought to erode public faith in the administration of the election and intimidate individuals who refuted his lies. The defendant is now attempting to do the same thing in this criminal case—to undermine confidence in the criminal justice system and prejudice the jury pool through disparaging and inflammatory attacks on the citizens of this District, the Court, prosecutors, and prospective witnesses.

Stay tuned for rulings as early as this week from Judge Chutkan on this motion from Smith and on Trump’s motion for her to recuse herself.

Jack Smith Is Going Hard After Trump, Part II

A series of court documents were unsealed Friday in the effort by Elon Musk’s Twitter to alert Donald Trump that Special Counsel Jack Smith had a search warrant for his account. In pushing to keep Twitter from tipping off Trump, Smith argued that the disclosure “could precipitate violence as occurred following the public disclosure of the search warrant executed at Mar-a-Lago.” In that instance, a man tried to launch an attack on the FBI field office in Cincinnati before he was later shot and killed while fleeing law enforcement.

Stand Back And Stand By

Trump on Proud Boys Leader: I don’t know him. I’ve never met him. I’ve never heard of him until I started reading— I’d certainly look at pardoning him pic.twitter.com/O4jUmk4fPD

— Acyn (@Acyn) September 17, 2023

Big Day Ahead For Jeff Clark

A federal judge in Atlanta will hold a hearing at 9:30 a.m. today on former Trump DOJ lackey Jeff Clark’s motion to remove his Georgia RICO prosecution from state court. Unfortunately, no electronic devices are allowed in court so we won’t have real-time coverage of the hearing.

It’s shaping up to be a doozy, for a couple of reasons:

• District Attorney Fani Willis has subpoenaed Jody Hunt to testify at the hearing. Hunt, a longtime DOJ hand who became chief of staff to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, served as head of the Civil Division before Clark held that position on an acting basis. The guess is Hunt will testify that Clark’s actions were outside the bounds of his role as Civil Division honcho. Fun twist: Hunt was the new lawyer retained by Cassidy Hutchinson right before her bombshell testimony to the Jan. 6 committee.
• Clark has obtained a sworn statement from that paragon of rectitude and civic virtue, the nonagenarian former Reagan Attorney General Ed Meese, for use in the hearing. It’s unclear if the judge will consider it since it doesn’t appear Meese will be called to testify and subjected to cross examination. I’ve wanted to see Ed Meese cross examined since I was in high school. Alas …

Hate To See It

NYT: ​Mark Meadows’s Testimony in Georgia Case May Have Done Him No Favors

Hmmm …

Federalist Society co-founder Steven Calabresi does a quick flip-flop on whether the Disqualification Clause renders Trump ineligible for the presidency.

Delaware Is An Open Carry State

An armed protestor was spotted Sunday near President Biden’s Delaware home:

From pool report Trump terrorists stalking Biden family pic.twitter.com/GXZuAHoNvj

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) September 17, 2023

Paxton Acquitted In Impeachment Trial

Even though the case against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was spearheaded by Republicans in the state House and prosecuted by Republicans in the Senate trial, the Senate vote fell along party lines, with only two GOP senators joining Democrats in voting to convict him. Paxton was acquitted on all counts. An unbelievable sanctioning of brazen corruption by his fellow Republicans, but also very representative of the modern GOP.

First, They Come For The Librarians

The venerable American Library Association (you know how librarians are: just a band of radicals) has become the target of a right-wing smear campaign.

Moss Grows Fat On A Rollin’ Stone

Rolling Stone co-founder Jann Wenner, 77, has been booted from the board of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame after making a fool of himself in a NYT interview.

Hunter Biden’s New More Aggressive Pushback

• Hunter Biden sues the IRS, alleging it violated taxpayer privacy rights with its public disclosures about him.
• Former Trump White House staffer Garrett Ziegler, sued last week by Hunter Biden, is profiled by the WaPo as a “scorched-earth activist.”

Government Shutdown Still Looms

The House Freedom Caucus and the Main Street Caucus unveiled a continuing resolution Sunday that is a nonstarter with the Senate and White House. It also met immediate headwinds from some conservative House members, but it is expected to get a floor vote this week. It would extend government funding through the end of October but with draconian budget cuts that make it a dealbreaker.

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